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"No, they did not let me keep my badge, of course", Daren replied. Upon seeing Wikvaya's initiative, Daren comments: "Pretend like we're supposed to be here in the first place? Seems like as good a plan as we can do here." He then started walking faster, to catch up to Wikvaya. Hopefully the guards would see him, and his attire, first, and just assume he was one of them, and meant to be there. He'd heard of many cases of people being tricked simply because they didn't bother to ask anything.
Daren turns to face Elsdon, failing to hide a smirk. "I never expected you, of all people, to care about your reputation. If you've been trying to keep it clean, let me tell you you've been doing a horrible job." "And yes, Wikvaya", he continued, "you're absolutely right. We can't really plan our actions ahead if we don't even know who we're dealing with, so getting some info, anything at all, should be our first priority. El seems keen on checking out the crime scene, and I think that's one of our less bad leads too. We're grasping a bit here." "And again, thank you for the meal. It was absolutely delightful. And thank you for your assistance as well. While it may not appear much, the information you gave us may just be the turning point in our investigation. Daren takes the note with Faleal's address, reads it quickly, then hands it to Elsdon.
"No new heads, nor wings. Sorry if I disappointed you. It did feel a bit strange on the mouth, though. Nothing like I ever had before." Daren then played with his glass a bit, while he took some time to reflect on the words he heard. "No, not Simic cultist ale, El. The ale was made by people from the main part of the guild. The tattoo is from the cult. Different things." He adjusted himself on his seat, so that he was better positioned to address everyone. "I remember reading something about that, I think. The Simic apparently started out as a druidic group before they turned into what we know them as today. They've been going back to those old traditions a bit, lately. I guess there are some who don't think that's enough."
"Yes, sure, replied Daren as he reached out for the piece of paper, and unfolded it. "Here they are." He hands the paper to Gery, then after a bit of thought requests a bit of the Simic ale. He wasn't much of a fan of reckless experimentation, but experimenting death and living to tell the tale changes one's views of that.
"Please excuse my companion here, said Daren. He's from the outskirts tribes. Hasn't been here in the city for long.
"As my friend said, my name's Daren Nalavor", Daren said politely. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. I don't really have anything to add to Elsdon's story, that's the gist of it. Thank you for your hospitality."
Daren was annoyed by the delay, at first, determined to look at the crime scene as he was, but the chase, especially his fight with the brick wall, left him exhausted, and he was only now noticing it, as his adrenaline levels went back to normal. His stomach grumbled for a few seconds. "I don't see why not. I could use some food right now. I'm starving." That said, Daren went into contemplation. This would be his first meal after coming back from the dead. Might as well make it a good one, he thought.
"Money's a good bet", said Daren as he relaxed his arms a bit after stopping, but still holding the tengu firmly. "Pixies can fetch a good price in the black market."
"Yes, let's", whispered back Daren, propping up the tengu he was grappling with and shooting a glance at Wikvaya, to take care of the other one. As he began dragging the tengu back to where they came from, he pulled Elsdon close to him, and whispered "Just so you know, regular patrolmen don't actually have the forms for filing claims. Azorius deals with that, and you have to go to an office to file it. But nice bluff. Just keep that in mind next time."
Daren is surprised, but reacts quickly. He throws himself on the tengu holding the bag, and attempts to pin him to the ground and prevent him from moving.
Daren sees Wikvaya and keeps running in the same direction, until he sees himself faced with a large crowd. Still frustrated, he doesn't even attempt to evade them, and simply keeps running straight ahead, though them. He knocks people down on the floor around him indiscriminately, but manages to make it through.
In this whole city, they couldn't find a decent brick layer... Daren continues his grumbling, but it is incomprehensible after this point, even to himself. He tries to jump over the wall another time, though he looks defeated through the whole thing, and his movements are visibly not as sharp.
Daren manages to leap over the wall almost effortlessly, even though he wasn't exerting much effort in the first place, defeated as he was. He stops for a while, incredulous about his success, then resumes the chase.
Daren punches the ground in frustration, lets out a yell, then gets up and eaps onto the wall once more, a curse in his mouth ready to get out should things go as before.
And he grabs yet another loose brick. Not that he wasn't expecting it at this point. In frustration, he puts his hand on a brick of the wall and tries to tear it out. It was loose as well, and comes out easily.
That was... embarassing. Still, Daren has to keep trying to catch up, and find out just what the hell that was all about.
And another loose brick. Daren starts wondering if it might just be quicker to tear down the wall with his hands than trying to leap over it.
Not much else to do but keep going after them...
With a running start, Daren leapt onto the wall and tried to start climbing, but one of the bricks he held onto was loose and slid out from the force of his weight. Daren landed on his back, but managed to roll with the fall and avoid injuring himself.
Daren's training kicked in as he saw the two Tengu start running, and he began to give chase without even thinking about it.
Daren was slightly annoyed about the interruption, as he wanted to take a look at the crime scene as soon as he could. Still, a part of him still felt the call to help a citizen in need. At least, it seemed like a citizen in need. Darren no longer wore the Boros insignia, but he still wore the colors, both out of practicality, and a stubborn sense of loyalty, even to those who had cast him out. Most criminals would be smart enough to not try their tricks on someone who was both armed and wearing white and red, right? Daren's reasoning seemed sound, but he wasn't entirely doubtless.
Still holding the same piece of paper and pen, Daren sketches the newly found tattoos. "What do you think of these?", asks Daren, inviting his companions to take a look at them as well.
Daren takes a piece of paper and a pen from a desk and makes a quick sketch of the tattoo. Though he's somewhat familiar with the symbol, having an actual record of it won't hurt, especially when it comes to the details. "Yes, let's go take a look at that crime scene. We should be able to find something there. A number of people as large as it was, someone must have left something there."
"Don't worry, you can have her."
"I wouldn't know. I was kind of lost in the moment a bit there, and I don't mark my victims." As he says this, Daren notices a patch of charred skin on the body, consistent with what a sudden discharge of electricity might make. "Then again, maybe I do mark them, and even I wasn't aware of it. Guess this was my work after all." "Anyway, we have better things to do here than try to guess who killed who. Let's take a look at that body, see if we can find something useful."
"That would be appreciated. If we can get some leads from the bodies here, that would save us some work."
"Yes, I'd like to go take a look at the crime scene once we have all the information we can get here.", mused Daren. He was an enforcer, not an investigator, but he hoped Elsdon would be able to figure something out. Besides, he had to admit he felt a certain morbid curiosity about the whole thing.
Daren looked at his hands a bit stunned. Though fortunate, this was an unexpected outcome. His right hand touched his stomach. His last memory was of being stabbed there. His tunic was torn in the place the sword entered through, and the mail shirt he wore under it had snapped rings in the entry point, but his skin under it all was as if nothing had ever happened. "You two alright?" The other man's voice shook Daren out of his stupor. The wild man was at the party on security detail with them, and was near them when the attack happened, but he was not part of his and Elsdon's society. The elf must've assumed otherwise, due to all three having been found together. "Yes, yes. I am well." Having said that, Daren turned to the elf that had them brought back to life. "There are investigators in the League of Wojak specializing in finding missing people. Am I correct in assuming that you went to them and were not met with success before you tried something as desperate as this? Did that investigation turn up something that may be of use?" Daren made a small pause, before resuming. "Also, what he asked."
Another test
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