The group having returned from their night out has found themselves a luxurious rest at the Stagwood estate. They awaken and gather the next morning for breakfast. As Raijun funnels the fifth pastry into his mouth, Max enters.
"Miss Stagwood, it seems Mr. Fortis is early for his appointment."
Myra's brow furrows, "I thought I told him that we would call upon him?" Sighs, "Well since he came all the way you may as well show him in."
Raijun comments, his mouth still full of pastries, "It's fine we're all good to go."
Max nods and leads a slightly nervous Mr. Fortis into the room, a newspaper tucked under his arm. "Good morning. I hope you all had a good night after your stressful evening."
Myra raises an eyebrow as Mr. Fortis hands over the newspaper. The front page is a picture Ayen and Myra at the front, Ayen flashing a smile, Sarya just behind. Raijun seems to be photobombing in the back somehow striking a Wardens pose for the scroll. The headline reads, "The Princess Returns". Myra scans the first line, "Myrantha Stagwood, thought lost to adventuring, returned to the city with an odd group...." before flapping the paper over pushing away what little food she was eating.
She turns to Mr. Fortis, "I see. Well I know you requested discretion but let me assure you that while they may be focused on me that may prevent scrutiny of your... problem? Which, you have yet to inform us of."
Mr. Fortis nods, seemingly placated by Myra's words. "Well I need your," looks around the room and pauses, "groups, assistance on investigating a potential break in. We had noted some more... criminal element taking notice and trying to get in so we had put in notices saying we were heightening security. However it seems the changes could not come quick enough as the work your father had sponsored seems to have been stolen."
Myra asks how long ago this happened. Mr. Fortis mentions it happened a couple days ago but the lab has been kept preserved. "If you all are ready to go now I have a magical method for transporting us directly."
Myra notes that she should run it by Ayen but Mr. Fortis explains that he's already okayed it unless they would prefer to take a less desirable mode of transportation. Myra inquires what Mr. Fortis was building for her family that was sensitive.
Mr. Fortis explains that it was a box that could be used for preservation. Adama and Raijun asked why one would need that. Mr. Fortis indicated that the historical method seemed to have failed and they've had historical problems with teleportation for goods, some of the items appearing 'not as they started'. Adama asks about the other security issues that Mr. Fortis hinted at and Mr. Fortis embarrassedly tells the group of an incident where individuals tried to walk in with him. He says there's also been more active attempts in the last weeks as they've found scorch marks, jimmied doors, there were even large claw marks around the broken in area.
Adama asks who had access to the area and Mr. Fortis lists a number of people saying that he's having them all meet us at the lab. There was:
- Em'mt Le'trevem - the chief artificer of the Lab
- Mentros Val'natesin - a problem employee who seems to have been having more issues than normal lately
- Orto Groomstone - the chief of security
- Salis Tydric - A research assistant working on a number of the projects
Raijun says he is ready to take the case, while piling more pastries in his pockets, asking that someone bring him a cap, a pipe, and a magnifying glass. Myra sighs but indicates for Mr. Fortis to lead the way as he leads them outside to a small device he uses that creates a localized portal opening into the lobby of a large office tower. In front of them is a security desk around them a building lobby with many windows looking out into the nearby streets.
Mr. Fortis leads them to the security desk where a dwarf and a human sit discussing different elements of the security and the many lights flashing. Mr. Fortis introduces the dwarf as
Orto Groomstone his chief of security and the human man as
Kubat Trembin his second. The two men greet the group and give them a report on the general state of the tower:
- The tower has a number of floors with varying levels of security. The items were stolen from one of the highest security floors.
- They provide the group with a list of the objects being developed in the lab noting that the only one stolen was the Stagwood project
- They provide the front desk log
- They discuss an incident that happened the day of the accident where the research assistant Salis Tydric and Mentros Val'natesin got into an altercation and Mentros was asked to leave the building
- They note some weird claw marks that Mr. Fortis mentioned earlier happening on the side of the building
- While in discussions Adama and Myra also notice a light going off for an open door. They mention that they have been having issues with a door for a while and some specialist have been hired to fix it.
The group asks about the altercation between Salis and Mentros and Orto's countenance darkens a little. Mr. Fortis chimes in that Mentros was the employee they had been having issues with. Orto says that there was a physical altercation and Mentros was asked to leave. The Wardens note that he seemed to come back afterward, Orto says he must have been checking on the door alarm because there is no way he would have been allowed back in the building.
Orto also indicates the lockdown that occurred at 8pm the day of the incident saying that he had gone up when called by Mr. Fortis just in time to see a figure jump out of a window. After that the entire lab was locked down no one allowed in or out. The only people in the lab at that time were Em'mt and Mr. Fortis. The group asks if they could inspect the other entrances to the lobby before going upstairs and split into three groups.
Sarya and Raijun go to the alley where the claw marks where seen. Raijun quickly scales the wall up to 120 ft before running back down. He reports that the claw marks seem to go all the way up to the thirteenth floor where the break in was reported and seem to end at a broken window. Sarya inspects the claw marks themselves and notes the distance and depth of the marks would need to be made by a large strong creature though the markings do not seem to match any she knows of from her time.
As Raijun comes down a man appears from the trash pile at the end of the alley. He asks if they are here for the great beast that was climbing up and down before growing wings and flying away. Raijun excitedly says yes and asks for more details. The man thinks, "There was one big one and another one with a mask!" Raijun thanks the man and asks his name. The man introduces himself as
Ornstrom but says they've probably heard of him as he is, "The only man more famous than cheese. Sarya tries to pay him for more information but he waves away the gold explaining that that is how the government tracks you, causing Raijun to look suspiciously at his money.
Raijun asks if Ornstrom would mind if he took a look through his home, indicating the trash, and Ornstrom shrugs saying to go for it. Raijun investigates the trash but finds nothing of note. they thank Ornstrom for his help and suggest that he should find them if he thinks of anything else useful.
Meanwhile, Adama and Myra went with Orto to investigate the other door that continued to set up the alarms. While Myra inspected the mechanicals Adama asked Orto about all the trouble. Orto indicated that the door probably caused so many issue because people wanted to come in and out without being off the clock or wanted to take smoke breaks. Myra does indeed find tampering with the device looking like someone wanted to jimmy the door open without setting the alarm off. She removes the shim that seemed like was causing the most issues and restored the locking mechanism with a quick mending. Cleaning off her hands she returns to Adama and Orto saying it should be fixed but it was definitely tampered with. Orto gives her a look clearly confused by
her involvement in repairing the thing as they head back to the desk.
Hagren and Trenchcoat stayed by the security desk while the others investigated reviewing the security system with Kubat. Kubat showed Hagren the alarm system and Hagren could see when Myra repaired the door because the alert for it turned off. He also notes that there is several blinking lights still active on the the thirteenth floor. Kubat explains that they are the window sensors and that it might be easier for Orto to show them when they go up.
Returning as a group they all catch each other up on what they found Raijun excitedly exclaiming that they have cracked the case with the talon marks. Mr. Fortis suggests they go upstairs to see the actual scene of the crime and seems unsure about the idea of a large clawed animal making its way up the building without being noticed.
As they arrive on the thirteenth floor they find the door to the lab has been pushed out and, entering in, the door to Em'mt's office also ajar. As they enter the lab a tall skinny elvish man approaches Myra directly and offers how excited he is to be working with her company. The rest of the group disperses into the lab to investigate as Mr. Fortis introduces Em'mt the head artificer to Myra. Myra says she's flattered and her father has praised their work for Stagwood Industries but Em'mt stresses again how he's excited to work for
her company. A brief moment of confusion crosses Myra's face and Em'mt pales saying he assumed she knew and starts apologizing profusely. Myra waves him off bluffing that she just wasn't aware that it was public knowledge yet.
Mr. Fortis chimes in that they are all excited to work with Stagwood Futures as Myra pivots asking Em'mt if he has notes on the research going on in the lab. As Em'mt rushes into his office, Myra asks Mr. Fortis to recount the events to her as he was one fo the ones that saw the actual attack. Mr. Fortis recounts him and Em'mt coming into the lab and going into Em'mt's office. They heard a noise so they left the office to see a figure standing by the window, Mr. Fortis pushed Em'mt back into the office and the figure jumped out. He apologizes that he's a little hazy on the details as it all happened very quickly. Em'mt and returns a moment later with a small stack of papers handing them over to Myra. He notes that some of them appear to be missing but the rest is there. Myra nods and asks Em'mt to recount the events getting
exactly the same story with the same missing details. She relays that to the group and notes it for later before going into Em'mt's office to sit and read his notes further.
As the rest of the group moves into the lab they notice a number of thing quickly:
- Two windows seem broken but one seems to be blowing while the other seems to be blown out
- There are a number of craters in the floor, at least one of them has dark green blood in it
- Despite the Stagwood project being the only one listed as missing the tank in the middle of the room seems to have broken glass, indicating something might have been taken
As most of the group investigates the scene Raijun is immediately drawn away from the scene of the accident to a small plushy bunny that is sitting on a desk. As he approaches the rabbit opens it's mouth, "Our souls will exist together in the nether to serve our dark lord." Raijun quickly looks around to see if anyone noticed, seeing no one had, he turns back to the rabbit and asks if it was talking to him. The rabbit seems to laugh and Raijun realizes that it's talking to him in Abyssal prompting him to respond in kind.
In the office Em'mt has left Myra on her own after she asked a probing series of questions and mentioned Topp by name, having deduced that this is the Em'mt that Top previously mentioned to her. At the mention of his old teachers name Em'mt clams up and pales slightly leaving the room to Myra. Myra uses this opportunity to go rummage through his desk finding a number of notes on the recent security issues and her family's project. She also find a memo from Em'mt to Mentros reprimanding him for falling behind on the Stagwood project and giving him Salis to help make up lost time. She tries the drawers of the desk but finds them locked. She quickly pulls out her tools and unlocks them but as she opens both drawers there's a flash as she finds herself stunned.
At the same time out in the main lab Hagren is investigating the broken containment unit noting some weird liquid on the glass. As he touches it all the Wardens experience a weird sense of vertigo. Additionally, in the office as Myra is stunned she realizes that she is unable to access the mental link that usually binds the Wardens.
Em'mt rushes back into his office asking what Myra was doing and why. He pulls her, in her frozen state, over to a chair. As he does so she see's a sheet of paper drop behind the desk and him pick it up and pocket it. He fusses over her as Sarya comes in concerned only to be reassured by Em'mt that she'll be find that it is just a security protocol that should wear off in a minute. He gives Myra a hurt glance saying he would have just opened the drawers if she had asked but she is unable to respond in her frozen state.
Outside, Hagren reviews the craters noting that to make that kind of dent you would need something with about the same force as a cannon ball and sees that there are also scorch marks around the outside. Adama continues to test the goo with his mage hand, prompting at least two more psychic waves before stopping when Mr. Fortis says that he doesn't believe that was related to the break in as that experement was moved to a safe location. He also alerts the group that the others he mentioned have arrived as a lanky male walks in and chastises Raijun as he is about to put his finger into the mouth of the rabbit who had indicated it was hungry.
Raijun, Adama, and the man who introduces himself as Mentros exchange barbs. Mentros making it very clear that he thinks he is the smartest one in the room. Myra and Sarya emerge from the office a minute later with Em'mt and Myra is immediately rushed by the second figure a woman who introduces herself as Salis and continues to tell Myra what an honor it is to get the chance to work with her. Myra blushes and says that they will have some questions for her shortly moving into the mail lab with the group.
Myra mentally asks who is messing with the psychic bond as she moves into the lab, the message coming through much fainter than it would normally. The group ponders what could do that mentally as they question if the redacted experiment could be another void fish like the one they experienced in the beholden as that is the only creature they've met with such a strong psychic connection to them.
As Myra enters the main lab something comes wizzing in hitting her from behind. it seems small and crumpled as she tries to flatten it out another one comes.
Notes - Campfire
As the first crumpled piece of paper hits her Myra whirls expecting Raijun or Adama to be behind her. When another piece comes flying at her she catches it. As she is about to ask who the hell is doing this a third comes whirling at her. This scrap has some barely writing on it, flowy and for anyone who's seen Myra's journals very familiar. Myra stares at the word for a second as her demeanor changes, she drops to the ground and starts unfolding the pieces mending the paper where the tares seem to join. Some of the red on the paper seems to run onto her hands as she moves the papers about quickly flipping all of her writing to be on the back. As the she catches the last fluttering piece from the air and puts it in place she looks at the group turning the message around for everyone to read. "We need to find Yamil."
“Why Yamil?” Adama asks confused.
"Yeah I'm not picking up the connection either," Raijun adds.
Myra flips over the paper to show the other side. The message is smudged with the bloody handprints that coat the back, made worse by Myra's efforts to mend the back. In Myra's writing the following is still legible, "Yamil, I have no words
smudge I have a million questions
smudge would you see me? Myra" Myra looks bashful, "I couldn't just leave things as they were. So I sent a note." Fully anticipating being chastised given people's last suggestions regarding Yamil, "I know, I know you all suggested giving him time but I fucked up and I figured if he didn't want to read it he could always burn the letter or whatever."
Adama inspecting the blood stained note, “Who do you think he means by, they are coming? Has he perhaps learned something that we should know, I can quickly and easily communicate with him. Perhaps it’s time I say hello. Though at the cost hopefully the information is useful because if “they” are coming I need as many slots for fireball as possible.”
"Does he mean the Sekkul group," Raijun asks, "or did you think he's referring to another group?"
"I don't know..." brow furrows, "I'm concerned about the blood."
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