\ Haven:Mist and Shadow Encounterlogs/Alexis Odd Encounter Sr Lucy 241121
Encounterlogs

Alexis Odd Encounter Sr Lucy 241121

Alexi's day takes a turn from the mundane to the extraordinary when a masked figure urgently beckons him and Lilian, a young woman he was supposed to have drinks with, into a hidden, underground chamber beneath a clinic. Inside, they're confronted with the sight of a cult enacting a ritual to summon an eldritch entity. With the cultists fully engulfed in their ceremony, chanting incantations around a massive sigil with an ominous, pulsating orb at its center, the pair find themselves at a crossroads. They could either attempt to disrupt the ritual, risking unknown consequences, or retreat and plan a more strategic assault. As they deliberate, Lilian discovers a glowing, ornate cylinder in her pocket, an artifact capable of corrupting the ritual but with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Opting for action, Alexi decides to disrupt the cult's plans. With a knowing glance shared between him and Lilian, he throws the arcane relic towards the ominous orb, simultaneously firing a bullet in a last-ditch effort to hinder the ritual's completion. The intense situation is underscored by Lilian's readiness to use her shadow-walking ability to whisk Alexi away, emphasizing her refusal to leave him behind should their actions backfire. The culmination of these events portrays a tense and uncertain conclusion, leaving both characters in a precarious position as they confront the eldritch horrors unearthed beneath the clinic. Their combined efforts highlight a budding partnership faced with the supernatural, marking the beginning of what promises to be an extraordinary saga fraught with danger and enigma.
(Alexi's odd encounter(SRLucy):SRLucy)

[Wed Nov 20 2024]

On Warden's Way
Smooth asphalt roads continue through this part of town, bordered on either side by well maintained concrete sidewalks. Where the street is widest small median islands appear with old twisted trees planted in them. The buildings that line the street seem quaint, but well maintained.
It is dusk, about 53F(11C) degrees, and there are a few dark grey stormclouds in the sky.

(Your target and their allies stumble upon a hidden meeting of The Black Flame in an underground chamber beneath Haven. They witness a disturbing ritual to bring forth an eldritch entity. They must decide whether to intervene and disrupt the ritual, potentially bringing the wrath of the cult upon them, or gather information and retreat to prepare for a better counterstrike against the cult.)
Alexi is standing outside the Clinic nearby his large truck, smoking a cigarette as seems to usually be the case. He's passing messages back and forth with someone on his phone, half distracted and that's probably why he hasn't gotten into his vehicle yet.

Lilian thankfully remembered to put clothes

Lilian thankfully remembered to put clothes

Alexi contniues to pass texts, apparently trying to secure a drink out with someone - succeed or fail!

From the a corner of the clinic, a figure slips into view, cloaked in black. The gleam of a metallic mask catches the faint streetlight, it's something like an opera mask. Their breath comes quick, and their eyes dart nervously, like a rabbit scenting a wolf, "Alexi." They hiss, urgency wrapped around the single word, "You need to come see this. Now. Bring the girl."

"No time. Just follow me." Without waiting for confirmation of Alexi's intention, the figure turns, disappearing into the yawning mouth of a nearby alleyway.

Lilian would have exchanged a few texts with Alexi and then, finding that her texts weren't going through... drags herself out of bed while the sun is still high in the sky. There's a hiss of annoyance as she sets out to find the handsome deputy that asked her out for drinks. One hand shields her sapphire eyes from the sun and before she can even greet Alexi the masked figure appears. "Your days are very interesting Officer." She tells the man by way of greeting and gestures for him to go first.

Sapphire eyes squint against the light of the sun until they make their way into the dark alley anyways. Lilian's knee length cloak covers most of her skin from it's rays and white teeth are shown as Lilian runs her fingers through her hair, briefly combing the short strands.

Well, if Alexi does manage to lure Lilian out, though it's probably more the other way around - the approach will be not even the strangest thing to happen to the young Deputy today. He blinks before giving a resigned sigh. "Either I'm gonna be the most creative date ever, or my luck is just BAD" he murmurs, giving a little glance toward the woman who's probably once more got no real choice but to get dragged along on some Deputy business that's none of hers! "So it seems" he says before tucking his unlit cigarette now into the corner of his mouth. It stays there with precarious, practiced balance. "What's this about now?" He wonders before slowly following the man. "Gotta be better than boring. At least some days" he offers to Lilian. The man looks kind of like the monks that work White Oak, but he's not sure if this guy is even one of them.

"Sorry about the timing" Alexi mumbles, when he sees the hand lift, and the squint. "Should've thought of that. "

Lilian makes her way to Alexi's side and smiles up at the man for a moment at his words, "With all your adventuring have you even slept a wink?" She asks teasingly, widening her eyes slightly as she tries to hook his arm with hers at the elbow.

The alley swallowed the pair whole, the flickering streetlight at it's entrance fading. The masked figure leads them through a maze of backstreets. Every so often, they glanced over their shoulder, the blank gleam of the mask catching faint light, ensuring their two very confused followers hadn't faltered.

Before too long, they stood before an old storm drain cover nestled in a forgotten corner of the backstreets, half-hidden beneath vines and years of grime. The figure crouches and pries the cover loose with a metallic groan, revealing a ladder descending into pitch-black depths. "This is it." The distorted voice announced, gesturing toward the now open hole, "The entrance to the chamber beneath the clinic."
line "My purpose ends here. What happens below...that's for you to decide." In one fluid motion, a smoke grenade was produced and hurled at the ground. By the time the smoke began to thin, there was nothing left. The figure had vanished, as though the ground itself had consumed them. Mysterious.

"A little?" Alexi offers toward Lilian as he moves through the alley. He doesn't seem bothered by the hook of an arm through his; keeping one hand free though just in case. He blinks, but his instincts see the motion as the man goes to throw the smoke bomb and he tries to shut his eyes to at least avoid the sting but it does its job and the man's gone. "Definitely not my normal day." He glances down the hatch, shaking his head almost. "First a body, and now a sewer. My luck IS bad." But then he's moving forward, huffing an annoyed breath of resignation.

"And whatever other adventures you're supposed to tell me over a drink." Lilian tells Alexi, turning her head away but not really seeming to be bothered by the smoke. She waits for it to disappate before walking up to the sewer with pinched eyebrows. This is definitely not her idea of an ideal date. With a soft sigh and a glance over at the man next to her, her fingers reach up to undo her very expensive real fur cloak, pulling it from her shoulders before she finds a safe, dry and hopefully clean place in the alley to stash it. "You're gonna owe me more than just another drink for going down there." She informs the man.

Lilian says "A real drink"
"That seems perfectly acceptable" Alexi says with a nod to Lilian, flashing her an apologetic grin. "As long as it's not my life savings, I'm fair certain I'm good for it."

Chanting grows louder with each rung climbed. The ladder seems endless, but by the time Alexi's boots hit the floor, the air had grown colder, heavy with unnatural weight. A dim, flickering glow illuminates a tunnel ahead. The sound of the chanting was clearer now, the words incomprehensible, but beyond a crumbled wall, a circle of robed figures surround a massive, intricate sigil etched into the stone floor, glowing faintly with an otherworldly light. At it's center stood a pedestal, and upon it, a dark, pulsating orb that seemed to draw the light in, devouring it.

Suddenly, something in Lilian's pocket begins to glow. Something that hadn't been there earlier. If she were to investigate, she woulld find a small, ornate cylinder, etched with symbols that glowed faintly in her pocket. For whatever reason, it seems to glow brighter the closer it is to the orb on the pedestal.

Lilian laughs softly, her sapphire eyes lifting up to meet Alexi's for a moment before she gestures for him to descend into the deep darkness of stinky hell. She follows him down the rungs of the steel ladder, trying to keep the clang of her boots at a minimum. If Alexi were to glance up at any time during his climb, he would probably find a lovely view of her garters and underwear as she carefully follows him.

Lilian frowns when they see the cultists though, trying to remain quiet although the chanting probably helps with them not being noticed. Her hand slips into her bag - because let's face it since when does womensware have pockets and she plucks out the glowing cylinder to show Alexi.

Climbing down the ladder .. who's to say? Alexi seems comfortable of a sort in this kind of environment though, leading one to wonder about the things he gets up when he's not on duty. Waiting for Lilian, the pair of them will creep forward as stealthily as possible. There's a soft curse underneath Alexi's breath as the sight comes into view. "Twice in one fucking day, these things" he mutters to himself more than anything else before turning his attention back towards Lilian, then back to the robes. He tries to discern if thes people are human or something more, but his instincts still see his hand dropping to his waist, reaching behind the back of his shirt where an IWB holster is tucked away. Drawing his sidearm, he quietly pulls back the slide to check the ammunition is loaded properly. Eyeing the cylinder, he mouths a silent question, wondering if Lilian has any insight beyond the obvious.

Yeah, Alexi definitely gets the impression that Lilian is definitely more in her element than he is in his.

Lilian sighs softly as up above them the sun sets. She leans in close to Alexi, ignoring the loaded weapon he's pulled from his trousers for the moment. Her sapphire eyes gleam in the darkness, reflecting the light of the cylinder in her hand as she tries to see if there are any markings on it.

As someone scrutinizes the artifact, a sense of recognition begins to dawn. She may have seen one of these before. It's a powerful relic, favoured by sects for it's ability to disrupt and corrupt the eldritch. It's meant to destabilize, to make things unpredictable. In the presence of rituals, especially ones involving powerful entities like the orb.

The artifact could easily cause the ritual to collapse entirely, or it could open a rift to something worse, something far beyond the intended scope. But one thing is certain: if it's brought into proximity of a power like that orb, the ritual will not unfold as planned.

As the ritual continues, unimpeded, the orb at the center of the chamber intensifies. The air around it shimmers, warping with the unnatural energy being funneled into it by the chanting cultists. Each syllable they utter seems to fuel the orb further, drawing it closer to completion.

As Lilian scrutinizes the artifact, a sense of recognition begins to dawn. She may have seen one of these before. It's a powerful relic, favoured by sects for it's ability to disrupt and corrupt the eldritch. It's meant to destabilize, to make things unpredictable. In the presence of rituals, especially ones involving powerful entities like the orb. The artifact could easily cause the ritual to collapse entirely, or it could open a rift to something worse, something far beyond the intended scope. But one thing is certain: if it's brought into proximity of a power like that orb, the ritual will not unfold as planned.

As the ritual continues, unimpeded, the orb at the center of the chamber intensifies. The air around it shimmers, warping with the unnatural energy being funneled into it by the chanting cultists. Each syllable they utter seems to fuel the orb further, drawing it closer to completion.

Watching Lilian for some sense of answer, Alexi turns his gaze only briefly back toward the cultists. If they're only human ... but no. Rarely is the answer so easy as that. He grunts under his breath before glancing at the object in Lilian's hand again. "What do you think?" He whispers at the woman who for unfathomable reasons has followed him down here. "Something good, or something bad?"

Another sigh leaves Lilian's lips as she gets to her tiptoes, pressing her body up against Alexi's for a moment so that she can reach his ears. Her breath dances over the helix as she whispers. "They're trying to summon an eldritch being. Is that taught at HPD 101?" The question is doesn't really need answer. "Looks like your masked fan really wants it to be stopped." One hand presses the glowing object into Alexi's hand. "This will um.. corrupt the ritual. It might just stop it.... or it might rip a tear into the fabric of this world and let them all pour in so uh..." She rocks back on her heels with a wide eyed look. "The responsibility is all yours Officer. Just chuck it at the middle...'"

Eyeing the device ... Alexi nods and scoops it up from Lilian's hand. He gives a wince and then with something that looks like he's thrown a grenade or two before he give the thing an overhand lob of the thing to try and toss it right over toward the middle of the room, right at the base of the pedestal that holds the orb! "Here goes nothing" he says with an almost manic grin shot toward the woman with him before he looses the throw. Then he's lifting up over whatever cover they're hiding behind and taking one simple piece of aim. He fires a bullet toward the ORB itself, wondering just how fragile it's going to be. Meanwhile, He's standing now, so he's making a motion with his off hand, Lilian may still be out of sight. He gestures back the way they came - at the very least he can create commotion while she can make a more clean escape. That gunshot will no doubt be LOUD, in the tunneled confines of the sewer access, here.

A hand grabs the back of Alexi's shirt, bunching it up as there will be no self sacrificing of her date on her watch. Not that they've even managed to go on a date yet given ww3 breaking out everytime they're together. "Let me drag you." Lilian tells the man, ready to shadowwalk them back to her dorm if anything decided to pounce on them.