Median responds to Joseph
<Interesting thought. Could be object teleportation of some sort. Although, the security system seems fairly low-tech. Would the motion sensors even pick up someone with invisibility quietly putting something under their cloak? Of course, if the doors are locked, they'd have to be incorporeal as well... but magic could do for both... invisible, and then maybe turn into a gas cloud to get under a door or through a crack. Hmm... interesting.>
Out loud she says to the curator
(raising her hand)
Curator, this is a fascinating mystery. I was wondering if you could tell us more. I'm Median Mazwell... you may have heard of me. I'm an author and paranormal researcher. Do you perhaps have a list of items that have been stolen thus far? Perhaps some of us... myself and a few of my friends and research assistants here... could take a look at such a list and perhaps find a clue about what connects these items and what the thieves are after. It would be fascinating research for my next novel.
"The missing items? Hmmm. An old book written in a code we have never been able to decipher, although the story is that it was a miner's journal that had not iron but gold in the mountains. Unlikely, but there are excerpts online for people to try and crack the code, yes?"
The curator considered. "Second was a gown worn by the mayor of Fever's second wife, it is said. A particularly intricate piece, and terribly delicate." He sighed sadly. "I fear that moving it carelessly has probably damaged it so."
"The final is a tapestry. Quite large, too. It has a poem woven into an image of Fever's founding, although we don't seem to have a record of what it says. Odd?"
Looking to Median, the curator said, "I had thought you were attempting to catch the perpetrator? A shame. I suppose I can help you with some research instead, if you prefer."
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"Median Maxwell? I know that name..." Solomon ponders to himself for a moment, thoughtfully tapping his cane on the floor. The small sound echoes unreasonably, soon ironically disturbing him from this thoughts. With a slight frown he determines to resolve that question another time.
"Pardon my manners. I am Doctor Daniel Solomon. I teach biology at the university here in Fever. I and my family are also patrons of this fine establishment." He quickly surveys the fresh faces around him to ensure they are duly impressed. "As such, the news of these disappearances has been most upsetting. I intend to investigate the matter personally."
Without waiting for a reaction, he turns away from the others and stares intently into the display case bearing the cup and sword. Yet his mind wanders further than this, into books, tales, and memories of Fever spanning decades, centuries, more.
Looking to Median, the curator said, "I had thought you were attempting to catch the perpetrator? A shame. I suppose I can help you with some research instead, if you prefer."
"Look. We're both trying to find who did it," the big guy butts in. "But I'll admit, I'm temporarily stumped."
"Pardon my manners. I am Doctor Daniel Solomon. I teach biology at the university here in Fever. I and my family are also patrons of this fine establishment." He quickly surveys the fresh faces around him to ensure they are duly impressed. "As such, the news of these disappearances has been most upsetting. I intend to investigate the matter personally."
Joseph looks down at Median's face, making a face of his own, as if to say, Who the fu<k is that guy?!
Joseph looks down at Median's face, making a face of his own, as if to say, Who the [redacted] is that guy?!
<He's just trying to get information, as we are> Median responded to Joseph telepathically.
<The curator seems like the outlier to me. Just because the information could be useful for research doesn't mean that we couldn't use it to solve the case. I was trying to get people behind the idea of solving it as a group, but instead he dismissed me as a hack. ... More power to the doctor if the curator respects him and he is more successful at approaching the problem. Solving the mystery is the important thing.>
Median moves behind the case with the cup, putting it between herself and the curator and letting other people command his attention, but still keeps an eye on the cup and listens in telepathically to the group, trying to put the disparate pieces together. She pulls up the internet on her phone to see if she can find any pictures of the old book / miner's journal and get an idea of what the code looked like.
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"When where they stolen? Specifically."
Jennifer stands slightly apart from the crowd, but not too far away to hear. She was fine just listening while the others pried for information, but nobody was asking this very obvious question.
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"Interesting, I had no idea things had been stolen from the museum. Do you have any idea who would commit such a heinous crime against the rich cultural history of Fever?"
"Hmm, let me see. They were stolen three, nine and fourteen days ago, respectively. The 'why', I would assume, is either a dark arcane ritual to steal the protection from the town and allow evil creatures to run rampant, or money."
"A patron?" The curator's eyes lit up in something akin to curiosity. "Excellent. That certainly helps the situation."
Chuckling at the curator's remark, Nurai started to move away as the conversation dug into details on the stolen items.
As much as she loved a good huddle up, she trusted anything important would be passed to her in time and having so many people's attention on the curator could give her and her shadows space to do their own kind of investigating. The kind that involved getting into one of her favourite kinds of places - dark and out of the way.
She moved as she looked around the exhibit for someplace out of the way enough for her ping for a few minutes without too much disturbance from more human guests, dark enough for her shadows to spread out and get a better feel without too much notice or risk of humans stepping on them, yet close enough to detect the more curious items and people - like the curator.
Ross notices Nurai slipping away and says to her, "Mind if I join you? Not the best at the whole, eh, people thing. Besides, I think we might have some connections to a certain alternate dimension in common."
Speaking into Joseph's mind, Median says
<Do you know Celestial? If so, pull up internet images of the Miner's Journal that was stolen. Looks like Celestial to me, but maybe in some sort of code or subdialect?>
Cursing internally, Joe was still getting used to mental communication. The big guy turned away from the curator to access his phone, and a minute or so to find the pictures Median talked..I mean thought about.
<Got it. And yes, that is some kind of Celestial script.>
<Got it. And yes, that is some kind of Celestial script.>
<Nothing you can read though?>
<Hmm. May take a few days. Obvious consonants and vowels that usually go together aren't. I'll bookmark this page for later.>
While telepathically communicating, the image of Median dressed as a 'sexy Velma' blinks into Joe's mind, where he quickly mentally brushes it away.
<Sorry about that.> Joe projected sheepishly.
Once everyone wanders off, Salim repeats his desire to hear about spooky tales to tell in the dark.
"I entertain children, you see, and I'm always looking for new stories and tricks to add to my repertoire!"
"Hmm..." Solomon considers the curator's words, then turns back towards him and the others. "Would you allow me to access the inventory catalogue? I'd like to review whatever documentation you have on those pieces." His eyes explore the room distantly, his mind obviously preoccupied with something further from view. "And is this exhibit the sum of your remaining articles relating to the history of Fever?"
He leans his cane against the wall long enough to fish a small notepad from his pocket and jot down a few notes.
Missing miner's journal - gold mine? arcanum?
Missing gown - fragile make, mayor's wife
Missing tapestry - unknown inscription (poem)
Nurai turned her welcoming smile back to Ross as she looked up from her work.
Softly as to not interrupt the others, "Speaking of, there doesn't seem a trace of it in this exhibit yet - other than us. Let's check another exhibit...
She moved quietly along the edges of the room as best she could, her shadows going up the nearest exhibit & wall to avoid others steps as they looked for the next exhibit to explore.
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"The whole catalogue? No, I fear not. As you might imagine it would be rather awkward to show that to strange people in the middle of a crime spree and showing every valuable item we have, yes?" He considered for a moment. "The files on the items stolen should be possible. It's not like they're at a risk at being stolen more."
Nurai and Jospeph moved out of this wing and towards the next exhibition, an art gallery showing the work of local artists and painters. A quick glance around did show that one space was suspiciously bare.
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To extract himself from his 'mental faux pas', the big guy walks to the next exhibition. It looks like a lots of local artist's work. Noticing the huge blank space on the wall, Joe looks for some sign or plaque of what was there originally.
Solomon nods to the curator. "That should be all I need, thank you." He gestures with his hand for the curator to lead the way, then casts one last look back at the odd assembly of others. "I hope they don't get in the way." He thinks with furrowed brow. A number of criticisms drift across his mind as he considers them, but ultimately he waves off the thought and simply hopes they'll be gone when he returns.
Median takes some notes, including that she needed to study the images of the miner's journal more thoroughly. She continues to listen to the thoughts of those around her, trying to pick up on anything unusual, although she specifically filters out Joseph's strange Scooby Doo imagery, knowing it isn't what she is looking for.
Ross nods, following along with Nurai.
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Once everyone wanders off, Salim repeats his desire to hear about spooky tales to tell in the dark.
"I entertain children, you see, and I'm always looking for new stories and tricks to add to my repertoire!"
"..this most sacred of sites?" Joseph said to himself. "What the Hell's going on here?"
Median walks over to the woman who asked when the items were stolen.
Are you looking into these thefts as well? Perhaps we could share information? I'm Median.
Nurai lingered near the interesting pieces - and the interesting bare spot. She moved along slowly as the man from before came into the gallery.
She continued to admire the beautiful craftmanship as she made her way to a far corner. She turned to Ross, warm and quiet.
"Bit awkward with others around - I hope you agree this is an issue worth looking into with me. I'd appreciate any help you can give. When I start talking to myself or they...that's just us working - as much as I'd prefer not, but these things happen. If you want to see the best of Fever, gotta plug a few holes in it and find some of its secrets first."
Nurai shrugged with a conspiratorial laugh, the darkness behind her rolling up the wall. She turned her attention to finding the next place to start casting or any potential concerning signs...
"Oh, yes! You'd be surprised how often I get asked to tell a spooky story. Especially around Halloween." Salim encourages the curator.
He's really making me work for it. This story had better be good.
Ross nods to Nurai.
”I agree with you there. Theft is less of a concern to me as the Twilight is. Or, well, I suppose it’s my friend’s issue more than mine.”
As he talks, shadowy snippets of text etch themselves on the air around the two people, spelling out, It quickly dissipates.
Ross pinches the bridge of his nose, ”God. Well I guess you’ve met Zaoth now. It’s a long story but, well, he’s usually in the background. Sometimes he takes the forefront. If we’re really in a tight spot, he can help out.”
He’s quiet, not quite sure what to say next, ”Anyway, let’s see what there is to see.”
Ross pokes around the exhibit, trying to get a feel for any places where the Twilight is particularly strong.
Nodding to Salim, he said, "Well, I'm afraid you'll need to spice it up for your clientele. I am not much of a storyteller. But there is a story that one of the artifacts has a ghost within it. Yet, we don't know which one. Many of our exhibits were granted to us when this building opened, and thus there are literally hundreds of choices. And thus the night guards have seen several strange things. People where there should be none. We've even had some, ah, strange effects on the camera. Nothing that would prove ghosts, of course? But strange, none the less. We've, ah, always wanted to investigate? But time, and budget, and the PR nightmare of acknowledging it."
Median looked from Jennifer to this new voice.
Hello Jacob. That's an interesting approach by the police, especially when it seems like things are continuing to go missing. I suggest you hire someone to look into it for you, or your whole collection is going to walk off. If the police aren't going to protect your interests, then you should find someone else. Who on your staff has examined these items by the way? Does someone on staff have notes about the missing items, or pictures? I pulled pictures of the miner's journal up. Looks like Celestial, but there is also some sort of code. Perhaps these items are all pieces of a larger puzzle, and that is why they are being stolen?
Median looks back towards the sword and cup, just to make sure they are still there.
Salim strokes his beard.
"You know, I'm considered something of an occultist in town; perhaps you've heard of my shop, the Sanctum Obscuri? I would be willing to investigate for you, if you like."
Nurai's conspiratorial smile grew. She nodded at the introduction as her attention returned to Ross. "I look forward to hearing the story later." she said before she walked towards the darker parts of the gallery.
The shadows behind her stretching out as they slowly investigated, their summoner starting to murmur in a pleasant vibration. As the auras of magic became clearer, they cringed and shrunk closer to Nurai.
Her smile lessened as she started to feel the pain of the leak. If this was intentional, someone had been rather heartless. It also broke several interdimensional laws which she could pull out oh her pocket if she found them, but that concerned Nurai less than the damage done and risks this caused.
The question now was healing this or at least getting it into a better state to heal itself better - something Nurai wasn't entirely confident in her abilities to do - and whether to focus on that now or to look at the rest of the damage in this place first.
The unseen forces trailed behind Ross, many unseen fingers, none shaped like those of human's, trailing across exhibit plaques and displays. Eldritch beings, it seems, have a fondness for dioramas.
As he gets closer to the rifts into the Twilight, Zaoth's voice echoes in his head,
Ross does his best to contain the being that pulses within his head, Zaoth's will beating against Ross's brain like a mallet on a drum.
Alright then, Z. If you know anything about how to close these up, tell me.
Sure, I'm interested. I was going to do the research anyway, but you know... in between other things. If you hire me, I'll focus on it. There are other people here that can help as well.
She indicates Jennifer, who she is standing beside, so has heard all of this, and then she says
Nurai and Joseph who were here earlier would also be helpful. A team will help you much more than an individual.
As the curator seems delayed, Solomon decides to leave him to his business and check back later if needed. Yet he lingers nearby, hardly anything to do besides a bit of divining. And, naturally, listening to other peoples' conversations. Hopefully the former would prove as enlightening as the latter.
He takes a deep, slow breath and releases, his eyes almost closing as he faces towards an exhibit. His mind moves from within to without, slowly feeling the area around him.
** spoiler omitted **
"It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a few extra "night watchmen" in case the scoundrels come back, eh? We can alert the authorities if nothing else."
Joseph pulls out his phone once more and does a internet search on [The Founding of Fever Painting], to see if there's a picture online.
Next is a ritual. It's not simple, taking time and some unusual ingredients. And doing it on a whole building would be impressive. But it is doable.
Finally, time will heal what's happened here all on it's own. The damage here is not irreparable. But it won't take much to change that.
Joe shakes his head to clear it. Something about that picture was wrong! Hit with a dead end, the big guy walks back to Median.
"Anything new?"
Median indicates Jacob the Curator
This guy is offering us jobs. Want to track down the thieves?
Joe's eyes widen at the prospect, then looks into the face of the curator and extends his hand. "Uh, Joseph Zaidel. Graduate of Michigan State University. At your service. Um Median and I are on the case!"
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Jennifer nods and joins Median when she indicates her as a candidate for a watchman, but doesn't say anything.
Ross says softly to Nurai, ”Seems there’s a few ways to close these holes. If something tore them, killing it should do the trick. If not, there’s a ritual we can perform, though it might be tricky. We could also wait, see if they heal on their own. That seems like the worst option.”
Nurai nodded, "Usually is, and there are probably more of them, done as roughly and...let's see if we can find more. Maybe there will be a pattern that can help us find the cause. Which exhibit would you like to check out next? She tried to add more cheer to her question as she energetically motioning beyond this local artist gallery.
"Yes. I'm with her," Jennifer indicates Nurai.
"Do you have any guesses who is behind the thefts?"