11715/Supreme Sorcerers Search Somewhere Spooky

Supreme Sorcerers Search Somewhere Spooky
Date of Scene:	03 July 2020
Location:	Doomstadt, Latveria
Synopsis:	Morgana and Doom explore underneath Doomstadt. She betrays him, of course!
Cast of Characters:	Doctor Doom, Morgana le Fay

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Doctor Doom has posed:
Latveria is not the most welcoming place to non-citizens. It's heavily fortified, protected from all threats by the spells and devices of Doctor Victor von Doom. Yet there is apparently one place in the capital city of Doomstadt that is accessible to outsiders with potent magical abilities. The recently discovered catacombs under the Church of St. Blaise.

"Your majesty," says one of the excavators at the entrance to the underground warrens. "We heard something moving down there. Something terrible."

Looking at the man through his mask, Doom replies, "It has been noted. I will order sentries to stand guard over this entrance while I venture down. Keep your men up here until I return." Seemingly without moving a muscle Doom somehow sends an alert that causes the sentries to appear in the church, ready to defend Doomstadt against anything that may emerge from the crypts. Doom prepares himself to take the stairs down into the darkness, moving ahead alone. The armored figure allows his sense to stretch out, mundane, magical and technological. There is nothing that can escape the King of Latveria.

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana le Fey, queen of Avalon's here. As in 'just coming into Doomsdadt' sort of here. She's sent word she's coming. Mordred stays home, and Morgana's put one of her most trusted advisors in place to ensure she still has a home to come back to. In her robes, with her crown, Morgana's regal, dangerous and power hungry. That's what draws her here to Latveria. Stepping into the church, Morgaana too is sensing magic. She has sent word she'll split any findings. Admitttedly she left out the bit abouut still having them stolen and returned to her, but...small details. Small minor things really.

Doctor Doom has posed:
Hesitating before entering the catacombs proper, Doom turns when he feels the presence of another powerful sorcerer. When he sees Morgana present he bows respectfully, though not too deeply as they are equals, "Your majesty. Welcome to Latveria." The man gives off very little sign of any emotions he might be feeling, but he is, at least for now, polite to a fault. "I was just beginning to expand my sense to encompass the totality of the catacombs beneath us."

A gauntleted hand gestures towards the darkness, "Would you care to join me?"

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana isn't gauntleted. If she wished, golden armor, but right now? No...she is, if anything, regal. "I could join you" she offers and takes a step forward. "If" she adds, "You stick to our eal"

Morgana nods again, "Thank you" she says though she doesn't bow. If anything, she's /the/ Morgana, that one."You have a verry vibrant city and your subjects are extremely happy" she observes, with diplomacy on her mind. Still, she steps more toward the catacombs and looks more than a little bemused by the catacombs beneath a church, of all places.

Doctor Doom has posed:
"I have given my word that the deal shall be kept," Doom says to Morgana as the eyes behind his mask study her closely. "Thank you," he tells her in turn when she compliments his country, nodding his masked head faintly. "I don't think either of us need to be warned to take care down below. Rather, whatever may await us should probably be in mortal terror now, if it knows who we are."

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana's quiet as she studies the steps to the catacombs. Doom gets to lead this. One, it's his country. Two, Morgana isn't stupid enough to have a potential ally turned adversary at her back if things go wrong and risk being attacked.

"Whatever is down there" Morgana says gesturing to the catacombs, "Is if anything, going to find who we are" she adds and smooths her robes. "Lead on"

Morgana's diplomatic and part of that is that the ruler of the country should go first. It's nothing to do with Morgana having an asy way to attack from behind Victor. Admittedly he's a more threatening target than Morgana based on looks alone. Reputations however? Different story

Doctor Doom has posed:
As he steps into the darkness Victor gestures with his hands and a soft glow emanates from one of his gauntlets, illuminating the space around them. The catacombs are ancient. Holes in the walls in each side of the pathway had been dug out as a place to store a corpse which has long since rotted away to skeletal status. There's barely room for Doom to stand completely upright, occasionally he has to hunch proceed forward.

"Should it prove to be a malevolent entity of some sort I would almost pity it," there's that word. 'Almost'. Doom continues speaking further, "I suspected that these catacombs were here for some time. I did not, however, anticipate them being opened by anyone other than archaeologists."

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana is both shorter and less caring than Doom. Part of it is her hatred of humanity. She's playing the part of being nice with Victor, yes but....she's also not entirely worried just what is down here. See. She's glad that Victor has light.

No, there's no sense in pushing herself too far and paying the price of her magic. Morgana looks to Victor's back and watches, then speaks.

"What" Morgana asks, "Are we hoping to find down here?" she asks making mental notes to herself.

Doctor Doom has posed:
"Rumors abound of various holy relics that were lost in Latveria some time following the Third Crusade," Doom explains as he maneuvers through the cramped darkness, seemingly unconcerned about the woman at his back. Or whatever may lie ahead, for that matter. "I am primarily interested in one of Saint Thomas' fingers. Allegedly Christ allowed him to stick one of them into his wounds after his resurrection. No one is sure if the finger located in Rome is the finger in question. The Vatican has denied my attempts to study it." He says with with a trace of frustration, "I may have mentioned that I doubted its legitimacy." After another moment passes he goes on, "There may also be a vessel holding the dried blood of Joseph of Arimathea."

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana makes a 'pah' sound. "Holy relics" she says with a cynical tone. "I could cut off a finger and have enough time" Morgana speculates. "To weave a tale that gets humanity believing that was on of Merlin's fingers" Morgana says. Mostly since she wants to subjugate humanity. She doesn't much have time for organized religions, they are in her eyes a great wawy to control people.

"The Vatican doesn't want to share their toys" Morgana adds. "Or, knowledge. They know what's going on but want to keep everyone in the dark"

Doctor Doom has posed:
Various paths lead in various directions. Doom follows on, then another, seemingly letting his feelings guide him deeper. There must be hundreds of skeletons down here. The dirt floors have been without human contact in quite some time.

From up ahead there's a noise. A scraping, the sound of some bones tumbling from their resting place in the wall.

"It appears as though my men were correct. There is something moving down here." Victor is silent for a moment, standing still and listening. "Something not quite alive, I'd wager. Some type of guardian, possibly. Or something the holy relics were meant to contain."

Glancing back towards Morgana the King of Latveria nods his masked head slowly, "I have little use for religion, personally, but it can be useful. Belief can be a powerful tool." The remark about the Vatican might have Doom smiling, if he were that sort of fellow, "Very few world powers want an enlightened populace. Those with no true knowledge of the world are much easier to control."

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana looks around Doom's armor and looks down the tunnels. Or tunnel to be precise. "Alright" she says listening to whatever is moving as the fae queen looks quiet and, very muchh ready to deal with whatever is making that mess down here. Problem is she's got no sword or weapon. She does though, have magic. Magic is a weapon all on its own. "What is down there?" Morgana asks watching Doom, before stepping around his armor. Okay, fine, she'll put herself in harm's way if needed.

Doctor Doom has posed:
"It's not human. Not living. Possibly demonic," Doom replies after a few seconds of concentration. "I would wager it does not have good intentions." As the woman walks in front of him he studies her momentarily and allows it. If she wished to take the lead why would Doom stop her?

The sounds of movement grow closer. Whatever is making them heads for the pair of magic practitioners like a child to an ice cream truck. As it nears a deep growling can be heard, it's getting excited. It's only moments away from turning a corner and entering their line of sight about twenty feet away and it's moving fast.

Preparing for what might be arriving, Doom points a hand towards the approaching sound, palm facing it. Making sure Morgana isn't in his line of fire, he waits to see what will appear.

Morgana le Fay has posed:
Morgana kneels and looks to Doom. Raising her palm, she begins weaving a magical shield to defend against the creature. it's....a little like latticework, a little like a spider's web. Making the shield is easy enough. Sustaning it? Child's play. Repairing it? That'll be a problem. And making it so that they can use magic from within the shield? Morgana's working on that, her other hand calling forth power, as Morgana launches an energy bolt toward the creature. It's not a particularly powerful one, given the sorceress is, well, concentrating on the shield andd allowing their magic through it. If she wanted to go powerful, she'd have to forget the shield. She isn't forgetting that in the least.

Doctor Doom has posed:
As it turns the corner the creature takes a blast from Morgana, shaking one of it's heads before resuming it's charge! It's a large thing, taking up almost the entire height and width of the passageway. It's dark in color, covered in scales, possesses two snake like heads and at least four limbs which are currently visible, using them to propel itself along. As it speeds its way towards Doom and Morgana the beast's body catches the skeletons resting in the walls and pulls some of them down to the floor.

After seeing Morgana unleash an attack through her shield Victor knows it is safe for him to do the same. With an elaborate but quick hand gesture he unleashes a torrent of green, arching lightning towards the being that's coming their way. Taking the magic full in the face the monster is momentarily stunned, but doesn't look as though it has sustained too much in the way of actual damage. "Do you recognize the creature, Morgana?"

Morgana le Fay has posed:
"No I don't" Morgana says quickly. True she's not seen that monster before but she's shielding them. With a view to shield herself mostly, true. No energy bolt this time, but Morgana is watching the creature and nods to Doom as if saying go for it, take it out and I'll keep the shield up.

Doctor Doom has posed:
"Curious," declares Victor as he looks at the creature a little bit further. When he rears back on it's hind limbs he lets it have it again, this time using the blasts from his armor. They slam into the beast and send it smacking into the side of the dirt wall. It recovers quickly and starts sprinting towards the magicians, taking another blast along the way. It's scales are looking somewhat the worse for wear after being hit so many times but it continues to press onwards. When it gets to the shield it swings a claw at it ineffectually. Doom blasts it in the face and sends it fleeing down a corridor. "Hard to bring to bear the necessary amount of power to kill whatever it is without collapsing the catacombs. We may need to find another means of destroying it. Or secure the relics and collapse the entrance to these tunnels."

Morgana le Fay has posed:
"Both" Morgana decides and edges away from Doom a little. If the plan is to grab the relics and avoid a monster, well then. "You get the relics. I will" Morgana offers, "Figure out a way to collapse the tunnels that doesn't leave us with piles of catacomb to dig through" Admittedly/ Digging with magic is easier than by hand, true...

Doctor Doom has posed:
"Excellent plan," Doom says as he starts off down the corridor. "Communication should not be overly difficult for us. I'll alert you when I've found what we're looking for."

The armored figure heads off to find the relics, leaving Morgana to her devices.

The sound of the creature can still be heard in the catacombs, but it's not particularly loud. Perhaps it has learned its lesson about making too much noise?

Morgana le Fay has posed:
THe problem with leaving Morgana to her own devices is she's not supervised. Indeed, she's got a plan forming. Doom's gone to find the relics, and yes, Morgana is on her own. She takes one step, and waves a hand behind her. Behind and above Morgana, the catacombs begin to collapse. Morgana's not concerend with Doom. She can get her hands on other relics. She wanted to see Doomstadt and, oh by the way, make a little bit of a power move as well. She doesn't emerge from the catacombs, either. See she moves quickly, and then just vanishes. Dimensional magic's a handy tool, and she thuds into the floor of her chambers. Well, more faceplants. Because hey, Doomstadt to Avalon is only a hop, skip and a magical jump when it's Morgana le Fey.

Doctor Doom has posed:
As he hears the sound of the collapsing tunnel behind him, Doom lets out a chuckle beneath his mask. If he hadn't been expecting some sort of double cross he'd be pretty upset. That's what one gets for dealing with Faerie queens, after all.

He's not down in the catacombs terribly long, either. Once he locates his relics he teleports back to the Church of Saint Blaise to stand amidst the workers there, "Alert me if the thing begins trying to get free from the tunnels. I've got what I was looking for." Then he strides towards the exit of the building, returning to the streets of Doomstadt.