Burned Circle - ThirdWizard's Dresden Files Game

Shayuri · Oct 26, 2012

Juno shrugged. It WAS a little odd for someone to keep a room of the house locked if no one was in it...but even a little time on the police force had taught her that people did odd things sometimes, for perfectly innocent reasons, or no reason at all. Her first partner had told her that 'if everything that looked like a clue was a clue, we'd all be in jail.'

Still, this was no ordinary house, and their quarry was no ordinary girl. And the leads they'd found so far were rice-paper thin.

"Just to warn you," Juno explained as she went down the hall to the locked door, "if this thing doesn't open with the front door key, and isn't the cheapass kind of lock you can pop open with a pin, chances are we're not getting in. I don't want to break the door down until we're desperate."

She fished the house key out of her pocket and tried it on the little keyhole in the doorknob, wiggling it gently.

Thanee · Oct 27, 2012

Keira

“Thank you, Mara. So, except for that little encounter on friday, when she told you about her headaches, you didn't see her or talk to her? Looks like we will have to figure out what that call for work you mentioned was all about. Can you tell us anything about her work, what does she do, and how does she get her jobs usually?”

ThirdWizard · Oct 30, 2012

Mara scrunches her nose. "I'm not really sure exactly what she does. She doesn't really talk about it. I was hoping that you'd know more than me, to be honest. I do know that she says she helps others with magic talents. And, I know it's dangerous, because a few times when she's gone out she's told me that if she isn't back in a week to tell her mom. But, she doesn't like to talk about it. I think she thinks it'll keep me safer the less I know. There was a name she mentioned once, by accident... what was his name?"

She leans back in her chair holding up her index finger finger to you, putting it over her mouth, then folding her arms. Her eyes drift to a far off place. The scent of herbal tea wafts through the room. From a small stereo you can hear some music build to a muted crescendo. She must have turned it down instead of completely off. While the music fades back down to inaudibility, she sways back and forth, her movements as subdued as the music she follows. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and holds completely still. Under her breath, she mutters "Retine" and then takes a sharp breath. She opens her eyes with a flutter and shudders.

Looking up, she blushes. "Something I've been working on. I don't have a photographic memory, but I can fake it." Then she looks at you seriously, nodding while she talks. "Moretti was his name. She was going to meet him Downtown. It slipped out and she told me to forget the name." She pauses a moment. "I think he's her contact in whatever it is she does. It pays well, I can tell you that, although you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at her clothes or her decorating habits. But she buys a lot of expensive books and replaces a lot of electronics. She used to carry a disposable cell phone around with her and replace it every day, but gave up on that a couple of months after I met her."

"Have you talked to her boyfriend? He might know more." Looking at you, she gets a sudden realization. "You don't know about him do you? Jesus, Sandra!" She cuts off your obvious next question, holding up her hands in surrender. "His name is Robert Mills and he lives somewhere around Midtown. I met him a few times. He's big, rough around the edges, short tempered, and likes hard liquor. That's all I know." She sighs exasperatedly. "Does she tell her family anything at all about her life? What a woman."

Dragonwriter · Oct 30, 2012

Logan gives a half-smile. "Sandra was always pretty close-mouthed, even before she moved out of the house. So a boyfriend who's rough and hard-drinking, and a possible employer she kept as concealed as possible... Interesting." He leans back and taps one finger against his knee, seemingly lost in thought.

ThirdWizard · Oct 31, 2012

Juno slides in the key and it turns with a soft click, allowing the door to swing open.

This room looks like it might once have been a bedroom, but it has long since been converted. The only light comes from Juno's flashlight and Malcom's lighter. Peering in the two light sources cast dancing shadows about the room as much as they reveal what is inside. The far window has a long heavy tapestry hanging over it, darkening the room considerably. The carpet and flooring have been ripped out, leaving the concrete slab exposed. Tall candelabras stand amidst the room, unlit for the moment. As each new item comes into focus in the darkness, it looks like this room has been turned into a full wizard's laboratory.

In the center of the room is an intricately complex magic circle, carved into the very concrete of the floor. Various metals glint in the illumination, and patterns emerge from the engravings on the layers of rings that make up the circle, which must be somewhere around a five foot diameter on the inside, a foot more if you measure from the outside of the rings. On the far side of the room is a chalk board covered with arcane formulas describing various magic energies. The writing looks quick and hurried, the magic patterns complex enough that their purpose doesn't jump out as readily apparent.

The left side of the room is a bookshelf. The entire left wall. A myriad of differently sized, shaped, and colored books line the oak shelves, which themselves look hand crafted. It could take years to pore over these tomes in detail to learn their secrets. Nestled between books are bookends just as unique as the books they hold up. It looks like she was a collector. You see everything from demon-like carvings to Disney princesses. Beside the books is a dark brown La-Z-Boy that looks very used.

The right side of the room is full of familiar looking Ikea brand cabinets. Each shelf is crammed with various items: jars of liquids, candy, leaves and seeds, organs in formaldehyde next to tiny bones, toy soldiers and figurines, drinking glasses of all shapes and sizes, a harmonica, triangle, and tiny harp, tape and glue, stained glass, feathers - the list goes on and on. Beyond what is sitting out, there are tiny drawers most likely filled with other items. Beside them is a neatly arranged table with a book stand beside it, currently empty of any particular tome.

Stepping inside, there is a sense that there is a purpose here, that Sandra wasn't just toying with the magical arts, but that she was a serious practitioner.

Shayuri · Oct 31, 2012

"Well hell," Juno breathes, flicking the flashlight from place to place...and there were so many places of interest in that room. "There goes the deposit."

She steps back to get Malcolm access.

"This is all you."

Thanee · Nov 1, 2012

Keira

“Mara, that's really helpful. Now, at least, we have some trails to follow and some more people to talk to. Hopefully, someone knows a little more about what is going on right now. We will see about finding them tomorrow, right away.”

Bluedevil · Nov 1, 2012

Malcom let out a small whistle from between his lips as he looked over the room, "Well apparently despite my modest income, this girl has me beat out for collection. Practitioner doesn't cover it, this is a full wizard's set up."

Malcom entered the room slowly walking around the edge of the carved circle on the floor examining first the bookshelves, trying to get an idea of her specialty.

"This room is a definite indication that something is very off. How does a young lady get access to all of this without help? Without a sponsor or a teacher."

Malcom's fingers glided against the book spines. The room looked like something he would expect from an older wizard, not a girl of twenty.

Malcom knew where he had to go, but in some ways he wasnt sure he wanted to see what she was working on when she vanished. There were too many bad possibilities. Malcom turned his eyes to the chalk board and started trying to decode the quick scrawls.

ThirdWizard · Nov 1, 2012

Mara seems to perk up a bit. "I'm glad I could be some help to you. I hope you find her soon. I wish I knew more, but just like you say she's not one to talk about herself so much. When she comes back, I'm going to try to get her to open up more. She must hide a lot in her heart." She takes a deep breath thinking quietly to herself. When she speaks again, her voice quivers slightly, but she looks both of you in the eyes, back and forth quickly, as she talks her voice getting softer as she continues the sentence. "If you find anything... no matter what you find... I'd like..." at that her voice fades away into inaudibility.