Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

Yolande seeks rumours at the White Fox tavern

Stronghold of education and learning, this fortress is in one of the coldest areas of Idalos and home to many knowledge seekers in a variety of disciplines. However, unknown to most, below the city are those who suffer for the sake of science. While all are welcome, not everyone will be treated as they expect.

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Yolande
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

20th trial of Vhalar, 717th arc
Yolande wore the cold of Viden like a familiar shrug. It lay around her, like autumn leaves around a frost-bitten tree. It was a romantic image for the lofty woman who strode purposefully along the street towards the homely tavern in her sights. It was an image she wouldn't have used, herself, but it was still true. She held the particular stance of a person who was accustomed to cold, one who was a native of the city of knowledge. The cold showed itself if you peered past the hood of her cloak that shaded her face, in the blank, icy sheen of her pupil-less eyes or the slight sheen of blue to her skin. These signs were not due to extreme frostbite, but simply her nature- her race, if you would. The edisi woman didn't pay attention to her own appearance however, though she did stop to slide the coarse, pale grey of the hood from her hair as she stepped into the sudden warmth of the building. Not many paid attention to the arrival of the woman, and that suited her just fine. After all, she wasn't here to unwind or drink or even eat. Yolande was here on her own, personal mission. Something was afoot, and she intended to place both her feet, and her person, into that something. Whatever it was.

She garnered a few looks from the staff as she made her way straight to the noticeboard that was plastered with everything from scraps of notes through to posters advertising jobs or events that patrons thought might be interesting. She stepped closer and swiftly scanned the array of notices that hung there, looking for words that might stand out.
HELP REQUESTED
... Puppy for sale ...
Looking for crafter
... MISSING ...
Wrestling competition 54th Vhal-


Her attention snapped back to the freshly scripted note stacked beneath a sign about an ale company. MISSING... Her fingers carefully jostled the paper to the surface of the crowded board, and she gazed at it with a sharp interest. The paper itself was good quality, and she briefly admired the texture beneath her fingers. The writing itself was less impressive, but legible. The ink was a blackish type of brown, and clumped in several places. The word that had originally caught her interest was the largest, and seemed to scream worry. If she was to give the notice a voice, it would be a quietly screaming one. Yolande found the nearest free table and laid the paper on it's well-worn surface as she read once, then twice, the note in its fullness.
MISSING
Sisters, twins, Maris & Janis, both hunters. They went missing on the 13th (Vhalar). A reward and my eternal gratitude will go to the one who finds them.
They both have black hair and fair skin. Last seen wearing dark green cloaks and carrying hunting equipment.
Thought to have been hunting in the White Pine Forests.
Kala Avilstone
I can be contacted at the Tsavorite Prism
Yolande sighed a short huff of exhaled air. It was absolutely typical that the scribe of this note had forgotten to write down their own appearance, but a name would have to do. She had her backpack safely tucked against the leg of the table, and from within it she pulled a notebook, small inkpot and an inkpen. It was obvious, to anyone looking, that they were used frequently. Even if the ink-crusted state of the pot wasn't evidence enough, the woman's hands were the typically stained ones of a scholar. Even more revealing was the way she wrote, in long elegant strands of scribbles. The page she had chosen was fresh and clean of text, and a minute frown creased her brow as she unscrewed the ink pot to release the smell of the nighttime black ink that dwelt within. Her pen dipped into the well, and scratched across that fresh, snowy page.

"Viden's tavern, the White Fox Inn, holds many a notice inside it's warm walls. It is always a source of at least some kind of interest, dependant on your own interests of course. Mostly it holds the type of mundane advertisements and leaflets intended for the patrons of the establishment, but at the start of Vhalar 717, signs have begun to be posted, mentioning missing persons. I first learnt of this through the street conversation of two market women, then later at the tavern in which I now find myself. The sign which caught my eye is as follows."

Here, she carefully scribed the exact wording of the note. It was essential, she thought, to make sure she wrote it as she found it. Mostly, Yolande recorded her surroundings and events that occurred around her, and she had never thought to record it differently to what she saw. In a vague sense, she might realise that her chronicling had the chance to alter the past, but the more pressing matter for her was always her father's words to her, those long arcs ago. Of course, she rarely thought of them now. The past had passed, and she no longer kept her dead father in the forefront of her mind, but the eidisi woman was shaped by the spectre of her father more than she realised. It was his hand that had carefully taught her to write, after all, and writing was her by far her largest passion.

Once she had finished though, she replaced the note where she had found it, despite temptation to slip the paper between the leaves of her journal. She stood, unfolding like an unfurling fern, and began to walk to the exit. Time to find Kala Avilstone.

OOC: If anyone fancies stepping in, the basic premise is that Yolande isn't necessarily going to try and find the hunters. She's just collecting as much information about disappearances as she can. You can bump into her at the inn or in the Tsavorite Prism as she goes to find Kala. Also, this is my first post here so I expect I've littered it with errors! Please tell me off nicely. :P
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

Evangelina found herself with some rare free time. The cold and general state of the weather meant most people holed up indoors and caught their fair shares of colds, which meant work for her, thankfully most sniffles were easily treated and the patient recovered in a day or two nothing that would give them any long-term issues and allowed Evangelina a sort of break. The warmer season, such as it was here caused more injuries, and hence more work. Colds were easy to treat infected wounds or massive blood loss was far harder. She shook her head to dislodge those thoughts from her mind, there was no point in fixating on things she could not fix, at least not now when it was more or less a pleasant day.

She had been musing as she wandered through the town and had somehow ended up near the tavern. Wool clothes and a heavy cloak could offer only so much protection against the cold. The thought of a fire and possible news and gossip suddenly seemed like a good idea to Evangelina. To that end, she opened the door and made her way inside. It was about that time she had almost ran full bore into another figure exciting. Moving out of the way as quickly as she could she stepped out of the way. She didn't know the other woman after all, and there was no need to offend anyone by blocking their path. After all, some people leaving these sort of places tended to be in their cups and could take offense to someone getting in their way.

"Pardon me." She made apologies for herself, she regarded the other woman for a moment. She didn't seem to be kind of person to take issue with some on in the door. Evangelina liked to think herself a good judge of character. Of course, there was always the chance she could be wrong. Either way, the deed was done, there was hardly anything that could be done about it now. "Where are you going in such a hurry? If you don't mind my asking. Most people around here usually aren't in that big of a hurry to get outside." She waited to see if the other woman would answer her before removing herself from the doorway.

She debated on rather she should move back into the room, surely the cold air wafting into the room was going to get on someone's nerves and she waited for someone to call to her to close the door to get rid of the damp draft that was wafting its way into the from around her body and under her feet. She tried not to shiver too much as she waited. She, herself tried not to think too much about the cold damp that seemed to have started to cling to her own cloak and dress beneath it.
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Yolande
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

Yolande gathered the mist grey cloak that belonged to her and casually draped it around her shoulders. She looked around with a cursory glance. A bartender stared idly until her blank eyes settled on his, but she moved on, gazing at the rest of the room, searching for anything that might be worthy of a mention in her book. But no, the soft chatter of the guests filtered over laughter and the clink of a tavern in it's usual, soft lullaby. There was nothing more to see here. She stepped up to the doorway, and stopped short of walking into the woman who barred her way.
"Excuse me." Her voice was flat and low for a woman. She tried to step around the figure, but she took up the tiny space and made the eidisi stop in her tracks. With a sharp sigh, Yolande simply drew the hood onto her head and answered, "The Tsavorite Prism. Now, I will be on my way." There was little else that needed to be said.

Once she had moved, Yolande stepped out into the blustery light of the day. After the mellow dimness of the building, it took her a few moments to adjust and she stood stationary until her vision cleared. A slight shiver tickled up her spine, and she shook out her sleeves to keep the residual warmth of the White Fox Inn confined to her body. The crisp daylight shone blankly on the swept cobbles that paved the street, and glinted off the windows that gave the surrounding buildings empty eyes. Ahead, the sunlight bled into the lightness of the sky, a blue so pale it bordered on white. Yolande liked days such as this. Viden was enjoyable when it wasn't trying to kill you with its snows and its frosts so hard they sometimes shattered stonework. Not to say the frozen air didn't seep through every crevice in one's clothing, but it was still beautiful.

She heard a rustle beside her, but ignored it as she began to walk. She had many steps to climb to the Tsavorite Prism that was cut into the cliff-face above her, many steps that would soon bolster the lingering heat of the inn. Her skirts swayed as she began to stride, not walk, along the path that lead to the first winding staircase. It was busy, bustling even, but the eidisi woman didn't care to people watch today and so the myriad faces blurred past her. Instead, her thoughts dwelt on the noticeboard. Darkly excited thoughts drifted through her head- perhaps the missing people were murdered, or had all lost their memories for some bizarre, unworldly reason. With a conviction that stemmed from arcs of singular moments in time much like the one she was in currently, she resolved to find out. That blazed through her like a fire, and her heart throbbed once with a flickering excitement that yearned to see what was to come of her steely resolve. She knew not her course, but she would build one. Oh yes, she would know/

It was as she was mentally claiming her own challenge that she finally ascended the steps to reach the beginning of the Tsavorite Prism. The eidisi, however, did not know where to start. That previous frustration came back. All she had to go on was a name, presumably of a woman, Kala Avilstone. If she was a well-known type of person, she would be in luck. But many people were not famous or even sociable. She would find nothing out though if she did not ask, and although the residencies were mainly quiet at this time of day (where the sun lay almost directly overhead) there were still a fair amount of people about. Firstly, the lithe woman strode towards the door of the nearest housing block. If she had to knock on every door she would.

The first door was opened by an elderly man, wearing a wiry old fur coat of some kind. A haze of smoke followed him, making the man's eyes water and squint feebly. She cut straight to the point, although disappointment was already sinking to her belly.
"Hello. Do you know of a Kala Avilstone? She has recently advertised for help in finding missing twins."
The man shook his head querulously, a frown already forming.
"Whatchu want fro' me? Tryin' git money, is tha' it?" Yolande shook her head firmly, ignoring the man's questions, trying weakly to keep the disdain from her face. "Thank you." She stepped away, and followed the path the the next door. Some were on the cliff wall itself, but some burrowed deeper in. After the stench of that man she wanted to search a little further outside before venturing inside.

So she searched. She heard many fascinating stories, but none that helped her with this Kala. Her frustration was growing as the sun began to climb down from the sky. By now, all she wanted to do was go back to her own room, but as usual she drove herself onwards. Like a chase, she knew her prey would be just around the corner, any time now... Then, without warning, she stumbled into someone. Yolande cursed internally and righted herself so she stood in all her grand height. "Excuse m..-" Suddenly, she stopped. The woman she had bumped into was only the exact same woman from the inn earlier in the day. Yolande's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
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Linika
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

"Following you? Perhaps?" the voice sang in a slightly accusing tone; which altered somewhat to an admission of "As am I."

The naer slipped free of what would not have seemed to be sufficient shadow to stand only a door away from the eidisi and the human. She met their eyes steadily; her own being the better part of all that could be seen of her beneath her cloak and cold-weather gear. "Don't get me wrong. I do not make it a common practice to follow strangers" she lied, "but you've been bandying a name about, and I believe I can spare a couple hundred more low-income residents the bother of sharing in this waste of your time. Kala Alvistone lives..."

She very nearly stated where Kala's unit was, in proximity to her own, before catching herself. She had not given her name, and did not truly wish to state exactly where she lived either. These two would not know of the history she had with Viden and Yvithia. They wouldn't know how she had initially been Audrae's loyal naer, living and breathing for the advancement of her racial matron's agenda. They would not know of the epiphany of betrayal and abandonment that had turned her loyalty on its axis to now bear the mark of Yvithia.

Her mark was kept well sealed beneath cosmetics. As a naer, she had the capability to be the most unlikely of spies for Viden's matron Immortal, but not if the Xypha could be seen. Even if it was seen however, most would surely think it some sort of hoax. For how could Yvithia bear to embrace the filthy touch of one of Audrae's "minions". It had not been a pleasant exchange between the two. Down the stretch, Linika had tried to provoke her enemies into killing her. But the Ice Queen had insisted upon "redeeming" her.

Linika was unique in being the sole member of the shadow race to bear Yvithia' mark. The very rarity of it being a large part of the appeal which allowed her to transcend the original crushing blow of her rejection by her home city of Augiery to embrace Yvithia as an Immortal no less focused on power than Audrae. It was a focus that was certainly more cerebral than Audrae's approach. But this too eventually came to a favorable light in Linika's eyes. That and the fact that Audrae had since sent assassins to kill her, and the powers of Yvithia's mark had allowed her to see through the assassins' feigned friendship.

She had always been less a warrior and more a scientist than her sisters back home. Admittedly, the focus on languages had not initially seemed useful to her. But she'd long since realized the foolishness of that notion. She'd been allowed to keep her station at the Viridian Wing, something for which she was grateful. Her own innate affinity for chemistry and toxins made her useful to Viden in return.

But it was more her craftiness and intuition that had caught the eye of the Intelligence Authority. They claimed there were other subversive elements in Viden besides those that would have been her sisters a few cycles ago. So now she strolled about carrying the IA's hopes that subversives would assume her to be an enemy, and approach her. Or if she saw someone behaving oddly, se would make her presence known and see how they reacted.

She did not especially believe this eidisi, or the human for that matter, to be some traitor-in-waiting. But she had nothing else going on this trial. It occurred to her that she'd hesitated longer than she'd intended. She pasted a look of concentration across her face for a moment, then shrugged, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not as sure of the unit number as I thought. Anyway, she lives this way, if you care to follow."

Unless one of the two did something to give her reason to stop, she would turn and start slowly down the passage away form the two women.
Last edited by Linika on Sun Feb 25, 2018 5:41 pm, edited 3 times in total. word count: 697
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Yolande
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

Before the stranger had even a chance to reply, a new voice spoke up. It belonged to a woman she supposed from the tone of her voice alone, because the rest of the figure was swathed in cloak and the dim shadow of the doorway, indiscernible and discreet. The stranger seemed to take fright from being so singularly accused, and hotfooted it away. Yolande paid little heed. If she was a threat, she would have known about it by now. Thieves and muggers didn't attempt to stalk their prey and run away at the best opportunity. Instead she elegantly frowned at the newcomer. Her expression barely shifted, even when the solitary figure mentioned they knew where Avilstone lived.

"I suppose your intrusiveness is more helpful than it is irritating. Thank you," she added, rather reluctantly, as she began to follow the stranger. Their footsteps thudded dully in the corridor but the eidisi was preoccupied. Preoccupied and glad to finally know where she was going. The two women walked in silence for a while, then she abruptly asked, "Why do you know Avistone? Do you know anything about the two missing huntresses?" The question had left her lips now, and left her feeling ill at ease for she hated not knowing. It was the desperate asking (although her voice had been calm and measured) that made her feel sullied, as if she was some lowly life form with no intelligence of her own. But she also did not pretend she knew more than she did. Yolande was not usually a liar.

Finally, it appeared they had arrived. The apartment didn't look overly impressive, but she hadn't expected it to be. Instead, she peered intently at the wooden door, noting the slight warp, then at the doorknocker, which looked like it was a decent quality. What did that mean? Perhaps it meant that the huntresses brought in enough money for small luxuries, but not enough for bigger tasks. She ruled out Kala being a murderer, it seemed unlikely that a woman would kill her relatives anyway, and even less likely that she would murder those that brought home their wages. Yolande was brought back to the present day as she removed her hood, letting her long hair swing free to frame her face. She raised her eyes to her 'companion', silently willing her to take her own hood off so she could see what kind of person she was. The woman was a small mystery that ought to be solved. Then, she spoke once more.

"I will let you introduce yourself to Avilstone first, as you are acquainted with her. Afterwards, I have a few questions for her. I thank you for bringing me here, ... ?" She tailed off, hoping to prompt the woman to mention her name. It wasn't subtle, but it didn't need to be. After all, there wasn't much she could really do with a name, apart from commit it to memory and to her book. If the woman turned out to be a person of interest.

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It seemed that the other woman was not interested in joining in the conversation after all. Linika now felt as compelled to follow the one departing as to stay with the one now asking her various questions about what she already knew. People that hurried away at the proposal of a single, only half-serious, accusation, often were found to have had something to hide.

For a moment she ignored the eidisi, though her questions did register in a compartment of her mind, as she committed the description of the human to memory. She would consider putting her under some surveillance later. Her eyes now shifted slightly to focus once again on the eidisi, "I'm sorry...If I gave you the impression that I knew Miss Avilstone, then one of us was not clear. I said only that I knew where she lived. I've seen her several times, but that's about it."

She added the last remark to nip the predictable next question in the bud: 'How do you know where she lives if you don't know her?' If you mean to investigate, you'd best not appear secretive yourself; not unless you're going announce yourself as an investigator right off, and then resort to intimidation to wring information out of your subject. Linika was, of course, perfectly willing to do that, but the situation had developed differently thus far.

Another detail caught her interest, but it needed clarifying, "I was not aware that Miss Avilstone had roommates. Is that what you meant to imply with your mention of these two huntresses? Do they live together? Maybe they went missing and Kala went out to find them? Are the part of a guild or club? Some hunter thing? I'm sorry, I really don't know what the...dynamics of this search are."

It was beginning to look like this eidisi woman was no schemer. She did not appear to be trying to withhold anything, offering up details as she was. By the time they reached the unit they were heading for, the temperature had risen a bit. Linika tossed her hood back, and shook out her dark hair. She had not gone to the trouble of coiffing it, but it still hung in a loose gleam. As a naer, she could pass for human, if she made the effort to suppress her innate arrogance. But the instinctive grooming and cosmetic effort to which naerikk were inclined could be enough to tip off an eidisi.

Females of most other races would not necessarily make the connection, and were more likely to put up a wall of envy for her effortlessly creamy skin and rich, obedient hair. Eidisi however, were just a bit more cerebral about such things. Linika was making some effort to pass for human though. It was one of the reasons she had not put her hair up.

The door had enough of a warp to it to put Linika on her guard. Not a defensive guard, but a detail-minded state. None of the other doors were warped. She pulled off a glove and put her hand against it, to see if it was oddly hot or cold, or even just damp to the touch. She thought it felt quite a bit colder than usual. She could not recall any "incidents" of any kind at this unit to give her any additional reason for caution so she shrugged and knocked.

"Kala?...Kala, it's Linika. I live a few doors away. Are you home? Your door is cold...well colder than it should. If you've got a window open, you really ought to close it....Kala?...Are you there?" She rapped the knocker a few times, repeating the gist of her message. She gripped the doorknob and recoiled with a hiss. "Fates! That's cold!"

She rolled her eyes at her own gaffe and replaced the glove. Gripping the knob again, she tried to turn it. It was not surprising that it would not turn, it most likely being locked. But it did not even wiggle. Crouching down to look closer, she saw ice in the gap between the knob and the casing for the mechanism inside the door itself. "The knob...it's frozen tight!" she muttered, her investigative mood relegating conversation to less-important status.

She stood and looked at the eidisi, "Hang on a tick." she said as she went to check neighboring doors, finding none of them frozen to such a degree. Coming back she went through a feigned motion of kicking the door in, by way of letting the eidisi know what she planned. "I think we have legal cause to enter."

She did not wait for agreement, but hauled back and slammed her boot heel into the door just to the side of the knob. The wood by the knob assembly, as well as the jam where it latched, both shattered, displaying ice within the wood. A wave of cold hit the two; surprising and uncomfortable, but not lethal, not unless someone laid in it uncovered for some time.

Stepping inside, the two could see many items coated in ice, though none of the windows were open. It was possible the window had only recently been closed, after letting the unit become an icebox, but it seemed unlikely that no other tasks would have been tended to. They began to look around.
Last edited by Linika on Sun Feb 25, 2018 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total. word count: 907
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

It comforted her slightly that the stranger appeared to be equally clueless, at least in these matters. Yolande answered her flurry of questions with her own hypotheses, worded carefully after a small pause for thought. "As far as I know, the two huntresses are kin to Kala Avilstone. I discovered a missing person's notice in the White Fox tavern, and sought to investigate so I am as in the dark as you." She broke off, then as an afterthought added, "Unfortunately."

She soaked in the appearance of the woman and her silky hair. An elegantly-shaped face peeped from behind those waving curtains, but Yolande was beginning to put two and two together to make suspicion. She gazed intently at her face, and saw cosmetics and unerring style. Perhaps she was rich, or vain... or perhaps she was a Naerrik. But no, her attitude so far seemed peaceful and relaxed, almost. The eidisi reserved judgement for another time. Right now, there were more pressing concerns over whether a pretty woman was potentially a Naerrik or not, especially as her evidence was so few.

The break-in began. Yolande stood nearby, waiting reservedly as the woman, as Linika began to take control of the situation. Before long, she had assessed that the door was frozen solid and that they should enter with force. Yolande didn't object, by now she cared little whether they caused a little damage, for the mystery had grown. She had almost been sure that Kala would be there, worrying about her missing sisters or aunts or nieces or whatever they were to her, and that she would welcome some reply to her plea in the tavern even if it was in the form of questions from a cool eidisi rather than answers. However, as the door clattered open with a loud, sharp rattling sound, it soon became clear that the interior was abandoned.

Or at least, recently abandoned. The two women stepped inside and peered into the gloom. It was a modest room, furnished with a comfy-looking armchair and a low table set with a few wooden bowls. She looked around, gingerly picking up stray items of the woman that lived here. A hairbrush here, a half-finished embroidery there. Ice everywhere. That was odd.

There was another door at the back of the dimly lit front room, that was half-propped open with a stone door wedge. Yolande felt instinctively drawn there, like an overly curious moth to a flame. She tossed a glance over her shoulder towards Linika, meant to alert her to her own movements, and then walked gently up to the narrow gap betwixt wood and wall. It was just wide enough for her to squeeze through, she thought, especially as ice had formed over the cold stone and melded itself to the floor and the door, creating a kind of anchor. She took in a breath, marvelling at the places she ended up at all for the sake of discovery, and began to shuffle inelegantly through the gap.

Inside this smaller room, Yolande could feel the chill even more keenly. But it wasn't this that first made her eyes widen and her breath to huff out in a cloud of steam. There, huddled up in a corner, was a woman who was surely nearing or at death. Her eyes were closed, and although her chest was moving, she had frost lacing her eyelashes and her lips. She dropped to her knees and pulled her own cloak off to wrap around the woman who must surely be Kala. "Linika, in here," she called out urgently. The eidisi then saw the window, half-open, gently fluttering snow onto the bed that Kala lay beside. Her concern quickly grew to anger- what kind of idiot left a window open for such a long time as to allow their home to turn into a frozen wasteland?

"I cannot believe this." She snorted through her nostrils and rubbed her hands vigorously across Kala's face. "Wake up, woman. Don't be stupid enough to die now."
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hearing the eidisi call her, Linika came to the door and watched her try to awaken the Avilstone girl. Training scenarios from her days in Augiery flashed through her mind. Too many people gave too little credit to the denizens of the southern continent for learning about cold weather phenomenon. It was true that Viden was the standard of "cold" for a good reason. But there were snow-topped mountains a few trials' ride south of Augiery. Most operatives were given missions of survival in those bleak wilds during their training, and Linika had been no exception.

Now, that training resurfaced. The attempt at skin-to-skin friction heating should have had the side benefit of rousing the freezing girl from her sleep, She found a candle and lit it. "Move, please." she said, the 'please' being no more than a formality, not truly indicative of any courteous attitude.

If the eidisi did not move, Linika would sigh and go around to the other side. Either way, she held the candle close to the stricken girl's cheek. There was an actual increase in the frost effect there. "Damn it!" she hissed, "Take that cloak off!" she ordered.

Anticipating a belligerent response to her approach, she sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off bitchy, but trust me. This has a pattern I'm somewhat familiar with. This girl has been drugged with an alchemically modified derivative of 'Frostbite'. I think it's called 'Frostbane'. I can't make the stuff myself; not yet anyway. But I know how it works. The energy her body is generating is empowering the body temperature drop. The friction heat you were doing a moment ago is okay. That's physics, not an actual bodily function. But body heat from insulation will actually serve to make her colder, not warmer."

Despite the ice, Kala's body was flexible as normal, and was easy enough to pull out where the two women could get hold of her, "Help me get her out of here." Linika grunted, "We need to get her to the infirmary. I might be able to bring her out of this. The main thing is to get her to a normal body temperature. Otherwise she is expending energy trying to warm up, but it is being transformed into additional cold."

Now her face took on a more calculating look, "The other thing is the way this is meant to look. She's supposed to look like she just fell asleep, maybe some illness that weakened her; made her sleepy and lethargic. In a few trials, she would be dead, but the cold of both her body and the room here will prevent the decay that would let neighbors know something is dead in here. So someone has some sort of schedule that requires this girl dying, but not being discovered for at least a week, more like two."

She hooked her arms under those of the stricken girl, wrapping them across her chest and nodding toward he door. "The weather really won't put her in any more danger than she already is. We need to get her back, get her free of this poison and find out who might benefit from her death. I would not discount the possibility that her missing friends are involved."

This last was not borne of any clue, it was just her innate suspicion and assumption of treachery speaking.
word count: 576
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- Poison -

"Shelf Life'...What an ironically contradictory concept."
- Linika Amarinthine -
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

It was fortunate that she had assistance with the task, for Videnese eyes glared suspiciously enough already at the naer lugging an eidisi body through the streets. Had she been alone in the effort, or had her aid been a second naer, it would surely have been assumed a murder, or some similar crime. What was UNfortunate however, was that having every face stare this way at you made one that might have hinted at involvement, with such an expression, fit right in. She had hoped to see a clue in the reaction of some stranger here or there, but it was not to be. They all reacted pretty much the same.

Once it became obvious that they were heading for the Infirmary, the looks became less suspicious and accusing. There was even a moderate degree of assistance as soon as they got within a block of the door. At least she did not have to show her identification. They knew her at the facility. How could they not? The single token naer.

Still, it was annoying how the humans and eidisi in the infirmary immediately nudged her aside to take over. She scowled, "Don't you even want to hear my account? Hear any clues that might be evident from what I've seen? I work here too, you know! I know a little bit about this stuff."

The lead man, in the group assuming control, gave an exasperated and indulgent sigh, "Look, if you are truly at this level of employment here, then you know it is more important to stabilize the victim, than it is to assuage the stung pride of the poor, snubbed subordinate." His words were rife with disdain, and those assisting him made poor efforts to hide their own amusement.

Linika stewed in disgust. Half her mind was already leaving the poor Avilstone girl to die at the hands of these morons. But the other half was too eager to see them suffer her vindication, and the sneers of contempt she would so righteously level in their collective face. She followed to the door, and saw the immediate assumption of standard hypothermia, not the one she knew to be triggered by alchemy, on the part of the team.

She kicked the door open, to see wide-eyes and dropped jaws turning in her direction. "What do you thi-...?" the lead medic began in outrage, stopping dead still in his effort to wrap the girl's legs in blankets.

"Shut up!" Linika stormed, "Don't you think I already tried that? Didn't it occur to you that a trained employee of this facility, regardless of level, would have had the wit to wrap her like that, for a haul all the way from the rutting Tsavorite Prism? it didn't occur to you superiors that there might be a reason I didn't?"

Now she had their attention, "Don't any of you know anything about alchemy? I'm no expert, but it took me all of five ticks to check and confirm Frostbane poisoning. As close as she is to freezing right now, if you follow the standard protocols for hypothermia without considering Frostbane, you will kill her."

One of the assisting interns immediately pried open the victim's mouth and directed the light of some magic rod, tasked for this purpose, to examine the tissue inside. A blush of humiliation accompanied a tone of contrition as he looked up, "I think she's right. I DO know how Frostbane is made. A tissue sample is processed with a reversal reagent to make the benefit of Frostbite tonic turn about and become deadly. But only for THAT person. This was no accident."

Linika beamed with satisfaction. But it turned calculating in moments. "So who else knows how to make Frostbane?"

The intern looked up guardedly. He made some eye contacts, received some nods in return, and left the gurney to take Linika aside. "There are a few people, actually." he said quietly, "For what it's worth, I apologize for our insufferable treatment. I have no doubt the IA will be talking to all of us before too long. But like they will with us, they will want you to act as if you never suspected the use of Frostbane. They will probably let it "slip" that this girl died on the table, but they'll keep her safe until they can gauge whether any leads can be followed from this incident."

"What is this 'reversal reagent' you spoke of? I've never heard of such a thing." Linika ventured.

The intern eyed her intently for a moment. "I guess we owe you that much. And if you DO know about it, it will make your act that you never suspected it more believable. But are you sure you want to be in the books as someone who knows about it? it will probably bring more investigations to your door."

Linika nodded, getting out her notebook and flipping through it to find a likely page, "I work in this facility. It really shouldn't be considered "doubtful" that I should know how it's made. I mean, I know enough to recognize it already."

The intern paused and the shrugged, "Well, its medicinal capacity is as an antitoxin. So, often victims are in enough of a hurry that they are more than willing to chew up this fungus called Tendrilshroom. But you pull off the little tendrils first. And don't let them swallow it. That will negate the whole process. You just let it numb their tissue. It doesn't have to be their mouth, but that's the most convenient spot."

He stammered a moment, forgetting where he was at, "Anyway, you remove some numbed tissue and boil it with the tendrils. It's really not difficult, standard skim-foam-and-dry process. Grind it up, feed it to them. All Done." He flipped a thumb in the direction of the victim, "In this case, she clearly didn't let the girl know what she needed a tissue sample for. Probably some phony medical thing. Then she just incorporates the tissue and tendrils in with the Frostbite process to make Frostbane instead. And, it will only work on that victim, so she doesn't have to worry about someone else taking it, other than the waste of time and materials. Tendrilshroom is not found around here. Too cold."

Linika took note of just the slightest of twitches in the intern's face when he first used "she" as the operative pronoun representing the unidentified villain. She knew most men naturally defaulted to "he" in such cases. Having used it that first time, he would then have to use it every subsequent time as well. Of course, it proved nothing. But it was noteworthy nonetheless. Perhaps she'd found a clue after all...
word count: 1151
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- Poison -

"Shelf Life'...What an ironically contradictory concept."
- Linika Amarinthine -
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Maris & Janis: Hunters Lost

Your review is ready!
Sorry you didn't get to finish this out with Yolanda as it had a great beginning. It's never as much fun to solo out a collaborative thread, but, well, life happens. Linika is very comfortable when in her element and I enjoyed feeling her confidence and direction in your writing.

Yolande - If you do return, let me know and I'm happy to add your skill requests to this review.

Evangelina - I'm sorry, you've only posted once and therefore I can't award you points or skills should you return.

Linkia

Points

XP:
15 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
+3 Bringing the victim in

Loot

N/A

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
Alchemy: How to Make Frostbane Poison
Alchemy: Reversal Reagents: Usually an Anti-toxin
Alchemy: Tendrilshroom: A Source of a Reversal Reagent
Alchemy: Tendrilshroom Numbs Flesh
Alchemy: Tendrilshroom: The Tendrils Have the Actual Reagent
Detection: An Unexpected Speech Pattern Can be Suspicious
Investigation: Act Suspicious and Note What Others Ask You
Medicine: Don't Try to Insulate a Frostbane Victim From the Cold
Stealth: A Naer in a Shadowed Doorway

Other Knowledge:
PC: Yolande
NPC: Kala Avilstone: Frostbane Victim
NPC: Suspicious Intern at the Infirmary
Yolande

Points

XP:
15 | These points cannot be used for magic.

Fame:
N/A

Loot

N/A

Injuries + Overstepping

N/A

Knowledge

Skill Knowledge:
N/A

Other Knowledge:
N/A
If you've got a question or concern or if I've missed anything, don't hesitate to PM me!

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