Roll's for said observing and paying attention to things
Edit:
Upon inspection of the window, he also notes the black-drawn curtains bound to the windows. They're probably meant to stop as much light from reaching the room as possible. Not going to be doing much of that though, since the lower glass pane has been busted through. No glass shards on the sill though.
Why, thank you for the complements. It is important to find humour in the dark, especially in the world we live in.
Listening in on his theory, she continued to nod and exaggerate her interest, which wasn't all that hard, he was leaps and bounds ahead on the subject compared to what she had already seen brief snippets of in her library. Indeed, she was being challenged to actually keep up with the man.
So i happened to notice something, Jar 13-A on the top shelf, it's missing. Also that window up there is broken, there's no glass on the sill either. pointing towards each thing he mentioned.
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As the officer starts arguing with him, then Mr. White chimes in and a quite bizarre dialogue unfolds, Azrael decides to steer away from negotiations for the day.
Accompanying the conpletely not mad scientist to his laboratory, Azrael can't help but sigh to his heart content at Mr. White's dramatic sense.
Once inside, the paladin casually ignores him to investigate the room.
Starting with the strange lightning...
...which seem conpletely and utterly not strange, now that Azrael thinks of it.
The paladin continues with the jars...
... but he gets distracted by the cool and totally not strange lightning again.
Regaining his focus, Azrael inspects the papers on the research table...
... and only finds a sudoku, a love letter and a Tales of The Festival gazetteer.
Running out of things to look at while failing hard, Azrael turns his gaze towards the door...
... and boilstered by the fact that this time he semt unfazed by the lightning, he asks Tes for a quick private chat away from Mr. White.
"Tes, isn't it? I seem conpletely uncapable of understanding anything in this room... would you mind to explain me what was Mr. White doing with the stolen brain? Anything would be of help, Tes." he says...
... but he can't help and get distracted, multiple times, by how cool and totally not strange the lightning is.
More helpfully, she also has a good idea about what he means with his experiment in lay-mans terms, and the implications of it. Mr. White is correct that the extraplanar energies can be brought into this plane. When he mentions that it needs to be controlled however, it seems like he's speaking from practice. And when an opening to the outer plane, the "Astral Fire" is created, there's always the risk that a creature of that world can slip through if that space is large enough. If.
The assistant Jacques gives a small shrug at the proceedings in the room and asks Openheim for permission to leave. The policeman nods, and Jacques begins to leave.
You now, Professor White, a portal of that kind would pose the risk of any matter of creature coming through. She decided on believing that he already knew as much, and imply that it was all part of the plan. How do you plan on binding them? Gwynn asked, raising a single brow knowingly. Extraplanar creatures tend to be a fickle lot, and even when they claim to be at your aid, well... We all hear the stories.
Serephina smiled, but with a slight edge to it. "We aren't exactly a low key group, no, although I'd appreciate you not referring to my colleague like that again, please. I'd still like your thoughts - you know this place and it's security better than I ever will - but I understand why you can't share them."
No, No. It's ok. This is helping.
Lanliss encourages them to keep proposing ideas
Alright, that was out of line. And I apologize as one person to another. But all I have is speculation and leads right now. Leads that only the CPD, officials of a federal level, and those directly affected by this crime are allowed in on. No rule that says other personnel can't try to put their heads together and figure out their own leads, though. And if an officer accidentally confirms this information in some subtle way, well that would be unfortunate. Or if the civilians involved happen to give that information the CPD shared with them out, I suppose the consequences are theirs to deal with. Seems like he's trying to indicate something. Namely, he isn't allowed to help you directly. But everyone "slips" sometimes. He would need an excuse, though.
Um, listen, can you do me a favor? I think Jacques' going to do something really stupid about this. He really looks up to the professor. Can you just keep an eye on him if he starts to show up
Demons... Gwynn repeated. Nasty business, they are. Gwynn pursed her lips. Before I ask that, might I know what you do with those extraplanar entities? Don't you just... Send them back the other side?
She turned her attention back to the investigation at hand. You would be the one to go to for forensics, wouldn't you? Find anything worth a second look?
Serephina nodded slowly. "I understand the position you're in, of course, and admire your integrity. As such, I'm sure you've already noticed the jar 13-A has been smashed, and that whoever did so cut themselves on the glass. I'm also sure you'd have known if that happened before or after this little incident." It seemed very unlikely that it was unrelated, of course, but it would be silly to be chasing a brain that was already disposed of.
Can i ask how long that window up there has been broken?
Sure. Jaques might also have something to add.
Lanliss goes after Jaques.
Almost on cue, Abel’s note about the window directs the officer's attention. Sure enough, there’s a faint wind rippling the drawn curtain over the open pane.
That's interesting. He excuses himself to search the hole in the wall that will almost definitely let in a draft now that the curtains have been unsecured. After a moment in silence with a simple flashlight aimed at the ground outside, he turns around and asks a question.
There's glass on the grass outside. Are any of the files in that table of any worth? I haven't had a chance to look through them because when I got here, I had to spend my morning trying to get the professor to calm down enough to tell me what happened. The implications pass all the way into orbit over John's head.
Oh, goodness. Now, I'll have to double check and triple-check the containers for peace-of-mind. Then I'll have to flush the fluids if the UV rays are too strong. *sigh* Please hurry yourselves. The professor adds.
Lanliss strides over to Jaques.
Hey! Jaques! Do you know anything that might prove useful? Any little bit might help.
Mmm hmm... hummed Gwynn, her tail flicking left and right as she settled on a tone of voice for the next question. Now certainly, there is something about this crime scene that seems a bit odd to you. She said. Notice anything... Out of the ordinary here, perhaps? Something to do with an excess of magic or science? Perhaps both?
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Azrael walks up to Gwynn, trying to follow the conversation. He tries to disguise it, but after failing to notice what his companions had he feels a bit out of place.
Trying to help, the paladin simply says "I do find excess of science and magic around. The only thing I've managed to gather is that the door is too tought to break through and looks in pristine condition. Whoever did it, either had the ways to unlock it or entered by the windows... But the officer has just said there are glass shards on the grass outside.
With a snap of his fingers Azrael concludes "Whoever stole the gooey brain must weither work in the facility or have access to this very room. 'Tis an inside job, pals."
The quarry seems surprised Lanliss followed him. Now that you look at him, Jacques seems pretty well collected much like Tes was, both in seeming contrast to Mr. White. His lab coat is well-pressed, with very shortly shaven hair. Oh. Morning... officer? Terribly sorry, we haven’t been introduced. Jacques pushes his glasses up. His foreign accent is easily heard, yet can't quite be placed. Foreigners are rare in Calweld, but much less so around the time of the Festival. Jacques Mori, sirrah. I have to admit I was disturbed to hear about a break-in. This is supposed to be a place of learning. How should these students feel safe to study? I have difficulty imagining how the professor must be handling this. I don’t have much information, only came in after the incident I’m afraid. Rest assured, I’ll continue to look into the situation myself. I can’t let someone get away with this.[b] Throughout his speech, Jacques keeps a gentle tone to his words as he waits in line for food.
[b]I have an idea though. The church of the Choleric Queen has this peculiar habit of accepting delinquents not that I’m one to talk. Jacques adds the second part with his hands in a surrendering gesture. But, it’s possible that someone there might know of somebody missing an alibi this morning. Or the church may very well have the man we’re looking for.
Oh, I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just tugging on all the strings, is all. Gwynn said. Is this room warded from scrying? Gwynn asked. You don't perhaps think that the divination school of magic has anything to do with this, do you?
Oh, I'm not an officer. I'm a...... well, i don't know how to describe it. The Church of the Choleric Queen, huh? I'll look into that...
Lanliss is able to recognize Jacques' necklace as an aspect of Vaoh, a patron god to, among other things, artists. Other things in this case referring to madmen, blood, and the undead. The gun-wizard can rest assured though, the vast majority of worshipers that follow Vaoh fall into the "creative mind" category. Even still, the association with such a nefarious side to the deity gives a lot of folks reason to closet their reverence.
Private investigator, perhaps? I hope it proves to be a useful lead for you. It's the only place I can think of. Now if you'll excuse me, it's chicken noodle day. He turns back to face the front of the line.
Gwynn, once the conversation was over, quietly excused herself from conversation and met up with her group. Anything? She asked. I've got some signs of potential extraplanar activity, but it's a weak lead without some more evidence to back it up.
Let us put what we know together, and then begin discussion from there. Compile and restate, for investigative purposes.
Well, this is what I got:13-A was the brain of a poor soul who practiced divination,and who was diagnosed with mania and schizophrenia. Jacques thinks the Church of the Choleric Queen might have something to do with it.
Who ever was involved, most likely left through the window. Glass outside of it confirms someone left from inside and in a rush.
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I can try an object reading. Gwynn suggested. All I need is something that you think might be relavent to the case and I can find out some things about the object's last user.
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The papers, or the glass, would be the best.
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"Glass does seem likely," Serephina agreed.
It's like reading into an object's past, only it doesn't go so far back in time, and it only shows the last user's imprint. Even then, details tend to be... Vague. She picks up a shard of glass. See if you can get any more evidence from the others. This will only take a minute.
The events only transpire over the course of about ten seconds.
Gwynn sees through the eyes of someone breathing heavily.
He's run quite a distance evidently. The runner stops at the door to this lab she and her allies stand in currently. First he tries the handle to no avail. Next, he places his hands in the pattern of a diamond on the door. The space between his gloves opens a magical window from which you can see into the room. The thief steps back, and in an instant, he appears in the room, Gwynn shares his momentary disorientation.
You see him take off a backpack adorned in a fiery color-scheme. He pulls the jar labelled "13-A" off of the shelf in a hurried manner. In his haste, the jar cracks on the way to his bag. He exhales sharply, before a sigh of relief that the whole thing wasn't destroyed. The bag is obviously magical, since the jar seems to stop leaking inside it. Next, a gentle knock is heard on the door. In a rekindled panic, the man pulls the curtain from the window.
There the vision ends, spiritual connection fades from the shard.
And another thunderclap bellows as a reminder of the rain.
So? What did you see?
Gwynn explains to everyone what she just saw, and then wonders aloud, None of us knows what was in 13-A, do we? She asked.
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Lanliss rolls his eyes and chuckles. He says in jest:
It's not like I told you this literally a few minutes ago...
He countinues:
It was a brain of a diviner. They were diagnosed with mania and schizophrenia.
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"Wait, wait... the suspect had a backpack adorned with a fiery color-scheme? That seems extremely useful for us, specially if you can remember any more details about it." says Azrael "If it is a custom backpack, we could track the thief. I suggest we start with the employees, then the students that have access to this building. Anotjer clue may be the liquid with which the jar is filled, as well as the jar itself. The uspect might try to procure himself replacements if the jar cracked."
Gwynn explains to everyone what she just saw, and then wonders aloud, None of us knows what was in 13-A, do we? She asked.
Oh yeah. Must have been think of someone- er- thing else. Gwynn said with a thin smile, then turned to her bird friend. What do you think, Kek'ra? She asked. Any ideas?
She turned to Azrael and pat him on the back. You're a genius, Az, don't let anyone tell you different.
Huh. The officer only half-forms his expression as a question when the Psychic begins to converse with the non-visible entity.
Gwynn stares at a pancreas for a couple seconds in silence.
Serephina nodded to Az, impressed, and tried to think where those kinds of medical supplies could be procured. It wasn't a simple matter of finding a big jar, after all.
But you have been watching, right? Gwynn asked the pancreas. Probably better to list what's not weird at this point. She said.
Lanliss stares at the pancreas.
Huh.
Lanliss looks at the shelf, looking for evidence of liquid, either dried up or wet.
"The Theif could get the materials at Sacred Heart, but unless they're a healer there themselves it's unlikely they'll be given them." Of course, Serephina knew there were plenty of ways around that - theft and bribery being the obvious.
Ashtoreth, huh? She said to the pancreas. Huh... Now that I think about it... Maybe.
She turns her gaze from Kek'ra/ her friend, the pancreas, and asks the group. What do you blokes think? There a nearby church 'round here? Perhaps a splinter cult?
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Azrael meditates the name. Astoreth? That name sure rings some bells...
... must be the door's bells. Azrael doesn't remember any specific detail about Astoreth beyond ommon knowledge, he does remember the Choleric Queen do like parrows. Perhaps he remembers a church or praising place in the city...
... could it be real? Maybe the cult is no more, the paladin has been a lot of time out of town.
The paladin turns to the rest while he waits for his memory to clear. "The Sacred Heart... that would be a good starting point. Despite what you say, the suspect may not need access, if what you saw is true he can create some kind of portal or dimensional door." meditates Azrael with a serious face "Speaking of which, I propose the following course of action. We can split and follow the lead here and at the Sacred Heart. The group that stay could investigate the backpack, which if it has been shown in public, sure has left an impression. But most importantly, the thief's abilities... we are in a college of sorts, we shouldn't disregard the possibility that our suspect has shown his abilities to others, be it to impress his peers or flirt with the ladies. A true professional wouldn't do suxh a stupid thing, but once again, a true professional wouldn't freak out and hastily break through the window the moment he hears anybody coming."
"Even if small, we can give it a shot. I'd rather stay and gather information around, so if you all agree with splitting, who stays and who goes to the Sacred Heart?"