Mokley

Lantern

A post from me is actually incoming eventually! xD

Tin Dragon Detective Agency

@NorthernGR HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! *throws confetti and balloons*

Tin Dragon Detective Agency

No worries! :) I know at least a couple people are obligated to post quite slowly, and we may have lost at least one. The slowdown is expected, which is why so many were accepted in the first place.

Everyone's been tagged recently -- they'll drop in when they can, and no one will be left far behind. ;)

Mirror, Fox, Key

Her body lurched back as her eyes widened at the familiar sensation of falling. There was a hole at the top of the bell tower that opened up to a spiraling staircase that lead down the length of the tower. Time seemed to slow as she fell, weightless. Another arrow went whizzing above her. The great brass bells glinted in the evening sun, along with… the bird?

She only had half a moment to stare at it, stunned and confused. Then Meryn went tumbling down the bell tower's stairs.

The spiral staircase seemed to spin rapidly around her while the clouded daylight shrank far above. The floor rushed up at her, and she might glimpse the lines of a sigil etched into the stone before a gust of wind surged and spun out of the darkness below, twisting around her with enormous power. The wind slowed her fall, turned her upright, and set her feet down carefully in the middle of the sigil before it dissipated. She would feel a little lightheaded, drained of energy. The sigil had been powered by her own will to live, after all.

"Who's there?" An old man was standing between Meryn and the only open door, a book clutched in his bony hands, wielded like a bludgeon. He was a thin, crochety looking fellow, with a hunch in his back, a bald head and comically furry eyebrows. He wore a threadbare housecoat over his faded pajamas, and his slippers had been worn to the heel.

The room at the bottom of the bell tower was round and clean and filled with shelves of books. There were ancient tomes and new paperbacks, pamphlets and maps and binders full of drawings. Though all of it was in an array of sizes and materials and degrees of wear, no library could have been more excellently maintained.

The old man's sharp eyes studied Meryn a moment before they went wide -- and he scowled with a deep jowly frown. "What you doin' with Spook's mask?" After another moment his eyes widened one more time in realization. "Don't you tell me he's kicked off." He lowered the book slowly, confusion and regret lining his old face.

Through the eyes of the mask, the old man's dreams were like the old scuffed books on the shelf: gray and deep blue, etched with old tired frustration and a long, eventful life.

---

"What the hell is that! Why are ya like those beasts?" Ronken backed further into the alley and away from Switch, fists raised and ready to defend.

"Get away from me!" He yelled. "I've had enough magic, crystal shit, and stupid letters! Get AWAY!"

Switch stood with her weight on one leg, hands in her cloak pockets. "Okay," she said with a nonchalant shrug, grinning. "You're you, man, you be you, do whatever you want. The city's crumbling to the ground and everyone in it is about to die if they're not dead already. The food's poisoned, the water's poisoned, there's no one to call for help because the city's self-sustaining -- but hey, you're a big boy, you can make your way on your own. Just think, now you won't have to pay those thugs back."

With the same grin, she leaned back against the wall, keeping herself between Ronken and the only exit. She placed a cigarette between her lips, and -- after the click and bright cupped glow of a lighter -- exhaled a slow smoky breath.

"Listen. Ronken, right?" She tilted her head at him. "You're infected. I hate to break it to you, but eventually you're gonna look like me, so get used to it now. I gave you a pendant." She gestured at a string necklace that hung around his throat, threaded with a round reddish stone with a rune carved into it. "It's slowing down the spread of the Crystalline. Don't take it off. Again," she took another puff of the cigarette, "you're welcome." A small smile crossed her thin face. "There's stuff that people like us are pretty good at. You can say we walk the edge between dreams and reality. I brought you back 'cause I think you're capable of a lot more than you like to let on."

She took out the box of cigarettes and held it out to him, grinning.

---

Feela came to a stop and shook her head violently, the bone shards on her necklace jangling loudly, it must have come untucked while she ran. She squashed that tiny, furious voice in her head and looked around again, trying to pick up some kind of trail.

A burst of hot steam hissed out of a broken pipe and billowed into the darkened road. A rat darted into an alley where a woman's corpse was sprawled. Vacant windows gaped lifelessly. A robot sat broken on the street corner, creaking as it raised and lowered its arm brokenly. At the other end of the street, a house burned; black smoke blanketed the sun.

There were traces of demon-soot everywhere -- Feela's quarry had certainly died here, but the corpses had gone.

Footsteps rushed down the adjoining street ahead. A small boy with black hair, a wool jacket and a gas-mask ran full-tilt into the crossroads, where he skidded and turned around, breathing heavily. He spotted Feela and stopped, stunned by her strange appearance.

"What are you doing?" he called urgently, his voice muffled by the mask. He beckoned to her with a hand. "Come on! We have to get to the shelter! You'll miss out on the rations! Have you seen anyone else?"

To Teluval, Farewell

<Snipped quote by Mokley>

No no no, see the tall man IS the coin and he sneaks into your pocket until you realize he is there.

@Goldeagle1221

Mind = Blown @.@

To Teluval, Farewell

Haha wow that's some luck! Good for him, not so much for you. x.x But at least ya had fun?

Also @Polybius I'm reading this two ways. Is the Tall Man responsible for the placing of the coin, therefore we should discover it after having met him? Or is it just magically in our pockets for no reason? :D

To Teluval, Farewell

I ALWAYS win! Ha!

To Teluval, Farewell

@Gunther Hmm you mean they're both frequent visitors to the same casino, and know of one another that way? Sure go for it! xD

Moonfiend

Wasting no time at all once she arrived on the other side Berry clawed the panel open and paused. With her face dimly lit by the panel Berry concentrated very hard on trying to hear that sound again; the sound of something pulling itself along the floor behind her with a hiss. In her mind Berry could see the little holographic map pointing out Roy and herself with two red dots of the Grit on either side.

Berry pushed the button.

Finally he reopened his eyes letting his anger towards the invading Grit prime him for combat. "Three!"

He swung open the door stepping along with it ready for the snake Grit to charge into the room. To charge into an ambush. Should all go according to Vincent's plan, predator would become prey.

At the very same moment, the button was pressed and the door was opened. Roy fell and struck the floor with a sound like a crack of lightning, and the slithering Grit whipped into Vincent's room in a blur of angry fangs and scales.

Vincent's spear screamed in terrified determination; a wide red mouth full of several rows of jagged teeth rushed straight at him at an impossible speed.

Randy was faster.

Almost before Vincent's mind had time to process what had happened, the Grit was hanging dead against the wall beside the door; the spear had been thrust into the Grit's horrible mouth, through the back of its skull, and pierced the wall behind. The Grit's eyes had gone dim and dark, and its body twitched in the last spasms of death, pinned against the wall with the spear sticking out of its mouth.

After a moment, the Grit's body disintegrated into a dark mist that vaporized completely, leaving nothing behind -- only Randy, the spear-head buried deep in the cracked wall.

On Berry's screen, one of the red dots had suddenly disappeared completely. Not that she would have much time to look at it.

With a whirr and a click, Roy got to his feet and immediately whirled around toward the staircase. His laser-gun fired twice -- pew! pew! -- each shot lit up the hallway with a blue flash. A dark, spindly Grit was in mid-leap when it was hit full in the chest by the laser-fire, its wide glowing eyes and sharp fangs flashing. It was thrown back onto the stairs, where its smoking body crumpled.

After a moment, the Grit's body disintegrated into a dark smoky fog; the Grit's remains sped away in the opposite direction, toward the door of the mansion. On Berry's screen, the red dot rushed away and out of the house. There were no more threats left within the mansion walls.

Roy straightened and turned to face Berry. "Thank you, Miss Berry. It seems we're safe for now." He raised his head, and addressed the end of the hallway where he thought he'd heard Vincent's voice. "Mr. DeMoore, you'd mentioned there might be a way to fortify this place against more invaders. Now's a pretty good time to do that. What can we do to help?"

Tin Dragon Detective Agency

Because it's so long between posts and no one can be expected to keep track of everything all the time, here's a rundown of the information gathered so far!

Also of note, in case there's any confusion, we are now in the village of Riffraff, no longer Timber Moren.

There are several different stories to uncover, but only one is responsible for the disappearances.

Hider

You will investigate the disappearance of two individuals: Kenver Edwards, 57, last seen four days ago; and Sewena Toll, 22, last seen yesterday morning.

Finally, after a ride that seemed like an eternity, a house came into view. Then two houses. Then, after a twist in the road, rows of buildings stood along each side of the path: a general store, a pub, an open marketplace with two food-stalls, a town hall.

The village was shut up tight. No one was outside. The windows were locked, the blinds closed.

"Welcome, representatives of Tin Dragon. I am Mayor Casworon Toll."

"I don't know much about the mayor's daughter, poor girl -- but Kenver, well he was my boss until he up 'n vanished. We stayed the night here on our way from Four Stones with a delivery of skiurium ore -- that's the reddish shiny sorta stone that the mechanikers use, rare stuff and expensive -- so when we got up in the morning and part of our supply was gone, Kenver had a right fit. He went tearin' across the village, bangin' on doors, demandin' his supply back." The wagon driver flung his knobby hands in the air to emphasize just how crazy Kenver had got over the loss of his merchandise.

"Well, just when I was suggestin' that maybe we should just report the theft an' let the authorities deal with it like they properly should, Kenver he pointed out at the woods -- right here," He stretched out an arm and pointed into the forest across the road, "and he said, 'Hey Breok,' he says to me. 'Breok, you see that guy out there?' And I looked, and there indeed was somebody peeking up over the edge of that boulder out there, starin' at us. I couldn't tell much except he had kinda wild reddish hair -- kinda like mine, only on his head." He stroked his scraggly beard with a chuckle.

"And Kenver yelled out to the guy, spittin' mad, and when we got no response he ran out into the woods and around that boulder to snag him." Breok scratched the back of his head and huffed a sigh. "Well, I waited a bit, and he didn't come out again though I called him. And I went over around that rock and he'd gone." He turned up his palms helplessly. "Kenver was just gone. Me an' a bunch of the villagers, we combed through this forest, but we didn't find anything at all."

"My daughter, Sewena." The name triggered a desperate passion in the mayor, who finally unclasped his hands from behind his back and flung them with his words. "I should have been a better father! I ignored her most of her life, always working, always locked in with my letters, barely saw her face. She resents me. She told me so, the day before she . . . when I told her I didn't approve of her boyfriend, Jory's his name." His expression flashed with anger.

"We've pounded on Jory's door -- he lives at the end, in the house with the fox-statue out front," he pointed down the dirt road, "but there's no response and the door's locked, which is quite unusual for this town. No one has seen a hair of him since Sewena didn't come back from the woods. I fear he has her! My daughter's missing and in trouble and she hates me and I'm a useless old man."

Once he'd caught his breath again, he had one other thing to say: "I was only told secondhand how she didn't come home. Miss Tregonning knows more than I do. She rents a room to Sewena, next door."

The woods were full of pine trees, fragrant and sappy, and hard with rocks and boulders between them. The boulder in question came up to about Uwen's waist -- to an average sized man, it would still only come up to chest height -- but was wide and cumbersome to wield. Uwen, as strong as he was, would certainly find a way to take the boulder out of the way of the investigation.

The soft dent in the earth where the boulder had been was crawling with beetles and larvae and ants, but there wasn't anything particularly fascinating about it. There was now a very good view, however, of the footprints and scuff marks that had been made by several different pairs of shoes and a couple of bare feet, marked in the shallow dirt. After Kenvar had gone missing, a few of the villagers had walked around the boulder trying to find him; they had obliterated any evidence that might have been left there. There wasn't even a hair nor a thread of cloth here left of Kenvar.

After considerable examination, however, one might discover a very different footprint left in the loose dirt at the far side of the clearing: it looked like an enormous pawprint, perhaps that of a very large cat, pointed toward the deep of the forest.

"Are you insinuating -- do you imply that my daughter has anything to fear from me, her loving and doting father?" His voice cracked in the wake of a lie. His mouth trembled, though his eyes flared defiantly. He had thought of a very good reason his daughter might be hiding from him -- but he was very certain it wasn't something these detectives needed to know. "I want only what's best for her! She knows that! We've moved on from the past!"

The pawprint, upon investigation, might prove to be that of a lion -- or of any creature that might take a lion's form.

---

@deadpixel101@KoL@Greenie@TheWindel@DepressedSoviet@Gareth@Ruthenselle@Ms Ravenwinter@Mimik@NorthernGR