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Post by Krakenbox on Jul 26, 2021 14:19:59 GMT -8
Anthony paused for longer than necessary as he was given two directions, before nodding and going with Aello to supposedly organize their group's stuff in the cabin and listen to both. Ivory started to realize it was a mix of people, where not everyone was related to the university students. No one put up protest, falling into a natural pattern as the charismatic Fairest took charge with a logical solution. It was a lot of faces and moving bodies to keep track of, especially without names or familiar context.
"We're going to have to head back and grab our kayaks," one of the older athletic men explained, gesturing for four others to follow him to the van with a roof rack. He seemed unconvinced there was an issue, while the adult Caucasian woman looked nervous, asking in a hushed voice if a psycho was going to hurt them. Ivory found herself being approached by a two of the sorority girls. Takisha nudged the younger, who had clearly been crying.
"Tell her what happened."
"O-one of the guys grabbed me and whispered, l-like to tell me something?" she clarified, embarrassed and scared as the alumni seemed to have a harsher opinion on the boy's motives. "I couldn't- it was like word salad." Takisha licked her dry lips, attention flickering with rage as she looked back to those packing.
"We should be hunkering down inside. Where we can watch everyone." She was clearly talking to Ivory, expecting her to help.
"I'd r-rather just go."
--
The first thing that alarmed her was that the smell dissipated the further she got from the camp.
Kai got away from the stampede of human activity, before noting the slithering marks in the sand, along with...hooves? Tracking carefully, she happened upon bundles of dry brush that could have been mistaken as rats nests. Upon better attention and a flashlight, she produced an effigy with someone's hair bound around the throat of the doll. She produced five of them, tension ramping as a shadow moved among the abandoned kayaks. Bow drawn, she almost pelted a rat that was carrying a protein bar. Following back to where it had emerged from, she found a full change of clothes—sodden and hidden within the haphazard stack of equipment in one of the boat's tips. Moving a few with loud grinding sand and plastic, the water sloshed. She couldn't tell if it was dirty from the kayak, or something else short of testing it with equipment. The bloody shoe with scratch marks, on the other hand, was more concerning. And the collection of keys.
A loud rolling rattle of a chirp was heard overhead as a screech owl swooped above the retreating rat.
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Post by Kai Rose on Jul 27, 2021 18:09:47 GMT -8
The hunt.
Kai frowned as she found the doll effigies, concern writ on her face at the creepy thing that didn't really make sense with a slithering, hoofing creature. She whispered to the effigy, "I took from them their loves and hates," and drew upon Glamour to see the past. Some power for the last handler; more for the moment of its creation.
A shadow. She tracked it, finding the clothing, finding a bloody shoe and keys...
Eyes cleared the area, watching her own back. Then more magic. More gazing into the past. This was starting to scream complex. Beads burned as she drew forth the Truth.
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Post by Krakenbox on Jul 31, 2021 12:22:42 GMT -8
The shoe.
The Labrador bobbed in the water, a concerned bark around the stick as you sit on its master. They're kicking, trying their best, but there's too many limbs. A hoof cracks against the skull, stunning him. A black claw severs the foot from the ankle. A human hand takes the stick and throws it back into the lake.
"Is Josie okay?" A woman's voice calls. The sound rolls around, first the dog bark, then the statement is muttered low and mewling like the animal was trying to talk. It takes a few tries, and you call back, muttering and gibbering. She looks confused as she notes the drowning, blinking and hesitating with your face...
...The fire hisses as you peel the foot from the sneaker, tossing the meat on the log. Behind you, you hear the other group call out from across the road, asking where your husband is. Your grin is too wide. Too many teeth. A bison's head. Kicking hooves. Horns and antlers.
The keening answer startles them, and you vibrate with energy. Josie bustles past, evaporating the tension as they pet and greet the dog...
The keys.
The woman offers her hand, panic radiating as she goes to pull you from the edge. Her attention drifts beyond to the one facedown in the ravine, sweat beading as she turns grey. "Anika...?"
The keys snap as you reach for the bright lanyard around her neck, snapping free as she lets you drop...
The effigy.
Many hands, twisting and bending and tangling as they tie with joints that bend in right ways and wrong ways. A black dog with hollow white eyes yips and cackles. A crone's grinning sneer as it's bound to the earth. You'll only need to wait...
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Ivory
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Pres 4 (Regal) - SL 1 (Noble) Fairest Hunterheart
Posts: 588 
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Post by Ivory on Aug 1, 2021 8:48:19 GMT -8
Ivory rolled her eyes as one of the men decided to go against her advice and leave to grab his kayaks. At least he seemed convinced to join them eventually, even if he was risking himself and others for a fucking boat.
Fine, let them go. It was a cold thought, born from the recesses of the Fairest's draconian nature. Sometimes you needed to sacrifice a lamb and if this man's materialistic nature was going to prevent them from proceeding on, then he could be that lamb. The Pale Dragon decided it was worth neither her time nor her effort to push a minor portion of the group to rejoin the fold, she would instead focus on the majority. THen came the girls with the tale of a boy speaking in gibberish. Ivory would offer her full attention, making note of the woman's distress
"I get it, but let's stick to the plan," she said to the girls, "It doesn't do anyone any good to try and go ahead on their own. We are better off moving as a group. Go to the cabin, get your stuff, and then let's organize the exit, okay?"
Part of Ivory's expression pleaded with Takisha to help her in turn. The girl had gone to the alumnus first, therefore trust was likely already present with the pair. Ivory's greatest chance of success in getting this girl back to Vegas hinged on Takisha's cooperation. Then, a look to the victim.
"Were you able to make out anything?" she asked, "And can you point him out? So we can watch him?"
Stray-Ivory — Today at 10:44 AM
Cabin: Among Us. Stick to the plan, girls... Presence+Persuasion+SL1
[10:44 AM]
@dicecord-CoD roll 8
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
— Today at 10:44 AM
Stray-Ivory rolled 8 dice and got 1 success. 7 4 1 10(2) 6 7 5 5
Stray-Ivory — Today at 10:45 AM
Forgot base pool: Connected: College Students (2 dice)
[10:45 AM]
@dicecord-CoD roll 2
Dicecord-CoD
BOT
— Today at 10:45 AM
Stray-Ivory rolled 2 dice and got 1 success. 8 5 |
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Post by Kai Rose on Aug 1, 2021 10:00:07 GMT -8
What the fuck? What was this, some sort of hob shapeshifter that just wantonly killed around a lake? Looking at the number of shifts she'd seen, it didn't make sense; so much Glamour would be necessary.
Once they'd extracted the regular folks, they'd need nerds down here -- and fast. Kai looked up, sweeping the area around her to ensure she wasn't being snuck up on. She pushed Glamour to her defenses, weaving fate in her favor as a bead popped. Then, she looked in closer detail at the shoe to see if there were any signs that would tell her how new the blood on the shoe or anything else at this scene that would be mundanely of use from a forensic perspective.
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Post by Krakenbox on Aug 17, 2021 19:56:46 GMT -8
Takisha nodded to Ivory in appreciation. The younger blinked as she looked wearily around camp, "I'll point him out...when I see...him," she murmured, clearly failing to spot him in the dark. "He talked like he was just trying to make conversation, but the- the syntax was completely scrambled. Um, like-"
"It's fine, Georgia. She gets it," Takisha affirmed. She didn't seem like she was looking to hide information from the Fairest, rather not looking to waste time with making the other recreate a non-conversation.
Ivory's presence reverberated with the humans, the older athletic woman with the kayak group putting her foot down, and dragging what she could only assume as her romantic partner from the other men. He grinned, looking relieved that he had an out to make her feel safe over looking brave with the rest. A chore was found immediately as he started helping people with closing up and tossing their stuff into canoes.
That's when the Fairest realized...there were no vehicles. They had rowed here, which might mean they were isolated on a small island within the lake. Ivory's question wasn't going ignored either, with Takisha asking after the student with a generic description, and many looking nervous as they glanced and shrugged.
As she arrived with the other two girls, Anthony shouldered some bags with Aello.
-
Hobgoblins are different from the Lost in a few key ways. Kai knew for this to be a hobgoblin, it would need to have a source of power from the Hedge, or it's operating off some kind of pact. However, without an academic focus, she couldn't really anticipate its limits or rule out of it was beyond what a Hob was capable of.
From a forensic perspective, the shoe's blood was a handprint and matching up with the theory that the entity had subdued and drowned the victim and seemed to have planted the shoe for...unknown reasons? Was it a trophy stash? Did it want them to be found by the others?
She sees the small group leave from the cabin to the trail that likely lead to the others, with one woman breaking off with a male to change their minds and head back before they hit the darkness. The screech owl that had been circling above Kai when she had started disturbing the rats angled to follow the group.
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