[Lhavit Quest] A Crack in the City [Closed]

by **Ophelia** on March 5th, 2011, 5:31 am

12th Spring 511AV

INFO. :

The Surya Plaza was always hustling and bustling, but there was a time when it was quieter than others. The hours just before dawn were one of them. The last stragglers of the night before were just off for home, and the ones who just had to be up were slowly trudging to work. The Shinya too were rarely around, and if there were any in the Plaza, they were usually in small numbers. All in all, it was the quietest time.

And the perfect time for a murder.

It was the screams of a young girl that alerted Lhavit to the wrongness of the day. Screams in Lhavit were uncommon, children usually well behaved for their parents. The family of the little girl woke up suddenly, and ran to her room. Their house looked out over the Surya Plaza, and as their gaze went through the window in the little girl's room, a collective gasp of horror washed over them. Her brother, a mere two years older at age eight was assigned to take her away into the house, keeping her away from any windows. The father ran outside, shuddering and swallowing bile as he passed the body, alternating jogging and running to the Shinyama Pavilion. He did not stop the entire way. This could not wait.

He burst into the lobby, his firghtened eyes halting the smiling acolyte. "Murder in the Surya Plaza!" The Shinya were roused. Alarm bells rung. Everything was suddenly a beehive of activity. The message ran right up to the Shinsa quickly, who decreed that three Shinya should go quickly to guard and seal off the body - but under no circumstances should it be touched or moved. Once they were to get there, one was to come back with a description. "Send Kota, Elhaym and Raiyari. It will give the Acolyte experience. Raiyari and Kota have enough common sense to deal with the situation. Go!" The Acolyte hurried to find those three.

He found Kota and Elhaym, Pain, conversing together with worried faces and in hushed tones. He ran straight up to them and conveyed the news. "Shinsa Atanu says you two are to go and guard the body in the Plaza. Wait here, I will get Raiyari, who is to accompany you." He paused, waiting to see if they had any questions. The slowness was irritating him. Could not they see that this was important? "As you say," murmured Kota, nodding his head, Pain keeping quiet. The Acolyte ran off again to find Raiyari. Raiyari was on the training floor, meditating amongst the chaos. "Shinya Raiyari, go to Elhaym and Kota. They are waiting for you. You must go to guard the body." Raiyari stood up slowly, inclined her head and jogged off down to meet the two.

Kota and Elhaym were waiting patiently when Raiyari joined them. They all bowed to eachother, Pain and Raiyari eyeing eachother up. Kota watched in amusement as Pain measured herself against the fully qualified Shinya. "Come. We must go to the Surya Plaza." They set off at a steady place, walking quickly in silence. Within minutes they had reached the Surya Plaza. The news seemed not to have spread to quickly, a small crowd only around the body. "Move out, citizens!" called Kota as he moved towards the body. The three strode through the crowd, and walked up to the body. The sight disgusted them all.

The Lhavitian man who lay before them was completely naked. He was deathly pale and spread-eagled. There was no sign of a wound on his body, besides the deep slash down his forearm, a slash that was not deep enough to kill him. It was obvious, however, to whoever knew about the Symenestra what had killed him. Bite marks lay at the base of the man's throat - the Kiss of the Symenestra. The poison had killed him. The blood that had spilled from his arm had not been wasted. In the man's own blood, "Kalinor" was written out over the man's stomach. The blood had also been used to paint the man's groin blood red.

Kota stayed still and silent, observing the body. "This is Yataro. Of the Dawn Family. He taught Reimancy along with Hitori." He bowed his head in silence for a moment. He looked up at the other two. "I will go back to the Pavillion to tell them of this development. I leave Pain in your capable hands, Raiyari." Laying a gentle hand on Pain's shoulder, he smiled slightly and was off. Pain and Raiyari were alone with the body. They were Shinya, they had an obligation to the safety of Lhavit, which involved finding out about the death. But first they had to control the crowd, which was getting bigger by the second.

by **Tao** on March 5th, 2011, 1:49 pm

It was a very strange thing to have someone that he could consider a friend.

It was even stranger that once not very long ago, said friend had threatened his life.

Time had passed since that fateful evening encounter in the streets, overshadowed by the looming apartment buildings and the bite of the icy wind. A warm change had shifted through the mountains, and with it came a new beginning of an old, brief companionship.

Tao knew that he was by no means an easy person to put up with. People were difficult for him (always had been), and it was hard for anyone to get close when he held them at arm's length with a smiling persona. Perhaps that was why he couldn't help but feel grateful to the Symenestra, who continued to try despite their past... difficulties.

Over the rest of winter, they had begun to meet. For a while, Una came in tow to keep him from bolting like a skittish mouse at the first sight of claws. But as the snows melted and the sun became warmer, Vendaril stayed true to his word and was nothing but careful and curteous when they were together. He barely commented on the fact that Tao always insisted that they stay in the crowded Surya Plaza, filled with watchful Shinya guards, nor if he shied away at a sudden movement.

After a while, Tao began to relax, and it wasn't long before Una's presence was no longer a necessity. He found himself enjoying his talks with the Symenestran man, about language and puzzles of all kinds, or just whatever came to mind. They did have interests in common, and he had never much had a chance to talk at length about how a cipher works before.

This was how a friendship worked, he supposed. It was certainly something that he could become acustomed to.

That morning in particular, they were together once more. A long night had been spent pouring over Vendaril's family book, with the Symenestra slowly translating out the stories that were written, and Tao nodding and pretending that he understood the words on the pages. One lonely, forgotten drink sat at the end of the table, only bought to keep the bartender from throwing them out.

They were interrupted from their conversation by the screech of an alarm echoing across Zintia Peak, making Tao jump half a foot in the air and drop the pen that he was holding, splattering ink across the table.

“What... what was that?” He asked, a little wary of the answer. There seemed to be a comotion outside the little inn they had holed up in; had something happened in the Plaza?

“...Should we go see what's happening?” He asked Vendaril, unsure if it was really a good idea. He had never heard that awful alarm before, and it couldn't be anything good.

by **Raiyari** on March 5th, 2011, 3:59 pm

Raiyari bowed deeply and politely to the Dian and his student. While she knew of the talented and respected Dian Kota, his student Elhaym was a stranger to her. Joining the Shinya as an adult, while not unheard of, was still quite rare. Nevertheless, Rai knew what it was like to be underestimated, and would not do the same to this Elhaym. She'd caught a few glances at this Acolyte, who was older than she was, and heard the talk of her alias: Pain. But to call Elhaym by her other name, without being introduced properly to it, would have been impolite. Instead, she gave a hurried and polite smile, followed the Dian, and walked quickly towards the plaza.

Rai'd been deep in meditation at the time of the scream, and had not heard it. Though when she had been summoned, the word "body" had been enough to alert her of the situation at hand. From that word, the summoning of three Shinya, and the clamor that had arisen so quickly, it could all only mean one thing. There'd been a murder in Lhavit.

Raiyari could smell the body before she saw it, the coppery stench of blood that drenched the cobblestones. The young woman did not gasp, nor did any other emotion reach the composed mask that was her face. Instead, the horror at the manner of killing took root deep inside her. The only sign of it was how her eyes widened slightly as they took in the sight.

The fact that Kalinor had been painted across his chest should have given enough damning evidence of who had done this act. But Raiyari wanted to make sure. She had no love of the Symenstra, not when they took humans to serve their own foul ends. Yet still, the young Shinya wanted to make sure this was not merely a trick, to place the blame on someone else.

But it was not so. As she knelt beside the body and leaned forwards to get a closer look, Raiyari could see the tell-tale signs of a Symenstra's Kiss. Bite marks punctured the base of the man's throat. No, this was definitely not the work of a human.

Rai stood solemnly, tearing her eyes away from the corpse. She'd seen death before, but not that of a human. The memory of a bloody Yukman corpse atop her was nothing compared to the bright Lhavitian life that had been extinguished. But true to her personality, none of this showed on her face.

"Stand back," Rai called out in the most commanding voice she could muster. The crowd was growing bigger by the moment as news of the murder spread. She could feel the frustration building up within her. What meager evidence that was once there, would surely have been erased by the ever swelling crowd.

"Looks like it's going to be a long day." This comment she directed at Pain. It was probably the closest thing Rai ever came to a joke, and she'd meant it to be friendly. But her frustration leaked in towards the end, making her pronunciation of the word 'day' sound harsher than she meant it to. But nocturnal Lhavitian or not, Raiyari knew she had to be ready for this. She had to do her duty.

by **Vendaril** on March 8th, 2011, 9:23 am

As Vendaril sat in the quaint inn, he felt himself experiencing something that was long overdue:

Happiness.

The time he had spent slowly earning Tao’s respect back had helped him, his nightmares were less frequent and he could swear his constitution was improving. Still, before tonight there had always been something hanging in the air between them. Now Vendaril felt he could breathe easy again – that something was gone.

Leaning forward in the lamplight, his head brushed Tao’s as they pored over the aged opus. The sun had risen with treacherous speed, and Vendaril cursed the need to get to work. He really wasn’t looking forward to it what with these early starts Tao seemed to enjoy. Vendaril idly realized his thirst, and reached for the mug he had bought earlier. One swig of stale beer later and he considered buying a new drink – if only to wash the flavor of the first one from his palette.

Just as he made to push his chair back, a distressing wail cut through the murmuring atmosphere. Tao’s head jerked up and Vendaril caught the sound of a flagon crashing to the ground at another table. The symenestra himself jerked upright as fast as he could, tangling his legs with the chair’s and almost catapulting himself back down again. He had no idea what the siren could signify, and one look at his companion told him he was none the wiser. Scanning the other patrons in the bar though, he felt his heart sink. This couldn’t be good.

“What – what was that?” stammered Tao. Vendaril gave him a perturbed look.

“I am unsure – I doubt it’s good news though. Look around us.” He gestured at the unsettled patrons of the inn. “I’m going to have a look outside,” Vendaril felt compelled to find out what could worry the Lhavitians so. “You coming?” Without waiting for an answer, he negotiated his way to the heavy door and pushed out into the cool morning air.

People were already surging in great numbers around the plaza, with all the activity seemingly centered around one point in the far corner. As he made his way purposefully towards this spot, he took note of the others nearby. Some were heading in the same direction as he was, wearing quizzical looks tinted with a hint of worry. Worse though were those staggering away, horrified expressions plastered onto their faces. They served little to deter Vendaril, and his long gait didn’t alter as the focal point of the commotion grew nearer.

Taking note of the Shinya standing here, he tried to step aside – if there was a crime, he didn’t want to have it pinned on him. Though the Sinya were supposedly unprejudiced, he still would prefer not to risk it. Eventually he could make out the crumpled figure lying on the cobbles. At first his stomach twisted. Murder he thought to himself. That was obvious.

But then his eyes took in the details: the bloody scrawls across the chest, the puncture wounds at the neck. His eyes widened, as the implications struck him. Keep calm he told himself, keep a low profile. Any minute the people around him would put two and two together and, voila! He’s have himself a lynch mob. He turned slowly, his face frozen, and made to get away as fast as he could whilst simultaneously maintaining an air of normality.

by **Tao** on March 9th, 2011, 10:40 am

OOCI'm very sorry to be posting twice before everyone else gets a chance, but I want Tao to follow Vendaril out and be on the street with everyone else, so... <3

Vendaril didn't waste a second, turning and making his way out of the inn, past the few other people that would be around in the morning time. Not wanting to be left behind, Tao gathered up their things, carefully placing Vendaril's family tome in his bag (the Symenestra had been in such a hurry he had left it behind) and hastened after him.

The morning sunlight was not too bright, but enough to make him squint as he exited the inn, jogging to keep up with his friend's lengthy gait. There was a crowd gathered around something on the far end of the Plaza. Shinya guards had already arrived; one was calling in a firm tone for the crowds to scatter, with little success as curiousity drew in more spectators.

He finally caught up to Vendaril at the edge of the attraction, and as people filed away from the scene, he caught a glimpse of the body. The blood drained out of his face as he took in the bloated, bloody sight. The man was dead.

An ink stained hand slapped across his mouth in horror as he nearly yelped with sheer shock, and he backed away quickly, averting his eyes. A murder, right in the middle of Surya Plaza? It was almost too much to believe, but the image burned onto his retinas could not have been anything different. He could not even contemplate the thought that the man would still be alive and look so... twisted.

Bile rose in his throat, though he had not eaten since he had left work many hours ago. With difficulty, he swallowed it down, and turned to look for Vendaril. He very much just wanted to get away from the grisly sight, and he did not want to leave the man behind. Or rather, be left behind.

Vendaril was not far away, already making his way away from the murder. He seemed... tense somehow, like he was worried about something. Tao stumbled after him, nearly tripping on his own feet in his haste.

The word on the... man. Kalinor. That's where Vendaril comes from. He realised as he caught up, instinctively touching the man's arm to give him a grounding from his lightheadedness. He knew that Vendaril could not have commited any murder, not when they had spent the entire night together. (And what a comforting thought that was.) But the Shinya didn't know that.

“... Let's go.” He murmured. Neither of them had any desire to wait around, even if it was for very different reasons.

by **Haeli** on March 11th, 2011, 5:45 pm

The city was sometimes overwhelming to Haeli. As hard as she worked alongside Brig to make their business thrive, there was still intimidation and uncertainty buried within her being surrounded by the whole of Lhavit. She barely knew the language. Indeed she barely knew how to be human. Haeli was working on it, but it still came with a cost and sometimes she felt the price was too high.

Haeli was loosing a sense of who she was.

Swamp witch, daughter of a Dhani priestess, and one who could never quite measured up because Haeli wasn't Dhani enough being taken in and not birthed by her 'mother'. There were lingering fears within her. A deep seated need had driven her to Lhavit - to be among humans. And now, more recently, she'd decided Caihya had driven her here to actually meet Brig whom had become her day and night and everything to her that the Gyvaka Swamp couldn't quite be. She was still afraid though, truthfully, of disappointing him like she had so often her adoptive mother. He was everything she wanted to be but felt she wasn't quite there yet. Strong, fearless, clever... Haeli thought about Brig night and day in a way she often wondered was unhealthy. Had she been a bit more out into the world and raised among humans, the obsession with her friend and bondmate would have been easily explained. She'd never had a friend before. She'd never fell in love before. She'd never stared into the eyes of someone who was just as 'almost human' as she was and found so many common threads that their link was hard and fast and perhaps a whole lot stronger than the typical kelvic bond was.

But Haeli was still afraid. She never let it show, of course, but there were things she couldn't hide from Brig. Emotion was one of them. So even as he slept curled around her at night and felt her love reflected back at him as strongly as the love he himself projected, he knew she still was uneasy.

And that uneasiness often woke her at the break of dawn, sometimes a good hour before it, and she'd take to walking. It wasn't so different than his own habit of visiting his night haunts or fighting mock battles of life and death with a neighboring cat. She simply walked. It gave her time to pause and sound out the words written on businesses in Lhavitian or silently iisten to the early morning wakening of the lofty world in which they dwelled.

She was out walking when she heard the scream, the sirens, and the streets chaos that ensued. Brig was about, she knew, probably watchful but giving her space.

Haeli wished she could understand what was going on. The Witch wished she knew the meaning of the loud ringing filling the city. So she followed the crowds of curious, trying to read facial expressions or pick out a word here and there. It was harder than one might have thought. She had no idea what was going on until the crowd stopped, milled about, and parted enough for her to see the body.

She was unmoved.

The Gyvaka was filled with death. The demise of life was a cycle there. People ate or were eaten just the same as every living creature on the planet. Haeli had spent time with corpses, learning their visages. She knew decay and she knew how death rarely told the correct story.

Kalinor.

No, she'd been to the city. It was not a place of such violence. It was a place of beauty and dignity. It was filled with noble tragic people, one of which at the very least she thought of as her friend. The body, its position, and even the marks on it struck her as somehow contrite or untrue. Like perhaps the body was staged rather than fell naturally. Things didn't die spread-eagle. Things were put on display.

Lhavitian words filled her ears, flooded her senses, but she was too focused to pay much attention. Haeli pushed through, her thoughts on her Symenestra friend in Kalinor - one who would never do something like this. Ignoring everyone else, she knelt by the body, careful not to disturb anything. She looked at it, really looked at it, and didn't see what everyone else might have seen and considered 'obvious'.

There were no hollows where poison had been injected and fluid sucked out. In Haeli's world, the concept of murder was new. She simply had no experience with anyone killing anything else except for survival... either to defend or to eat. The marks on his neck looked like puncture wounds, but it seemed a completely inappropriate place for someone wanting to poison or feed on someone else to strike. Snakes hit limbs - arms, legs, feet, hands. The pounding of ones heart after such a strike was enough to circulate blood. Spiders who fed on blood bit wherever it was easiest to bite. Usually that was exposed skin or faces, sometimes hands, or more likely in someone's hairline. The neck seemed completely out of line.

More language surrounded her, but since she understood none of it, there was nothing for her to do but ignore it.

Instead, she spoke out softly, then more firmly. "I do not understand. It looks like nothing was eaten. Why is this man dead? It looks like he was left here for everyone to find. Who would kill and not kill for food? This doesn't seem right. None of this." She said firmly, disturbed.

"Brig?!" She called for her kelvic, wondering if he was near. He'd know what she wanted even before she could speak of it. She wanted his nose, his incredible sense of smell, and his powerful observations as well. Even with all the people milling about the coon could smell things like nothing else she'd ever seen. If he said he smelled Symenestra on the man, then that was that. But she wondered, suddenly, if he wold or not. If Brig wasn't around, she'd rise and hurry off to try and find him.

by **Brig** on March 11th, 2011, 9:33 pm

Brig wasn't very far away when Haeli called out to him. So attuned to his bondmate that even in sleep he could sense her waking and gently slipping away for those few dawning hours. There were times that he simply lay still, eyes closed and breathing steady rather than rise and watch her, or ask if she wanted him to go along. He sensed that she needed those times in the same way he was compelled to prowl in the middle of the night. He wanted her to have them, to become more comfortable in a city that both of them in their own ways were still grappling with…coming to terms with just how they fit in. They fit together just fine, but he thought that maybe she needed those moments, just her and the city. He also realized that just in the way he sensed her waking, she wasn’t fooled, and knew he was playing ‘possum’. And understood the reasons why.

But he knew she’d return soon after the sun came up, and many mornings he was content to remain behind at All Things Wild. Finding ways to make himself useful around the place, sometimes exploring the mysteries of preparing meals even if the results were hardly satisfying to an appetite less picky than his. Bathing in human form, or other times shifting into his coon form and choosing their home’s ponds and fountains instead.

Sometimes though, he ventured out not long after she was gone, following the paths she'd taken but far enough behind to be out of sight. It was an instinct that was as good as impossible to get the better of. But in these instances, in a way that didn’t interfere with what he knew she needed.

He wasn’t far away from the plaza when the bells started ringing. The kelvic had grown accustomed to them sounding at particular times of the day, or on particular days. But this was different and though he usually drifted with the predictable tides of Lhavit’s citizens on mornings like this one, the surge of humanity was suddenly different and it, and the strange tension in the air, even the changed tones in words spoken in a mysterious language raised an alarm that tickled along his spine. Even before there was anything to smell or to know, the kelvic’s lips drew back to reveal his sharpened canines.

Brig was in his human form, but it made no difference to a coon’s senses. Or a bonded kelvic’s. And he was no longer content to leave any distance between him and his bondmate. His movement was more deliberate, more determined even when some of Lhavit’s citizens came back against the tide with worried or horrified faces. Haeli. It was all that was important. There was something unusual, something dangerous ahead and he was sure she was nearby it. He even huffed a warning at some poor unfortunate foolish enough to urge him back in the other direction…

Now he could smell death and feel rattled nerves in the air and having come closer to the growing crowd, he could sense Haeli was nearby before he even heard her call out to him. Brig had grown up in the wilds, death was a natural part of things and he hardly flinched away from it. But it was the sense of something outside of that natural cycle as he understood it, and of his bondmate being too close to it that brought him to her side.

His curls were still damp from his swim in the pond, and his feet were bare. He might not have the fearsome presence yet of another more experienced kelvic he knew, but even when Brig tried his best to look and seem civilized, there was still always something untamed in his eyes and the way he moved. Many of the city’s humans already knew the kelvic for what he was. He’d lived among them, bartered with them for the little odds and ends he wanted, and a few if not many of them might have witnessed him shifting from one form to another right out in the open.

And if any of them knew him at all, they’d know that so long as he was determined to be at his mistress and bondmate’s side, a command to stand back and away, even in a language he could understand, would be answered with a determined ”No”. She was there, crouched next to a body. She’d called him, and that was where he’d be. When he got there, he crouched down on his heels beside her. The scent of death wasn’t a brand new one, but it didn’t stop him from focusing on Haeli before he did the body, to make sure first that she wasn’t harmed. He didn’t say anything, but only gazed intently at her, a silent communication between them to reassure himself that she was alright.

It was only then that he turned to look curiously over the body. Creatures didn’t die like this in the wilds, not with their limbs in such an unnatural way. They didn’t kill like this either. Animals didn’t paint their prey with their own blood or waste the food that they’d fought to get. They didn’t leave letters or words across them. Brig frowned curiously…For all that humans still confused him with their ways that sometimes seemed nonsensical, only they or other sentient creatures, he thought, would do such a thing. But marks like a snake or a spider might make, still, Brig was a creature that took nothing for granted. He was a creature attuned to survival as Haeli was.

He knew what she wanted of him, and he’d have done it anyway for the sake of protecting his bondmate. It was a survival instinct, a determination to know what had been there, and to be sure that it wasn’t any longer, lurking, watching or stalking. The smell of what had been here, what had done this would be on the body or nearby it, it would have scuffed or brushed against something and left a trail of some sort. It was different here, there was a press of others all around with their conflicting scents. But it must still be there, he was sure, and he looked closer at the body and around it, sniffed as close as he was allowed to get to it. And his eye caught the letters painted across the man’s belly. It was a word, he knew, but Brig couldn’t read. ”What do these letters say?” he wondered aloud.

As for what others thought of what had done this, Brig came with no assumptions, further considering that he had no idea what the word painted in blood was. There were the puncture wounds though, like a snake or a spider. But something that thought, even if that sort of thinking was foreign to the kelvic. But if it was a Symenestra and if its smell was there to find, surely Brig would know it. Even if he’d only gotten close enough to one before, to familiarize himself with the unique scent of the creature.

by **Elhaym** on March 12th, 2011, 8:04 am

Pain's body was weary, but she had been awake as the alert spread through the city. Kota had been instructing her on some of the finer points of handling a dispute between citizens, a conversation that was cut short upon the entrance of an Acolyte who commanded their presence elsewhere. Kota stood abruptly, nodding and gesturing the Acolyte to summon the third Shinya would join them. Pain stood as well, immediately running her hands across her sky blue robes and straightening her appearance.

"Though you are but an Acolyte, in situations like this you will be at times required to render aid to the Shinya. Do as I say, and remember what you have been taught... everything will be fine." Kota said, though his voice and demeanor were distant. Pain took no offense from her typically warm mentor's lack of attention. Something of this magnitude burdened everyone it touched, and she could feel the weight of responsibility already.

When Raiyari arrived, Pain felt her stomach tense. "Dammit. They could have sent someone a little... older." She thought, her eyes falling on Kota as he greeted Raiyari with a bow. Pain and Raiyari's gaze met eachother's briefly, but there were little time for formalities. Pain followed closely behind the two Shinya, making their way to the scene of the apparent crime. She frowned behind clenched teeth, wishing deeply that she could take hold of the rubbernecking denizens of Lhavit and toss them aside to clear a path. Instead, she relied on the authoritative stances of her partners, and mimicked it as best as she could.

The body itself was a bit disturbing, but Pain had seen men die (admittedly, by her own hand). What was more disturbing to her was the ritualistic appearance of the body. While Kota and Raiyari examined the body, Pain stood with her back to them and confronted the crowd. Her right hand slid to her sash, resting atop the wooden shaft of her tonfa. It was as intimidating as she had been told to ever act in a situation such as this, simply letting those in the vicinity know that she was there for a reason. Kota described the man's station in his former life, as well as his name. That all meant little to Pain. However, when Kota announced his departure and gently touched her shoulder Pain felt a slight warmth burn in her chest. She didn't smile; it didn't seem appropriate to smile in front of such a crime. Instead she nodded, content with his small token of affection and affirming that she would do her best as Raiyari's temporary charge.

"... couldn't have said it better myself." Pain grunted at Raiyari's flat attempt at humor. The crowd seemed unphased by Raiyari's command, obviously in a bit too much of a frenzy to be stifled by a single shout. Pain clenched her fist around her wooden weapon, drawing in a deep breath and reciting the words in her head before expelling them in a resonant yell.

"Stand back, stand back! NOW!" Pain yelled, waving her free arm at those who sought a closer look. For the moment, the crowd recoiled and withdrew. Pain took this moment to step backwards a bit, keeping her back to the body as to watch the crowd. She tilted her head back, speaking loud enough for Raiyari to hear without the citizens catching her words.

"People don't just kill someone for fun and display them like this for no reason... his body is marked, but I think... well, we should be careful not to get boxed into the obvious. There was a time that I... well, I know sometimes criminals use misdirection to confuse their intentions."

It was a bit of an obvious statement, but Pain thought the way the body was displayed was a bit much. The marked genitals and the obvious reference to the Symenestra were thrown so blatantly in their face that seemed almost foolish to consider them real clues. Pain was not a skilled detective by any means, and could be wrong. She still thought it worthwhile to make sure Raiyari looked at the whole picture.

When she tipped her head back, that was when she saw him. Gaunt, ghost like, and quickly fading from her view. He was a Symenestra, no doubt... as if his ashen skin wasn't a good enough hint in the morning glow, his terrified face upon having witnessed the crime was a healthy clue. Pain surged forward into the crowd, forgoing her earlier hesitancy to push those in her way around. She quickly shoved a young man aside, pressing forward and manhandling a burly merchant who could stand to eat three less meals a day out of her path. She found herself face to face with the retreating Symenestra.

"You come with me." Pain said in accented Lhavitian, taking a surprisingly tender hold around his armpit and shoulder and dragging him back towards the crime scene. Pain almost didn't notice the young man who seemed intent on following the Symenestra, apparently a friend of his. She lashed out towards him as well, taking a hold of him much in the same was as she had his acquaintance. "Both of you come." She said again in thick Lhavitian. Her sentences were brief and clipped, probably tipping off the two that she was new at speaking it.

When Pain burst back through the crowd towards the crime scene with her two people of interest in tow, Raiyari seemed to have gained relative control of the crowd. All save two individuals who seemed to have approached the body whilst she had been fixated on a zealous older man who seemed unable to contain his tongue.

Pain still had a hold on her two reluctant captives, but it should be clear to them that she did not intend to harm them. Though she had pulled them quickly, her powerful fingers had dug only deep enough to persuade them to follow without rebuttal.

"Gods..." Pain grunted, reverting back to Common. "Hey, you two! What part of stand back didn't you understand?! Dammit... just, don't move!"

Pain had waded into the crowd to retrieve the Symenestra for one reason; an opinion. If he was guilty, well... of course, that would have been a plus. But with Raiyari busy with the crowd, she had taken the opportunity when it presented itself to bring in a source that could help validate the crime. As for his friend, Pain had simply noticed that they were frantically looking at eachother upon her approached and assumed it best not to separate them on the off chance that they were guilty.

"Alright, alright..." Pain groaned at the besieging crowd, motioning for Raiyari to join her and the four new comers.

"I'm sorry Dama. I no disrespect." Pain said, motioning towards the new entourage. Of course her sentence was broken and sounded idiotic, but Raiyari would most likely pull together that she was apologizing for acting on instinct to pull the civilians in.

"You two seem to have an interest in this crime... and you two may be able to help us figure out what this all means. Just stay put for a moment, until Dian Kota or someone else returns. If we don't need your help, you can be on your way... understood?" Pain said, glancing back at Raiyari and bowing her head deeply. This was her way of saying "You're in charge, what do we do?"

Pain had somehow managed to gather Vendaril, Tao, Haeli and Brig into the inner circle of the crime within a chime. Now with Raiyari back in control and the others gathered, it was only a matter of time before more Shinya arrived and cleared the area of civilians. Perhaps these four would prove useful. Pain's nose wrinkled as a gust of air brought the salty sent of blood past her face. She turned once more to face the body...

She had a feeling this was a lot more complicated that some stark raving mad Symenestra's idea of dinner.

oocI'm sure this was apparent, but the Symenestra in the crowd was Vendaril, and his friend whom was also taken was Tao. The two curious onlookers who eluded Raiyari's sight were none other than Haeli and Brig.

by **Raiyari** on March 18th, 2011, 10:05 am

Rai bit her lip, both at the title 'Dama' and the fact that she now seemed to be in charge. She had never been put in charge before, and the fact that she now was thrilled and frightened her. This was a grave situation, and it required someone far more experienced than a simple newly inducted Shinya to lead it. The young woman sent a silent prayer to Zintila, hoping that more of her Order would arrive soon.

"No, you made a good decision, Elhaym," Rai replied softly, watching the odd group that the Acolyte had gathered. A Symenstra, a Lhavitian, and two other very odd looking people.

Rai thought that perhaps she'd seen the blonde before, though this was a large city, and even an outsider could be mistaken for someone else. But the dark haired man dispelled all doubts of that. Rai'd seen him before, like many other Lhavitians, she'd gasped at the audacity of this creature, shifting forms right out in the open. The lack of indecency was shocking to most polite citizens, and Rai was no exception. But of course, what could you expect from a Kelvic?

If this man was the Kelvic, then the blonde was his Bondmate? Suddenly, Raiyari remembered. The two had set up some shop, Wild Things, was it? No, but something like that.

Her evaluation of the odd group drifted over to the Symenestra and his companion. Rai had to stop her lip from curling in disgust. Enough potential surrogates had been taken from the City of the Stars to make the spider-like race the primary threat to Lhavit. The young woman usually did not shirk from the unknown, but the sight of these creatures was enough to make her grit her teeth and her hand twitch towards her sword. It was odd enough to see this creature in the city, but so close to the scene of the crime? A crime that most certainly pointed fingers in the direction of Kalinor and its denizens? Raiyari would call that more than simple coincidence.

To the male human, she spared barely a glimpse. He was taller than her, but looked soft. Not a threat. Not like the rest of the people Pain had gathered.

"Excuse me ma'am," greeted Rai respectfully, bowing, if not a bit guardedly, towards the woman and her Bondmate. After all, the strange blonde did not seem to respect the authority of the Shinya, even if they were only a newly inducted Shinya and a well-experienced Acolyte. "It's a murder. A kill for the sake of killing, though I would venture that the purpose of the death was something more than just that. If I may be so bold, I've heard of you and your Bondmate's skills. We could use your help, if you would. A murder in the city... we could use all the help we can get."

After asking as politely and humbly as she could, Rai's dark eyes would snap to the Symenestra. Though her manner was respectful, there was more than simply a trace of wariness in those black orbs. "And you, Sir. All signs point towards your race, though I would not go so far as to say you did this. But the truth is, you are a Symenestra, and we would appreciate your help as well. Do you notice anything odd about the body, is this truly the work of your people?" Raiyari would inquire, giving a slight bow to the Symenestra and his human friend.

The young Shinya would wait until her questions were answered, glaring back out at the crowd. Pain seemed more qualified than Rai did, to be honest. And the fact that Raiyari had been addressed as Dama threatened to make her blush. That title was reserved for the higher ranking Shinya, not a simple guardswoman. The progressing day was turning out to hold all sorts of surprises.

by **Haeli** on March 22nd, 2011, 8:29 am

When Haeli felt Brigs presence, there was a reassurance in sensing him near that calmed her. There was so much that was different about the big city, even though Lhavit wasn't a metropolis in terms of Mizahar's standards. To her, the press of people reminded her of a flock of flamingos shrimp hunting in the shallow brackish water where the Gyvaka met the Western Sea. They squawked and blathered, but none of it really made sense to Haeli. She'd never experienced true crime nor did she understand that certain people in Lhavit had duties that enforced laws. Law enforcement was a completely new concept to the swamp witch, so it was only natural that she didn't understand when certain folks began giving orders and others obeyed.

She saw it as dominance and submissiveness and she was definitely not one to be easily cowed.

So Haeli knelt by the body, looking it over for signs of the violence. That the man wasn't lying in a pool of blood told her volumes. He didn't bleed out. She doubted poison killed him either. Symenestra bit to eat and he didn't look eaten at all. To Haeli, violence for the sake of violence was an alien concept. Death happened due to accident or because something bigger and stronger than you wanted to eat you. Nothing killed for the pleasure of killing; only for defense and self preservation in the form of survival. That meant if you killed something you ate it or killed it to prevent it from killing you.

The dead man certainly didn't look threatening.

So when Brig came and joined her, Haeli watched him carefully and nodded. She looked confused, glanced at Brig, and answered his question. "Kalinor. Its how you spell the name of the Symenestra city. I've been there. I'm sure that's what it says." She started to say more, but someone was shouting for them to stand back.

Haeli rose to her feet, glancing between the body, Brig, and the shouter. She frowned at the loudness, wondering why everyone was so excited. The Swamp Witch was calm, displaying not the least bit of excitement. She wasn't sure what there was to be excited about, truth be told. Death was death, and she'd seen it too much to be afraid of it. For the man, the cycle of life had ended. For everyone else here, it continued on.

Haeli put her hand on Brig, wondering what he smelled, and if there was some beast loose in Lhavit that got interrupted before it could finish its meal. Her train of thought was interrupted though, when the excited woman told her and Brig to stand in one place and wait. She wasn't sure what they could 'help' with or why they were detained, but she waited quietly with Brig, curious.

The other woman, the calmer one, approached and spoke. Haeli gave her the witches' full attention and nodded at her explanation. Murder? She'd never heard of the word. However, she did knew that things didn't have a name unless they happened often enough to merit one. That saddened her quite a bit. So.. people killed for... no reason? Murder had to be a human concept. Animals didn't waste things, even if they killed in self defense.

Haeli nodded, and replied quietly. "We' will wait. We will stay out of the way." She nodded again, glancing at Brig. Murder? Her surprise and confusions filled his awareness. "And we will help if we can." She added.