RedAuron

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus felt a wave of both hope and anxiety as the clerk moved aside and allowed them to enter. Did this count as progress or had they simply walked into the jaws of a monster? His eyes looked around as he sized up what might be inside. It looked relatively ordinary compared to things he'd seen in this world. His ghosts were in here somewhere but the spirit medium didn't risk actively searching for them. A glow in his eyes might be enough to spook the security here.

Instead he let out a small sigh of frustration at the clerk's useless answer. "Did this Bell travel alone or did he have people with him? Either when he picked up or dropped off the carriage? Could you, or someone here, at least provide a description of this Mr. Bell? Please?" The last part was added when he realized his tone was a bit sharper than he'd intended.

Actions:
1. Use the ability: Let's be Friends: [Persuasion] F, [Insight] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus focused on keeping his expression as neutral as possible as he listened to the conversation. They hadn't immediately devolved into a fight, which was a good thing, but there was a definite tension in the air. He felt a twinge of regret he'd already deployed all the haunters. He hoped this carriage fourteen was still damaged and easy to differentiate. The spirit medium cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"The coach was on Calabrese territory when the damage took place you see and unfortunately Calabrese property was also involved in the incident. We simply wish to know who leased it last night so we can discuss the matter with them," Marcus said as he forced a smile onto his face.

Actions:
1. Use the ability: Let's be Friends: [Persuasion] F, [Insight] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus frowned at the mention of threats. "People will say anything you want if you put a blade to their throat, doesn't make it the truth," he muttered. He glanced around at the present company and decided it was probably best to drop the topic.

At Piero's instructions however the spirt medium nodded. Simple questions, keep it vague, those were things he could follow. He raised a brow at the kid's complaint of being tired but decided against commenting. He readjusted his axe in it's holster in case it was needed, then followed Elora as she approached the front of the store.

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus rubbed the back of his head at the talk of magic. "Unfortunately no, my magic isn't strong enough to be useful here," he commented. Perhaps that'd be next on his list of things to practice.

At Elora's suggestion he had nodded in agreement. When the employee confirmed they had seen a wagon with the same symbol, it all but confirmed that was the next stop. Marcus followed the Widseria natives as they moved through the cities.

As they approached the business he noted the odd change in atmosphere. Marcus glanced back and forth between the Calabrese members and the guards. To be recognized immediately by some citizens seemed to rule out a more discreet approach. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

After a second Marcus held up a hand. "If you don't mind could we pause for a second? I've got an idea." The spirit medium ducked into an alley, out of sight of the two guards out front. He gripped his staff in his hand as his eyes glowed with magic. He tapped the ground and a brief wave of magic swept through the narrow road. For a brief moment the visage of several ghostly apparitions were visible as Marcus connected to them before they once again disappeared.

"Okay guys, I'm going to need help from all of you for this. I'm going to need one of you to go inspect the stage coaches. See if you can find one missing it's faceplate. If you can, see if anything of interest is inside."

"I need another one of you to go hang around the stable hands. Listen in and see if any of them are talking about Comet or what happened last night."

"The other two go into the building, spread out, and see if anyone is talking about Comet. Once we show up, it's likely to cause a stir inside."

"Everyone meet back here in half an hour, okay? I really appreciate this guys."

Once the commands were finished the minions nodded in acknowledgement. The iron fence, guards out front, the walls of the building itself, none of it mattered to the Haunters. They lumbered through them as if they were air as they marched unseen to carry out their task.

After they had left Marcus returned to the others. He cleared his throat, "I've got some friends looking around the place. If we're civil do you all think we could get through the front door? I don't know the politics of the city but surely they wouldn't turn us away if we're just asking questions?"

He turned to Piero, "how fast does news travel around here? Should we assume Comet's disappearance is public knowledge or has Big Don kept it under wraps?"

Actions:
1. Order the Troops: [Magic] F, [Targets] F, [Telepathy] F, [Sixth Sense: See Spirits] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus nodded along as Piero explained. He personally didn't get why people were so moved by races but the concept had existed in his original world as well. He frowned slightly as he realized the list of people who would have seen her was a bit longer than he had hoped.

He had intended to ask more when he saw the younger member of the team slam into the dirt. Marcus winced at the impact. "You okay up there?" He called out.

The spirit medium kneeled down to the crest that had been covered. "Apologies but should I recognize what this crest is? Is this some rival team?" That would explain why they had a wagon that could carry away the prize.

"So what next? Do we want to keep following these tracks, investigate whoever owns this faceplate, or go ask the stable employees if anyone associated with the crest showed up yesterday?"

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus nodded slowly as he listened to Bassi. If the head groom was hiding something he had a good poker face. The info about the note was interesting, if the culprit had been here the day before that surely narrowed the list down. Presumably that meant it was someone who was allowed to enter.

The spirit medium glanced over at Elora and the kid. It seemed the kid hadn't spilled his secrets, if he had any.

Before he could speak the doors swung open and his attention turned to the woman wearing odd machines on her arms. For a second his hand moved to his axe until she said she'd been sent by Big Dom. Marcus glanced at Piero, who looked annoyed but not frightened, and decided the woman was telling the truth.

"Umm, hi? I'm Marcus, we've just been poking around the scene," he said as he gestured to the stable. "I think the Freyic discovered some tracks? Sounds like a good idea to follow those. Maybe give the people here a second to think of anything else that might be relevant?"

The spirit medium's eyes glowed as he mentally reached out to one of his Haunters. 'Do me a favor and stick near the stall hand. He might say or do something when there are less people around.' The spectral ghost nodded before it shuffled into the stable where it'd perform his task silently.

Marcus moved to follow the track when he turned to Piero. "Care to join us? I'd like to hear more about this 'Comet'. Obviously Big Dom cares for her but is there any other reason someone would take her? Anything besides being a good racer? Would anyone interact with her aside from the people in the stable?"

Actions:
1. I See Dead People: [Telepathy] F, [Sixth Sense: See Spirits] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0 Command a minion to stick to Nino.
2. Follow the tracks with the others
3. Let's be Friends: [Persuasion] F, [Insight] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0 - Ask Piero some questions

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus scratched his chin as he looked at the assembled evidence they had gathered. This definitely felt like something that had been planned, although perhaps not by a professional? A laugh was a good way to draw attention to yourself which seemed at odds with trying to quietly steal something. The imprint he had gotten from the stall had puzzled him as to what had been stolen.

"Perfume, fancy silk, and a clasp point towards a noble woman. Not exactly an appearance that'd be discreet in this part of town." He realized what he'd said and glanced at the people who worked here, "no offense. You all look like perfectly fine, clean people."

An inside job seemed most likely based off the note. Marcus glanced at the stall hand, the only person so far who hadn't said anything. Before he could do anything he saw the sword-wielding woman approach the boy. The spirit medium nodded briefly, glad someone else had the same thought he did.

With the primary 'suspect' being grilled Marcus decided he should distract his boss. If either employee had been involved in the crime it'd be best if they were separated. With that in mind he approached Basi. "Would you do me a favor and show me how these ledgers work? I noticed that a page seemed to be missing. Do you have any idea what might have been there?" He asked with a smile.

Once they were away from the others Marucs lowered his voice. "Sir, with how this is unfolding if you have any information I highly suggest you tell me now. If your boss thinks you're hiding anything I have a hunch he might be a bit drastic with his actions."

Actions:
1. Use the ability: Let's be Friends: [Persuasion] F, [Insight] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0 to get info from Basi

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Marcus nodded as they were dismissed, his forced smile still on his face. The second they left the room however he let out a sigh of annoyance. He always hated having to talk to important people, the room always felt suffocating. Still he had gotten some of the questions answered so he considered that a win and followed the others through the city.

He glanced briefly behind them as they walked. Unseen by Marcus, or anyone, his entourage of befriended ghosts followed after him. For now they merely watched and waited until the spirit medium addressed them directly.

Once they entered the stables Marcus slowly paced through the building. There was a lot to look through and several people to interview. He wished he had found a small journal to take notes in, it'd be more authentic to the experience. While he walked a subtle glow also filled his eyes as his vision expanded to see past the mortal world. He had no idea if a ghost lingered in the stable but it didn't hurt to check. From his experience the living had a million reasons to lie to you, but the dead? They often told you anything you wanted if only to ease the boredom that happened with being a ghost.

After a quick walkthrough he joined the others. "This should be interesting," he noted to the others. "Still seems a bit odd Big Dom wouldn't give us a description for what we're looking for, horse or no. I'm hoping we'll get some more information from these people." He glanced over to find they had already started to examine the stable in greater detail.

"I guess that's my queue to handle the talking," he muttered to himself before he put on a friendly smile. He approached the watchman and noted the injury. "Good afternoon Toma, looks like you've had a rough night. My name is Marcus and I was brought on to investigate what happened here. Want me to take a look at that wound? I've picked up a little healing magic in my travels." If the man didn't object the spirit medium pulled out his short staff and focused his energy. The end of the staff started to glow with a bright blue light before he gently applied the healing spell to the bruise.

"So I'm told you were on watch during the incident. Would you care to tell me everything you remember that happened that night? Every little detail you can provide us might help us figure out what happened," he explained in his friendliest tone. As he listened to the old man talk Marcus watched for signs that the watchman might be hiding something.

Actions:
1. Activate [Sixth Sense: See Spirits] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0 to see if any ghost is in the stable
2. If allowed cast: Spirit Healing: [Magic] E, [Healing] E - Grade E - Cooldown 0
3. Use the ability: Let's be Friends: [Persuasion] F, [Insight] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0 to get info from Toma

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

'How do I get myself into these situations?' Marcus mentally asked himself as the two men started to frisk him for weapons. When a local ghost had mentioned this area for work, he had assumed it had been for something legitimate. Now, in a dark alley in a very rough part of town, he realized he shouldn't take work advice from the dead.

Marcus considered if he'd be able to explain he was just in the wrong place when a booming voice stilled everyone in the alley. The spirit medium opened his mouth to speak but the words failed to materialize. Instead he silently entered, sat down when instructed, and filled his mouth with what he assumed was 'gabagool'.

As he listened to the Don's speech for a moment he felt remorse. Clearly Big Dom had just lost someone close to him. Anyone would be angry when a wife, a girlfriend, maybe a child were kidnapped. As he looked around though his brain started to connect the dots. Was all this anger about a racing animal? Surely not...

Marcus swallowed his food and internally sighed. Like it or not, he'd have to do this unless he wanted to end up 'face down in a gutter'. He forced a smile on his face before he replied. "Like my friend here said, we'll find her." He tried to recall various detective shows he'd watched. "Can you give us a detailed description of what she looks like? Is there anyone you suspect might have done this? Can we see the scene of the crime, err, can we see the stables?"

[Widersia] Big Dom’s Champion

Character Summary
Character Name: Marcus
Titles: Prime, Human, Nomad
Points At Start: 105
Points Earned: 105
Points Spent: 210
Points Unspent: 0
Perks: Born for This, Talented Friends

Character Stats
Strength: D
Precision: E
Intelligence: C
Vitality: E
Speed: E
Character Grade: E
Standing Grade: E

Skills
Appraisal (Isekai) E
Magic E
Type Affinity: Spirit F
Sixth Sense: See Spirits F
Telepathy F
Postcognition F
Healing E
Energized E
Fast F
Arcana F
Academia E
Stealth F
Minions F

Minions

Helpful Haunters: Static Minions

Stats:
Strength: H
Precision: E
Intelligence: E
Vitality: D
Speed: H

Skills:
Feature: Weightless
Feature: Ethereal Appearance
Change State: Ghost E [Limit: Permanent]
Undetected (Sight) F

Fighting Style: Axe E

• Blight: Radiant F
• Penetrating F

Educated: Spirit Medium F

• Persuasion
• Insight
• Religion

Abilities
Soul Hunter: [Fighting Style: Axe] E, [Penetrating F] - Grade E - Cooldown 0

Exorcist Slash: [Fighting Style: Axe] E, [Blight: Radiant] F, [Penetrating F] - Grade E - Cooldown 0

I See Dead People: [Telepathy] F, [Sixth Sense: See Spirits] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0

Glimpse the Past: [Postcognition] F - Grade F - Cooldown 0

I've Heard About This: [Appraisal (Isekai)] E, [Academia] E, [Arcana] F, [Religion] F - Grade E - Cooldown 0

Spirit Healing: [Magic] E, [Healing] E - Grade E - Cooldown 0

Equipment
Weapon: Half-moon Axe F
Magic Catalyst: Shaman Staff F