Lower Fens Fear in the Fire

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

So, for this openerthread there are 4 clues to the case! Its okay to only find some or even none of them! Theyre just to spice things up and build intrigue. 

• Clues: 0/0
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  
• ???????

The man sat in his hotel room chair, his breathing short and his face haggard. He sat hunched over and his leg tapping out a non-stop rhythm of anxiety. Across the room sat a man who wasn't there. The man who wasn't there waited at the edge of the bed, his hands dripping dark red. Waiting in silence as he breathed heavily, never blinking, and always watching.

The nervous man's own breathing became light and fast as his heart left into his throat. The man that wasn't there looked at the ground with his sickly yellow eyes and a second later the nervous man looked down too. Though nothing was there the man raised his feet up and held back a low mournful sob.

He reached for a small plastic lighter on the table mumbling "It's the o-only way." He flicked the lighter and held it up to his soaked hand.

A moment later he was fully aflame and screaming. The sprinklers in the room went off a second later and the man who wasnt there looked over at the door to the hotel room. The burning man looked that way as well as with a final scream he rushed through the door, over the railing outside, and fell to his death.

The man who wasnt there stood up and walked to the railing looking down. A soft smile crossing his non-existant lips. The room was empty.

someone called the police.

Nightmare Cinder Roll
7d6: 2 + 5 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 1 + 6
1d6: 2
4 passes = Success

[Shea Marszalek]

The Chaotic Weasels, the Gothic Band that Shea plays with, had a fantastic night. The place they played was fully packed, and the fans were terrific. They had packed up their musical gear, all in the van, and chilled with fans at a table. Shea had a cutie pie. She had long, gorgeous blond hair full-body, and she was stunning but not too bright. The owner had let them chill until the last customers left. It was only 1:55 am. He kissed her on the neck and sucked her neck. He had wanted to finish this last beer before they got up, and he had a cigarette to finish. "Gonna play you like my guitar," he told her with a smile that said let's go have fun.

Then he kicked his feet off the table and grabbed her hand in his as they stood up. He licked his lips. Then he waved to his buddy, guided one nite lady to an elevator, and just as he pressed the button, the warmth of the magic coin from Exchange was telling him he was needed for duty. His color went all white. The mood of going to have sex just was flushed away. She noticed the change. She placed her body up against him, playing with his belt buckle, giggling, and saying in his ear. "Cold feet!"

"I can't," he told her.

"Honey. It is okay," she had slipped a hand down his pants now, and he had to pull her hand away from that region.

He can't tell her. What excuse can he tell her. It's fucking 2 am the morning, and there was no god damn excuse for a 2 am 'I can't fuck you excuse'. Maybe he should have been supernatural, and they had better lifestyle dating hours he had.

He pulled out his cellular phone, which would not help him with this lie. "I got to return thiscall," he told her. She made a look like what are you on? She did not believe him, and it was half the truth. It was like not his phone, but his Badge was calling him.

Then jealousy was on her face. She grabbed his phone and threw it. Of course, he had to watch it fly across the room in slow motion, and he did need his phone. She slapped him across the face.

She swore at him and stormed away. "Well, one minus fan for me," he said to himself as she walked away. She was a knockout, and he was just going to bite the bullet.

Five minutes later, Shea had shown up wearing his long black coat like Men In Black, where he had his gear hidden like a silver sword. He was armed to the teeth, but the normal cant sees it. The cool part of wearing the gear made him like part of the environment where he could slip by and not be seen. Even the supernatural have used their ability to find him. His guard was up because his Badge directed him here and some other agents, which meant nearby danger.

He seemed to be the first one here. How? He had no idea? You think he be the last one. He was little drunk, slapped in the face, and here he was the first one. He pulled decided to walk around the area where the man was on the ground. He had his guard up, and staying not to close to people. He wished had those magical glasses that had allowed him see stuff but it was in works.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Outfit

Theo was on his way out when Asphodel caught him, wanting something from the Inquisitor insistently. He'd barely listened, informing her that he was on his way out the door and it would need to wait. However, the vampire was persistent, doggedly following him as he left the Exchange building and made tracks to his Vantage. Annoyed, he'd groused at her to get in the car or save it for later, slipping into the driver's seat of the sports car.

And that was that, with Theo en route to the scene with a vampire in tow. They bickered over the budget, as was her aim when she attempted to waylay him and came to some manner of conclusion before they arrived at the scene. She was given no other option than to accompany him further on the case.

What little information Theo had indicated a crime scene just strange enough to catch someone's attention. The police had already processed it, picking up what they needed and leaving it behind. That had led to a call being kicked his way and a window of time where he and his agents could confirm whether or not that strangeness had substance. Asphodel wasn't strictly speaking an agent, but Theo knew she wouldn't be dead weight for him.

Before he'd left in a rush, Theo had told Lawson to contact her partner, Marszalek, knowing the man was in the area. Presumably, the man was already on scene, the drive from Newton to the Lower Fens taking more time despite the fast speed of the Aston Martin. Theo did not break the speed limit, but he allowed himself to let the engine do its best when there was space for it. So, while not as fast as he'd liked, they arrived at the hotel faster than most.

There were no valets for a hotel in the Lower Fens, so Theo had no choice but to park on the street. Thankfully, space was available by the entrance. Parking and turning off the engine, leaving them without the growl of the V8, Theo was quick to climb out. Once out, the Inquisitor quickly checked what he had on him. Fingers brushed over the gun in his shoulder holster, hidden underneath his coat, while his other hand checked the knife he had in the other. He didn't expect a fight, but one never knew what they might run into.

Theo offered an arm to Asphodel, functioning on a polite autopilot, even as he dipped his fingers into his breast pocket. He touched the Wayfinder badge hidden there, thinking of Marszalek and getting a sense of the man up ahead.

“Marszalek is here already,” he said, murmuring and frowning a little at not seeing the man outside or inside the hotel's doors. Theo kept walking, knowing the man was on location. He was not concerned by the hotel staff, as the two of them were unlikely to be stopped if they walked as if they had somewhere to be.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Outfit

Asphodel was famously protective of her archives--after managing them for almost half a century, she thought she had every right to be this way--and so the budget for managing the collection, along with its different facilities beneath the brownstone, and paying her assistants, was of utmost importance. So much so that when she discovered that there'd been a slight reduction in her funding in favor of the cohort's newly-formed Sewing Circle, she needed to speak to the Inquisitor immediately.

Of course, the immortal could easily cover the difference with her funds, and she wasn't particularly covetous of her wealth. Still, her underlings were annoyingly mortal and apparently paid taxes, which meant any income outside of their Exchange paycheck would earn scrutiny. It would require only a tiny bit of oversight, but any oversight was risky. It was simply better for them to go through the proper channels.

It was all terribly mundane and annoying, and the vampire wanted to speak to Theo so she could go on with her evening, but he was already walking out the door. She might've let the Inquisitor go if he hadn't brushed her off. How dare he. Before she knew it, she'd harried him all the way out to his car, and then he threw her a bone.

She slid into the Vantage's passenger seat with an exasperated noise to continue the conversation. But, of course, they didn't get to the core of the issue because the man was infuriating, nevermind that she spent the first half of the trip to the Lower Fens griping about being made to accompany him when she had so very much work to do back at the office.

Of course, by the time they arrived, Asphodel couldn't deny a little thrill of interest. It had been a long time since she'd done Exchange work in the field. Well over a century, if she thought about it--the Great War and its sequel had shaken things up in the human and supernatural worlds. They ultimately set the immortal on a trajectory for America and Easthaven.

Stepping out of the car, she took Theo's offered arm without thinking about it, born and bred into this noble etiquette. At the mention of Shea, the vampire's grin went sharp and a little smug, remembering when they'd been trapped together in the elevator.

“Oh, lovely,” she sing-songed before looking sidelong at the Inquisitor. “I never caught the raison d'etre,” she added laconically. “What are we rushing about for?”

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

So, for this opener thread there are 4 clues to the case! Its okay to only find some or even none of them! They are just to spice things up and build intrigue. 

• Clues: 0/0
• ???????
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  

The night air was crisp and the throng of hotel visitors had long since dried up when the police left the scene. A stretch of yellow police tape marked out a square on the ground where a tarp covered something very human shaped. Several small tags were left around where pictures must have been taken for evidence and finally another bit of bright yellow tape marked off a door on the upper floor of the hotel. The arrival of someone that looked to have a bit of authority set one thin man near jumping with anxiety. He dabbed his brown with a handkerchief before starting to walk across the parking lot toward the man.


By the time he arrived two more people, a handsome man and beautiful young woman, were walking up arm and arm.  

The little man walked right up to Marszalek and coughed politely into his palm to get his attention. "Now, excuse me sir? Are you with the police? Here to collect the body yes? I very much wish you would, it is bothering everyone here!" His voice was in the upper range and it was clear that the main person bothered by all of this was himself. "I thought these kinds of things were supposed to be quick to deal with? When are you going to take IT away!?" the man said insistently.

Across the parking lot a man who wasn't there looked at the few people still watching the scene, his gaze bored and near catatonic.

---

[Shea Marszalek]

His fellow Exchange associates did not see Shea because he was standing on the opposite side of the column supporter. Mars had one hand up near his chest where the Exchange badge was, under his shirt. He had needed the column to help him keep from being dizzy, and he was still recovering from being drunk.

The spot Mars was he was eyeing the tarp over the suicide person. He was seeing the covered body affected him because he was drunk. He also would admit seeing dead bodies you never get used to. In this case, he/she/them are draped over. He figured a smashed head that he would not want to see might make him vomit his midnight dinner. It was terrible. Someone had to make the call to report they were deceased. And who would want that job? He would never want that job. Sadly, someone must have a good head on their shoulder to take an important job. Bless their heart for being strong.

The man had a voice that sounded like he was nervous. Shea looked around the compound, noticing people did not seem bothered by the scene. Shea had figured this fellow was a manager, which would make him lose business. Well, these things happen. Was he able to file this as a loss in taxes? Does he get credit to get more back or pay more?

The bright blue eyes watched the nervous man; then he saw that guy was looking passed Shea. He turned his head to the boss man and the vamp. Great! Why was she here? He felt a little sick in his stomach. She was not bad, but it just felt the elevator was too much for him.

Then he turned to the manager. "Well, I am sincerely this had happened; we will do what we can, sir," he told the guy. He was chewing on his lower lip, hoping that Asph would not tease him in front of Theo. He rubbed the side of his hair, combing down what shaved hair he had there. She was a knockout, but she was not what she appeared deep inside. They just had a rough impression of each other. He had to pull out a cigarette and light it. After all, he was nervous cause he felt shame being drunk.

"Wuss up, you two?" he said, winking at the two and waving his hand with the lit cigarette. He had to focus on Theo and try to ignore Asph. Yeah. He just found her attractive, and he did have a dream about her. He was just confused, and he was not on the right track of thinking.

"We seem to have a jumper," he thumbed the tarp where their toasted friend laid. "From what I can see. We can't move the deceased yet, and we might disturb the evidence. Like where they leaped from? It was far leap from the looks of it," he said, staring at the body. "No trail of blood where the deceased crawled from the drop zone. Buddy here, I never got your name?" he was trying to get the fellow his name. "We need to work fast too." He was not trying to take the lead; it was more like a suggestion that sounded like he was in charge. And also, he had not wanted the man to think they were not the police.

[Theo Crowhurst]

The front wasn't the immediate spot of the crime scene, Theo leading Asphodel around the doors to the side of the building, where a small parking lot was for employees and the few visitors who got there early enough to get a spot. As he walked, Theo filled Asphodel in just a little.

“From my understanding, someone set themselves on fire and jumped.” Theo pitched his voice low, so only Asphodel could hear as he led them closer to where the Wayfinder was pulling him. 

Approaching the spot where Marszalek was, it became increasingly clear it was a low to mid-range hotel, as per usual for the Lower Fens. It was steeply inclined towards lower tier thanks to the covered-up shape of a body, the nervous hotel employee, and Shea looking shaky on his feet if the way he was holding up the column was any indication. Theo gave the man a disdainful frown, unimpressed with an agent showing up on the job drunk or close. Better to have passed the buck to someone else than risk mucking it up.

The man was getting close to it, a case of motor-mouth as he potentially endangered their case. The scene had been processed, but Theo kept his tongue rather than add more reason for the hotel employee to grow suspicious. He did not deign to respond to the casual 'wuss up' his agent threw his way.

“Sir,” said Theo, his tone sharp and demanding attention, taking over from the agent. He slipped his hand away from Asphodel's and stepped closer to the crime scene as he spoke. “The coroner is en route to retrieve the body, but we have some additional questions. Please take a step back.” As he spoke, Theo moved to put himself between the body and the hotel employee, his height and bulk encouraging the man to withdraw even if Theo's body language wasn't threatening. “Were you familiar with the man?”

They were unlikely to have too much luck with the body unless there were noticeable marks of a struggle or ritual, although with the burns... that might be impossible, too. Their insider at the coroner's office would have better luck than messing with it out in the open.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Strike, Preternatural Senses - 4 Passes: complete success to maybe find out anything from the body?

As Theo explained, Asphodel hummed thoughtfully, about to snidely ask, 'we came all the way out here for that?' but then she spotted Shea, and her grin got ever sharper and more predatory. The hotel manager was accosting the man, and the vampire's sensitive ears picked up the gist of it. Her nose also picked up the scent of alcohol on the other Exchange agent, among other things, and she lifted her eyebrows, unable to help the little spike of glee. The Inquisitor was unlikely to be happy with a drunk agent, and she'd certainly primed him with her incessant nagging. Oh, this evening was shaping up to be wretched.

Not for her, though. Now, she was just here to soak up the misery as all these little pieces crashed together.

Shea refused to look at her--which was delightful--and she let Theo go so he could start questioning the manager. For once, the vampire was out of the way. If they needed to work quickly, Asphodel could work out several ways to make that happen. Tipping her head back, she spied the balcony he'd jumped from. With a few steps to one side, she circled the body, drawing in the scents of charred flesh and blood, but looking for more with her enhanced senses.

They didn't come all the way out here for a mundane jumper, after all. Someone in the police had worked out something supernatural in this case.

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

First clue goes to Asphodel!

• Clues: 1/4
  
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  

The hotel worker seemed irritated that none of the people showing up had gloves, or a big van to cart the dead man's body away in. Still, he was mostly a professional and straightened up when asked questions toward the matter. "No, I didn't know him. He was just a man staying the night. I can get you his information but I already gave it to the other Detective." the worker explained, assuming Theo and Shea's ranks based off their authority and civilian dress. He also seemed to mark Theo as the lead detective and was regarding all questions from him as high importance.

The man who wasn't there watched the three walk up. He tried to sense any feelings from them but (Empathy Cinder roll, 1 pass = failure) there was nothing strong enough for him to catch. No great fear inside of them for him to feed or feast on. His eyes passed over them as if they were colored shadows in water. He was empty... waiting...

The vampire sniffed around the body while the others spoke and work. With her senses she would naturally smell charred meat, burnt clothes, but mixed in was an acrid smell. A chemical that was strong all around the body, the scent trail leading right back up into the room he had jumped from. It seemed that this man didn't just burn due to being a bit dry, there had been some kind of chemical accelerant involved in the immolation.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Third eye, complete success

There was nothing extraordinary from the hotel employee, but Theo hadn't expected some break in the case. He mainly wanted the man to clear off and let them work. Asphodel had set to work, Theo spotting her out of the corner of his eye, examining the body. Hopefully, her extra senses would pick something up.

“That's quite alright, sir,” Theo reassured, knowing they'd find the man's identity eventually, either through some ID left behind or when their contact in the coroner's office dealt with it. “We'll need the key or keycard to his hotel room. Give it another look. Can you get that for us?” Theo phrased it like a request, but he said it with a weight of authority that told of someone who expected it to happen.

Momentarily, Theo glanced towards the body, the burning light in his chest flaring as he tapped into it. His ability to see the influence of magic gently washed over his vision, a snapshot of lingering magic traces before it flickered away and the bright motes of magic disappeared, leaving him with the mundane view of the body on the ground. Grisly.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

The scent of a chemical accelerant was unmistakable behind the aroma of charred flesh. Ruining the bouquet, one might say. Asphodel wasn't a flesh-eater, but meat was meat.

As Theo metaphorically hooked the hotel manager by the metaphorical nostrils, Asphodel glanced up along the side of the building. There was no mistaking which floor the man had jumped from--the vampire caught sight of brief flutters of color from police tape.

The hotel manager bustled off to follow orders and Asphodel sauntered over to Theo's side. Hands clasping in loose parade rest, she spun smartly to stand next to him, facing the body. “Well, he most certainly set himself on fire and jumped. Or someone did,” she said discreet but cheery. “He reeks of butane.”

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

First clue goes to Asphodel!

• Clues: 2/4
  
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  

Theo's instructions seemed rather expected by the man, who nodded once then pulled out a sleek unmarked card form his pocket and passed it to the Exchange agent. “No problem sir. This card has already been set to override the door. Please do what you need to so we can put this behind us.” again the man's nervous energy showed as he glanced around him at some of the watching eyes peaking out from their own windows.

When Theo opened his senses and took his arcane snapshot of the body, traces of faint magic would indeed linger on the body. The lightest touch at the center of his chest and several points dotting all over the man's head. In Theo's vision the spots along the head would almost seem to warp the image, turning what should have been a face into a nested and pitted hive of holes.

The man who wasn't there moved toward the pair near the body. He walked around them and looked at their faces. He didn't smell fear on them or the man from earlier. His eyes seemed to dim slightly until a sudden sharp scent caused them to light up in their sickly yellow pallor. The man who wasn't there turned toward a room on the far side of the hotel and breathed in a festering fear deep into his chest. He moved toward it, meeting a closed door and walking through it. He watched the man in the room as some video about skydiving played.

Fear...

The man who wasn't there watched his next victim, forgetting about the two agents investigating the death of his previous meal.

Alexius Cinder roll for Empathy (7d6): 7 passes, exceptional success

[Theo Crowhurst]

Third eye, complete success

Theo accepted the card, tucking it into his coat pocket and giving the hotel employee brief thanks and reassurance that the body would be removed soon. And it would be soon, no doubt; he'd been given only a short window of opportunity. They'd finish with the body, go up to the room, and investigate that. Hopefully, there'd be something they could get from the coroner's office, but he didn't have high hopes.

Giving the employee one last gruff nod, Theo moved to Asphodel by the body, standing close so they wouldn't get overheard. Her comment on an accelerant was interesting, so Theo made a little “Hm,” and knelt to peer at the corpse, pulling a pen from his breast pocket.

“There's been–” Theo indicated with the capped end around the corpse's head, its chest, “–tampering around the head, the centre of the chest.” Theo hoped Asphodel would pick up the unsaid part. Magical tampering, despite the lack of a magical accelerant. It could mean... possession, thrall, or other manners of manipulation.

Theo tapped again against the pool of light that smouldered in his chest, the surface tension breaking and sending waves outwards like he'd thrown a pebble in a pond. The otherworldly view flickered like a filter against his vision, the ugly sight of the burnt man's face, the point in the chest. Theo tried to find some more detail, some sense of the magic, in the brief time he could.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Sidling over to the opposite side of the corpse, Asphodel didn't kneel but folded her arms loosely over her stomach and followed Theo's pen as he pointed out the head and the chest. It wasn't difficult to catch on to what he meant by 'tampering,' and her eyebrows bounced in interest. Then, red lips curling into a little intrigued smile, she tilted her head and gazed back up at the balcony.

“The mind and the heart, hm?” she hummed to herself. The vampire was boiling it down to something conceptual, but magic often dealt with the conceptual. Her thoughts ran parallel to the inquisitor's--traces of magic, combined with the man's apparent suicide, were signs of mental manipulation. He'd been pushed to do this. How delightfully horrifying.

“This must be an act of consumption,” she posited in a quiet voice as she crouched and picked at the man's collar to see if there were any bite marks. “One does not simply create a thrall to kill them--such arrangements are an investment. This man was drained of his vitality and subsequently disposed of. Now, what do we know of that feeds on death?” she asked, her tone cheery despite the morbid subject. In truth, the vampire was almost excited, gesturing with an elegant flutter of her fingers as she spoke.

Asphodel reached out to take Theo's pen so she could poke around the abdomen--the location of another major artery. She would rule out what she knew first: vampires.

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

First clue goes to Asphodel!

• Clues: 2/4
  
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  

Even as Theo reexamined the body the scene didn't reveal more. Traces of holes pitted all along the victim's head and a faint trace at the center of his chest over his heart. The only noted difference would be the slight decay of these phenomenon even from Theo's last look. Now that the target of this magic invasion was dead the traces were fading fast. By sunrise they would likely be completely gone.

Asphodel began her attempts to list possible creatures that might have fed in such away, correct in discounting a vampire. Yet what could have done something like this!? The body had revealed what secrets it could, its mangled burnt self unyielding to further investigation.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo wasn't so quick to discount thralldom. Sure, an investment, but not if the goal was some sick way of making them do the deed themselves. Revenge came in many flavours, but he didn't think that was the case here. The points of magical influence made him agree with Asphodel's assessment of consumption, even if there weren't any bite marks of a classic vampire. There were plenty of other things that fed on humans without leaving much of a physical trace.

“It's a little... showy to be purely feeding on death,” Theo murmured, straightening. The magic was slowly fading. It'd be entirely gone once sunlight hit it. Good thing they'd gotten the call, or that vital clue would've been absent. “The poor sod was set on fire and jumped out a window. If one led to the other, or both were planned, my gut says if this was an act of feeding, it was on heightened emotion.”

Or, not even feeding, just... parasitic attraction to heightened emotions. Influencing preexisting emotions to manipulate a spectacular explosion of it. Some demons and corrupted spirits did reach that point. There were variants of fear eaters, other emotion eaters, and entities that just manipulated them. Demons and spirits.

Theo looked upwards towards where the man had jumped, presumably under his own power, but not necessarily so. The Englishman pulled the keycard he'd been given out of his pocket, tapping it against his fingers, eyes going down to where Asphodel was investigating the body. He didn't think the body would tell them anything more about his fate.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Asphodel scrunched up her nose. “Energy vampires,” she drawled with a dollop of disdain. “The coward's way.”

The vampire was being facetious--she couldn't truly have opinions on feeding methods. If anything, an energy vampire's technique was the least invasive! Until... Well, the target lit themselves on fire and jumped off a balcony. She followed his gaze back up to the balcony. The theory was sound, but the monster's particular diet didn't matter at the end of the day. They only truly needed to narrow down a way to destroy it.

At least, that's what she expected them to land on. Perhaps they would prefer containment... Asphodel missed the good old days of swift and final punitive measures for indiscretions. Of course, it helped that she survived them.

“I doubt our friend is still around, but I suppose we could inspect the room anyway.”

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

CONGRATS! NEW LOCATION UNLOCKED: Creepy Hotel Room

• Clues: 2/4
  
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• ???????
  
• ???????
  

The agents had gained what they could from the body. Now they had to investigate the room. Theo was first to open the door, which came with an odd acrid scent. Not the smell of burned flesh so much as the smell of whatever chemical the man had doused himself in... maybe also a bit of burnt hair.

The first steps would reveal that the sprinkler system had functioned properly, soaking the carpet and punctuating their every step with a soft squish sound.

The room was tiny, almost depressingly so, with a single twin bed filling one side of the room and a half-desk on the other. Several papers sat on the desk but their contents were distorted from the deluge they had suffered once the fire had been lit.

In addition to the desk and chair was a stand with a small television and a bed-side desk with the hotel phone and a lamp. The door to the bathroom was nearby sitting half-ajar. Along the ceiling was a thin black trail that led outside. The carbon marks of the fire showing right where the man had lit himself.

Near center of the room.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Theo ignored Asphodel's comment on energy vampires, interpreting it as a ridiculous comment that she was too smart to be serious about. Like Theo complaining about the French. Instead, the man tapped the keycard against the flat of his palm as Asphodel continued. All very accurate; there'd be no hope of ending this here. They were better off gathering what evidence they could and considering how they might trap it. Then, figure out the why's and the how's, with a possible eradication in the cards. Murder wasn't something to overlook, after all.

“Likely long gone,” Theo confirmed. There would be no clear and obvious solution in the room, not in the form of their culprit, but there was likely something. He lifted the keycard, arching an eyebrow as he waggled it in Asphodel's direction. “But we're all about investigating.”

Then, acting on that impulse, the Englishman gave Asphodel a nod, an explicit request for her to follow. As he headed for the hotel entrance, he gave Shea quick instructions to join them once the coroner picked up the body and avoid attention. That done, it was quick to navigate the hotel lobby towards the elevator. Once inside, Theo slipped his phone out of his pocket to mutter about the coroner's office, fingers moving over the screen and cutting off any conversation Asphodel may have dared to start.

It didn't take them long to get to the correct floor, and to the right door, the keycard letting them in as the hotel employee had promised. Once inside, Theo grimaced at the squish of the carpet, cursing a soft, “Fucking hell,” as he stepped further inside the small room, eyes scanning it.

A cheaply furnished hotel room, including the necessities but nothing more. It was also an utter mess, the water having drenched the whole room. Much of the physical evidence may have been ruined, but they had other means. It did make it rather unpleasant to deal with, however.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Strike, Preternatural senses for some sniffing around: 3 passes - complete success

Having already assumed she was a part of this case, Theo's explicit invitation made the vampire smirk, smug but delighted to be doing fieldwork again. It had been well over a century and a half, but she did not allow time to dull her investigative powers. Perhaps it had been limited to dusty tomes and ancient artifacts, but she still had quite a lot to bring to bear.

Although Theo's attention was on his phone as they rode the elevator, Asphodel was perfectly content to fill the air with inane commentary--primarily about the smell. The smell of the place was cheap and disagreeable, as if every occupant was sick with something. Poverty, if she had to guess, but she didn't say that part aloud. People tend to frown on class prejudice these days.

It only became more unpleasant when the elevator doors opened, but at least it had a purpose this time. They opened the hotel door, and she was treated to a bouquet of smoke, accelerant, and burnt polymers, the scent scorching the insides of the vampire's sensitive nose. It was also swampy, the deluge having disturbed old grime ground into the carpet fibers. She curled her lip back in distaste but followed the Inquisitor inside, her shoes squelching on the carpet.

Even if it looked like a ruined mess, Asphodel went to the desk first. Rather than try to pick at a soggy piece of paper with her fingers, she waved a hand over the top sheet and tried to gently peel it back with her mind. If she managed, she would try to hold it up to the light from the balcony to see if she could make the words out.

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

CONGRATS! NEW LOCATION UNLOCKED: Creepy Hotel Room

• Clues: 3/4
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• Suicide Note
  
• ???????
  

The two entered into the damp motel room, their footsteps announced with a wet squelch, first Theo then Asphodel. Entering the room the small cheap air of the place would all but assault the two, one more than the other, and the evidences of the horror that had occurred their present in the smell and black ash of the room.

Asphodel would smell into the air and all these things would hit her as it washed through her supernatural sniffer... along with two other particular scents. First was the very human smell of... well the human victim. Even against the burnt hair and cheap room the smell of a man could be caught... maybe even traced around. Additionally was the acrid smell of the accelerant used in the fire- wait. No... maybe not used, maybe waiting to be used. The smell was less burned and more sharp. Clear... maybe not all the accerlerant had been used. Some might still be found inside the room.

As the paper from the desk was lifted into the light it could just be made out.

My love... I can't live like this anymore.

I have.... ....... .... .. ........ its constant, always there against my ski.....
..... I know I said I would try but..... . .... ... ..ight.

Its too much.

..... you, my sweet Rebecca.

I'm Sorry.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Third eye, complete success

Theo stepped further into the room as Asphodel went directly for the desk, listening to the unpleasant sound of their shoes on the soaked carpet. It smelled awful, burnt fabrics, flesh, a hint of something Theo associated with petrol, and the building foulness of a soaked carpet swimming in its filth. They were unpleasant but not overly strong to Theo, his mundane nose smelling it all in a mass of scent.

As Asphodel focused on the soaked paper, Theo circled the spot in the room that was the obvious point of immolation. Dead centre, or near enough, the telltale trail of burnt ceiling showing the man's journey out the window. The window itself had been closed up, processed by the police enough to allow them to block out the wind and weather with a sheet of plastic and duct tape.

From there, he wandered back to the bathroom door, grimacing as his shoes squished over the floor again. He hoped it would not ruin his shoes, loathe to break in a new pair. Pushing open the door, Theo reached in to flick on the overhead lights, peering inside the bathroom and scanning the room as a whole, the heat under his sternum flaring again as he attempted to find the telltale signs of supernatural meddling.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Ah, a suicide note. As might be expected, from the je ne sais quoi of the whole tragedy. As she floated the dripping paper up to the light, Asphodel pulled her smartphone from her pocket and pulled up the camera application after a moment of fiddling. After snapping a picture of the words, clear as they could be with the light projecting through the thin paper, the vampire carefully replaced it in the mess. The police would find it helpful in their investigation, and she was intent on leaving the rest of the scene relatively unmolested.

Her eyes skimmed over the rest of the papers on the table. “A suicide note,” she reported aloud. “Addressed to one "Rebecca." He mentions a feeling- 'against my skin.' And it seems he was struggling against it for some time.”

Asphodel was familiar with confirmation bias but was not immune to it. With her heart set on some kind of feasting spirit, this sounded more and more like a supernatural influence.

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

• Clues: 3/4
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• Suicide Note
  
• ???????
  

Searching the bathroom there would be little to Guage with a magic sense. Mundane was the word of the day in the tiny tiled room.

Mundane but not entirely normal.

On the counter were three small tubs of petroleum jelly. Each mostly emptied of their contents. Several greasey petroleum handprints marked the bathroom counter and even the mirror.

The scent of it oddly reminiscent of the chemical scent pervading the room and charred corpse in the parking lot.

A discerning eye might wonder where so much petroleum jelly had gone or what it may have coated... or why

[Theo Crowhurst]

The bathroom was a sight. The handprints and smears were clear signs of it getting slathered on something, the three tubs telling how much of it had been used–and open, a sign of being in use by the time the man decided to throw himself out the window. How much petroleum jelly would you need for the regular use of it? Scratches, burns, moisturising... not three tubs of it, unless one was trying to cover their whole body. Seemed like a waste.

From what he could recall, petroleum jelly wasn't flammable, so it wasn't their culprit as far as being used for the immolation. If anything, it was mildly protective against flames. But the smell permeated the whole room, so the man had used a lot of it while in the hotel room.

Asphodel's reading of the note drew his attention back to the room, Theo looking towards her in time to watch the note float back onto the table. He made a thoughtful noise, a mysterious Rebecca, something to look into. She had to know more about the man's private life, this feeling against his skin.

“There are three near-empty tubs of petroleum jelly in the bathroom,” Theo noted. Maybe he'd used it like Theo, dabbed on a cut or a burn to soothe and protect. Except... over his entire body? “It's possible he used it to mitigate the feeling. With no success, obviously.”

It looked more and more like some manner of possession or haunting, that pervasive feeling he couldn't shake—something hounding him either to feed or because they were unhinged enough.

Theo stepped back into the room, leaving the sticky sight in the bathroom. Walking over the sopping floor again, he approached the nightstand by the bed, eyes searching for something else that might stand out. The Englishman also checked the drawer for the usual Gideon bible he'd come to associate with hotel rooms.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Preternatural senses, partial failure

“What a wretched way to go,” Asphodel murmured without a trace of real sympathy. Getting harassed into burning oneself alive and hurling oneself out the window was terrible, but the vampire had died in countless terrible and painful ways at this point. So she had difficulty summoning any real feeling about the whole tragedy.

She was more interested in working out what had caused it for their victim, before they went hunting down the unfortunate, lovelorn Rebecca. Moving to stand in the middle of the room, she looked up at the trail of ash across the ceiling. Then, eyes on the burn marks, she followed it out onto the balcony, the broken door, and the fluttering police tape.

Out here, she took in a deep breath, scenting the air once more. Unfortunately, the wind carried away most lingering scents up here, but she still felt the hairs her arms stand up. Here marked the moment his fate was sealed—the point of no return.

[Alexius]

First thread of a little player event. All are welcome in this opener thread and there is a sign up for anyone interested here

• Clues: 4/4
• Chemical accelerant on the Body
  
• Traces of Magic on the body (head and chest.)
  
• Suicide Note
  
• Entomophobia!
  

As the two agents searched the room for final clues, Theo the young senior agent- at least in comparison to the lavacious librarian of the Exchange's archives - opened a drawer that would normally only hold a single paperback copy of the Good Book. Yet upon inspection a series of cans would rattle for the two to hear. They were bug bombs, a simple pesticide that when released would spray an area in a chemical meant to kill insects. Only... there were near fourteen of them in the small drawer. All of them used and empty.

If fourteen of these had been released back to back it would have filled the small room in a matter of seconds.

Any further inspection would have yielded the find of a small hazard warning on the can, stating that it was considered an accelerant.

Between coating himself in the Vaseline, choking the air with the bug bombs, and likely coating his sticky body in the accelerant it was hardly a surprise that at the end of the day the man had gone up like a matchstick. The only real question left though was... what could drive a man to set off so many bug bombs back to back. Maybe they already knew, could smell it on the body or in the room. It was a simple yet primal thing.

Fear.

In this case a fear of insects. A fear so consuming that the thought of them sent an itchiness over the victim that he couldn't escape. A fear that left his head looking like a hive when viewed through mystical means. A fear that may have existed before but had been supernaturally amplified... A fear that killed.

[Theo Crowhurst]

Pulling open the drawer to not see the expected Gideon bible but a wholesale amount of bug bombs had a few things slotting into place in Theo's mind. Whether it had started as an illusion or curse and evolved or had always been, the man who had thrown himself out the window had devolved into something close to insanity thanks to bugs. Bugs crawling on him, Theo could only surmise, with all the petrolatum in the bathroom. The man's last-ditch effort for a solution that wouldn't harm the man.

Then, the bug bombs. The nuclear option, and a deadly one. Whether it was spontaneous combustion or helped by some malevolent spirit or entity, the crime scene outside was simply the result of a mental assault–the true crime, even if supernatural entities didn't acknowledge mortal law. But that was why the Exchange was here, to root out the dangerous ones and deal with them.

“Well, we know why he went up in flames,” Theo murmured, tone casual despite the grim scene they stood in the middle of. Picking up one of the bombs, he turned it over in his hands, knowing it'd be hopeless to figure out where the guy bought it without access to his card records or a receipt, but the 'where' only helped for knowing more about the man's hours before he perished. “The question is if we're dealing with something manipulating or creating fear. And where we might find it.”

A visit to this Rebecca might answer that.

[Asphodel Malvolia]

Finding nothing fruitful on the balcony, Asphodel stepped back inside, closing the door behind her. Unlike normal police investigations, they wouldn't need to do much in terms of traditional forensics. They had their place, but the Exchange had other means. Or, more accurately, Theo wouldn't need to do much, seeing as how Asphodel was naught but a tag along.

“Around here, certainly,” she answered, confident in that. Past experience made that the natural answer. “I doubt it will be here for very long though--this type of feeding- torture--It takes time. It will want to secure its next supply as soon as possible.” The vampire tucked her hands into her trouser pockets, although they were too shallow to get much more than her fingers into the fold. One thumb idly hooked itself into one of her decorative belt loops. Red lips curling into a something near a smirk, she said airily, “I think you've an appointment with poor Rebecca.”

Unless the place had a history of hauntings, going backward seemed like the best way to establish a pattern. It all looked very cut and dry to the vampire--sinister, yes, but nothing too otherworldly. She didn't imagine the Inquisitor shared her thoughts, but it would be difficult for Asphodel to stay interested in the case, unless someone bungled the whole thing.

[Alexius]

The two agents observed the scene...

A strange murder...

Something feeding on fear...

They had an investigation to follow up on while a Man who wasn't there had new Prey to hunt.

[END]