[color=7CFC00]Hey, again. It's Crumbs. [@Asuka] will be joining me. We're here to do some stuff about Magical Girls (and Boys), murders and mysteries in Cairn City. I'll be copying most of the information we already discussed and compiling, here; starting with the flavor intro.[/color]

[hider=Previously On...] 

 Everything smelled of smoke, and her eyes had become nearly useless; but even over the sound of an inferno, she could hear slow and heavy footsteps. Through blood and a creeping darkness, cast in the glare of tears struck by an undulating flare, she spied the tall silhouette. Against the flames, only the stark white of a mask stood out; the rest of him a shadow that danced about in tatters, the empty sockets of the mask bearing down on her with a deliberate sloth.

 [color=778899]He's been chasing me, for a while,[/color] she thought, [color=778899]ever since I drove off the things around-[/color] A sudden jerk upward threw her thoughts into a panicked spiral; realizing with growing dread that she was being held by the hair, well off of the ground; her legs useless from the earlier battle, that she only could hazily recall. The white mask filled her vision, wreathed in a hood, empty eyes and a long series of scratches obscuring the momentary glimpse she'd gathered of the burning tunnel surrounding them. [color=778899]"You..."[/color] it was a strange effort at speech from the young girl, and a strange stillness seemed to settle in on the flames, [color=778899]"You were watching them kill those people,"[/color] a shudder wracked through her body, strangling out the words for a moment as she thought back on stooped blade-armed fiends and myriad cries of terror. 

 For the barest second, she was falling, the gloved hand wrapped tightly around her hair removed. Then, she was stopped with jarring force, each of the shadow's hands a vice digging at her throat. Still suspended, her legs did not quite kick so much as twitch. The darkness encroached, seeming to allow her only another stark vision of that disapproving, wounded facade.

 [color=778899]The tunnel seems so far away...everything seems so quiet...[/color] The Void called out to her, she resisted, but felt her Essence ebbing, [color=778899]Why? I helped those people...I saved them![/color] Something in her stirred, and though the breath was being strangled from her form...her spirit reached out. Her eyes opened wide, and a radiance poured from them into the tunnel.

 Where her spirit had churned, attempting to pull from the element of Light, the masked man had moved with an unnatural speed. Again, his hands changed position and her perspective switched with painful force. [color=BC8F8F]"Saira Embla,"[/color] a sharp pain accompanied the words, but a sharper surprise, the Magical Girl hadn't expected an utterance from the fiend, [color=BC8F8F]"you are guilty of so little. I am sorry that this has to be your end."[/color] His words were softer than she expected, far softer than the hand that had pierced her chest, or the floor he had thrown her against. She felt the chill of Ice Essence spreading through her, and opened her mouth; only to have her words drowned out in an outpouring of blood.

 Terror sank in. He was going to take her soul. 

 [color=778899]I know you,[/color] she had tried to say, [color=778899]You can't do this![/color]

 What called her, then, was not the Void. It was not rest, or peace. It was enslavement.[/hider]

[hider=Glossary][i]A Brief Glossary of Important Terms[/i];

•[b]Cairn City[/b]; A metropolitan spread with a population of ~7,000,000 people. Home of the C.C.M.P.C and various Strays.  Site of Saira Embla's murder. Currently experiencing spikes in Dirge appearances.

•[b]C.C.M.P.C[/b]; Cairn City Magical Police Coven. Acts within Cairn City to remove Dirge presence, track down Strega in the outlying area, and protect human lives and interests. All active agents are Magi with varying Ranks.

-Ranks range from D- to SSS+ and are indicative of a Magi's relative strength; but does not necessarily facilitate the attainment of a higher position within the C.C.M.P.C. Strays are also ranked by the C.C.M.P.C upon their discovery and watched/dealt with accordingly.

•[b]Stray[/b]; A dispariging term for Magi outside the C.C.M.P.C or another such institution. These Magi usually form their own small groups, or live among the humans. Interactions between the C.C.M.P.C is not usually hostile, but given the situation; things will be changing, quickly.

•[b]Magic[/b];  Colloquial term for the abilities of a Magi, drawn from various sources.

 -[b]Approximate Magic[/b]; This would be the area of Magic that would have unpredictable effects, but remain natural. Something like being able to change the consistency of the objects around you, or cutting the 'stitches' that surround a mortal soul. I'm thinking of these as the first iterations of the Magical Girls that appeared to humanity...so, it seems that they would have a more 'natural' attunement to their particular brand of Magic. Levels of control would vary, from Magi to Magi.

-[b]Exact Magic[/b]; Summoning and binding familiars and weapons, and the use of Elemental Essences would be the more exact practice of Magic as humankind would interpret it; rather than the outright exertion of 'divine force', this would be rituals and contracts...all something requiring incantations, precise rituals and reagents, or an existing agreement with another supernatural entity. Anything with specific conditions that have to be fulfilled would fall in this category, though it may function more similarly to an Approximate Magic.

•[b]Dirge[/b];  Creatures of varying shape and size, speculated to be the "price" paid for using Magic. Often nightmarish in both appearance and action, the Dirge spawn in Cairn City relentlessly; constantly seeking out slaughter. The Dirge are intelligent, there can be seen glimpses of purpose and tact in their appearances. The Dirge do not wield Magic, but are drawn to it, instead employing their own bizarre tricks.

•[b]Strega[/b]; A Magical Girl that has broken the Bond and taken a human life, becoming something between a Stray and the Dirge; carrying the slow decay and unnatural resilience of the Dirge corruption, but with the knowledge and intellect of who she had once been. A Strega sometimes sheds the Magic she wielded in life to attain greater power, gaining almost invariably an Approximate Magic of immense power and the ability to command Dirge.[/hider]

[hider=Empty Simple CS][center][b]Name[/b]; 

[b]Age[/b];

[b]Gender[/b];

[b]Appearance[/b];

[b]Occupation[/b];

[b]Magic[/b];

[b]Bio[/b];[/center][/hider]


[color=7CFC00]We'll be talking about stuff, here, too, probably. Hope I didn't fuck any of that up![/color]

[i][b]XOXO[/b],
[color=7CFC00]Crumbs[/color][/i]