[Video] [Encoded]

[fromfryingpantofire]

[The video comes up on a back corner of the library, where Sam's set up a little research table of his own. Not that there's much there. For all that they have a 'library', it's really not all that interesting. Definitely none of the things that he's used to being able to find.]

[Though it is at least a QUIET section of the library. Nobody much comes back there. Of course, if it was anybody other than Sam, they'd find that corner to be nearly devoid of wifi signal.]

[How does Sam have signal? Nobody knows.]

So. I know that there are a few of you here who aren't too keen on the whole idea of the supernatural and magic and things that don't make sense to the rational mind. And believe me, I get it. If I hadn't grown up with this sort of thing, I'd probably be right there with you.

I also get that we don't know for certain that what we're facing IS something that's supernatural. After all, there are other explanations for what she can do. Some of us have powers that we never had at home as an example.

However, if she is, there are a few things that you can carry that may help either ward her off or fight her off. None of them are heavy and we have access to at least a few things that would work.

[He reaches off screen and brings out a salt shaker from the cafeteria.] Salt. Table salt will work just fine. My brother and I buy a lot of Morton's back home.

Anyway, salt has been an ingredient in purifying rituals for millennia. It's often used to ward off evil spirits and cleanse an area of bad...juju, for lack of a better word. Back home, spirits can't cross a line of salt, so a quick and easy ward was just to pour lines of salt across any entrance to a room. Shooting rock salt into a spirit would disperse them, too.

There's stuff that works better when it comes to spirits, but I don't have access to the supplies I need for them. Salt is nearly as old school as blood, though, so it should do you in a pinch.

Second. [He reaches off to the side again and comes back with a firestarter.] This one is a lot more difficult to get hold of, so this may be something more to look for when we go on missions. Iron. Again, just about as old school as it comes. There are a lot of things that are weak to iron, including the Fae. If you have the ones from the right stories, at least. A good length of rebar that can be wielded like a sword or a bat is great. Again, good for dispersing a spirit, though it won't get rid of them entirely. It'll buy you time to get back up, though. So, again. Useful.

The third isn't really useful for ghosts or spirits, but if the salt doesn't work, then maybe this will. [Out comes a water bottle.] Holy water. Mostly works for demons. Won't kill them, but will cause harm and may burn them. Again, good for buying you time to get away and get help. Luckily, I was able to pick up a rosary on the last mission, so I can make as much as we may need. I tend to also throw a handful of salt in for a twofer.

As far as I know, we don't have access to any, but another good all around weapon against the supernatural is silver. I'd suggest keeping it away from those among the New Hires that might have an allergy to it, but there are a LOT of supernatural creatures out there that are weak to it. Again, purifying qualities that have been in use for a lot of centuries. And another thing to keep an eye out for on missions.

[Sam settles the items in front of him.] I'm not going to say any of this will keep you safe. That's not a promise I can make, especially since we don't know what, exactly, our enemy is. At best, I can say that they might be able to help. At worst, they're inert and you're no worse off than you were a moment before. At this point, though, I think we can use any edge we might be able to get.

[He folds his hands, leaning forward on the desk.]

Any questions?

Comments

[Video] - Thread with ragefeathers

[fromfryingpantofire]

ragefeathers
I'm no seer but I could try and pop into the umbra for y'all. Who knows if it works that well here though. The fucking gauntlet here is probably fucked to hell and back by the Weaver.

[ Also silver? What the fuck, Sam? Why are you doing her dirty? Not that she's going to say anything about it. ]

fromfryingpantofire
[He doesn't know you, Kenzie. Still, you're on the list of 'allergic to silver'. Or will be, once he does. It is, unfortunately, far too useful to entirely leave out of the 'general weapons against the supernatural' run down.]

I'm sure all of that was English, but I don't have the context for it to make sense. So I'll take your word on it. Anything you could do would be a help, but if it's causes too much stress, don't force anything. We're not that level of desperation, yet.

ragefeathers
Right yeah. There's a spirit realm parallel to the physical realm. I can step sideways between the two, but if there's too much technological bullshit it can be difficult or impossible. I mean... we might be able to get the local spirits to help us. If there are any.

fromfryingpantofire
This place is a technological nightmare, so I'm not sure about your chances. But if you can get anything that might give us some more clues? That would be awesome. What we have right now is...not enough would be an understatement.

Re: [Video] - Thread with ragefeathers

[ragefeathers]

I'll have to give it a shot at some point. Like I said, I'm not really an expert on this stuff. Not a seer or anything like that, but I've dealt with a couple spirits in my time.

Video

[credit_not_blame]

I haven't seen any spirits since I got here. Doesn't mean they're not here, but they could be different enough from what I'm used to that they don't fit in the same category. Or maybe they just mucked things up that badly.

[zerofield]

Holy water seems like it should be very reliant on the reality from which it comes, though, shouldn't it?

[ Pretty sure none of y'all belong to the Septian Church or worship Aidios... ]

[fromfryingpantofire]

You're probably right, honestly. However, I think we're lacking a bit in priests to make holy water according to this reality. So, yeah. It might not work as well as I'm used to.

I'll probably have to learn the rules for here if this doesn't work.

Thread with vampthropologist

[fromfryingpantofire]

vampthropologist
An excellent summation, Mr. Winchester. I would also observe that, should none of the above prove effectual, fire at least inconveniences most supernatural beings I've encountered. Including me, so do give warning if I'm about.

fromfryingpantofire
That's the way we get rid of violent ghosts back home. Salt and burn the bones. Or whatever might be holding the spirit in place.

Also, dolls. Any dolls connected to a case should probably be burned. Just to be certain.

[Dolls are creepy, what can he say? And there was that one case where the doll actually did need to be burned, so why stop there?]

vampthropologist
A sound stratagem. Destroying a wraith's anchor is the only way I've ever heard to prevent their return.

fromfryingpantofire
It's probably the same principle, though it wouldn't work for what we call wraiths in my world. Those are another of the 'stab it with silver' category of monsters. They feed on brain fluid, injecting dopamine into their victims to keep them...happy about being spiked in the brain.

vampthropologist
Ah, yes, in my world 'wraith' refers to the formal category for any type of spirit created by the death of a living thing, as opposed to the more strictly spiritual ones. Yours actually don't sound like anything I've encountered before.

[fromfryingpantofire]

I'm not really that surprised. What you're talking about does show up in my world, of course. Though not every death creates a ghost or spirit back home. Most of the time, the soul goes on to their reward. But if they refuse to go with the Reaper when their time is up, they become a ghost. And ghosts often become violent, because they can't really help themselves. Anger is powerful and allows them to affect the world, after all.

video

[hot_dad]

For what it's worth? A lot of this would be considered human superstition where I come from. Hard to judge what will actually be useful until we know where this thing came from and what rules it plays by.

video

[fromfryingpantofire]

It's definitely considered superstition where I come from, but that's more because the world in general doesn't know about the sorts of creatures that we fight. Which...honestly, I'm not always sure if that's a good thing. But humans are nothing if not good at explaining away things that are weird around them.

video;

[smallmediumwelldone]

[Make way, fellow nerd coming through. Her own comm blinks on, she's sitting in front of it studiously taking notes on Sam's proposals. Typing is too damn hard, okay.]

I have found holy water to be ineffective, generally, unless used in a larger ritual context. However I can vouch for the effectiveness of salt in wards - although not for what I would properly call a wraith, following the proper differentiation between wraith and spirit that I am familiar with. Those require powdered stone from a tomb. Unfortunately I doubt anything here will hold still long enough for us to test the differences, more's the pity.

You're well versed in supernatural weaknesses. Are you a hunter?

video;

[fromfryingpantofire]

[Yay for other nerds. Sam needs more nerd friends.]

Holy water has very specific uses and effectiveness. Which is why it's kind of a last ditch effort here. Iron and salt are generally your better bets with what we have. Silver is better, but also out of our reach at the moment.

And you're probably right, honestly. It's an interesting thought experiment, but probably not something we can test right now. I'm just really hoping she's not a tulpa or something similar, because that's always a bitch of a spirit to get rid of. But, then, thoughtforms usually are.

I am, yes. Sam Winchester. Which...probably won't mean anything to you as I don't think we're from the same world. Still, introductions should be made.

audio

[garmr]

A witch I know had chainmail shirts and daggers made out of silver for people bumpin' into astral creatures. She used salt for purifying, too.

If I had my sword, it could cut through any spirit or demon I've come across so far, even if their body's made of mist or whatever. Somethin' to do with being drenched in a bunch of monster blood.

audio

[fromfryingpantofire]

I can see where that would be useful, but it would be a limited usefulness. Silver isn't a great metal for making weapons or armor out of. Too soft and doesn't actually keep an edge very well. Though I am glad to see that a few things go across worlds.

I have a knife that's good for killing most things, too. Pretty much anything below a major demon, at least. It's in the Rig's armory, so I can't get hold of it at the moment. Though, if nothing else works, I might risk a break in.

[hallelujahjunction]

This is honestly fascinating and I appreciate it, and I think everyone's better off for this information. About most of this tracks on to what it's like on my world - the salt, the iron, the silver - but there's enough off on it that maybe those of us who hunt monsters ought to iron out where the differences lie.

...no pun intended. Anyhow, we use copper a lot more on my world against the supernatural, and spices like turmeric and ginger got warding properties against phantoms and ghouls.

My sympathies that you gotta deal with demons more than once in a lifetime. The worst bugaboo we got is goddamn necromancers.

[fromfryingpantofire]

I would be up for a meeting of the minds, as it were. Maybe make use of one of those stupid conference rooms.

Copper isn't actually one that I know of back home. Brass comes up a few times, but I've only used it against one monster, a rakshasa.

As for demons...yeah. They're entirely too common back home. You're the second person to bring up necromancers, though.

VIDEO

[71lines]

Are we seriously talking spirits and demons now? Eugh.

I... do know some seals that could be used to bind or chain a demon. One or two of them even work on normal people. But I've never really had to use them, you know? Also, I don't think I can teach them to anyone else.

[There's a slight pause and she clears her throat, looking a little awkward.]

And, uh. I forgot to check, but if she's some kind of demon and we've got soybeans in the food stores, maybe we could, um. Throw roasted soybeans at her?

[But, despite wanting the murderer dead, Tenten really hopes it's not that easy to beat her. For one thing, she'd feel ridiculous getting beaten half to death by a monster that runs from beans.]

VIDEO

[fromfryingpantofire]

At this point, I think we need to accept that anything could be a possibility. This is just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I think I'd like to learn those seals, actually. More information is never a bad thing. I have a couple of seals I could teach as well. Maybe, if we do have a sit down with the various hunters from other worlds, that could be one of the topics.

[She may feel awkward about it, but Sam notes down the soybean possibility. Look, it's not the weirdest thing he's ever dealt with.]

If they aren't in the stores, Bunny can probably get some for us. I've never heard of soybeans working against a demon, but there's a lot of things out there I haven't run across, yet.

Video

[credit_not_blame]

[why you gotta be bringing silver into this, Sam?]

We don't tend to use any of this stuff back home; but we also tend to jump straight to "maul it to pieces with our teeth and claws". So far, she doesn't seem to have any powers that make us want to kill each other when we encounter or touch her, but I'll give it a shot if and/or when I do.

Video

[fromfryingpantofire]

[Because it's too useful against too many things to be left out, Stacia.]

[He does crack a grin and laugh softly, shaking his head.]

Unfortunately, not an option for most of us. So we get along with what we have. Though, yeah. If you get a chance to 'maul her to pieces', have a go. As long as you can do it without getting killed.

video;

[whethertheyshould]

[ This response is pinging Sam's device well before he's done speaking; Malcolm hit the button to respond at right around the point Sam mentioned 'buying a lot of Morton's back home'. He waits until Sam has the time to respond before speaking, though, of course. ]

I find it interesting that you acknowledged a scientific explanation for all this but then talked for ten minutes about spirits.

video;

[fromfryingpantofire]

[He sees the ping. He ignores it until he's done, rather than let himself get side tracked. So it's nice that the person pinging lets him.]

[Sam does turn to it soon enough, leaning forward on the desk.]

Well. That would be because that's what it looks like we may be facing. There aren't a lot of other things that can go through walls without disturbing them. But, it's also what I deal with back home, so I figured it couldn't hurt to share it out.

As the Bard said, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio"...

video

[googledox]

[The alien on screen looks mildly irritated but it's not directed at Ian, it's because magic may be involved in all this and that is so annoying. ]

I say this as a scientist and a strict rationalist but the fabric of reality could stand to be slightly more prosaic.

Magic - as in confounding anomalous forces or beings that have a tenuous and quite frankly nonsensical relationship with proven physicals laws - is real. Disappointingly so.

Fortunately, magic sometimes abides by internally coherent limitations, even if there's no practical reason these limitations should exist. That said, it's entirely possible the proposed solutions Sam listed won't affect this being, even if it is magical.

The last time my team fought a being like this, only an artifact touched with the blood of one of Earth's messiah figures was able to seal it away from reality.

Regardless, the existence of metapowers with scientifically verifiable causes and explanations doesn't preclude the existence of beings capable of irrational and anomalous probability manipulation.

[Video]

[bringinghopewithme]

I could talk to you about spirits for a lot more than ten minutes if you need to get over that hurdle now.

[video]

[bringinghopewithme]

No question. Just a comment. If you've got a warding plant you want grown, come to the garden and tell me and I'll grow it.

[Dan this clearly means you, but hey, other people might want a weird root or two.]

[hallelujahjunction]

[Oh hey you. Dan reflexively makes bedroom eyes at Bunny.]

I hope you knew just what you were volunteering, because I got a list.

[He counts off on his fingers.]

Lord hopes we never have to use these, but rose is the probably most common flower we use. You can use the petals, the stems, the thorns, fresh or dried, and flavoring and infusions, depending on what kind of spirit you're warding, and they can't come within several feet of it. And we use a lot of verbena too, just the smell of it is enough to send off minor spirits. There are also plenty of things you can block from getting near with vetiver, lilac, foxglove and lupin.

Camphor's what you use for waterhouds, hellhounds and demons. Mostly you use the leaves, but you can make protective tokens out of the wood itself. Sometimes things you can ward with camphor don't take kindly to eucalyptus, either. I think it's how strong it smells to them, waterhounds and hellhounds got little doggie noses, but it's got to be more than just unpleasant because they can't bear to be around it at all, no matter what other temptations may exist.

You can ward crocottas with kudzu, ghouls and roux-ga-roux with ginger, and hellcats or anything that needs heat to thrive with mint and lamb's ear. Lots of uses for turmeric, sage and larkspur, too, now that I think about it. Cherryblossom, too.

Most of the time when I'm hunting I carry everything as dried and crushed up, but the idea that we got regular access to fresh sources of any of this is comforting. I appreciate your generosity, Bunny.

And believe me, I appreciate any time I get to use plants to ward, instead of how we got some creepers that you gotta use kerosene and turpentine to ward off.