2019-09-10 - Ancient Orders

Summary:

A rag tag group of Bats investigate another site.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Tue Sep 10 04:23:51 2019
Location: Staten Island

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

ken-haradabarbara-gordoncassandra-cainphobos

Meet Batgirl at 2330 The message had appeared on Phobos' and Orphans' Oracleapp with a location marker. They'll both recognise it as the building they'd fought in the other day. The one were … *strange things* … had occured.

When they get there, the blackclad redhead is crouched in a room to the back, inspecting something carved on the floor.

The only colour visible from this angle is the braid of crimson that falls down her back. Hovering to the side of the door, facing it, is a small drone shaped like a bat.


The information got through to Alexander and he had used Orphan's trick of getting across town quickly by riding atop of some of the elevated trains. It allowed a more rapid traversal… and hey it saved a few dollars as well. Which, for a student of limited means was a positive. Though he did leave early enough to get there ahead of the scheduled meeting. Just enough for him to be able to make a quick round about the perimeter.
Once that was done it was into the building proper, moving quietly clad in the leather and kevlar suit with the pink kitty patch on the shoulder. Not anywhere near as nice as the BatGang, but it served. And it had pockets. Which was a plus. It also had a mask, though it just covered the bottom of his features like a desperadoes. Though it did nothing to hide a monster of a bruise on the side of his face.
Once he spotted Babs he approached quietly, foot scuffing at a point about twenty feet back to give her awareness in case she wasn't already. Then he cleared his throat at about ten feet close. "Batgirl."


Cassandra Cain was already in Staten Island, she has Nightwing's patrols to tack onto her day so she started at sundown. She didn't sleep in her bed last night at Barbara's, but the young woman's been living alone longer than she's been with people. Besides, Barbara could tell exactly where she was.

Alexander might get a bit weirded out when he learns just how 'wired for sound' Cassandra's costume is. Talk about Big Sister is Watching.

Orphan drops down a moment after Alex does, stepping up beside him and giving Barbara a short wave.


Batgirl had been able to get more on her last encounter out of Oracle. Including the man's likely full name and address. It's cheating just a little but only a little. As it turns out a lot of that information - on the name at least - was readily available from public sources. Or if not that, sources that are not very heavily encrypted.

Batgirl, there is an unknown person approaching. Analyzing. It is the individual we suspect of being the Silver Samurai. Oracle broadcasts that to everyone connected to her network in the area.

And she's right. Cameras have spotted a man getting off a motorcycle which wouldn't be that odd except for the fact that he's wearing two swords and a demon-like menpo.

It isn't long before he's pushing the door open. He is not quiet. Or at least not as quiet as the Bats or Phobos but then it doesn't seem like he's trying to be. Like he's possibly not worried about whatever might be in the room. Which is probably a bit overconfident but there it is.


Welcome Phobos. You're exactly on time. I'm pleased that I didn't need to set an alarm. That's the Oracle app and it's *sassing* Alex as Batgirl turns to face the youth well before he starts he scuffing.

The Pink Kitty motif has the redheads lips curling slightly under her mask, but there's not indication of the humour from the hood. "Hello Kitty." Is all she says.

"Orphan, I hope you're keeping him in line." That's signed to the smaller woman who comes in so silently. Oh yes, Babs has noticed Cassandras' absences - she might even lament them slightly, not that she'd ever tell.

"I thought you'd like to go through here with me, see what we can find from the other night. What I've got from the data you've sent isn't … encouraging." The redhead signs as she moves, making sure Cass see it. "We've a visitor."

By the time the Samaurai walks through that door, she's looking at it. "Hello Ronin." No, that's not his name. Not at all.


Alexander is on the job and on the clock when Batgirl is around so he smiles, though hard to tell behind that mask, and nods to her as the Oracle app gives him the backsass. His lip twitches a little at the greeting then he looks sidelong toward Orphan and shares another smile with her, though she can perceive it fairly easily. He doesn't say anything at first, holding his tongue as he listens.
She then mentions the site and what passed there, so Alexander nods. "If you need a recounting of the events I can try my best, Batgirl." Though he does suspect, at this point, that she had a clear vision of the things that happened through the equipment in Orphan's mask.
Then Ronin makes himself known and Alexander tilts his head to the other masked man. A single step to the side is taken, and if the youth was wearing a blade Harada might well imagine it had been to clear the line of a left-handed draw. Curious.


Cassandra Cain brings her arms, up one fist punching into the palm of the other to agree that yes. She's keeping Alex in line. The cowled and hooded head tilting towards him and a smile faintly hilighted in the shadows.

When Batgirl talks about going through the scene, Orphan perks up a bit and moves over towards the taller woman with some interest. The whole detective-ing is new and holds some interest.

It would really be easier if she could read, though. And by easier, we mostly mean on her teachers.


There's a slight tensing when the door swings open to reveal so many people. "You." He says to Batgirl. "Are like a bad rash." Always where he needs to be and also kind of itchy. Alright, the metaphor breaks down a bit there.

Phobos' movement catches his eye and his expression focuses. However there doesn't seem to be a fight in the offing. Not yet anyway. So…

"Well. You seem to have a lot of children, Batgirl, that you need more than one day to bring them all to work."

He eyes the other two. "And who might you be?" That's asked of both Cassandra and Phobos.

"You know what she's gotten you into, do you not? Or did a god also ask you two to involve yourselves in this mess?"

Because that was the claim Babs had made previously.


"I can be like a bad rash if you like." The redhead answers smoothly, making sure Cass can see the whole conversation. That might interest the Samurai - she's signing and fairly fluently. "And maybe I do have a lot of children, but these aren't… well, he's not mine." She'll leave the others to do their own introductions.

"This is Silver Samurai and he's trying to scare us off with tales of fear and woe." The modulated voice doesn't give much of her emotion away but Cass might know that Batgirl is smirking.

"No need, Kitty … " That's to Phobos, she's enjoying that motif a little too much! "… but I want you to tell me what you find in this room. Look around carefully and tell me what seems out of place."

On the floor where she was crouched is a symbol etched. A womans head with snakes writhing from it.

In the corner by Alex, something catches the light. It's not very big and he'll need to be careful as he moves the debris that has gathered there.

Cass's eagerness gets a gentle touch on the shoulder but that's all the redhead says. They can answer the Samurai.


Lifting his gauntlet upward, Phobos points at his own mask and the corners of it curve up with the widening of his cheeks in a smile that if it weren't mostly hidden would be cheerfully friendly. And in a tone along those lines he'll tell Harada. "I like your mask." Those words are accompanied with a nod to convey the sincerity before his attention is drawn away.
When reference is made to him he'll say, "I'm Kitty." He offers in way of greeting, embracing it because why not? The Dread Kitty might be a surprise fit for various criminals and ne'er do wells, though definitely not along the Batman school of intimidation.
He does, however, take a quick look around the place and as Batgirl doesn't seem ready to take Silver Samurai as an immediate threat he'll take a look around, "Gorgon." He points out at th woman's head as he walks by towards the corner where he sees that glimmer. He'll hunker down and start moving some of the debris the kneeling to wipe a gloved hand over the surface.


As Batgirl introduces the Silver Samurai, Orphan lifts one hand rotates her hand in a wave. "Hi." Her head turns as different introductions are made so she can keep everyone in sight and when they're done she finally points to the center of her chest and looks to Batgirl in a sort of 'me?' manner before turning back to Ken. "Orphan." The shorter woman's voice tends to be low, soft, and a bit rough. Like it doesn't get used much.

The question as to if they know what Batgirl's gotten them into gets a slight tilt of Orphan's head head, before she finally answers for them. "Yes."

Damned helpful is that Orphan.


It might surprise the group here that Kenuichio signs back. S-A-M-U-R-A-I. Then he makes a gesture to stand in for them all. One that looks rather like the movement of a sword. That, probably, is more intelligable to Orphan than is the rest of it. His body language is tense. Not 'about to start a fight' tense but 'why me' kinds of tense. He's slightly less than pleased to find that people have arrived here before him, that much is clear.

"So. Batgirl, Zeal, Kitty, and Orphan." Beat. "You need someone to decide a theme for you people."

He finally steps away from the door, his blades sort of rattling in their scabbards a little as he does. Unlike the last time there's a gleam of another hilt beneath his jacket. Something shorter. He came armed for trouble.

"Thank you, though, Kitty. It does its job."

He looks down. "Yes. Gorgon. That tends to be their sign. That was their sign in Japan as well."

He pauses and bends down running two fingers along a pair of smooth gouge marks in the floor not far from what Batgirl was inspecting. "No human hand did that."

The whole time his spoken words are signed. With his right hand, not his left. That one he keeps free and not far from a sword at any given time.

Had the other had a chance to look around much? Had they spotted these marks? Is there more to find?


"I have a theme." Batgirl answers. "It's not letting the kids get hurt." That's likely going to get some retort from the Samurai. "They chose their own names…. Mostly." There's a nod to Cass for the succinct answer and a tilt of the redheads chin towards those gouges.

"What do you think made them, Orphan?" Cass is interested in investigation, Babs will help that and on the job training is probably the best way given … everything. That Ken is signing gets a tilt of her head, a movement that's emphasised by the ears on her hood.

As for Alex "Why don't you tell the Samurai what we were told and what have you got there?" If Alex has anything else from the fight the other day, now might be good time to share it.

Under the debris is a length of something like bone. Curved and good three inches long. Around it, there's dirt but also some stray hairs … kind of tawny coloured.


At Batgirl's behest he tells Samurai in that casual tone of his, "Fenris requested aid in this matter, and bidden by old treaties I granted it on behalf of my father." There, succinct, precise, but not overly informative.
"We faced a pair of Redcaps here when we made initial contact," Batgirl and Orphan likely recognize Alexander's 'business' tone of voice, that somewhat divorced from self pacing as he relays information that's needed. "Seven other cultists, one victim, one survivor."
Then his eyebrows lift as he seems to recall something. He turns back toward Barbara and reaches into the inner pocket of his suit's top, withdrawing a small ceramic disk with writing that would almost look Greek, and yet not Greek. "Also we recovered this from the scene. One of the men was carrying it."
But then he looks upon the debris and gives the bone a small nudge but leaves the close examination to Batgirl. "I am not sure. Remains?"


It's there in the tilt of Orphan's head, the way she perks up a bit as Ronin signs as well. She watches his finger spelling and then the gesture, and then repeats it back to him. It likely looks like she's just repeating it, though the why is a bit odd. Confirming spelling? But a careful eye might notice that Orphan signs it *exactly* the way Ken did, down to any personal twitches or mistakes.

There's that big honking bruise on Kitty's face that might say Batgirl's not doing a great job… But it doesn't seem to bother him much, right?

Orphan steps over to the carving as Batgirl encourages her, her gaze sweeping around. When Alex reveals the bone, her gaze tilts from the etching to it and back. Stepping over, she crouches down and picks up the macabre trophy, and then holds it up a bit so the others can see it before she leans down and starts to trace over the lines gouged into the floor.

Her movements stop as Alexander gives his report, the line of her shoulders dipping just a bit. Because of the victim that she was too late to save. Another failure to add to her list.


"Cultist is a good word." The Samurai says. "Though this remains very much a criminal enterprise." Or at least that is the impression he'd been under when he arrived here. He's less sure now that it is primarily a criminal enterprise. There are some… weird undertones in what he has discovered.

"Claws…" He says and signs about those gouges. When the tufts of fur along with the bones are revealed he frowns and then reaches into a jacket pocket.

What falls from his fingers a moment later is an old fashioned polaroid picture. Rapidly developing film. It's Tokyo, or at least the lights and skyline would suggest that. There's a slightly blurred but still quite visible figure at the center. Its large and lupine and standing on hind legs as it cuts a lamp post in half with what must be claws the size of chef's knives.

Claws that look like they could have gouged out the floor as well.

"So you've encountered then before, then. My condolences, though I might have guessed it from your face." It's a REALLY big bruise. Easy mistake to make, perhaps?

"The organization you have encountered is transnational, and very rich, but it seems to be centered here in New York. I have yet to see one of those here but it makes sense that they would be present."


Batgirl bends to look at the bone as Orphan works it out "A claw, yes. Big too." She takes the disc from Alex and straightens, eyes straying to the bruise, not that he can see. "Did you find anything out about this while you had it?"

"Oracle, what can you get on this?" The redhead holds the disc up to the camera so the VI can see it.

"Scanning Batgirl."

"Are those … werewolves?" She asks when Ken shows that image. "Redcaps and werewolves. What is the name of this organisation, Samurai?" At least she's not calling him Ronin, right?


"No ma'am, I took it but I didn't research it." Considering that things had been a little distracting.
As to the bruise, to be fair to Batgirl though, the mask he's wearing hides a good chunk of that bruise and the split lip, but there's still strong discoloration to the eyeball that is hard to hide. But it doesn't seem to be bothering him visibly. He keeps on taking a look around the area, examining the place…
Though when he steps past Orphan he'll rest a hand gently on her shoulder, giving a small squeeze in passing and meeting her gaze, then looking away. Just a small shared moment that she can read the sentiment behind it.
He'll pause to consider the image that Ken brings forth and his eyes lift a bit. No sign of trepidation in him, but there is appreciation as he bobs his head and tells the Samurai, "I've encountered a lot of mystical creatures, but with a shape like that it could be… several things?" He looks back and to the others as if to get affirmation on that. Then nods toward Batgirl, "Werewolves work. Or Wulven." He offers those as possibilities.


While Alexander isn't signing for Orphan, the darkly clad young woman doesn't seem to be particularly lost when he speaks. And his choice of mask doesn't allow for lipreading.

Cassandra peers over at the picture, and then looks between the others, signing: "« Big dog? »" Because the sign for 'werewolf' is *definitely* not in her vocabulary.

Orphan leans into Alex's light touch just a bit, and then rises to her feet so it might not even be noticed. She steps across and offers the claw over to Ken. Maybe it's like a peace offering. His body language still radiates Annoyance.


"It is something I would describe as a werewolf, yes." The Samurai says. Still signing. "If there is a more nuanced set of definitions, I am not expert enough to know what else it might be. But it was quite strong. It took three of Japans premier heroes to stop it."

In response to Cassandra's question Ken actually spells out 'werewolf' and then makes the sign for 'moon wolf'. That may or may not make much sense to her but is as close as he can come while still preserving the concept.

The offering, though, gets a tilt of his masked head and he accepts it. That DOES make him move his left hand away from the blades and his body language relaxes. Slightly.

Very slightly. But enough to notice.

"I believe you will find the inscriptions are in Mycenean greek. Linear B."

Orcale confirms that just moments later.

"It was common in Japan in places where they met. They were deliberately defaced when they were forced out of an area, so I suspect they have ritual or possibly mystical significance."

Mystical. That's a hard one to sign. After a moment he spells out 'magic'.

The swordsman shifts his focus from Batgirl to Phobos. "You seem to have some fair knowledge of the unseen. May I ask how you came by it. And if it is related to that bruise on your face?"


"Been a little busy have you?" The modulation strips out the dry tone but the Oracle app 'winks' at Phobos on his phone. That might be pay back for the ma'am. And no, the light touch and Cass' response isn't missed - but it's not remarked on. The information tucked away for later.

"Big Dog, yes. Or as Samurai says Moon Wolf. Let me show you. Oracle, lore on Werewolves to Orphans phone, please. Kitty, you'll be able to take her through that sometime soon, yes?" Really Babs would like to say come back to the Clocktower and we'll talk but there's only one person in this room who can do that.

"The text is an obscure form of Mycenean greek, Batgirl but it's modified. It's not standard and it's not translating through any engines that we have. I would say it's code and we're going to have to crack it."

As Ken adds his knowledge, Batgirl waves a gloved hand around the room. "What do we know then?" That's mostly to Cass, to get her to think linearly about what they have. "And what does it tell you?" That's to both the younger people.

Yes Ken, you've crashed another training session.


Still standing near the Samurai, Alexander replies easily enough in that mildly cheerful tone of voice, holding up a hand as if to stave off the inquiry though he does answer. "Oh just, my family has had experience with magic for a long time. So you know. You pick stuff up by osmosis." Not exactly lying… but not exactly forthcoming.
Of course the mention of the bruise does cause a subtle hint of tension enter Alexander's stance though for most people they might well not notice it as his smile behind the mask still reaches his eyes. "Oh this, nah, this is…" He lifts a hand and waves it slightly, "Is something else." Not important.
Then Batgirl starts to speak about matters and his attention returns to her, following along attentively. His head bouces once as he nods in agreement about helping Orphan understand werewolves. When asked what it tells him, however, he won't step over Cass' thoughts so holds his voice for her to convey her own in her own inimitable way. Though he will offer, "This speaks to me of an alliance, which seems unlikely considering the members, but once we discover the goal I feel that will come into line."


Again, Orphan mimics the signing that's offered. Looking between the others, she can fill in that Alex is supposed to help her understand what the sign *means* a bit later.

When Batgirl asks for a recap, Orphan's shoulders hunch up a bit. Communicating is so *frustrating* for her. Even if she knows all the signs for things, they usually come out in a mess for complicated subjects like this. It doesn't help that half of what's been discussed tonight she has no frame of reference for. Finally, her signing done in sharp movements that bespeak her frustration, "« Strong killers in town, not like people. »"


"Killing is a tool." Tool is emphasized rather strongly. "But she is not wrong, Batgirl."

Samurai flips the claw in his hand and puts it in his pocket. He'll look into that later. He'll have to ask his people if they can recommend someone. Fortunately he HAS people and that is damn convenient.

Phobos gets another curious look but no more is said at present. There is very much more going on here than meets the eye. He knows that. What exactly it is? That he will have to figure out later. These people seem determined to follow this path, though. So be it.

"Come to my dojo if you wish to discuss the matter further. I have more information there. You seem rather resourceful so finding it should not be a problem."

He has a dojo? Yes. Of course he does.

With that he steps back and turns to go. "Train your little birds well, Batgirl. The storm is already upon you. They may have to fly sooner rather than later."

And with that slightly ominous fortunate cookie warning he heads back out to his bike.


"Are you taking that?" Batgirl watches the Samurai pocket the claw. "If he is, we'll want samples for ourselves." She says to the other two. "Keep your eyes open and gather what you can." She'll be out doing the same herself, of course.

"Killing is to be avoided." the redhead emphasises her own restrictions. "I have the address of your Dojo though. Should I feel the need to discuss it, I may visit." Ken might be getting a visit from another redhead anyway.

"Correct, Orphan. Add to that… we don't know enough." With the Samurai leaving, Batgirl nods to the others. "We'll spend a little longer here and then be gone." She wants to make sure they've got all they can from this site.


"It was given to me. I am taking it." Samurai calls out over his shoulder. "Come find me if you want it back."

Then there's the deep throated roar of a large two stroke engine and he's off. Not in a cloud of tire smoke but just about everything short of that. As it turns out samurai are not subtle.


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