EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

I'll wait a bit to see if Leon is going to respond.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave no reaction to Darahil's question until she finished jotting down the last of her notes for Darahil's interview. Once finished, she looked up at him with a neutral expression. "He filled his waterskin from the city's water source, and it would be exceptionally difficult to poison a flowing body of water that large. And, if it had been, others would have been affected as well. It would had to have been poisoned at a time when he wasn't carrying it on his belt, and when his attention was somewhere else. Once I have finished my questioning, and once I know more about the poison, I may be able to eliminate one or more suspects. Until then, thank you for your cooperation. Now, come, I will send one of my pack with you to the meeting room." Just like before, after Meesei stepped back out with, she turned to one of the remaining members of her pack. "Fendros, please take Darahil to the meeting room." She requested, though this time, she waited for Fendros to start to walk past her, then stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Watch to see if he tampers with anything in the room." She said quickly before letting go of him and turning her attention to Harriet, motioning for her to head into the room for the final interview. Since Fendros was going to be watching Darahil, that meant Lorag would be watching Harriet. Initially, Meesei thought it would not be a good idea to have him be responsible for him, given that they had been caught mating. However, the more Meesei thought on it, the more she felt that could be turned to their advantage. It was possible that Harriet could be made to trust Lorag to gain more cooperation from her. Alternatively, if she was the traitor, she might start to think that she could manipulate Lorag. However, she would not be aware of the depth of Lorag's loyalty to Meesei. Once Meesei and Harriet took their seats in the private room, Meesei made a new section in her notes, then started off the questioning. "Okay, let us start at the beginning. In as much detail as you can, tell me everything you have done today, and when. I need to know every time in which you saw Jerrick, and as well, I would like to know everything you can remember that your fellow lieutenants have done."

The Aesteria Chronicles

Much to Ignis’ relief, he saw that Adonai was moving to flee just like Helen. That was good, as it meant he didn’t have to worry about anyone he actually cared about dying. He could just focus on fighting this thug and his ice spirit; perhaps he could even have some fun with it? Just as Seru was about to attack, Ignis floated down behind her and took on his translucent, half-complete form. “Ah, now you’re a woman I like. You’re rather…” Ignis began with a smirk on his draconic face and a confident tone. He reached his arms forward, mostly for show, as he amplified the energy of the flames Seru was creating. Her blade glowed not red, but blue with an intense heat that made the already formidable spirit that much more powerful. “…hot.” When Seru moved to protect the children from the ice shards, Ignis followed and continued to amplify her flames to make the task that much easier. For all of the confidence of this thug, Walkins, it was not long before he fell, seemingly dead. The ice spirit dissipated as well, either because it was weakened in the fight, or because it didn’t care enough to stick around with its master gone. In either event, Ignis was not keen on trying to find it again. For a few moments, it looked like they had made short work of the troublemakers. Ignis gave a chuckle and was attempting to come up with a decent quip when both the front and rear entrances of the pub swung open within moments of one another. Ignis glanced from the front door to the back…then back and forth a few more times for good measure. He was beyond confused at the duplicates of the man he thought they just killed. However, he did not remain idle for long, as when the ice spirit rematerialized, it did so way too close to Helen, sparking his immediate reaction. In the blink of an eye, Ignis’ form erupted into flame. He drew in as much of the heat radiating from Seru as he could, then used it to amplify his own attack. “Helen!” He shouted, wanting the spirit to pay attention to him as he lunged towards it from the side. The front half of his body had a recognizable draconic form, but behind that was of a column of swirling flames. It was true that he had a weakness to ice spirits, but usually, those spirits also shared a weakness to fire. He hoped to overwhelm it in flame, but at the very least, the flaming burst of air would hopefully throw off the ice spirit’s attack.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei nodded lightly as she took a few moments to finish taking a few more notes. "I see. As long as you show me this rune, I do not find that unreasonable. You did, after all, leave when requested. Once we are done here, I will send you with one of my pack to the meeting room, just like with the others. I will meet there after learning more about the poison. Just do not attempt to manipulate the rune in any way while you are waiting, and there should not be a problem." As for Darahil's brief walk through the main chamber, Meesei made note that the others had not mentioned seeing him, but was not sure of what conclusions she could draw from it. After all, if any of the others were the traitor, then they would have no motive to not report seeing him pass through. It was likely that the others legitimately did not recall seeing him, which, in itself, was not incriminating, but it did leave the possibility that he was making an effort not to be seen. It was a topic she could question the others on later. For the moment, she continued with her interrogation. "I just have one more question for you. We know that Jerrick was poisoned through his waterskin, so determining when he could have been poisoned could narrow down the list of suspects. Can you recall any point during the day in which he was separated from his waterskin? For instance, do you recall if he had it on him when he spoke to you on the mezzanine, or during the meeting beforehand?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Darahil's story did not raise any immediate suspicion with Meesei, though she did have a few more questions for clarification. Just as Oswall said, he seemed to have been away for the majority of the morning. As for the meeting, he, just like the others, confirmed that he spoke with Jerrick on the mezzanine; although, the topic did seem slightly strange to Meesei. Jerrick had received word from Hircine himself that the Champion's pack was coming, so it did seem odd that he would have any doubts on whether they could be trusted. It was possible that Jerrick was simply trying to gauge how Darahil felt about them, but Meesei supposed she would find a way to ask him about the specifics of their conversation later. For now, she focused on clarifying a few points. "I see, so you had limited contact with Jerrick today? You said you saw him in the main chamber during his lesson along with Oswall. What did you see when you were in the room? Can you recall what Jerrick or Oswall were doing, or where Jerrick's belongings were? Also, later at night, I seem to remember you knocking on the door to the meeting room before Jerrick sent you away. What was your purpose there?" Meesei asked.

The Aesteria Chronicles

I'll respond after you, unless the next ice storm knocks out my internet again, which is a distinct possibility.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

My internet came back on and I was able to fix the formatting. Hopefully, it stays on.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Good news everybody, my internet is back for the moment. It's not fast, but it's back. (Good news subject to change. There are still trees laying on power lines. No idea why they're active.)

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I made my last post from a phone, which destroyed the formatting. The paragraph that starts with "Vera with a hint of..." was supposed to be part of the previous paragraph, without the repeated "Vera". The phone refuses to change it. Edit: I made it look a little better.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Going into the meeting room, Ahnasha was expecting Vera to be shaken by what she saw, but there was nothing she could have done to prepare herself for Vera's reaction. There were no words Ahnasha could put forward for comfort, no way to describe the pain she saw in Vera's eyes. Meesei was the one in charge of the investigation,but to Ahnasha, Vera's pain seemed nothing less than genuine. In her mind, if Vera was the traitor, then she would have to be a superb actor. All Ahnasha could do was stand by wordlessly, trying to prevent her own emotions from showing through her expression. Ahnasha had not known Jerrick long enough to be deeply affected by his death, but all she could think of when she saw Vera mourning her husband was she would feel if it was Fendros lying there instead. The mere thought of it caused her heart to race, until she had to force herself to speak up to get her mind off of it. "We...probably need to move his body somewhere to preserve it." Ahnasha said softly and nervously as she walked over beside Vera. She looked away silently for a few moments before bringing herself to look back down at Vera with a hint of tears in her own eyes. "We will find his killer, whoever they are. We will find them, and we will make them pay. We'll send them to the Hunting Grounds, and I'm sure Jerrick will be there just waiting for them. So far, Darahil had been the most cooperative to Meesei, and based on the statements given by the lieutenants so far he had the least opportunity to poison Jerrick. However, Meesei was not going to absolve him of suspicion until she could prove he could not have done it. In the meantime, she would approach him just as she had the others. "I suppose we should get started right away. I just have a few questions for now to get a sense of what happened. Start this morning, right after you awoke. I need to know, in as much detail as you can give me, what have you done all day, and when. As well, tell me everything you know about what Jerrick and the other lieutenants have done today."