With This Ring Episode 38 / Recap

Episode 38: Hullevow

Takes place 2-5 March 2011.

Short version

The Team investigates a town affected by vivid shared nightmares, and captures a fear elemental known as the Terror Thing, which is absorbed and tamed by the lingering soul of Michael Siskin.

Longer version

Paul tracks down an old friend of Constantine's, Chantinelle the succubus. He, John, and Zatanna offer to transform her into a Love Elemental using the Star Sapphire to remove any chance of her interfering with their plan to take down Nabu. It works, increasing her power while completely changing her mindset.

The Team, consisting of OL, Aqualad, Cornwall Boy, Tempest, and Aquagirl, plus Squire, visits the town of Minions, where shared nightmares are seriously disrupting the residents' sleep. They find a powerful source of fear magic in the local standing stone ring, which they learn includes several stones previously used by a cult to create a fear elemental, the Terror Thing.

The Terror Thing then takes full control of the town, but Paul is able to make contact with the faded remnants of the spirit of one of the psychics originally used to make it, Michael Siskin, who is slowly merging with it. Paul is unable to separate them, but walks Michael through the process of embracing the fears that are part of the resulting entity, allowing him to become the controlling mind. They evacuate him into a magic storage unit just before Nabu can destroy him.

Afterwards, the Team gives its debriefing to Batman and extend an invitation to Squire, which she accepts.

Hullevow is the Cornish word for nightmare. The title is most likely a reference to the nightmares the Terror Thing gave people.

Bland-Name Product: When Squire says Knight needs her help with computers, he retorts "I'll have you know my Twunter feed's got nearly eight million follows now."
Catholic School Girls Rule: Lampshaded and averted. Paul notes that Zatanna's uniform is not fetishistic at all.
Zatanna's school uniform is nothing like as fetishy as popular culture has led me to believe it should be. Yes, there's a pleated tartan skirt in red, pink and white, but it's knee length. There are tights, but they're thick and it's early spring. She has a blouse, waistcoat and a jacket decorated with the school's crest.
Chekhov's Gun: Back in Episode 11, John Constantine had a talk with Queen Mera about a fear attack he withstood. The creature that caused it is the Big Bad of this episode.
Dream Walker: The Atlanteans and Cornwall Boy do this to investigate the nightmares in Minions.
Dropping the Bombshell: Paul reveals to the Team the existence of a Government Conspiracy in Britain.
Enlightenment Superpowers: It's not outright stated that Michael Siskin achieved Yellow Enlightenment, but the process that he goes through has a lot of resemblance to Paul's acceptance of his own desires, and afterwards, Siskin speaks with yellow punctuation.
Face Your Fears: Michael Siskin has to face his fear of becoming fear itself in order to remain in control as he fuses with the Terror Thing.
Fall Guy: Cornwall Boy learns that his uncle, who has been in prison for 12 years after being apprehended by Cornwall Boy's dad, Captain Cornwall, was this for a demon worshipping part of the British government. Needless to say, he was very upset at this revelation.
Government Conspiracy: Paul reveals that there was one in the British government, which resulted in Cornwall Boy's uncle serving as their Fall Guy.
I Was Just Joking: Paul is using his ring to find a group that calls itself the Pagan Nation.
I'm looking for a small community -hundreds of orange crosshairs appear in my vision- near either a large body of water or the sea -about three quarters disappear- with few cars or other motor vehicles -about half- practicing subsistence farming -most of the rest, just islands left for the most part- and no churches. Most of the islands go out. Okay, I can check those.
…
I don't suppose one of them has a sign saying 'Pagan Nation' on the front -all but one disappear- gate…
…
Thanks, ring.
Magic Staff: Zatanna now has one in her possession, courtesy of Sephtian. It will allow her to safely use the power of the Star Sapphire.
She also has a long, metal, rune-covered stave topped by Sephtian's best Star Sapphire containment cage. Violet light is weakly radiating out from it at levels which our tests -and, frankly, educated guesses- say should be safe for a person to be exposed to long term. The staff itself is a joint effort between myself, Sephtian and Io. The bulk of it is a metal that Earth science hasn't gotten around to naming yet, a heavy nucleus metal with a half life measured in billions of years. Since the stuff didn't exist on Earth before I made it last week it has no arcane presence at all. It's hard without being brittle, reacts with almost no naturally occurring materials and the staff weighs enough to be used as a bludgeoning weapon without being too heavy for Zatanna to hold for an extended period of time. Tiny strands of orichalcum wire threaded throughout the structure hold a spell network that make it possible for Zatanna to use the Star Sapphire without all the fuss we had to make the first time she tried, as well as generally aiding in her efforts to focus the power. Shame she can't use it on missions, really.
National Stereotypes: In order to help Tula blend in, Paul decides to teach her how to act like stereotypical British people.
Not Helping Your Case: Knight tries to prove that he isn't Hopeless with Tech.
"I'll have you know my Twunter feed's got nearly eight million follows now."
An Offer You Can't Refuse: Paul bribes a succubus to ensure she won't interfere with their schemes against Nabu — but if she turned down the offer, the backup plan was to shoot her with the Ace of Winchesters.
The Power of Love: John Constantine and Paul offer Chantinelle the succubus a chance to become a love elemental. It helps that they have the Star Sapphire on hand.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Paul says a short one to Mercury after she says that how she lives is how everyone should live.
"Yeah. I cleansed the sea of Human refuse. I refroze the North Pole. You did some gardening and smoked some weed."
Shout-Out: OL brings up Nineteen Eighty-Four as an example of what the Masons were trying to achieve.
Squick: The fear experiences that Siskin has to embrace as normal include transforming into a giant cancerous lump that chases people down and drains all fluids from their bodies.
To Be Lawful or Good: Paul is leaning more to good, specifically if the law is evil or stupid.
(about a man being kept wrongfully imprisoned by an evil government) "What? If he can't get a fair trial, why should they have the right to try him in the first place? I'm not going through all this effort to keep arseholes in power."
Was Once a Man: Michael Siskin isn't entirely himself any more after fusing with the Terror Thing; his physical body is long gone, he's basically made of fear magic, and he sees everything around him in terms of fear.
Word of God:
- Constantine trusts Paul to not betray him.
- Etrigan is active on Earth 16.
- Zatanna can't use the staff on missions because she aren't supposed to have it.
- Chantinelle might have interfered with Paul's plan for Nabu just to spite Constantine.
- Jack Knight still has his staff.
- Paul is still uncertain of how the Ace of Winchesters works.
- Part of the reason Paul and the rest sought out Chantinelle was to test the process of transforming a being using the Star Sapphire.
- Paul is unaware that Thessaly is a DC character. This is because he's only read one comic with her in it.
- Paul dislikes implants so much that any that are put in his body would be eaten by his ring.
- The mental augmentation constructs used by Paulphidian disappeared after they separated.
- The First of the Fallen is occupied thanks to Satanus.
- The Renegade was in jail when the Team investigated Minions.
- Mercury didn't have all the pertinent information when advising OL.
- OL's dislike of Mercury is given an explanation.
- While Paul is aware of what the Sword of the Fallen actually does, the Renegade is not, at least at the moment.
- Paul's dislike of Nabu's method is explained.
- Gotham's police department is a lot less corrupt nowadays.