Ghosts of the Past

Completed one-shot storylines are archived here after their completion.
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: Ghosts of the Past

Post by Karl the Mad »

Charles had thought the situation well in hand, Harry being caught off guard by more or less being Force Choked into submission. Drake's cautionary words were met by a low snarl, the soldier's instincts briefly trying assert themselves over the mission at hand. He compromised internally by throttling him a little longer, slamming him to the ground a little harder, than was strictly necessary. That helped subdue his bloodlust for now, and he gave the wee man a chance to hear the others' words before slipping the iron cuffs over his wrists. "Take that," he added lamely, wishing he had a better comeback after all that speechifying.
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IamLEAM1983
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Re: Ghosts of the Past

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

Zeb had always reacted with some pessimism whenever anyone mentioned an upteenth theory on the nature of his wife's turmoils. He'd heard dozens of hypotheses coming from the entire spectrum of potential opinions, to the point where it felt like trying to be helpful to him was more a local pasttime than anything seriously undertaken. Meris, however, wasn't some judgemental mortal housewife with an immortal to badger with holier-than-thou prescriptions.

He sighed. "Please, Meris, do enlighten me," he said, as though sarcasm were an old habit he had trouble getting rid of even when he actually wanted to hear someone else's perspective. Coach settled with crossing his arms in front of him, looking at least moderately satisfied with his student's effort at being amenable. The warthog, in the meantime, had shifted his hold on his teacup and saucer to give the deck's bannister a few fingertip caresses. While he was listening in, he'd obviously found some bit of knotwork to be mesmerized by.

* * *

With Jack's stall mostly saved, Three and the others were free to deactivate their compression suits. Shifting back to their normal size would be a tad nauseating, something which Archie seemed to understand. He volunteered to carry the three belligerents the same way he had his colleagues, while their involvement had seemingly reassured the market's stall owners sufficiently for someone to come forward with three water bottles, on the house.

Having broken his helmet's seal, Three removed it and raked a gloved hand through his hair. "There goes what I hope will be the worst of Halloween, this season," he told Jack, watching as Archie poked the prisoners of his morning coat pockets and waistcoat, urging them to stay calm.

The pumpkin-headed dryad seemed less convinced. "Yeah, I wouldn't celebrate too soon, Drake. We're still early and even the local kooks are starting to say the local graveyards are getting restless. If anything, you just cut a break to those of us who have actual ceremonies planned before November rolls around."

The soldier frowned. "I thought you wouldn't give the time of day to even the most serious of Wiccans.
- I can respect those who realize I don't have to give up a piece of myself just because black and orange pairings are back in style. If you come into my house with a kitchen knife you've glorified as your athame, I'll give you rock salt for your efforts and claim self-defense."

Three sighed. "Can you at least have a few candies out for the locals? Nobody from downtown is going to send their kid to pester you, but kids visiting you is inevitable at this time of year. They'll want to see you."

Jack grunted. "I've never made promises, kid. Sometimes a tyke gets candy from one of my pockets - when I've got some on hand. That's it.
- Then don't scare off kids with shotgun blanks, please."

Greene scoffed. "It's what they want. Getting told to scarper off by the big scary pumpkin man is an Old Hope classic, in case you never noticed.
- That doesn't make it right. You might confuse a loaded round for one of your blanks, and then you won't have self-defense as an alibi."

The male dryad settled with a surly pout. "Nobody's died on my property, Drake. Tell your friends to say their goodbyes to Sophia, you're starting to take attention away from my stall."
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: Ghosts of the Past

Post by TennyoCeres84 »

Meris ignored his sarcastic tone and pulled out some vellum scrolls from her satchel. "You see, prior to even arriving in Hope, I've been keeping track of notable events with your family and activity in Darlarath to see if there was some correlation, and there are, both on topographical and chronological scales. I have these scrolls to show what I'm talking about."

She unrolled the first one, a map that outlined the Rhode Island coast and specifically the islands that comprised Hope. The two liches and incubus would see a circle in crimson ink within the early settlement of Hope, right where the Buck Mansion stood. She then laid a more recent map of Hope next to it. "The red circle on the first map is of a brine pool found in Darlarath with a corresponding hole on the surface. That's obviously what allowed Nikolaas Buck to reach the source of his lunacy. Now, as for the source and what happened to him..."

She pulled up another bit of evidence and revealed it to them. It was a series of Void Weaver holy days and festivals written in regular English and their equivalents on the standard calendar year. "I realized my second's son birth and later the usurping of his body matches the time when the Wampanoag slaughter and Buck's death occurred, as well as a major festival for Void Weavers. Now, the Chamberlain pushed my son's consciousness off to who knows where, and the new owner controlled it. Chauncey's personality was just starting to form. He could speak somewhat, but his behavior was entirely like a newborn's. What replaced him was the mad spirit of your ancestor, acting as the head Oracle."

"I've been trying to dig into the "why" of the Buck curse. Before his loss of sanity, Nikolaas was like any enterprising European during that era. When he was exposed to the Black Speech and the wealth Void Weavers can create on a whim, that's when everything went to shite. Samoset's family and his kinsmen were all kindle on the pyre, tragically. Samoset was in a vulnerable state, and he may not have been paying attention to whether or not the slain dead were actually his loved ones or an elaborate illusion put in place by someone, possibly one of the Others."

She looked to the three men to see if they had any questions or theories on the whole matter.

***

"I know this was a long time ago, Jack, but what if you scared the kids with some of your old tricks, from when you were younger? I remember when children would run off screaming and laughing in delight at what you did. It's just a suggestion, but it might be worth a go," Sophia offered. "No shotgun blanks involved."

Stretching her joints after returning to normal size, Neasa listened to what they dryad had to say and nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's time to shake things up a bit."
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Karl the Mad
 

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Re: Ghosts of the Past

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After emerging from compression, Charles had to stretch a bit and work some kinks from his bones, and then he could attend to the conversation. "Hallow's Eve ain't never easy in this feckin' town," he groused. "Law's al'ays been busy, super 'r not."
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