Millennium park [Training]

The idea was simple, extend your consciousness out into the world and feel, and communicate with plants. The hard part was not losing you in the mass of individuals in the mind of the plants. Each individual blade of grass, tree, shrub, plant, rose, and tulip each wanted to talk, to scream, to cry, to laugh to do whatever it is they did together for the sake of communing together. If The Collective were going to work together with their newest members, they knew it would be beneficial to share their capabilities. The discussions helped to put everyone on the same page, but unfortunately it also made something abundantly clear: none of them had any particular expertise when it came to the arcane Darkhold.
Pyrrhus recalled some information on the ancient book from his studies, or stories that Pyrrhus had been told during preparations for one of the haunts. According to legend, the Darkhold was originally inscribed by the Elder God Chthon, collating all of the primordial entity's mystical knowledge in one place. However, despite the lure of the secrets that it contained, the Book of Sin also carried the curse that an unwary reader would lose their very soul to Chthon. The Darkhold acted as an indestructible link to Chthon, forever allowing him a foothold in the Earth's realm when the other Elder Gods had all long-since been banished from this plane of existence. It was possible, if the pages of the Darkhold were unified and certain spells were read by a skilled practitioner, that the book could perhaps be used to summon Chthon in a manifested form, unleashing the malevolent Elder God to walk the Earth once more.
Of course, the Darkhold was a grave threat above and beyond its association with Chthon. It contained an endless array of the blackest spells imaginable, any number of which could be used to create horrors and potentially catastrophic events to unfold. Mythical reports from pre-Atlantean scholars had suggested that spells contained within the Darkhold had been used in the original creation of a variety of monsters, including vampires and werewolves, spreading their curses through the Book of Sin's mystical means. It was without any doubt a highly dangerous object, and it was imperative that The Collective managed to locate and retrieve the Darkhold's scattered pages before it fell into the wrong hands. However, one would question wither the Collective was the right hands to have said book.
While the others shared whatever information they possessed, whether it was about their own abilities or otherwise, Scarecrow wondered about how to further him and the group by gathering a helping hand. While he wasn’t a techno-savy individual, one might make a claim that he was the most advance computer, and he wanted to connect to a Windows 98 computer. He set out to try and create a difficult but creative link between himself and the plants surrounding him. Tree’s, grass, potted and staked plants. At first he would try and use a physical connection, tenuous however this being his first real try, it could be a stressful experience.
"Hello? Can everybody hear me? Apologies for the bad connection, I'm still getting the hang of using these styles for communications. Give fellow plant a few moments to adjust please..."

The voice came from nowhere, seemingly projected directly into all of their minds by some unknown individual. Although somewhat distant, the sound was coming through relatively clearly, and did not seem affected by the language skills of Scarecrow. They could all hear the voice despite the noise of the meristems, and identified it as belonging to a young male, probably someone who wasn’t from around here.

"Everyone's there? Fantastic! Well, let's get down to business then. My name is Scarecrow... don't worry about trivial things, this is somewhat of an emergency. And if I've checked the proper values and ideals correctly, I think we all have a very similar goal. You are all in grave danger, I wish to save this planet, and to that I want to find the missing pages of the Darkhold. So I propose that we work together. Many hands make light work, and all that? Don't worry; I'm not expecting you to find the Darkhold pages for me without anything in it for you. You'll give me the pages, and in return, I'll promise to clean up this place, this awful tainted place"
It was hard to take in what this phantom-voice was saying. Apparently, this plant was not only fully aware of The Collective and their reasons for being in the city, but he was hunting for the Darkhold's pages himself.
"So... do we have a deal? I don't mean to be a pain, but I'd appreciate a quick answer. And so would the world.” The reply the meristems gave was one of well, unrequited danger and forbiddance at the mention of the Darkhold, however the very planet being in danger, communication with them was perhaps key.

Scarecrow reacted to the unseen presence of the plants in different ways. This method of mental communication was a completely new experience for some of them, like potted plants who chose to remain quiet while they waited to see how the world would respond. Others had a little bit more of a history dealing with psychic connections, and tree’s remembered there past clashes with the telepathic mutants in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Trees was ready for anything and steeled there mind against any possible mental manipulation. But Scarecrow was savvy enough to notice the differences from when mutants had used their powers against plants; they could not feel any attempt to control their mind or delve into their memories during this link. Apparently, Scarecrow was a plant, and that was more than enough for trees.

"What can I say, I'm not someone that feels the need to be the control I’m asking for help, I’ll only take what I need. " Scarecrow responded to meristems comment about not having heard of him, sounding more amused than offended, " After all, doesn't that make it much easier on your conscience to see the Darkhold in the hands of a minor league player like myself, instead of one who can’t listen? It's really a win-win situation for everybody if we all cooperate together, and you find the missing pages for me. Help me forge a path, let me use the tools I have to work for you, and I’ll use the tools you have to work for me."

Although he sounded like he was playing himself down, the meristems were fooled. Despite his apparently flippant attitude, this man clearly knew what he was doing if he had managed to contact and hold such a collection of plants in his mind at once. Perhaps some might have suspected Scarecrow was probably intentionally trying to present himself as less-threatening as perhaps he truly was. He was certainly well-informed, if nothing else, as he responded with amused laughter to their mentions of phoenix and Darkhold.

"Oh, I heard all about that! Either way, it would be SUCH a shame if someone was to destroy this planet, along with the life on it? That really would be a lousy thing to do. And I'm sure it wouldn't have to come to that, as long as you all do the smart thing and find me those missing Darkhold pages!"

This was news to meristems. If Scarecrow was to be believed, and admittedly that was a fairly big 'if', then the powerful phoenix was on its way to destroy all life, not just humans. The power it had unleashed upon the world, would likely be a earth ending event. Would Scarecrow really resort to such tactics against fellow plants, if they refused to cooperate with his hunt for the Darkhold pages? Even the plant that had not been a part of provoking of the phoenix knew they had to be wary; if it was called down upon them, it was highly unlikely that the phoenix would be particularly discriminating about who was-and-was-not present at the time, and would simply attempt to kill everyone in sight as it condemned them to burn. And speaking of burning, plants particularly hate that.

"This connection is fascinating and quite hard to maintain, you all speak at once, you need someone to speak for you, with you, and about you" once again, he sounded more amused than truly offended, and quickly responded to meristems's later comments about a possible deal, "Ah, now we're getting down to business! Well, if saving a planet that's in dire straits doesn't quite float your boat, then I'm sure we can work out some new terms to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Like I said before, I'm all about the win-win! So if you need a certain problem solved, area cleaned or creature taken care of. Not a problem whatsoever, for myself of my not-inconsiderable resources. Consider it a done deal, as soon as you find me those pages."

Apparently, Scarecrow was more than happy to grant merisems anything that it wanted in exchange for their assistance. Everything from cleansing whatever garbage dump or toxic fill was all approved without any problems. Of course, Meristems did notice that Scarecrow did not even acknowledge the question of what he actually intended to do with the Darkhold pages once he had them, but that was probably to be expected. Likewise, they was unsurprised when Scarecrow neatly avoided any answer to his straightforward inquiry into how to stop the phoenix. He did have some information on where they could actually begin their search for the pages, though.

"Trust me, this planet will be saved. But still relatively safe, all things considered. And I can personally assure you that it will come to no harm whatsoever, as long as I have your cooperation. I'll contact you when you have the pages that I require, and ask you a location where I can find them. Now, as for where to find them... that's a three-part answer. The Darkhold pages have been scattered, but I've been able to gather the majority here in the city. And as I knew it would, it's drawn other would-be collectors, who are hoping to finish their own collections when they know the rest of the pages are so close at hand. So other than myself, the three other people that currently own Darkhold pages are all in town. Convenient, right? I'm making your job so much easier, you can thank me any time that you want..."

While Scarecrow started to explain, some plants decided they had no intention of listening. Instead, they wanted to explore the possibilities of the mental connection that Scarecrow had established. Using his own terresital powers, they focused their consciousness through the link, attempting to ride it directly into Scarecrow's mind so they could possess the other man. Their's astral form whirled into an indistinct, ghostly mist... then vanished with a spectral howl as he was torn from the side of his team mates!

"That... was not very bright," Scarecrow's voice sounded different, less like he was trying to sound cute or non-threatening, and more like there's actions had genuinely annoyed him, "I'd strongly advise the rest of you not to try anything like that. Otherwise, I might not see the funny side."

They reappeared, back in natural forms, and with no memory of what had happened during their brief absence. Needless to say, attempting to possess Scarecrow had been less successful that they might have hoped, and they felt... strange. Like something may have happened while he was attempting to access the mental connection, and that it had unforeseen consequences.

"Alright... back to business. The first of the three other Darkhold collectors is a voodoo necromancer named Samuel Barone, athough his followers call him the Black Talon. He's involved in the local drug trade, from what I've heard. Not a very pleasant character at all, and definitely a lot more interested in zombies than any right-thinking person should be. He only has a handful of pages, mostly involving spells to do with the dead, but Barone knows that the Darkhold is his chance to become a real force to be reckoned with on the occult scene. You can find him at his squalid back-alley 'office' on the Eastside of town. Don't worry, you can't miss him if you're looking, Barone is not a difficult man to find. Just look for the guy in the ceremonial chicken garb."

"Collector number two is a lady... and I'm using that term VERY loosely... by the name of Vivian Crowe. She's a fervent priestess of Set, the Seven-Headed Serpent God of Chaos. And because according to the ancient lore, the Darkhold was written with a 'get-out-of-jail-free' spell for another Elder God, it's author Chthon, Crowe thinks that with a little bit of creative interpretation it will be just as effective at summoning her lord and master into the world. The snake-worshipping cult that she's leading has actually gathered quite a few pages of the Darkhold, and they've set up for business in an old theater along Hollywood Boulevard."

"Last but not last, we have Elsa Bloodstone... the daughter of legendary immortal monster-hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. PLEASE tell me that at least one of you has heard of Ulysses Bloodstone? Well, anyway... his daughter is a bit like all of you, only even more uptight. She's been gathering pages to 'safeguard them' from evil-types that are going to use the spells for their own nefarious reasons. Now, being the resourceful young man that I am, I've already been able to relieve Miss Bloodstone of most of her pages, along with the ones that she had left with a fallen angel friend of hers for safe-keeping. But she's got a final set, and they're locked away in Bloodstone's secure vault... which is warded against demonic intrusion, so unfortunately I can't simply send my Hell-Hounds to play fetch. Although I'm sure all of you will have no problems overcoming the wards, traps and other defenses that Bloodstone has set to keep the pages safe. The vault is at her place, the old Bloodstone family mansion in Beverly Hills. So yes, good luck with that!"

Although his threats against planet's life or to bring the wrath of phoenix down upon them if they failed to comply could not have won him many fans, Scarecrow had actually provided meristems with some useful information. They now had three locations of where to begin their hunt for the Darkhold pages, and make sure that the accursed book would not fall into the wrong hands.

1609 (To gain Plant Manipulation and Demal Armor)