Fantasy The Order of Seven - closed for now

[kase9187]

Jackson heard Luness' reply and simply gave her a look. From what he saw on the roof, she was reasonable to be upset with him, but the way she spoke was less aimed annoyance at him and more disdain for humans.

"Well, I can certainly help reach where you cannot. Human or no. But if you wish to keep bleeding all over your attire, that's fine."

He seemed equally keen as Luness to not continue on the conversation. His tone came across as more even than Luness', his whole statement carrying the weight of his apathetic tone and disdain rather than a single, venom-laced word.

He turned away, statue and attitude unbothered by her repulsive label. He set about adjusting Adrianus' bandaging, to make it more comfortable and more effective at once.

Lioness075 The Gunrunner

 

[Vacuum]

There was a sudden coagulating force in the air, the mystery group hopped into a portal. Morvan looked around for any stragglers, but could not spot any. A seeping anger dripped onto Morvan's head from an invisible well. He snatched some of his patience up, and plugged the well for now. It was more important to see if his team was alright, and secure the area.

Morvan took a full look at the situation around him. It seemed the others were ahead of Morvan in the healing sector. A withered Krishna was healing Thaddeus.
Unease. A morphed Thaddeus, and a half morphed Luness wouldn't be smart to have outsiders see. Especially Luness, as Thaddeus could be mistaken for an animal quite easily. The tension between Jackson and Luness was concerning. It seemed to stem from something withing Luness. Morvan hoped she could overcome such things, at least for the remainder of the mission. He gave a small bow, "Ms. LaFrae, a human form would aid us greatly at the moment if it's possible. Explosions and gunfire are likely to bring much attention to this place." He started up to a jog to secure the peremiter while asking "Anyone that can help Mr. Grey move to a more secluded position, please do so." The ground grumbled beneath Morvan as he broke into a run. Rippling around his feet with each footfall. Their impact on this place was already to great.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

„Mérde!“ Gabriel yelled when the cloaked man failed to go down, not at all minding his language. Something about being in France made him automatically start swearing in the language of frog eaters. From the corner of his eye, he could see the others having no better luck than himself. Not only were these attackers magically apt, well-organized and armed with silver weapons as well as pre-prepared spells, they were also incredibly strong and fast, on top of which they just happened to casually carry around a pocket escape route. „Fils de pute!“ he added generously as the last of the masked men disappeared in the portal. If one, at least one hadn‘t made it, they could have questioned him. Now, though… He hated to be bested.

Perhaps, though, there was something positive about the situation after all – he might have made a friend. Gabriel smiled at Krishna, the gentlest vampire ever to roam the world, momentarily disarmed by his word of thanks. „And here I had been worried I wouldn‘t be much of a contribution in this fight,“ he said lightly as he helped Krishna join the group of investigators gathering around the spot that marked the disappearance of their assailants. „I am certain everyone would have done the same.“

A haphazard group of not just people was waiting there, some of which Gabriel had never seen before, neither did he recall them from the dossiers. Who was supposed to keep track of these changes made overnight during an ongoing investigation? Some of them, however, were bleeding, and so was Taddeus, a silver bolt still lodged in his flesh. Gabriel could easily fix that, but not without the bag he‘d left upstairs. It was a waste of precious time to return for it now, yet he could hardly have dragged it along into a fight, unless he intended to whack someone over the head with the bag, and that would have likely caused the destruction of many a precious item.

Adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he made it back to the inventor‘s rooms in record time and began collecting everything of importance: all the blueprints, the diary as well as a the little box without a key. „Sir William! Come on, it‘s all good now!“ he called, waiting half a minute for the ferret to recognize the light tone of his voice and decide it was safe to crawl from under the sofa. With the little bugger in tow, he rushed back to the group only to noticed that most wounds had been patched up by then, some with little success, other almost completely. Krishna, however, looked like he was about to feint at any second.

„Alright.“ He quickly scanned the group and identified those that could still use his service. „Krishna, would you like something to keep you on your feet? I have ammonia and various assortment of drugs. You… I am terribly sorry, but I don‘t know your name, would you like me to stitch your neck? I have saved an individual who lost half his body, so you would be in good hands,“ he announced to Adrianus, forgetting to mention that the individual had been a ferret. „In other news, I have collected all evidence. Does anyone know if the Muse is in the Opera already, or if she remains with her previous owner until the evening? Because I would like to get to her immediately and procure the key before they do.“

 

[Lioness075]

Luness’ ears flicked towards Jackson when he spoke again, though his expression was lost on her since she was no longer looking at him. Hearing what he said, Luness glanced back down at her blood-soaked gauze and already-ruined sleeve. The fabric had torn with the attack and blood had effectively stained it afterwards.
”The fabric is already ruined.”

Luness did not think there was much else to say in the moment and continued to keep her other clawed hand over the bleeding wound. Jackson’s tone had more than suggested he did not care much in return and for that, Luness was actually grateful. She could only hope it meant that her point had been made and he would give her some distance going forward.

Alas, her point about her disdain for humans was lost on another one from the team approaching her.
When he suggested she shift to her human form, Luness instinctively snarled at him, whipping around to face the insolent human who would dare tell her what to do. Yet, she caught herself and looked back down at her bloodied arm to compose herself.
Blinking a few times and taking some controlled deep breaths, Luness finally looked at Morvan again with a more neutral expression. She refused to openly admit it, but he had made a fair point. Even she knew better than to stroll around in any form other than her human one.
Through clenched teeth, Luness said, “I was going to do that eventually.” As childish as it sounded, she wanted to make it seem as if she had at least been planning on shifting. Even if it meant causing herself more pain.

Yet another human joined the gathering team and Luness was at least grateful to hear more information regarding the investigation. Once they returned to HQ, the team would undoubtedly reveal further details, especially now that more of them had joined.

Sighing to herself, Luness took this moment to step away from the group, giving herself some more distance before she shifted again, her punctured skin stretching and more blood pouring from the small wounds. She grunted and clutched her injured arm tighter as the fur and animalistic features returned to bare skin and her human form.
Almost immediately, Luness forced herself to straighten and push her shoulders back, trying to retain her dignity after showing any sign of weakness. Sadly, shifting with any injury was always a painful experience and trying to pretend otherwise was difficult to do.

Sighing, Luness returned to the edge of the group, mindfully positioning herself between the vampires and werewolf. She could only hope the group was ready to move on soon. It would seem that the human with his pet, Gabriel if her memory served her correctly, had collected the evidence they needed to continue the investigation. Though, this Muse he had mentioned seemed to be rather important as well. She was given a back brief on the mission before she had arrived, so she recalled an odd singing machine as being this so-called Muse.

kase9187 Vacuum MechanicalSnake

 

[Naberius]

Michael O'Sullivan

As the invaders turned tail and disappeared through their portal, all the resident demon could do was laugh. Even if he was rather disappointed that he didn't get to do any real damage, after all he'd been hoping to stomp that werewolf into the pavement for a little while, he still found the fleeing of their enemy to be at least a bit entertaining. With a smile born of only the darkest and most malicious kind of joy, he made his way towards the rest of their rag tag group as they assembled to check for injuries. Though, eyeing the rest, many were indeed needing a bit of medical attention. He scoffed, the judgment obvious for anyone with eyes.

"Well, that was certainly a fun way to start the day wasn't it? Some light exercise for the fleshbags, fireworks. Honestly my only regret is that no one actually died, rather boring really."

It wasn't until then that he actually took notice of the new faces. Great. Splendid. That's exactly what he wanted, even more mortals to have to put up with. At least one of them wasn't human, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still, he sized them up one by one and snorted dismissively. As long as they didn't bother him, kept out of his way, and did their human nonsense away from him he supposed he could live with their presence. Barely. He walked off to sit against the side of the nearby building, closing his eyes while he waited for everyone else to get patched up. After all, they still had business to deal with and he couldn't exactly go wandering off, not when they might get attacked again.

SilverFlight Lioness075 Cashi The Gunrunner Vacuum ADarkAndStormyNight MechanicalSnake Dominaiscna kase9187

 

[SilverFlight]

Thaddeus held his breath, but it escaped again in a deep yelp as the bolt came free. He bared his dagger-like teeth in a flash of white, but his mind had a firm grip on the beast writhing inside it.
He shrank back into his human form with a pain that felt like he had been shot again. The flesh and blood steamed where the silver had touched it. The wound would take a long time to close, silver wounds were exempt from his accelerated healing.
"Please," he breathed, "don't bicker." He had heard the new werecat's comment. "We've more than enough enemies it seems."
kase9187 Lioness075

He did not expect Krishna to approach and looked away sheepishly as she vampire used his gift to slow the bleeding. It was almost at the cost of his stability though, and Thaddeus insinctively reach out an arm to steady the man, letting go a moment after and unsure of what to do next.
"You are drained." He observed awkwardly, "you must be more careful in this state."
Cashi
But the vampire was right at least. "We need to retrieve the box, and take a copy of the sigil under that rug...the journal too, if the police will relinquish it."

He pulled off his green coat and struggled to his feet. There was more than a little regret in his voice as he examined the ruined stitching and the stain.
"This was my favourite jacket..."

But there were more pressing matters at the moment:
"I'm afraid Mr. Surcouf is right. Our little encounter was not exactly subtle. We should treat the worst injuries quickly and get back to headquarters, then I believe Mr Gladstone has the next move, we must find the Mechanical Muse."
Vacuum MechanicalSnake

Jackson he turned to after addressing the team, with an appreciative nod at Luness.
"It's lucky you and Ms. Lafrae came when you did. That was obviously a trap, we might not have gotten out of that one on our own."
He answered Jackson seriously.
"The inventor had a daughter...there was a strange sigil in the room, under the carpet, though to know what it was for precisely we would have to take a reproduction back to headquarters for the glyph mages to examine more closely. We haven't had the chance to speak about what we found yet, but we'll pool our findings as soon as everyone is safe."
kase9187 Lioness075

It didn't take long for other Order members to appear. Apparently they had suppressed the police response, and came fully armed themselves. Thaddeus felt much safer with a dozen of their own mages flanking the carriages that had been prepared for them.
"If there is anything from that room that we need to complete our investigation, we should take it now, I doubt we will have time to return before the Opera event tonight."

MechanicalSnake Cashi Dominaiscna Lioness075 kase9187 The Gunrunner Naberius

 

[kase9187]

Jackson dipped his head towards the one he knew now as Thaddeus from the dossiers.

"I'm glad, considering the circumstances, that I was a bit late. I decided to meet with you all after the investigation was finished, trying to keep an eye out for anyone that might've been suspicious. Not long after I took up my perch did everything go down."

Jackson pondered the results of the search, thinking back to the assailants. He remembered the bolt he tucked away.

"I'll see if some of our mages can do anything with the bolt the assailants so... helpfully..." Jackson said the word with spite. "Decided to leave us."

Jackson pulled out his revolver and began to polish the gun, scrubbing off the small bit of grime and sweat it had on it. It looked worn but he kept it pristine.

SilverFlight Lioness075 Cashi MechanicalSnake Dominaiscna The Gunrunner Naberius

 

[The Gunrunner]

Adrianus van de Beenhouwer​

Adrianus took Jackson's medical care with a thankful expression, nodding to the man. As the man then offered his assistance to Luness, she scoffed,
"I doubt you would be of much aid, human.” Adrianus smirked,
"Bad kitty. No milk for you." Jackson responds, but does not press the matter. Adrianus shrugged, and would look to the others. One of the members, quite clearly the far-lands vampire, showed a peculiar healing ability. Adrianus was intrigued, but was drawn away from the scene by words from Gabriel:
"You… I am terribly sorry, but I don‘t know your name, would you like me to stitch your neck? I have saved an individual who lost half his body, so you would be in good hands,“ he stated, though Adrianus' expression turned to one of skeptical suspicion.
"I am Adrianus van de Beenhouwer. I've never heard of any man or woman surviving such injuries, but if you've the experience... Please, do stitch this wound closed. I hope to remain in active duty."

Soon after saying this, the Order's transport arrived. Mages of their own flanked either side - An escort Adrianus thought, grinning to himself. The others discuss collecting the evidence from the apartment - From their words, he assumes that the most important pieces have already been collected. He looked to Gabriel and waved him to one of the carriages, "If you'll follow, I would appreciate you stitch the wound on the way. And, if you would fill me in with what you have discovered thusfar." He stepped towards the carriages, taking his pistol from the ground - The weapon was marked where the sword struck it, but the weapon appeared to otherwise still be functional. He shoved it into its holster, mounted the carriage, and relaxed into his seat. "Another day on the job," he sighed.
SilverFlight Lioness075 kase9187 Cashi Naberius Vacuum Dominaiscna MechanicalSnake

 

[Dominaiscna]

Lilith Beaumont

Fortunately, the scene before her resolved itself without poor Krishna being fried with electricity. The mystery assailant's spell met with the end of Gabriel's stick, resulting in both attacks missing their original mark. A sharp whistle cut above the noise and, within the blink of an eye, all the attackers had peeled away from the fight, diving into a portal and vanishing into thin air. Within a breathe, the Order members were left alone in the courtyard.

Stunned as she was, Lilith's eyes immediately flickered to Krishna in concern. Even in the day, a vampire would have had to be severely weakened or distracted to have been so easily subdued by what she assumed was a human. Sure enough, her fellow vampire was visibly shaken and weak...concerningly so. He clung tightly to Gabriel for support, barely able to carry his own weight. His condition was dire... and the female vampire suspected there was more to his current state than simply weakness from excessive exposure to sunlight. Was he perhaps also low on blood?

When their eyes met, he beckoned to her and she approached, one hand already preparing to open her parasol. Carefully, they stepped out into the bright sunlight and rejoined the rest of their group out in the courtyard. Though she remained silent as the group caught up on the situation at hand, Lilith kept a wary eye on her ailing companion. She found herself scrunching her nose slightly, as the air around them reeked with the smell of freshly spilled blood - most of which came from Thaddeus and their new teammate, Luness. Both had visible wounds on their bodies, with Thaddeus's being notably heavier. With great discomfort, she watched the silver bolt being ripped from the werewolf's body. The vampire had the fortune of having not been impaled by silver just yet. After the silver bolt was out and taken away, Krishna set about helping to heal their werewolf companion. She stood behind him, holding up the parasol for shade, while her head turned to note the bits of conversation flowing around them.

One line in particular caught her attention. It had been uttered by a new member to their crew, a man whom she recognized as Adrianus. She had briefly read about him, but his words alone were enough to remind her that he had some kind of bad blood with vampires as a whole. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and her lips twitched in distaste, but she swallowed her response. As Thaddeus had said, it was not the time nor the place for such tensions. Their main priority was their investigation and the safety of their members.

The other thing that drew her notice was Luness... the werecat if she remembered correctly. Like Adrianus, she too seemed to possess animosity, but towards humans instead. She avoided their human teammates like the plague, and rejected their help even though she was wounded and bleeding profusely. Though Krishna was Lilith's main concern, the vampire also kept an eye on Luness as the werecat stepped away from the group, transformed, and returned. As Luness took a position by her side, the vampire turned to her. Her face was slightly obscured by her veil, but she nevertheless offered a gentle smile.

"I can't say that I am a professional... but I would like to help you with your wound, Miss LaFrae," she began softly, her voice low and quiet. "Would you allow me to assist you?"


Mentions: SilverFlight MechanicalSnake Cashi The Gunrunner Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Luness LaFrae	Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Throwing Daggers, Twin Daggers

Finally, Michael decided to join the group and Luness met his judgmental gaze with a neutral and bored one of her own. She had dealt with personalities like his plenty of time before and knew that the more expressive she was, the more he would have to use against her. The way he spoke was certainly a bit surprising to her, but she had also never interacted with a demon before, so this was new territory for her.
Admittedly, though, she did agree with his last statement. It felt like they had just wasted their time here and she had definitely bled for nothing.
"The demon has one thing right, this was disappointing."
Even out of her werecat forms, Luness' voice had a scratchy tone to it, as if she did not speak often enough to maintain a normal tone.

Still, Thaddeus had a point and Luness held her tongue from saying anymore. She knew needlessly complaining seemed to ruin the average person's mood. She just preferred to face the facts head-on.
Hearing the werewolf mutter about his jacket, Leandra raised an eyebrow, but mindfully kept her mouth shut. She had long since given up on any favorite attire in her line of work. She was surprised anyone else still wore memorable attire out for this work.

Hearing Thaddeus' praise, Luness merely nodded in response and then glanced down at her arm once more with a quiet scoff. Some help she had been. She clearly needed to put extra work in during any possible off-time to get herself focused once more. Her time off in Spain had clearly not been her best idea.

It definitely seemed like the group was a bit discombobulated at the moment, so Luness kept quiet about any of their findings. Like she had suspected earlier, they could pool everything together back at headquarters and assess the situation then.

Hearing the carriages before she saw them, Luness was watching them pull up when one of the team's vampires approached her. Luness took one look at her and quickly recognized her as Lilith. One of their team had already wandered off to enter one of the carriages and Luness felt an urge to enter another one, but squelched it since someone else had approached her.
Knowing that Lilith was a vampire and not a human, Luness did not feel an immediately aggravated reaction to her offer. In fact the gentle smile she offered surprised Luness, as she had never expected such a reaction from the first vampire she would meet. She supposed she had made one too many assumptions before coming here.
The way Lilith spoke softly and calmly had a way of soothing Luness' adverse reaction to anyone touching her and she could not hide the fact that she was unable to wrap her bleeding arm.
Sighing, Luness turned to face Lilith and gruffly replied in a hushed tone of her own, "I...would appreciate that."
Tensed and ready to glare at anyone who dared mention this, Luness slowly raised her bloodied arm towards Lilith along with the wrapping she had been fumbling with on her own.

SilverFlight Naberius kase9187 Dominaiscna The Gunrunner

 

[Dominaiscna]

Lilith Beaumont

After she offered her help, Lilith observed Luness closely with quiet interest, noting every her every move and her every change in expression. At the werecat’s words, the vampire’s smile grew every so slightly, clearly pleased with her response.
Since Lilith required the usage of both her hands, she carefully passed her parasol to her poor sun-baked partner, Krishna, that he might have its protection in the harsh sunlight. Now with her hands free, she turned to Luness to provide her assistance.

“Please excuse me, Miss LaFrae,” she murmured gently, taking a step closer to Luness. Her eyes flickered over the arm wound, clearly not the least bit bothered by the fresh blood right in front of her.

The vampire moved carefully, each action slow and deliberate so as to not startle her injured teammate, and putt In extra effort into not touching Luness any more than she needed to. She picked up the wrapping Luness offered to her and straightened it out between her gloved hands before gently laying one end over the wound. With one hand, she pinned one end of the wrapping down against the wound with a feather light touch, while her other hand carefully looped under and around Luness’s arm with the rest of the wrap. After the first loop of wrapping was in place, Lilith made quick work of the rest of the bandaging process, making sure to cover the wound firmly, but not tight enough to cause constant pain and disruption to blood circulation.

Once she was done, Lilith gently tucked in the free end of the wrap under a previous loop of wrapping, before stepping back to give Luness her space. “My apologies if I have caused you any discomfort or pain, but I hope this might be of some help.”


Mentions: Cashi
Interactions: Lioness075

 

[Naberius]

Michael did his best to try and listen to the others but to be honest, he didn't much care for what they were talking about at he moment. Most of it was checking on their wounds and seeing how the others were doing anyway, aside from discussing small things. Though, Thaddeus had a point he supposed, collecting everything they could would at least help get this mission over as soon as possible. Not that he would be volunteering to do so himself, but still.

Rising from where he sat as the carriages approached, the demon shifted into his cat form while the others were occupied and not looking his way. Unseen, he leapt up into the one furthest away from the others and curled up, tail wrapped around his body as he lounged on the seat. With any luck, he'd have that particular one to himself. Though, reality had a certain way of making sure he never got any sort of relaxation or comfort. A sinking suspicion in the back of his mind told him that he wouldn't be alone for very long at all.

SilverFlight Lioness075 Cashi The Gunrunner Vacuum ADarkAndStormyNight MechanicalSnake Dominaiscna kase9187

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Luness LaFrae	Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Throwing Daggers, Twin Daggers

As Lilith spoke softly and approached her, Luness instinctively leaned back, preparing to take a step away to keep her distance. She gritted her teeth, as she forced herself to instead stand still.
Gingerly, Luness held up her wounded arm and let Lilith take the wrap from her. Lilith was gentle with her touch, but Luness flinched and her jaw remained tight the entire time. She almost felt regretful for even allowing anyone to assist her, but she was not entirely keen on just bleeding all over the place until they return to HQ.
The moment Lilith stepped away, Luness blinked and then slowly lowered her throbbing arm to her side. She instinctively tried to make her ears flick forward when Lilith spoke again and then inwardly face palmed at the realization that her human ears were not moving anytime soon. Her expression was one of confusion briefly before she finally realized what Lilith had said and gave her an awkward nod in response.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the situation and frustrated with herself for getting banged up in her first encounter with a new team, Luness muttered, "Excuse me," as she stepped back from the gathered team. She turned on her heels and promptly walked to the farthest carriage from the group.
Taking a seat, Luness finally exhaled a sigh of relief and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. Yet, she felt a sensation of not being alone and opened one eye to see a dozing cat on the seat opposite of her.
Tensing, Luness opened her other eye and stared at the cat, at a loss.

Naberius Dominaiscna Cashi

 

[Vacuum]

Morvan Surcouf
A quick look outside of the gardens into the quiet street calmed Morvan's nerves. If anyone was nearby while the group fought, they clearly didn't want to be involved. That's when Morvan remembered landing on someone behind the hedges. Thinking he must have been forgotten there, Morvan rushed back. After squeezing through the hedges again, carefully this time, he was met with disappointment. The cloaked figure Morvan had left there seems to- no wait. Morvan's heart picked up the pace again, and the dirt beneath his feet slowly churned. The blood Morvan had seen painted on the wall wasn't there. Would the cloaked figure have cleaned it off before escaping? No chance. Morvan slumped against the wall, head spinning like the waves of dirt lapping against his feet. What if there was never a cloaked figure there? If so, this would be the worst hallucination Morvan has ever experienced. The wall seemed to be engulfing him as he used it for support. Being pulled into the masonry. Morvan reached up and grabbed the end of his rope, and pulled himself out of the wall. Pulling himself up off the waves of soil, he planted his feet on the wall. Morvan felt the rope's every fibre gripping to his palm, and took a deep breath. His heart slowed, all the while sinking. Reasonably, the likely explanation was the figure behind the hedges was a false image from Morvan's own mind. He felt he could not tell the others about this. How could anyone rely on a man whose mind creates such illusions?

Morvan put his feet back on the steady ground. They would be leaving soon surely. He should retrieve his rope and any other important items from the top floor.

After retrieving his things, Morvan came out of that accursed building for what would hopefully be the last time. There appeared to be carriages prepared for them. He hurried over, keeping his face as neutral as possible. Morvan was worried someone might read his thoughts and know he was unwell. Finding an empty carriage, Morvan bunkered down and tried to smooth himself once again. Perhaps this would only be a one time incident. He could only hope so. Either way he must calm down. There was no need to cause concern.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

As Thaddeus pointed out that they should collect any remaining pieces of evidence before departing, Gabriel wanted to remind him he had already done that, thinking the werewofl was a little confused due to his injury, when someone mentioned the sigil. „Yes, of course, there are all those occult drawings on the floor,“ the scientist confirmed with his usual amount of sass. „But I didn‘t take the floorboards, that would have been terribly inconvenient. I have neither the equipment necessary to remove them, nor a large enough bag...


Someone would copy it, he was sure. Such as the mages that were fast to flood the scene, better suited to dealing with occult matters thanks to their unique skills. A dozen, in his own humble opinion, was a little bit of an overkill, especially now that the Anti-Order was nowhere to be seen. Anti-Order… Gabriel chuckled for himself, as that actually sounded like a decent name for the group of villains they had encountered. He was going to keep calling them that.


The thought didn‘t seem to be too far-fetched, if he were to be honest. There could very well be another organisation familiar with the tainted, trained in an array of special skills, well-studied, armed by enhanced weapons and spells – except this Anti-Order was using the collective power and knowledge of its members for personal gain, rather than to protect. The only gap in that theory was the fact that the Order had never run into them prior this encounter – or not to Gabriel‘s knowledge.


Shelving those thoughts for later use, Gabriel followed the others to the carriages, making sure to sit next to Adrianus. „I see you like to live in the edge,“ he noted, because it was rather bold to ask someone to stitch your injury in a moving vehicle. „If you end up with an unsightly scar, I would like to let you know I do not accept any complaints.“ With that, he fished out his equipment – blueprints rustling in the bag – and started to work, intending to do as much as possible before they headed out. „I believe this will help!“ he claimed cheerfully, opening a small vial with strong alcohol, using it do disnfect the wound before passing the vial on Adrianus. „Go on, finish the rest!“

The Gunrunner

 

[kase9187]

Jackson sighed as the Order got there to help clean up the mess. If only they'd been there sooner, things might've been less chaotic.

Packing everything into his guitar case, he clambered into one of the carriages. He didnt really take note of who was already present, just that he took an unoccupied seat. He was still thinking of the encounter.

They were watching the place. Why? What was so important that they risked a confrontation in broad daylight? He pondered silently, slowly spinning the chamber of his revolver with an invisible beat.

Click. Click. Click.
It helped him think, and he did it slowly enough that only someone paying attention could hear the clicking of the chamber.

Lioness075 SilverFlight Naberius The Gunrunner MechanicalSnake ADarkAndStormyNight Dominaiscna Cashi Vacuum

 

[The Gunrunner]

Adrianus van de Beenhouwer

Adrianus watched the others enter their own carriages, a few seemed to pick an empty compartment with the intention to be alone. The demon, sadly, appeared to be one of them. Damn. Demons are entertaining. Adrianus sighs, but his peripheral catches one of the Order members coming to his carriage. The man who entered was of highly effeminate features, and no doubt the one who had used the electrical weapon discharged earlier in their fight. It was one of the members who especially stood out in the dossiers, a Gabriel Gladstone - The scientist. Adrianus grins, but just for a moment.
"I see you like to live in the edge. If you end up with an unsightly scar, I would like to let you know I do not accept any complaints.“ Adrianus chuckles, shrugging as the man rummages through his bag of equipment. "I believe this will help!" he exclaimed, splashing some alcohol on the wound - Adrianus winced, but endured the stinging sensation. The doctor then passed the vial to the Dutchman's hand, "Go on, finish the rest!“ Again, Adrianus grins,
"The best kind of doctor. If I earn a scar, I do not mind - They are stories, and so I treasure them." With that, Adrianus tilted the bottle to his lips and swallowed a mouthful of the liquid. It was strong, devilishly strong, and burned his throat like fire. Just as the misty sensation would hit his eyes, he lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth, "My my, I've been drinking the wrong stuff! I think I will finish the rest of this, but perhaps /after/ we are finished with the opera tonight. Ah, and yes, I hope to be fixed quickly - I am making first impressions here, and I would hate to fall short."

Following the procedure, Adrianus merely clenched his fists, locked his jaw, and endured the pain. He was no stranger to it - Indeed, it was quite similar to the treatment he would receive while he was a marine. Granted, of course, it was far from 'fun.' One bad poke, has him grunt, but he brushes it off, "You were not in the military, and I do not think you were an independent hunter. How did you end up in this merry band of monster hunters?" Granted, the information was likely in the dossiers. However, admittedly, Adrianus hadn't read them in their entirety.
MechanicalSnake SilverFlight kase9187 Vacuum Lioness075 Naberius Dominaiscna

 

[SilverFlight]

The conversations continued into the carriages and Thaddeus directed some of the supporting mages now present to take the rest of the evidence they needed. The box was moved carefully into a carriage, light enough to be taken and guarded by one person. More mages took copies of the sigil on the ground, and one debated fervently with the ploice for the release of both the box and the journal containing the inventor's personal notes.

By chance he caught a glimpse of Morvan looking slightly perplexed.
"Are you quite alright Mr. Surcouf? I'd ask you if you'd seen a ghost but, in our line of work that really shouldn't come as a surprise." He chuckled at his own joke and winced. Vacuum

At headquarters Thaddeus asked for a substantial time for rest and recovery, while the evidence was compiled, the bolt and the sigil were examined by the experts and very soon They were sat about a long oak table in the central hall of the property. The walls were ivory, and hung aging oil paintings of past lords and nobility, rare treasures that had escaped the wrath of the people. Most of them were of Order members, some living, some dead, all functional parts of the Parisian chapter.
The ceiling was high and vaulted and above the table a beautiful crystal chandelier was lit with candles, though it was still quite light outside.
Thaddeus' shoulder, though no longer bleeding when he arrived, thanks to the efforts of his vapiric colleague, was thoroughly treated and bandaged and he had a fresh set of clothes on, dark blue in colour.

"Before we begin the discussions," Thaddeus said once the party was seated, "I'd like to introduce two new agents who will be joining the case: Mr Cyrus Lee works with spirits, and Mouse, will be our team's new Ghost. For their sake, I will review what we have found so far."

He cleared his throat and spoke:
"There has been a series of murders in Paris recently, though we only knew about the death of a very specific inventor when we first arrived. The second murder occurred just moments after we entered the building in which it occurred, a salon. The singer at the time was sharing both stage and dressing quarters with a rather remarkable automaton, made by the very inventor who was murdered. The inventor was the first victim it seems, the subsequent victims were all young women, all with their vocal chords cut out in a very precise way. The inventor was not killed in this way, which either changes the murderer or the intention of the culprit. There is one possible connection between the female victims, and that is they all seemed to have the capacity or, were at one point, singing. This may have been what lured the murderer to them. We are not entirely sure. We did catch a man who was fleeing from the scene, the lover of the murdered girl we found in the salon, though he seems quite far from the murdering type. We have convinced the police to release him to us. He is being guarded here.
A knife was found at the scene too, silver, which rules out tainted susceptible to that, there is no way such precise cuts could be made when wearing the protective gloves one would need to wield a silver weapon. Our next step was to investigate the inventor's room, and this is what we were doing when we were accosted by those strange people in masks. The inventor had a daughter, and young girl depicted in this photograph here."
He produced the faded photograph and slid it next to a poster with a drawing of the Mechanical Muse, the automaton created by the inventor. The machine seemed to be almost in perfect likeness of the girl, if she had been a few years older.
"We also found a sigil under the carpet, magical in nature, though we are still waiting for the results from our experts. We also found a journal detailing the automaton's construction, and a box, with a symbol, I know I have seen that symbol somewhere before....but I can't quite place it."
The box was also on the table, the symbol of a flying bird clear on its lid.
"It is locked, and I'm afraid it is also reinforced, so trying to break it open will result in the potential damage of what is inside, and we believe, that it could be pertinent to the case."

He looked to the others at this point for aid.
"Have I left out anything important? What we need from here is, a summary of what we think is going on, and a plan of what to do next."

Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro Vacuum MechanicalSnake Cashi Dominaiscna Lioness075 kase9187 The Gunrunner Naberius

 

[kase9187]

Jackson was listening with interest. To him, it sounded weird those agents would have fought against them if they weren't personally invested.

Jackson was the first to speak, and he cleared his throat.
"Based on what we know, and concepts of the Muse... I would think that maybe our culprit isnt human nor tainted."

He pointed to the knife. "You said it was cut precisely, the victim's vocal chords. And the victims all possessed a singing voice."

He turned the chamber of his holstered gun, slow enough that none could hear.

"The addition of our assailants throws a wrench in the plan, but I have a feeling that if we find that Muse, things might be clearer."
He pointed to the bolt. "However, someone wants to stop us, and we don't know who. I'd recommend staying low profile, no obvious name calling, no large groups, but still safe and anonymous for us to gather information."

SilverFlight Naberius Lioness075 Vacuum YumenoTsukishiro Saturn_moon Cashi Dominaiscna MechanicalSnake The Gunrunner

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Luness LaFrae	Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Throwing Daggers, Twin Daggers

Once they returned to Headquarters, Luness happily shifted back to her halfway form, though she winced in pain at her forearm injury being forced to stretch a bit. She too had her injury looked over and received fresh bandaging.
Luness also took the time to change into fresh attire, sporting her usual look with a white button-down top with a dark grey vest over top and crisp trousers. Given her preference to be in her halfway form, Luness did not have any shoes on since her hind paws did not allow for it. But she was mindful to keep a pair of boots in her knapsack to put on should the need arise for her human form.

Returning to meet the team in the central hall, Luness entered while fixing one of her cuffs. She glanced up to see the gathering team and hesitated a moment with indecision on where to sit. Instinctively, she found herself sitting down beside Lilith, the only one thus far to have really been kind to her in a way that was receptive for Luness.

Listening to Thaddeus' brief, Luness absentmindedly tapped her claws against the table surface and her ears flicked towards Thaddeus while he spoke. She had been caught up to speed prior to joining the team in the field, but it never hurt to reassess the situation and she was in need of being apprised of the latest information.
Seeing the inventor's daughter's picture beside the automaton, Luness saw the uncanny resemblance. Her mind jumped to the conclusion that someone clearly had it out for this inventor quite specifically, but she knew she was late to this investigation and opted to remain quiet so that the others already handling the investigation could voice their ideas first.

Still, as much as she hated to agree with any of the humans, Luness recognized that Jackson did make a good point. She would not say this aloud, but merely shifted her silent attention in his direction while he spoke.
Luness moved a furry and clawed hand to her chin, as she thought over what was said. If they did not know the whereabouts of this Muse automaton, then perhaps someone was using automatons to do their dirty work for them. Luness knew little to nothing about automatons, so she assumed someone had to control them and that they could do nothing on their own.

SilverFlight Naberius kase9187 Dominaiscna Cashi MechanicalSnake The Gunrunner Vacuum YumenoTsukishiro Saturn_moon

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Spoiler: The Eventful Journey

The Parisian Headquarters was a little… guòyú fánfù to Cyrus’ liking. Too fancy. Too complicated. He much preferred the practical beauty of Victorian architecture, with their geometric structures and tall spires, easy to hide in, easy to kill from. To think that there was a time when a younger Cyrus would stand before the building and look on in unabashed wonder. That Cyrus had been dead for a long while now, and the time for mourning had long since passed. He forced the sudden onset of memories down the abyss of his mind. There wasn’t any room for such frivolities in his current line of work.

Besides, he had other things to think about. “I swear to my ancestors if this isn’t the right place I will blow silver dust into your eyes and laugh as you writhe in pain.”

Cyrus had nothing but respect for Thaddeus, the man who pulled him from the spiral of grief and gave him a new purpose in life. It was only that respect that kept him from cursing the man a thousand times during their journey from London HQ to Paris. It wasn’t the long times sitting in train rides or the incessant clacking of carriage wheels on uneven roads that got to him. No, it was the figure to his right floating a few inches above the ground, her hair floating in the air like a drowned corpse.

She was Mouse, a ghost sanctioned by the Order. For some damned reason Thaddeus asked them both to travel to the Order’s Parisian Headquarters for an urgent mission. They could’ve traveled separately, but the húndàn-- rather, the esteemed person arranged only a single travel itinerary for both of them.

What followed were days of agony as the ghost took every opportunity to make his life hell. Sure, he took some extra precautions by pouring blessed oils around her seat, but who would blame him for being careful? That didn’t mean she had to go about phasing through him every chance she got. It was lěng sǐ -- cold as death, and it was a feeling he didn’t want to get used to. There would be a time when he’d welcome mortality’s embrace, but not any time soon.

To add to her crimes, it was the damned ghost’s fault that they arrived three hours later than the scheduled arrival. Admittedly, Cyrus hadn’t ventured far beyond the British Isles for work, so France was a new frontier for him. Despite himself, he hoped that Mouse, with all her four centuries of existence, would know the way to their destination. The girl even had a map! But no, the sha zi couldn’t hold the paper to save her undeath. Not an hour into France and they’d already lost the map to the fickle winds, leaving them hopelessly lost if not for a friendly carriage driver who took pity on them both.

Not only that, but by the time they actually got into Paris, he gave the girl one more chance to prove herself. Surely she would find the right establishment with all her years of roaming the land! But once again there was only disappointment as Mouse led them from one wrong house to another. It took them seven tries before they finally landed at the front doors of what Cyrus hoped was their destination. Some part of him wished they were wrong for the eight time, just so he could have an excuse to follow-up on his earlier threat.

Spoiler: At the Central Hall

Unfortunately, the building was indeed the Parisian Headquarters. The grand double doors opened to reveal a smartly-dressed man with a manicured moustache and a monocle. He ushered them into the central hall where the rest of the team was gathered. Most of them were unfamiliar, but there was at least one face he was happy to see.

Jackson was a welcome sight. Cyrus still hadn’t completely paid his debt to the old man, and the faded claw scar across his chest reminded him every night. He had mixed feelings about the rest, most especially the two vampires, the literal cat woman, and the actual demon standing there. Why Thaddeus and the Order insisted on taking on yāoguài like them as members, Cyrus would probably never know. As long as they followed the Order’s creed and fought for humanity, he would treat them with as much courtesy as he could muster. But one wrong slip, and he would sink his silver dagger deep into their black hearts.

After a short introduction by Thaddeus, Cyrus listened intently to the summary of the mission so far. He’d already received a primer on it before they left London, but he was glad to know that the others have made substantial progress on the case. While listening to the others with one ear, Cyrus considered the facts and how he could best utilize his talents. Investigation wasn’t his strong suit, but he had a keen eye as long as murder was involved.

As the discussion settled into silence after Jackson’s inputs, Cyrus stepped forward. “Before I begin, I would like to apologize for our chi dao-- ahm, tardiness. My… partner and I encountered some… complications during our journey. We will do our best to make up for lost time, this I swear on my ancestors.”

He then bowed before them all as was the tradition of his people. “My name is Cyrus Lee, an agent from London HQ. I specialize in communing with spirits, and the fine art of ansha,” he said by way of introduction. “Pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to working with everyone.

“On the matter of the Paris murders,” Cyrus said, reaching out and picking up the picture of the investor’s daughter. “We could attempt to find the young girl’s ghost and see what she knows. Following Jackson’s suggestion, Mouse and I, perhaps with another, could make for the inventor’s residence and start the search from there.”

SilverFlight Lioness075 Cashi The Gunrunner Vacuum ADarkAndStormyNight MechanicalSnake Dominaiscna kase9187 Saturn_moon Naberius

 

[Naberius]

Michael groaned loudly, doing absolutely nothing to hide his distaste for this whole thing. Honestly now, did they really have to group together like this every single time they went out for a mission? It was draining enough dealing with these Flesh bags for the duration of a job but to then have to immediately come back just to sit gathered together like this with them had to be considered torture of some kind. Obviously he was doomed, cursed to be within arms reach if the disgusting creatures and unable to get rid of them. Still, he could partake of his favorite game.

While the others were discussing things he had little interest in, he walked around the small area and busied himself with pretending to pay attention when in reality he was looking for any opportunities to pester these individuals. When one of the new team members, human male he didn't bother remembering his name, started speaking, he found himself positioned perfectly behind him. Out of sheer annoyance for the being, he brought up a hand and moved it mockingly like a mouth chattering incessantly and rolling his eyes as he spoke. He honestly didn't care who was watching and by the time the individual noticed there was someone behind him, Michael was already continuing his walk around the area as though nothing happened.

SilverFlight Lioness075 Cashi The Gunrunner Vacuum ADarkAndStormyNight MechanicalSnake Dominaiscna kase9187 Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro

 

[Saturn_moon]

By the time they arrived at the Paris Headquarters, Mouse was thoroughly done with her human travelling companion. Intentionally choosing to phase through the man rather than go around him, she swiftly hopped off the carriage, her bare feet making no sound as it touched the ground, and marched straight for the entrance of the chateau.

Mouse had nothing against the human race even if she did think that as a whole, they were incredibly lacking in foresight and had a rather inflated sense of ego despite being the most mortal of all the races. For the most part, she treated them with indifference as was her attitude towards most things in life… or rather, death in her case. However, the person in question who went by the name of Cyrus Lee, somehow perfected the art of being infuriating. Admittedly, she had been the one to lose their map which had unfortunately been snatched by the winds during the brief moment she had lost concentration on maintaining her tangibility. In her defense, Cyrus had been distracting her with his incessant whining, swearing, and petty threats. Furthermore, why in the world would anyone ask the incorporeal being to hold on to a map in the first place? One would think as an Order member he would be far more intelligent than that. Apparently not.

If things weren’t bad enough, Cyrus proceeded to make their journey more challenging by refusing to listen to any of her advice resulting in them travelling in the wrong direction for a full hour before they came across a friendly carriage driver who set them back on the right path. She didn’t even want to start on Cyrus’s horrendous driving skills that had on several occasions caused them to nearly end up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, to maintain some form of civility and her sanity, Mouse resorted to praying for any god, deity, or higher being to grant her patience because if they had granted her strength instead, she might have strangled the man.

It was hardly a surprise when she found out from the Order member who greeted them at the door that they were three hours behind schedule and the group was already gathered for an important discussion. We’re just off to a bloody great start. She thought with an exasperated groan and began to question her decision to give up her previous vocation of Order Archivist for this. Sure, the job hadn’t been particularly exciting, but at least in that job the company didn’t attempt to douse her in blessed oils every chance they’d get.

When Mouse was first approached with the missive to be a part of an elite task force, she immediately turned it down. It had been years since she had taken a job out in the field and the idea of constantly having to be around people was maddening. She much preferred her solitude. Of course, the Order rarely took no for an answer, especially if the request had come from someone above, and it wasn't long before her handler came to pester her with a laundry list of reasons for her to join. It would put her in the good books of the Order, grant her more freedom, "form crucial relationships with key members that could be beneficial in the long run" (whatever that meant), et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Long story short, she caved and accepted the position. In hindsight, she probably would have agreed to anything just to get him to stop talking.

As they were ushered into the Central Hall, Mouse instinctively scanned the room and the various figures present. The room itself was a little too gaudy for her taste. She never understood why anyone would want to put up a portrait in their room let alone several. In their presence, she could never shake the feeling that she was constantly being watched which caused her great discomfort. As for the figures, she recognized a few faces but had no recollection of their names except for Thaddeus whom she had been told to report to when they arrived. Even after supposedly getting cleaned up, they all still sported a look of dishevelment in varying degrees. One even had a neck wound that looked like it had been stitched together while he was on the back of a donkey. "I was under the impression you were merely paying a house visit this morning but it seems like we may have missed quite the soiree." Mouse commented. Her voice had a breathy quality and carried the faintest hint of an echo as if she wasn’t entirely there.

Hovering in a corner as far away as she could possibly get from Cyrus, she quietly listened to Thaddeus’s recount of their investigation so far. When he brought out the photograph on the inventor's daughter, she floated up to get a better look. The Mechanical Muse. Modelled after the inventor's own muse to be a muse for others; and they said engineers wouldn't understand poetry. "You think the automaton could have been responsible for the killings? A machine that has been designed to sing." The skepticism in her voice was clear. "You," she continued, pointing at the man with long blonde hair ( MechanicalSnake ). "You seem like you would be an expert on this subject. Would you ever be able to design an automaton to be able to do something as precise as cutting out one's vocal cords? To this I must add, is absolutely insane. Which is novel really, coming from the someone who was bound to an asylum for over a century. Do we even know if the automaton was present at the other murders? If the murderer came and left in the middle of the night and there were no witnesses is it not more likely that they were same people who just attacked you lot? You know, the same ones who could create a portal and jump through it without anyone realizing."

Cashi Dominaiscna kase9187 Lioness075 MechanicalSnake Naberius SilverFlight The Gunrunner Vacuum YumenoTsukishiro

 

[MechanicalSnake]

If Adrianus had hoped to make a good first impression, he certainly succeeded with Gabriel. Someone who could take being patched up during a raid without so much as a wince AND praise the so-called surgeon’s skills instead of cursing him to Hell? And with a taste for liquor on top of it?! Oh, Gabriel felt that perhaps, he could finally make a friend in the Order, which had seemed largely impossible with how uptight most of his colleagues seemed to be - even those who could sport fur or fangs, if they so wishes. The American, Joseph, was one exception, but an unlucky one. After having taken the drinking way too far last night, being assisted by a couple of female Order members on the way to his room and finally arriving at the scene of the investigation late and with a raging hangover in the morning, Gabriel suspected that Joseph wouldn’t be his team member much longer.


“Me, in the army!” he laughed as he finished the last stitch and pulled away a little to inspect his highly irregular work. Oh well, Adrianus got what he’d asked for. “My father would certainly love that. But no, I am... an experimental scientist. I used to be a consultant for the Order before they realized I could also shoot and fence and extended the invitation for a permanent position.” It would suffice, he decided, and proceeded to clean the needle with alcohol before putting everything into his stuffed bag. The blueprints, the diary, the box, all the pieces they had yet to put together were there along with his personal belongings. And every discovery they made or conclusions they arrived to posed more questions.

The Gunrunner

Personally, Gabriel was eager to follow those clues like a hound that had caught the trail of a particularly fine-smelling hare, and the lazy pace things took once they arrived back at the headquarters irked him. Yes, some member were injured, he understood that, and yet others needed a change of clothes, but those of them who haven’t gotten in harm’s way could surely organize and get a head start on the Anti-Order. Time was of essence and with the new information, it was more important than ever to examine the Muse once more. But, since he had no choice but wait, perhaps this idling could be made more pleasant with a glass of wine.

Much to Gabriel’s disappointment, the meeting began with more introductions. It was getting increasingly hard to remember all of these individuals, and it also seemed rather unnecessary, seeing as the team members changed more often than most people changed their socks. This time, at least, he had briefly met one of them in the London Chapter - Cyrus, a pleasantly exotic and apparently uniquely gifted fellow more or less his own age. He hadn’t known, though, that their head quarters had its own ghost; Mouse must have been very elusive indeed. All the questions about life after death he’d wanted to pose when he first spotted a ghost in the darkened corridors of the Parisian HQ came rushing back and he couldn’t wait until a later time, when he would most definitely ask them.

Sipping on his wine, he listened to Thaddeus give a rather tedious summary, followed by rather unhelpful contributions that didn’t bring much new. When the demon began to play annoying tricks behind people’s backs, he finally lost patience and set the glass down with a silent cling. “Forgive me for saying this, but we are wasting precious time here. The event in the opera is drawing closer and the Anti-Order... I suppose that name will suffice for now... seemed very interested in preventing us from going there. Perhaps you will recall that seconds before the first shots were fired, I had pointed out that the key to the box with the bird must be the very same key used for operating the Muse, and that someone should head there immediately. That is still very much true, and since I am familiar with the automaton and do not currently need to rest or heal, I volunteer to do so.”

One glance to Cyrus, and a brief smile to balance out his impatient intervention. “I believe our new colleagues could join me, since the possibility of the automaton being possessed has been brought up before, and they seem to be capable of finding out whether it is the case. But before leaving, there is one questions I do feel needs to be brought up: was this the Order’s first encounter with the Anti-Order? It does seem a little unsettling that they know so much about us, while we are supposed to operate in the shadows, are equipped to deal with the tainted, and apparently have quite powerful mages in their ranks. This group was too well-organized and too powerful for today being their first ever encounter with the Order. Somebody needs to speak to our French colleagues here and find out if they had run into similar situations in the past. I would even recommend looking into ex-members of this Chapter, who could have started their own pet project.”

 

[SilverFlight]

Thaddeus looked impressed at the ideas that came over the table. He smiled at Cyrus ( YumenoTsukishiro ) finally, as the conversations happened.
"I'm very glad to see you here. I hope you did not have much trouble, I gave specific instruction to our agents at the border to get you here without incident."

He looked with sympathy at Gabriel ( MechanicalSnake ). He had a right to be impatient. "I appreciate your concerns, but if we are facing anything like the odds we faced not hours ago, then we require the strength of a full team."
He turned to Cyrus and Mouse, Jackson and Luness ( YumenoTsukishiro Saturn_moon kase9187 Lioness075 ).
"A good speculation mouse, no automaton I know of would be able to do what was done to those victims...there's still a piece missing, but as to the muse, we know where the muse is. It was moved from the little salon where we first encountered it, to the Opera Garnier, for a special show, and we have since learned that all singers of note currently performing in Paris, are scheduled to perform there as well. If our murderer is after singers, and the muse is connected, then Mr. Gladstone is quite right, we've not a moment to lose."

He eyed Michael carefully, the demon had been less than helpful since he was put on their team. Something would have to be done about it sooner or later.
"What does it state in your contract exactly Michael? I doubt you are fulfilling it precisely."

At that point the demon was saved temporarily, a sheepish young man knocked on the door and opened it just a crack. He was lanky, in his early twenties it looked like, with mousey brown hair and a splash of freckles across the bridge of his tanned nose. An apprentice, no doubt.
"Erm, beggin' your pardon sirs and madams...but, the report you asked for, on the glyph found in the inventor's room. I er, have it."
Thaddeus motioned him in to read it aloud and the boy looked almost ready to faint. He eyed the tainted warily, but with no active dislike.
"T-the glyph is not of a magic authorized by the order. It's a rare form of blood magic that is used to...boost the power of vengeful ghosts. It binds them to an object and increases their poltergeistic powers....meaning, erm, that, they can affect the physical realm much more strongly than normal ghosts..."

Cashi Dominaiscna Naberius The Gunrunner Vacuum

((Wasn't sure if I gave people enough to react to, so, here's another clue))