WYRDYSM GAMES

Friday, 8th of March, 2013.

Los Angeles, California, the City of Angels and the second most populous city in the United States of America. Among humans. As for demons, they seem to disproportionately be drawn to the city, perhaps because of the name, or perhaps for some other reason. Whatever it was, Los Angeles had more of the Fallen living in it than any other city in the United States, or the World.

The sun was still low on the Horizon, but Danielle Blackwell, the host of the demon Samekhel, was already awake. Having been woken by the ringing phone and a spiritual yell that was the Fallen equivalent of "Wake up you bitch and answer the phone!", when she finally did, she was greeted by the voice of Alistair McArthur, sounding rather breathless.

"Danielle! Finally. You sleep like the Goddamn dead sometimes." He grumbled, "Listen, turn on your TV. Channel 4. I think you'll be interested. Then you might wanna come to Court. It's going to be an interesting day."

******

Svarog's awakening was less rude. The sun coming through her curtains awoke her from her desk, where her host Pia had fallen asleep while tinkering with their latest work in progress. Pia's cellphone sat on the corner of the desk, blinking with a waiting message. It was from the local head of the Luciferan Faction, with a short, concise message "Court. Today. Be there."

******

Gabriel Lynch probably was already awake. It was hard to sleep in a tiny, busted up apartment with a domestic disturbance going on upstairs, especially when just half an hour earlier there had been a shooting over some drug deal gone bad. The police had already come to ask him questions, but of course, he didn't know anything. No one had been seriously injured, so he hadn't felt any particular need to get involved after the fact when the police had already been called.

His busted up phone started ringing. No doubt he was about to get the same invitation everyone else had.

******

Court, in this instance, was one of the local theaters in Downtown L.A. called the Halcyon, apparently closed for renovations, though there were no renovations going on today.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

Danielle put the phone down, and groaned sleepily - because that's what Danielle Blackwell would do, if she were actually here.

Samekhel found it somewhat strange - On one level he was worried, and knew that if he was called about it, it's gotta be urgent - Yet, here he caught herself starting to lay back next to a stuffed animal, and reluctantly pulled herself out of bed, pajamas and all.

As Danielle got out a brush and started on her hair, she flicked on the television in the corner of the room. Samekhel was already pondering the tip about Court -- It's not like arranging to be out of school would be excessively difficult.

...Court.
Gabriel heaved a sigh. Two months into this world and all he saw was ruin. The few glimpses of the vibrant Eden he vaguely remembered from the beginnings of creation contrasted greatly against the broken, shattered world that he was now in. The drug shootout that just happened only served to push the point home. He knew what he was- Adirael, named the "Magnificence of God" and given the title of the "Minister of Renewal".

That was all he remembered. A few Google searches of his name on his old desktop brought up some information- An angel thrown out for rebellion against god. That much was confirmed when he was approached by others claiming to be like him. All he knew now was that- If he truly was a fallen angel- He had to fix this world he once helped create. Another thing he had to do was to find out who the hell he truly was in the path.

For now, he was Gabriel Lynch.

And Gabriel Lynch wanted to know who Adirael was.

Gabriel checked his Sig Sauer and stuffed it into his jacket. Never know whether those drug goons were still lurking around in the shadows. The cops might've scared them off, but his experience as a soldier told him that if there were one constant in this world, it was insanity. It was better to be safe than sorry.

On top of that, he had no money and no car. He didn't have the starting money to rent a clinic to work as a general practitioner even though he had a basic degree, so he ended up working at a care shelter. The pay was horrible- but at least he was helping people.

Anyway, he had to get to Court.

Even though he wasn't a Cryptic, information was power.

Svarog's host grasped groggily at her desk, aiming perhaps to grab a piece of blanket. No such luck. In a few seconds, Pia Earnest registered where she had fallen asleep last night, and swore softly. The demon cursed his host's readiness to fall asleep when working late into the evening. Not a lot of staying power. But such was life as a human.

He beheld what his host had been slaving away on last night: A small plastic golem, ornately carved and painted a pristine white, with a little yellow "V" attached to its forehead. These little men were what the late Pia Earnest would build in her spare time, often leaving her homework unfinished. There wasn't time to catch up on it now, however. Upon grasping the dimensions of the message she found on her cellphone, Pia gently banged her head against her desk, before getting up with a groan.

She stuck a slice of bread into the toaster, as she did every morning. The moderately disagreeable R&B from her neighbour's boombox wafted up through the floor like always. Pia figured she still had some time before Court went into session. It wasn't far, anyway. So, steaming cuppa in hand, she started up her computer and browsed over to the imageboard that she frequented whenever she had time.

The mortals therein spoke of inane things (pop culture, politics, etcetera) with such vigor and strength of wording. It was entertaining to simply watch them. And strangely enough, Svarog felt no hesitation in joining them; not through the Internet, at least. It was in speaking face-to-face that he had trouble. A vague feeling of dread pervaded his soul whenever he spoke to mortal strangers, though at the moment he did not fully grasp why.

As for going to Court: Pia didn't see any harm in skipping her college lectures for today. While the invitation she received was rather skeletal in nature, her gut told her that something significant was going down.

_________________
"Please consider the environment before printing out this email."

That's an example of a good signature file, not the thing you have now where you say you're white and your symbol is a sunburst and your enemies are blacks and reds.

When Danielle turned on the television the first thing she saw was a wild-eyed woman that she'd seen before. The woman was standing outside the Catholic Church Danielle had routinely attended before he lapse of faith, being held lightly from behind by one of the other parishioners. In the background, police officers could be seen, the front of the church taped off.

"-so much blood!" The woman exclaimed, "Th-there was so much blood! A demon from the pit, that's what it was! Oh God, it... it killed them!"

"Is that what the man looked like?" The reporter asked, a young man with dark hair, "A demon? Wearing some kind of a mask?"

The woman glared at him, "It was a demon! He... it killed the priest! With its bare hands! Just ripped him in half! It... it said it was Legion, and that God... God had sent him to kill us all. Oh God..." She buried her face in her hands, weeping and shaking uncontrolably.

The parishioner holding her shooking his head at the reporter and lead the woman away. The reporter went to approach one of the police officers, trying to ask him questions, but the officer kept shaking his head and saying that they'd have to wait for an official statement. Finally, the reporter gave up, turning towards the camera.

"Well, there you have it. A horrible start to a beautiful Friday morning. For those of you who're just joining us, this quiet Catholic church was attacked this morning, while Father Robert Westridge and other members of the church were preparing for a charity drive later in the day." The reporter said, "At least three people are confirmed dead and several more injured. Reports from those who witnessed the events have been varied, but all agreed on one thing. A demon had attacked their church. Greg Woodword with KNBC News. Back to you in the studio." He said, sounding weary.

Well, that would explain the call. Danielle had seen Alistair standing outside the Church, talking with another police officer, while Greg had been reporting.

******

By the time Gabriel got to Court, the Theater was busier than he'd ever seen it. While Demons often liked to engage in all sorts of politics, rarely did they all meet together in one place, and even then, most Demons didn't care to show up, but whatever had caused them to call this meeting was getting a lot of attention. There were more Demons in one place than Gabriel had ever seen.

As he stepped into a theater, a tall, plain looking man in his late thirties with short, messy brown hair approached him, reaching out the grab him by the shoulder, "Adirael, you son of a bitch! I never see you here. Have you heard what this is about?" He asked.

The man asking the question was Afriel, a Devil who worked as a defense attorney, his host's name was James Campbell. Afriel claimed to have known Adirael during the War, and that they'd worked together, but Adirael's memories of the event were fuzzy. The man always wore a smug grin, as if he knew more than everyone else and was just quietly gloating over the fact, but he and Gabriel had always been on fairly good terms when they met.

******

While Pia was browsing the imageboard she came across a rather interesting message.

The OP had posted a picture of a magic circle. It looked just like any other fictional circle to the ordinary mortal, but Svarog knew its relevence. It was a legitimate summoning circle, for conjuring Demons from the Abyss. Not the sort of thing the a human should be posting openly on the internet. The message following the picture was short.

"DEMONS LIVE AMONG US.
THEY WEAR OUR SKIN, BUT BENEATH THEY ARE ROTTEN AND EVIL, MAKING BARGAINS FOR THE SOULS OF MANKIND.
OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE TRUTH!"

The OP hadn't posted again, and the thread had fifty odd responses, mostly people trolling. The discussion had somehow turned into a discussion of Bible Black. Way to go imageboards.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

Danielle began to chew on a bit of her hair, a habit that commonly manifested itself during finals, or other periods of high concentration. She hadn't been going often, lately, because while he could physically stand being there, the falseness and hypocrisy made him want to gag. Friends and family members were concerned, worried that her pain over losing her sister so brutally might cause her to lose her way.

Well, it was a bit late for that.

Still, it was the church that she went to. And for Samekhel, there was little doubt in his mind that he was being targeted, or at least warned. Legion... the name rung bells, but nothing concrete at the moment. While Hell would give pretty much any being a reason to be pissed off, he wasn't sure why this demon was pissed with him. As he made up his mind to investigate the church tonight, she checked herself in the mirror. With the uniform, kneesocks, and black and white oxfords, she looked every inch the Catholic schoolgirl she was. In her experience, this worked well to her advantage, since she could switch between the very image of purity and the stereotypical deviant, looking for any chance to break a rule.

Grabbing her keys, phone, purse, and bookbag, she decided to forgo breakfast, and with a wave to her parents, was shortly out the door, driving to the Halcyon.

Pia froze. This summoning circle rang a bell within Svarog's shattered memories, but he couldn't place its significance exactly. Fearing the thread would 404 before she could inspect it further, Pia quickly downloaded the image for later viewing.

Svarog was curious as to the nature of the summoning circle. Could the Demon it was to summon be somebody he once knew? It seemed important to him, as his recollection of his past was marred in places. He couldn't tell if he was feeling fear or excitement.

Pia looked at the time. The digital clock on her bedstand blinked menacingly at her, reminding her of every second that passed. Seeing the hour sent her into something of a frenzy. Recalling her schedule for today, she scrambled to get groomed and dressed. She slipped into her casual attire: a black zip-up turtleneck and a short, pleated skirt, over which she wore a subdued-looking jacket. She took a tentative step forward in her old loafers.

Before speeding off, she grabbed her sling bag and dry-swallowed her daily medication. Unfortunately, the door to her apartment wouldn't budge. She remembered now that a pair of college boys were scheduled to move in today... the assholes had left a couch in front of the door. She could hear the two students chattering outside, completely oblivious to her plight.

Whatever, Pia thought. She thought it was a good excuse to take one last look at the summoning circle. Svarog concurred.

Pia attempted to identify the nature and target of the summoning circle.

_________________
"Please consider the environment before printing out this email."

That's an example of a good signature file, not the thing you have now where you say you're white and your symbol is a sunburst and your enemies are blacks and reds.

By the time Danielle reached Halcyon, the place was quite busy. Several cars were parked in the normally abandoned parking lot around the theater. Human thralls were acting as security around near the back entrance, and all the other entrances were closed off. As Danielle approached the door, a large mortal raised a hand, stopping her.

"Name." He asked, politely, "I'm afraid if you're not on the list I can't let you in. This is an exclusive showing, Ma'am."

The other man standing at the door looked less polite, just as tall as the one who'd asked the question, and broader. The suit he was wearing was custom tailored Armani, but that didn't make him look any less like a violent brute. His fists were large, twisted knots of bone and sinew, as if he was just waiting for some uppity human to come and cause trouble.

******

Svarog stared at that summoning circle intently. Something bothered him about it. Something about it felt very wrong. And as Pia sifted through her Occult knowledge and scrutinized the image more and more closely, it finally became clear what was wrong about it. It wasn't a summoning circle. It was the opposite. A banishing circle. More specifically, a circle that was meant to be used to expel a demon from a human host and cast it back down into the Abyss.

Fortunately, the circle alone was useless. It would require a complex ritual, which thankfully hadn't been posted along with it. Even with a great deal of occult knowledge, just developing a ritual with the banishing circle already available would take months to figure out. Probably. But someone obviously had figured it out, and they'd posted the Circle, perhaps so others could do the same.

Svarog searched through his memories to try and narrow down possible suspects, but there were just too many people who could have come up with something like that, and he couldn't notice any particular tell-tale signs of the creator in the Circle itself. He had nothing else to go on. All he knew was that someone out there knew they existed, and knew how to banish them from human hosts. A frightening prospect.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

Gabriel/Adirael (Atrum): "Jame- no, Afriel. Good to see you again. About your question, I don't think I do, actually. Can't get much news from where I am, you know that. I don't come here much because most of it is high-level political bickering. You know I don't have the clout, the money or the intent to bother with it. Though, this must be something big. This place is flooded." Gabriel shrugged, "Wonder what it's about, though."

James/Afriel (NPC): "Yeah, no shit it's big." James said, chuckling and leading Gabriel over away from all the prying ears, "Major shit hit the fan this morning. Some raving fuckin' lunatic attacked a church settin' up for a fund raiser. Tore people the fuck up while in his Relevatory Form. And intentionally left witnesses. I'm talking twelve fuckin' people who all say a demon tore their Priest in half. And that's not even all of it."

Gabriel/Adirael (Atrum): "There goes Plausible Deniability out of the window." Gabriel muttered, "From what we have... Possible Ravener, probably tried a high-profile Reaping... Maybe low on Faith or trying to send a message, I guess. Odds are he's not involved with this Court. Hm. Do we have anybody out there investigating?"

James/Afriel (NPC): "Too many people. That's the problem. They're all trying to fuck each other over. And worse yet..." James glanced around, making sure no one else was within earshot before leaning in, "This wasn't just some crazy fuckin' Ravener, although I'm sure that's what everyone wants us to think. One of the witnesses said he overheard the demon, arguing with the priest. He said the name Abaddon came up. Fucking Abaddon. Abaddon's been disappeared from the Abyss for fucking centuries. Nobody knows where the fuck he went to."

Gabriel/Adirael (Atrum): Gabriel glanced around, trying to spot anybody spying on them. The name Abaddon meant something, from what he'd gathered from the time in Court."Abaddon... What? From what I gather, he was that crazy nut that burned Sagan, wasn't he? Didn't he escape and claim a host like the rest of us?" He paused, "Wait. I don't think it's him, unless he's flubbed it and gone horrifically low on Faith. Only a damn nut would make the headlines in such a high-profile manner."

James/Afriel (NPC): James chuckled and shook his head, "He disappeared from the Abyss before the cracks ever appeared, summoned by human mages. And as for possessing a human? Not a chance. He was an Arch-Duke. But the fact this thing even mentioned Abaddon is what's relevant. Nobody knows where the Arch-Dukes are. All of them were summoned from the pit hundreds or thousands of years ago by human magi." He mumbled, "I sometimes forget how little you remember, Adirael. Listen, this meeting is basically to tell everyone to stay the fuck out of it. Ignore it, go about your business. But there need to be some people looking into it. And I've recommended you to be part of the group that does."

Gabriel/Adirael (Atrum): "You... What? I'm a doctor, Afriel. I'm no detective. If we're going to find Lucifer and fix this world we have to stop it from burning first. But still, whoever's investigating might end up against this guy. Why not send a Devil? Or a Devourer?" Gabriel sighed, "I have time, but who's organizing this investigation? And who else is going?"

James/Afriel (NPC): "The court has agreed to two members from each represented Faction in the city to be assigned to the group, for the moment. Which means everyone except motherfucking Raveners, because they're just plain not tolerated. So far there's you, and another guy called Svorag, who's got one hell of a reputation as a weapon smith, who're representing the Luciferan Faction. The Faustians and Reconcilers haven't been able to agree upon representatives yet, and the one Cryptic rep that's been agreed upon is apparently inhabiting the body of one of the church parishioners. Name's..." He snapped his fingers, thinking, "Smekhell? Samikiel? I dunno, some nonsense like that. Either way, I've never heard of them. Anyway, things are getting crowded. Keep in touch, hm? I'll catch you later." James tipped an imaginary hat and slipped away, moving to start chatting amiably to a pair of people that Gabriel could have sworn he saw the Devil avoiding like the plague last week.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

Pia shook her head. A banishing circle, was it? Svarog didn't like the thought of somebody posting that sort of knowledge on the internet. The idea that some netizen was running about, with the intent of banishing Fallen, chilled him to the core. Was it someone in this area, or someone far away? Either way, he certainly wouldn't come off as a bore later at court. Not with this information in hand.

Pia stowed her occult handbooks, turned off her computer and hurried out the door. To her relief, the new neighbours had moved the couch out of the way in the interim. Once outside, she raised her hands to act out a powerful human summoning ritual. She summoned, with some difficulty, a taxi, which she boarded and ushered to the Halcyon.

Concurrently, a ping! noise resounded in her apartment room. A slice of bread emerged from a toaster, burnt and unloved.

_________________
"Please consider the environment before printing out this email."

That's an example of a good signature file, not the thing you have now where you say you're white and your symbol is a sunburst and your enemies are blacks and reds.

Samekhel acted mildly intimidated by the second man. People who tended to make threatening gestures in a physical form not only misunderstood power, they needed constant reassurances they had it. "D-Danielle Blackwell," she said with an artful touch of nervousness. 2 years of volunteering at a hospice, plus having to put a cheerful face around her sister for the past year, made Danielle into a fairly good actor. Fishing through her purse, she pulled out her driver's license, and showed it to them, pushing a bang of hair out of her face so they could better compare.

By the time Pia got to Halycon, Danielle was still waiting outside. The man who'd asked for her name shook his head as Danielle said her name and showed him her ID, idly tapping his clipboard against his hand, "I'm afraid we need your other name. If you're on the list, you should know what I mean by that." He added, "Sorry, Ma'am. I know this is more trouble than you usually have to deal with. Stop glaring at her like that, Robert."

The larger man snorted and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed really disappointed that nobody had caused any trouble for him yet.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

"Oh, is that so? Is that so..." Danielle replied, putting her ID away. Without even looking around first, she replied, "Samekhel. I'm afraid you'll just have to take my word for it, I hardly have an ID for that."

The door guard looked at the list, running his finger down it and then tapping a certain spot, giving a short nod of his head, "Alright, Ma'am, go on in." He said, moving to open the door for her, "Apologies for the inconvenience."

When Danielle entered, she saw just how busy Halcyon was. The place was packed with demons and thralls, all of them bustling about busily, talking amongst themselves. Shortly after Danielle entered, however, someone stepped onto the stage, moving towards the microphone, tapping it once or twice to get everyone's attention, before speaking into it, "Everyone take a seat, please. Quiet down." She said.

The woman was beautiful, with long dark hair and bright eyes, her beautiful figure clad in a long, beautiful red evening gown, though oddly she wore a blue jacket over it, and instead of heels, she wore combat boots. Definitely a strange combination, yet she was no less beautiful for it. And the other demons obeyed, all moving to take seats, their conversation starting to fade away. There was a good reason for that. Everyone Demon in L.A. knew who she was. Once, she'd been a Baron during the war, one of Lucifer's most trusted, and she was powerful. She'd been established in L.A. for years. Her name was Naamah, and her host was Angeline Foster, an Actress in Hollywood.

Once things had quietened down and people were seated, she started to talk, "I'm sure many of you have heard of the events that occured this morning. I'm sure many of you are worried, and I know many of you are trying to turn this situation to your advantage, in whatever way you can. I, and other high members of the council, along with representatives of the different Factions, have discussed this matter. It will be investigated, and the Fallen responsible will be dealt with. But to those of you who are not involved, stay out of the matter. Something like this threatens all of us, and we won't have everyone trying to interfere and turn things the way they like them."

"As the Cryptic representitive in L.A., I have nominated Samekhel to be part of the investigation, as I trust him implicitly, and his host already has links to the church that was attacked. The Luciferan representatives have nominated Svarog and Adirael, and the Faustian have not yet nominated anyone, nor have the Reconcilers." Naamah said, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets and smiling, "So, for those of you not involved, I have to ask you to just return to your business. Do not meddle or cause problems, hm? If you know anything, please get in contact with the investigation team."

She then turned her gaze to Danielle in the crowd, nodding her head to her slightly, "I'll be backstage, should the members of the investigation wish to discuss the matter.

_________________
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master.
Quality Control Enforcer

Pia approached the bouncers with some trepidation. She introduced herself as calmly as she could manage, and stepped into the Halcyon.

To her disappointment, she was informed that the main speech of the day was already over; also that she'd need to head backstage to discuss the issue with the rest of the investigation team.

_________________
"Please consider the environment before printing out this email."

That's an example of a good signature file, not the thing you have now where you say you're white and your symbol is a sunburst and your enemies are blacks and reds.