Exalted 3rd: Nexus

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Blackadder


Black-veiled chirurgeons solemnly carry out quite a few shrouded dead. Members of this gang or the other gauging by the tattoos upon the bodies' pallid flesh. No Djala. No young man. All of these poor sods are in their mid-20s and 30s. Old hands at gang life, unrelated to your boy. For the moment, it seems, the boy still lives. Sundrop may be a well-to-do neighborhood, but it housed its own secrets like any place. Ten years ago, this same tenement had been a roost for a cadre of graverobbers who pillaged Bastion mausoleums. Before that, a trader who specialized in a clientele with an exotic taste for child servitors. It had been on the upswing or so it seemed...


A single window is open on the third floor. You hear voices just beyond the mutter and bark of the mercenaries. Whatever happened here, that is the focal point.


A beaten-looking Executioner, hood thrown back and eyes blacked, comes striding your way. "Back now. We've had enough nonsense with people and questions today." Come to think of it, there seem to be a great many of the mercenaries not in the cordon look beaten and wounded. The occupants did not go quietly.


The massive wagon is fed the bodies of the dead with efficient ceremony. A great cauldron of incense and cedar smolders atop the wagon, drenches the entire street in a balmy, restful perfume.

 

[Vanman]

The Doctor





The Doctor's brow furrows again. "Are you saying there is a serial killer loose in Nexus? That can't be good. I'll admit I'm not sorry to see Silat dead, but if this is indicative of something that's been going on for a while - and the murders are getting more sophisticated - well, I don't need to tell you the chaos this can cause. It chaps my ball sack that this blackguard is getting away with this."


The burly medico looks first at Ferro, then at Arashi. "I know I'm not a trained investigator, but, besides my medical skills, I do know my way around a bit of the old rough and tumble. I offer all of my skills to those who are investigating this brouhaha, as well as to the Council. This man needs to be brought to justice."


Turning his gaze to Ferro, The Doctor speaks to her. "If you have injured, Headsman, I proffer my services. Call them up and I will see to them. Your call, of course. My offer stands."

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


"I see that. And you'll want a reward at the end of all this, huh?" He paces around the room, listening to their heartbeats grow loud and then dim as he walks away. "I guess you'll have earned it. Yes, there is a killer in Nexus, and the city's already tearing itself limb from limb to find him. And I don't know what's wrong with the headcase over there, but she apparently identified the victim, to my everlasting chagrin." He shrugs. "Tag along, then. Now, if you will excuse me..."


Arashi steps into the middle of the room, planting the tip of his sheathed sword on the floor. His senses extend. Sound, scent, the taste of the air and the vibrations thrumming through the ground. He can hear the bawdy jokes of the soldiers outside, the wafting of the river, the irrate mumbling of the local river-spirit, coated in muck as she is. His ear twitches. All men leave a trail. Every step leaves a print, and to his senses, no print escapes. His sword shifts, scraping along the floor. The castemark glints at his brow. Where did he enter? And how did he leave?


[dice]22565[/dice]

 

[Vanman]

The Doctor





The Doctor's eyes widen when he sees Arashi's brow but they quickly return to normal. When he finally speaks, after he's sure Arashi has finished his investigation, there is no change in his tone. "Now, now, Sensate. Did I say anything about payment? Heiko, Marko, was there any mention of payment? By the Five Maidens' flatulence, is that all you think I'm interested in? Sometimes we are Chosen for our purposes. Just as I can see that you have been Chosen, I, too, have been Chosen. There are dark places in this world. We have just discussed that there are dark people - as well as dark places- in Nexus. This darkness spurs me. I am a Lightbringer, shining the Sun on those dark places, ferreting out those who would stand in that dark. If the world is shrouded in night, I am a Child of the Dawn. I ask for no recompense, other than to pound this ne'erdowell flat in the kisser.


"As for the victim," the Doctor says, disgust tinging his voice and his face, "I knew of him. He's a shit castle who goes by the name Silat. But you already knew that. He is - or was - a flesh peddler, and though murder is illegal, if anyone deserved it, it was this excuse for a human. You say the killer has done this before. Are there any connections between the victims? Are they all scumbags, like Grub Cock here, or are the victims varied? What about manner of death? Again, similar or different? My apologies for the questions, particularly when you may be trying to concentrate, but let's just say I'm...motivated...."

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Vanman


"Thanks, really. But we need be careful here. The injured aren't so bad off, save one or two who'll need some time in a padded room after witnessing this freakshow. Light wounds from close quarters fighting, that's all. For the sake of this killer, he's getting a lot better at it. I don't even know how a person does this. Something only gods could do, you know?"


@Skrakes


Entered the room, as most do, through the door, quiet as Death. There are and aren't prints on the floor. Where he would have stepped, you make out the lines of his feet, but they're hazy. He's good, beyond good. The ballet of placement, precision, and care. Didn't waste a step and didn't stop moving in the placement of all. Three trips in for the dolls. One slower for the body. Then he went to the window, opened it, and his prints end there. Jumped or climbed out.

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


Wry smile. "Oh, so we're both Anathema, are we?" He goes to the window and throws it open. Opens his ears. "But it's important we all have goals in life."


"Don't know about the other murders. I wasn't called in for those murders. I was called in now, to slit his throat."


What's out the window?


Anything safe to land on?

 

[Esbilon]

Twice-Blooming Flower





As the investigator and the doctor look out the windows, the young woman approaches them. "Wait," she says softly, "I'm sorry about my rudeness before, but I too would like to help. To find whoever did this, you will need to talk to people who might have known them. Bad people in all likelihood," she shivers slightly, "I can do that for you. I'm good at it, better than you might think from looking at me."

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


"Well if I'm taking on strays, I might as well throw you in too!"

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Skrakes


Straight drop down into three bins of waiting laundry. The pressers from Torbin Square haven't been by in a bit. Silat was rich enough to have his clothes laundered, it seems, judging by the orange woven baskets. They pick them up weekly and hadn't been by yet. They've been disturbed, two crushed as if someone belly flopped onto them.


@Esbilon


Ferro coughs. "What sort of bad people can you know that would associate with a walking shit-gallery like this?" She waves at the horrid art.

 

[Esbilon]

Twice-Blooming Flower





"No one. Yet," she says with a measure of sadness, "but no man is an island, whoever did this is not alone in life."

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Esbilon @Vanman @Skrakes


"One does hope. Is there another in your little crew or have the Fates just been off their game today in drawing people together in rather portentous fashion?"

 

[Vanman]

The Doctor


The corners of The Doctor's mouth turn down and his eyes flash heatedly. "Well, Sockets," he says to Arashi, "there was only one person in the room who had a glowy forehead, and that wasn't me. If you don't give two licks of the Unconquered Sun's golden pubes, I don't either. Be as coy and as cute as you want, boy. I'll still eat and fuck and fart tomorrow." The big man turns to Headsman Ferro. "Don't know if you can call us a crew, Headsman. Haven't met either of these two before tod....wait. Is there another you're not telling us about?"


There is a beat or two of silence as The Doctor waits for Headsman Ferro's answer before the physician spins back to face Twice-Blooming Flower. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. 'Whoever did this is not alone in life'? What, exactly, are you saying, Countess Conundrumina? That Senor Serial Killer has a partner?"

 

[Esbilon]

Flower





"Not necessarily someone he kills with, I think he probably does that alone, but someone cooks him his meals, sells him his food or washes his clothes. Perhaps someone even loves him."

 

[Vanman]

The Doctor


There is an audible sigh of relief from the Doctor when he hears Twice-Blooming Flower's answer. "Oh," he says, "well then. If you can find those bridges to this monster's island, in this city of one million, then I say Empress Enigma here is on the team." The physician turns his attention to Arashi. "So. Where to next, Oculus?"

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


"Oculus, huh? I like that. Follow me." Arashi jumps from the window, landing agilely on a clothesline running across the alley. He leaps from one line to another, agile as a cat. He does not see, them, of course. He hears them thrumming softly in the wind, and jumps from one vibration to another.

Spoiler

Activating Graceful Crane Stance so I can jump from line to line easily.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Vanman


"Hell should I know? This shit usually happens in threes. But I've got two technical sins against existence standing before me and some opium addict with foresight like a sage."

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Skrakes


He set off at a walk down the avenue a ways before turning in at what looks like a local launderer. The smell of urine and perfumes and dyes hits like a hammer.

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


The enforcerer set off on the trailer, hunting for his scent amid the chaos. He can follow it... focusing his will as he slips through the launderer's shop.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Blackadder


In a particularly marvelous display of acrobatics, a man leaps from that single open window on the third floor...to deftly begin leaping between clotheslines as a child may skip on the street. He's heading down the street toward the nearest launderer.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Skrakes


Cue the typical shouts and curses as you move through like a dart. Nothing has erred your path, however. The thin scent of iron caked on the man's boots and the strange smell of leather clings to where he walked. Out the back into the sour air of a dozen open-air basins for washing and rinsing. The sharp tang of urine concentrate to ammonia. The trace, barely there, runs over the low stone wall and into an overgrown courtyard...where it stops.

 

[Blackadder]

Gaspar Daskin


Gaspar noticed the man leaving the premises and started following after him. Perhaps he could be plied for information?

 

[Skrakes]

Arashi


Arashi considers his options. The trail stops? Then maybe he's caught up. He unwedges his sword in its scabbard, and advances to the stone wall.

 

[Vanman]

The Doctor


As the Doctor watches Arashi bound out the window, a huge smile splits his face. He turns to Ferro and shrugs. "This is Nexus, my friend. Where the shit is weird and the people weirder. I'll talk to you next time. I have an ally to catch." He turns to Twice-Blooming Flower. "You want a ride, Sultana of Secrets? If so, hop on. If not, you're on your own!"


With a whoop and a bellowing laugh, the Doctor steps onto the window ledge and leaps high into the air. As he plummets to the earth, he catches two of the many lines Arashi used to walk upon, one in each hand, and drags them down, down, down, the lines drawing tighter and tighter as the Doctor nears the ground. Like a compressed spring, the tight lines finally reach their zenith and then snap back into the air. Another whoop erupts from the Doctor's mouth and he's hurled forward and up into the air. When he comes down again, the medico uses his legs in a similar fashion, landing with his feet on the line, letting it stretch to maximum tension, and then he's thrown into the air once again, ignoring the curses thrown his way as he bounds after the investigator.


Seeing Arashi below, The Doctor plummets down and lands atop the wall, crouching down on his haunches, his eyes scanning the scene before him. A smile flickers on the big man's lips. "So, Opticon. This's where the trail ends, I take it. Shall we?" Now the smile extravasates from his face and a low chuckle accompanies the smile. "This should be fun!"

Spoiler

@Esbilon, if you want to hitch a ride, feel free to hop on. I have charms that can raise my strength, but I don't really think I'll need to do that. If you want to catch up on your own - if hitching a ride isn't in your character's nature - no problem. No harm, no foul. I just thought it a good way to have us arrive with Arashi together. Your call, brother.

 

[Esbilon]

Twice-Blooming Flower





After the briefest moment's hesitation, the young woman smiles and holds onto the Doctor's back in a manner the brawler might recognize as a variation of a common hold. If the delicate young woman is worth anything as a wrestler, and if she decided to use his offer of assistance to hamper him, he would be in a pretty bad spot right now.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

@Blackadder


You won't have to chase for long, thankfully. Through the dimly lit dye shop and through the back to the launderer basins, the man has hooked left into an old, overgrown courtyard. They used to hold cotillions here for the well-to-dos of Cinnabar and Bastion way back when. It covers a few shaded acres. Whatever he was after seems to be here.


@Skrakes


At the wall, you sense the entire space open up into shadows and whispering sticks. Overgrown thickets of thorny rosebushes, a pair of curtaining willows bracing a fetid pond. Grass whisking in the wind--knee height. A dead park. The doctor and woman thump down behind you with all the grace of a meteoroid.


@Vanman @Esbilon


A blur of laughter and swinging and gaping mouths and bugging eyes. Before you hit the ground, you hear a dozen curses in as many languages when the wires twang and launch the two of you into the sky.


"A bird!" "A God!" "My new kimono!"