Layla, Faye, Joe and Ace exchanged looks. Of course, there was no way the cab was going to be able to follow Rufus at that pace. Finally, Faye broke the silence. "Well, I suppose that if they want our help, they'll ask for it." Nobody could think of a good response to that, so Layla shrugged. "Jin-Liu, let's show you around so you can get an idea about the construction project you might do for us."
She was turning to go, when Galina emerged from the nursery holding her daughter, with a somewhat unexpected look on her face. "Layla," she said, "I had an idea for pinning down where that magic came from, and I think it will interest you."
Layla thought about it. "Joe," she said, "could you take over the tour-guide role for Jin-Liu? This sounds like something I'd better look into." She swept up her son (and her boyfriend) and followed her friend back to the carriage; if Oxana could go along on whatever Galina had in mind, so could Zachary, and she'd been away from her son for too long.
------------
The Rinkaiel police force was neither large nor particularly capable (nor honest), which was one reason why the Seeadler was running things in the harbor district, the Tsuirakuans ran Tsuiraku-town their own way, and so on. However, there were times when they just had to be involved in things. The complete destruction of the brothel might or might not, in isolation, have qualified as one of those times ... but the fact that among the fatalities was a certain very highly-placed figure in Farrelian politics, one whose presence at the brothel might have been inconvenient, really didn't leave any wiggle room for the police to pretend this event hadn't happened.
Several uniformed cops were converging on the destroyed brothel as Rufus galloped back toward Barker Lane.
Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
"You think we should've waited for them?" Leo said, jerking his head back in the direction of the vineyard.
"Too slow." Rufus yelled, taking a corner in a shower of dust. A terrified pedestrian stepped sharply backwards into the cover of a building as they blurred past. They were definately causing distress to no small number of people in their haste. Leo tried to shake off the puzzlement he'd been feeling at him and his boss having to bank past a pair of men crossing the street while carrying a huge pane of glass for no visible reason a few streets earlier, then scrapped the idea, there were more pressing issues at hand.
They turned into their destination minutes later to find that the brothel had been demolished beyond all recognition. And there was blood. A lot of blood. The younger man blanched as the mercenary Captain dismounted with barely a pause. He strode towards the scene in a manner that Leo recognised was causing him a great deal of pain. Rufus was a stubborn man about letting his frailty show in public. The old man accosted the nearest officer.
"A short young woman with blonde hair was here. She may have been inside the building when it collapsed. Have you seen her?"
The tone was calm, but Leo could clearly see a note of repressed panic behind the old man's eye.
"Too slow." Rufus yelled, taking a corner in a shower of dust. A terrified pedestrian stepped sharply backwards into the cover of a building as they blurred past. They were definately causing distress to no small number of people in their haste. Leo tried to shake off the puzzlement he'd been feeling at him and his boss having to bank past a pair of men crossing the street while carrying a huge pane of glass for no visible reason a few streets earlier, then scrapped the idea, there were more pressing issues at hand.
They turned into their destination minutes later to find that the brothel had been demolished beyond all recognition. And there was blood. A lot of blood. The younger man blanched as the mercenary Captain dismounted with barely a pause. He strode towards the scene in a manner that Leo recognised was causing him a great deal of pain. Rufus was a stubborn man about letting his frailty show in public. The old man accosted the nearest officer.
"A short young woman with blonde hair was here. She may have been inside the building when it collapsed. Have you seen her?"
The tone was calm, but Leo could clearly see a note of repressed panic behind the old man's eye.
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
"A short young woman with blonde hair was here. She may have been inside the building when it collapsed. Have you seen her?"
The cop gave Rufus a look that was half "official no comment" and half "you dumb shit." After a moment, though, he decided the old man probably wasn't a trick, and his question might be legitimate. (Or it might not.) "We don't know, sir," he said. "This place has not the best reputation. Quite a number of young women were -- boarding here. About a third of them would have been blondes. Most would have been short because of malnutrition. Can you be more specific? I will say this: unfortunately, there do not appear to have been any survivors of the blast inside the building itself."
------------
"I think I remember enough Divination magic to know how to do this," Galina said as she, Layla and their children (and Ace) arrived at the laboratory. "I'll need your help, though. Don't worry, it's pretty simple spellcraft for the helper. I'll show you what to do."
Layla raised an eyebrow at that. If there was magical assistance required, why hadn't they brought Jin-Liu back? His magical skills were obviously greater than her own. Still, she trusted her friend. She waited patiently, swinging Zachary gently in her arms, as Galina retrieved the plates and pea they'd been working with.
"Okay, what I want you to do is to use your mind to hold the pea on this plate," she explained. "Just exert pressure on it, you don't need to work hard. I'm going to do something to see which way the lines of thaumatic force were running when that whatever-it-was passed overhead. The pea will move in opposition to what it felt at the time, but it only works right if it's pushing against some magic. That's where you come in. You're providing something for it to push against."
Layla marveled slightly -- I'm actually starting to do useful magic already? -- but did as she was told. She concentrated on holding the pea in place as her friend started to mumble something ... and then suddenly, the pea wasn't there any more. She became aware of a soft thwack as the pea, or at least something, impacted the wall of the laboratory.
Galina let out a low whistle. "Wow. That was one hell of a lot of magical energy stored up in that pea. When I've seen that done before, the magic-loaded object just kind of gently rolled off in the direction of the magical field. Not this time. Let's see where it hit."
It only took a few seconds to find a bit of vegetable squashed against the wall. Layla felt a momentary flare of concern; the trajectory had taken the pea close to the playpen where Zachary and Oxana were happily cooing at each other, and if one of the babies had been in the path of that magical missile, it would have hurt when it hit. I probably shouldn't have brought Zachary ... but I missed him. Anyway, the pea missed him too, so...
"Now we just draw a line from the plate to here, and that'll give us a bearing on where the magic was coming from," Galina said. However, Layla was already on it ... and she was pretty sure what lay in the direction of the missile's flight.
"The Temple of the Divine Dwarf," she said to no one in particular.
The cop gave Rufus a look that was half "official no comment" and half "you dumb shit." After a moment, though, he decided the old man probably wasn't a trick, and his question might be legitimate. (Or it might not.) "We don't know, sir," he said. "This place has not the best reputation. Quite a number of young women were -- boarding here. About a third of them would have been blondes. Most would have been short because of malnutrition. Can you be more specific? I will say this: unfortunately, there do not appear to have been any survivors of the blast inside the building itself."
------------
"I think I remember enough Divination magic to know how to do this," Galina said as she, Layla and their children (and Ace) arrived at the laboratory. "I'll need your help, though. Don't worry, it's pretty simple spellcraft for the helper. I'll show you what to do."
Layla raised an eyebrow at that. If there was magical assistance required, why hadn't they brought Jin-Liu back? His magical skills were obviously greater than her own. Still, she trusted her friend. She waited patiently, swinging Zachary gently in her arms, as Galina retrieved the plates and pea they'd been working with.
"Okay, what I want you to do is to use your mind to hold the pea on this plate," she explained. "Just exert pressure on it, you don't need to work hard. I'm going to do something to see which way the lines of thaumatic force were running when that whatever-it-was passed overhead. The pea will move in opposition to what it felt at the time, but it only works right if it's pushing against some magic. That's where you come in. You're providing something for it to push against."
Layla marveled slightly -- I'm actually starting to do useful magic already? -- but did as she was told. She concentrated on holding the pea in place as her friend started to mumble something ... and then suddenly, the pea wasn't there any more. She became aware of a soft thwack as the pea, or at least something, impacted the wall of the laboratory.
Galina let out a low whistle. "Wow. That was one hell of a lot of magical energy stored up in that pea. When I've seen that done before, the magic-loaded object just kind of gently rolled off in the direction of the magical field. Not this time. Let's see where it hit."
It only took a few seconds to find a bit of vegetable squashed against the wall. Layla felt a momentary flare of concern; the trajectory had taken the pea close to the playpen where Zachary and Oxana were happily cooing at each other, and if one of the babies had been in the path of that magical missile, it would have hurt when it hit. I probably shouldn't have brought Zachary ... but I missed him. Anyway, the pea missed him too, so...
"Now we just draw a line from the plate to here, and that'll give us a bearing on where the magic was coming from," Galina said. However, Layla was already on it ... and she was pretty sure what lay in the direction of the missile's flight.
"The Temple of the Divine Dwarf," she said to no one in particular.
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
[OOC: Sorry for the twofer here, but I'm going to have limited access for a few days and don't want to hold anything up. Back in full contact Thursday. /OOC:]
"The Temple of the Divine Dwarf," Galina repeated hollowly. "That place I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that I shouldn't have anything to do with." She cringed visibly.
Kitaura, you bastard, Layla thought. "So our hands are tied," she said. Yours, anyway. Mine aren't. "We should at least report what we observed, though, don't you think? You didn't have to 'have anything to do with' the temple to do a simple Divination, did you?"
Galina laughed humorlessly. "If only things were that simple. No, if we did that, Kitaura would know instantly. The Rinkaiel cops are a laughing stock. I heard about that all the way back in the amusement park, when we were trying to figure out who to invite to the conference that Mrs. M wanted us to set up. I'd be all but certain that Kitaura has penetrated them ... and probably, so has whoever set off that magical bomb."
-------------
Rufus was just about to say something to the cop on the scene at the destroyed brothel, when another policeman came bustling up, his chest covered with medals and medallions of high rank on his shoulders. "Move along, now," he said. "There has obviously been a natural gas explosion here. More explosions might be happening, it's too dangerous for spectators."
The other uniformed man blinked at this statement. "Uh, Captain, the witnesses say there was a big magic blur right when it happened," he said. "The other thing is, the explosion was cold, no big fire. The little fires that made the smoke happened after the blast. You can see that from the way all the debris is --"
The big shot interrupted. "It was a natural gas explosion, Officer," he said pointedly. "Now clear the streets of bystanders, we have work to do." He turned to Rufus and Leo. "Move along. Now."
"The Temple of the Divine Dwarf," Galina repeated hollowly. "That place I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that I shouldn't have anything to do with." She cringed visibly.
Kitaura, you bastard, Layla thought. "So our hands are tied," she said. Yours, anyway. Mine aren't. "We should at least report what we observed, though, don't you think? You didn't have to 'have anything to do with' the temple to do a simple Divination, did you?"
Galina laughed humorlessly. "If only things were that simple. No, if we did that, Kitaura would know instantly. The Rinkaiel cops are a laughing stock. I heard about that all the way back in the amusement park, when we were trying to figure out who to invite to the conference that Mrs. M wanted us to set up. I'd be all but certain that Kitaura has penetrated them ... and probably, so has whoever set off that magical bomb."
-------------
Rufus was just about to say something to the cop on the scene at the destroyed brothel, when another policeman came bustling up, his chest covered with medals and medallions of high rank on his shoulders. "Move along, now," he said. "There has obviously been a natural gas explosion here. More explosions might be happening, it's too dangerous for spectators."
The other uniformed man blinked at this statement. "Uh, Captain, the witnesses say there was a big magic blur right when it happened," he said. "The other thing is, the explosion was cold, no big fire. The little fires that made the smoke happened after the blast. You can see that from the way all the debris is --"
The big shot interrupted. "It was a natural gas explosion, Officer," he said pointedly. "Now clear the streets of bystanders, we have work to do." He turned to Rufus and Leo. "Move along. Now."
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Porcelain Fish
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
"What do you think, Pai-Pai?" Jin- Liu asked, looking consideringly at the walls in the main cellar Joe had showed him as the conclusion of the tour. The walls were packed dirt for the most part, the space relatively broad but not particularly well-lit.
"Smells like rutabagas," Pai-pai replied promptly with all four faces.
Jin-Liu glanced sideways at his staff, and gave it a brief shake. "The walls?" he prompted.
"Sturdy enough. Corridors wouldn't be an issue, but they should be dug deeper. If it's too close to the surface the top soil will fall in. Down at least another five feet," Pai-pai responded hurriedly.
Jin-Liu nodded after a moment. He'd left Saiho upstairs, mostly because the sturdy, broadly-built golem was rather cumbersome on such small steps, and it would have taken it quite some time to descend them. He fished out the Band-Reader he'd used earlier at Galina's house. Translocation magic, and powerful at that. He was pretty sure someone, or possibly several someones, were dead.
You didn't use magic like that on a whim, especially not in a crowded urban area.
He was just glad he hadn't been one of the victims.
"Smells like rutabagas," Pai-pai replied promptly with all four faces.
Jin-Liu glanced sideways at his staff, and gave it a brief shake. "The walls?" he prompted.
"Sturdy enough. Corridors wouldn't be an issue, but they should be dug deeper. If it's too close to the surface the top soil will fall in. Down at least another five feet," Pai-pai responded hurriedly.
Jin-Liu nodded after a moment. He'd left Saiho upstairs, mostly because the sturdy, broadly-built golem was rather cumbersome on such small steps, and it would have taken it quite some time to descend them. He fished out the Band-Reader he'd used earlier at Galina's house. Translocation magic, and powerful at that. He was pretty sure someone, or possibly several someones, were dead.
You didn't use magic like that on a whim, especially not in a crowded urban area.
He was just glad he hadn't been one of the victims.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
Rufus managed to rein himself in before he replied.
"Short, slightly underfed, short blonde hair, clad in black most likely. If she'd been around she'd have been cursing up a storm." Rufus managed. Paying no attention to Leo as he made his way over to the rubble and began turning debris over.The old man caught himself wishing that they had some kind of long distance communications device that was practical to carry around, making a mental note to ask Jade if such a thing was constructable through her craft.
........
"What the hell happened to you?"
Eve propped herself against the doorframe of the forge in the barker lane guild and answered the blacksmith's question.
"The brothel exploded. Nearly happened with us in it. Where's Rufus?"
"Looking for his employee who went on an investigation without telling him." Jade replied evenly, wiping down a much more pristine looking workbench then had been presented to her earlier that day. "Maybe you should go and find him."
Eve scowled, but wheeled on her feet to leave.
OOC Faffing around and hide and seek schenanigans will stop on my next post. I promise./OOC
"Short, slightly underfed, short blonde hair, clad in black most likely. If she'd been around she'd have been cursing up a storm." Rufus managed. Paying no attention to Leo as he made his way over to the rubble and began turning debris over.The old man caught himself wishing that they had some kind of long distance communications device that was practical to carry around, making a mental note to ask Jade if such a thing was constructable through her craft.
........
"What the hell happened to you?"
Eve propped herself against the doorframe of the forge in the barker lane guild and answered the blacksmith's question.
"The brothel exploded. Nearly happened with us in it. Where's Rufus?"
"Looking for his employee who went on an investigation without telling him." Jade replied evenly, wiping down a much more pristine looking workbench then had been presented to her earlier that day. "Maybe you should go and find him."
Eve scowled, but wheeled on her feet to leave.
OOC Faffing around and hide and seek schenanigans will stop on my next post. I promise./OOC
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
[OOC: Still on the road and unable to reply at length, but just to keep things moving: /OOC]
The Rinkaiel cops didn't have the magical abilities to compel compliance with their orders, but they did have both billy clubs and guns, and one of each was now produced.
"I said move it," the captain growled at Rufus. "Now, or things will get ugly."
------------
"Well, down five feet it will be," Joe said, sounding more confident than he felt; he didn't know nearly as much about running a vineyard as his boss. "No big job, if I understand Layla right, and we'll pay for your effort."
[OOC: More on this coming later, but again, being on the road, I thought I'd just volley it back to you.]
The Rinkaiel cops didn't have the magical abilities to compel compliance with their orders, but they did have both billy clubs and guns, and one of each was now produced.
"I said move it," the captain growled at Rufus. "Now, or things will get ugly."
------------
"Well, down five feet it will be," Joe said, sounding more confident than he felt; he didn't know nearly as much about running a vineyard as his boss. "No big job, if I understand Layla right, and we'll pay for your effort."
[OOC: More on this coming later, but again, being on the road, I thought I'd just volley it back to you.]
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
OOC Whoops, was answering the first question the cop asked Rufus. Nvm, moving on/OOC
"You and what army's going to make me?" Rufus snarled, staring down the cops with his own hand straying towards the gun on his own hip. Fortunately Leo chose that moment to intercede and pull the old man away from the scene. The Captain reluctantly followed, making notes of the officers faces for possible aggrivation-related retribution in the future.
"She's not here." Leo whispered, as they cleared the crime scene and began heading back to their mounts.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because she's running down the street towards us right now." Leo pointed.
The young woman came at a flat out pace and virtually screeched to a halt out of breath and gasping. Rufus concealed his relief with a flat gaze and folded arms.
"Sorry..." Eve wheezed. "I was just..."
"Disobeying a direct order and putting yourself in unecessary danger?"
"I prefer to think of it as using initiative." Eve smiled wanly and saw the sterness in the old man soften just a bit. He jerked his head in the direction of his horse. (OOC Look at my horse, my horse is amazing!/OOC)
"You're riding with me. Obviously you need keeping an eye on."
"Yeah, thanks dad*."
OOC *They're not related, dunno if i stated that./OOC
"You and what army's going to make me?" Rufus snarled, staring down the cops with his own hand straying towards the gun on his own hip. Fortunately Leo chose that moment to intercede and pull the old man away from the scene. The Captain reluctantly followed, making notes of the officers faces for possible aggrivation-related retribution in the future.
"She's not here." Leo whispered, as they cleared the crime scene and began heading back to their mounts.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because she's running down the street towards us right now." Leo pointed.
The young woman came at a flat out pace and virtually screeched to a halt out of breath and gasping. Rufus concealed his relief with a flat gaze and folded arms.
"Sorry..." Eve wheezed. "I was just..."
"Disobeying a direct order and putting yourself in unecessary danger?"
"I prefer to think of it as using initiative." Eve smiled wanly and saw the sterness in the old man soften just a bit. He jerked his head in the direction of his horse. (OOC Look at my horse, my horse is amazing!/OOC)
"You're riding with me. Obviously you need keeping an eye on."
"Yeah, thanks dad*."
OOC *They're not related, dunno if i stated that./OOC
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Graybeard
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
"I've got an idea," Layla said, gathering up her belongings (and Zachary). "Let's go shopping."
"Huh?" Ace and Galina chorused at the same time, bearing identical puzzled looks.
"I'll explain later," Layla said, "but it might be interesting to see what kinds of things are sold in the stores close to that temple, don't you think?..."
Galina still looked puzzled, but Ace was beginning to get the idea as they packed up for another brief outing.
--------------
Joe would have understood too, but he was rather occupied at the moment.
"If I guess Layla's intentions right, she'll want this tunnel to be about a hundred feet long, tall enough to stand up in, and a little wider than it is high," he said to Jin-Liu. "Gravel floor, a couple of ventilation shafts that we can open and close for temperature control, that kind of thing." [OOC: In other words, something like this. /OOC:]
It hadn't occurred to him yet that Layla was thinking of a remarkably similar type of construction in the back of the shop nearest the rear of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf ... but it would.
--------------
"Mister?" a thin female voice said from behind Rufus and Eve, surprising both.
The speaker was a young girl, probably no more than 15 or 16, but already dressed in what might euphemistically be termed "working woman's clothes," where the "work" in question was the kind of thing for which the brothel might have served as a union hall.
"My -- mother was in there," the girl said. "Did anybody get out alive? They won't tell me. Please say yes ..." Even underage whores, apparently, could produce tears.
"Huh?" Ace and Galina chorused at the same time, bearing identical puzzled looks.
"I'll explain later," Layla said, "but it might be interesting to see what kinds of things are sold in the stores close to that temple, don't you think?..."
Galina still looked puzzled, but Ace was beginning to get the idea as they packed up for another brief outing.
--------------
Joe would have understood too, but he was rather occupied at the moment.
"If I guess Layla's intentions right, she'll want this tunnel to be about a hundred feet long, tall enough to stand up in, and a little wider than it is high," he said to Jin-Liu. "Gravel floor, a couple of ventilation shafts that we can open and close for temperature control, that kind of thing." [OOC: In other words, something like this. /OOC:]
It hadn't occurred to him yet that Layla was thinking of a remarkably similar type of construction in the back of the shop nearest the rear of the Temple of the Divine Dwarf ... but it would.
--------------
"Mister?" a thin female voice said from behind Rufus and Eve, surprising both.
The speaker was a young girl, probably no more than 15 or 16, but already dressed in what might euphemistically be termed "working woman's clothes," where the "work" in question was the kind of thing for which the brothel might have served as a union hall.
"My -- mother was in there," the girl said. "Did anybody get out alive? They won't tell me. Please say yes ..." Even underage whores, apparently, could produce tears.
Because old is wise, does good, and above all, kicks ass.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Rinkaiel: Temple of the Divine Dwarf
Rufus looked at Eve, who shrugged regretfully but said nothing. The old Captain stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"We're not the ones to ask." He said gently, and fumbled in his pocket to produce a handkerchief which he handed to her. "We're only been here a few minutes and the officers aren't telling us anything. But that doesn't mean she didn't get out, we- we just don't know."
"We're not the ones to ask." He said gently, and fumbled in his pocket to produce a handkerchief which he handed to her. "We're only been here a few minutes and the officers aren't telling us anything. But that doesn't mean she didn't get out, we- we just don't know."