All available sentinel handlers and their sentinel partners had been ordered to gather in the main hall of the Volstryggr manor,
the home of the Volstryggr family since the city's founding. As they all began to file in, they would see the the current head
of the household and current Peace-keeper, Emile Volstryggr, standing on a wooden podium so that everyone could see him.
Besides a serious look in his vibrant, violet eyes, he wore a straight face owing to his professionalism. It was only his
personal bodyguard and closest friend, Jacoby, that knew the fury that burned inside the relatively young man. Emile, like his
ancestors before him, had been taught the family creed and deeply believed in it. However, his attention was often directed at the
'justice' part of peace. His current feelings teetered on the edge of justice and was leaning more towards vengeance. None of this
was shown in any way on his facial features. As the lasts souls filled in with the rest, he prepared to speak on what had got his
blood boiling below.
A sharp, brief cough echoed throughout the room amongst the numerous conversations being had, as a way to clear his throat and
initiate silence among them. Scanning the mix of personnel before him, he began "You all know me well enough to know that I don't
mince words. What I am about to say you might already know, but allow me to quell any rumors. Arhtur Gothard has been murdered
and his sentinel...incapacitated." Emile struggle to maintain the neutral expression on his ace against a torrent of emotions.
Arthur Gothard had been a Sentinel handler for many years and in fact trained many of the newer handlers in their duties. Arthur
had entered service when his father became peace-keeper and he had been like an uncle to Emile. A wave of whispered voices filled
the room along with a few sounds of crying. For some, Arthur had been a father-like figure especially to those who had been orphans
or became handlers at a young age. It was easy to say his death was a great loss for the entire city of Volstryggr.
Emile let that annoucement settle before continuing "The nature of his death leads us to believe it was the indiviual known as the
Blood Angel. His sentinel, Muramasa, was found at the crime scene damaged with a large cavity in its chest and its mana-core
missing." Visible shock was a common reaction among those present as well as anger not so well hidden. The idea that a Sentinel,
let alone his handler, could be taken down by one man was insane. However, that was the truth of the matter. Emile had grown up
with a glorified vision of sentinels and their handlers like so many others. The modern-day hero. Emile spoke once more, gripping
the sides of his podium "This makes the Blood Angel one of the most dangerous threat to the city in his history. We now believe
that their agenda goes far beyond simply killing for the enjoyment of it. Our current investigations have been inadequate and
that must change before this monster achieves whatever he intends to do." A bit of the fire in his chest released with the last
few words. They had to stop the Blood Angel whatever it took.
"It is for this purpose I am assigning each sentinel handler to a team. I hope that by working closely together you will shed some
light on this wave of darkness." His composure had been regained "Each team will be assigned a section of the city to patrol and
monitor. You will have full authority to investigate any clues that might lead us to the killer and before I go any further let
me introduce our special guest." He looked backwards to what appeared to be a human figure. The reality was far different as the
figure stepped next to the podium "This is Vilkas from the realm of Dragons. It is my hope that his wisdom and experience will
help us in our investigations." Dragons were one of the rarest sights to see on the main continent as they hardly ever left their
large island off the western coast. While the actual island is called the Shattered Lands, it is more commonly called the Realm
of Dragons as a note to their pseudo-nation status.
Emile began to divide the almost one-hundred sentinel-handlers into smaller teams. The last ones he had reserved for his own
personal investigations as both his partners and protection detail. Naturally Jacoby was included in this team, but he had a few
names in mind to assist him. After the last team had been called, he dismissed them to their sectors and gathered those remaining.
These individuals, along with Vilkas, would form his team that would be the spearhead of this new initiative to capture this
dangerous criminal. Emile had left his podium and stood in front of those he had chosen. There may have been more senior,
experienced handlers he could have picked from but they were here because of what they had to offer. Emile was confident in his
choices "Those of you left standing here have been specially selected to assist me in my own investigations. Joining us will be Mr.
Vilkas whose expertise will surely help us find this psychopath." He asserted strongly.
There was a couple leads he wished to investigate immediately. One was the missing mana-core in which a specialist was already in
the process of tracking down using its unique magical signature. The second was to seek assistance from none other than the queen of the underworld herself...Elizabeth St. Claire. It was not long after the founding of the city that the infamous vampire made her home here. One might wonder why she was never brought in and that was because Elizabeth kept a tight leash on her subjects. It was also because she had never been caught with any crime and was often cooperative with manners like this.
