final investigation

[arsholes]

[It's been almost a week since Orthrus' lucky escape. Almost a week, of all calls to Heisenberg going (metaphorically) to voicemail. Almost a week, to rest and recover from the harrowing losses of the previous Friday.

It's been almost a week. And the storms are getting worse.

You know the locked door on the first floor? The one that goes into the center of the tower, right across from the great entry hall doors?

Today, there's a heavy iron key sticking out of the lock. With a familiar crest on the head.

The key is sticky with wet yellow paint, and wetter blood.]

Comments

[arsholes]

[As the dust settles, there is one (technically, two) more thing in the room. On the far wall, there's a pile of raspberry-red crystals jutting out of the ground. And there seems to be something trapped inside them.]

[replacementshield]

[ Okay, well. What is going on with this thing?

Anyway to see what is trapped inside up front? ]

...Where did that other monster go, anyway?

cw: mummified remains

[arsholes]

[Hooray it's Felix's turn to find a dead person!

What Felix finds entombed in crystal is a headless corpse with paper-thin skin stretched like rotted leather over a skeleton. The skull, with traces of whitened hair still clinging to the skin, is a couple feet away.

It looks like the crystals grew into and through it, almost.

By the looks of things, this body has been here at least a few hundred years.]

[replacementshield]

[ Felix tenses in surprise. But that's about it. ]

...Disgusting.

[ Well...is there anything else about this corpse he'd notice if he'd like, nudge it with his foot or something?? Or anything else worth noting now that he's up close and taking in these...wonderful things about it? ]

cw: mummified remains continues

[arsholes]

[As mentioned before, these remains are very old. What remains of their clothes are decayed nearly beyond recognition except for an antique-looking hourglass necklace hanging from the neck. It's also notable that, despite the age of everything, there is a fresh hole torn in the material clinging to the chest- right over where the heart would be.

There's also the purple-red crystals and the chalk circle covered in runes underneath the body but Felix might need someone more magically-inclined to get more info on these.

The room is also freezing cold compared to the hall he just came from, to the point he can see his breath fogging in front of him.]

[replacementshield]

[ What even. ]

Ugh. Someone who can read runes better get over here.

[ Technically he can read magic things too and has a hidden talent in Reason and such, but...these are likely beyond him. Also, he is not very patient when it comes to trying to decipher magical things. Which explains why despite having a talent in such things that he only has two offensive Reason spells.

Anyway, it's a good time to be grateful for the fact Felix dresses very warm! Is there like a source of something that this freezing cold is coming from? There was that cold spot from earlier, so... ]

[arsholes]

[It does feel like the cold spot he felt earlier, just covering an entire room instead of just one spot. The chamber itself looks pretty empty except for the ceremonial bowl and your new raspberry rock candy-based companion so no, no visible cause of the cold.]

[replacementshield]

[ Maybe if he concentrates...he just ends up getting annoyed. He's in too much of a horrid mood. Because fuck this. ]

Nuadha or Patchouli, would you just get over here already?

[sunshade]

Hmm? What is it?

[replacementshield]

There are runes. Take a look at them.

[ He points at where the runes are... in the vicinity of the mummified body. ]

[spitessier]

Have this too, just in case. I found this knife in the room Hubert's corpse was at.

[He passes Patchouli the knife]

Perhaps some of the runes will be similar.

[sunshade]

[ She nods! And will take the knife and look them both over.

What are those runes? ]

[arsholes]

[The spell circle on the floor is a confinement circle. Meant to keep something, or someone anchored for as long as the circle is undisturbed.

It, like the body, looks like it's been here a long-ass time.

And it has nothing to do with the runes on the knife.

But you know what the knife does look like? Some runes from the Forgemaster's Digest the book bound in flesh.]

wait the runes are chalk lol

[sunshade]

This is a confinement circle. Something meant to keep someone or something stuck to a spot until the runes break.

[ Patchouli is going to try to break the spell circle. She wipes away as much of the chalk as she can, with the edge of her sleeve. ]

[arsholes]

[That's the thing, Patchouli: the spell circle is already broken It looks like some kind of sharp blade cut through it extremely recently.

As for the crystals and the corpse...Well, they're beautiful, certainly, but there seems to be almost a vacuum of magic around them, as if they used to be extremely powerful and now have been used up or consumed.]

[sunshade]

[ Huh.

What's up with the hourglass necklace? Can she take it from the corpse to inspect it? ]

[arsholes]

[It's just an extremely old necklace. Doesn't seem to be particularly magical.

Also be careful, the corpse is extremely fragile. Though without a head I guess the necklace would be pretty easy to take off.]

[sunshade]

[ AND YET IT'S IN BOLD TEXT. I AM CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED TO HAVE PATCHOULI LIFT IT AND TAKE IT WITH HER.

And yes! She is very, very careful, no worries.

Also, what's up with the cold spot? Can she tell? ]

[arsholes]

[Well, if her reading in the library really included every book, then she might remember that ghosts are occasionally identified by a cold spot in the air.

As they've been looking around, the spots where the room is coldest have moved toward the walls of the room.]

[sunshade]

[ ........i mean she knows that from canon because she has a few ghost acquaintances, but

(I didn't, thank you)

Patchouli will go towards the walls, and--pat them down, I guess?? Looking for anything that sticks out. Do the ghosts want them to see something? ]

[rikonstructed]

What is it, Patchouli?

[He's tired, he's freezing, he's grumpy, but this looks purposeful.]

[arsholes]

[As she moves away from the corpse, she gets the strong feeling that she's being watched by something distinctly unfriendly. And Katsuya's warning from Garfield comes back.

This is almost over. Time for shit to pop off.]