[Last Time, On El WHAT?!: Our Heroes went snooping, darn those kids and their little raccoon. They found some clues in Amy's room, and jumped to a conclusion. Cara tried a little divination, but was blocked by someone. They've got three more days to do detective work before the last fight, though nobody but the murderer knows how long they have before the next slaying.] [Our heroes have a definite direction, to find the missing animals that seem to be at (or near) the center of all this, but just how to do it escapes them.] [They've been circling the complex for quite some time, but Rocky's nose doesn't seem quite up to the task of tracking the animals.] [Session... Start!] * Shiho walks with her arms folded, staring at the floor. * Rocky rides on Shiho's shoulder. And looks cute. * Cara frowns pensively as she walks. * Ichi follows Shiho and Rocky around the complex, hoping that Rocky finds something this time. * Daphne trudges along, grumbling under her breath. They better not be blocking my nose, too. * Daphne begins radiatiing strobing light from her clevage. ... * Cara blinks. * Ichi blinks. Fuck. What now? You're going to plushify? * Daphne does not appear to be plushifying. * The strobing light fades away, and Daphne is still there. * Shiho stops. "What was that all about?" Uhm...what just happened? * Daphne frowns, checking her chest to make sure it's still there and everything. * Cara reddens. "Maybe something's...um...appeared in...er..." * Daphne reaches down the front of her shirt to see if anything mysteriously appeared there. * Ichi is lost in contemplating Daphne's clevage. * Shiho looks at Cara and rolls her eyes. "Daphne, check your tatoo." Eh? ...oh, right, that! * Ichi mumbles to himself, "They realy are smaller now..." * Daphne looks down the front of her shirt to see if her tatoo's there, and then idly kicks Itchy in the legs as he says that. * Daphne's lock tattoo is now an unlock tattoo. * Cara reddens further and looks away in embarrassment. Ow! ...Oh...sorry. * Daphne blinks. "'S unlocked. I'll be. Wonder how that happened." * Cara turns back. "Unlocked? Just now? How could that happen?" * Shiho frowns. "I don't like it." I don't know. Uh, dunno. Innit only s'posed to happen when we meet one of those key people? That's what I thought, but... Maybe not. * Cara looks around. "I don't see that lady anywhere." And shouldn't we be goin' to some new world now, or somesuch? At a guess, it might happen when they die. Maybe one of them decided to go home? ...then someone else's been killed. * Daphne sighs. "It's prolly whatsisface, or somethin'. We'd better go find 'em. Or at least establish an alibi." * Cara nods. * Daphne sets off in a random direction to do that. Uhm...so where do we go...and how do we get there? I haven't been paying attention to where we are...Sorry. * Cara follows Daphne. * Shiho heads thataway Oh, that way. ::walks:: * Daphne leads the group twice around the arena without stopping. * There doesn't seem to be another murder. Well, shit. Maybe something just happened to one of them on another world. Eh. Whatever. Doesn't really help us here, anyways. Do you think Carmen got caught. Probably not. ... Hm. * Cara shrugs. * Daphne heads off in another direction, for no apparent reason! * Ichi continues to follow Daphne. * Cara follows Daphne, since she seems to have no idea where she's going. * Shiho goes that way, lost in thought anyhow. * Daphne leads the group (mostly) straight to the storage room where Taro was ashified. * Daphne checks the door to see if it's locked. Presuming it's closed, of course. * The door is not locked, and in fact opens easily. The ash cone is still on the floor, as is the ash circle on the wall, and all the blood, though that's dried. * Cara pales as she realizes what room it is. * Daphne glances around inside. Any people, critters, anything interesting? * Ichi blinks, "Isn't this where..?" Yeah, it is. Oh... * Ichi stares at the ashes. * Shiho moves inside the room for a better look. * The ashes do not stare back. * Cara avoids looking at the blood or ash. * Ichi tears his eyes away from the ash and looks at the ground for something that's not the remains of his friend. * Rocky hops down off Shiho's shoulder and looks at the ground. Got somethin', Rocky? * Shiho kneels down next to the trail of dried blood. "Another one." * Cara turns around to regard Shiho. "Another what?" ...eh? Thoes little round marks? ::looks at the blood:: * Shiho nods. * There aren't any more of the strange circles, but there is a trail of small drops that slowly get smaller. * They disappear altogether just before the door. ...huh. The same, but backwards. * Cara scratches her head. This is...I don't understand. * Shiho stands up. "Me neither." * Daphne sighs. "Ditto here." May as well check the other murder sites, to see if they've got 'em, too. We already know they do. * Cara shoves her hands in her pockets. "It's like something's feeding." We do? Huh. Like a vampire, or some godawful weapon, or something. Fun. * Ichi scratches his head, "But I thought Amy said Mui...and Tulpa said he didn't...and then Tulpa said he didn't talk to him when he was supposed to have execpt he didn't say that...and now I've confused myself." * Daphne walks into the hall and sits down against the wall. * Cara follows Daphne out. * Ichi tries to figure out if Tulpa actualy talked to Mui. * Shiho walks back out. "Let's go look at the site where Daphne's double was murdered." She heads that way. * Cara nods and follows Shiho. * Ichi follows Shiho to the hall, still trying to work out Tulpas logic. * Daphne shivers. * Daphne stands and follows. * It doesn't take long at all to get there, and as you approach, it doesn't look like it's heavily guarded. * Shiho looks around. * Daphne stays out of sight of the murder scene. * Cara hugs her shoulders as she glances nervously around. * Shiho looks down at the pool of blood. "Here too." * Cara looks down at the blood, paling slightly. * Shiho rubs her head. "What's the connection?" * Daphne closes her eyes. "Wonder if it *is* something feeding. That'd get rid of the need for a motive, at least for the first murder." Could be. Could be a vampire. Could be a ghost. Could be a doppleganger. Could be an invisible man... There's no way to know. Could even be someone who's really good at this. Yup. * Cara hangs her head. "We're so helpless." * Daphne scowls. Why was Demeter the only one ... Hm. * Shiho scowls. "Damn. It makes sense, too." Eh? Something makes sense? What is it? * Shiho faces the others. "What if Demeter is the killer?" ...Demeter? * Cara blinks. "How would that work?" We have no proof that she's dead, other than the staff's word. * Shiho frowns. "We should look that up." * Ichi nearly has his train of thought in order when Shiho speaks "Didn't they...find half of her?" So they say. Wait... huh. Alright. So how do we look into it? Find out what they did with the body, then see if there is one. If the refs are in on it, though... * Daphne shrugs. "Works for me." * Shiho heads to the morgue. * Cara follows Shiho, looking worried. * Ichi walks and thinks * Shiho heads to the reference desk first. * The clerk looks up as you approach. "oh, hello! How can I help you?" * Shiho nods. "Do you have a phonebook?" Of course! * The clerk pulls out a handy phone book. "What do you need to find?" Just an address. * The clerk hands Shiho the phone book. * Cara stands near the door and watches Shiho quietly. * Shiho looks up the address for the morgue. * Daphne watches over Shiho's shoulder. * Ichi thinks and thinks. * Shiho finds the address for the county coroner's office. The page is verging on dog-eared, and the clerk perks up as Shiho stops on that page. Oh, you're going to the morgue? Go left from the entrance, go four blocks to the Kwik-E-Mart and turn right, then go four blocks to the Hinky-Dink, turn right, and it's a block or so. * Rocky hops off Shiho's shoulder and peers into the receptionist's office! * Daphne blinks. * Rocky pouts. "... Thought I saw a shiny." ...has this happened a lot, ma'am? Oh, you're not the first to go to the morgue. * Rocky hops on Shiho's shoulder again. * Shiho nods and hands the phonebook back. "Thank you." * The clerk puts the phonebook away. "No problem." Huh. * Shiho heads towards the doors. "All right." * Daphne scratches Rocky's head. "What'd you think y'saw?" * Ichi follows Shiho and Daphne. Nothin'. Just didn't want the clerk to get suspicious at Shiho. Heh. * Cara follows Shiho. "If lots of people are going, they've probably covered up anything that might be useful to us." Maybe. Maybe not. We just need to see her body for our own eyes. * Daphne nods. * A mile or so of walking later, Our Heroes arrive outside the coroner's office. It's a cheerful place, and appears well traveled. There's a secretary just inside the lobby, working patiently. * Shiho walks right up to the secretary. * Ichi is still lost in thought and mumbles to himself, "But why would he still be..." * The secretary looks up. "Welcome to the Coroner's Office, can I help you?" * Shiho nods. "I was wonder if we could maybe see the bodies of a few of our friends. They were killed recently." Names? Demeter Spyros and Amy O'Neal. * The secretary stands up. "Right this way." She walks off down a hallway. * Shiho follows. * Cara walks after Shiho. * Ichi follows Shiho down the hall. * Daphne follows! * The secretary opens a door and enters a room full of coolers just like the ones you've seen on TV. "Um... if you've got weak stomachs, you might not want to look." We came all this way just TO look. * The secretary walks over to a cooler marked "Spyros, Demeter", gives a warning look at everybody, and pulls it smoothly open. The body is currently covered, of course, but it's still easy to tell that the lower half isn't present. * Shiho frowns. "Can I see her face?" * The secretary nods and pulls back the covers, revealing the body down to the waist. It's definitely Demeter. * Ichi breaks out of his thoughts to look up and pail a bit, "I think they were telling the truth...hmm." * Shiho succeeds remarkably well in not looking sick. "What about Amy?" * Cara looks a little faint. * Daphne blinks at Ichi. "Eh?" * The secretary covers the body and smoothly slides it back into the cooler. I'm still thinking about Tulpa...I think he lied about not talking to Mui... * The secretary quickly opens the one next to it, marked "O'Neal, Amy" * There's definitely a body there, but of course, it's covered, too. * Shiho nods to the secretary. "Her, as well." * Daphne blinks at Ichi. "Well, yeah." She shrugs. "Maybe we can interrogate Mui about it later." He wants to make whoever is doing this ::gestures around the mourge:: on of his minions right? That's what he says, yes. * The secretary pulls the sheet down, revealing the upper half of Amy's body, currently naked. The wound in her throat is quite visible. * Cara wavers a bit, and leans on Daphne for support, white as a sheet. * Shiho nods to the secretary. "Thank you." * Daphne supports Cara. "Look, Cara, if ye' want to wait outside..." * The secretary covers the body and slides it back into cold storage. Anything else? * Shiho shakes her head. "No, thank you." * The secretary waits patiently for you all to leave. * Shiho leaves! * Cara leaves QUICKLY. * Ichi continues to talk as he leaves, "And he didn't make Mui one of his minions right?" * Daphne heads out. He sure didn't. So...it wasn't Mui...and I think Tulpa is still trying to figure out who it was... * Ichi scratches his head. Unless it was Tulpa who did it and he was just lying about the other thing. * Shiho waits until they get outside and a good distance away from the place, then slams her fist into her hand and growls in frustration. "Dammit! It WAS her all along!" Or...eh? * Cara turns and stares at Shiho. "Huh?" Wha? Amy. She did it. Dammit, I never should have let her get away. But...what? How? We saw her lying there... But..she's dead... Alright. Y'must've picked up on something I didn't back there. You saw a body that looked like Amy's. Alright, so it wasn't hers. How do you know? * Ichi nods slowly, "What makes you think it wasn't?" It was something like a... a clone. Something created with magic. And there wasn't any wound in the shoulder where I shot her. * Ichi blinks. * Cara 's eyes slowly widen. "Oh no..." Then I... ...bloody hell. I knew it, dammit all. If those fucking refs had let us examine her right after it'd happened, this'd be over by now. How can we find her, though? I'm sorry Shiho, I tried to stop you then...but if you're right now... That must have been her blocking me, so she must be really powerful. * Shiho shakes her head. "It's my fault for not finishing her off when I could." Don't worry about that now. Cara, can you try your locator spell again? Maybe she can't block you from this far away. Now we worry about where she is and how we find her. I can try. Okay, let me find some place to do this. * Cara looks around for some convenient out of the way place to cast her spell. Like a park or something. * There's a handy ice cream parlor just down the block. * Cara starts walking there, then. * Shiho heads thataway. * Ichi follows Cara to the ice cream. * It's only a block. The ice cream parlor is open, if you want any ice cream. * Daphne follows. Mmm, ice cream. :9 * Cara finds a table to sit down at. * Shiho orders a soda and a bowl of icecream for Rocky, then sits down. * There are many open tables at the Dairy Cow. * Daphne gets an ice cream cone and has a seat. * Cara spreads the map out on the table and takes out her sketchbook and pencil. * Ichi is about to order a bowl of icecream when he remembers what happened last time... He takes a seat across from Cara. * Rocky eats icecream :9 * Daphne eats icecream to. :9 * Cara starts sketching out a very similar drawing to her previous try, except using a little Amy instead of the wolf. * Cara closes her eyes and concentrates. * Cara opens her eyes again, and shakes her head. "Still blocking me." Damn. Try sensing magic? ...could you maybe find what it is that's blocking you? There can't be too many magic users there. * Ichi just watches. Screw it. We'll single 'em out once by one if we have to. But let's try for something else first. I don't think so. I can't sense magic being used from so far away, and if I try a spell to find it they'll just do the same thing. Can you sense anything at all? * Shiho frowns and thinks... I can just sense that I'm being blocked from this far away. And only when I'm casting. Oh. How close do we have to be to get a better idea? I dunno. Hrm. Closer than in the same building. * Shiho smirks. "So we just walk around again with you randomly casting spells?" Heh. Fun. I wonder if it's just Cara being blocked, or if nobody can use magic anymore. It might work. I'm not being blocked from casting spells. Just from finding her. * Shiho shrugs. "I can try, but all my magic is good for is blowing things up. Well... Shiho, Ichi, don't you know a little ma... damn. And I haven't cast a spell in ages. Same here. Well... maybe there's another mage there we could get to look? If I maintain the spell while moving around the building, Shiho could maybe see if she could sense the magic they're using to stop me. Sure, at least that's somethin'. It's worth trying. Y'wanna try that, or should we try to think up a plan 'b' first? We can do that while trying plan 'a'. Works fer me. * Ichi nods. * Shiho finishes her soda and stands up. "Then let's do that." * Daphne finishes her cone up and nods. "Right." * Ichi stands up, "Where do we start?" Back to the complex. * Cara gets up. * Daphne nods and heads that way! Actually, I wouldn't need to move around while doing it. Eh? Oh. Jus' Shiho? I could just stay in our room and focus on the spell while someone moves around trying to find the source. Alright. Ichi, do you think you could find the source? Ichi and I should find the source together. Daphne, you stay with Cara in case Amy attacks. Rocky will stay with you so we can stay in contact. * Cara nods. * Ichi shakes his head, "I didn't learn that much about magic...Sorry." That's what I was gonna suggest, so yeah. * Daphne holds her arm out. "C'mon, Rocko." * Rocky hops onto Daphne's shoulder. * Daphne scratches Rocky behind his ears. * Rocky is scratched. * Our heroes return to the arena on wings of sugar! Soon, they're standing outside the main entrance. * Shiho heads to the room. * Cara heads for the room. * Shiho gets to the room! * Ichi follows Shiho. * Everybody else gets to the room, too! * Shiho gets there first! * Daphne walks in and sits on her bed. * Cara sits down on her bed as well, and sets the map out. * Shiho waits by the door. * Ichi stands near Shiho. Okay. Start casting. * Cara nods, and begins her locator spell, as before. * Shiho heads out. "C'mon, Ichi." Right... ::follows Shiho out the door:: Have fun stormin' the castle. * Cara closes her eyes and focusses. * Shiho casts Detect Magic as she leaves. * Daphne makes sure to be quiet and still so as not to interrupt or something. * Shiho falls over on the floor as she completes the spell, completely unconscious. * Ichi nearly trips over Shiho, "SHIHO!" * Daphne blinks and looks over. * Rocky gets a splitting headache. * Ichi kneels down next to her and tries to figure out what happened. ... Ow. * Daphne runs over to Shiho to check on her. * Shiho is already starting to wake up by the time Daphne gets there. * Cara 's eyes pop open and she stops the spell. Shiho?! Shiho, are you allright? What happened? * Shiho sits up and shakes her head, groaning a bit. "Yeah. I'm fine." * Shiho staggers to her feet, and rubs her head, then looks to everyone and points. "That way." Need a hand up? What happened? * Shiho is pointing straight across the arena. ...okay. Got a fix or just a general area? You found it? What hit you? How far? That direction, don't know, maybe, something with a tremendous amount of magic, don't know. But we're gonna find out. * Shiho heads that way. * Ichi nods and then follows Shiho. Good. * Daphne follows! * Cara gets up and follows. * Rocky follows too. Whee! * Shiho walks that way! That way leads directly across the arena, eventually out onto the arena floor, and across onto the other side of the arena. * Shiho looks around as she goes. * Shiho doesn't see anything suspicious. * Ichi looks around for small animals...or large animals...or minions...but they might be covered under the first two headings. I could cast it again, but... * Shiho winces. * Ichi nods, "Is there some other way to look?" I can't think of any. * Cara looks around. Well, we could kick all the doors down one by one, but people might take offense. * Shiho sighs. "I'll do it again." Alright. I'll catch you, this time. Yeah... I wish I could help. I do, too. But magic hates my guts, remember. You can. If she shows up, kick her ass for me. * Shiho casts detect magic again. * Ichi nods, "I will." Will do. * Shiho collapses. * Rocky gets another splitting headache. * Daphne catches Shiho. ... Ow. ;_; * A few minutes later, Shiho begins to wake up. * Cara looks at Shiho with concern. * Shiho rubs her head and mutters. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea." She points a direction. "That way." * Ichi stops paceing. "Shiho?" * Shiho is pointing directly across the arena again. ... ... * Daphne looks upwards. We...passed it? Oooookay. So... either it's up in the air, or below the arena floor. I'm betting below. * Cara frowns. Is there a basement on that map? * Cara takes the map out and looks at it. * There are basements around the great ring, but none shown under the actual arena floor. Or just a set of stairs leading down. * Shiho heads to the arena and takes a look around. Shit, I dunno, maybe she can burrow or something. * Daphne looks around, too. * Cara follows Shiho. * Ichi follows Shiho, "Maybe she has another animal that can." * Right now, the arena floor is totally bare save for the great main stone fighting ring in the center of the arena, and the four smaller fighting rings for the four divisions at the four "corners" of the arena floor. * Daphne looks around for sekryt doors. Or obvious doors, if they present themselves. * Shiho walks around the ring. * Ichi looks for a way down. * There do not appear to be any doors, secret or otherwise, in the ringside. * Shiho looks up. * Daphne looks for anything out of place. Disturbed earth, a tile that looks like it could be jimmied loose, whatever. * Cara looks around cautiously. * The sky is clear overhead. Clear, and blue, and beautiful. * Shiho looks at the stands and walls, particularly for the entrences. * Shiho doesn't see anything remarkable. * Ichi looks around for any sign of the animals. Maybe if we tried detecting from the center? * Shiho sighs. "It's not exactly a pleasant experience." That's for sure. I know. I'm sorry. But... Uhm...Since we're closer...do you think you could try Cara? Or would it be the same as when we were still in our room? I don't think it matters. * Shiho sighs. "I'll do it." She hops up onto the ring. Oh... Could you... I dunno, draw the arena an' stuff from the side? * Cara blinks at Daphne. "To do what?" Well, t'see if it's really below here or not. I dunno. * Shiho waits. "Any other ideas?" * Ichi shakes his head, "I'm sorry, but no." * Rocky holds his head as precaution. * Shiho casts detect magic again. * Ichi runs to try and catch Shiho. * Daphne hops into the ring to catch Shiho once she passes out. * Shiho does not collapse, because just as she begins casting the spell, a five foot square in the center of the ring shimmers and disappears, leaving a hole leading down into the earth. [Session End]