• PM To Join • Almund's Missing Children

[Nir'wei]

Words could not describe the various thoughts rushing through his mind at that moment; only a small proportion of them his own. Flickering his eyelids suddenly switched his senses to the dark alleyways and the figures within them, slouching and unsteady on their feet. Beneath him, though he barely did more than hold to her back, Vabina tore through husks with claws and horn until even their bones crunched underfoot. To her left, yet more of the things were rearing, and he reached for his sword, aiming to distract them long enough for his mount to spin and finish them off properly - before a sudden sharp jet of flame set them alight and the things crumbled, echoing those horrid inhuman screeching noises, more akin to insects than human beings. "Damnit!" Instead of reaching for his blade, Nir'wei used the hand to shield his face as the blistering heat of the strange-coloured flames washed the ground to his side, and forced Vabina into a retreat. Sage had no such reluctance and seized the gap he'd opened, tearing through the prone creatures with snaps of far-too-many-teeth and whipping hands that sprouted from its neck like a lion's mane. "Why didn't you tell me he was here?!" he hissed to the squirrel, only to earn a shrug. Didn't sense them. All his resources were far too strained by multiple foes.

This was why he hated necromancers.

Flicking his attention through the eyes of his wolves, he found Oram - pointing a damn spear of all things in Grey's face and trying to shoo him away from the downed father like he was a damn feral. "HEY!" he yelled back, nudging Vabina with a mental command to send her spinning on the spot. The spitting anger of the wolf was so palpable that he felt it bleeding through his own mind at the exact same moment. "Get that damn spear out of my face before I push it somewhere you really won't enjoy!" Grey refused to release the man's coat until he was clear of the twitching corpses - and only then did he relinquish his hold and fade back into the Beneath with a technicolour shimmer.

His vision briefly swam with images of all the leads collapsing, dead. Or rather, inanimate. "Damn it all," he swore on the spot. A powerful necromancer then. Either an exceptionally careful one, or one that knew his powers and resources before he'd shown them. Which of the two was more terrifying to think about, he didn't know, but the result was the same either way; they'd escaped, somehow. The scent had already gone cold and short of following every set of footprints simultaneously, not knowing how many false trails their target could create using their constructs, they wouldn't be able to catch up even with the full workforce. Except Sage, of course, he was just--

Oh shit.

The charred and crushed remains of the husks had stopped twitching, and Sage's ethereal growls started to grow again. Once let 'off the leash', so to speak, aiming the thing at a target was almost guaranteed to ensure it'd soon either be dead or fleeing. The only thing that held him from attacking the other members of Nir'weis own team was the mental link that ingrained a sense of self-harm whenever he did... but everything else was fair game. Peace. Calm. Forcing violent, powerful emotions was easy. Forcing such calm and quiet thoughts, especially in such a frantic situation, was outright impossible. "Damn stupid... can't trust... idiots!" he yelled as he rolled off Vabina just in time to send her lurching towards Sage, who'd already set his multiple mismatched eyes upon Balthazar. "GET DOWN." The thing was fast. Lacking bones and a conventional thought-train, its movements were far too fluid as it zipped from one spot to the next and launched itself - only to be caught mid-air by several hundred pounds of azure big-cat and pinned underpaw until it dissolved with a feral screech. Vabina, now the last remaining, cast a wary glance over Oram and Balthazar before vanishing in much the same fashion.

"Nice of you to show up," he growled. "Next time, little warning wouldn't go amiss, y'know. Oram, help him up. Is he even conscious? Sir?"

[Balthazar Black]

43 Zi'Da 719

Well it had really hit the fan at the Witchwood Graveyard. The undead and the living, some wolves, and an alien battled and in the end the group with more classifications won. Balthazar didn't notice Oram's arrival, instead he locked eyes with the vaguely feline liquid monstrosity that had been tearing through the undead moments ago. Now it was growling again but the undead were little more than charred remnants. Balthazar looked behind him for just a trill then back to the beast. It's not growling at something behind me. He realized. Well... sorry. Balthazar called on the wind around him and manifested a flame around his arm which quickly refined into sparks as the alien beast leapt at him.

It was fast, too fast. Balthazar's arm began to move forward as he prepared to hurl the lightning at it but his arm didn't nearly complete it's arc before Sage was on him. Fortunately something else intercepted it in the air and Balthazar's bolt of lightning fired off into the sky. Balthazar stumbled back in surprise as both great beasts faded.

Grey wouldn't have to go much further before all the undead had been destroyed and the father was safe, though he certainly didn't look it. There was a terror in his eyes that was reserved for the few who saw truly terrible things. The poor man should have thought through his meeting location a little more if he didn't want such things to happen. Hell if he'd met them in the tavern they'd all be having a jolly time right now... instead he had insisted on meeting in a graveyard. The father rose, shaking with terror and moved towards Oram- the one normal thing among this disaster. Balthazar arrived trills later "Mr. Marston! Are you alright?" The investigator inquired, arguably the least important of the questions he meant to ask. Mr. Marston nodded but there was a distance in his eyes which made it seem that he was not alright.

"I'm fine. Really." Marston said when Nir'wei asked. "What were those things?"

"Well based on appearances, undead." As the haze of battle cleared a dreadful realization set in and Balthazar grimaced. The father could tell the whatever he wanted. He could give them the identity of the killer, but it wouldn't save his child. They were after a necromancer- the undead in the graveyard couldn't have been a coincidence. If a necromancer was taking children, Balthazar didn't believe he'd be keeping them alive. Stunned by this train of thought, the others would each have a chance to inquire about what the father knew before Balthazar.

[Oram Mednix]

Rise of the Necrosomething

Oram nearly dropped his spear when the wolf spoke to him -clearly, somehow, without unclamping its jaws from the man’s clothing. He was too shocked, in fact, to register any annoyance at the vulgar threat. ”Y-you can talk?” he asked, amazed.

Too late to avoid feeling like a fool, he noticed Vaid’ner standing nearby. Abashed, the hunter lowered his spear point. ”Oh.” Awkwardly looking for a change of focus, Oram peered around into the gloom of Witchwood. The ruckus in the graveyard seemed to have died down, so to speak.

He turned back to the prone man to ensure he was unharmed and to help him up. The wolf, in just those few trills Oram had taken his eyes off of it, had vanished from view, with only a quickly fading shimmer marking where it once was. ”You all right, sir?” he asked the man, who was understandably ruffled, but didn’t look otherwise the worse for wear. ”I think we’re out of…whatever that was,” he ventured. He considered telling the man he was with those he was there to meet, but then realized he wasn’t sure if that was true. He had no idea who this man was or what he was doing in Witchwood Cemetery at this late break. Best to let Balthazar sort that out, once he arrived.

And arrive Balthazar did, more or less normally. As normally as could be hoped for in this situation. At least he didn’t descend from the sky to land amongst them. The exchange of words let Oram know this was indeed the person they were to meet. And then there was that other thing Balthazar said. Undead. Once more the traveler made a sign against the evil eye. Were they dealing with some sort of sorcerer, then? No, not sorcerer, what did they call the ones who did stuff with bodies? Necrosomething.

Well, Oram didn’t know much about sorcery nor necrothingy, so he had no questions along those lines. He had a much more prosaic question for this Mr. Marston: ”Did anybody else know you were coming here tonight?” he asked him. ”Anyone at all? Or did you maybe see somebody who could have followed you here?”

[Nir'wei]

Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing quietly in relief as the last of the fading battle vanished, glad that he wouldn't be tending to any more wounds tonight, he thanked his stars and let Balthazar answer the question so that he could conveniently dodge any follow-ups about all the beasts that had just manifested in the middle of the graveyard from thin air. In return, he'd not ask anything about the lightning he'd seen shooting from Balthazar's palm, or the weird way he'd managed to get up onto a roof that he had no right climbing, let alone in such a short amount of time. Oram... whatever the hell Oram had been doing, he didn't even want to know the answer in case he snapped. Did they really get away? Using three simultaneous decoys, no less; one for each of them at least, and conveniently just enough to ensure that he'd be too pressed to make any headway.

"This wasn't a spur of the moment attack." This was probably a result of taking their preparations in a bar. "They had a considerable force. Contingencies and multiple back-ups and escape routes." The sheer volume of thinking and preparation that must have gone into this operation was quite jarring, even for someone of his tactical expertise. "They knew that he'd be here. They knew that we would be here. If they're capable of pulling all of this together in just a few breaks, we might as well give up now and hand this over to the Elements, because none of us can hope to match their resources and forethinking." Not without a damn crystal ball; it was quite possible that even at that very moment they were being watched for openings or weaknesses. Wait. What if they really were?

Suddenly he felt the hair raise on the back of his neck all over again. "It's not safe; we don't even know if the murderer has left the scene. Get inside." Thoughts of a stalker sitting on a rooftop with a bow drawn haunted his thoughts as he ushered the father back towards the entrance of the cemetery with haste. "Anyone know the nearest place to hide. Somewhere quiet, secluded, easily fortified." He'd take either Balthazar or Oram's suggestion, or even their suspects'. The only thoughts in his head right now revolved around keeping him alive. Questions and interrogations now came secondary.

[Balthazar Black]

43 Zi'Da 719

Balthazar was glad to have a mind as sound as Nir'wei's on their side even if he knew the man by a false name. Yet as Nir'wei explained his deductions a guilty dread began to settle in Balthazar conscious. He agreed that this couldn't have been a spur of the moment attack. That was what troubled him. How had the killer found out all the things that he did? He knew who the father was but that made sense. The killer had taken the father's child so of course he knew who the father was. But why wait until after the meeting was arranged to kill the father? If killing the father was always an option, why take the risk? Especially now that the trio of detectives could logically assume their killer was a necromancer. Why risk leaving a father to spill your secrets if you thought he might actually do that? It was a curious case indeed.

"We just need to think a little harder." Balthazar encouraged when Nir'wei suggested they hand the investigation over to the Elements. Were they not looking into it already? Balthazar didn't have any more confidence in the Elements than he had in his own hands. "I'll take the blame for what has happened thus far, I made this investigation to public, but at least Mr. Marston is safe." Balthazar had posted his flyer publicly and hoped to set a trap for a mundane man to waddle into... instead he'd given the killer the means to construct a trap for the three who sought to investigate the disappearing children. When Nir'wei expressed concern about the killer having left the scene, Balthazar looked around quickly.

Nir'wei might have had a point about that. Marston spoke up before Balthazar in regards to a place to go. "I didn't want my wife to see me talking with you but I suppose it might not matter now. Come with me to my house. It isn't far." Balthazar fought the urge to roll his eyes. Why the masquerade if he was going to let them go back to his home in the end anyways? It was almost as if Marston hadn't been entirely in control of himself when he told Balthazar to meet him at the Witchwoods. Balthazar gestured for Marston to lead the way and Marston did just that. Balthazar fell to the back of the group so he could

While on the move, Marston did his best to answer the questions coming his way. "No one should have been able to know I was coming here." Marston replied to Oram. Well of course it couldn't have been that easy but Oram had the right question.

"What did you want to tell us that required we meet in the middle of the cemetery?" Balthazar asked. Marston turned to look at Balthazar and stopped walking for a moment so Balthazar gestured for him to keep moving.

"Well my wife didn't want me talking with you but after this, got really angry the first time I mentioned seeking help. A few trials later she was alright with it and then last night when you came by she was against it again but she'll just have to manage. I'd rather her wrath than the undead." Marston replied. That was interesting to Balthazar but he was still trying to form another question.

[Oram Mednix]

Clever post title #43

Leaning on his spear and looking around numbly at the wreckage in the graveyard, Oram could only nod in agreement when Vaid’ner suggested they’d been set up. ”This seems like a lot of business to stop us meeting,” he offered. ”One guy with a club could’ve ended the whole thing, just lying in wait for our friend here. Sorry, Mr. Marston” he added hastily. He turned back to the ruined monsters littering the graveyard. ”It’s like whoever did this likes to show off. Wants us to know what they know and what they can do about it.”

The hunter shook his head. The scale of the thing made his mind spin. He had thought they’d just be dealing with some lone lunatic preying on vulnerable kids. But this? Much more than he bargained for. Or could deal with, really.

Oram was ready to leap in agreement at Vaid’ner’s suggestion that they just leave this up to the Elements. But…would the Elements be any more interested in taking on the case now than they were before? Perhaps if they heard something new about it. ”If we’re dealing with some sort of…” he gestured at the surrounding remnants of husks, ”…necrothingy, isn’t that something the Elements should know about? I mean, even if you plan to continue to pursue this yourself, shouldn’t we at least tell them?”

He looked around uncertainly and scratched his beard. ”Then again, maybe we don’t enough to tell them anything for sure yet.” He shrugged. Balthazar seemed to know about these sorts of things, certainly more than he himself did; Oram would leave it up to him.

And now, apparently, they were headed back to Mr. Marston’s house. Because that was where Mr. Marston wanted to go. Made sense, it was where he’d feel safest. And that bothered Oram. You spooked an animal, it would more often than not bolt straight for its lair. And any good hunter knew this and knew how to exploit such predictable behavior.

”Should we really be heading straight back to Mr. Marson’s house?” the traveler asked after they’d gone a few score paces. ”I mean, Vaid’ner pointed out that whoever we’re dealing with seems to be a step ahead of us. Maybe we shouldn’t be doing something obvious like going straight back home?” He looked amongst the three of them. ”I dunno, maybe we could go get a room at some inn? Other than the one we came from? If we can do that at this late break?” It was an idea, although he wasn’t sure how it would go over, especially with Mr. Marston.

One other thing was bothering him. Well, actually, all sorts of other things were bothering him, but Oram could only deal with so many of them at one time. He looked back at Vaid’ner. ”If you don’t mind my asking, what was the deal with that wolf? Is he a friend of yours? Some sort of familiar or pet? If a wolf or other critter is going to suddenly show up in the middle of a crisis, I’d like to know something about it, if you don’t mind.”

[Nir'wei]

This wasn't a matter of thinking anymore. This was a matter of sheer resources and information. To set everything up so elaborately, they would have needed to know almost everything about the three of them already - and so far, none of them knew a single thing about the individual responsible, beyond the obvious fact that they were likely a necromancer. "Or one of them is a necromancer," Grey said quietly. Right. There could easily be more - in fact, he rather hoped there were more, just to put his mind at rest. Even worse was Oram's point, which hadn't actually crossed his mind until that moment. Just one would have done, had they been serious - and clearly everything had been prepared beforehand to have such a large volume of subordinates prepared beforehand at the perfect moment to thwart their pursuit, which meant just a few bits earlier and they would have come across nought but the corpse of their only lead.

Not to say that this wasn't still a possible, or in fact a likely outcome yet.

"I said quiet and secluded, not... oh for Karem's sake." Though he didn't agree with this decision in any way, it seemed the man had already begun and they would have little choice but to follow, for now. "They know who you are and they know that you know something. Oram's right - your house isn't safe." In fact, uncomfortably, he didn't even know a place that would be, now. Something about all of this had his hackles raised and all he could think about were the eyes hidden in the shadows, potentially watching them all at that very moment. Even taking them to an inn, a secluded spot could only provide minimal protection. Worst of all was the inevitable truth that he couldn't keep to himself for much longer. They were all working on borrowed time.

With all that swirling in his head, he did NOT have time for probing questions now. "I'm a Feralmancer. We don't have time, nor the privacy to discuss every being I have under my control, nor every ability at my disposal. Worry about keeping yourself alive. Don't rely on me." It was the best that Oram was going to get as an explanation. Considering the fact that they were still in potentially mortal danger, he was incredibly lucky to get that much.

Instead he looked back to Mr Marston and Balthazar. "As soon as you see your house, tell us. I'll need to do a preliminary sweep. It's possible your house has been trapped. Your wife may already be dead." There was no point mincing with words now; the man had been lucky to escape with his life even with three rather capable individuals working to save him - his wife would have no such luck. "When we get inside, you're going to tell us everything. Every scrap of detail you know, and then you're going to take yourself, your wife, any family you know and any cherished possessions you can carry to the Elements Hall." He struck Balthazar with a solid look. "The moment that we are not here to protect you, Mr Marston, there will almost certainly be a second attempt on your life. We cannot protect you and find the killer at the same time... nor would we ever use you for bait." He would not stoop to the same moral dregheap of their quarry. "I know a place that you can stay until this matter is resolved. It's not comfortable, but it's one of the safest places I know."

[Balthazar Black]

43 Zi'Da 719

The others had a valid concern about the security of Marston's house but Balthazar, who'd organized this little party, seemed oblivious to it. He wasn't oblivious to the danger so much as foolishly rushing into it. He was confident in himself but he was more confident in this team to defeat whatever was thrown at them. A swarm of undead bees and a bunch of husks later and they were still here- and so was Marston. What else could the necromancer throw at them? Oram had an interesting point about how one man with a club could do the job the five husks had failed at. Very good point. Balthazar applauded the hunter in his mind but said nothing. He was on the watch for anything strange while Marston directed them towards his home. But why show off? What did their killer get out of showing off to others? Balthazar would let those thoughts stir in the back of his mind while he focused on getting Marston home.

Vaid'ner and Oram expressed that they didn't think Marston's house was a good idea and Balthazar couldn't really disagree with them. He expected to walk into something bad... he just thought he'd be able to handle it. And Marston's remarks about his wife had made him a little curious. Balthazar wanted to get the woman's opinion on why her husband would set up a meeting in a graveyard. Oram asked Vaid'ner a question that got a sharp response and drew his focus away from keeping a lookout a little bit.

"My house isn't safe? What do you mean? Where else could be safer?" Then Vaid'ner explained very bluntly about why his house was compromised. Vaid'ner bluntness hit Marston like a club and the man seemed to slow down. He wasn't taking the news well."Dead? Oh Vri, please no-"

"Hurry up and she might not be." Balthazar said as he nudged Martson's back to keep him moving. "Do what Vaid'ner says." He wasn't much help but Balthazar was trying to keep Marston focused. Vaid'ner made a rather pointed comment about not using Marston as bait and looked to Balthazar. What was so wrong with using him as bait? It didn't matter, the man with the many pets was against it and so Balthazar wouldn't do it. They came around the bend of a block and Marston pointed a few houses down to a small unremarkable house that he called home. Balthazar looked to Vaid'ner, expecting he would probably send his animals to scout. If not, he'd go himself but before that he turned to Vaid'ner.

"What did you mean when you said they had multiple contingencies? I saw the bees and the husks but was there more?" Balthazar figured it would help for him to know it he'd missed anything but he was really thinking of something else. It probably cost a lot of ether to send all those minions out after these detectives. What happened if a necromancer overstepped? Magic had a cost and he was sure the necromancer had to pay it as well... he just wasn't sure how much the necromancer could do before they were tapped out.

Whoever went to scout the house would find no signs of forced entry and if they decided to force their way through the closed door (or had some better method of traveling through it) they'd find Mrs. Marston alone in the kitchen of her home, chopping carrots for the meal she was preparing. Seemingly undisturbed but also humming the same tune over and over again. Like the same few notes playing in her head over and over again. Probably something to do with the rhythm of cutting the vegetables more than the case but it was quite ominous.

[Oram Mednix]

Become one with the trashcan…

Oram’s sister-in-law liked to describe him as “rough” and “unmannered”; he couldn’t help but wonder what she would make of Vaid’ner. She’d probably think he was a werewolf stuck mid-change or something. And the man’s calling himself a “feralmancer” without further explanation would do little to dispel such an impression. Still, Oram figured he could get used to Vaid’ner’s company, even if it wasn’t always pleasant.

And then…”Your wife may already be dead.” Oram could only glare and gape at that. Karem’s tits what a thing to say! Being blunt was one thing, being cruel was another. Marston was ready to start wailing in despair and worry at the “feralmancer’s” suggestion.

”There was no cause to say that,” he groused to Vaid’ner.

Oram regarded their informant. Poor man was obviously beside himself with worry, and neither of his companions were helping. Not that the traveler was a dab hand with reassuring people, either. But he had to try. He patted Marston on the shoulder as reassuringly as he could manage. ”I reckon your wife’s fine,” he told the man. ”But what Vaid’ner means is we can’t take anything for granted, can’t assume things are what they seem, or that you’re safe just because you’re at or close to home. Keep your distance and let us look around first.” He gave the man’s shoulder a meaningful squeeze. ”Resist the urge to call out to your wife if you see her or rush to your door. Keep back. And quiet.” He turned towards Marston and looked him squarely in the eye to ensure he was still on board. ”Things are still dicey. So let’s be smart right now, and we’ll get through this, Okay? Your wife, too. What's her name?” Oram thought he'd heard Marston say something about "Vri", but he figured the guy would feel better if he said her name once or twice. Saying Signy's name seemed to have an almost magical effect on his brother Osric.

He wasn’t so sure about the last bit, in truth. Oram had as many misgivings about what awaited them at Marston’s house as Vaid’ner did, though his concern specifically about the wife lay in a different direction. She was the only one besides themselves who knew about this meeting, according to Marston. And he’d said strange things about how she went back and forth on her feelings about it, too. Something seemed off.

Then again, jaundiced views of women came easily to Oram Mednix.

He nodded at Vaid’ner’s offer to scout ahead. ”I’ll wait here with him until you’re done checking things out.” Assuming Vaid’ner went scouted ahead as he had suggested, Oram turned back to Marston. ”Before we actually go to the house:” he said quietly, ”You know this neighborhood, right? Its habits, its ways, its sounds and smells. Who the nosy neighbors are. Who the noisy neighbors are. Who stays up late or goes to bed early. Whose dogs bark at everything and whose dogs almost never bark. Where people leave their trashcans.”

Oram surveyed the streets and alleys, then looked back at the man. ”Look around. Listen. Is there anything odd or out of place? Carefully. Take your time.” He would wait with Marston until Vaid’ner was finished scouting, walking the man through the process of scouting his own neighborhood.

[Nir'wei]

Confusion. Fear. Shock and some small hints of disgust. His words earned no favours, but he already knew his answers to their questions wouldn't alleviate those feelings either. He should have just said nothing and let his actions do the work, but that'd just seem rude... and likely cause a breakdown in what little shreds of teamwork they still had to work with. "You want me to lie?" he asked rhetorically, but genuinely curious. "We barely made it out with our lives, you yourself pointed out that it was made to send a message, it was a spectacle intended to threaten us all, and they knew exactly where we'd be at exactly the right time for us to see the full power... but you want me to say nothing and what, give him a couple more minutes of peace?" The thinly-veiled calm he'd been holding over himself to avoid outright snarling at the others with inhuman fangs flashing in his mouth was wearing thin. "I'm not going to stand here and lie." He held at least some modicum of respect for himself, and for Mr Marston, for being able to survive the creatures at all before they'd arrived.

Eventually they reached the house and Nir'wei wasted no time in pressing his back to the nearest wall and the spirits that had been trailing him not a moment before raced ahead. Greyhide and Squeak took the front door, Cold and Myrth went left and right respectively towards the rear of the house to search for disturbances. Vabina remained behind in case the whole thing was a trap just waiting for their arrival. Cyshe swam little circles in the air above his head, giggling as she formed a little halo of crystal-blue water above his head with her own spiritual form.

"Whoever attacked Mr Marston knew that someone would be trying to chase them. Multiple someones. There were three decoys in the alleyways... at least three. They ran a short distance in opposite directions and collapsed when either the magic within them ran low, or they went beyond the range of their creators, I presume." He had a limited knowledge of necromancy, just enough to hazard guesses. "They shouldn't have even be able to see their trackers. Which means they're either more prepared than we'll ever know, or they know enough about me to prepare in advance." That shouldn't have been possible. That shouldn't have been remotely possible.

Eventually the wolves returned, one after another. Having never left their spiritual forms, they left not a hair out of place and slipped through walls and doors as if they'd never been... because, to them, they never had been. "No disturbances." He sighed a note of relief. "She's in the kitchen." He nodded to Mr Marston and Balthazar to head in first. "We go in, we shore up at once, and you answer the questions. Leave no detail out." They needed to make this fast before a counter-attack.