Waking the Dragon IC

[Jeff the Green]

The goblin swivels his shriveled head to look at Mili. He squints and nods at her. "Thank ye, missy. I's been fixin' ta find a new door, and ye've saved me the trouble.

"I's not seen much. Night two ago, I saw three elves wander themselves into Khyber. Walkin' like the dead they were. Only ones I know who've seen more'd be the Brackens, three doors down. Poor Cord and little Fergie wandered off and han't been seen since."

[stack]

Alfred nods, offering his hand, a gold piece in his palm, "Thank you for your help." He looks to the others. "Shall we continue then?"

[Khosan]

Mili nods, dragging her fingers and a wave of transmutative energy along the rapidly improving wall as they head just a few doors down, "The Brackens then. Thank you very much and stay safe, we might be getting loud in the ruins soon."

Not that it takes long to arrive, Mili slides up to their door, quickly transforming it into yet another entrance that will keep out more than a light breeze, and gives it a whack with her tail, "Mister and missus Bracken? Could we have a word with you? We're going to bring Cord and Fergie back, and we could use your help. The minor home renovations are just a bonus."

[Jeff the Green]

Soon enough the door opens a crack and a woman peers out at you. Her face seems almost dead, her red eyes and tear-stained face almost the only life in her. "H-hello? Who are you? I'm Mrs. Bracken."

[Khosan]

"Mili. Mili Alpentail...And associates," Mili awkwardly gestures to the elf, pixie and Alfred, clearly not used to introducing anyone other than herself, "We're here to help put a stop to the disappearances. May we come in?"

[stack]

Alfred gives a reassuring nod. "We hope that your aid can bring us closer to ending them"

[Khosan]

Mili nods, "And bring Cord and Fergie back."

[Jeff the Green]

The woman brings a corner of her apron to one eye that's begun to overflow. "You... think you can help? Oh, praise the Traveler. I've not been able to manage without Cord, and Pater's just been despondant without his pa and sister.

"What do you need? I'll give all I have to get them back, what little it is."

[Mahrke]

Pix flutters up to the woman, smiling brightly. She glances over her shoulder. "See? Finally someone offering a good old fashioned reward for adventuring." She looks at the distressed parent, invading her personal space, an inch from her nose. "Don't worry, old woman! We'll get your child-slash-husband back We're heroes and they'll be in your arms like -that-!" She snaps her fingers. Glitter showers off of her tiny figure. "Safe and sound. But our services don't come free. We'll get them back, but you'd better have a -really- nice sentimental memento for us. One made with real love." She demands seriously. "Do you know anything about where they went missing? Did they maybe try to go into the ruins? That's incredibly dangerous for non-adventurer-types, you know."

[Khosan]

"Nono! No payment necessary. I'm sure we'll find plenty in the ruins themselves." Mili peeks inside, quietly continuing with what's left of her spellwork, upgrading her new client's living space as they speak, "All we need is information.
The old man three doors down told us you might know more. Just tell us what you can and we'll do everything we can to make this right."

[stack]

Asking the poor for a reward...ah, memento. Alfred stifles the rebuke that was forming in his mind.

[Lateral]

Ada groans silently and massages her forehead with her fingertips. She'd be nursing this particular headache for the foreseeable future.

[Jeff the Green]

The woman's weeping eyes become tinged with confusion at the pixie's... enthusiasm and then fear when Mili mentions the night in question. "I... don't be thinking my head's been touched, miss," she says. "But when I was coming home that night I saw Cord leading Fergie. Their eyes, miss. They glowed green, and they didn't move like my Cord and little Fergie. They wandered like they barely knew what they did."

[Khosan]

"Definitely enchantment magic at work. Possibly domination, could just be a charm though," Mili muses, "Could you tell us where they'd gone earlier that day?"

[stack]

Alfred nods in concurrence with Mili's assessment.

[Jeff the Green]

"Cord was at work, like normal. He got home before me. F... Fergie and Pater were to stay home and do chores before playing. Pater's been too afraid to tell me what they did, but I swear to the gods above and below that they'd never do mischief."

[Khosan]

"Don't worry, no one's in trouble here. Any mischief they get up to, I get into tenfold," Mili 'smiles' as best she can, quite a feat with a layer of porcelain between her and the person she's trying to comfort. She taps the wall one last time, rounding out her renovations with a few quilts and pillows strewn about, "Could we talk to Pater? I'm good with children, I might be able to suss something out."

[stack]

Alfred nods in thanks for the answers, limited though they are. "I doubt anything they were doing had anything to do with what has been going on here."

He does note that Pater was too afraid to say what was going on, but waits for a reaction to Mili's request.

[Mahrke]

"I dunno Al." Pix chirps. "There's like, a million stories out there about kids sniffing around in ruins and unshackling some ancestral evil becaus they're naive and curious. Ten Galifars says they're at least twenty percent responsible for this." Pix buzzes forth. "No worries though! Seven times out of ten the kids learn a valuable lesson and no one is harmed after a band of daring adventure reseals said evil presence."

[Lateral]

Being content to observe as Mili handles reassuring the woman, Ada largely ignores her in favor of keeping a watchful eye on Pix. "Have you been getting into those high-adventure novels again? I keep telling you, those stories aren't real. Children in danger die all the—"

She glances over at Mrs. Bracken, suddenly painfully aware of the nervous mother's presence. "—Er, never mind. We'll find your husband and daughter, don't you worry."

[Jeff the Green]

The poor woman goes from utterly bewildered to crying uncontrollably.

[stack]

Alfred sighs. "Perhaps all of us coming together was unwise."

Turning back to their hostess, "I assure you, my compatriots here are better at thwarting evil than at normal conversation. If we could just ask Pater a few questions, we can begin working to fix this."

[Khosan]

Mili slowly turns to face Ada, eyes wide and her head tilted a full ninety degrees to the side, a look that suggests equal parts I can't believe you're this stupid and Say one more thing that GODDAMN stupid and I'll put dolls somewhere much more horrifying than your head. Accompanying this look of all looks is a pointed grasping and slight unsheathing of all four of her swords to really drive the point home.

After a slightly more than uncomfortable amount of time, Mili turns back to the bereaved missus Bracken, "I assure you, we'll bring them back. What my associate considers a story book ending, I consider to be my duty to achieve." The masked mouse leans in, pulling what she can of the crying woman into a hug, "I will bring them back.
I swear."

[Lateral]

For once, Ada has the grace to just shut the hell up for a bit.

[Jeff the Green]

Mrs. Bracken collapses to her knees and sobs into Mili's shoulder, clutching at the mouse detective hard enough to threaten broken ribs. She manages to say that Pater's in his room in the back of the house. Or at least you think that's what she says; her words are muffled by both tears and Mili's rapidly dampening shirt.

[stack]

"Ada, maybe you should watch the door. Quietly." Alfred suggests, turning and heading to the back of the house to seek Pater.

[Jeff the Green]

Alfred finds Pater in the back of the house, his "room" blocked off from the rest by sheets hung from lines. He's sitting on a rumpled blanket, his knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried in them. The boy is skinny, probably malnourished like so many more in this district. Slowly, he raises his face to meet Alfred. "Hullo," he says, before looking away again.

[stack]

Alfred speaks softly, hoping to reassure the boy, "Hello, my name is Alfred. My companions and I are here to help. Anything that you can tell us about recent events will help us find your family members and stop the disappearances that much sooner. We are only concerned with helping, not with anything you may have done."

[Khosan]

Mili gently leads Mrs. Bracken inside, setting her gently down on the couch and taking her hands in her own, "Mrs. Bracken, I know this is rough. I want to get this solved quickly, but I can't say for certain how likely that is. I need you to stay strong until then, for both yours and Pater's sake." She gingerly hugs the older woman one last time, leaving her with a handful of coins in her pockets and an earful of reassuring anecdotes, almost tailor made for her ears.

A few minutes later, Mili follows Alfred into Pater's room, her shoulder visibly steaming as a series of spells dry out her shirt, "Heya, kiddo." The pint-sized detective plops herself down in front of Pater, crossing her legs and propping herself up in a very Pix-like pose, "You must be Pater. I'm Mili," Mili extends a hand for Pater to shake, if he's up for it, "And people call me a hero. I'm going to make sure your dad and your sister come back safe. I can do a lot of things," her telekinetic arms juggle all eleven volumes of her personal encyclopedia set just to illustrate the point further, "But it's only with help from people like you and your mom that I can make sure I do things right. So...Can you help me out?"

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Diplomacy - (1d20+27)[44] + Inspiration - (2d8b1)[5] just to help with calming/reassuring Mrs. Bracken.

[Mahrke]

Pix settles on Ada's shoulder. "Wow. You suck. You should be like, ten times more tactful around kids. Like me." She says, wholly un-ironically, kicking her legs energetically as she hand's half-way off the elf. "What do you reckon? Troll lycanthropy? Curse from the ruins? Why did they build a city around ruins again, anyway? Doesn't -anyone- read storybooks around here?"