Balthasar

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((OOC: Just wanted to apologize for posting out of turn. I'm going to hold off on posting again until everyone else has made their move. Sorry about jumping the gun on the last message. Also, if anyone has suggestions or comments on how this is progressing thus far I'm sure Balt and the others would love to hear it. Send comments, ideas, and criticisims via PM please. Lets keep the story rolling guys!))

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OOC: Yes, please don't be afraid to PM Pal or me with compliments or complaints, critiques or praise. This story exists for everyone and that means that it's yours as much as it is ours.

Balthasar had known since first shaking Richard's hand that there was something... foul... inside him. It was something elusive. A quandry that he had puzzled over during the brief course of the night's events. There was an oily, dank feeling to the darkness inside Richard and that reminded Balthasar of something long ago... if he could just remember. He had seen so much. DONE so much. Fragments of his past sped by in his mind as he sought the answer. Images of alien planets and creatures. Of things strikingly similar to this Earth and things utterly incomprehensible to it. The answer was close... he could almost grasp it.

But the Richard changed. Balthasar felt the foulness in him bubble up as filth from a sewer, roiling and heaving. But that was where the similarity ended, for sewers do not feel malicious, hateful glee. Such malevolence and triumph at becoming free.

Though Balthasar did not know what the thing inhabiting Richard was, he DID know that it needed to be contained. So while it was delivering its soliloquy he was rapidly touching the minds of all his friends. Brushing lightly and leaving a mental note that said, simply:

"Link with me. Trust me."

Balthasar hoped that those assembled would do so. Despite his ignorance to the true nature of the thing, he believed that the power of everyone assembled could contain the thing.

But then Richard's desperate plea. As attuned to his mental acuity as he was, Balthasar heard the psychic scream as if it were a bell pealing shatteringly in his head. He winced inwardly, but rejoiced because Richard had given him another piece in the puzzle. And had also given all of them the key to containing it... at least for the time being.

Everyone who decided to trust him and had linked to Balthasar's mind heard Richard's call clearly. No it only remained to see if any one of them could assist...

Balthasar noted the new arrival announced by the tinkling of the doorbells. He suspected at first that it was just an ill-timed customer, but then he caught the newcomer apparently speaking to himself. This made him curious, given the circumstances, so he quickly scanned the man's surface thoughts...

...to find him concerned and cautious. Something that no casual customer was likely to be. He whispered to Niranen:

"The newcomer knows something has happened here. Perhaps best we sound out his intentions, hm?"

Balthasar needed only to hear the first part of Pickman's tale to know that he wanted all the help he could get.

"Yes, Proserpine," he said, "I think you had better come help us. We will need every ounce of assistance we can muster."

With that he returned the communication device to Niranen, then turned to Pickman.

"You say that the actions you took against this thing... namely beheading it... were 'exactly what it wanted.' Did this thing ever say to you, or have you found in your studies, that its existance as a disembodied head gives it some greater power? Why would it WANT to be beheaded?"

Balthasar took a kind tone, one that inspired confidences, but it was also the tone of steel-within-velvet.

"What did it 'teach' you, Richard, about the nature of humanity? About yourself?"

He specifically avoided discussing The Yah and hoped that Richard would understand. Having twice now declined to discuss the subject in a mixed audience, Balthasar hoped Richard would read the undercurrents and save his questions on that score until they were away from other ears. There were things that even The Elohim's friends should not know. Not yet, anyway.

"I would like to invite you to take an active role in this investigation, my dear. In part because I think you can help us greatly... and in part because I should very much like to speak with you about your intriguing abilities."

Balthasar was relieved he hadn't embarrassed himself by using the thing incorrectly. He smiled and addressed Valerie, his voice Cambridge-accented and rich, even through the dubious fidelity of the earpiece.

"This is he. Is this Proserpine?"

Balthasar was not completely ignorant of modern technology. He DID have a top-of-the-line cell phone, after all. But he had never used the thing Niranen offered to him. Smiling crookedly, he held the earpiece to his ear and, hazarding a guess, spoke into the commlink.

"Proserpine?"

Balthasar was not necessarily surprised to learn that whatever Pickman has been harboring was so evil. He was, however, surprised... and impressed... at his friend's group's ability to track them so efficiently. He eyed Niranen appraisingly, though not rudely. She could easily tell that his appraisal was... well... a re -appraisal and one that measured her favourably.

He spoke to Niranen, then. Warmly, but probingly. "I should like to speak with your associate who informed you of such, Niranen, if it please you..."

Balthasar looked up at the first jingle of the doorbells to see the woman enter. She did not look familiar to him, but having extended his invitation to his groups of allied friends he could not be certain she was not one of them.

He introduced himself to the woman with a warm smile and some kind words about her circle of friends, then went to follow Richard as he came to the crux of tonight's matter.

Balthasar was not surprised at Mr. Pickman's find, per se. Indeed, as soon as he had set foot in the door the knowledge that there was a slumbering, though restless, evil was silvery sharp on his tongue. What DID susprise Balthasar was when Mr. Pickman opened the door.

For the distinguished neurosurgeon and mentalist had not known the thing was free. Indeed, he had not known that it was not alone. That, in and of itself was troubling to him. But he had a vague sense of unease that he had heard noises and voices much like the gurgling, snarling ones so lately gone.

"Richard... Perhaps you would care to enlighten us as to what just happened," Balthasar said just as David Black entered. He shook the man's hand, distractedly but sinceredly offered his greetings and turned to face Richard once more.

"I strongly suspect that whatever just left this place needs to be hunted. And we cannot do that ignorant of its nature."

((Sorry guys... work got busy. I'll post a good response when I get home))

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David Black opened his HeroNet data pad as he sat in the coffee shop and saw that his message to Baltasar Michaels got through and he was indeed accepted into the Elohim organization. "Alright. Now we're cooking with gas!" David said to himself. He immediately began to compose a message to Mr. Michaels. It reads:

[Mr. Michaels, Thank you for your quick response and recruitment. I won't let you down and I am ready to help. I am accustomed to the "sink or swim" method of starting jobs so let me know where and when we can meet to talk further. I have briefed you on my "skills" and I hope I can use them to help out soon.

Thanks again.

-David]

saved and sent.

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David,

I am at Pickman's Occult Books. Attached are directions. If you would like to join me here, you are welcome to. If you do, please note that our organisation is conducting an investigation here and you will be expected to conduct yourself accordingly.

Be well and I will see you soon.

Balthasar

Balthasar took an eclair from the variety box and took a bite with obvious relish.

"I don't have enough opportunity to indulge my love of pastry... If I hadn't seen your reasons as altruistic and reasonable, I would still be inclined to offer you membership in The Elohim should you promise to bring more doughnuts."

He grinned snarkily, took another alarmingly large bite from the eclair, and sat back in his chair. Though his table manners, in this case, seemed somewhat lacking, he was mannerly enough to wait to continue until his mouth was no longer full.

"You see," Balthasar said as he took a long sip and wiped away a stray crumb or two from his mouth, "our organisation needs people with both power and restraint. Either without the other is worthless. An investigator is only as good as his end goal."

He wiped his hands off casually and took another drink. Then he pointed at the book in Pickman's hands.

"That there, as an example. There is power to be learned in that book and the author does an admirable job of deflecting away those who desire power but have not the patience that is the hallmark of restraint. I have never opened it, myself, but I would hazard that perhaps half of it has no meaning whatever. And of the half that does, I suspect that half of that, perhaps a bit more, is well hidden behind meaningless thematic content."

He paused for a moment to lean forward, a wry smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

"This is both the bane and the saving grace of modern civilisation. Because while it means that a true scholar... someone like yourself?... must sift through ridiculous amounts of chaff to get to the wheat, it also means that others who lust after power often do not have the wherewithal to see their quest through."

Balthasar leaned back in his chair to gauge his host's reaction before continuing. Having satisfied himself that Pickman was of the right stripe, Balthasar made in internal decision which was reflected in his next words.

"Tell me... Richard... as a learned man you must have some conception of what conventional belief holds about the meaning of "The Elohim." Angels and gods etcetera. What do you think of the matter?"

Balthasar smiled warmly at the man as he shook his hand.

"Tea, if you please. I ought to let you know immediately, I've invited a few of my colleagues here to meet with you. I've also discussed with a few friends of mine whom are also interested in matters of the occult the possibility of helping you. They may be joining us as well."

Balthasar looked through the bookshelves while his host went to get the tea. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the vast majority of the stock was comprised of sincere scholarly investigations. One book, in particular, made him arch his brows in shock and wonder, though he decided not to mention it to Richard.

When his host had returned and poured the tea, Balt sipped and smiled.

"Now... perhaps you would first like to discuss your interest in working for our firm while we wait for my friends and colleagues?"

Dr. Balthasar Michaels, Director of The Elohim in Paragon City, walked into the quaint little shop. The place smelled, pleasantly, of must and old paper. It reminded him of his study. He picked up a book called "Prima Enochiam: The First Call" and was flipping through it while he waited for his host.

The best advice for new roleplayers is actually pretty simple:

"Know your character."

What that means is that you really should take some time to figure out your character's past. What his motivations are. What makes him happy or angry. Once you get a real feel for who your character is you'll find that roleplaying isn't very difficult.

Good luck and have a great time!

This is really good stuff. Keep it coming!

1. Understand your characters.

2. Make sure your dialogue (inner dialogue, too) is believable and consistent with your character's established personality. This helps the reader to understand your character(s).

3. Accept that you will never get it right the first time. Edit, edit, edit.

4. Read established authors to see what style of writing appeals to you.

5. Peer review. Write something. Anything. Then have someone whose likely to give you an honest and informed opinion do so. Listen to what they have to say and see if it makes sense to you.

6. Practice, practice, practice. You can't find your voice if you're not actively looking for it.

Of course you will see us around. BTW, you have mail. hehehe

((Looks great, my friend. Very well written and conceived. ))

((Well done, Sly. Much respect. ))

((Exceptional, my friend. Very well done. I look forward to reading more. ))

A quick note for all and sundry...

Having now decided to give the original idea a chance to sink or swim, we're now using the Original Post as a forum to discuss ideas on how to best implement it. Everyone who has posted here already and anyone else who may be interested in interacting with The Elohim are welcome to go to that thread and post their ideas or respond to the questions we are posing.

Come tell us what you think!

Tentative plans are to launch The Elohim on Aug. 1. That should give our prospective members plenty of time to polish their character concept (if needed) and for me to compose an introductory post for the RP boards without feeling rushed.

Until then I want to welcome everyone to discuss what they would like to see out of The Elohim. Since we plan on being pretty much everywhere in the RP community I think all RPers' opinions on what we should and shouldn't be are valid.

Also, if there are interested parties who are web designers we could surely use your help as well. While I can't pay a designer in anything more than heartfelt thanks, the site itself may end up being rather important to the RP community. I already have the wonderful SlipLocke creating our logo, but we'll need a clearing house for our investigations and the information they bring in. Many thanks in advance.

Well, now that the interest level is rising I'd have to say that the next step is for me to post an introductory RP in here and let people run with it. That, and work out the niggling little details about the actual SG and its organisation. I'd estimate that I'll be ready to kick it all off in about a week, maybe two. Need to do some networking with the Virtue RP SG's.

Thank you, Rose. I'm looking forward to having The Elohim interact with you and, perhaps, your SG. In fact I'm hoping that all the RP SGs will welcome us into the community, because I think we'll be a bridge between all of you and add a lot to the roleplaying community on Virtue.