"Keleni," Freyja let out rather sharply. "She has voiced no concerns at all, and while that would normally worry me, there is something about her that says she has nothing against us doing what we were brought her to do. However, you are also right . . . Mismeia, do you wish to join us? Take all the time you need. On the subject of leadership, though, we do need a unifying factor. We do not need a strong, powerful leader so much as we all need to be cooperative. It would be wise of us to take a vote on what we believe, and to voice our opinions. If you are all in correspondence, then I vote in favor of no leader and in favor of simply cooperating." And with that, the Paladin went silent, leaving it up to her compatriots to voice their opinions, though, her gaze shifted around the room to see who was going to act first.
Mira hummed softly. For someone against having a leader, she sure is bossy. She leaned forward to drink down another gulp of ale.
"I only suggested it because, as I said, there are an even number of us. The only thing I could see a leader for is to be a tie breaker in case any votes break even. I...actually was going to nominate Shiro." She glanced at the man. "I mean, Freyja, Keleni, and I all seem to be familiar with the hunting monsters part but I'll admit I'm not so well-versed in things like politics or cults."
She looked up at Freyja. "Maybe you work differently but...I like knowing that someone with a cool head can think strategically and effectively when things go a little wild. Shiro also lives here already, so he's also more familiar with the terrain than the rest of us would be unless anyone is willing to contest that."
She finished her ale and sat back. "If everyone else would rather stick with the democratic method then I will say no more on it. And of course, all of this depends on if Shiro himself believes he is up to the task."
"We have already looked quite extensively into your pasts. We have a good grasp on what you do, and that none of you seem more likely to hurt people than help them. So long as we don't come to regret this assumption, there will be no problem, regardless of your own personal manners of handling things. As for supplies, unfortunately matters like the creation of holy water are services the churches can't just dole out for free in the quantities we would need, and I sadly do not have access to my own stores of such supplies. You will have to take whatever you need from what you are paid. Although a few of our members may be able to sell you some of the less easily acquired tools of your trade. We have some quite eager 'hobbyists', you could say."
Mismeia let out a gentle sigh once the attention was brought upon her. She craned her head, glancing at the Halfling for a moment in total silence. Her eyes then rolled toward Freyja, once she practically spoke for her. Mismeia gently leaned back into her seat. "I will accompany you five." She stated plainly.
She glanced back and forth as Mira and Freyja argued over the assumed leadership. If it were up to her, she would definitely take the assumed role of leader. Though, that was merely her ego speaking. Of course, none of those around her had any true experience with the Afterlife and Undeath. They may have fought them, or studied them, but it was only she who knew. Of course, objecting with that argument would likely get her yelled at, at best, so she kept her mouth shut.
"Excellent," Alandre said, relieved that all six of the summoned prospects had joined in, rather than have a considerable amount of money go down the drain on at least one of them. "In that case, you may finish your meal in peace, and then Stella will explain the matter on the way. It's not the sort of thing you wish to discuss over food. IF you have need of me specifically, please talk to Kotri and she will arrange something, but otherwise, I hope things go fortunately for you, and that when next we meet, there is good news." Leaving the remainder of his food on the table, he stood up and set off toward the back, giving a small wave to a couple of the stragglers standing around watching, all of them presumably your new allies, who had not taken a seat at the table.
The guardswoman--Stella, presumably--muttered into her glass, "May not want to eat if you have a weak stomach. We're going to the morgue."
Shiro set down his cutlery, having spent the last five minutes wolfing down the entire plate of potatoes. "Pardon my table manners: I... was actually so preoccupied by our meeting that I forgot about my meal entirely, and I haven't actually eaten since..." (Shiro thought for a moment before continuing) "...Yesterday, come to think of it."
"Mirabelle, I'm honored to have your vote of confidence. Hopefully I don't sound conceited saying this, but I do believe I'd be able to come to make the most effective decision on most matters on which we would otherwise be deadlocked, and it's very likely I *do* have seniority out of the six of us.". He gave a little smile at that last remark, ever so briefly.
"I'm not omni-competent of course, and depending on the nature of the situation, I will defer to whomsoever has relevant expertise or experience. That is, of course, assuming everyone else feels that we need a 'tiebreaker' position in the first place, and if they are willing to give me their vote of confidence for it. I don't mean to presume, after all."
Once your plates are empty and your drinks are empty, Stella rises, not even giving you much time to revel after your meals as she hurriedly urges you out of the newly reopened Gilded Unicorn. "Come on, we've got work to do." The other order members are quick to move tables back to remove the appearance of the inn as a place where a secret cabal of clandestine, potentially treasonous monster hunters are meeting, and sunlight filters back into the establishment. But you don't get much time to savour it as the middle aged woman ushers you out the door in front of her. "And stay close to me if you don't know the city. It's going to take some time to learn it."
Absalom bustles in front of you, an active and thriving city that has perhaps grown a little cramped in recent generations. Clearly, you've been stationed in quite a busy part of town, people moving with purpose and going about business; it would be easy to get lost in this shifting mass of a crowd, but it also seems like the perfect way to get lost in a crowd if that were your intention, something that it's hard not to take note of if you're supposed to be keeping things at least somewhat low key. Even as a shinier and more traveled section of the city, you can feel a general sense of lingering darkness in it; it's a city as built upon tragedy and crime as any other; a short walk away, you could well be able to buy a slave with the contents of your pocket, fully legal. It is a shining city of glory and a world united, but that shine does little more than distract from what lies barely hidden beneath the surface.
Stella moves swiftly and steadily through the crowd, leaving you stumbling through a morass of people coming and going in all directions, but none of you end up lost or cut off from the others. She doesn't regard questions about what you're doing with anything beyond a harsh, "Wait until we're able to talk," and fails to break her stride the entire time, her voice merely biting and audible among the din of the marketplaces you walk right through. The way she walks without slowing or interruption is admirable; she moves seamlessly through the sea of people in a way that only years of experience can muster.
Reaching a modest and squat building emblazoned with the word "Mortuary" in unspectacular grey, Stella makes a turn so sharp it almost shocks you, and you follow after her through the door. Only once you're all past it does she speak, one hand holding to the sword holstered at her side while the other straightens out her leather armor and the district patch noting her dispatch and rank.
"Okay," she says, as though she were still in the inn, giving you the briefing like nothing had changed. "The lead mortician of the Coins-Market District mortuary is an old friend of mine. He's aware that this city isn't what it seems, since he deals with corpses that don't always have easy answers, but he's not a member of the order, so don't give him any more information than you have to. For his safety as much as ours. I'll leave you to look at them yourselves, but there are multiple corpses on ice that have large bites on their bodies, and are in a strange state of decay. He can't identify the origin of it, but hopefully you can."
As she speaks, a wiry, slouched man with small spectacles balanced precariously on a hooked nose walks out. His face is not particularly old, but given his posture and prematurey greying hair, a quick glance would certainly imply so. "These are your monster hunters? You could have done worse. Are any of you medically trained?" His eyes scan across the strange group assembled in his lobby. "Or squeamish? Probably not any of your first times seeing a corpse, but these aren't normal bodies, so if you need to ask anything to prepare yourself, I'm all ears. I can't write anything conclusive down, but I still have my eye sight. Mostly."
Margaret raised her hand, taking a small step forward in spite of having been using others in front of her to help break the crowd before her. She wasn't, after all, large or physically imposing, so crowds could be a problem. Now the matronly smile was gone, and instead a neutral, business-like expression took hold on her face as she looked at the mortician.
"I've a couple, before we see the bodies. How have they been kept? Have many of them been held on ice for longer than others, or did they all come into your possession at roughly the same time? Are they literally iced or have you been using a different means of preserving them for inspection? Or are we to take that they've been on hand for a very short period of time?
Mira was glad she'd spent so much time wandering the city before she made her way to the inn. She started noting certain landmarks around her. It would be easy to get lost in a city like this, so her mental map had to be accurate.
She kept up with ease as she was used to walking in a crowded city, though she did pull her hood up to hide her hairpins. She wasn't about to risk some brave thief snatching them and running off. When the group arrived in front of the morgue, she quietly nodded.
She didn't have much experience looking at bodies. Her father was far better at it and pick up things she tended to miss. Still, this would be a good chance to practice and to learn something new
The mortician sighs in relief at Margaret and the fact he won't have to dumb anything down before he looks down at his notepad, to the illegible scrawl that may as well be the runes of a long dead language for how incomprehensible it looks. "Four bodies came in over yesterday from the morning until late evening. They had been dumped in semi public locations across the two districts; in back alleys and garbage containers. None of them seemed to have been dead since maybe the night before at most. Since they seemed strange to me and I couldn't identify a cause of death, I sent a messenger to Stella about it, since she knows people who may be a little better suited for such tasks; my reports need to have better tham 'mystery disease' on them, or else people begin asking me questions. She asked that I keep the bodies isolated and frozen for a day while she got some monster hunters in. They're currently in a very cool room on beds of ice; we used to have a magically frozen room, but the magic has given out and nothing gets done fast in this city."
Margaret nods, reaching into one of her pockets on her vest and pulling a pair of thin leather gloves, pulling them over her hands and up a few inches past her wrist as she made to follow the doctor, well within the realm of her own expertise in these matters.
"We were told decomposition was unusual, but if they're barely a day old, I'd take that to mean they're already heavily decomposed? A body doesn't go through many changes overnight, after all, or am I making too many assumptions?"
"That's the strange part. There is localized decomposition in the area around the bite mark, but everywhere else looks fine, and they show nothing else to indicate they're older than a day and a half by this point. I haven't checked on them since last night, given Stella's insistence that I keep them isolated and locked away."
Mismeia trudged forward a tiny bit, glancing at the strange, slouched man before gently clearing her throat. "If it's no trouble, may... may I take a look at the bodies personally? I might be able to do something." Mismeia asked the mortician, blinking her gold and violet eyes. She didn't bother putting on some gloves or anything akin to that.
"Well, the idea is that you would indeed look at the corpses. I have no hope of identifying whatever it is myself, and need to know how to take care of handling the bodies after my report is complete."
The paladin, whom of which had been rather silent the entire way, knowing very well that every city had its grime beneath its shine. As they arrived, though, and were ushered in to meet the mortician, she stood with her comrades and looked at the man. "I pray you have the answer to this, sir, but have you been able to identify anything pertaining to demons involving what happened to the bodies? And, if not, then being that I believe myself to be . . . reasonably medically inclined and can identify the basic organs both of Aasimar and human bodies, I would, with your permission of course, it be possible to take a look— ahem —inside the bodies?" she asked. "That is . . . if we are able to come to the conclusion that they are at least moderately safe to handle. With what lurks in the sewers of city streets, any damage done to the bodies may have left unpleasant gifts. Eggs forced into them to incubate, disease, anything must be anticipated of course, that, and we must give delicate treatment to the dead. That is my utmost concern at the moment, that we respect their bodies."
Keleni remains rather quiet for once in her life throughout the walk to the mortuary, though it appears this is only the result of having to put all her effort in keeping up with the rest of the group. The second the party arrives at the mortuary, however, she goes back to her usual talkative demanor. "Man, you guys mind sparin' a thought for your more vertically-challenged companions? It's a little bit hard to keep up!"
She sighs, before returning to her cheerful demanour, paying attention to the mortician. Keleni cranes her neck in an effort to see the mortician's notes, all the while nodding and saying, "Man, you guys seem to really know what you're talking about. I'm no doctor, of course, but it wouldn't hurt to see the bodies in case I've seen something similar before. So, where are they?"
Margaret considers this for a long moment, before shaking her head, looking around at the group with a stern look on her face, "Oh no, I don't think that that is a good idea at all. We absolutely need to look at the bodies, but I'm very much not of the opinion that we should do it all at once, nor that any of us should just go storming in there unprepared. On the other hand, I know a few...little tricks, if you will, and I think I'm entirely prepared to volunteer to have a look at them, and deem them safe enough for the rest of us to have a peek."
Mira nodded. "I agree with Margaret. Having one or maybe just two people in there to start might be the best idea. I'm more than happy to wait until it's given the all-clear."
It seemed like Margaret knew all the right questions to ask, so Mirabelle wasn't about to get between the older lady and the corpses.
Mismeia stepped forward, "If it's okay with everyone, I'll volunteer to go with Margaret. I've been around the dead long enough to know which signs to look for. Not to mention, and if something does go wrong... Well, there is strength in numbers. Or pairs, in this situation."
Shiro raised his hand. "I suppose it might be too crowded if I were to accompany Margaret as well, but it would be worthwhile for me to at least visually examine them once it is practical for me to do so; I am fairly well-versed in matters related to the dead and undead. Also, if we cannot ascertain enough through mundane means alone, and if no one had any objections, I can... well...". He trailed off for a moment before continuing to speak: "...I can prompt the corpses to speak. Briefly. I cannot ask them questions, and what they say is frequently not helpful, but it has, in the past, yielded results."
The mortician shrugs. "As long as you report back to me with something definitive, do whatever you want to them. Standard procedure for diseased bodies is to cremate them, and we already have them all identified, so go wild." He puts his hands up, as if to distance himself from responsibility on the matter as he leads you toward the door with the bar down to lock it into place. "Open it when you're ready."
Mirabelle followed the group to the door, then stepped back. "If we all go in at once, we will probably get in one another's way. I'll wait out here for now." Her curiosity burned with the thought of someone waking the dead to make them speak, but she held herself back. "After all, they're dead. It is not as if they would get up and walk off all on their own."
Margaret pulled a few pinches of something from her pockets, speaking quietly and making an arcane gesture or two before lightly placing her hand on Mismea's shoulder, and then making a slow clenching gesture in front of her own chest. She was a woman not frequently used to explaining herself, it may seem.
"You'd be surprised, Mirabelle, and if you'd be surprised as to how mobile, and violent, the dead can be, I'd recommend you discard any preconceived notions you may have, dear. They won't serve you in our line of work."
"Mirabelle is right. Perhaps we should each look at different bodies," she suggested, mulling it over. It would've worked and they could've rotated around. "However . . . I will look at that which is the most damaged body. I'm not a woman with the most delicate of touch."
Spoke to Margaret's player about if they wanted to switch the casting from Mismeia onto someone else and they decided they wanted to go in solo, so that's where this is rolling.
A little ripple of distorted airs runs up Margaret from her feet to her head, sheathing her in magic that will hide her presence from the senses of any undead creatures who may be inside. With peoples' preparations seemingly made, the mortician braces himself, taking a deep breath as he pulls the heavy metallic bar up that closes off the room; overkill perhaps, but that remains to be seen. He then pulls the door back, notably not moving from that position behind it as he averts his gaze, safe and obscured from whatever may be inside of there.
But beyond a wave of cold air carrying the incredibly pungent and rotting odor of death and diseased flesh, nothing jumps out at you. The storage rooms holds bodies awaiting autopsy before they get moved to a larger room to await burial, once arrangements with the next of kin have been made. This considerably smaller rooms holds many medical tables containing beds of ice that bodies are then laid on to keep them cool and staving off decay. Three such tables hold corpses stripped bare, revealing three humans, two men and a woman, who all seem on the stockier, blockily muscular end of the spectrum. Four tables, two on each side of the occupied three, are prepped with ice to receive more corpses, but are currently unoccupied. Save for the wisps of billowing cold air rolling out along the floor, there is no motion from the room, and no sound anywhere.
The older woman takes a deep breath as she steps in and closes the door. Smells are as important as anything else, and she's not exactly willing to touch any of the bodies for fear of losing her spell. In any case, she enters, taking an inquisitive healer's eye and her not insignificant experience to each body in turn, doing her best without contact to inspect and diagnose them.
Waiting patiently outside of the door, the Paladin looked to her other compatriots. It was probably best left to them to deal with it for now. "It would be in our best interest to let them work in peace, wouldn't it?" she asked, reaching for her pack that was set upon the floor, and pulling her waterskin off, before taking a drink and offering it to those before her by holding it out a bit. "It may be quite some time before we hear results. It would be wise to get comfortable."
Mirabelle raised her arm to cover her nose and mouth. "Yeah...but my Gods, that smell is awful. If this is how bad they are cold, I'd hate to find them in any sort of heat." She took a few more steps back.
"Still, it seems like the corpses are just that. After what Margaret said about them being violent, I was worried we'd have a few angry corpses after us." She moved to stand near Freyja. She wanted to go inside as well, but she instead watched Margaret from a distance.
After her investigation, she calmly leaves the room, taking her gloves off and turning them inside-out before putting them back in her vest, closing the door behind her again. After all, no point in going in by herself if she had just left the door open, is there? Her immediate look is to the mortician, raising an eyebrow at him with a look of surprising intensity on her face, for a woman her age, her eyes burning and sharp, "How long ago did you say these bodies were found? Last night, correct?"
As Margaret opens the door, she finally catches a glimpse of some vision. Although she's invisible, the opening of the door is not, and something races feverishly past her, a gaunt, pallid creature resembling the three on the table, but it's not any of them. Another corpse that had been lying in wait scrambles through the opening, having remained hidden from her view. And with the door open once more, it goes straight for the most vulnerable looking living being in front of it. With the mortician behind the door as it opens, that means the lightly armoured Mirabelle. It snarls as it goes in for a bite on the woman's shoulder.
Its sharp fangs fail to pierce her leather armour, but already its eyes stare in predatory hunger up at her; its flesh is not stretched so thin upon its body that it looks entirely like wiry and starving ghouls anyone would think of, but it clearly has not yet tasted flesh.
The other ghouls rise on the table as they finally cease to play dead, shouting demands for flesh and threatening to feast on you as they look toward the doorway.
Keleni grins, pulling out her rifle and scooting back a bit. "Now this is the fun part of the job!"
She then takes aim at the ghoul currently attacking Mirabelle, and shoots.
Mirabelle flinched slightly when the ghoul bit her and was thankful her armor was in tact. She glared right back at the creature as she unsheathed her rapier and her masterwork dagger which she gripped tight in her off hand.
She thrust her rapier forward toward the ghoul, in hopes of either killing it or creating some distance.
The bullet hits the ghoul in the shoulder, and it hurls a curse word as the impact sends its shoulder back, only for Mirabelle to stick it with her foil an instant later, right through the gut. But it clings to its undeath, albeit just barely, and leans forward, continuing to vent its fury against Mirabelle; perhaps even more so now, due to the bloodless hole in its chest.
The creature's vicious attacks leave Mirabelle stunned, its claws digging in deep and leaving her unable to move, paralyzed in a mix of pain, fear, and the undead monster's toxic effects.
The other ghouls move toward the door, blocked by the group gathered outside of it and waiting patiently for their turn; the foremost of the ghouls is up uncomfortably close to Margaret, who remains undetectable by their senses, able to slip away from the fearsome one who had just struck Mirabelle.
Margaret, for her part, is going to hang back as much as possible, keeping out of the way of the ghouls and clinging to the minutes of invisibility she had. These things were far too smart for her comfort and, that aside, there was nothing she could really do. She specialized in information, and picking up the pieces, after all. Mirabelle was already on the top of her 'to fix' list once this was over though.
Mira couldn't move after the attack. She was in far too much pain to gather a coherent thought either. It would take time for her to come back to her senses.
Freyja was caught off guard by the attack, and gripped at her sword, charging towards the creature before drawing. Thankfully, her shield was always on her off-hand so she could defend without drawing anything.
The blonde was fierce in her approach, and as she drew, she came up into a large slash, before coming right back down on it in hopes assuring multiple attacks to put the thing down.
Shiro put on his ornately decorated lace gloves (his evocation implement, with 4 focus points invested in them), and took a five-foot step towards the doorway. He tightened his concentration, drawing power from his gloves and fired, from his palm, a searing beam of heat and light at the ghoul closest to Mirabelle
Fire.
Then , he ducked back to his previous position.
Seeing the ghoul that attacked Mirabelle practically swarmed by the others as they worked to stop it from doing her any more damage, Keleni turned her eye back through the doorway at the other ghouls that had just awoken. "Looks like you guys are takin' care of that one!!"
Keleni takes aim at one of the ghouls through the doorway.
After taking her shot, Keleni moves further from the doorway.
The particularly fearsome ghoul menacing Mirabelle is struck down by Freyja and Shiro's additional assault, and though she's still paralyzed, she no longer has a creature chomping on her neck. Keleni's shot strikes misses the centermost ghoul in the room by an inch, grazing across its shoulder, which draws an amused laugh from the undead creatures. The ghouls shamble toward the door, but only one is able to fit through it, and with Mirabelle locked down and harmless, it decides to go after Freyja, who's also within reach.
But its teeth fail to penetrate the Paladin's armour.
"Aww, man!" Keleni looks disappointed as her last shot misses her target, and takes aim at it again as it is attacking Freyja.