Invisible Monarchs/Session2

ST: The three members of the Cardinals and Thomas Mosades are together in a small run-down apartment room where it appears Mosades was using the space to spy on the three mages on their way to the morgue. After a brief, and rather inept, explanation of his possessions, Mr. Mosades was revealed by Alice as beign Seer-Linked and has just assaulted Forcas with an empty rifle and is attempting to push past Alice into the hall.

Virgil lunges across the room at Thomas. And with a mighty leap tries to bear him down.

ST: Mosades' turned away from Virgil and is more than slightly surprised when Virgil barrels into him and grabs a hold on him, the dark skinned man dropping the case and trying to wriggle out of Virgil's arms before he is pulled to the ground. He just manages to stagger free, leaving him standing between the three mages.

Forcas: With a swallowed curse Forcas draws a silenced gun from under his jacket and moving as quickly as he can assisted by his cane moves to stand between Mosades and the door (and Alice). He does not raise his voice very far but his tone is sharp: "Stop! Don't move."

Alice is standing there, cold and unsmiling, hugging Crestfallen. "A Hive-soul. Just wonderful."

Alice: "There's more of him where he hails from." The girl's voice is blank. "I say execution. His brothers can tell us what we want to know."

ST: Mosades stiffens and comes to a halt, cursing again, "Damn it." He glances over at Alice, "I'd thought you'd know better than that. Who are you three working for?"

Alice: She smiles sweetly, tilting her head. "Who says I'm on /your/ side?"

Forcas frowns slightly at Alice's words. A Hive-soul? No idea what that is, though there seems to be something ominous to his space sight results now. But execution? Even if she is right she shouldn't be the one to speak like this.

ST: He shakes his head, "You just seem to know what you're talking about. I assumed you were in charge here. Are you Panopticon then?"

Alice: She looks at Forcas and Moros, her head still tilted before looking at Mosades.

Alice: "Oh no, you aren't even close."

Alice: To Virgil and Forcas, she explains with that blank expression, "One mind, several bodies, all identical."

ST: His eyes narrow now and he says through clenched teeth, "/Pentacle/."

Alice: "That's why I saw him when I looked at the finger."

Alice: She smiles at Thomas. "Good boy."

Virgil is silent throughout this exchange. More than a little shocked into silence.

Forcas nods slowly. "So the other two know what is happening here?"

Alice: "Probably."

Alice: She shrugs.

Forcas grimaces. "There are zip ties in my briefcase. First order of business, secure the package."

ST: Mosades' eyes flicker around the room, but he doesn't move. After a long moment he relaxes and slumps slightly. In Forcas' sight the other threads connected most strongly to this man stop moving now.

Virgil: "That almost certainly doesn't help." Virgil looks worries, "Though I do wonder what your memory scrambler would do to him."

Alice: "It'd affect all of them."

Alice: She takes in a slow, deep breath, her frail stance suddenly stronger.

Forcas: "If you would tie him up first, please?"

Virgil: "I think it worth dosing him up with the drugs he has handily provided us. Scrambling him and dumping him with the local guardians."

Forcas continues to hold the gun on Mosades making sure he doesn't make any sudden moves

Virgil steps forward and attempts to tie him up

Alice: "Are we sure what the drugs do?"

Alice: She is glancing out the door now, holding Crestfallen as well.

Virgil: "Well now it is a mild Seditive. Before it was a strong seditive, probably how they got the drop on..." He glances at the sleepwalker, "you know who."

ST: Mosades is silent throughout the majority of this exchange, starting to look more dejected now than anything else. He remains motionless as Virgil steps forward but doesn't resist any attempts to tie him up. "It's too late." He says, "They're cutting their loses." He smiles slightly, "At least I don't have to worry about what the Guardians'll do to me."

Alice: "A pity."

Forcas: "First ..." Forcas narrows his eyes and grips his cane harder. He said it was too late, but that may be a bluff. Virgil's idea with the short-term memory has merit.

ST: In Forcas' eyes one of the sympathetic connections to the man swells and then dissapears and then Mosades drops to his knees and then onto the floor, jerking violently as he does.

Forcas: "Damn," Forcas states evenly just a moment before Mosades drops.

Forcas: "Is he alive?"

ST: He rolls onto his back and suddenly goes still and as he does his forehead reddens, and then a trickle of blood emerges from the dead center, turning into a penny sized hole that starts to leak blood and cerebral fluid onto the floor.

Alice: "Nope, a sibling was shot."

Alice: "You kill one, they all die."

Alice: She seems very unsurprised, her head tilted.

Forcas examines the sympathetic connections of the finger he still possesses

Alice: "They count as one in a lot of ways, and if one gets hurt, they all get the same hurt."

Alice: She sighs.

Virgil: "So they all lost a finger?"

Alice: "We should get going. They will be a lot of questions."

ST: The fingers connection is dead.

Alice: "They would, eventually. Bigger injuries are faster."

Alice: "We should get going."

Forcas: "Damn," Forcas repeats quietly. "This could have gone better."

Virgil: "Before we leave, Forcas any connections to anything else in the room?"

Alice: "I'd rather them dead more than alive," Alice sighed, "And Virgil, can you check for his ghost?"

Forcas looks around to see if any of the items the man used retain a thread of sympathy, perhaps even one that points in the same direction as one of the threads previously connecting the instances of the hive-soul

Virgil: "Certainly."

Alice: "Thank you."

ST: Nothing in the room has a sympathetic connection of any particular importance as far as you can tell beyond the normal low level background connections.

ST: Under Virgil's sight there is a ghostly image of Mosades before you, but he flickers on and off, as if jumping rapidly from place to place.

Forcas: "No sympathy. Dead end, I'm afraid, at least for the moment. Would this mean that all of his instances are dead, Alice? Or might one of them have cut the connection before that?"

Alice: She points at the injury.

Virgil: "His ghost is here, it is flickering."

Alice: "Maybe you can make him talk?"

Alice: ... !

Alice: "Catch it!"

Virgil: "Not that talented at the Death Arcanum unfortunately"

Virgil: "Speaking is about all I can manage."

Alice: "I'll try then..."

Alice: Her brown eyes turn to the corpse, removing her locket as she clicks it open to reveal a perfect little watch face, humming with sympathy. "And to answer your question precisely, sir, I'm a daughter of the Primal Wild."

Forcas: After a moment Forcas puts away his gun, produces a small pocket knife instead and retrieves the zip ties. "We should not stay here too much longer. Despite their clean up methods they must know where we are. We don't want to become a target."

Alice: She steps forward, her voice speaking with a soft hiss as she swings the little pendant.

Alice: "And you will be coming with us."

Forcas: He makes a sweeping motion with his walking stick while calling down Life to purge all organic evidence of the cabal at the scene.

Alice: Tick.

Alice: Tick.

Alice: Alice's fingers wrapped around the pendant, nodding to herself and pocketing the watch. "We need to hurry, we don't have a lot of time before he can leave."

Forcas: Forcas puts the bottle with enspelled sedative in a plastic bag and stows it alongside the other evidence in his briefcase. "Let's get out of here then." He laughs nervously. "I could see the Seers calling the Sleeper police down on us just to make trouble."

Virgil nods

Alice: "They may come themselves."

Alice: She looks at the others to lead the way.

Forcas: After a last look around the room Forcas leaves through the door and makes for the parking lot in front of the morgue.

Alice hurries after him, still looking around for spirits and keeping an eye/feel on her watch.

ST: The young man in the scrubs is gone, but the brief violence and then death has already attracted a fewer of the seedier spirits in the local area.

Alice: Alice looks at the spirits and calmly states, "Could you do me a favor and avoid any other Mages that see you please?"

ST: The spirits, no more than the lowest rank spirits chitter slightly when they realize you can see them and then they scatter.

Alice: :3

Forcas: Standing a few steps away from Virgil's car Forcas briefly speaks to someone on his phone. " ... report encounter with a Seer agent ... tentatively identified as a 'hive soul' ... was overcome but agent was terminated through unknown means ... body remains at <address> ..."

Alice waits for Virgil to open the car before getting in.

Virgil opens the car

Forcas: "... ghost temporarily bound but not for long ..."

Alice: "Thank you." she gets in the car and shudders.

Forcas: " ... instructions?"

Virgil climbs into the driving seat, unlocks the glove box and recovers his identification and other cards

ST: From the other end of the phone line you hear Enoch say, "You want to get in contact with Charon. He knows a bit about the local Seers and can help you with that ghost. I'll get him to meet you somewhere. What works for you?"

Alice: "Crestfallen, do you think he recognized..."

Virgil starts the car.

Alice: She sighs, resting her head against the headrest.

Forcas: "We're still there for the moment, anywhere we can get within ..." Forcas covers the microphone and calls out to Alice: "How long can you keep him?" Then returns to his conversation "... an hour or so should be enough."

Alice: "About an hour, I think."

Forcas: "That's the limit on our Thyrsus' Ghostcatcher spell."

ST: You hear papers rustle and then Enoch says, "We've got a safehouse above a diner about fifteen minutes away. It's on the corner of Browning Street and Cable Avenue."

Forcas enters the car as well, phone still in hand. "Ok. I'll have two non-Guardian cabal members along to the diner if that is no problem."

Forcas: (assuming no problem) "Thank you and good evening."

ST: Enoch pauses then says, "That's fine. It's just a bolthole anyway. But you're responsible for them. Good luck."

Forcas clicks his phone shut. "Ok. Sorry to go on ahead like this, but I figured speed was of the essence. We'll have help with the ghost, meeting us at the corner Browing Street and Cable Avenue."

Virgil drives off with haste

Alice: "Thank you. I was hoping you would have something." Alice smiles, looking very tired.

Forcas: "They may be able to give us an update on the local Seer situation as well."

Forcas: He sighs. "Their involvement in this, whatever its nature, makes the whole thing much more complicated."

Alice: She hugs Crestfallen tight.

Virgil: "Speaking of Seers," he nods towards Alice, "how is it you know so much about them Alice?"

Alice: "Mama."

Virgil: "Wait... What?"

Alice: She glances up. "That's why Crestfallen screamed when they suggested taking me home."

Forcas turns in his seat to look at Alice. "Your mother told you about seers?"

Alice: "Mama is one."

Alice: "She /is/ one."

Forcas: "Oh."

Alice: She looks up fully, hugging the doll.

Virgil: The car swerves a little as Virgil composes himself. "Wait... WHAT?"

Alice squeaks as the car swerves.

Virgil: "The road, listen and concentrate on the road." Virgil mutters.

Forcas looks a bit as if someone had punched him. "You never ..."

Alice: "It's not safe."

Alice: "That's why I always try to look older and different when I go out. I don't know if she has dolls looking for me."

Virgil nods, visible mostly in the rear-view mirror.

Forcas: "Does she know you've Awakened?"

Alice: "I don't know."

Alice: "She wasn't home when I left home and I was confused."

Alice: "I was running because it wasn't safe and I couldn't think of anything else then."

Alice: "None of the dolls were there though. I was in the garden when it started."

Forcas: "That must have been awful."

Virgil: "You were a sleepwalker before then?"

Virgil nods in agreement with Forcas

Alice: She shrugs. "I think so. I remember her using magic before."

Virgil: "Also Dolls? What like Crestfallen?"

Alice: "Not like Crestfallen."

Alice: "Crest is a spirit, something that took over a hollow doll in the grove where I signed my name."

Alice: "Mama's dolls were people."

Alice: She takes a deep breath, thinking.

Forcas: "People ... dolls? Mind?"

Alice: "I remember seeing people coming home with her, all talking and laughing, and then a day or two later just lying there empty."

Alice: She nods at Forcas's question.

Alice: "She'd make them all empty and then perfect for people."

Alice: "Of the Paternoster if I remember the group right."

Forcas shudders slightly at that image ... and at the thought that it might not be all that difficult for him to do himself, one day.

Alice: "I don't remember much of it though. She was really careful, saying I could break stuff."

Virgil just shudders

Virgil: "That is appalling."

Alice: "I always thought it stupid too." Her nose wrinkled.

Forcas: "Ladder's Shards, that's nasty."

Alice: "She didn't care much for Hive-souled, but one visited, I remember that. She said they were boring and simple and people were more interesting."

Forcas: "I can see why you ran, Alice. And why Crest didn't want you to return there. 'Not safe'. Understatement of the year."

Alice: She nods. "Crest is a spirit of safety."

Alice: "And I think I saw it as a cage there. I'm a Thyrsus, I went into a rabbithole to start it all."

Virgil: "Hence the Shadow name." Virgil grins

Virgil: "Well at least the first part."

Forcas sighs. "That makes our failure just now all the more dangerous, though. We don't know what group this guy was with, save that it probably wasn't Panopticon. Sure, you have your disguise, but we're still known to them now."

Alice: She smiles. "There's also a girl in games who uses dolls for magic too named Alice."

Alice: "They still don't know our names, just our shadows."

Forcas: "Shadows of shadows, yes. Fortunately. But it puts us on their radar."

Virgil: "And Smith and Jones are two of the most common last names in the country

Forcas: "Especially if we continue this investigation and it leads deeper into Seer territory."

Alice: "We did remove evidence and then there's the fact that they may think we have disguises."

Virgil: "Well some of us do."

Alice: "Once I get better at Life I can really do that for you guys.  :D"

Forcas sighs. "Should we continue in that direction? Maybe keep that question for when we have options to do so. Right now the trail going that way has gone cold, but we might run across it while following up on the body. Or the murderer."

Alice: "We should keep in touch with your order about it."

Forcas: nods. "Charon may be able to shed some light on the matter."

Alice: She nods.

Virgil: "A Moros if I ever heard one."

Forcas: Privately Forcas resolves to learn more of Space and fast. Alice's mother knows her real name so it wouldn't take too much to find her by scrying and that they can't allow.

Alice: "But that's why I don't like Seers. And one may tell Mama."

Forcas: "Even if they do, there'll be no caging you again. You chose freedom and the Pentacle. You are strong. And you're not alone either."

Virgil glances into the rear view mirror, quite a lot over the next few minutes, glancing at the traffic behind them

Alice waves discreetly at a traffic spirit.

Virgil: "Yeah we aren't going to let anyone take you somewhere you don't want to go."

Alice: "I'll help keep that from happening too.'

Alice: "I really like the Free Council for more than just all the cool stuff I get to see and make."

Alice: "They told the Seers to go away in a fun way."

Forcas: "Quite explosively, as I'm told."

ST: The spirit flits down, flashing wings colored red yellow and green furling as tiny grooved black rubber fingers and toes latch onto the outside of the car and a wide-eyed face, glowing headlights for eyes set in a lemur like face, presses against the glass and looks in at Alice.

Alice: :D

Virgil stops at a red light, leaning down and picking up the unlit cigerette he had dropped

Alice: "Yep."

Alice: "Hi mister traffic spirit. How are you?"

Virgil: Leaning back up again watching the rain pour over the light.

Forcas: "On that note ... the next time we meet one of those hive-soul deals, what would be the best way to proceed?"

ST: The traffic spirit chitters, displaying chromed teeth, and then taps on the window and splays its tire-tracked palm over the glass.

Alice: :< She waves goodbye to the spirit if he leaves.

ST: The spirit chitters again and slides back, hurling itself off and wings flashing red and it flutters back to its flock.

Forcas: "Since they can't well be Sleepers there should be no greater risk of Paradox. So we could attempt to knock it ... him? ... out with combined Fraying practices."

Alice: "Well, hopefully we'll learn more from the ghost."

Forcas: "Then track down the other components by sympathy, ward, turn over to interrogation ..." Forcas seems to talk more to himself as he spins out the plan.

Forcas: "How close are we, Virgil? Does the Ghostcatcher still hold, Alice?"

Alice: "It is."

Alice: "It's funny. Usually my sight isn't that good for ghosts, but I must have gotten lucky today."

Virgil: "Five minutes or so"

Alice: She hasn't opened the watch since.

Virgil: "I need to practice Death more if we get dragged into anymore murder investigations

Alice: "Maybe you can talk to Charon or your teacher."

Forcas: "I'm sorry to be doing the dragging," Forcas smiles a bit sadly. He didn't know Dresden very well, but still ...

Alice: "Look on the bright side, at least we got /something./ "

Forcas: "If all we manage is catch wind of some Seer operation that's still a small success. And there are still leads to pursue."

ST: You come around a corner onto Cable street and you can see Jack's Place, the diner, not far away. A beat up compact car is parked in front of it, and the diner seems mostly empty.

Virgil: "Wonder if they do Cherry Pie?"

Forcas: "We'll find out."

Virgil pulls the car up and parks it near the diner

Alice: "So we can order something?"

Virgil: He double checks he didn't leave anything in the glove box, locking it again before stepping out onto the rainy street

Forcas: Armed with cane and briefcase Forcas gets out of the car and leads the cabal into the diner.

Alice: Alice uses the umbrella to protect Crestfallen and follows them in as well.

Forcas: "We need to maintain our Sleeper cover, so yes, Alice."

Alice: ":D"

ST: The inside of the diner is about what you'd expect, big windows, fairly well let but greasy the way they get, chipped green plastic stools in front of a long counter. There's a tired looking waitress working the counter, a tired looking man in grease stained jeans and blue shirt sitting in a booth eating a sandwich, and a nervous looking man in a suit at the far end, nursing a cup of coffee.

Forcas looks around for someone wearing active spells and after that for someone who reacts to the subtle Guardian handsign.

ST: The fellow in the jeans and blue-collared shirt wears a pair of tarnished silver coins around his neck, and there's a spirit sitting on one of the stools, apparently made entirely of silverware. The man in the jeans and collared shirt has an armoring spell active and appears to be accompanied by a pair of ghosts.

Alice: ... o.o Oh.

Alice: She is half gravitating towards the spirit, but is watching for Forcas's lead.

Virgil wanders over to the counter and orders a coffee

ST: Charon's fingers flash in your direction and he sets his sandwich down, picking up a napkin and whipping his face off.

Virgil: "You guys want anything?"

Alice: "Cocoa and I have to see a menu for the food."

Virgil watches to see if the waitress heard Alice and if she didn't repeats her order

Forcas: "Coffee and a sandwich with cheese for me." Forcas stops at the mage's table and bows his head in greeting. "Charon, I presume?"

ST: The waitress nods slowly and slaps down a menu in front of Alice before she stumps off and picks up a trio of mugs and fills two with coffee and the third with instant cocoa.

ST: Charon nods, "That'd be me. You'r Forcas then?

Alice: "Thank you!  :D" She opens up the menu and scans it quickly for something cheap, deciding on a turkey sandwich.

Forcas: "Yes, I am. Thank you for meeting with us. May we sit?"

ST: The waitress moves over and conveys your orders for food to the chef as Charon nods, "Sure. You and your cabalmates are free to join us."

Virgil: "I'll also have a turkey sandwich with mayo on rye."

Alice: She bows politely, waiting for everyone else to sit down first before taking a spot.

Virgil: "Please"

Forcas sits at the table, setting his briefcase down beside him. As his cabalmates join him he introduces them: "Disciple Virgil of the Mysterium and Disciple Alice Collodi of the Free Council."

ST: The waitress begrudgingly adds Virgil's order. "That all?" Charon smiles and nods at the introductions, "A pleasure. I hear you three had an encounter with the local opposition?"

Alice: "A Hive-soul."

Virgil: "Yes, I think so, thank you."

ST: Charon frowns, "They can be difficult. Do you know how many bodies?"

Alice: She glances at the others as she removes her pocket watch and slides it to Charon.

Alice: "No, but the ghost is in here."

Forcas nods. "Terminated after the instance we met was subdued. Judging from the sympathetic threads I'd say three in total, but I had never met one before and can't be sure."

Alice: "I'm only an Apprentice in Spirit, so my jar won't last much longer." She adds quietly.

ST: Charon blinks then carefully picks up the watch, inspecting it carefully before he responds to Forcas, "Three's not too bad." He looks at the watch and says, "Looks like about forty minutes left on this binding. Do you all want to eat before we head upstairs? I can explain what I know about the other team in town while you all eat if you'd prefer."

Forcas gives the Sleepers in the diner a brief, measuring glance. "Your call."

ST: Charon pauses and says, "I don't know the suit, but the waitress is trustworthy enough." He sighs and shrugs, standing and saying, "Mary, could you hold their orders till they get back? We'll take the drinks upstairs." She nods sourly, and then Charon says, "Well then, let's get a move on before that binding slips free."

Virgil: "Seems fair."

Forcas nods evenly. Whatever Charon says is fine, he knows the territory best.

Alice: She nods in agreement, carrying Crestfallen.

ST: Charon slides out of the booth, leaving his sandwich behind and heading over to a door set in the back corner and unlocks it carefully and then heads up a narrow staircase, grunting slightly and covering his mouth, "Sorry, long day for me."

Virgil: "It happens." Virgil says non-commitally

Forcas nods in sympathy

Forcas: "Nothing to be done about it sometimes."

Forcas: "Again thanks for meeting with us."

ST: Charon nods and then says, "Right, the local Seers." He leads the three of you into a bare room, the aparmtent entirely empty, except for a pair of file cases and the five ghosts who are crowded around the doorway, but break up and scatter when they see Charon enter. "Security." He says, by way of explanation.

Forcas gives his cabalmates a questioning look but says nothing.

Alice doesn't say anything as well. If anything... she is relaxing a bit.

Virgil shrugs

ST: Charon nods to Forcas and then says, "So the Seers in town are pretty scattered, but we know they have a heavy interest in the local churchs, which is why your Sanctum is very important to us. They're concentrated up North, and we also know that lately they haven't been very active. Known Seers have been dissapearing, and it's not us or the Arrow doing it."

Virgil: "After about thirty seconds Virgil goes, "Ahhh the Ghosts."

ST: He pauses then adds, "And from what we've found out, it's not the Free Council either. They've just been vanishing. No one very active in the mortal world but their low tier members are just gone. And the more powerful ones are starting to hide. We think they're scared of something."

Forcas looks thoughtful. "How long has that been going on, the disappearing? And what about our side, any similar disappearances there? That you can tell us about, that is?"

ST: He shrugs, "About a month. Although it could have gone on longer than that. Our surveillance was...lacking until lately. And we haven't just had anyone dissapear, other than Dresden, and I heard you found him."

Alice: "I... can't see Mother getting scared of something..." Murmur.

Forcas: "Yes, Dresden." Forcas frowns. "I don't want to theorize before the facts we can get our hands on are all in."

Forcas: "But it is a possibility, that the two are connected."

ST: Charon nods. "Maybe. I heard the scene was pretty strange where Dresden was found." He shrugs, "Anyway, without going through the list of known local seers, that's really about it. We're pretty shaky on a lot of their organization." He reachs into his pocket idly then pauses and says, "Sorry, do you three mind if I smoke?"

Forcas: "I don't mind."

Alice shrugs.

Virgil just pulls the cigerette down from behind his ear and pulls out his lighter, offering the guardian a light, "Only if I can too."

Alice snorts.

Alice: "I can make my lungs better if it actually bothers me either way."

ST: Charon nods and looks at Virgil and grins, "Ah, a fellow in the dying brotherhood." He pulls out a smushed box of cheap ciggarettes and pulls one out, lights it, then take a pull, "Right. Let's have a talk with this ghost then, shall we?"

Virgil: "And here I've been carefully avoiding smoking around you.

Alice: "..." She just gives Virgil a look.

Virgil grins and nods

Alice: "I can make myself strong enough to throw you across a room."

Forcas: "You don't smoke in church," Forcas states with mock gravity.

Alice: "You burn incense, that's smoking."

ST: Charon shrugs, "I always have to smoke after being in churchs. They give me the heebie-jeebies."

Alice: "Hell, the first step of Life magic is to be able to clean your own lungs."

Virgil: "You have five ghosts in the room, how can a Church give you the heebie-jeebies?"

Forcas: "Different kinds of ghosts?"

Virgil: Looking to Alice, "Yeah I should really learn Life at some point but then life's too short."

Forcas: "It's ... useful. Not least because it can help with that latter problem. Though of course, so can Death."

Forcas: "But ... our ghost."

ST: Charon shrugs, "I Awakened after being locked in a church with three starving vampires." He shrugs, "Not a particularly pleasant memory." He pulls out Alice's watch and shrugs, and says, "Anyway, let's do this."

Alice: "... So you get nervous around those. I just don't like fancy Victorian places."

ST: Charon nods, "Indeed, your ghost. Miss Collodi, if you'd please release your binding?"

Alice: She walks up and just opens the watch.

ST: The thin transparent image of Thomas Mosades appears to those with the eyes to see it and he starts to flicker again before Charon muttters under his breath and he stops flickering and just stands there and he starts to babble, "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong..."

Alice: "Maybe I only caught one...?"

Virgil: "That is odd. Why is it muttering wrong repeatedly?"

Forcas: "You mean only one third of the full ghost? Is that possible?"

ST: Charon shakes his head and says, "No. That's the whole ghost." He grabs the two coins around his neck and growls, "Show yourself to them and tell us what's wrong." The ghost's form shivers and then fades into view for everyone and then says, "Where's the rest of me? I'm...stuck..."

Alice: She shrugs.

Alice: "Ooh."

Alice: "The other two siblings."

Forcas watches the ghost with interest, he hasn't seen many of them yet.

ST: Charon shakes his head, "No. One mind, one soul, one ghost. He suddenly just lost two whole bodies. It's like...phantom limb pain, but in two whole bodies."

Alice: She nods, listening. "I'm not used to them. This is the first one I have seen after Awakening."

Forcas: "Sounds unpleasant, that."

ST: Charon nods, and then says, "Right, I can only give it one command at a time, so what do you all want to ask it, and I can force it to answer."

Alice: She looks at the others. She has no idea on what to ask.

Forcas: "Our first question should probably be, what does he know about the murders that took place in Room 204 and the one who committed them."

Virgil: "Another should prbably be who it was working for and who killed it"

ST: Charon nods and waves the pair of coins at the ghost and it shivers, "It was...a woman. The Hunter. We were hunting her." He lifts a hand and looks at the fingers, "Alexis lost his finger but she didn't kill him. She only kills mages."

Forcas: "Or ..." Forcas frowns. "Forgive me if this is a stupid question, Charon, but I know just about nothing about Death. Is there a limit to the number questions we can ask? Like in the myths and stories?"

ST: Charon shakes his head, "Nope. He's fairly firmly tethered to this world. His ghost isn't moving on anytime soon. You can interrogate him at your leisure."

Virgil: "She is the one killing the Seers then?"

Forcas: "Very good. In that case, what can he tell us about this 'Hunter'? And how is it that she can do this to mages who can defend themselves with magic?"

Forcas: "How did he find this 'Hunter' and how can we find her again?"

ST: The ghost nods, "Seventeen dead to The Hunter over the past two years...we think. Something's helping her, but mostly she just finds them when they're alone...and they feel safe. Something about her...no one expects her to be the killer."

ST: "I found her because of luck really. I saw her before she killed one of them, and then when they told me to find her, I just...searched. I went from seer to seer, the young ones, the ones she hunts, and then I followed her after she took one." He laughs, "I didn't have a chance. She's mortal but...more than mortal, and less."

Alice: She frowns, holding Crestfallen.

Forcas: "Virgil, if he described this hunter well enough could you create a picture? That would help in recognizing her before it is too late."

Virgil: "I was about to suggest just that."

Virgil: "I'll just fetch a pad and some pencils from the car."

Forcas: "Ah, very good."

Virgil goes to fetch his sketch pad

Forcas: "Does he know why this 'hunter' does what she does?"

Alice: "I have heard of what she does, but Mother may have been just trying to scare me."

ST: The ghost pauses, "She's 16 years old. Pretty, in a young way, but you'd think she'd grow into it. She has short dark hair, and brown eyes. White, just general...mutt looking, roman nose, thin lips, prominent cheekbones, shallow chin, a few freckles high on her cheek, narrow eyebrows."

ST: "I don't know why she's killing them, but when she beat Alexi she told him he wasn't good enough for her, that she needed something more."

Forcas: "Why was he at the morgue with a distance microphone and that tranquilizer gun?"

Virgil reenters the room a minute or so later and begins sketching the description

Alice: "Why was /Thomas/..." Murmur.

ST: The ghost shudders, "I saw you in the room from across the street, and then I had Uncle augur your destination and went there while one of us followed the Hunter, and the other stayed with Uncle until he..." The ghost cuts off and shivers again.

Alice: "..."

Forcas: leans forward, his look intense. "Uncle ... who is 'uncle'? What does he want? Where was he when he killed you? What did he know of us at that time?"

ST: Charon pauses as the ghost stays silent and he says, "It doesn't want to talk about its death. I could force it, but it might...unbalance it a little bit."

Alice: "Ask just about uncle then."

Forcas: "Just the other questions then, who is he, what does he want, what does he know of us."

ST: Charon nods and then the ghost says, "Uncle was my current handler in the Hegemony. He wants the Hunter. One of his pylon-mates thinks she's important, and all he knows about you is that there were three pentacle mages who had caught one of my bodies and were going to take it to the Guardians."

Alice: After a moment, she asks, "Why were you startled at me?"

Forcas: "Good, good."

ST: Mosades says, "I thought you were mortals. Feds. And then when you confronted me I thought I could get out or stall long enough for the rest of me to get there."

Alice: "Ah." Neutral expression.

Forcas looks at Virgil's more and more refined sketch. Is it enough to recognize her by yet?

Alice: "Who of the pylon thinks she is important?"

ST: The ghost shakes its head, "I don't know. I only knew Uncle. My previous handler'd just died."

Virgil shows the ghost the sketch again

Virgil: "There yet?"

ST: Charon concentrates and the ghost points out a few minor flaws. The sketch is looking fairly like Alice, perhaps a bit older than her natural form and a bit sharper features, but still, she could be Alice in a few years.

Alice: "..."

Alice: "Well, that almost confirms my guess."

Forcas mentally ticks off the questions they've already asked. "I imagine my colleagues will in time thoroughly debrief the good Mr. Mosadi about general Seer intelligence. What more do we need to know right now?"

Alice: "How long has the Hunter been happening for them?"

ST: Charon shrugs. "One of him followed the Hunter too."

Alice: "Not anymore."

Forcas will ask Alice about her guess later

Virgil: "Best ask him about the knife."

Forcas: "Ah, yes." Forcas produces the knife from the killing room and shows it to the ghost. "Is this the knife she has used for at least some of her murders?"

Virgil: "I don't think I can refine this sketch anymore without further details. This is as good as I can get without seeing her or a photo of her. As it is..." He trails off

ST: Charon looks confused, "The, uh. Knife?"

Virgil: He sounds as if he was going to say more but trails off

Alice: "We got a knife from the crime scene."

ST: Charon nods, "Ah. Well, you can always ask."

Virgil starts putting his sketch stuff away, taking a long drag on the cigerette he is smoking as he stands.

ST: The ghost looks at it and he nods, "Yes. She...collects them. From her victims. When I watched her torture Dresden she...talked to that one. She called it Mother."

Alice: ...

Alice pinches her nose with a sigh.

Virgil: "Did it give our names or descriptions to Uncle?"

ST: The ghost shakes his head, "The cover names. Genders, and vaguest descriptions. That one of you walks with a cane."

Virgil mostly talks round the cigerette tucked into one corner of his mouth.

Virgil: "How vague is vague?"

ST: "Hair colors, height estimates, age estimates, race. That's all."

Virgil: "Excellent I don't have to stop wearing my hat." He looks around slightly embarrassed. "What? I like this hat."

Forcas smiles his trademark barely visible smile. "No further questions from me at this time."

ST: Charon nods and opens one of the file cabinets and tosses his cigarette butt in and the ghost of Thomas, Alexis, and Jackson Mosades pulls toward the cabinetand then vanishes. "There. Bound it to the butt for a few days until we can permenantly bind it here." He grins, "Ghost library. Little one, but still, growing."

Forcas nods, expressing professional respect. "Nice."

Virgil: "Interesting idea. I may have to use that." Virgil mutters, quickly opening his sketch pad and writing the idea down.

ST: Charon smiles. "It's the idea I'm proudest of." He pauses, "A little gruesome but still, nothing like having the ghost of a corrupt alderman on file when it comes to asking about politics in this city."

Alice: "That's a bit neat."

Alice: "Hm. I wonder if I could..." She shakes her head. Bad idea.

Forcas: "I can see how that would be quite useful."

Forcas: "Well, time for sandwiches and pie then? We don't want to hunt serial killers on an empty stomach after all."

ST: Charon grins. "Anyway, enough bragging. Let's go finish eating. I'm sure Mary's already upset at us for taking so long."

Forcas: ***

Virgil: Back in the car after a nice meal with Charon

Virgil: "Ok so were to next?"

Forcas: "The question is, what should be our goal? At the risk of sounding callous, up until today this Hunter has been doing the Pentacle a favor."

Virgil: He opens the glove box, pulls out a small metal case filled with hand rolled cigerettes. Picking one he slips it behind his ear again.

Virgil: "She's targeting Pentacle mages now though."

Alice: "I think it's not that."

Forcas: "At least she has targeted one."

Alice: "That or..."

Alice: "I think that Seers were just the easier to find."

Alice: "But I think Uncle may know my mother, if she's the one interested."

Alice: "The Hunter looks like me."

Forcas: "You said you had a guess, earlier."

Virgil: "Or your mother is behind the hunter in the first place. And the interested party is someone else entirely."

Alice: "That was my guess, honestly. My mother being linked."

Forcas nods. "I guess if you can look older then he could make herself look younger. But that makes no sense unless Mosadi was wrong about the Hunter, since according to him she is not a mage."

Virgil: "And she couldn't alter a... couldn't alter and brainwash someone to look like her daughter?"

Forcas: "Or ..." Forcas hesitates. "A cousin? Someone else related to her?"

Alice: "I don't know..."

Alice: "That or she's like me or something."

Alice: "I don't know..."

Forcas: "I hesitate to ask ... an older sister? For someone with experiences such as yours it would be understandable, if they took a certain dislike to mages."

Forcas looks distinctly uncomfortable with the direction of his theories.

Virgil: "There are too many possibilities and we have too little information to go on."

Forcas: "In any case, the only way we can be sure that she won't kill more Pentacle mages - and even the odds again - would be to capture her."

Virgil: "And unfortunately," Virgil starts the car, "there is only one way to solve that."

Forcas: "All questions could then be answered."

Virgil nods in agreement, "I can never wax lyrically with you around, eh, Forcas." He says with a grin, before slowly turning into the street.

Alice: "I don't have a sister."

Alice: She is very quiet.

Alice: "I know that."

Forcas: "My apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

Alice: "But it's not I don't like mages, even before."

Virgil: He waves it off. "Trying to be dramatic never seems to work in real life anyway."

Alice: "... I just don't like someone touching my head."

Forcas: "I can understand that. Which is why, if we do go to find and capture her, I suggest we equip ourselves with mind shields. Mosadi did mention something that might be some sort of psychic influence or ability."

Alice: "But I think we should be really careful."

Virgil: "Can you provide them? Or are we going to have to call in a favour?"

Forcas: "But should we do that? Go after a serial killer by ourselves?"

Alice: "Because the Seers are looking into this, and I sort of think that Mother may think the Hunter and I are linked or something."

Forcas: "I could provide them, though it might take a few hours."

Virgil: "I'm not sure we can entirely trust this to someone else. Especially since I imagine Alice would prefer to keep her secret underwraps"

Alice: She nods.

Forcas: "That is a good point. Although, if preventing that is our goal it also means we might not be able to turn over the hunter to anyone else."

Alice: "... You could ask Medea."

Virgil: "Depends what we find doesn't it. And you an always mindwipe the hunter."

Alice: "The Hunter killed her friend, and she's your teacher."

Forcas shakes his head. "I cannot edit or erase memories that have already formed, I can merely wipe clean the short term memory before it is committed to permanency."

Forcas: "Would you be comfortable with Medea knowing about your mother and possibly the connection to the hunter, Alice?"

Virgil: "So we keep the question sessions brief and if we find nothing of consequence we hand her over to the others."

Alice: She hugs Crestfallen, letting out a deep breath.

Alice: "She'll find out anyway, don't you think?"

Forcas: "Keeping in mind that good person though she is Medea *is* a Guardian of the Veil."

Alice: "You and her come from the same Tower."

Alice: "Better to warn her now, maybe she'll think of something to nip it in the bud."

Forcas: "If that is the way you want to go. She suggested lunch tomorrow to discuss my ... our findings, I can ask if she'll meet us all."

Alice: She let out a sigh.

Alice: "Wouldn't you be more annoyed if something important was hidden from you?"

Virgil: "So are we doing more research today or am I taking us home?"

Forcas: "I can accept that some things I should better not know. I can accept the need to know principle. I guess it would depend very much on the circumstances."

Forcas: "And although yes, this is something that might become relevant to larger matters, it is your secret to keep or tell."

Forcas: "Let's return to the sanctum for now. It's been a long day, as Charon said."

Alice: "I agree."

Alice: "And as long as Medea or you guys tell, I'll be fine. Sunflower knows that my mother was really off her rocker."

Virgil: "Fair enough."

Forcas: "I'll shoot her an email and ask then."

(this evening Forcas spends several hours bestowing a potent mind shield upon the cabal)