Ashleigh nodded to Sy'yll. "Well that's something at least. Ought to have this thing looked over by a Diviner, see if we can sift it's true purpose. And yes, they did have a leader, a big tattooed mongrel of a Scharde witch that seemed to be leading them, but sure as I stand before you, she died with more metal in her body than these cursed curs here. Saw her put to the flame with my own mine eyes, no mistake. And good riddance." Ashleigh spat in the general direction of the nearest Cryxian, then turned to face the lieutenant. "As for your kind proposal, you'd have to negotiate any contacts with Sir Faro Degrata, I am not of rank to offer the services of the the Jackal's Grin as a whole. But I will pass along your suggestion and go one further by promising you my own efforts in dredging the truth out of this murk, effective immediately." Ashleigh pulled the brim of his hat a touch lower on his brow, "Now, can you tell me anything else of this woman?"
"Yeah," Claudian said heavily, turning slowly with a look that took in most of the narby Cygnaran soldiers. "Y'got any leads at all we can chase down? S'here's startin' to look a lot less like fun an' more like paperwork, you catch my call."
Ashleigh gave a head cocked half turn in Claudian's direction and his accustomed smile traced over his face. With an nearly imperceptible nod he turned back to the lieutenant.
The lieutenant waived his hand to dismiss the deputy standing nearby before replying. "Unfortunately, the descriptions we've received are all quite vague. Evidently, a rather tall woman, over six feet by most accounts, wearing a strange helmet and dressed in black clothing was seen around the time of the incident, fleeing from the carnage. The witnesses we've questioned so far can't seem to agree on which direction she left the Quad from, but I'm relatively certain that she would've headed west towards the nearest gate out of town if she has anything to do with this incident," the lieutenant paused a moment. "Unless, of course, she has some reason to continue hanging around. I would imagine that a woman of such noteworthy stature would have some difficulty hiding in Corvis, though."
And yes, they did have a leader, a big tattooed mongrel of a Scharde witch that seemed to be leading them, but sure as I stand before you, she died with more metal in her body than these cursed curs here. Saw her put to the flame with my own mine eyes, no mistake. And good riddance."
Claudian looked up sharply at the lieutenant's description, and barked his one-word question almost before the man had finished speaking.
"Kossite?"
The lieutenant twisted his face in consideration of the thought, then simply shrugged. "I suppose it's possible, though even for a Kossite woman the height we've been provided with is extreme. It's entirely possible that the witnesses were not able to gauge her truthfully and simply let fear enlarge her in their mind. It's also possible that this woman may have been some Cryxian abomination. I wish we had more to share with you, but that is simply not the case."
Claudian nodded slowly, then clicked his tongue resignedly.
"Well, sounds like it's time to go swamp stompin'," he started, looking dubiously back at the scene of the Cryxian raid.
Suddenly, he turned back toward the group. "Wait jus' a moment... didn't--..." he turned and looked around for a bill-post. "Won'er if this 'as anything to do with th'missin' Strangelight folk... Might be they know somethin' 'bout this jaw 'ere," he said. "Long shot, but it's funny coincidence."
Ashleigh nods slowly, "Yes that is a long shot, but we'll need someone to identify the magics on this thing in any event. Might as well try the Strangelights first, they may have seen it's like before. However, I need to report to my superiors before anything else, so unless there is any further business here, I am headed for the temple of Morrow." Ashleigh seems about to turn back in the direction of the docks, when he rather suddenly blinks, grins wryly, and glances over at the lieutenant, "Assuming we have your permission to remove both ourselves and the object in question from your presence, good sir?"
"Ain't never asked leave to go a place, ain't about to start, 'specially when it's devotional," Claudian groused, nodding off toward the temple of Morrow standing in the distance of the cityscape and striding off toward it.
"Assuming we have your permission to remove both ourselves and the object in question from your presence, good sir?"
The lieutenant nodded. "The item was within your company's cart, Mr. Thatcher. It's yours to do with as you please. Hopefully it will lead you to some answers. Should you return and have any further questions for myself or my investigative team, my name is Lieutenant Barrows."
The lieutenant gave a polite wave of the hand to dismiss the group to the temple.
Sy'yll watched Galbraith's bulky retreating form for a moment, hesitating, and then her eyes darted sideways to Ashleigh. "I do not wish to intrude upon you and yours at the Temple of Morrow; I know you have lost some companions and have business to discuss besides. But do you mind if I accompany you? These matters settle heavily upon the mind. And this woman... the jaw... I would rest better if I were to know the outcome of this business."
"No intrusion, love. I appreciate the aid you've lended already and welcome your company for as long as your willing to share it." Ashleigh strides off, following Claudian saying conversationally over his shoulder, "I couldn't help but notice that you are studied in the arcane arts..."
Sy'yll cringed a little internally at this 'love' but, distracted as she was, it was more out of habit than any true sense of dislike. She responded absently to Ashleigh’s inquiry as she hurried to catch up with the two men, tilting her head slightly in his direction but unable to tear her eyes completely away from the gruesome scene behind them. "Yes, I lent my sorcery to the patrols of my shard for some years. There are few better ways to learn one’s profession than in the field, as I am sure you well know."
Claudian stomped across the Quad, looking down into the canals for the lantern of his ferryman friend's gondola.
"HOY, THUNKER!" he shouted into the dark, cupping both hands to his mouth.
Ashleigh smiled at Claudian's disruption of the still night, but continued speaking over his shoulder to the elf. "Mmn. Your first dealings with the Cryx though, aye? Can't imagine they wander up quite so far thataway. Yet." Ashleigh projected his voice up ahead to the lumbering bear-man in front of him, "How long to the temple, O fearless leader?"
Thunker lazily lifted his head to regard the approaching group, a trail of pipe smoke wafting away from his mouth as he raised his oar to signal his presence. The gondolier was indeed right where they'd left him. The Church of Morrow dominated the opposite shoreline from the Quad. It would take only a minute to cross the port.
"I would hardly call seeing dead Cryxians an 'encounter'," Sy'yll murmured. "Although I do confess, I most certainly hope to never come any closer to a true encounter than that. Abominations in death... I would not like to see them walking." A light shiver trickled down her spine, and she reached into her pocket for coins as they approached the ferryman, eager to leave this disturbing place behind.
"A busy night for you, frien' ferryman," Claudian said, crouching on the lip of the stone sidewalk to look down at Thunker. "Th'group's off to th'Church of Morrow, if you'll be s'kind."
Thunker raised a palm as the group approached, taking another drag from his pipe before flicking the ashes into the water. "No need t'pay again. I's headin' that way anyway. C'mon then."
Thunker reached up to assist the passengers with boarding before pushing off from the dock. A quick jaunt across the primary waterway brought the group to the base of the magnificent Church of Morrow, it's alabaster columns rising dozens of feet into the air and intricate sculptures of the Ascendants arrayed along the street directly in front of the massive oaken doors.
The building itself was sturdy but showed signs of weather and age. Small cracks could be seen in the marblework, the finish on the wooden door had been stripped in places and, to the west, an entire wing of the church had been covered in scaffolding, likely for renovation or reconstruction purposes.
Gazing briefly up the length of the pillars with a completely blank face, Sy'yll murmured, "Big".
Then, a breath later---"Do we simply go in? I do not know the customs of your holy places."
Ashleigh confidently strides off to the front of the temple, looking about for his compatriots, "C'mon then. You can meet the rest of the Jackal's Grin."
Claudian stepped up behind Ashleigh into the temple, raising his eyes and nodding as though to a superior officer. As he lumbers through the doors, he recites a small battlefield prayer to the Ascendants of battle and guardianship, specifically Marduk.
Sy'yll's customary cool impassivity crumbled for a heartbeat as she passed through the walls of the utterly-foreign temple, and for a moment something---a mixture of sadness and awe, perhaps---crossed her features. Then it faded and she closed the door behind her and hurried for a few steps to catch up with the others.
As the trio opened the massive oaken doors, they witnessed the cathedral in it's full splendor. Huge archways supported the vaulted ceilings, each one decorated with cinquefoil tracings and intricate scrollwork where the arch met the outer walls. The walls themselves were set with niches for the Ascendants every so often in the main hall.
Just inside the entrance, a young page stepped forward to greet them. Upon explaining the purpose of their visit, the boy conducted them to the infirmary on the southern end of the building. Once there, a priest whose hands were still bloody approached with a grim countenance. The moans and cries of the wounded echoed through the stone halls.
"Yes? What can I do for you?"
Claudian followed Ashleigh inside, standing at the war-bard's right shoulder like a man-at-arms, huge and imposing. Claudian was a regular fixture at the temple of Morrow, making the journey across Corvis for weekly faith services, occasionally to have a particularly nasty brawl-scrape looked at, repaying the church for it's kindness with his own time where he lacked money. The rebuilding took the effort of many men, and one thing he was not adverse to was heavy labor.
He nodded once, smiling his damaged smile in recognition of the one who'd come to greet them.
Feeling extremely out of place in this stone house for living gods, Sy'yll fell back a few steps behind the others and, folding her hands respectfully before her, regarded the alien structure with all the wide-eyed, overwhelmed awe of a small child.
Ashleigh's generally brash tone is reigned in within these grand and sanctified chambers, he nods deferentially to the priest and says, "We're with the Jackal's Grin. I come bearing information for Degrata, and to lend assistance as I may."