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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Mar 10, 2021 21:42:14 GMT -8
And there they were. The magic words that helped shift Lucas's attitude. There was a need for him and his expertise. Maybe it was all a lie that was being told to get him to play along, but Rowan invited him into his personal Hollow and he was being persistent, that had to be worth something. Plus, even if it ended up being a lie, it wasn't like Lucas was setting himself to get stabbed in the back or putting his soul on the line. He had a lot to gain out of this and so far the biggest risk in terms of loss was potentially having his ego bruised somewhere along the way. All-in-all, it was looking to be a good trade off.
The fairest set his mostly empty glass of coffee down and straightened his shoulders up. His vividly blue eyes were locked onto Rowan. In that moment, his full presence and those dashing good looks of his were intently focused on the other Changeling. If he was going to be playing the part of the noble researcher trying to save lost souls and alleviate the suffering in this adventure of theirs, he might as well look the part.
"You have my word that I will not share whatever we come across during our initial research or anything we've discussed about the matter today with anyone else. " This time around Lucas set it up so that his words could be sealed with a glamour by Rowan.
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Post by Rowan on Mar 11, 2021 10:33:48 GMT -8
As Lucas spoke, Rowan wove Glamour around then, Sealing his sentence. He wasn't happy with it. This wasn't what he had asked for and he was forced to take it. And with that smile, to add insult to injury.
If it hadn't been for the counter behind him, he would have likely backed off. It was too much, he wanted to leave, he couldn't bear it.
As a Hedge breeze blew through the cabin, it took away Rowan. Like so much dust blown away. For several seconds, there was trace of him, before he reappeared behind Lucas, at the other end of the room. "Don't do that." He moved to the table in the middle and sat down. "It's not what I asked for, but I'll take it. It's Golden Boy."
"He went poking around places of power, trying to make sense of the Wards. He said it was connected to the Rites somehow. He likely won't talk to you - he dodged the subject when I offered last time. But we could dig around and see what we can find on our own? From what I can tell you, the beads, the Wards and the Rites, they're all connected to necromancy somehow."
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Mar 11, 2021 13:48:35 GMT -8
Lucas blinked a couple of times, looking baffled when Rowan suddenly went poof.
When he reappeared and spoke up, Lucas was even more confused for a brief moment.
Don't do what? Don't smile?
No, that's probably not what Rowan meant. He probably meant to not be so intense. Sometimes Lucas forgot that not everyone found such a strong presence to be comforting and instead it could be overwhelming. He studied Rowan again for a moment to try and get a better read on him once more.
Whatever the reason, Lucas didn't try to argue with Rowan over the word choice. He didn't want to risk creating any more tension especially when Rowan was rolling with it regardless.
"Heh, yeah. I have couple of guesses as to why he won't talk to me given what he was up to. No point in trying to force that issue at the moment. Doing our own research and digging around is the better option." He held off on rummaging through his thoughts. There was a lot of information he needed to sort through and give it the proper time and attention it deserved to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together properly. It would also be easier to bounce ideas off of Rowan when the tension had passed as well.
"When do you want to get started?"
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Post by Rowan on Mar 11, 2021 15:10:45 GMT -8
"As soon as we find a useful lead. Short of walking up to Samedi, I have no idea where to even start."
Rowan stood up and went off somewhere, returning with pens and paper. He also had some strings to help them make connections. He put everything down and sat again. His hand went over his face before he spoke again.
"I'm worried. I feel like I'm sitting on this huge bomb and I have no idea what to do with it. I'm grasping at straws while the timer is ticking down. You said it yourself - I have no idea how long Golden can still hold on. Can you pass me the smoothie?"
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Post by Lucas Chevalier on Mar 12, 2021 5:05:20 GMT -8
Lucas was quiet while he listened to Rowan. When asked, he handed the smoothie over to Rowan. Then Lucas stood up to make himself more iced coffee. Since he couldn't get a good read on Rowan, the best option was being honest. Most people in Lucas's experiences were generally more forgiving towards him if he put his foot in his mouth if they sensed he was being authentic with them.
"I have an idea of where to start." Lucas rejoined Rowan at the table. His voice was gentle because what he was going to share wasn't an easy thing but it was important for their research.
"It sounds like whoever is behind this is trying to condition him to be Claimed. If that happens, then an entity is going to permanently attach itself to him until the entity or whoever is controlling the entity decides to detach the entity from him." There's was a subtle forlorn touch to Lucas's voice, like this is something he had witnessed before.
"The upside is the fact that Golden Boy has been able to endure this since September makes me think he's either learned something that is helping him protect himself or he unknowingly stumbled across something in his investigations that is helping protect him. And now he has the two of us helping him. I don't know about you but my social calendar is pretty empty, so I've got lots of time to dedicate to helping out." He grinned a very small grin this time, only turning up the brightness of his grin by one notch rather than cranking it all the way up to 11.
"Let's try researching possession and exorcisms first and see what we come across. If we don't find anything there, we can investigate a few places on foot and see if anything we come across there helps us figure out what to research next."
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Post by Krakenbox on Mar 14, 2021 22:42:06 GMT -8
Possession requires the target to be conditioned over a long period of time to accept the presence of the ghost and cause them to become Open. Lucas should be looking for either a learned helplessness where the individual feels they have lost control over the presence of the ghost, or the other extreme where they are oddly calm and accepting of it.
Wearing down a target manifests with the usual signs of stress, but also missing gaps of time or memories they do not recognize as theirs. Ramping up stressors allow a victim to become easier to dominate, where they often end up performing small services to placate and please the ghost to gain a sense of agency.
Motivations for possession entirely depends on the ghost, though the top reason is to complete a task they were unable to achieve before death and require a permanent, physical presence to act. The ability to manifest requires extreme circumstances that give the ghost enough motivation to fight the very nature of the universe that wishes to keep them contained. A ghost aiming for possession has experienced something significantly traumatic.
The idea of a ghost existing out of joy for life, or love being too powerful to let go is media schlock.
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