kansas ♔ you have too much fun breaking all the rules

[cigam]

WHO || Gus, Zatanna, Adam, Dawn, Dimitri [closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a multiple homicide that seems linked to ritualistic magic use, in backwater Kansas
WHERE || Black Bottom Ridge, Kansas
WHEN || April 8th [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam or prose

Know what's even worse than Kansas? Kansas after a long winter that just won't die. Everything is creepy and flat and the grass is struggle-bussing its way back to life, and the trees are still skeletal, which just lends an eerie semblance to everything as they drive by. Drive by with a U-Haul attached to the back of her their rented vehicle, because they're bringing a fucking bear along. Luckily Gus was able to coax her into this arrangement, but man, I would not to be the one to draw the short straw opening the doors to that trailer when they arrive.

It only took a single stop at a crappy diner for Zatanna to get someone to spill the whereabouts of the survivor of the night they're looking into: she's being kept at a hospital in the nearest actual city. Zee drops off Adam, Dimitri, and Gus near the crime scene, and takes Dawn with her to go see what they can learn from the girl (after telling Gus to behave).

 

Comments

[ex_psionic439]

[Eyes rollen to the skies. You guys have fun with that. Adam's just going to stand there like some new age hipster trying to center his chakra or some shit rather than, you know, put forth any effort into looking around just yet (concentration: 26 + psionic focus get).

That done he pulls out his phone to check his text messages. Assuming there is even cellular service in this hole. #priorities]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ it ain't hard to notice the giant painted symbol wynn told them about on the wall: a skull engulfed in flame. there is also, however, a giant circle drawn on the floor in chalk, arcane writing in the center of it. around the circle are what appear to be twelve stations, smaller circles that look like they could each fit a kneeling person. there's a thirteenth circle, however, in the center, and a faint rectangular shape in the dust right in front of that central position, where something used to be. ]

[druidisms]

[ gus takes a slow stroll around the chalk drawings. ] Fucking Picasso bullshit teenage magic. [ TEENAGE MAGIC. WHEN WILL THE MOTHERFUCKERS LEARN.

he crouches down next to the center circle, getting a closer look as he reaches down to touch the chalk outline. (knowledge: arcana 29) and ukw, maybe he'll cast detect magic to see if there is anything lingering. so that happens too. a++ tag. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ gus recognizes it, alright. the symbol, the set-up, the markings... they're all part of some kind of demon summoning ritual. but... he'd also recognize that this is some shoddy fucking demon summoning. in fact, a lot of the necessary signs and symbols are entirely wrong, which does not bode well for how this actually turned out. the good news is, whatever they actually summoned had nothing to do with any hell dimensions. there's definitely an overwhelming magical aura left here - a spellcraft check of 18+ to determine that it was conjuration magic but THAT PART SEEMS OBVIOUS. ]

[druidisms]

[ he just casually flashes back to his dumbass sister and her stupid magic. it only ends in death. but with his spellcraft of exactly 18, he has got this info on lock. this is why he is a knight, bitches.

straightening up, he dusts his hands off on his pants. ] Our gentle school children tried, badly, to summon... wait for it. Demons. [ he is so impressed. so so impressed. unbelievably impressed.

he's not impressed. ] They fucked up, obviously, as teenagers are wont to do.

[ex_psionic439]

Yeah, no shit. [Dead kids tended to translate into "doen it wrong."

I guess Adam has decided to join the investigation because he actually moves into the barn to start looking around like it will help them get through this that much faster.]

So let's have the bear track whatever it was down and eat it. Problem solved. [Mellie just seemed like the best approach to so many problems.]

[druidisms]

There's thirteen circles. Twelve kids, eleven dead and one survivor. Seeing a problem in the math here? These fuck ups fucked up -- the animal we're looking for could be a kid. We're not siccing Mellie on it until we know it's not human.

[ this is mind, he texts zee the deets so she can weasle some more deets out of the survivor. ALL THE DEETS UP IN THIS BITCH. ]

[likeagod]

[Dimitri isn't too familiar with demons yet, or magical circles or any of that, so he'll work on doing what he's good at doing.

Tracking a target. He's sure it left a track to follow around here (Survival nat 20, 26 total).]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ There's more to be seen upon closer inspection, beyond the obvious summoning set-up. Between the scattered footprints that indicate frantic attempts to get away are large paw prints, indicating sharp, dangerous claws, and pads that seem like they could belong to a large cat. there are definitely more than one such beast, which are approximately the size of a large puma. one looks substantially larger than the others.

while it's hard to figure out exactly how many such creatures were here, dimitri definitely notices something strange: the 'cats' don't have four paw prints each - they have six.

there are several of these creatures that left the barn, heading out towards the forest line, and also one set of human footprints that look smaller than the police officer's, also leaving the scene. ]

[likeagod]

{He relays this information to the others, pointing out locations as he goes.]

Dealing with several of these creatures will complicate things.

[In different ways depending on if they stick together as a pack or not.]

It looks like our survivor may be a child, or at least someone younger than our officer.

[ex_psionic439]

This just turned into some Children of the Corn shit.

[Coming up behind Dimitri so he can get a better look at what the hell he was talking about.]

Seriously, if those tracks lead into a cornfield then fuck that.

[druidisms]

[ gus rubs his forehead like fuck this shit. dimitri and adam both make fine points, but he's leaning more toward adam's at the moment. he's not a dumbass, he knows better than to run into anything where they vegetation is taller than grass. THIS IS NOT THE FIELD OF DREAMS, IF THEY BUILD IT ONLY DEATH WILL COME.

swear to fucking god, if he has to turn into a jaguar to get into a bitchy cat fight with these animals, he's going to lodge a formal complaint. with life. ]

Calm your tits, Professor X, I'm gay and a minority, I'm gonna be the first one to die in any horror movie scenario. You and Fabio the Intimidating will be fine.

[ he also got a nat 20 on survival (24 total), who says only bitches get shit done?, and he crouches down next a particular set of prints, peering at them a moment before he casts detect animal. he is gonna find some woodland creatures and have a god damn chat is what he is going to do. get the deets on these creatures.

you know, once he uses his disney princess powers to find an animal to talk to. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ and gus sure detects a ... squirrel not far outside. aw yeah. ]

[druidisms]

[ A SQUIRREL.

sob. sigh, w/e he casts speak with animals and, looking the fool, gazes in the direction of his disney princess boo. ] 's up, my squirrelly comrade.

[ talking to a squirrel. that he can't even see yet. /crying. BUT HE SOUNDS HELLA CHILL (handle animal 27) so let's be best friends fluffy. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the fluffy little fucker comes bounding out of the woods towards him b/c omg bffs hi. like all squirrels he's hyper as fuck. ]

[druidisms]

[ the squirrel is dug. he crouches down and holds his hand out so fluffernutter can climb up his arm. ] There were some... creatures around here, few days back. You wouldn't happen to have seen them, would you?

[ oh you know what's in his pocket???? sunflower seeds. (mellie is gon' be pissed he's giving them away.) but he's willing to use it as bribery. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the squirrel gets radically distracted from answering after he sniffs the air while sitting on gus' shoulder and then smells dem seeds. he moves down to grab a bunch out and stuff them in his mouth like it's a marathon before he remembers that he was just asked a question. but he doesn't remember what it was, because FOOD. ]

[ex_psionic439]

[Adam is taking this special Disney princess moment all in with the gleam of judgment in his eyes. He won't interrupt Gus' communing with the fucking wildlife, but he sure will lean over to whisper to Dimitri in the meantime.]

Is that even sanitary?

[druidisms]

[ do you want a squirrel to the face, adam? gus' listen check is 25, he heard that. but regardless, once fluffy is fed, gus asks the question again. you're killing him, smalls. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the squirrel is a little confused but then seems to remember seeing something and the sheer act of remembering causes him to chitter in frantic fear and then go bury his face in gus' pocket, shaking.

also eating.

stress eating. ]

[likeagod]

[Dimitri has literally...nothing to say. Because talking to squirrels? What the hell is this even?

Learn something new every day I guess. o.O]

[druidisms]

[ no.

he pulls the squirrel out of his pocket by the scruff of his neck. ] Listen, you little fucker, answer the qu-- [ sigh, he doesn't want to use another spell on this little punk, so he tries again. gentler this time. ] Details. Give me details and I will give you the entire bag.

[ bribery works too. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ wow that was the right thing to say. it starts chittering excitedly about seeing some giant 'fur beasts' with big teeth and 'too many arms' in the woods. he has no fucking idea what they were doing b/c that shit was terrifying and he hid in the knot of a tree until they were gone. he does indicate that one was much bigger than the others - maybe a pack leader. ]

[druidisms]

Okay, Clarence, have at. [ he sets the squirrel back in his pocket. they're just going to bros now. is he really called clarence? who the fuck knows. ] So my CI says the same thing: giant six-legged beasts, one of them bigger than the others. We're going to have to track them and disable on our own.

[ a beat before he whistles into the woods. ] Mellie'll protect you, Adam.

[ex_psionic439]

[Because that was reassuring. It was just as likely that the bear would maul him to death ok.]

You mean you can't just galvanize your woodland friends to go on the offensive like Scuttle and his pals? [Yeah, that would be a The Little Mermaid reference (knowledge, pop culture 22). You're welcome.]