Dresden Files: The Charlotte Story

[Doomboy911]

It seems you misunderstood. She was wondering if the missing homeless has anything to do with what we're looking into.

"Probably, I mean what are the odds that something is picking off people and two different groups are looking into it."

[Frosty]

Anna gestures for Zeus to sit down. "Look, the Silvertail Ranch will be happy to donate money to a good cause regardless. After all, it's good PR, and there's tax deductions. But why don't you tell us all that you know about the missing homeless so maybe I can do something on a personal level? Maybe we can help each other."

[Doomboy911]

"There's the christmas spirit, I'm actually getting ready to go to work I can explain along the way if you two want to put on some clothes." Mr. Z says trying to avert his eyes a bit from the ladies.

[Frosty]

"Oh? I don't see you as a desk jockey type. What do you do for a living?"

Anna starts mentally going through the clothes available, sorting them by appropriateness by type of employment and environment.

[Doomboy911]

"Eh, in life things are broken and often lost a lot of folks forget and move on. I just have trouble with that though." Mr. Z reaches into the santa sack he was carrying around and watches everyone to make sure they don't think he's drawing a weapon before slowly pulling out a lightbulb. "I've found in my walk of life I'm good at fixing things. Sometimes that means fixing bad attitudes, sometimes that means fixing for a fight and sometimes it means just being there for those who need me." he places the bulb down next to a lamp on the desk. "She's gonna burn out soon, you'll need this." he says gesturing to the nearby light.

[Eldest]

Violet whistles. Handy trick. You do hearts too?

[Doomboy911]

Mr. Z pauses at her words and then a smile begins to creep on his face. "That depends... a deep chuckle beginning to form "Is this your card?" with a flash and flicker producing...the ace of spades.

[Frosty]

Anna quickly puts on a violet mini-dress she had laid out nearby, as well as her trademark silver high heels. "Well, I am all for banter while we move. Sister, will you be dressing as well?"

[Tegu8788]

Mr. Z's shelter - All

As the various members of the group follow Mr. Z, he eventually leads them to a run down abandoned warehouse. Several homeless people can be seen hanging around, moving about and trying to be inconspicuous. The flair and opulence of the Wraith's clothing are drastically out of place. What little they wear likely cost more than the clothing of everyone else in the shelter.

[Doomboy911]

Mr. Z's attitude immediately perks up around the others "Lester!, Charlie, Helena you're looking lovely as per usual. Friends, welcome to La Mancha." he waves his hand at a nearby garage door as it begins to rise, "Observe the magic of... remote technology" he says pulling garage door opener out of his pocket . "Come on in gang, this is my casa my place where I can simply unwind and work, now lets get down to murders."

He claps his hands and lights fill the room, the warehouse is warm but not too hot with furniture spread around with a nary a concern for feng shui. Strolling in he tosses his santa suit and bag over a coat hook before giving it a light kick, "My own invention a coat rack with wheels on the bottom so you can slide it wherever you want without the hassle. It's pretty much the only thing not really nailed down around here though lot of the folks around here just crash where they like on their journey." There's almost a distinct smell of magic but it moves and weaves all across the place with no rhyme and reason like a thunderstorm. Above hanging from the ceiling is a small office with stairs leading up to it, the walls are clad in runes and christmas lights.

"Yo Barbara, I've got guests be sociable. " the curtains flicker open for a second before shutting again and a woman walks out "That's Barb she's my oracle, my eye in the sky and the only one who can get the wi-fi to work. I'm sure if you're nice she'll be willing to share what we've gathered on the big screen." he motions to a large white screen and a projector hanging from the ceiling.

[Eldest]

Violet waves shyly at Barbara, peering curiously. How do you get wifi to work... that'd be amazing in my store.

[Tegu8788]

Mr. Z's shelter - All

Barbra stands beside the white-ish board. Dressed for cold weather, the sky lights above provide illumination, but it doesn't do much to keep in the heat. On the board, scraps of newspapers are held together with old stickers. On it are several back page obituaries, small and brief, several of which are Jane and John Does. "From what we can tell, these were not natural deaths. Out here, things. Happen. To people. But not like that. It wasn't cold, or drugs, a knife or a bullet. They didn't just give up. Something killed them, we are sure.

We just don't know what. Or how. Or why. But Mr. Z, he says that he will find a way. Are you that way?"

How do you get wifi to work... that'd be amazing in my store.

"Honey, the wifi isn't hard, we just wait for him to leave. As long as our tap on the power line holds, and we can keep finding an open connection, we can have some data. It's not much, but enough for us to know when the worst of the weather is coming, and when the shelters are open."

Spoiler: Violet & Lisa

Show

You can notice a pair of large men with a crank near the garage door, appearing to have manually opened it when Mr.
Z approached. Additionally, while there are holiday lights all over the wall, none of them are actually on. It would appear as if someone had arranged this room based from a viewing of modern technology, without having actually experienced it themselves.

[Doomboy911]

"Give me a week, I can run some wiring through any little shop and get it purring like a kitten. And yes these folks might not be "The way" but they might be along "the way". I heard talk from around the area about various folks going missing, I was prepping to investigate it myself but I was busy equipping myself and it would've taken me about a week to get set up but with more people it should take less preparation." Mr. Z tosses himself up onto a couch and begins fiddling with a hunk of metal and wires on the table.

"We've got little to do though except wait for catastrophe, unless we can figure out what this thing is after we've got little in terms of bait but all the nasty stuff likes to come out at night as I'm sure Mr. James can attest to. For now we can rest and chat I wouldn't mind spending some time off my feet and tinkering."

[Etherion]

So, how long have these disappearances been happening?
James asks his question, wondering if the timing coincides with the "suicides" they've been investigating.

[Tegu8788]

Mr. Z's shelter - James

A quick check confirms, that each date of the murder of a homeless person matches up with one of the high profile "suicides" that he has been investigating.

[Doomboy911]

Tossing the hunk of metal and wires aside "Tell you what little lady I'll make you a trade of knowledge, I'll give you a rough idea of how I do what I do and even share with you some of my magic as I haven't gotten a chance to actually show any off and in exchange..." he rises and looks her in the eyes as a smile creeps on his face. "...is show me how to run in heels, I want to be taller but I keep breaking them." Mr. Z says his shoes having a notable platform to them to at least give the illusion of height.

He fetches a battery from one of his piles and begins to channel all the electrical energy out it and then release it in whatever a puny spark it produces.

[Eldest]

Violet winces as the new angle is uncovered. That's... bad. I'm going to make a couple of guesses. One of the other White Courts, or maybe a rogue mage, is using the homeless as sacrifices for some kind of ghost or spirit, and that's being used as a hit... thing. She looks around, and shrinks in on herself a bit. But it's only a guess. And I don't wear heels. She gestures to her foot, which is currently shod in kickin' leather boots.

[Frosty]

Anna Raith, at Mr Z's shelter

As Anna follow's Zeus into this old warehouse, her clothes and high heels really do seem out of place. "I had not expected this place to be so...well-used." She tries to make sure she doesn't step in any of the dirty puddles that may be nearby. "And yes...remotes...how...revolutionary. Well, I guess for your kind, it actually is."

Looking at the white board, the vampire pays attention to the newspaper scraps. "So, you don't know what is taking and killing the people, but can you identify problem areas where the attacks happen more often? Hmm...maybe the killing of the homeless in the area are just a means to an end. The ultimate targets are those high profile "suicides", and these people here just happen to be killed because that is how the killer gets some sort of connection or avenue to attack the targets? Maybe we can be the bait, if we walk around in those areas..."

At the mention of running heels, she smiles at Zeus. "Gladly. Why, I think you have the thighs to pull off heels! See, it all starts with thinking of your heels as an extension of your feet, and embracing a fundamental shift in body balance..."

[Etherion]

Hmmm... I suppose I could disguise myself as a homeless man, but what should we do should someone take the bait? We have no real information about who or what is doing the kidnappings, so a direct confrontation may not be in our best interests.

[Doomboy911]

Zeus' eyes light up at this knowledge, Well madame would you like to know how I do what I do with my magic? he pulls another whiteboard out with what could only be described as the writings of a madman fine mesh between what looks like computer programming The top of the board reading The unified field theory but with magic, rename before showing off don't forget.

"Don't worry Jamesy if you're homeless and on the streets then you've got me watching your back, we can have the fancy dames watch from a distance. Before any of that though I want to try and work on a little something something." Zeus reaches into the bag he brought in "Which would you say hurts more a tennis ball or a dodgeball" pulling them out.

[Eldest]

I can probably be there, in a different form. She peers at the nonsense on the board, tapping on a few characteristics. That's formal logic. But that's an energy conversion ratio... and that's... is that pig latin? She puzzles over the board, trying to decipher it.

Violet has a scholarship of 2, and reads a lot.

[Doomboy911]

"Huzzah a fellow acolyte of logical pursuits, so here's the idea there's mechanically no difference between magical lightning and normal lightning unless I'm exerting my own will upon it and I dunno making it shaped like pitchforks or something. With that in mind I can draw electricity from an object and convert it into magic." he pulls out a couple Double D batteries and focus before a small ball of fire coalesces in his other hand before dissipating "I'm just here working as a machine, with that in mind why not try and do the inverse and draw ambient magical energy and convert that into like lightning or even energy. So with that that in mind I could work out magical sigils or runes or whatever to make it so machines draw magical energy out of the air to power a machine like a car or a pace maker or a computer not a time machine though I got a phone call about that it's not allowed. But they didn't say anything about spying into the future." he seems quite excited to finally have someone that has enough knowledge of technology and such and have knowledge of magical energy.

Spoiler

Show

Hey I got scholarship 2 as well Twinsies.

[Eldest]

Her eyes shoot open wide. Don't you dare break the laws. Don't.

[Doomboy911]

"I didn't you think I need a bunch of sword wielding psychos breaking down my doors to cut my head off, I need my head for now.

The rules says I ain't allowed to travel against the flow of time but there's nothing saying against going the other way."

[Frosty]

"Well, if someone takes the bait, we capture and interrogate with extreme prejudice! We might want to think of the common types of creatures we may have trouble capturing. For example, wizards are of course difficult. Ghosts probably can't be captured without specialized equipment or magic. Summoned demons may just be pulled back to their own world after a time. But, let's see what your little time-diving experiment yields first."

[Doomboy911]

"Well, if someone takes the bait, we capture and interrogate with extreme prejudice! We might want to think of the common types of creatures we may have trouble capturing. For example, wizards are of course difficult. Ghosts probably can't be captured without specialized equipment or magic. Summoned demons may just be pulled back to their own world after a time. But, let's see what your little time-diving experiment yields first."

"Yeah no I don't have the juice for that unless I can hook up to Odin's left nut or like eastern and western seaboard , you girls are white court right do you have the connections for uh either of those." he looks a bit concerned he had heard the name Raith after all and the things they could do with a snap of their fingers was just as terrible as what he could .

[Etherion]

...
Anyways, if possible I'd prefer to avoid a fight. Maybe you'd be able to talk down an assailant before things get out of hand?
He addresses the question to Anna.

[Doomboy911]

"Well for once I have the element of surprise and I fully intend to use it." he whistles to his guys working the garage door instructing them to pull back a carpet and then throws a curtain back revealing a mountain of mish-mashed junk here and there ."Sorry about the mess I had a filing system and it's at the bottom of the pile." he begins flinging various items out umbrellas, few bottles of black sand, the odd sword or two and two halves of separate waffle irons.

"Bingo" pulling out a red leash with spikes around the collar, a nametag reading "Bingo" a gag toy of an invisible dog.

"I can whip up a little diddy to search for this bad boy. Then we can hit they he or she where the proposed entity sleeps. sliding down from the pile, with the carpet pulled back he tosses the leash into the center of a golden metal ring with runes laid all across. Working feverishly he grabs a mess of extension cords and plugs one end into a blackened and bruised outlet and then holds onto the other.

"Alright guys while I'm working on this bit of magical hoo-doo check through the pile, I need a salt lick for ghosts, a mirror for white court and a super soaker not one of the big ones something pocket sized and try and grab some chalk."

[Eldest]

Violet just... coughs. And... what exactly are you making?

[Doomboy911]

"My dear lady I am making magic" he says turning and smiling a bit of sparks trickling across him "but to be less showy and more specific I am currently building a magical bloodhound in the sense that it will hunt for magic and be powered by magic. I'm also blending in a bit of my magical theory and making it so the device I'm building doesn't have to draw magic just from me but from electricity in the surrounding area, just in case you folks need it and aren't as magically inclined."