[07th January 2011]
[Shadows of the Ley-lines, Earth]
Power was surging the being notice, back and forth along the ley-lines, trying to find an equilibrium as ancient rivers of magic flowed beyond capacity once again, and new streams had been gouged where none had been before. Good and bad it knew of course as it 'fed' carefully from the wild, untamed, Weave-construct of this dimension; silently gathering strength and power while avoiding the attention of other powers. Or at least avoiding drawing any attention beyond necessary, or starting...anymore...unnecessary fights while it sought to consolidate its position before the storm began to rise.
Sadly that had proven more problematic than envisioned, and wasn't that the story if its life, and already its agents had come into conflict with several of the infernal powers; from the Lords of the Arakannone, to the return of the fallen god turned demon lord Nergal. Bloody typical really it considered to itself, but being more focused and perturbed by the fluctuations and flows within, and emitting from, its current subsidiary power supply. A great boon for those such as it, and it could feel the others mimicking its actions in their own ways after such a long dry spell in magic, but bad things were going to happen soon. Sadly it was too limited, no eyes and no ears of the faithful, upon the ground to do more than understand broad strokes of the what was occurring.
Not that the eyes of more powerful beings would see much in this dreadful haze of flowing powers, easier to hide but it did likewise for its foes, or potential foes. Gotham was one such spot though where it could manifest more strongly than most, worryingly so really; the place was a Hellmouth, a beating heart of Dark Magic and where the veil between realities grew weak. And also where pressure was building, and things long buried were beginning to wake...when they should not be, at least not in the here in now. Sadly that was the nature of his Herald, his Shard, to build creation with one hand, and yet bring destruction with the other; so much for an easy, study, slowly consolidate power and expand run as intended. Honestly, it was likely why the Boss Orc was so encouraging of such ventures it suspected.
The island fortress with its Temple was secure enough, as was the great sites of blasting power in Eurasia and the islands around it, so much as they could be secure at least. But mitigating the damage it had unintentionally caused combating the Chaos Lord with the other deities and elementals was going to be a truly difficult task; one beyond its own powers in their totality in the here and now. Gotham then would be where the first blow fell, where other powers moved in the shadows as it did; though were they seeking to cause good or ill in the wake it could not say. No matter, it had actual worshippers here in this place, bizarre really, to extend its protection too as best it could.
And a priest too, though the choice was purely pragmatic on both parts; perhaps why this one had such a strong connection to that part of its domain perhaps it wondered. Whatever the case such oddities had given it a dozen, young, oh stupid and young mostly, worshippers thanks largely to the organising of food and shelter for them over the cold harsh winter. That and it appeared the local Christian priesthood had been as corrupt, or just not being there, as were the rest of the wicked city's establishment; that and his less than ideal assassin-priest did have actual powers unlike the local drunken pimp who called himself a priest. If it had been mortal once again it would have snorted in sad amusement at the benefits of dealing with a population with such low expectations that not being outright evil, and simply keeping ones promises, earned loyalty.
Its agent called for power...hmm...engaged once again with that creature now that it risked confronting my empowered minion, so the being answered and the power it had accumulated flowed, a trickle but more than enough for a cleric to do damage to the damned. It watched, senses studying the city beyond...ah, the old warlock was waking it seemed, or at least it felt so. Time...time was ticking away, and already powers were beginning to stir sooner than hoped; it merely hoped the damage, and dangers, could be kept to the minimum as stopping what was to occur was beyond its power now...
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[07th January 2011]
[The Cauldron, Gotham City, New Jersey, United States of America]
The scene of the battle was...problematic he found stalking around the crime scene in the shadows. Another strange incident in his city, a drawn out battle with the body of something not entirely human left to rot in its wake. Gaining a sample had proven more difficult than desired, but less than anticipated as the local precinct seemed less inclined to cooperate with those sent over by Central. Perhaps unsurprising, one of the local patrolman had been supposedly slain by this...mystery creature, and all his investigations so far indicated a disturbing level of 'turning a blind eye' to events with The Cauldron of late.
What had bothered him most was the inability to discover the whereabouts of this, now dead, creature during its time within his city. He was the Batman, it was unacceptable to have allowed such a thing to move freely and kill amongst those he protected, and such had likely led to the situation shaping up within what was one of the worse areas of Gotham. It concerned him what he'd seen of late; some contract killers and other assorted scum had always been prone to assemble there, but now they had deemed fit to associate and enforce 'rules' upon rest of their ilk. They were getting organised for some reason, shaking down or outright eliminating any who broke these 'rules' or attempted to bring chaos into the area; all of which was under the protection of this 'Neighbourhood Watch' as they called it.
"Moyihan?"
He nodded silently to Robin's whispered question as they both watched the scene below them. All trails led back to that particular mercenary of late; strange behaviour, potential meta-human abilities, and sudden efforts to get this small part of the city organised. Even cooperating with the local precinct, beat cops and detectives alike;- indications of corruption spreading and needing to be stamped out, getting too organised. He frowned, before motion to move back up and over the rooftops as words echoed in his earpiece from Alfred indicating trouble in the Diamond district. The Cauldron unfortunately would have to wait some time to deal with...it was too orderly to risk upsetting the new equilibrium there while other areas festered. Tomorrow he would be better able to analyse whatever it was this thing had been, and whether it was a problem ended, or merely the signs of another to come.
"The Shrouded Lord? Fortune's God?"
"Yes, it appears to be recruiting, or perhaps a cover by Moynihan. Unknown, requires further data to study situation. Query him, but subtly, no apparent links, need to know more of how such beings are beginning to move of late. Wonder Woman concerned, not saying, but indications of general religious revival with magic and meta-humans" he answered Robin's question softly as the moved, jumping and running, then grappling from building to building. Diana was being tight lipped about things, but there was tension there of late, concern she tried to hide in regards her 'Gods' and events since the Children's Abduction and Starro Invasion.
He did not like such things, bad for his city, for the world; couldn't trust metas, and magic could be suspect in the wrong hands. Especially couldn't trust beings calling themselves Gods; arrogant, vain, too powerful for their own good. Gotham was his city, his responsibility, couldn't risk such things bringing their battles and petty problems here. Bad enough the numbers drifting in from the chaotic mess Bludhaven had fallen into since the invasion, or the growing gang wars with existing gangs he and Robin had been cracking down upon.
Gotham did not need more complications arriving from areas that should not trouble decent ordinary members of the human race. It would only escalate the power mad amongst criminals to seek out more meta abilities, or the darker aspects of magic to gain strength. One last grapple brought them to the district, noise indicating a fight still in occurrence as glass shattered and voices carried on the night. His feet landed lightly on the concrete of the rooftop, coming in silently behind the battle as he motioned for Robin to observe for now and wait for his decision to strike. His view was blocked by the softly whirling, but large and bulky, box fans generating a room temperature in the building below despite the frosty chill in the air; stepping forward, hopping up, and into view came...
"Ah, beloved..." he resisted a glare at the familiar voice as she spoke , giving him the barest of glances only as she danced out of the way of the whip strike "...you have arrived at last. One had been concerned you been delayed for our reunion, so to pass the time had endeavored to test the suitability of your mistress to remain in that roll"
Selina was breathing hard, suit sporting two bloody slashes as she dodged the sword wielding form of Talia Al Ghul, lashing out with her whip and claws as she did so. It seemed she managed to draw blood as well, a slashing upon Talia's face and shoulder that merely made Ra's daughter more enthusiastic about fighting he knew, feared, from experience. Bruce had had dreams, and nightmares, that had begun like this after all. Now he increased his wariness, standing in a guard position, feeling rather than seeing the presence of others on the roof top observing.
"Bats...why is your...huff...crazy...huff...girlfriend...huff...trying to...huff...kill me..." Selina managed to get out as the two engaged in a flurry of blow. It was clear Talia had not allowed Catwoman to escape from a robbery, though why she was doing so still eluded him.
"Talia, cease your attacks" he stated calmly but forcefully as he drew and readied batarangs in each hand "Explain!"
"Oh, just when it had become worthwhile my Beloved...hah...but as you request" Talia stated separating from the fight, Selina doing likewise in the opposite direction, with a back flip to land in a guard stand, blade back up and at the ready once again "hah...one has come on more important business than this distraction..."
Batman raised an eyebrow at her as silently Robin scouted out the area, faintest of noises in the earpiece indicating having found another "...I do believe it would be best if your apprentice would remain where he is Beloved..." she raised up one free hand and clicked her fingers "...only one of those loyal is in attendance I assure you while I gauged this one's worthiness"
"Fuck you, you crazy bitch..."
Batman ignored Selina's muttering as the Shadow came out from her hiding spot, dropping to one knee as she held a toddler in her arms. Ah, so it was definitely one of the nightmares he knew now as Talia gestured towards the child with the dark black hair "Beloved, I present to you your son Damien..."
'Definitely a nightmare' he thought to himself staring...scowling deeply as he summoned Robin into the light with a gesture before gesturing at a confused Catwoman to calm down. Launching an attack upon Talia now would only result in bad things happening. Or at least worse things anyway, as things had already reached a rather poor showing for the night with this. Indeed the world seemed to shiver slightly beneath his feet in the faintest of tremors before he managed to rally and forced his mind to deal with the task at hand. Such an outcome should have been expected...foolish not have a contingency in place he reprimanded himself silently...as he glanced at the boy.
"That does not entirely explain your presence in my City Talia"
"Why, we are to be a family now Beloved. This one has passed her test, as has your apprentice, and I bring gifts of knowledge. A bright shining future now lies before us"
He sighed, he could not help it. Tonight was going to be a very, very, long and miserable night he knew...
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