2021-05-07 - The Sordid Situation Surrounding the Summoning of Sea Stags (The Hunt for Marcy Davis)

Isi was of the wrong place and wrong time crew, but has become habit she is willing to humor the residents of her new home, so given the opportunity to tag along, she will do so.

At least she gets to see a new place?

Ravn Abildgaard is no Baxter. He's just a folklorist who was told to stay the hell away from the most haunted place in Gray Harbor, only to find himself dragged in there by the power of dreams -- and sure enough, strange things happened. Conner did not have to ask him twice -- and he in turn may have mentioned something to Isi in passing, and Aidan too. Because there are two things Ravn is not capable of -- one is not being all over something related to the grand feud that this city is built on, and the other is keep his nose out of trouble.

So he's got an arm in a sling. Deal with it. He turned up as appointed anyhow, and if that required getting yelled at by hospital staff, so be it. They're getting used to him in there anyway.

It's true. Conner Hawthorne is a stubborn guy. He's starting to develop a real protective streak for others, too, for a guy who spent most of his life hiding with his books and his comfy couch. He's like a very tall hobbit in that regard. He'd been supremely grateful to those who had been willing to join him on this, though.

He also looks supremely reluctant to touch anything. When he'd forged his initial plan...something something Mentalism ritual crap left behind by the girls...he'd forgotten everything had gotten covered in disgusting blood and Felk viscera. His features twist into an expression of sublime disgust. Time has not improved the situation here in any way. He doesn't even want to touch that stuff with his toe, let alone pick it up.

"I admit," he says, "I'm not sure exactly how to find her. I'm hoping you guys have some ideas."

He keeps shooting concerned looks at Ravn's arm, mind you.

To be entirely fair, when it comes to literal bloodline, as far as any evidence shows to date, Aidan doesn't properly qualify as a Baxter either. But legally there's a tie, and more importantly, they -- well, some of them at least -- actually seem to want to keep him. And as far as he's concerned, that counts plenty. More than wherever his actual blood comes from's done.

He's not good with letting people get kidnapped by giant elk-fish-things either, really, though like Conner, "...I dunno how either, really. I mean, if we get close enough, I can try a couple things? Though I dunno how we're tell if we were close enough except if they started working." This requires a moment of consideration, and then a moment of focus, brow furrowing as he opens his mind and tries to scan for what minds he can find. He was there was she was taken; maybe it'd be enough to recognize hers if he finds it? Though she's probably more than 100 yards from where he's standing. Gray Harbor's a small town, but it's not THAT small.

"Oh, also, hey," he greets Isi, a touch distracted but still able to give her a bright (possibly slightly inappropriately bright, for a 'missing persons' situation) and friendly grin of greeting, "I'm Aidan, nice to meet you." Everyone else he's at least met in passing.

Potentially also a touch inappropriately bright, he's in a rainbow tie-dye t-shirt today, with extremely red skinny jeans and battered yellow Docs with rainbow laces, along with a pair of big round white-framed sunglasses pushed up into his curls, a plastic bag shaped like a chicken pushed up so that its handles serve as a very short shoulder-strap, and a black flannel shirt covered in subtle grey skull-and-crossbones and tied around his waist by its sleeves. Hey, it might get cold.

Nicole was there as well when poor Marcy went missing, so it goes to reason as why she joins the group again. Like Aidan, she knows most everyone present and greets them with nods and a lift of her hand as she comes walking up the path towards them. To Isi, she gives a sort of sad smile; happy to meet someone new, but not so glad it is in a situation like she presumes this might end up being.

"I am not really sure either," she says, though she is looking towards the tear that appears to those who shine. "I thought maybe one of you would, but, I dunno. Maybe we will feel her presence or something? Or a proverbial trail of breadcrumbs to follow?" She closes her eyes, testing for that feeling.

Isi gives a little finger wave at Ravn, then is just going to ask a question she is SURE to regret. "What did you do to your arm?"

Conner gets a half smile of greeting while the others get those nice polite nods that happen when the conversation has jumped past the introduction stage and blurting out one's name is just hella awkward. Hopefully they can pick it up at some point. She has that nice squeaky innocence of one who hasn't seen anything that can't be explained with some elaborate gymnastics of the brain.

Her loose hair blows back towards the door in the draft and she reaches up to smooth strands back down. The sheet on the floor with writing seems interesting so she wanders towards it to touch. Nothing could go wrong here.

The folklorist shrugs (and then instantly regrets doing so because bloody hell, ow). Wincing, he says, "The ritual those girls were conducting last time we were here -- I've never seen anything like it. Which probably means they were bullshitting their way through on some horse crap that some Veil creature or internet psychic fed to them. But the -- elkfish -- materialised inside that circle, and that means the thing, the portal, the gate, the whatever the hell it is -- it does work. I'd advice very strongly against stepping into that mess or the circle until we know it's not going to take anyone else who does. Or we all hold our breaths and jump in at once, whatever we agree on."

He glances at Isi. "So, teenage witches, it's apparently a thing. And so is giant floaty elk hippocampi that feed on the shine -- the elkfish. Arm? Long story. I'll fill you in over coffee tomorrow?"

Then the Dane glances at the plastic and points -- with the arm not in a sling -- at the tear in the plastic sheeting. "Looks like somebody else came and, uh, went. Down. I'll go along into the rabbit hole if that's what we agree on but I don't think I need my PhD to point out that this is a descent into the underworld kind of trope, and we're probably stepping Across if we do."

"If that's where Marcy is then that's where I intend to be, so I'm all for going in," Conner says, resolute. Ravn's knowledge gets a nod that's two parts admiration and one part thoughtfulness. He watches as Isi looks down to look at the writing. "Did you find anything?" he asks her. He honestly can't remember if he's met her or not...it's been a weird month.

He looks at the others, maybe a little embarrassed by his declaration, lifts a shoulder and says, "She may be dumb but she's just a kid."

"I was trying that feeling-her-presence thing but..." Aidan's brow is furrowed, and fails to smooth in the least as he glances to the others, "I don't feel her, but what's weird is, I kinda don't feel... anything much. Like, usually, there's lots of minds around, not just people but pets and wild animals and, you know, just everything. Well, everything alive. Uh, not counting plants. Anyway the point is, all I'm really getting here? Is us. Just us. Like... I mean it's kind of like no one and nothing that breathes's even been here in-- I dunno. A pretty good while, though."

How long a while is pretty good? Presumably something shorter than 'since they were here last', but from the way he glances around, one might not be sure of that. He eyes the torn plastic sheeting, absently worrying his lower lip with his teeth. "I think we might maybe already be in the Veil? Somehow. Usually there's something there too but-- I mean on the bright side if we are we can't get dragged Across twice, right? That'd just take us home." Though there are probably other places they could get dragged. Aidan eyes that tear again as though now that the sentence is entirely out, that possibility may have occurred to him too.

Nicole gives a nod when Ravn speaks about what is under the sheeting, not having too much more to add to it. Getting closer, (but not in the circle), she peeks. "It's not a very wide... staircase? But man, it seems to go on forever..." Aidan's observation gets a tilt of her head. "Really? Here?" To her, it seems very odd that he doesn't feel more. However, she then adds, "I wouldn't be surprised. The Veil has a way of snapping us up half the time without us even being aware..."

Again, she looks to the hole under the plastic. "So... do we take the stairs? And if so, who goes first?"

The trip down the hole is about 4' wide while the stairs wrap around the outside of the hole MAYBE about 1' wide leaving a 2' hole all the way to wherever the bottom is. As the group descends there seems to be the loamy and fecund smell of damp earth and the slight decay of leaves from last autumn, but it all seems carved out of the inside of a great tree. You're in a lumber mill. It's not a hard leap of logic to make. It is dark but occasionally lime green flickers of light fill the space down the middle.

Nicole just started turning this into a slip and slide as one shoe gives way under some of the ichor left behind by the elkfish creature. Really, Isi, ask about the elkfish at your own risk. They'll tell you.

Somehow, miraculously even, Ravn manages to not take a Nicole to the back when her foot slips. Why is this man in point? He must have beaten Conner to it by accident because the two of them already seem to have a great unspoken accord: Conner wants to be up and in front and Ravn really, really doesn't. Mostly because in a scrap, he's very well aware that he's about as useful as a wet noodle in a knife fight.

"Oi, watch it," he murmurs to the poor woman and tries to help her up one-armed. "I don't suppose anyone's got a torch? Let's... stay pretty close together. This place is supposed to be haunted to kingdom come, and we're definitely on the other side now unless lumber mills are built underground along with their forests these days."

"Stair wet?" Isi asks Nicole, following on Ravn's heels as they navigate the staircase. She keeps one hand upon the wall because safety guys.

She goes on tiptoes to peer around Ravn while stating something important that is actually a question. "Elk and fish are not the same thing."

Conner doesn't want to be in front in this case cause he thinks he's tough, so much as because he dragged everyone out here and so should. It's also possible the man just really hasn't suffered enough yet to have enough fear. Or he just has a madman or fool's belief he can take care of himself. Then again, so far, that supposition has borne out okay. He definitely would want to be in front over Ravn now because the other man is injured, but that's neither here nor there.

What he does do is produce a flashlight from his deep pockets. The amount of times he needs a flashlight in his line of work is high enough that he's almost never without one. Mrs. McHenny's garbage disposal sure requires him to stare into it to see what unacceptable thing she's crammed down in there this week often enough. Answering Isi, who he suddenly places...

"They're not. But the Felk is its own creature. It has way too many eyes, and the upper body of an elk and the lower body of some sort of mercreature."

He switches on the flashlight and says, "And there are more than one of them, apparently."

Aidan winces and moves like he's hoping to catch Nicole when she slips, but the steps aren't exactly made for more than one abreast. Even skinny ones. Still, an attempt is made to stabilize her if he can actually reach her, which he may well not be able to from where he is in this troupe. "Hopefully if we run into one it's the way smaller version that's just like... seven foot or something and not twentyish..."

Not a good memory, that bigger one. Which is saying something given the smaller one knocked over a police captain and stole a goth chick and all. He rummages in a pocket, at Ravn's question, and comes up with not a flashlight but a phone; it's not nearly so effective as Conner's proper one, but it does at least add to the light being reflected around them and off the stairs where they step.

"Fuck, fuck... FUCK! Sorry! Careful!" Nicole curses and tries to grab onto something solid to stop her fall when her Converse slip in the choir, sending her down a bit faster than she intended. It appears Ravn is that something solid, and she grabs his arm (his good one) to stop her descent. "Sorry," she says again as she manages to find footing again with Aidan's help as well. Lifting her hand off his arm, she realizes she left some ichor behind, which... smells. "Oh gods... I am so sorry... oh, it stinks..." And the poor unfortunate soul has is on her jeans, her elbow, and her hands from falling. It's a great start to an adventure, smelling like death. "You could say that," she says to Isi with a nod. "Be careful and yeah, elk and fish are separate... elkfish are... not right."

"Elkfish," Ravn murmurs. "It's a giant seahorse that ... floats. But instead of a seahorse upper half, it's an elk upper half. Hence, elk fish." Then he glances at Conner. "I did not know there was more than one. So we're looking at a species that eats the shine. That actually makes a hell of a lot of sense. The thing keeps popping up in strange situations and scenarios like it can't make up its mind what it wants or why -- but if it's an entire group of creatures acting like moths to a flame, that explains a lot."

His voice sounds a little strained, almost as if Nicole reaching for him for support is a far more up and personal experience than it actually is, and he's not entirely comfortable with the idea. All the same he holds on to her with that uninjured arm until he's certain that the hair dresser has found her footing. "If it's any consolation, some of us have smelled far worse recently," he murmurs.

And then, with a glance over his shoulder to Isi, the folklorist can't resist: "Welcome to the Other Side. Starting to feel real yet?"

Isi is suddenly very sad to have asked. The mental picture is just.... ugh. Ugh enough that it isn't until Ravn talks directly to her that she snaps back from her mental shiver to take a loonnggg look around.

Hopefully no one is walking right behind her because she just stops dead with an abrupt, "What the fuck?"

Conner looks up, completely expecting a ship to be about six seconds from falling on all their heads. When there isn't one, he is rightfully relieved.

He shoots Isi an almost apologetic look. "We weren't messing with you," he says earnestly. He looks over at Nicole, verifying that she seems to be alright, and then goes over to the trail. He crouches down to run the flashlight along it, just looking for some indication that the obvious path is the right one to take, vs. the...maybe not so obvious path? After all, nothing said the elk-fish had to take the road.

Anything that swims in air can probably take whatever path it wants. Anything that swims in air... It's never been far off the ground that Aidan's seen, but nonetheless he finds himself looking upward at that creaking of boughs, as though there might be that ship or one (or more!) of the elkfish up there. Neither, thankfully, though it does get a thoughtful remark: "D'you think this is what the waves sound like if you're in the ocean instead of on the shore?"

He wipes his hands off on the jeans without thinking about it. Hopefully he's got a good washing machine. Or a lot of quarters. A sidelong glance toward Isi, "New to this stuff, huh?"

Nicole is fine, just fine, just a bit dirtier, bruised, and sporting a scrape on her elbow than she thought she’d be this early in. Once again, she apologized softly to Ravn as she lets him go.

When the enter the... wherever they are, Nicole takes some time to look around at all the strangeness OG it, looking up when she hears the cream of wood, much like Conner, seeming relieved to not see a ship.

"It's fine," Ravn tells Nicole with a small, wry smile. "I saw you coming. Besides, don't want you breaking a leg here."

Then the folklorist's attention wanders and he murmurs, "I'll bet somebody coffee that this creature is not dawn and dusk active like a proper elk. I've only ever heard of sightings at night or in darkness -- even when the damn thing appeared at noon, it was in a dark room."

Isi's going through a mental issue that is namely, this is fine, everything is fine. Weakly she answers Conner and Aiden both with a vague, "Ah... yeah...."

She's drawn towards the trees and steps away from the group to go forward and touch the bone white trees. "This is just wrong," is muttered to herself as she goes. Her seeking fingers find markings and she pulls away. "Someone's been carving into this tree, a sun or moon or something." No specific person is called out to about that, just a general announcement.

Conner looks up at the sky again, and says absently: "I don't know for sure that there's more than one..."

He picks up this thread from several conversational thoughs ago, but he's been thinking about it for a minute.

"Except, the one we saw at the saw-mill was elk sized and the one Aidan and I saw the other day was...significantly. Larger. But there's nothing that says it isn't one creature that can't appear to be any size it wants to be. Still...that doesn't track does it? Because the one Aidan and I saw was trapped in a ring of trees, and the one that burst through the floor...burst through the floor...and we had elk things going before the floor burst one so..."

Neither here nor there. What is here or there: "Check it out. Everything is backwards here. Like Alice through the looking glass. Morning is evening. The inverse of what something would be like in the real world is likely to be true here, which means...maybe we should go the exact opposite direction from this path. Depending on what others find."

Aidan tilts his head at the idea of there not being more than one, and there's probably something involving the relative sizes of felk in mind-- but then, what else about them is normal?-- but then again, if the big one wasn't trapped it certainly would've come for them--

--but the question of opposites and what's been found has him doing a slow turn to take the whole place in again, put the smaller observations together. "Well... there's four paths, looks like? At, I mean I dunno what direction north is here but if we just decide one of them is north, then the others would be the other cardinal directions, look." He points at one after the other, 3 - 6 - 9 - 12 if it were an analog clock with the tree for center and hands.

"Broken branches on this one..." he moves closer to it, the one Conner mentioned, and glances toward Nicole, pointing at the nearest one, as she seems to also have noticed their odd presence. "Can you make out what those are? 'cause I can't." A glance over his shoulder, toward the opposite path, and he straightens up to go check whether it has them too. Looking to Isi, then back to the one he's just gotten a better look at, informed by her remark, he says, "...yeah. They look kinda like maybe moon phases? Or," this time the glance takes in the four points of paths, and settles back on Nicole, as though she might be the one to know, "a clock, maybe?"

"I would prefer not to break a leg anywhere, but yes, here seems a good place not to break it." Nicole is limping though, just a touch, barely noticeable most of the time probably. She whispers to Ravn, "Isi is... new to this?" Biting her lip, she remembers her first few encounters of things that go WTF?!?!?! in the night or day or whenever and wherever it felt like it.

"Well," she mentions towards Conner. "There are four paths..." She says at the same time as Aidan, then points towards them one after another, like her arm is a hand on a clock, as he mentions them, nearly in sync with his movements. She nods to him when he looks to her, and they go to look at the carvings. When Isi mentions the sun and moon she murmurs, "so that's what they are!" But tilts her head when Aidan mentions clocks. "Ooh. Maybe? Like, also in Alice. The rabbit is late, so late, for a very important date..."

Ravn nods slightly to Nicole; Isi is new to this, but he sees no need to embarrass her about it. Instead, he slinks over to watch the tree Isi has found. "If the elkfish is nocturnal, and there's a direction marked with a moon... Then I think we have our proverbial 'north'?"

"Yes, Isi is new to this," she replies for herself, smoothing her finger over the carving again before turning back to them. "If this is spirit stuff," Isi just glances at Ravn who will have the context to understand that, but then realizes that literally not one else, "I'm Yakama," a Washington native american tribe. "I lean towards moons. We've few myths about sunlight." See now neatly she just made that fit into her own cultural bag? See, this will be fine, it's okay.

Conner looks where Aidan and Nicole are pointing, and nods thoughtfully once he's picked out the path under their direction. "That would track," he murmurs to Ravn thoughtfully. "But if we're topsy-turvy, then..."

He turns to point to the six o'clock path with two fingers. "Then that path is the one we need."

And hey, this time there's no reason for him not to take point.