Quacian Botany: Ballistic Fury

[Woe]

72nd of ZI'da 719

In Dreamland it's 54th of Ymiden 923

Continued from Quacian Botany Timeline…

They were in the middle of a dark, and chilly exam room of the coroner's office, examining the body of Wolstan Rand before he'd be disposed of in the Quacian tradition, by burning. Eponia for her part was called in by her agency to investigate the murder, and possibly bring those who were responsible to justice. She spent much of the last few moments, overlooking the body, inspecting the pistol wound in his chest. She stuck a finger into it, and frowned.

”Mmm, the pistol wound… It was an arcanist’s pistol, there’s no bullet, afterall.” Eponia reflected to the doctor who’d identified the body they found in Ferahorn’s estate. Her hand drifted to the handle of her own wrathling pistol, which itself contained no shortage of rounds in the form of wrathling, lead bullets. The gold-plated weapon was an old syroan three-shooter. A gift from the Grand Revel of Syroa’s Temple in Quacia, in honor of her services to the church and city.

She drew the pistol, and flipped the grip to the barrel, handing it handle first to the doctor that'd been called in to identify the man, who few really knew anything about. ”Do you know what the arcanists would have against this poor old butler to the Ferahorns?” Eponia asked, although perhaps it was mostly rhetorical. She moved over toward the doctor’s side, and stared at the corpse of the one known only as Wolston Rand. ”Mister Rand was a cantankerous grump, but not much anyone knows about him. We heard that you might know him? Anyone he might’ve crossed?”

If the doctor examined the pistol, a smile would cross Eponia’s lips, as she held his arm up, allowing him to point it at the other wall. ”It’s full of wrathling bullets, blessed by a Syroan priest. I heard you were a sesser yourself?” She wraps an arm around his hip as she takes aim across the way, but doesn’t pull the trigger. She didn’t think the coroner would appreciate them taking target practice at his exam room walls. ”Maybe I can take you to the firing range, later?”

All this, while they stood over the corpse of Wolstan Rand, or the old man who Doran would know as Woe. The scene was set in Woe’s dreamscape, and one only had to step into the role of the doctor, if they wished to partake of this far flung vision of the future.

[Doran]

“Don’t touch the wound too much. There might be valuable clues“, came a cool, deep voice from Eponia’s left. The man that stood next to her, seemingly indifferent towards their dark and cold surroundings - or the fact that there was the body of a man that he knew lying in front of him – was tall and dark-haired, with bright blue eyes and a well-groomed beard. He wore a suit of black and silver, as fine as any noble’s lords. Over the centuries, Doran had been a warrior, and an academic before he had found himself interested in medicine once more and moved to Quacia.

“There might not be a bullet, but we might still be able to find something in the wound, and the shape of the wound might tell us something as well”, he pointed out and momentarily bent over Wolston Rand’s body, narrowing his eyes fractionally before he turned to face her again, looking at the pistol with a mixture of curiosity and vague bemusement. He had been instrumental in the creation of the first generation of those weapons, but of course she would never know. It was fascinating to see what these people had done with his invention regardless though.

“I have my suspicions”, he remarked dryly even though the question that she had asked had been a largely rhetorical one. Wolston Rand – or Woe – and he had never been particularly close, but they had met several times over the course of the centuries. Was Eponia aware of the fact that the man whose body was lying in front of them was a Mortalborn and one of Sintra’s own though? Judging by what she had said so far, he doubted it.

“Mister Rand was not always a cantankerous old butler, Eponia”, he remarked calmly and somewhat vaguely – he was not quite sure how much he should reveal yet as it might affect his own position in the city in some way. “He did not always serve House Ferahorn. He probably crossed a lot of people – but then again, it’s possible that he simply found something out …” he murmured somewhat thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a gloved finger.

He took the pistol and inspected it briefly. He did not push her away; instead, he momentarily leaned against her as she wrapped an arm around his hip. “I was blessed by Syroa, yes. I’d wager that I know at least as much as the priest that blessed your bullets”, he replied in a somewhat bemused tone. He was not as secretive when it came to his immortal ally as he had once been. In this day and age, being a Sesser could open a whole lot of doors.

“I’d like that”, he replied as Eponia talked about taking him to the firing range later on. For the time being, he stepped slightly away from her again though, having decided to focus on the task at hand once more, and told her, “Perhaps it would be best if you told me what your impression of the case is and what you’ve found out so far first though. I might be able to help you solve it …”

[Woe]

She pouted when he chastised her for touching the wound. But her eyes shone orange when he said there might be valuable clues. Oh she knew something, that was for certain. But what? She wasn't willing to share outright.

"Hmm, you think... Umbral ballistics? Perhaps something weakened him, and this is not a gunshot at all, but the after-effects of weakening his flesh to the point where it collapses under the strain of a blunt instrument? That might simulate the impression of a gunwound..."

She hummed to herself, as she wiped the dried blood from her glove.

"Oh, you knew him? What a coincidence. To find you here in Quacia..." She shrugged, "I trust you have an alibi?"

At his admission that he was blessed with Sesser, she flashed another smile, and her eyes glowed orange momentarily, giving away her own blessing. "Many of us around lately, wouldn't you say? Perhaps its the draw of the culture that brings so many Sessers to Quacia. This really is the jewel of the South."

When asked to tell him her impression of the case, she leaned on one foot, and crossed her arms, "You're a very curious man, Doctor Thetys." Her smile widened into a grin, as she produced a note from the fold in her vest. She handed it over. It held the wax seal of the Ferahorns.

54th of Ymiden 923




Dear Warden:


The newly anointed Baron Ferahorn demands, yes demands, that his son and daughter be released immediately. I’ve heard through my fellows in the Asylum that you’ve been keeping him among the greenery, giving him plenty of fresh air in the botanical gardens. That is good, but the Baron insists it is not enough. He believes, based on his recent visit to the facility, that his son is ready for departure. Against my better judgment, yet knowing that the decision comes to him ultimately, I’ve allowed that he should be gone from the Asylum, effective to this trial.

My client will not brook any argument. I trust you know what it means to upset the expectations of the Premiere Botanist of King Arkenstone’s court.

Yours in service,

Woe.

"Do you suppose this sheds any light on the motives of the killer?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

[Doran]

“That’s a possibility that I was considering”, the Mortalborn confirmed as Eponia spoke of umbral ballistics and looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and bemusement. She was a strange woman; besides, there was something about the way her eyes shone orange for a moment that was familiar. Was she a Sesser, like him, or simply part Biqaj? He decided that it didn’t matter, for the time being. For now, working on the case was more important than her possible faith and her alliance with an Immortal.

“I was performing a surgery when Mister Rand was killed”, he replied in a calm tone when she asked him if he had an alibi and shrugged his shoulders. He was not worried that he might become a suspect, for obvious reasons. “Several of my colleagues can confirm that. As for Quacia, the city does have a surprising amount of potential”, he agreed. His eyes widened fractionally as he heard what Eponia said next. So, she was like him!

“So are you, Eponia, so are you. You are a very curious woman”, he remarked as she called him a very curious man. A smile flickered across his face for a moment. He wanted to say more, when she produced a note and handed it to him. He read it, but he did not comment on it immediately. Instead, he furrowed his brow fractionally as he pondered its contents.

“When I first met Mister Rand, he was known as Woe rather than as Wolston, a somewhat peculiar name in my opinion”, he murmured somewhat thoughtfully as he met her gaze again. He was referring to the name that the letter had been signed with. “Do you know why Baron Ferahorn’s son was …” He paused briefly, looking for an unoffensive way to describe his situation. “… staying at the Asylum though? His condition could have something to do with our case”, he mused.

At first, he had assumed that Woe had been killed due to his connection to Sintra. He had wondered if it would be wise to reveal that he was aware of Woe’s true nature. It seemed as if the case was more complex after all though.

Had Woe been murdered by the man he had wanted the warden to release?

Or were the Baron, the warden or the botanist himself involved?

[Woe]

Eponia looked at him while he spoke. They spoke of mysteries, of things unknown, of alibis and connections to the deceased. Yet the dream seemed to shimmer before Doran's eyes. Eponia's pale face became a blur until it was replaced by the face of a Cylus Moon, set against the dark void behind it. Doran found himself in a forest then, surrounded by a sparse copse of trees. A balding patch of a forest.

From behind him, came a voice that he might find vaguely familiar. It was Woe's voice, as he knew him in Rynmere as a young jailer and Webspinner. "Do you know any truth serum recipes, Professor Thetys?" Woe asked. "What color do you find them in?"

Woe walked ahead of the wood, putting his back against the trunk of one of the thin trees, and sliding down until he sat on the forest floor. There he reclined against the tree, looking up at Doran. "Do you think the truth can hurt? Can it kill? Is the truth poison sometimes?"

The mortalborn shook his head of these thoughts. "My daughter died ingesting a truth-telling agent. It was laced in a cookie, that some poisoner gave her. I should've known better than to allow her to take candy from a stranger."

"If you ever have children, or adopt like I did... Don't let them eat the blue cookies."

A howl rose against the wind, of some animal or creature, as if it'd scented the taste of fear. Woe looked up at it, and sniffed. "They'll be on the hunt soon. There's no escaping them, they will follow, the truth is like poison to them though. But that's the strange thing..."

Woe rose from his sitting position, getting off the ground and then uncoiling the whip from his belt. "Will you join me in driving them back? The spiderhounds aren't good at splitting their focus, and it'll go better for us if we fight alongside each other?"

So saying, the creatures crawled over the horizon, appearing in the light of the moon. The hounds, like their namesake, had eight legs, spindly and growing out of their sides. Their maws were twisted with mandibles and a mix of canine teeth. They gnashed and slobbered as they scuttled toward Woe and Doran.

Woe swept his whip to the side, allowing that Doran should take point, if such was his wish against these creatures. "They die easily, just don't let them take you from the back. Their venom can kill you if it enters your spinal fluid."

"Are you ready?" The spiderhounds were nearly upon them, their skittering kicking up leaves and dirt from the forest floor.

[Yrmellyn Cole]

Thread Rewards

Overview

As I had reviewed the first part of this story I recalled it and was exited to find out who killed the butler (the future Woe). It felt like doctor Doran fit right into the story, he and the NPC crime investigator Eponia examining the body and discussing the case. I really would have liked to see the mystery solved but threads can sometimes end before the story is complete. I enjoyed the read a lot as long as it lasted. That last post was an abrupt surprise end but it was also very entertaining and a bit crazy.

I hope you two will pick up the story again, somehow, at some point, in a new dream!

Doran

Rewards and consequences

Points: 15

Woe

Rewards and consequences

Points: 15

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