Shattered Masques IC

[Llyarden]

"The ---- has that got to do with anything?" Ansaldi grumbles. "Whatever. Yeah, I had a 'confrontation' -" he emphasises the word sarcastically, in what is presumably meant to be a parody of Elizabeth's tone, "- with that -----."

"If you've talked to Connor, I'm guessing you know about Moon and her 'ooh, I'm a wizard, look at me being so much better than you mere mortals' ----. And then when she got called out on it she played innocent crybaby. Complete ----," he spits, accompanying his expletive by stabbing the large knife he's using to cut up the deer through the table. "Aw, ----." He yanks the knife back out of the table and sets it aside, wiping his hands on a towel that is presumably there for this exact purpose.

"So yeah," he continues, as if nothing had happened, "when she started going round whining about how it's not fair and how she'd start telling all the other fairs or whatever about how corrupt we are, I wasn't gonna let her walk over us. So when I ran into her in town, yeah, I told her what I thought of her, same as I do everyone. And her sister's boyfriend started getting up in my face, yelling back at me about how we're 'just making assumptions' about Moon and her magic. Thought for a bit he was gonna go for me. 'Cos that would've gone so well for him," he scoffs. "And then I'm guessing she magicked him calmer and pretty much legged it."

Spoiler: Eric & Emily

Show

As far as you can tell, Ansaldi doesn't seem to be lying directly - he clearly does believe that Candice used magic to cheat in the competition - and he does seem to be at least somewhat angry at what he sees as Candice using magic to appear better than humans. His retelling of the confrontation itself is somewhat skewed, but no more so than you would expect considering that he was actually part of it, and he's being honest about the facts.

That said, he doesn't quite seem to be telling the entire truth about his motivation for confronting her directly - righteous indignation like Aria's doesn't quite seem to be his style - or indeed about the specifics of how he found her in the first place.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Eric's hands raised just a couple inches as the knife slammed down, and the air around him got slightly but noticeably cooler for just a few moments. Eric was, just in general, a bit tightly-wound. When exposed to sudden violent movement and loud noise, it spiked his adrenaline some. Fortunately, he was aware that they were not actually under attack, so he didn't go any further than a brief gathering of energy, swiftly dissipated.

~I don't think he's being dishonest, quite, but he's giving the story a bit of a slant. I don't think the encounter was random, though. There's more to it than he's letting on.~

"What makes you think she used magic to calm him down?" Erin asked. That seemed like...an odd claim to make, even taking into account that this guy clearly had a chip on his shoulder with regards to magic use.

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi chuckles. "If you'd been there, you'd have thought it too. Well, I don't know for sure it was her that did it," he admits, "but someone sure did, 'cos he went from cussing up a storm and trying to push me around to being all meek and polite in about a second."

Leaving the deer behind (but bringing his bottle with him), he slouches towards the four of you...and then just kinda pauses for a moment or two, more or less face to face with Emily. The four of you get a strong smell of vodka, which seems to be coming as much from him as it is from the bottle. "Ugh," he grumbles, and continues on past you towards his jeep, flipping open the boot and sitting down on it as a makeshift chair. "Anyway, I ain't seen her - or Aria, or her stupid stammering husband - since, so whatever the hell it is you're investigating, I din't have anything to do with it. What are you investigating, anyway? Someone tread on one of her precious little tomatoes?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Emily blinked twice as Ansaldi approached her, grunted, and moved past her, but didn't otherwise react. ~I saw Candice performing magic. She...I mean, she struggled to affect a pot of marmalade with a spell. I doubt she could influence a living will, even one without any particular resistance to magic. And even if she could, there wouldn't have been any question that she did it.~

~What about her sister? She was better, you said.~

~I mean...maybe. Arabella could definitely pull a spell off subtly. And she mentioned she knew some basic battle magic. A calming spell...would probably be within her level, yeah.~

"Her garden was magically blighted," Elizabeth answered, admittedly more to gauge his reaction than anything. "Who else was there at the time, besides Miss Moon and her sister's boyfriend?"

~I think we should pay the Moon sisters another visit after this, you guys.~

~You think they did it?~

~I'm not 100% sure, but the evidence so far points to Arabella. Anger at how her sister was being treated would be sufficient motive.
She had access to the spell and the skill to use it. The shoes were in her home. Her alibi is her boyfriend, which we should certainly check on, but isn't exactly an air-tight one in any case. And frankly, I'm not seeing any particularly credible alternatives.~

~I mean, it's not like we've conducted an exhaustive search or anything.~

~And I...don't really think Arabella would do something like that.~

~Look, I get it, they're the most sympathetic people we've talked to. But that doesn't make them innocent. Blighting a garden is easy enough to rationalize as "not hurting anyone". But unless Candice hangs out with her sister's boyfriend regularly, chances are Arabella was there too.
If she's free enough with her magic to cast a calming spell on her boyfriend, it's safe to say she's free enough with it to blight a garden. I'll take a harder run at her, and we'll see what comes out.~

~Just...don't go full-bore at her, okay? Until we know for sure, I'd rather not just be adding on to the whole "blame the Moon sisters for anything supernatural that happens around town" bandwagon. They clearly get enough of that as-is.~

[Llyarden]

When Elizabeth explains what, precisely, the siblings are investigating, for perhaps the first time since the conversation began, there's a flash of actual emotion in Ansaldi's eyes - anger. "Stupid -----," he growls. "Course she wouldn't just quit at making dumb threats, she's gotta go pulling out Mommy's dark magic." For a moment or two it looks like he's going to say something else, but then he shakes his head and closes his mouth, remaining quiet for a short time. "Who else was there?" he repeats. "Moon and...whatever the hell his name is...were the only ones yelling at me, but it was midday in the ----ing centre of town. Hell if I know who else was there."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elizabeth couldn't say she was particularly surprised at that reaction. He definitely seemed to have something of a chip on his shoulder when it came to magic. "I know. It's scary, knowing there are people out there who can do stuff like that," she said. Her tone was sympathetic...maybe even a little too sympathetic. Almost, almost pitying.

Spoiler

Show

Elizabeth's gonna try to use her Provocative Benefit to make him feel defensive. I have a theory I can get a good rant out of this guy if I just push the right buttons . Intimidation: (1d20+15)[23].

[Llyarden]

Elizabeth's comment definitely gets a reaction out of Ansaldi. Unfortunately, it probably wasn't quite the one she wanted - or expected. "'People out there'?" he snarls. " You mean like you, fairy?"

"You think I'm scared of you or baby Moon? I don't give a ----. About her, about Connor, or about you. What I give a ---- about is the kind of ----ing attention ---- like this is gonna bring."

He hops off his makeshift seat again and moves closer to you. Drawing himself up to his full height for the first time, instead of his lazy slouched posture, he's a good couple of inches taller than even Elizabeth. "So if you wanna do your ----ing jobs instead of asking me all these -------- questions, how about you go arrest Candice Moon?"

"Before someone gets hurt."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elizabeth met Ansaldi's gaze squarely, staring him down. The air around Eric was growing a bit chilly again, and Emily's eyes narrowed some at the angry rant. Erin was smirking just a little.

But Elizabeth's expression didn't even flicker from calm professionalism. That had been, well, more-or-less what she was expecting. She hadn't expected him to know what they were, it wasn't like it was super-obvious in their normal forms and he hadn't seemed to recognize them earlier, but maybe he had just been feigning ignorance, or maybe he had caught sight of them on their approach.

Or maybe he knew more than he appeared. Erin and Eric had filled them in about their discussion with Mrs. Peter. They had mentioned her comment about them not being the only supernatural investigators around. They had naturally assumed she meant the Circle. But given her reaction when talking about them, and now Ansaldi's worry about attracting attention that might get people hurt, on top of Mrs. Peter's certainty that Euphemia was murdered...well, Elizabeth was not the only one of them to think that there was something more important going on in this town than a ruined garden.

"Attention from whom? And what do you mean by 'before someone gets hurt'?"

[Llyarden]

"None of your ----ing business, that's who," Ansaldi growls. "And if you can't understand plain English..."

"Euphemia knew what the ---- she was doing, and we had a little arrangement - she din't attract the wrong kind of attention and left me to myself, and I din't give a ---- about her playing merry havoc with the little ----s down in town. So lemme make this real clear, little fairies. You get Candice Moon to stop. Arrest her, or take her little spellbook away, or sprinkle fairy dust in her eyes and make her love everyone. I don't give a ---- how."

"But I'm not gonna let some whiny ----- playing with ---- she doesn't understand screw with my life here. So if you don't stop her, I will."

Spoiler: Emily, assuming you're still Evaluating him

Show

When Elizabeth presses him on the 'attention' thing, just for a moment or two, Ansaldi actually does look a little bit scared, in a way he hadn't when he was talking about Candice and her magic - or, for that matter, when standing face to face with four fey law enforcement officials.

He does, incidentally, realise that making threats like that to the faces of FBI agents isn't the brightest idea. He just doesn't care. And it's not an idle threat either - he legitimately is willing, as far as you can tell, to 'stop' Candice, and he honestly does believe that he'd be able to do so, her magic (which he clearly believes is more powerful than it really is) notwithstanding.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Elizabeth did not particularly care how someone like Jeremy Ansaldi regarded them. She did care when that regard impeded her ability to do her job and protect people. Clearly, there was someone supernatural paying attention to this town, and from all they had heard, someone dangerous. Ansaldi obviously didn't know what she and her siblings were capable of, but she did. If there was a supernatural threat to the people of this town, it was their duty to put a stop to it.

So there was a part of her that wanted to drop the calm professional act, make it clear to Ansaldi that he wasn't dealing with mere human-sized pixies here, that they were the best chance he had at removing whatever had him so concerned from the game board. She tamped it down, though. Ansaldi wanted to be left alone. She didn't get the sense that he considered this mystery individual to be a personal enemy or threat. He just considered it dangerous, and wanted it to stay away. In short, pretty much the last thing he wanted would be a big magical duel.

So Elizabeth didn't push him. Although she did say, in a too-calm voice, "Mr. Ansaldi...you will do no such thing." It wasn't a threat. It wasn't a demand. It was a statement of fact.

Spoiler

Show

I have a sense that he might have the Fearless advantage, but honestly I don't care . Intimidation to drive home that he will do no such thing: (1d20+15)[34]. Much appreciated, dice.

And then she headed back the way they came, her siblings, after just a brief moment of hesitation, following after her.

~I'll be honest, I was kinda looking forward to you going all "Summer Champion" on him,~ Erin sent.

~I'm more surprised we're walking away instead of flying, really,~ Eric added wryly.

~We don't need to show off to Jeremy Ansaldi, and I don't think he's going to be too forthcoming with further information on this subject. Based on what you guys saw, I don't think the Peters are going to be much more help on the matter. Let's head back to the Moons.
I want to get this garden thing wrapped up and see what they know about whatever spooky stuff is going on in this town.~

~So...you still think Arabella did it?~

~Sorry, Em, but yeah. I'll keep an open mind about it, but she's gonna need to convince me. Although honestly...~

Spoiler

Show

Routine Expertise (Law) for 25 to see what the garden crime would really warrant, legally. And unless Ansaldi stops them or something, they'll fly back over to the Moons.

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi doesn't respond to Elizabeth's statement for a moment. He certainly doesn't seem too bothered by her tone, meeting her gaze steadily. "'s your choice," he eventually shrugs, turning his back on her and returning to the half-butchered deer.

---

Arabella is once again the one to answer the door. "Oh, hi!" she smiles brightly when she sees Emily. "You're...back?" Her tone does become a little less sure as she notices the rest of the siblings, but she doesn't otherwise react. "Um, did you forget to ask us something?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Emily returned Arabella's smile but...not as brightly. The smile she gave her was less a happy one than a sympathetic one. Or maybe an apologetic one.

Elizabeth spoke quietly. Not whispering, quite, but softly enough that her words wouldn't be easily overheard by anyone elsewhere in the house. "Arabella," she said, adding some weight and urgency to her words with the use of her given name, rather than the more professional "Miss Moon". "I'm going to be honest with you. In what time we've been investigating this case, the evidence is pointing towards you. I'm telling you this because we have also been given reason to believe that that fact could be putting you and your sister in danger. I'm not talking about legal trouble. Actual. Danger." Come to think of it, that quiet tone of voice maaaayyyy have been intended to accomplish more than keeping Candice from potentially overhearing.

"Listen, if we're right about all this, we can help you. We'll keep you and Candice safe. But we need to know the truth here, okay?" Erin spoke just as quietly, but without the grim seriousness. Her voice was warmer, with a gentle confidence.

Spoiler

Show

Elizabeth will use Intimidation. She's going for fear, but using Incite rather than Coerce - she's not trying to scare her into obeying, but she's trying to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation. (1d20+15)[32]. Since Emily already used Cold Reading on her earlier, Elizabeth will take a shot at it here: (1d20+10)[27]. If she succeeds, the first question she's trying to get the answer to is whether or not Arabella was in fact responsible for the spell cast on Mrs. Cooper's garden.

Erin will use Persuasion to influence her attitude towards them as a group, basically trying to get her to trust them enough to confide in. (1d20+15)[21] 29.

Eric will oppose any Bluffs with Bluff Caller, Routine Deception for 25.

Emily will Evaluate her response. (1d20+15)[23].

[Llyarden]

Arabella doesn't say anything for a moment or two. When she finally does speak, it's in a slightly wavering tone. "I don't know what 'evidence' you have, but I told you once already - I was at my partner's house last night. I don't even know what you're investigating!"

And though she's speaking to Elizabeth, her gaze is directed at Emily. And all the siblings can easily see that though she's doing a reasonable job of staying calm outwardly, the pain in her eyes is unmistakable - and earnest. As one of the siblings' instructors in the FBI, back when they'd been going through their training, had been fond of saying: 'Liars can't pale on cue.'

"That's the truth, Arabella snaps. "And if you can't even find the person who's really responsible for...whatever it is you think I did...how am I supposed to trust that you can protect us?"

Spoiler: Emily

Show

You're pretty sure that Elizabeth got through to her about the possibility of danger - and she's smart enough to realise that if you have come to the conclusion that she's responsible, whatever danger might be out there might do the same. And despite her words, she does want your protection (she knows full well that you're a lot more powerful than she is).

Though, obviously, she is also rather upset and feeling a little bit betrayed, especially from Emily, about being accused of the as-yet-undefined (to her, anyway) crime, though Erin has somewhat mitigated that.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Just for clarity, her answer to Elizabeth's question is that she did not blight the garden. Similarly Eric can tell that she's telling the truth.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Emily glanced away from Arabella's hurt look. Yes, this was their job, and all things considered this was a question they needed to ask but...still. She liked Arabella, and didn't want to hurt her. The fact that she was telling the truth here - Emily was sure of it - just made her feel more guilty. She should have argued, should have known Arabella didn't do it and been smart enough to verbalize a reason for that regardless of what the evidence was saying so far.

~Satisfied?~ she sent to her siblings, but mostly Elizabeth.

~Yeah, although that doesn't actually help the goal much,~ Elizabeth sent back. She wasn't going to apologize. It wasn't their job to protect peoples' feelings, and they had accomplished precisely what they intended to - confirming or refuting the suspicion that Arabella was responsible.

Erin replied to Arabella's question with a wry grin, not flinching in the least from her sharp tone. "We've been on the case for like...maybe an hour? Look, I'm sorry we came at you hard like that, but like I said, we needed to know. And sometimes the best way to get at the truth is just to be blunt about the situation and see how the person reacts. For what it's worth, you reacted exactly like someone who did nothing wrong, so that simplifies things some."

"We are going to need your partner's information this time, though," Eric said.

"Due diligence, and all," Erin added. "And we do have a couple more questions we need to ask you and your sister, if that's alright."

~Em? You want to fill her in on things?~ Erin sent.

Emily sent back a wordless feeling of gratitude, and then aloud (though still not too loud) said, "Um, as far as what happened...somebody used magic to ruin Mrs. Connor's garden. Some sort of blighting spell, best we've figured so far. Now,
granted, Mrs. Connor doesn't seem to be, uh, the most popular person in town, or anything. But from what we've been learning,
we're pretty sure you'll find a spell that does what we saw in your mother's spellbooks."

Spoiler

Show

Hoping to further smooth things over with the apology and sharing some information. If I need to roll another Persuasion check let me know.

[Llyarden]

"...fine," Arabella says, after a slightly-too-long-to-be-comfortable pause. And though she seems to have been somewhat mollified by the apology and explanation, there's still a slightly bitter edge in her tone.

"His name's Devin Granger." She answers Eric first. "He works at Blake-Orman. It's an accountancy firm," she adds. "Their offices are in town."

"Candice went out just after you left. I think you kind of upset her. But if you want to look at Mom's spellbooks, they're upstairs. Um, follow me, I guess."

When Arabella says 'upstairs' it turns out she means 'in the attic.' And sure enough, in amidst boxes of unused furniture and similar detritus that one commonly finds in an attic, there are a selection of large, leather-bound books, piled on top of each other and surrounded by cushions. The one Candice had been using (or rather, trying to use) earlier rests on the top of the pile, though Arabella promptly lifts it off and settles down on one of the cushions. "Mom didn't really have a filing system," she explains, gesturing to the remaining half-dozen books, "so pretty much any of those might have your blight spell in it."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Thanks," Erin said as they followed along, although as they walked in, assuming they were still there, she did take the opportunity to ask, "Also, if you don't mind me asking, whose shoes are those?"

When they got to the attic, Emily gave Arabella a little, awkward smile and went over to check out the books. She reached for the first one, but Elizabeth said, "Wait. Let me, first." After putting on a pair of gloves (it wasn't impossible the books might yet become evidence). She picked up one of the books, flipped few a through random pages, skimmed some of the next. Did the same with another if nothing happened. If after three books nothing triggered, she'd give Emily the nod.

((I don't really expect the books are trapped, but if they are pretty much ignore the rest of this. On the very off chance they're trapped with some sort of area effect that doesn't exclude her, though, Elizabeth will Interpose for Arabella.))

"Some mages trap their spellbooks," she explained to Arabella when she had finished. "Curses and such. And if your mother had they would probably be keyed not to affect you guys, so you might not even know about them."

"...You realize there are better ways to check for traps than triggering them before anyone else has a chance to, right?"

"Debatably. My way's faster, especially when you factor in then having to disarm the trap rather than letting it conveniently disarm itself. And on the off chance I can't tank it, Erin can just heal it."

Erin gave a little chuckle, while Emily and Eric just shook their heads, but Emily went over to read through the books, gesturing at the first as she approached. It lifted into the air before her, and its pages began turning on their own - gently, but quickly, one after another. She skimmed each pair of pages for less than a second before moving onto the next.

"So, while she's doing that," Erin said conversationally, "We had heard something about your sister and your partner having a confrontation with Mr. Ansaldi the other day. Were you there for that, by any chance?"

Spoiler

Show

Emily will use Fey Speed for Quickness 6 and start skimming through the books. Routine Expertise (Magic) for 25 to identify and learn about the spell if/when she finds it. ...Possibly Routine Expertise (Literature) for 25 for further speed-reading antics .

[Llyarden]

"Huh?" Arabella seems a touch puzzled by the sudden divergence into a question about footwear. "Um, they're mine. Why?"

The revelation that the books might be trapped causes a rather scared expression to appear on Arabella's face. "So they could've...hurt us? But Devin's looked at them too, back when we first got them out after the Unmasking, and none of them did anything to him."

"Um, yeah, I know about Ansaldi. I wasn't there, but Candice spent about, um, half an hour complaining about him when she got back. But..." Arabella pauses for a moment. "The way she told it, Devin didn't show up until after."

Spoiler: Emily

Show

The spellbook that Candice was using earlier is innocent enough, clearly more of a journal of Euphemia's apprenticeship and her initial study of magic than a 'real' spellbook (though it still contains a large number of magical spells; as well as the marmalade one you can also find the plant-healing spell Arabella mentioned using when she first discovered her own magical powers.) The other eight...not so much. There's a massive variety of spells ranging from battle-spells to more insidious curses, every single one cruel and twisted enough to almost literally make you feel nauseous. Judging from the fact that the author has made copious - and enthusiastic - notes about the effects of the spells which she's observed first-hand, you can easily tell why Mrs Peter made the comment she did about Euphemia's death being a good thing - Euphemia Moon was not a nice person.

(You would also, incidentally, seeing the kinds of spells that she was using, consider it pretty likely that if the Circle knew that someone was doing this sort of thing, they'd put a very permanent stop to it.)

Oddly, when you come to the last book, you find a chapter that isn't spells, about halfway through. Instead, it's a fairly extensive treatise on werewolf packs. Apparently Euphemia Moon was fond of using other Supernal creatures as conduits or sources of energy for some of her rituals, and indeed had a strong alliance with a werewolf pack before moving to Marshtown. While it's probably a bit out of date by now, it's a remarkably well-detailed list of werewolf packs all across the States - and in all likelihood a vast majority of those packs still exist more or less as written.

It's as you come to the end of the chapter in the book that you realise something - something that you'd at first put down to having super-speed-read almost a thousand pages of horrible, vile curses. But it's not any kind of unease about the evil magic contained in these books at all. Instead, it's a much more real sense of supernatural incursion.

Someone's reading your mind.

And though you haven't turned any pages, the last page of werewolf information has vanished, leaving just two words.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"I mean, theoretically. In the general sense, yes, it's a good idea to show extreme caution before looking through another mage's spellbooks."

"Do as she says, not as she does," Erin commented idly.

Devin not showing up until after was...an interesting divergence, given the role he played in Ansaldi's telling. Although it wasn't impossible that Ansaldi had confronted Candice, and Devin had gotten in his face when he arrived, which Candice might consider showing up afterwards. (Eric had another suspicion, as the official Team Pessimist, but he kept it wisely to himself).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room...well. The good news was, Emily was pretty sure she had solved the case.

Honestly, the spells in those books were...horrifying. She could hardly believe that a person would have gathered such a horrific collection of magic, to say nothing for using and testing it. She and Eric knew a couple spells they were absolutely leery of (although to be fair, she wasn't entirely sure her ability to induce rot was actually any more horrific than Erin's ability to tear pretty much anything she wanted apart with flowers, of all things), but just reading about these made her feel dirty.

Euphemia Moon had been the sort of person that validated Eric's entire worldview.

When those two words appeared, she hesitated. Of course she did. Emily wasn't the very best at making hard decisions. The werewolf information had been an obvious offer. Ghost!Euphemia was reading her mind; probing it, in fact. She wasn't just looking at her surface thoughts, she was gathering information about her from her own brain. She had found Colleen there, had stolen information about her friend right from her head, and was using it to formulate an offer.

And if Euphemia's mind-reading magic was strong enough to peer into her subconscious, the ghost necromancer would certainly be aware that she had just made an implacable foe in Emily Equinox. That profound mental violation, and worse, the taking of her friend's secrets from her, did not make Emily mad. For good or ill, Emily rarely really got mad. Her feelings, influenced by the cold winds of Autumn, naturally leaned towards people and relationships rather than events and situations. This meant that Emily was incredibly capable of forgiving a person she cared about even if they hurt her. The fleeting wrong could never outweigh the importance of the relationship itself. But after what she had just learned about Euphemia's nature and her magic, and to now be affected by it in such a way?

It did not take even seconds for ice cold hatred to darken Emily's heart.

Despite that, Emily did not react with hostility out of hand. Because that information was extremely valuable to her best friend in the world. It bought Euphemia attention. And discretion...?

Obviously, the smartest thing to do here was to immediately alert her siblings. She could not do so subtly; her mind was being read, so the telepathic link between them could be overheard, and any plan she made to warn them would likewise be detected. If she did so, that ended any chance of negotiation for that information. Emily did not believe that this was her only chance to acquire such knowledge, but it was, at the moment, certainly her best and fastest.

If she played along she could alter her course later. If she alerted her siblings now it was set. She did not believe that either she, her siblings, or anyone else was in imminent danger. For the time being, she went with the action that offered the wider range of future options (or, less charitably, the one that felt least like making a choice).

Hello, Euphemia, she thought consciously, though only into her own head. There was no fear or doubt in her words. Emily would admit, she was not always as brave as her siblings could be, Elizabeth in particular (although to be fair, there were movie action heroes who were less brave than her big sister), but that hardly meant she would tremble at the presence of some spirit, powerful necromancer or not. Emily was a half-fey sorceress, trained battle-mage, and federal agent. She was no coward. What do you want?

Spoiler

Show

Expertise (Magic) for whatever useful information Emily might have about the specifics of what Euphemia's doing here, particularly whether it could be a gateway for more advanced mental manipulation or possession: (1d20+15)[21].

For the moment I'm figuring nobody would immediately notice if Emily stops turning pages for a moment, although that will presumably change if it goes on much longer.

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: Emily

Show

As far as you can tell, the mind-reading effect does not on its own allow Euphemia any greater access into your mind. That said, if she can magically affect anyone reading the book with one sort of mind-affecting magic, it's far from inconceivable that she could bring some of her other magic to bear - if you've learned anything from the other books, it's that Euphemia was a highly competent mage.

There is a moment's pause - by the standards of Emily's hastened perception, a considerable time - before the previous line is erased and another takes its place.



A moment later, Emily manages to push the intruding mental presence out of her mind.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

The handwriting in this book is identical to that of all the other books, give or take small variations over the decades these books span.

[Quellian-dyrae]

That certainly wasn't impossible, but Emily wasn't going to take it at face value either. Plenty of reasons to tell that lie. She gave a little self-satisfied smile as she forced the presence from her mind. She would watch the page for a few more moments. If Euphemia, or whoever it was, offered further communication, fine. If not, well, that essentially took the choice out of her hands.

Spoiler

Show

Can I...use Insight on a book? I know I can't Cold Read it (somewhat ironically, I suppose) since there's no facial expressions and such. Although don't think I wouldn't try to justify it if Emily were the one with the Document Analysis specialty. But if I can Insight that claim: (1d20+15)[29].

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You can make Insight checks on the book, yes. As far as you can tell, it isn't lying.

After a long, few moments, both the large, cursive writing and the other open page, which had until this point still been showing the werewolf information (talking about how Euphemia's old allies hunted teenage humans as a coming-of-age ritual, if anyone's curious), vanish, leaving the book blank.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The moment Emily looked up from that book, her siblings knew she had found something.

It wasn't a matter of a telepathic link, or even just familial experience. Sure, that was something of a factor - they had two decades of history that they could read into the look on her face - but that history wasn't necessary to read her expression. There was a slight sheen in her eyes of tears trying to form, but it didn't make her look sad. There was a stillness, a tense tightness, to her every feature. She wasn't glaring, she wasn't scowling, but her face could not have been more still and cold if it had been carved from solid ice.

"Em...?" Erin asked gently.

Emily closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. When she opened them again her face was a little more animate. "Okay. There was a presence attached to that book that read my mind and attempted to communicate me. I forced it out, but the communication ceased when I did. It-"

Elizabeth lifted one finger, and a sun-bright flame appeared at the end of it.

"No, wait." There was nothing indecisive in Emily's voice now. She knew how her siblings would react to a threat against any of them, and frankly, her in particular. "If we destroy it we don't know what the actual effect will be, but we will definitely lose the option of communication, which we don't know enough to forego yet. I am ninety-five percent certain it was a sapient presence, not merely a triggered spell. It was attempting to make me an offer, and did so intelligently based on information it was able to take from my mind."

~To be precise, information about North American werewolf clans. For the record, if there is a way to acquire that information in the course of this investigation, I would prefer that to not all else being equal.~

Emily was the most technically proficient of the four of them with regards to magic, but while the others weren't especially learned on the details of the subject, they had a fair general understanding. Enough, at least, that they knew what that information meant to Emily. And that they knew what it meant that the presence had known what that information meant to her.

~Emily, are you-~

~Just...let me get through this.~

"It claimed to not be Euphemia Moon. I didn't get a particular sense that it was lying, but I also have no reason to believe the claim and some reason to believe otherwise." Did her eyes flash to Arabella for a moment? And did her voice waver just a touch? "That said, it is not impossible that there is a different spirit or sentience bound to them. The limited communication I had with it was indicative of a being in control; it didn't seem like somebody trapped within and confused by its circumstance. But I don't have enough information to rule it out absolutely."

Now she was looking at Arabella. And while there was sympathy in her eyes, she spoke as bluntly as Elizabeth ever had.
Because this was becoming less and less guesswork and more and more a serious threat. "I need to know, to the absolute best of your knowledge, whether you, Candice, or Devin ever read that book, and if it ever seemed to communicate with any of you, if you ever felt the information within was different than it had been before or than others had described to you, or if it ever gave you information about something you found uniquely useful at the time or was otherwise just what you were looking for. I also need to know, as best as you can recall, which of you was the first to read it since your mother died. Elizabeth, did you read it while you were skimming? It took me a while to even notice the mind reading, and if you did it might have caught you too. We also can't rule out other subtle curses or mind-manipulating effects."

"Oh, we'll rule it out all right," Erin said. Her voice was uncharacteristically serious but that was still by her typically-cheery standards, averaging out at bemused. Of course, she was concerned for her sister - honestly more her peace of mind than anything - but that didn't dampen her spirits. All it meant was that she had to fix it. The trauma might take a bit more effort, but any hypothetical curses could be dealt with immediately. She strode over to Emily and laid her hands on her shoulders. Sunrise-pink light shone from her hands, a purging wave of pure Renewal, the very essence of Spring. It would roll through her sister like a tidal wave, sweeping aside any harmful effects that may be upon her. As soon as it was finished, she went over to Elizabeth and repeated the spell.

(Later, she would absolutely point out that she had totally called the Horcrux, but even Erin recognized that it would be in kinda bad taste at the moment.)

Elizabeth set a hand gently on Arabella's back. While she could be extremely imposing, that presence worked both ways. When things were going bad, having that sort of utter fearless presence at your side could be calming.

Spoiler

Show

Emily is using Insight to try to Detect Influence on Arabella. (1d20+15)[32].

No social checks for the moment, I don't really expect I'll need them to get her to help, but I will note that Elizabeth has the Reassurance Investigation Specialty if that might help keep her from getting flustered or panicking. Erin will also be more than happy to use her Interrogation Specialty to help Arabella remember specifics.

[Llyarden]

"Um..." Arabella pauses for a moment, visibly shuffling away from the book. "I don't remember reading it. I mean, I skimmed it - we all did, we all looked at all of them - but none of us wanted to spend ages looking at all that horrible magic. Though..." She pauses for another moment. "Actually, I think the spell I used to heal the garden was in there."

And there are two odd things about that statement. The first is that Emily already found the plant-healing spell, and not in the possessed book. The second is that Arabella unconsciously emphasises certain words, in exactly the same pattern as Emily had just a moment ago - a tell-tale sign given off by people who have previously been under mental influence.

But after a moment, Emily realises that how strong the signs Arabella was displaying are means either that she was influenced by something more powerful than anything they've ever encountered before...or she's still in some way influenced now.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"I didn't try that one, no," Elizabeth said, and though she tried to say it as just a statement of fact...well, Emily, for sure, would notice the faint drop in her voice as she said it. She had been assuming basic spell traps, figuring if one was trapped most or all of them probably would be. She should have checked them all to be safe. Then maybe she'd have been the one to have the privacy of her thoughts invaded, rather than her little sister. Emily wasn't some fragile porcelain doll, but she was sensitive. She shouldn't have had to go through that, and it was her job to protect her.

She kept those thoughts to herself, but this was Emily we were talking about. She hardly needed a telepathic link or mind reading spell to know what was going through her siblings' heads. ~Don't even go there, El. Seriously, if you want to pity someone, pity Euphemia's ghost. Yeah, it's irksome, but I booted her out pretty much the second I noticed her. I'll be fine.~

For just an instant, a grin flickered across Elizabeth's face at her sister's defiant words. It didn't really stop her from kicking herself - that was her prerogative as an older sibling - but let's be clear, she definitely had plenty of pity for Euphemia. Ask her, Erin, and Eric which of their siblings they'd least like to fight, their answers would be hesitant and would vary not just between them, but between situations. But ask any of the three of them which of their siblings they would least want as an enemy, and they would all give the same answer, without hesitation and every time. Emily could hold a grudge like a full-blooded fey.

"Do you know where your sister went? It's probably best we talk to her too. Or can you call her?"

To all of her siblings this time, Emily sent, ~Speed up. Okay, Arabella's under some sort of mental influence. That does jive with a lot of what we've seen, although we can't rule out that Candice and/or Devin are also possessed to some degree. It would explain Devin's behavior per Ansaldi. Possession on multiple subjects seems...logistically difficult, but she could be jumping between them as needed, or she could just have a link to them and be using mind-altering magic.~ And she tried, really she did, to present those facts clinically, to view this as nothing more than an enemy to defeat, a challenge to overcome, a problem to solve. But her disgust, her concern, and her hatred crept through the link nonetheless. How how how could this woman be doing this to her own daughters?

~So, Option One, the Direct Approach. We reveal that we know that, see how Arabella reacts,
and deal with it.~

~Option Two, the Really Direct Approach. We don't telegraph anything and you just go right in with the best renewal you can throw, and if that doesn't work we do a classic Fey Exorcism.~

~We have a Fey Exorcism?~

~Hit the possessing spirit with so much raw, possibly-mutually-contradictory emotion that it can no longer tell up from porcupine and isn't sure whether it's happy about that or not.~

~I'm...not sure that's actually a practical response to possession, but we'll keep it on the table.~

~Option Three, we gather more information, try to ascertain if the other two are likewise influenced and what the exact effect is, and go from there.~

~Em? Preferences?~

~Um...well, I mean, on the one hand we did seem to learn more just bumbling our way through possibly-trapped spellbooks than we did over the course of the past hour talking to people, so the direct approach does have that going for it. And I can definitely get behind immediate attempted removal of any and all hostile mental influences.
But we also don't know what sort of capabilities or leverage Euphemia is willing and able to exert, or how hard it will actually be to remove the compulsions, so getting more information first is probably smart, if we can spare the time. But if Euphemia gets suspicious we might not be able to, so...~

~So that's a no then,~ Erin sent, a bit teasingly.

~I just don't know for sure!~

~We could revisit burning the book.~

~I'm not ready to do that yet. I...could try to read the book again. Establish communication.
Try to interrogate her.~

~No.~

~Gotta be honest, Em, I'm not a fan of that one.~

~Mind reading capabilities give her inherent advantage in an interrogation. It's not a practical solution.~

~Okay, let's just think about this for a moment. What are the possibilities here?~

Spoiler

Show

They're all putting on Fey Speed so they can have a telepathic conversation without a really appreciable delay to outside observers.

Also, Expertise (Supernal Lore) from Elizabeth regarding what sort of possession/mind control options spirity dudes might bring to the table, good exorcism tactics, etc: (1d20+15)[25].

Expertise (Magic) from Emily to try to narrow down what sort of influence this might be. If there's a bonus for having just gone through the presumed caster's magical journals and spellbooks I'll take it: (1d20+15)[34]. ...Well, the dice seemed to want to give me a bonus, but I'll still happily accept a circumstance one if there's any to be had

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: Elizabeth

Show

Outright possession, as Emily mentioned, would be difficult to maintain across multiple targets - especially since it seems that Euphemia (if it is her) is restricted to the book, so she'd only be able to possess people that actually tried to read it. Though if Euphemia is the one in the book, and she is actually possessing people, then in all likelihood she'd be able to cast her full magical powers through her possessed target (not all possession spells allow that, but Euphemia was clearly a powerful enough mage to manage one that does, and there would be very little reason for her to not do so).

That said, considering that there is (according to Emily, at least) definitely at least some form of mental influence still active on Arabella and simultaneously the book was communicating with Emily, a full possession seems unlikely - at least at the present moment.

As far as exorcising possessing targets is concerned, there are a few options. Killing the host obviously works, and if the possession is particularly strong and the death particularly fast might even kill the possessor before it has a chance to flee, but is obviously a rather unsavoury option. Most mental effects targeted at the host would affect the possessor instead, since it's taken over the host's mind, and depending on the specifics of the possessing effect, spells designed to affect spirits can sometimes hit the possessor without hitting the host. Or obviously just outright trying to dispel the possession would also work, though sometimes possessions are very difficult to exorcise through brute force.

Spoiler: Emily

Show

Though there were possession spells, mind control spells, and all manner of similarly nasty spells in the various books you've looked through, none of them actually match the effect you seem to be dealing with at present - specifically the fact that Arabella doesn't seem to remember ever coming back to the book since looking at it a few years ago, even though even the strongest compulsion would've worn off with only one application a half-dozen years ago and clearly she is still affected. That said, in the old days of wizardly backstabbing and rivalry, though magicians would often take apprentices and write spellbooks it wasn't unusual for them to keep their most potent spells stored only in their mind, as something of an ace up their sleeves.

From the way Arabella reacted to your influence test, you can deduce that although she was outright controlled at some point in the past, and though there is still some mental influence in place upon her, it seems to be...dormant, for want of a better word. Whether it is liable to trigger at some preset point in the future or whether it would just reestablish itself if she read the book again you aren't sure, but at present Arabella is in full control of her own actions.

Arabella actually jumps slightly when Eric addresses her. "Um, I don't know. At work, I guess? She works at a florist in town. Um, I can call her, yeah. Um, my phone's downstairs." And though she doesn't say it aloud, it's obvious even to the less astute amongst the siblings that she doesn't want to be alone.

[Quellian-dyrae]

~The good news is I do think Arabella's still in control of herself. She could be controlled again, but it's currently dormant as best I can tell. There may be some sort of trigger to it, or it could just be waiting for the caster to give new orders.~

~If she is possessed, we can probably get the possessor with mental attacks. But from the sounds of things,
it's more likely she's under relatively mundane mental influence, rather than spiritual possession.~

~We should proceed under the assumption that Euphemia is aware of our actions, and able to act by proxy if not directly.~

~It's not paranoia if you're carrying an evil mind-reading Bookrux around. So, what does this mean for our next move?~

~I'm thinking we should get Candice and Devin here. Worst case scenario, Euphemia is capable of controlling and watching all of them remotely, meaning as soon as she feels it is in her interest to take direct action, she can have them go after soft targets to try to gain leverage. I'd rather her be concentrating her full power on us.~

~Your plans are always so cautious,~ Eric snarked. ~But if we're entertaining worst-case scenarios, what if she has control over other people as well? God knows she's had plenty of time to whelm forces.~

~That's...not impossible, but it's fairly unlikely based on what we know. For one, maintaining that much mind control long-term would be difficult, even keeping it latent, and Star Wars notwithstanding, dying usually does cramp one's style some. But beyond that, Euphemia doesn't seem to want to control people. She wants to hurt people. Even if she had designs on the town and the power to achieve them...she wouldn't want pawns on a chessboard. She'd want dolls to cut the heads off of.~ There was icy venom behind those psychic words.

~That's pleasant.~

~Regardless, we get Candice and Devin here, and it gives us the best chance to keep the potential threat contained while we resolve it.~

~At the cost of the three of them being in harms way.~

~Yeah except we'll be here, so not really!~

~It's a bit of a risk, but even so they're the ones who are likely to need our help. It's the safest bet overall,
I think.~

~Agreed.~

~Cool! Let's do it!~

~...Okay.~

"Alright, if you can give her and Devin a call, and ask them to come here immediately, please. Tell them the FBI needs to speak with them. We'll get this all sorted out," Elizabeth told Arabella with professional calm, leading back downstairs.

[Llyarden]

"O-okay," Arabella nods, following Elizabeth back downstairs. And as she collects her phone from the table and dials, it becomes fairly obvious how she's managed to keep her magic hidden from her sister for so long - even scared as she is, she manages to sound fairly calm, and barely thirty seconds later she hangs back up. "Well, she's mad at you guys," she reports with a shaky smile, "but she's coming."

Her attempt to contact her partner doesn't work quite as well. Either Devin is more perceptive than Candice, or Arabella is less comfortable lying to him - or perhaps both - because whatever Devin says after she asks him to visit, it kinda trips her up. "N-no, nothing's wrong!" she insists, unconvincingly. "Just...just come to Candice's house. Please." Probably sensibly, she quickly hangs up before she can let her act slip any more.

Despite the fact that the office Devin works at is further from the house than the flower shop Candice works in, he's the first of the two to arrive, about quarter of an hour after Arabella phoned him - during which time, unless given instructions to the contrary, she had done nothing but pace back and forwards nervously in front of the door.

When he finally does arrive, Arabella promptly runs over and hugs him tightly, whatever vague facade of calmness she'd been managing to maintain gone. "What..." He pauses when he notices you, and when he looks at you there's more than a little anger in his eyes. "What's going on?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"If you don't mind, we'd like to wait for Candice to get here before going into the whole explanation," Erin said. "None of you are in any trouble though, okay?" Danger, maybe, but again, Erin filed that under "we're here so it's fine!" Besides, saying that wouldn't actually help with the whole keeping everybody calm thing.

"In the meantime though, we understand you and Candice had a confrontation with Jeremy Ansaldi the other day. Could you explain to us how that went, please? It might have some bearing on what's going on here."

Emily, still with the ghost-book or whatever it was in hand (she wasn't leaving it out of her sight, and neither was she going to give her siblings the chance to expose themselves to the magic upon it), was paying quiet attention to Devin. Arabella was only latently controlled, but there was no guarantee he wasn't being actively possessed. Elizabeth, too, kept her eyes open for signs of spectral influence, any indication that he might not have been perfectly comfortable in his own skin, the sisters comparing their evaluations telepathically.

Spoiler

Show

Erin will Routine Persuasion for 25, 30 if Attractive applies.

Emily will Routine Insight for 25 to Evaluate him. If Attractive applies, this increases to 30 against attempts to deceive or manipulate.

Elizabeth will Routine Insight as a Team Check with Emily, who will roll to Detect Influence at +5 from the Team Check: (1d20+20)[26].

Eric will oppose any Bluffs with Bluff Caller: (1d20+15)[21].

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: Emily

Show

For one thing, you're reasonably sure Devin recognised the four of you, though considering that he's dating Arabella, who seems to be your biggest fan in this town, that probably isn't much of a surprise.

He's clearly very protective of Arabella - you aren't sure whether that's normal or just his reaction to how super stressed she is right now - so while you don't get the sense that he's particularly untrustworthy, you can't completely rule out the possibility of him doing something rash if there's any obvious danger. (As far as Arabella told you, he doesn't know about her magic.)

On the plus side, he doesn't seem to be possessed, so there's that.

"That -------?" Devin grimaces. "He's not exactly the most stable guy at the best of times, but he was real...I don't know, high, or drunk, or whatever the hell it is he does to himself in that cabin...that day. Came right up to Candice in the middle of the square and started insulting her, telling her that he knew stories about Euphemia that would make her sick and that Candice was becoming her mother using her magic." He scoffs. "It was bad enough coming from manipulators like Aria, but one thing I always thought with him was that he wouldn't just randomly make ---- up, but I guess he's just like her. And then he started threatening Candice. He...honestly, I don't really know what he was yelling about. Some kind of weird mixture between how if 'they' came for him because of Candice he'd make sure he took her down with him, and how he wouldn't let her tell 'them' where he was."

Devin gives a slight shrug. "I thought he was going to attack her. So I...yeah, I tried to help. I mean, I don't think he'd have cared any more about attacking me than her, but it might've been something. And then..." He pauses for a few moments. "I dunno, I guess Candice backed off when I got nearer and he didn't really care about me, because when she was gone he just left."

Arabella pauses, looking up to him. It's a bit difficult to tell her expression given your relative positions, but you get the impression that something he said startled her a little.

Spoiler: Emily

Show

Partly because you sort of know to look for it already, you notice that, just as Ansaldi had suggested, some sort of compulsion was used on Devin to make him back off - but not the same kind of magic as you observed on Arabella. Whatever this was was much more brute-force and less subtle, which is why Devin has subconsciously created a none-too-passable explanation for his actions - though fighting off a mental intrusion instinctively makes you alarmed at the time, in general people who haven't been exposed to magic generally aren't easily able to remember that they were compelled, but at the same time there's some little instinct at the back of their mind telling them that something wasn't quite right with their actions there.

It's a good ten minutes or so after Devin's arrival before Candice finally arrives. "Is this going to take long?" she complains. "We're pretty busy at the shop at the moment." It's only after a good few moments that she finally notices her sister's expression. "Oh, for...what is it now?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but this couldn't wait. Some of what we have to tell you might be difficult to hear,
so we want you guys to understand why we've come to the conclusions we have. I think the best way to do that is this: Candice, Devin just told us about the confrontation you had with Ansaldi in the town square the other day. Could you please describe your recollection of it?"

"I know it sounds a little silly, but this matters," Erin assured her.

Spoiler

Show

Another Routine Evaluate for 25, and Team Checked Detect Influence for (1d20+20)[30]. And Routine Persuasion from Erin if need be.