.
Yelisaveta pushes the servitor's hand as it tries to escort her out. "No touching, filth.", she says, clearly in a bad mood as she leaves. "Are those things... gone?", she asks the adept, fingers drumming on the wall. "I need to have a serious discussion with the ones in charge, but first, I'd like to see what's in that room before those pasty сволоч f&&+ it up completely.", she mentions, casually feeding rounds into her shotgun.
"And you? What's your business here?", she asks the soldiers, a charming smile appearing on her face.
Stunned, the guardsmen stare flabbergasted at Alekseevna.
"There's an armed woman still inside!" One of the guardsmen stammers into his comm-bead. "And at least one casualty!"
Those of you are outside see another knot of guardsmen arriving; in their center you see the scare-crow figure of Head Mourner Greel, who is gesturing furiously in your direction.
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Ok. A minor revision. Alekseevna is not remaining inside, but is also clearly not yielding up her weapon.
The Guardsmen, confused, are backing away from Alekseevna.
"Seize them all! " Mourner Greel shouts, and a few more guardsmen begin warily approaching you.
Konstantine: Before you step into the hall, you quickly rifle through the pockets of the jackets hung in the closet. There is a holo-flimsy (photograph) in the one of the pockets, which unfortunately you only have a few moments to look at, before you join your fellows in the hall: it is of some kind party or salon, held in opulently decorated quarters.
Yelisaveta lowers her shotgun, and slowly draws an authorititative look towards the guardsmen.Look at them. Armed to the teeth, and cowards to their very bone. She waves her had dismissively at them, then lowers the shotgun, grabbing it in one hand. "Mourner Greel. I would like an explanation as to why,", she says, taking a small step forward to look at the man, "in the name of Holy Terra, are those men pointing weapons towards us?" She sighs, rolling her eyes, putting the shotgun on her shoulder.
"We found blood on the walls, and I suggested to my retinue it would serve us well to know what caused it. I went to where the blood led, and was concerned with the well-being of Vhymer and Quill." She chuckles. "Or, since those two were scum, wanted to make sure that if something killed them, it didn't come for us next." She reaches down to pat down and fix her cocktail dress. "Believe me, Mourner, if I had planned to start a ruckus, I'd have worn something much more suitable. That thing is made to draw attention, not stop bullets." She sends a disarming smile at one of the guards, then glances back at the head mourner. "Might I make you a counter offer? I have no intention to let any grubby servitor, or someone who's afraid of a girl in a dress", she gives a condescending look to a shaking guardsman, "touch me or my friends, but I could invite you over to our quarters, where I would be happy to treat you to a drink and a thorough explanation. Your guardians can obviously accompany you, and if afterwards you still share your sentiments on seizing us, I'll come willingly." As if.
She slowly lowers the shotgun, staring at the guardsman closest to her, then leans on it. "Does that seem fitting, Mourner? My feet are killing me."
Konstantine keep shis face neutral. Or as much as possible, no need t o shed blood of those who do not know the nature of their mission, and who are clearly simply doing their job
Emerik regretted putting down his guns.
Mourner Greel sneers at you, but before he can speak again, another voice interjects; calm and forceful.
"This unfortunate violence did not originate with these guests,"Master Nonesuch has appeared in the hall. "Quill and Vhymer had forced themselves into my room. They brutally subdued my servants and were laying in wait for me there; they extorted certain 'promises' from me, and then left. It is the blood of my unfortunate servants that they left on the wall."
Thank you for your honesty in this matter Master Nonesuch. Turning her gaze and stepping beside Yelisevata and addressing the mourners and guards. Your attention will be better focused on the real culprits and not the victims. So unless you intend to escalate this further and risk your own lives in vain, you have work to do and we an auction to prepare for. I am sure the security of your esteemed guests is paramount, if word spread of this intrusion and abduction, I don't imagine there being much an auction and who do you think will bear the blame? If you want answers, I suggest you begin with the Abbot, I saw him and his men armed and leaving before the party ended, they headed in this direction.
Mourner Greel stares at Master Nonesuch, who's returns his stare, unblinking.
"I want full statements from everyone!" Mourner Greel rages. "Guardsmen! Search all the guest quarters!"
Guardsmen obediently file into Vhymer's and Quill's room.
A few minutes later they make their report: "Two men, dead: it looks like they've been shot up pretty badly!
"Dead? Well, they were still moving when we left them."
The guardsmen look incredulous.
"You'll excuse me, but that's a little difficult to believe; from all the bullet wounds in the two!
Greel, a Servitor following closely stalks into the room.
.
The Guardsmen are letting you collect your weapons, but they're separating you, so they can question you separately.
A very shaken Cisten, and Whent, also pale and uneasy, are also being questioned by the guards.
Konstantine keeps his calm as he follows the one who is suppose to take him to be questioned
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So individually you're taken out to the Great Hall, and, with a Servitor Skull hovering in front of you, auspex lenses shining in the shadowed pits of its empty orbits; you're asked to describe what happened in Quill's and Vhymer's room.
Was the door to the room locked? You gathered your weapons before you entered? You went straight to your rooms from the reception? Did you meet or see anyone on the way? You are quite certain that two men were animated corpses, they were quite dead even as they did attack you? Did you see or hear any birds in the room?
"Someone else opened the door - I don't recall its status. I was already armed. We went straight there from the reception. I saw no one else. I emptired two clips into each of them and they didn't even acknowledge it, so they were either undead of Marines. I do not recall any birds." Emerik answered the questions in the monotone he usually reserved for especially dim senior officers.
One nagging doubt haunts the back of your minds: you had left the reception before Master Nonesuch, yet now he claims that Vhymer and Quill confronted him in his rooms, before they returned to their own room, where you fought their grotesquely animated corpses. Nonesuch is clearly lying, and Greel has stupidly over-looked this deceit, or is letting it go for his own inscrutable reasons.
"or simply possessed but still living - though the distinction between possession of the living or dead is of little note. Once the body is corrupted by demonic possession it may as well be dead." Allrianne considers the new information and whether this is a matter for confrontation or later investigation.
She looks towards Alekseevna, her head seems better for judging the room.
Yelisaveta walks out, pulling her arm away from anyone who attempts to grab her, though she makes a show of emptying her shotgun's magazine on the ground, and showing it to the guardsmen. "There. Happy?", she lashes out snarkily, before leaning the shotgun on the wall and crossing her arms. She considers pushing the servoskull aside, then settles for staring at the guard intently. "Do you need that floating junk-pile?"
"Was the door locked? What kind of a f#~!ing stupid question is that? If you're out to kill someone, in his room, you enter, and then lock the door." She sighs, checking her broken fingernail, and grimacing. "Have you never investigated a crime before?"
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"No, дурак, I was planning to stop the attackers with my peerless knowledge of high court fashion. If I had more than a minute to grab my gun, I'd have put on some actual armour.", she continues, tapping on the wall. "How long is this going to take?"
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"We went straight to the rooms, yes. I wanted to change. Which I still do, by the way." I suppose it shouldn't be surprising they can't tell the difference between a lady and someone else. They probably can't tell their mother and sister apart. She smiles. "Cisten and Whent, we checked on them first. We thought that was their room, actually. Didn't see anyone else on the way."
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She crosses her arms, then points a finger towards the shotgun, a fake smile appearing on her face. "Now, let's work on that. You saw me empty six bullets from the magazine.", she says, slowly raising her hands in the air. "See, that's how much six is." She scoffs. "That is a shotgun used by the Adeptus Arbites. The pellets are the size of your eyeball. If I was to shoot you, in your armour from here, once, your guts will be all over the wall behind you, and there'll be a hole big enough to store your empty head in." She purses her lips, taking away a piece of Quill from her forearm. "I fired eight of those into an unarmoured body, and it stayed alive. Eight is more than one, if you are wondering." She sighs. "If you want more details on that, ask my friend with the bolter. The angry lady with the bolter."
She pouts, then turns to look away. Why did Nonesuch lie? I doubt he's a honourable man, or he wouldn't be here. I doubt it's because he likes us, since he doesn't seem like the sentimental type. He had the chance to knock us out of the bargain, and sure he's noticed that there's not all that many people with our funding here. She sends a look towards one of the guard, then puffs up a strand of hair. So, what's his game? If he wants to have us as allies, he might've said that earlier. If he wants to use us, or have us in his debt, he's hilariously mistaken. Though, how did he get here? She stares at her arms, fixing her jewelry. So, I suppose we wait and see how and if he approaches us.
She looks at the guard. "Oh, you mentioned birds." She ponders. "That's oddly specific. It was loud, obviously, but I heard something weird. Birds sound different, though, can you describe the cry you thought we might've heard?", she asked the other guard.
You heard an eerie bird call towards the end of the reception: which seemed to disturb Abbot Tamas, who left shortly after. Some one identified the bird-sound as belonging to a carrion bird, the Shale Crow, a native of the planet Iocanthos.
They take your statements, in the bored and disdainful manner of professional lawmen the whole sector over.
After everyone is make a statement, Greel stalks over.
Greel: "Everyone will be confined to their rooms until tomorrow's viewing!"
Through the press of the crowd, you notice Abbot Tamas: he appears to be watching Master Nonesuch carefully.
Quill and Vhymer, or their mortal remains, are carted off.
Curious, did you see a guardsmen leaving their room with a bag full of black feathers.
Once you're back in your room, Konstantine fishes out the photograph he snatched.
Again, it seems to be some revelers, in a dim, well apportioned room.
.
As you file into your room you see that a servitor skull is doing a circuit patrol of the outer hallway.
Sister Jasmine does as instructed, keeping the mission in mind for now.
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There, in the background of the picture, a bland smile on his waxy lips, a fluted glass in one hand, half-turned towards the photographer, is Master Nonesuch.
"Well, that could have gone better." Allrianne curls up in a chair, "I should not have blanked like that, I apologise. I will practice my techniques of mental focus."
Allrianne seems shaken up, she'd thought she had control of her fear, instead it had proven it still had a grip on her in the last battle.
Yelisaveta sends a scornful look at Mourner Greel as confinement is mentioned. "If you insist on treating us like criminals, I have nothing more to say. We'll respect your ... decision", she swallows an expletive, retrieving her shotgun from the ground with a swift motion, then heads into the room.
Once inside, she ventures to her part of the room, changing into more comfortable wear. "Idiots.", she mutters to herself, as she takes a seat. "Don't sweat it, Allrianne, darling.", she answers, staring at the wall. "So what is Master Nonesuch planning? If he's planning on us going more relaxed with him, I'm afraid that's not going to happen.", she says to the room, as she stands up and starts pacing around. "I think tomorrow we'd need to talk to him. I think we already strained the mourner's patience for today."
"Agreed, as much as I'd like to take a look around, I doubt we can leave without alerting someone, and upsetting out hosts further makes our work more difficult"
Having said this Allrianne doesn't like being caged, and paces the suite, looking for alternative exits. If there are windows accessible she will take a look outside for handholds/climbing routes.
Emerik relaxed, unconcerned. It wasn't the first time he'd been in a stockade. He had no desire to pace away the strength he might need later, so he rested.
Alekseevna, if you see the filched photograph, please make a Scrutiny test (+10).
"What's that, darling?", Yelisaveta asks, taking a long look at the picture. Her eyes study the picture curiously, her finger tapping on her lips.
"Well, well, well...", she smirks, having spotted something quite peculiar. "What have we here?"
Alekseevna thinks that the picture was taken on Malfi, some ten to fifteen years ago ("Those tri-corn hats were all the fashion there then").
Strangely enough though, it doesn't appear that Master Nonesuch has aged at all since then.
"Just didnt want them to see it before we could discuss this further" he says as he hands her the picture
"No need to tip our hand too early in the game"
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Alekseevna studies the picture some more, feels old memories stir.
The young noble to the left, black and gold doublet, isn't that Vashall Umbard? Some seven years he was exposed as a major player in the Malfian Cold Trade; driving his space yacht into Malfi Prime before the Inquisition could apprehend him.
It was rumored among the Conclave that he was only the Syndicate's public face; who was really behind the Operation was never know.
Yelisaveta frowns, taking the picture in hand and drumming her fingers nervously on the table. "So we have evidence... or at least a strong, strong suspicion...", she mutters, as she continues drumming, "that Master Nonesuch is in the Cold Trade, and dealing with dangerous Xeno artefacts... He hasn't changed one bit for more than a decade..."
She looks around. "Hm. We should open up a bottle. We might have a lot of thinking to do.", she says, crossing her legs elegantly and continuing to stare at the photograph. "Vhymer and Quill... They were moving until someone went to investigate... Almost as if there was someone puppeteering them, rather that just... waking them up, don't you think?" She huffs in annoyance. "I say we speak with Master Nonesuch the first chance we have. Maybe I could get him talking while someone slips in his room and investigates?" She fixes her hair, and smiles. "I think I can keep a man distracted for long enough."
"That sounds like a sound plan, as long as we do not make a mess of things, i believe this can work" he nods in agreement
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I will help search his quarters, for I have no desire to entertain a man for that long. she says with a wink to Yelisaveta. We need to plan where you will distract him and for how long, as well as subtle language signals we can use to communicate in a hurry.
So, having decided on a plan of action, albeit a slight one, you retire.
Your sleep is fitful, your dreams full of black wings and gunfire.
The soft chimes of the room's auto-desk wakes you several hours later.
An unarmed servitor brings you a simple break-fast: filling, but not particularly savory.
The showing of the 'catalog' is in the same statuary garden as where the formal reception was held, the night before.
when you arrive you find the whole area has been cordoned off by gun-servitors and guardsmen.
Greel is standing just outside the gauntlet that you will have to pass to get inside.
Greel: "You may take nothing more than a data slate past this point!"
Leaving the room, Yelisaveta gives one last glance at her look, and straightens down her dress.
She sends a smile at Greel, pulling out a data slate. "Would you mind if I take my purse, too?", she asks, pointing at her purse, the size of a man's hand. "You can look inside, if you insist.", she adds with a surrendering sigh.
"So, did you find out what happened? With the...", she looks around cautiously. "Bodies." She puts a hand on her chin, clearly interested, then as an answer is given or not, she walks towards the rest.
"I'll take care of the auction, and keep him distracted after it. Keep in touch. I'll let you know if someone is coming your way. Any objections?", she asks, tapping her lips.
"Ready and able. Get this little problem sorted out post haste" he nods
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With no obvious way of smuggling out twinned assault rifles, Emerik left his weapons in the room. He kept his armour on unless someone objected.