Chapter Two: Sunday Sermon

[Eanwulf]

Mr. Han and Esmeralda nod approvingly and move along to Tenebrous' workshop. Jack and Pilgrim head out to try and find Mr. Fowler. The rest remain in Tenebrous' apartment and try to occupy their time wisely.

Crystal gets her children to sleep on the Count's sofa, herself settling down with a nice glass of wine in one of the nearby love seats. Likewise, Luke enjoys a brandy or two himself (maybe three or four) across from the young woman and tries to make chitchat. For the most part Crystal is cordial enough and even gets to know the man a little better than she did before. Her mood however, is still shaken and quite unnerved.

Meanwhile, Ookami and Raging Tiger try to handle the dogs, the former doing his best to convey his wishes of having the animals consider the party their packmates and allies. In time, the animals are simply content enough to sprawl out upon the floor and pant softly as the others about them continue chattering. A few minutes later, several of them even begin to fall asleep.

Old Man Fowler handles Jack's and Pilgrim's arrival as one would expect, grumpily. His eyes show otherwise however, glinting with the hint of admiration and gladness as the heroes safe return. He also appears to be a tad bit nervous, though does not let on why. In turn, he too nods approvingly and begins to make several phone calls, trying his best to set up a visitation with D.Q. and the other members of La Mancha. In time, his efforts prove fruitful and the chance to speak with them about a possible release procured.

Retiring to the back of Count Tenebrous' workshop, the three wizards discuss their plans to rid Kongo and Ghede of their powers. The materials contained within the safe seem to be more than adequate enough form of necessary components needed to successfully perform the ritual. Discussing things further, Mr. Han proposes the following plan:

Mr. Han will serve as the Channel in his ritual. Summoning forth great power from beyond to serve as the basis of his spell, he will then proceed to channel such energy into another wizard; the Fulcrum.

Count Tenebrous will serve as the Fulcrum of the ritual. Chanting various incantations and refining the channeled power, Count T. will help shape the energies of the spell into something more appropriately needed to remove Kongo and Ghede of their powers. It is here that the ingredients found in Tough Luck's safe will be used. The withered moccasin's head does indeed belong to the original caster of the spell, and can be used to help undo it. The rest of the stuff simply serves as the basis of knowing what type of spell they're dealing with and how to counteract it.

Lady Esmeralda will serve as the Focus of the ritual; taking the harnessed energy of the refined spell, she will then focus it into one giant Nullify effect that should permanently remove Kongo and Ghede's powers and return them to their normal selves.

[Trogdor]

Count Tenebrous sits in a leather chair at a small table rereading some of what was in Tough Luck's journal. The room is spacious, and quite satisfactory as a magical workshop, even if it was a step down from the workshop in his sanctum sanctorum. The sorcerer puts his finger on a spot, then gestures to a book on the far end of the table. The book lifts itself up, moves over, and opens itself before him. He reads a few paragraphs, then nods.

"I think I've pieced together the right incantation to make maximize the power of the 'fulcrum' in this ritual." The count makes a few notes in a leather-bound journal of his own. "Is there a particular day or time you'd like to conduct it, Mr. Han? I'm still getting up to speed on the magical energies in this dimension."

[Eanwulf]

OOC

Trying to get this wrapped up and all of us moving on to the next Chapter. Bear with me

Mr. Han nods gratefully to Nikolai and comments. "Good to hear Nick-san. Hai! Very good!" Pausing to assist Lady Esmeralda on interpreting a particular spell needed to complete her part, the old man continues. "Hai, yes! We need to perform ritual at Midnight, precisely Midnight." Adding, Mr. Han's voice lowers. "In a graveyard, funeral home, or morgue..."

OOC

Sadly, the spell needs to be performed where death lingers and the dark loa bound to be found. Traditional voodoo is done in the cemetery.

Flavor post amongst yourselves as I type this long ass Finale up. Consider all spoken knowledge known amongst one another. You now have to find a place to hold the ceremony. Your choice: graveyard, funeral home/mortuary, or morgue!

[Eanwulf]

OOC

Seriously? No one posted? Everyone as busy as I am? You just found out that you have to head to a graveyard for Pete's Sake!!!

Moving along however, I'll wrap this Chapter up and do one brief sub-Chapter on the ritual, allowing you the chance to redeem yourselves

Those that went to see Retro and D.Q.?
The affair went as one would expect. D.Q. showed great hostility towards the males and refused to cooperate at first. Upon hearing that Lady Esmeralda was all-but-fed up with the woman's actions, her mood curbed greatly. Apparently, D.Q. is a lesbian and has the major hots for her leader. As such, she kicks into submissive/cooperative mode really quick and agrees to help everyone out. Retro is another story and takes some major convincing before he finally relents to join the cause. He is typical Latino, cocky and full of machismo. He seems to go along with D.Q. out of the arrogant notion that he might actually one day bring D.Q. over to the dark side (i.e. heterosexual) and make her his woman.

Raging Tiger shifts his weight, his demeanor uncomfortable at the mentioning of having to perform the ritual around dead people. He's seen his share enough of them already; his beloved departed wife amongst those included. Still however, the stalwart hero remains calm and listens to what the others have to say before passing final judgment and agreeing to tag along.

Pilgrim feels strongly that the Lord shall protect the group during their ordeal, though too shows strong signs of displeasure in conducting such acts as those that would normally resemble the acts of 'necromancy' in an otherwise consecrated and sanctified region. Knowing the ritual shall actually 'rid' the world of two very powerful evils however, seems to bring some comfort the young black man and plays a most important part in getting him to agree in going along with the others. He does however; insist that the group prays with him upon the matter upon several occasions. Jack's inner demon of course, protests greatly.

In the end however, our heroes ultimately decide to conduct the event in Hoboken Cemetery; located at 5500 Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, New Jersey. Bordered on either side by both the Machpelah Cemetery and Flower Hill Cemetery, the Hoboken Cemetery's history dates back to 1856 and seems to be the ideal place to perform the ritual. Clearing things with the local authorities, Old Man Fowler and Mr. Han accompanies the others to their destination. Crystal and her two children respectfully decline.

OOC

Moving on to a new (though brief) sub-chapter once written. Great job with your preludes. Everyone gains 1 PP for later use!

[Chanur]

Luke goes with the magicians. He knows there is not much he can do here but should things go wrong and it become a Night of the Living Dead scenario he can at least bash some skulls he thinks morbidly. Walking along silently wearing his work boots and some blue jeans with a black shirt and light jack he keeps pace. He has never cared for cemeteries and their current situation has done nothing to change that.

[ardh05]

Ookami also follows, curious about the ritual and unsure about the significance that Mr. Han seemed to put on it being in a graveyard.

[Eanwulf]

OOC

All these MIA players! What's a GM to do

Possessing little in the way of any signs of a keen interest in attending the midnight ritual at Hoboken Cemetery, our group procrastinates for what time they can to ensure they are ready, before eventually making their way there. In time, the stage is set and with pieces in place, a ritual started!

OOC

Moving over to THE RITUAL really quick before starting up a new Chapter.