The Fajadi Affair of Descending Fire RY 768 (Exalted 3e Dragon-Blooded) (IC)

[magnificentmomo]

With a quick smile, Guillard simply responds, as before and always in High Realm when speaking with Sayan,
"Lovely" the word seemingly going on forever.
"Please Lady Sayan, follow me around to the garden so that you may have some comfort while you wait." As he shows the dynast in he languishes in self-flagellation, from anyone else it would almost sound sarcastic, but Guillard does tend to take these things too seriously "I am mortified that I must subject you to such indignities. My lack of preparation putting you out so is a grave transgression I can never hope to have forgiven."
The ornately carved and painted wooden gate opens up to reveal a hidden oasis of luxury. The clipped pace of the valet only affords a short glimpse at the grande entrance to the sequestered estate where Sayan would normally proceed. Instead they walk down an intentionally private path, lined with short imported trees and paved with stones from the Blessed Isle, leading to a small pagoda with seating next to a pond stocked with exotic fish. The valet escorts Sayan to a seat,
"Just the briefest of moments and I will return to free you from this unjust treatment."

--------------------

Sure enough, as Tomiko examines what extremities protrude from under the rock piles, she can recognize the younger and older males from this morning. Even given Tomiko's extensive investigational expertise, what could be leftover bruising from the morning's beating, defensive wounds, or just the effects of being crushed to death are indistinguishable. The one thing of note is that the emblematic red scarves they wore this morning are now gone.

--------------------

The immaculate looks up at Zakas' statement, with signs of anguish on his face, not at Zakas' statement itself, but obviously conflicted about the situation,
"While I have little sense of revenues and balance sheets, I know people and their faiths. I come to this square every day save holy days, and I would scarce have to use two hands to count the conversions I've made. These people's faith goes down to the core. We'd need much more than salt to deal with what would remain if we tried to take it from them."

--------------------

As Axan examines the stones stacked on the departed, and then the site they most assuredly came from, he can see that towards the back of the construction site there is a sled used to move heavy objects, but it is currently loaded with other materials, and was mostly likely not used for the grim implementation. More likely is Axan's other theory, that a large coordinated group, or someone extraordinarily endowed, would have completed the feat.

Spoiler: Axan OOC

No roll needed.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

"Their faith either makes them work in concert extremely well, to be able to move such rocks, or makes them very strong indeed individually, becuase even I would likely need some boost to move these rocks by myself." Axan says, not too loud, but loud enough that the rest of the dynasts and the monk, can hear him.

 

[magnificentmomo]

The monk stop laying salt at that remark, like something stuck out to him,
"Now that you mention it, I've had the displeasure of standing vigil over one of these ceremonial executions before, and this does seem strange. By their execution rights, only holy men can lay the stones on the transgressors. And while their so called Prophets favor these people and intervene in mortal affairs, I've never known them to provide such a boon of strength. There would have had to have been quite a few qadis here to move all those stones, and I didn't see a one on my way here."

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko frowns. She looks about, trying to determine if they were dealing with one very strong person, or a group.

 

[magnificentmomo]

Reconstructing the different possible events in her mind, Tomiko compares what physical evidence remains with the scene laid out before her. The only way that a group could have possibly pulled off such a stunt in this space would require a veritable army. Then, the last piece of evidence finally clicks into place in relation to everything else: the broken door. The damage appears to be consistent with a very strong and or large person forcing their way through.

If anyone has come close in their milling about, they would hear some muffled sobs coming from inside the establishment with the broken door. The same establishment where Axan could sense the passageway.

 

[Esbilon]

With an appearance of the utmost serenity, Sayan walks through the gardens, making note of any changes to it, minor or major, that have happened since she was last in it.

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko briskly stands and wipes her hands off. She then heads for the broken door to check at what lies inside.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Axan follows. Whatever or whoever wields such strength, even an Immaculate Monk might need a helping hand.

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko makes the observation, "If we were talking about mortal strength, it would take quite a few people to be able to pull this off, but I don't see the signs here that would indicate such a crowd of people were here. I suspect that we may be dealing with either a Exalt of some kind, or some other supernatural being."

 

[Psychie]

Alys follows along, wondering what they might be coming up against. "Well, I know I'm here with you. If we do run into something nasty, I have your back."

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko nods and smiles. "Thank you, my friends. Let us see if we can't find out what is responsible for this heinous crime. Shall we?"

 

[Rykon]

Zakas salutes and grins. "Well I didn't tag along just to gawk, let's get moving. I wanna see the culprit meet justice."

 

[magnificentmomo]

As Sayan walks along the passage and the garden, there are some cosmetic changes, a new tree here, or a new bird from some far flung island, but all seem to be strictly cosmetic changes, nothing signifying any real material alterations to the layout of the grounds. What does catch her eye though, just as they round a corner, is through a small window into an adjacent room of the foyer, an unfamiliar figure stands shrouded and waiting.

-----------------

The broken door of the salon creaks inward, the opposite direction it was meant to go, sending groans of stressed wood and rays of sunlight into the darkened room. The room is open and airy, could probably hold 100 people at packed capacity, slightly longer than it is wide. While a similar salon back by the South Bank Bazaar would have columns, archways, and a ceiling made of a mosaic of colored tiles, here they are evenly spaced rough wood hewn beams draped with old thin drapery, their presumably initially vibrant dyes having washed out into pale hues with age. Along the left side of the room is a long wooden bar top, with no one visibly behind it. All of the cushioned areas for lounging seem to be empty, except a lone figure in the far back right corner, sobbing, curled in to a ball next to a pile of bottles.

 

[Rykon]

Zakas moves to the sobbing figure and kneels in front with an extended hand "Its alright now, can you stand? Please, let us know what happened so we can help."

 

[Sherwood]

While it is important to try and offer aid to the crying person, Tomiko moves slowly in, looking for any sign of an ambush.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Axan surveys the building, and the door they came through. He might come back here to fix this place up a bit, after he deals with whoever did the damage first.

 

[Esbilon]

Sayan does in fact enjoy walking calmly through a delightful garden like this one, though she does perhaps not quite enjoy it to the level she is displaying to anyone who might be watching her. Walking by slowly and smelling the sweet flowers, however, allow her to gaze intently through her lashes at the unfamiliar figure on the premises.

OOC: I'm guessing Perception + Awaress is appropriate. I'll assume at least a rank 1 stunt, but if not you can disregard the last two dice. 2 sux, 1 without stunt.

 

[Sherwood]

As she enters the room, Tomiko will spend a moment to look about the place, wondering if there is any way out of here besides the one they just came in. If so, there is a real chance that the culprit of the murders lies inside farther in somewhere.

6 Successes to my roll.

 

[magnificentmomo]

It isn't until Zakas is next to the woman and speaking to her that she even seems to be aware of their presence. When he speaks, she startles slightly, sending an empty bottle rolling on its side. She looks up and two things become apparent: that she is the woman from this morning, and that you can smell the alcohol on her breath practically from across the room. After some grunts and a moan she has a look on her face indicating she has a similar moment of recognition. She lets out a mixture of sobs, stammers, and slurred speech eventually producing a few intelligible words and phrases,
"...yoooouuuu...why did y... even...I told him not-" she has a hard sob that turns into a gag, but she chokes it down and continues to keen. She is in a way, and it will take some effort to communicate with her further.

To Axan's architectural senses, the building is solidly constructed, even if not ornately decorated. It has good bones, and none of the damage or neglect seems terminal. As he follows along the beams, looking for rot, or a misplaced joint, he notices something off. The columns are all evenly spaced from each other and the walls, except this back wall next to where the weeping woman is. The wall itself is set with racks to hold casks, but even accounting for the additional depth, it's wrong. The sensation Axan felt through his acute occult senses, places the artifact just behind that wall and below ground level, as well as the sudden void of bedrock.

The trained eyes of Tomiko dart from corner to corner, taking in points of egress and interest. At the end of the long bar on the left of the room, there is a small doorway, slightly obscured by a decorative drapery. From Tomiko's vantage point, the portal looks to lead to a small service hallway, with an exit into the alley that has been left open, letting in a sliver of sunlight. Looking along that same back wall, Tomiko also notices what Axan sees, that the positioning of the wall in relation to the rest of the building leaves space unaccounted for.

-----------------------------

In the brief moment afforded by the clipped pace of the valet, Sayan is able to catch a few details about the unexpected and unknown presence. Though their visage is shrouded, their stature implies they are male (although not exceptionally tall or stout) and their posture appears that of someone with somewhere else they would much rather be. All else is shrouded or obscured, save for a telltale red scarf peeking out from their cloak and cowl.

Spoiler: Sayan OOC

Fantastically, with 3e it is always pretty safe to assume a first level stunt, and I highly recommend doing so henceforth. Could you also please roll something to hide your attempt at recon? Doesn't need to be Dex+Stealth, could be Appearance+Socialize, or however you feel Sayan would best approach this.

 

[Esbilon]

Sayan leans down to lift one particularly inviting flower to her nose, and conveniently hide her face after she has taken note of the obscured man's red scarf.

OOC: Rolling App+Soc with rank 1 stunt. 8 sux.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Axan looks at Tomiko, when he notices that they both saw the unevenness. He was eager ti break it open, and reveal what's on the other side, and maybe find the Artifact, but he recalled Sayan's words against tampering with things, and he didn't want to cross an Immaculate Monk.

 

[magnificentmomo]

"Ah, the master actually sought out that specimen for you. Supposedly it is from Dejis Prefecture, but between you and me, if we believed all of the gardener's claims there would be many more happy men and women about."
The valet punctuates the attempt at levity and innuendo with a ridiculously exaggerated wag of his eyebrows.
"Again, just the briefest of moments and I will return to free you from this unjust treatment."

Spoiler: OOC

Could you give me a read intentions?

---------------------

As Tomiko progresses through the room making observations, the last would be an almost imperceptible weathering on the ground next to the back wall, suggesting something heavy had rolled over it a number of times.

Spoiler: OOC

I thought about the fact that you got 6 successes a little longer, and something else came to me.

 

[Esbilon]

Sayan rises to face the approaching valet and smiles pleasantly, "I appreciate it regardless of its true point of origin." At his request for more time, she nods slightly, taking advantage of the movement to regard the man carefully, taking note of any changes in his appearance since she saw him before.

Spoiler: ooc

Roll intentions with rank 1 stunt: 10 dice, 6 sux

 

[Rykon]

While Zakas has learned and trained in many disciplines, consoling the grieving is not one of them. Never the less, he took the sobbing woman by both hands and looked her squarely in the eyes. "Ma'am, I am Captain Peleps Zakas of the Imperial Navy. The perpetrators of this killing have earned the full fury and scorn of the host of Dragons. I need you to be brave, be sober, and tell me what has happened here." Seeing his kin looking over the rest of the room in detail as an extension of the crime scene. Everything about the place seemed like all hell must have broke lose than fled without a trace, but why... and how... What made this group worth all of this?

[Roll before any stunt bonus yields 1 success]

 

[Sherwood]

Tomiko makes her way towards the back where she has spotted the signs of the heavy objects being moved and kneels down, pressing her fingers into the floor as she takes a closer look.