Shattered Masques IC

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi doesn't seem to notice the fey power woven in the siblings' words until it's too late. But the warm closeness of the trust and belief conveyed by Emily just evaporates as it starts to settle over the werewolf. Eric has slightly better luck - the icy calm of winter takes a hold in his heart.

But it isn't enough.

Ansaldi roars and changes. White fur covers his body - though those strange symbol-like scars are still visible, where his fur doesn't grow - as he shoots up in height by about a foot. And then he speaks - not something you've ever seen Colleen manage in werewolf form. "You tell me that some ---- has defiled my territory and want me to just let you deal with it? Like hell!"

Then he swipes at Eric with a paw. And something becomes quickly apparent - it might have been at Assorian's urging, but it was definitely Ansaldi's own control and skill that had allowed him to fight the humans at the church without inflicting any permanent harm. He doesn't seem to be showing you the same courtesy.

Spoiler: Emily

Show

He still has no Deception, though.
PL12, Ref 11, Toughness 15, Fort 16, Will 10.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ansaldi:
Free: Change into full werewolf form. He is also now Berserk as a complication (though he doesn't get a hero point for it!)
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Powerhouse Blow on Eric, Power Attacking for 5: (1d20+7)[19] vs Reflex. DC32 Toughness vs damage, DC27 Fort vs Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated and DC27 Prowess vs Move Object on a hit. If you fail against the Move Object, he throws you at Emily for DC27 Toughness vs damage: (1d20+7)[19]. The Move Object is technically Contagious, but there's nothing useful he can do with that right now. Hits both (barely in Emily's case) due to AoA.
End of Turn: Save against the Progressive Affliction (DC17): (1d20+10)[17] Recovers.

EDIT: Gotta love failing at basic arithmetic.

[Quellian-dyrae]

...Okay yeah, they had been expecting that to go better. Emily had not judged Ansaldi to have a particularly strong will, on the supernatural scale. But evidently his rage left him highly resistant to emotional influence.

And the thing about not flinching, is that sometimes flinching gets you out of danger. Eric was slammed into his sister with bone-cracking force. Emily cried out in pain, although Eric was reeling so bad from the full force of the hit that he couldn't really vocalize much one way or another.

~Guys guys get here get here!~ Emily sent to her sisters a bit desperately.

--

Erin and Elizabeth were just chatting casually with Arabella and Devin, waiting for their siblings to get back from destroying the orb. Erin was regaling them with one of her stories. And she stopped mid-word.

And then, without a word of explanation, the both of them changed.

Generally, when the Equinox siblings took their fey forms, it was like, yeah, it was noticeable. But it wasn't really dramatic. They got taller and, proportionately, thinner. Their coloration shifted some. Their ears grew to points. Their beauty took on a somewhat more unearthly quality. The wings were the biggest change, really.

But that was when they just shifted form for the utility of it. To heighten their senses, or benefit from the speed of their wings.

When they shifted in preparation for battle, and in particular, when their beloved siblings were in peril? That was different.

The whole house perceptibly brightened, as if every window had been thrown open on a clear spring day. The temperature rose more than ten degrees. The pink light of dawn flared in Erin's eyes, and the golden flames of summer blazed in Elizabeth's. In that moment, they went from being friendly, approachable women in kinda silly costumes to being mighty fey sorceresses.

And then they were gone, flying out of the house at breathtaking speeds, every flap of their wings audibly cracking the sound barrier.

--

Emily whirled around her brother, Autumn winds picking up around her in a billowing gale, filling the area around her with distracting, disorienting leaves. Although the leaves themselves were in some ways the least concern, where the winds were powerful enough to turn her enemies' attacks back upon them.

Barely a second later, her older sisters came diving into the fray. Elizabeth landed between her younger siblings and the raging werewolf, and she wasn't anywhere close to playing nice, unloading a blast of solar fire straight for his face while with her left hand she channeled the warmth of that flame into Emily. Erin wrapped Eric in a tight hug, pouring her own healing magic into her twin.

Spoiler

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Eric:
Stunned.
End of turn: Recover from Stunned (DC 27): (1d20+10)[13]. Nope

Emily:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Invoke Earth. All allies are Deflected at 1d20+10 while within 30' of Emily, and any Deflected attack is Reflected at 1d20+10. Non-allied visual Perception checks within or into 30' of Emily take a -5 penalty.
End of Turn: Regeneration 5/10.

Elizabeth:
Free: Swap to Fey Form.
Move: Fly to Ansaldi's and into the fray.
Standard: Invoke Environment, Power Attacking for 4, attacking Ansaldi at (1d20+6)[17] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Toughness DC 29 vs. Damage. Emily receives Healing at (1d20+10)[29] (points of success halved since she failed a resistance check this turn). Misses Ansaldi. Since this rounds up, that's actually just enough to knock out Emily's Bruise and downgrade her Staggered to Dazed.

Erin:
Free: Swap to Fey Form.
Move: Fly to Ansaldi's and into the fray.
Standard: If Eric hasn't recovered, use Treatment to try to reduce the Affliction on Eric (DC 27) at (1d20+15)[29]. Otherwise use Invoke Effect on Eric for (1d20+10)[16] Healing (points of success halved). Reduced to Dazed

[Llyarden]

"Um?" Arabella manages to say before Elizabeth and Erin are gone.

Ansaldi doesn't seem too fazed by the arrival of the rest of the Equinox siblings. If anything, he almost seems to revel in the challenge - and as wild and furious as he might be, he isn't so overwhelmed by his anger as to not have the common sense to move aside from the white-hot fires being flung at his face.

And then he roars again, glaring down at Emily. But it's more than just a roar. For all that she's a powerful mage, and for all the reassuring proximity of her siblings, to Emily, just for a moment, it makes her feel like she's nothing more than a normal human facing down some ancient, primeval monster.

The feeling only lasts for a moment. But as spectral wolves coalesce out of the air and pounce at the siblings with teeth that seem to strike a chill into their very souls, perhaps a moment would be all the undying werewolf needs.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ansaldi:
Move: Startle Emily, negating the penalty with his Deathly Glare benefit: (1d20+16)[29]
Standard: Wild Hunt on everyone. This targets Will; on a hit, DC27+Multiattack Fortitude vs Secondary Effect damage.
Elizabeth: (1d20+12)[27] to hit, deflected at (1d20+10)[20], reflected at (1d20+10)[24] Hits with +2 Multiattack.
Erin: (1d20+12)[17] to hit, deflected at (1d20+10)[18], reflected at (1d20+10)[26] Misses, but only deflected if Startle fails.
Emily: (1d20+12)[20] to hit, deflected at (1d20+10)[18], reflected at (1d20+10)[17] Hits.
Eric: (1d20+12)[26] to hit, deflected at (1d20+10)[15], reflected at (1d20+10)[27] Hits.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The point had been made that of the four of them, Emily was largely the least brave. That wasn't to say she was a coward by any means - and to be perfectly fair, even Erin or Eric might have blanched some, under a werewolf's glare. But when Ansaldi gave her that look, yeah, her winds stuttered and faded some, the leaves drifting downward. It left her feeling exposed and even a little bit helpless, and when the spectral wolf appeared and leaped at her, she raised her arms before her face, closed her eyes, and cried out.

But the expected pain never came.

When she opened her eyes, Elizabeth was standing before her, having tossed aside the wolf that had struck at her and jumped in the way of the one that had attacked her baby sister. And Elizabeth's eyes were alight with the same fierce delight that was on Ansaldi's face. Elizabeth was a federal agent and a professional. Where she could do her job without conflict, she certainly would.

But let it never be said that she didn't enjoy the fight.

Eric still had two or three cracked ribs from Ansaldi's blow, and he was winded as a result, but Erin's healing had cleared his head at least. When the wolves lunged at them, they looked at them over each other's shoulder's, Eric giving his best dismissive glare to the shadow beast and Erin blowing raspberries. The wolves passed through them like the shadows they were.

~You two okay?~

~Y-yeah. Sorry...~

~Been better, but I'll keep. Thanks.~

~Skip the gratitude and forget the apologies outright. Now, do we give him a chance to surrender? Normally I'm for it but he scared Emily so I'll be honest I don't much care here.~

~...He is a werewolf who had fallen fully into the throes of a berserk battle-rage. He will not surrender,~ and Eric did not sound like he minded that fact at all. Whatever sympathy Ansaldi had earned from him had melted like the last snow of winter when he hurt his sister.

~He's gonna be tough enough to take pretty much any direct attack we throw at him. He's not all that strong of will, but few emotions will find purchase past his rage. But he's big enough that even with lycanthropic speed, we should be able to land some hits.~

~Alright then. I'm on healing. Eric, defense. Emily, wear him down. Erin?~

~Flower power.~

~WOOHOO!~

Elizabeth shifted back to her normal form, channeling the full power of her fey magic. Radiant sunlight flared around her filling her siblings with the vigor of Summer, speeding the healing of their injuries. Then she lunged forward, golden fire gathering around her hands, making to attack the werewolf.

But she sprang back at the last moment, Emily tumbling beneath her and coming up with sunset orange light aglow around her hand, reaching for Ansaldi with both hands. Autumn was a time of endings, as crops were harvested and plants withered in the cold. And while Emily had no wish to cause permanent harm...

Well, this was nothing Erin couldn't heal.

If she made contact, any flesh she touched - and more flesh around it the longer the contact persisted - would simply begin decaying. While the decay would pass over vital organs, if it penetrated deep enough, it would rot even bone. It was not a nice spell, and far from painless, but it was the only one she had that was strong enough to overcome an opponent as dangerous as a rampaging werewolf.

Eric brought his arms up above his head, clapping his hands together, conjuring a dome of solid stone around he and his siblings, filled with the protective energies of earth, a layered shield that even Ansaldi might struggle to punch through.

But the beams of Spring power, verdant life and shining light and piercing water, that Erin fired off passed right through it, the barrier as gossamer as an illusion to the siblings themselves. Where the magic of Spring struck, flowers would bloom, tearing apart anything in their path, and parasitically leeching life from the target's very blood. Of course, she would target preferentially any flesh Emily had already rotted. Good fertilizer, and all.

Spoiler

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Elizabeth:
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[14], using Set Up to pass the benefit to Emily.
Free: Swap to Fey Magic.
Standard: Invoke Vigor on the group at (1d20+10)[22]. She receive half points of success, but the others get full. Heals her Bruise, Eric heals a Bruise and reduces Staggered to Dazed, Emily heals her Dazed.

Emily:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Effect at (1d20+10)[14] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Reflex DC 20 vs. Incurable Weaken All Defenses. If he's Vulnerable, make this a Power Attack for 5. Miss
End of Turn: Regenerates Dazed Nothing!

Eric:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Invoke Element. The siblings are surrounded by a Selective, Toughness 10 barrier of stone. All of the siblings and the barrier are Deflected at 1d20+10.
End of Turn: Regeneration 5/10. Fortitude to remove Dazed (DC 27): (1d20+10)[17]. No

Erin:
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[26].
Free: Swap to Fey Magic.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Earth at (1d20+10)[17] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Reflex DC 25+Multiattack vs. Secondary Effect Damage. If he's Vulnerable, make this a Power Attack for 5. If he's Incapacitated by the time the Secondary Effect comes around, it will fuel the Variable Trigger, triggering if Ansaldi attacks any of the siblings. Miss, shouldn't have done the contingent PA, oh well.

[Llyarden]

Rampaging or not, Ansaldi proves once again that he's far from mindless. He seems to somehow sense Emily's approach even through Elizabeth's golden light and swipes at the youngest Equinox's forearm with one paw - not hard enough to do anything more than sting, but enough to knock her hand aside - and springs away from the beams of light Erin fires at him, landing on the roof of his house, which cracks slightly under the impact, and then pounces down at the barrier with another snarl.

And just as Eric expects him to slam into the stone wall, he seems to shimmer, becoming every bit as spectral as his conjured wolves, and phases through the barrier as if he's nothing more than a ghost.

He lands on the grassy floor solidly, though, almost as tall as the siblings even crouched down, and lets out another vicious roar that summons more ghostly wolves down on the siblings even as some of the ones that had managed to sink their teeth into Elizabeth leap back at her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ansaldi:
Move: Permeate through the barrier.
Standard: Wild Hunt on the group, all-out attacking for 2 against Will. DC27+Multiattack Fortitude vs Secondary Effect damage on a hit.
Elizabeth: (1d20+12)[17] vs 25 or (1d20+10)[24]. Miss
Erin: (1d20+12)[16] vs 25 or (1d20+10)[22]. Miss
Emily: (1d20+12)[24] vs 25 or (1d20+10)[16]. Miss
Eric: (1d20+12)[21] vs 29 or (1d20+10)[21]. Miss
End of Turn: Elizabeth gets two DC27 Fort saves vs damage unless she gets hit by this round's Wild Hunt.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Oh yeah he can do that," Eric deadpanned as Ansaldi came popping through the dome. Even without the physical barrier, though, this time the siblings were ready for his wolves and shielded by the element of earth. Elizabeth shivered a bit from their soul-striking bites, just from the sheer number that were attacking her at this point. But she hardly faltered, and the rest were easily ignored.

"Skippy's got tricks!" Erin answered with a laugh. "Good on him!" Emily lunged forward as if for another strike, but then suddenly leaped back, firing the decaying energies of Autumn from her hands as beams.

"He's undying, is why," Emily said. "It's where his necromancy comes from, I think. Probably why he could handle the orb, too."

Erin raised her hands and fired a blast of water at Ansaldi. It would erode his tough hide, and that was good, but just as importantly, it would get him wet.

Eric let the earthen barrier fall, raising his hands into the air. A sudden blizzard descended over the field. Fierce winter winds would blow the snow around he and his siblings, sweeping their path clear (and regardless with their wards the most it could have done was make them feel a bit chilly). But the snow would pile over Ansaldi, chilling and numbing, hampering his movements. Erin's water attack would only make him more susceptible to the cold.

And then Elizabeth followed up with another blast of solar fire, the Summer flame flashing at Ansaldi even as it filled her with strength and vigor, to offset the spiritual damage caused by the wolves.

Spoiler

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Emily:
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[22].
Free: Swap to Fey Magic.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Effect, Power Attacking for 2, at (1d20+8)[17] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Reflex DC 22 vs. Weaken All Defenses. With Fey Magic on, this carries a Secondary Effect. That should hit if Feint succeeds

Erin:
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[26], using Set Up to pass the benefit to Eric.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Element at (1d20+10)[15] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Toughness/Reflex DC 25/20 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Toughness. With Fey Magic on, both carry a Secondary Effect. Not unless he does real bad against Emily

Eric:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Environment at (1d20+10)[21] vs. Fortitude. On a hit, Reflex DC 20 vs. Vulnerable/Defenseless/Paralyzed and Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled for purposes of checks and actions that involve physical movement. (Although I'm realizing that given the house rules I should probably reconfigure this one so the vulnerability conditions are likewise restricted ). Should just hit if Erin's Feint succeeds, or maybe if he does really bad against Emily
End of Turn: Regenerates Dazed. Fortitude to remove other Dazed (DC 27): (1d20+10)[23]. No

Elizabeth:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Environment, Power Attacking for 5, at (1d20+5)[12] vs. Reflex. On a hit, Toughness DC 30 vs. Damage. Variable Descriptor is [Solar]. Elizabeth heals at (1d20+10)[14] with half points of success. Yeah probably not. Elizabeth heals a Bruise though.

[Llyarden]

At the second time of asking, the siblings' coordinated teamwork manages to distract Ansaldi and leave him moving to dodge Erin - right into the path of Eric - as Emily fires at him. But caught off-guard or not, Ansaldi is fast, and he leaps away again from the group , shedding snow and rain as he goes, before Elizabeth can capitalise with her blast of solar fire.

When he pounces back towards you this time, he isn't surrounded by a pack of ghostly wolves. Perhaps he's realised that they aren't doing much, or perhaps he's relinquishing whatever small measure of control he was still maintaining over the sheer feral fury of his werewolf side. Because he all but ignores the rest of the siblings, and leaps at Eric, trying to clamp his vicious jaws around the young man's torso.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Pounce at Eric.
Standard: Hunting Pounce on Eric, all-out attacking for 4 vs Reflex (20): (1d20+16)[31]. On a hit, DC27 Toughness vs Secondary Effect damage and DC22 Fort vs Progressive Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Eric set himself to meet Ansaldi's pounce, but evidently he didn't set himself well enough, because Elizabeth shoulder-checked him right the heck out of the way, surrounding her arm in a shield of arcane energy and getting it into his way, so he clamped down on the girded limb rather than her torso. The force of his bite still hurt, but his teeth didn't penetrate.

She and Eric responded with a barrage of fire and ice, right in his face. The elemental attacks couldn't do too terribly much physical harm to a Supernal as tough as Ansaldi, but they could disorient him, obscuring his sight and hearing and sense of smell alike.

Giving Erin and Emily the chance to dart around to flank him, Emily leading with more decaying magic, while Erin summoned up a blade of brilliant Spring sunshine. It looked like a lightsaber and it acted like one too, Erin attacking in a flurry of blows with Jedi-level skill, while also positioning herself to be able to shield Eric if the werewolf kept going at him.

Spoiler

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Elizabeth:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Use Invoke Environment to Aid Emily at (1d20+15)[32], while Healing herself at (1d20+10)[11], with half points of success. +5, heals a Bruise

Eric:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Use Invoke Energy to Aid Erin at (1d20+15)[29]. +5
End of Turn: Fortitude to remove Dazed (DC 27): (1d20+10)[21]. Dazed 4eva

Erin:
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[13], using Set Up to pass the benefits to Emily.
Standard: Ready an action to attack with Invoke Energy immediately after Emily attacks, Power Attacking for 5, at (1d20+5)[22]+Aid vs. Reflex, critting on 16+. On a hit, Reflex DC 30+Multiattack vs. Incurable Damage. Eric is Deflected at 1d20+10. Crit. DC becomes 35+Multiattack, which with the Aid and his AoA I think just hits the max, so 40. Or 35 if he's crit immune.

Emily:
Free: Swap to Fey Speed.
Move: Agile Feint Ansaldi at (1d20+10)[15], using Set Up to pass the benefits to Erin.
Standard: Attack Ansaldi with Invoke Effect, Power Attacking for 5, at (1d20+5)[9]+Aid. On a hit, Reflex DC 25 vs. Weaken All Defenses. SE is off this time. ...Maybe if he gets super unlucky and fails vs. Erin's Feint?
End of Turn: Secondary Effect triggers. Reflex DC 22 vs. Weaken All Defenses.

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi's single-minded focus on Eric costs him. He's still quick enough to dodge Emily, but it seems that he underestimates the power of Erin's blade of Spring light - or maybe just outright doesn't notice it in amongst the flashes of light Elizabeth and Eric are giving off with their fire and ice magic - because he doesn't try to block it until it's much, much too late.

Even for a werewolf's immense durability, to say nothing of Ansaldi's undying nature, getting almost bisected by a blade of energy would normally be at least life-threatening if not outright lethal. But with the magic of Spring behind it, it leaves a closed, ragged wound that looks like it's a good few weeks old - though even as you watch, it begins to knit itself shut.

Ansaldi himself, unfortunately, does not have the decency to turn back into a human when he keels over, leaving you with a roughly seven-foot-tall werewolf lying unconscious on the ground.

Spoiler: Elizabeth & Erin

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Perhaps on account of having not almost gotten flattened by a werewolf punching you in the face, you are both alert enough to sense a scrying portal forming, looking down at the five of you and your surroundings.

[Quellian-dyrae]

When Ansaldi went down, Erin pumped her fist into the air in an exuberant gesture, holding her sunshine blade up high. "WOO! There we go!"

Emily held a hand over her chest, letting out a relieved breath, while Eric, finally given a moment to do so, slumped down a bit leaning his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

Elizabeth...well, she refrained from kicking Ansaldi. So that was nice of her. "Everybody good?" she asked, draping an arm over Emily's shoulders.

"Yeah. Yeah I think so."

"Thanks to you two anyway," Eric said.

Elizabeth gently shifted Emily's orientation to point her - and more importantly, her visor - at the scrying portal, alerting the others to it telepathically. Though she didn't do much to pretend she hadn't noticed it, facing it directly and asking, "Can we help you?"

Switching to telepathy for privacy (eavesdropping is rude), Erin sent, ~Who would be scrying us? Assorian? Although he's better at subtle stuff. Maybe Arabella? And perhaps more importantly...what do we do with this guy? I guess just leave him out while we search for the orb yeah? I'd call this exigent circumstances, I think. I can heal him when we're getting ready to leave.~

Eric sent a wave of flat disbelief through the mindlink. ~We take him in,~ he sent pointedly.

~Oh...come on, Eric! We're all fine. There wasn't any collateral damage. I don't even think he was really trying to cause us any permanent harm or anything. It was basically a workout. Besides, it's like...werewolf, you know? He gets a pass.~

~No, Erin. No he absolutely doesn't get a pass! He assaulted two federal agents without provocation.
Heck, we were trying to help him, whether or not he is in fact immune to the orb. And do you know why he attacked us? Because we wouldn't tell him who had compelled him to get it in the first place.~

~Maybe his anger is harder to ignore than it is for most people. But that doesn't matter. He had the capacity for control. He chose not to exercise it. He could have yelled at us, or torn up a few trees, or howled at the moon as far as I care. He didn't. He attacked us. If he knew about Assorian, he would have charged straight to the Moon house and tried to kill him. A suspect in custody. And if Arabella, Candice, or Devin so much as accidentally found themselves standing in the shortest path between him and Assorian, he'd have gone through them too.~

~He's not Colleen. Colleen's dangerous, yes, because she can't control her power. But Ansaldi is a threat because he can.~

~Eric's right. But even beyond all that, the fact is that there are special laws against attacking law enforcement officials for a reason. We can't give Supernals a pass there, whatever their natures. If we do, it's the mortal FBI agents and police officers who are going to be in greater danger.~

~Um. Look, I'm not saying you guys are...wrong or anything. It's just...well, how much of this is because you think that what we choose here will have a meaningful impact on the safety of others in the future, and how much of it is because he hurt me?~ Not that they weren't all protective of each other, but yeah, Emily was aware of the fact that her siblings were especially protective of her. Maybe it was because she was the youngest, or wasn't quite as brave or self-confident as the rest of them, or who knew? But there it was.

~I felt something crack when he threw me into you. So healing notwithstanding, did that ensure any sympathy I might have otherwise offered him evaporated especially quickly? Maybe, sure. It doesn't change the fact that he crossed the line.~

~It just seems...I dunno. I mean, he attacked us, we knocked him out. We could just let it be over.~

~And if we turn on the news in a week and learn he tore up Candice and Arabella's house trying to get them to tell him what we wouldn't? And learn that he hurt or even killed one or both of them? Because that is absolutely something that could happen, Erin. He knows we were looking into a connection with Candice when we asked him about their confrontation. He might not be able to piece the story together from that, but he can follow the lead, and if they don't tell him or even if he just doesn't like what they tell him, and he reacts to them like he did to Eric and Emily, they will not survive it.~

~He knew we were federal agents. He attacked us anyway. We cannot trust the safety of others to his good judgment.~

~I...alright, look, I mean...whatever, you guys do what you feel is best. What about this orb? Come on, Em.
Let's find this orb and figure out how to destroy it or whatever.~

~'Kay,~ Emily said, just a bit wistfully, the two of them flying up to start searching the roof while Eric put in a call to the main office to report what had happened and request pickup - preferably a very well reinforced pickup. Elizabeth would keep an eye on the scry, in case it...did anything.

Spoiler

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Emily'll scan the scrying portal once Elizabeth points it out, mainly to see if she can recognize whose magic it is.

That aside, Emily and Erin'll hunt down the orb. They'll get Elizabeth involved if they need some proper searching skill to do it. Emily'll scan it for relevant details, but if there's nothing really interesting or bothersome about it, figure they'll take it high up and far away (carrying it with Emily's winds) and basically bombard it with Renewal from a couple hundred feet away until it stops being necromantic or failing that, laser-focused sunshine until it stops being a thing that exists. If Emily's scan indicates it might be more tricksy than that to deal with I'll figure something else out. Let me know if any checks are needed.

[Llyarden]

The scrying portal doesn't seem to respond to Elizabeth's question (admittedly, there's not much it could do except, like, bob up and down or something). From her visor Emily can tell that the magic is Assorian's, though not wreathed in illusions like its previous spells were.

The orb itself is not difficult to find - it is, just as Assorian had said, in Ansaldi's roof. Quite literally; obviously when it controlled Ansaldi, it had him punch a small hole into the roof (Ansaldi's house doesn't have an attic) so it could store the orb without anyone ever finding it. For being to some extent the thing that kicked off this whole affair, the orb looks a bit underwhelming; it's a fist-sized sphere of something that looks like it might be obsidian. Certainly it doesn't look like an object of necromantic power, which is probably why the unfortunate groundskeeper just reached in to pick it up and got zapped for his trouble.

Spoiler: Emily

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The orb was created using a particularly archaic form of ritual magic that draws power from the stars and certain mythological significances certain items and places have with respect to specific magical effects. Though it can be used by anyone regardless of their magical capabilities (at least, as long as they can deal with the risk of being rotted to death by touching it), it has a particularly curious property which allows any magician of respectable power to channel their own magic into the orb to augment it. It's not a demonstration of particularly powerful magic, but it is a quite impressive feat of magical skill.

Necromatic Orb - Easily Removeable Device
- Solidified Death - Damage 1 (R/F), Affects Objects, Reaction (touch), Feature 1 (reaction effect can be deactivated via command word without needing to touch it)
- Necrotic Aura - Damage 1 (T/F), Affects Objects, Cloud Area, Reaction (start of turn), Feature 1 (the orb's wielder is immune to this power), Activation 1
- Magical Conduit - Feature 4 (this device can be empowered by anyone with a Magic array)

Zapping it with a little Spring magic (from a safe distance) has pretty much exactly the effect Assorian predicted; it explodes in a blast of necromantic energy. Once the lingering energy dissipates, there's nothing left but a small black stone that looks like it could've come from a necklace in any cheap jewellery store.

Ansaldi, meanwhile, regains consciousness quite some time before the FBI pickup gets to you - they have a pretty substantial supply of well-reinforced vans to deal with superstrong werewolves, trolls, vampires and so on, but a ghost-proof van takes a little more time. He doesn't say anything for a few moments, looking between the four of you. He's still a giant werewolf, but the kinda deliberately-uncontrolled fury that had been in his eyes before is gone.

And then he tries to run away into the forests. So that isn't inconvenient at all.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm not gonna make you fight him again, mostly because he's PL8 again and there are four of you, and in his normal form he's not even close to your speed. He's just being kind of a punk; feel free to describe how you beat him down again - and probably again and again, because he's going to have at least four or five goes at it before he realises he isn't getting anywhere (or, more likely, until you tag him with some sort of Affliction that means he can't have at least four or five goes at it).

(Ansaldi is not exactly the brightest person in the world, as the whole 'wolf out and attack two FBI agents' thing might have suggested.)

[Quellian-dyrae]

"It's Assorian," Emily reported to her siblings as she and Erin flew off, giving the portal a little wave.

Finding and destroying the orb was easy enough. Erin and Emily got back just in time for Ansaldi to wake up. "Oh wow you heal fast! Okay so look we're going to need-" she began to say, only for him to take off.

"...Okay, seriously?"

They went fey and flew after him, blocking his path. Erin tried to take him down again, but she only got like two words out before the clawing, and the biting, and there was a brief flurry of fire and ice, light and wind, fang and claw, and it ended with Ansaldi unconscious again and Erin healing Eric's shoulder.

"Why does he always go after me?"

"Maybe he likes you?"

*Flat stare*

Fortunately, that was dealt with. Courtesy of Emily's conjured winds, they brought him back to the house to wait for the FBI to-

"Okay, seriously!?"

...

"You didn't have to jump in the way."

"Yeah but I didn't want to waste the healing spell."

"That's fair."

"I'm gonna...I'm gonna find something to tie him up with. He must have some sort of chains or something around..."

So, with Ansaldi finally properly secured, they settled in to wait for the FBI to-

*CRA-KEESH!*

"OKAY, SERIOUSLY!?!?"

...

"Why didn't you dodge...?"

"I figured you were just going to jump in the way again!"

"You said I didn't have to! I figured you would dodge! It's not like you didn't have ample forewarning!"

"Well that may have taken a little longer, but at least he can't heal from being calmed into slumber! Hibernation, whatever."

"No he cannot. Not if I have anything to say about it, anyway...!"

...

"Eric, he's already asleep. I don't...I don't think you can calm him any further than that."

...

"Just to make sure, is that spell safe for repeated use?"

...

"So...you're planning to just recast it every thirty seconds until the pickup here? Okay then."

...

...

...

"Yeah, I better ride with you."

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi does not, as it turns out, have any convenient ropes and chains around to tie him up with (at least, not beyond a few chains in the makeshift cellar/abattoir, which don't look tough enough to hold a werewolf for more than a couple of seconds). Presumably he doesn't have any problems controlling himself at the full moon or anything - or, perhaps, he just doesn't care enough about the fate of any unfortunate passers-by that might encounter him in such a state to bother.

Fortunately, keeping him asleep does a pretty good job at stopping him running away any further, and about the biggest difficulty he subsequently poses is the difficulty in manhandling 300lbs of unconscious werewolf into the van. Once he's securely manacled (and muzzled), one of the FBI agents turns to you. "You can drop the sleep...thing," he says. "He won't be going anywhere."

"Plus regs say no unauthorised Supernal powers in the van," one of the other agents - probably a less experienced one - points out helpfully.

Spoiler: If you do allow Ansaldi to wake up

Show

The FBI might take a while to get somewhere, but they're good at their jobs, and though Ansaldi tries again to escape, the chains - and the van in general - is too sturdy for him to rip his way free, and the manacles stay attached to him when he turns ghosty again. Even shifting into human form and back doesn't get him anywhere.

The agent that had spoken first watches the whole thing with almost an amused expression. "He'll figure it out eventually. This thing's held much bigger and badder wolves than him."

Eventually, though, Ansaldi does calm down enough that he looks at you. And there's actually a little fear in his eyes. "They'll kill me," he snarls, his words rather difficult to understand between the muzzle and the general fact that werewolf throats don't seem to be built for speaking English. "And it'll be your fault!"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Eric rode along, though he did allow the sleep spell to elapse (he was pretty sure his magic was authorized, but whatever the kid was trying to do his job). He stayed on his guard though. Sure, the agents were confident in the security of the van, but Eric knew better than to put his trust entirely into others. If Ansaldi was able to get free, fighting a werewolf in the tight confines of the van would be potentially lethal for the agents. Only an immediate and overwhelming response from him would be sufficient to keep them alive.

...But it turned out the van totally knew its job. Fair enough. Points to the van.

"No," Eric answered darkly when Ansaldi said he would be killed. He did assume he was referring to the mysterious they from earlier, not to the FBI. His voice was cold as the Winter ice he wielded in battle. "Even if there is in fact some mysterious supernatural group out there with reason to kill you, and even if they are powerful or connected enough to get to you in a federal detention facility, I would still reject your premise. To a large part, because you are the one who got yourself arrested for assaulting federal agents. Your being here is a direct, foreseeable, and obvious consequence of the choices you made. If you are afraid that being arrested will get you killed, that does not mean you get to do whatever you want and then beg for mercy from the cops, and it certainly does not mean you get to foist responsibility for the results of your decisions onto them. It means you should take particular care not to be arrested, you idiot."

"But more importantly, if there really is some nebulous evil organization out there just waiting for you to leave your isolated private residence and get taken into a secure, well-guarded detention facility so they can finally have the optimal chance to attack you," the words positively dripped with scorn, "then it seems to me that the only realistic chance you would have for survival is to tell the half-fey FBI sorcerers who just kicked your hairy *** what you know about them, so they can investigate the threat and prevent it. If you choose not to do that, then you have nobody but yourself to blame when no one is able to stop them before they kill you."

Spoiler

Show

Deception to convince him that, even though Eric clearly doesn't like him, if he were to give him actionable information on whoever it is he fears, he and his siblings would look into it and try to stop them: (1d20+15)[26].

And I know he's Fearless, but given that he demonstrably does fear this particular threat, I'mma try to coerce him into revealing what he knows about them with Intimidation: (1d20+10)[25].

--

While Eric played his whole "I have no guarantee that any given situation will not end up on fire if I am not personally sitting there keeping an eye on it" game, the sisters flew back to the Moon house. They knocked rather than just walking in, since the place was no longer a de facto war room.

[Llyarden]

Ansaldi laughs, which sounds very strange coming from the muzzled...er, muzzle...of a wolf. "You think 'cos the Masquerade is over, the Supernal world's just gonna roll over and let the humans handle everything? You arresting me doesn't make a ----ing bit of difference. The minute you put my name on that warrant you said you were getting - that is when it became your fault."

"You wanna know who's after me? Fine. Werewolves. The kind of werewolves that kill kids to celebrate their eighteenth birthday, that run a pack on the basis of the strongest can do whatever the ---- they want to the rest and use the power of a pack bond to make them love it. The kind that made alliances with Euphemia ----ing Moon. They gave me these scars - burned them into me with silver - and left me for dead in a ditch. And if they knew I was alive, they'd come back to finish the job."

"And I damn near took down two of you oh-so-powerful 'half-fey FBI sorcerers' with one punch, and I'm a ----ing cub to them. They are ancient, they are powerful, they are connected, and your little badges and oaths would be like a match against an avalanche if you got in their way."

Spoiler: Eric

Show

Ansaldi is telling the truth as far as the mystery pack of doom being the ones to brand and almost kill him is concerned, and he absolutely does believe everything he's saying about their power. Of course, how reliable what he's saying is is another matter entirely, especially about the whole 'I'm in police records, my fate is sealed' thing - he's been in police records for years and doesn't seem to have died yet.

***

The door is opened pretty much immediately by Arabella. "I'm glad you're okay!" she exclaims. "Um, we sort of watched what happened. Although, um, I guess you know that. So wait what was the giant furry thing? Was that something to do with Mom too?"

Assorian's book, incidentally, is not where you'd last seen it. Instead it's open on the kitchen table.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Eric wasn't going to match egos with Ansaldi. He had the information he had been after. He wasn't planning on hunting down the werewolf pack straight-up - honestly, he didn't think they were the threat to Ansaldi that he made them out to be. But they were worth keeping an eye out for, worth looking into, and well worth knowing about.

...Although he might pass along a suggestion to the warden of whatever facility Ansaldi ended up being held in to keep a few cartridges of silver bullets handy. Just in case.

--

Erin gave Arabella a grin. "Yeah nothing we couldn't deal with. Just a little werewolf trouble," she said. "Not like...directly connected, really. On the fringes of the case, I guess you could say." She didn't mention that the werewolf was Jeremy Ansaldi. That information might go into official reports, but on a personal basis, it was not her secret to tell. While Erin may have encouraged those with magic not to hide who they were, she certainly wouldn't violate their privacy by revealing it on a whim.

"You really should be careful with that," Elizabeth said, nodding at the open Book of Assorian.

"Oh you're just not going to give him the benefit of the doubt, are you?"

"I think it's been pretty well established that reading the book is not, in fact, a prerequisite for Assorian being able to target someone with magic. It does not change the fact that being cautious when dealing with magical writings and bound Supernals is good advice in general."

"Mmhmm."

Elizabeth gave her a little look, and then said to Arabella, "We've just got a few things to wrap up and we'll be out of your hair. But can I speak with you a moment?" If either Candice or Devin were present, she would add, "Privately?"

Erin and Emily, meanwhile, headed over towards Assorian. Emily started examining the binding magic - in particular, the spells that would shred Assorian if he was ever more than a mile from the heir. Erin actually sat down to "read" the book. At this point, she trusted Assorian's motivations - and judgment - enough to take the risk. Besides, she'd need to be able to communicate with him without Emily having to charge up that visor every time, if she were going to help him with his case. "So, I'm going to talk with the DA like I said, get you a proper lawyer figured out, and I'll be coming around periodically to help out how I can. We probably won't be able to remove the bindings entirely until you're officially released - technically we need to keep you in custody for the time being. But my sister's going to try to get rid of the...radius thing. That'll make things easier on everybody, but also you don't deserve to have that hanging over your head."

"But I was wondering if I could ask a little favor of you? Totally separate from everything else of course. Just a personal thing."

Spoiler

Show

Emily's gonna examine the bindings in more detail, mainly to see if it's feasible to try to remove the "tear him to shreds if more than a mile away" part while leaving the others in place. Routine Expertise (Magic) for 25.

[Llyarden]

"Werewolf trouble?" Arabella echoes, kinda wide-eyed, before being distracted by Elizabeth. "And, I mean, I know, but, um, when we know who's in the book it isn't dangerous, right?"

"And, um, sure?" Devin is still around, also sitting at the kitchen table - on the other side of the table to the book, and seemingly trying to look anywhere but at it. Clearly he's not quite so comfortable with it as his girlfriend. "We can talk outside?" Arabella offers, gesturing to the vibrant garden.

Spoiler: Emily

Show

Removing the binding itself would be difficult; it seems like it was one of the first bindings that was put on Assorian after he was stuck in the book. But it does seem like you might be able to kinda 'redefine' what locations Assorian is allowed to be in without being shredded - at present, as well as being safe near 'Euphemia' (though you still aren't sure which of her daughters the spell is considering to be Euphemia now), Assorian can stay in and near the Moon's house without danger.

In essence, the more locations/people that Assorian is allowed to be around without risk, the harder it becomes to stretch the binding, kinda like a piece of elastic. And you can't just randomly define anyone or anywhere - it would have to be a person, or place, of powerful magic.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'm not going to keep doing the elegant cursive image thing, mostly because I've forgotten what font I was using, but Assorian is still doing his Tom Riddle-esque magic writing thing.

The book is blank when Erin and Emily sit down to look at it, but after a moment or two the invisible hand begins writing again - and Emily simultaneously hears Assorian speaking through her visor. [You are free to ask.]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Erica nodded and followed Arabella outside. "No," Erica told her bluntly. "Not right. Magical objects and beings are always dangerous. Always. And I'm not just talking about the ones like Assorian, or the raging werewolves like we fought earlier. I'm half human, and with enough fey in me that my magic is just barely more difficult than breathing. But get me angry enough, on a hot enough day, with Eric far enough away, and it is entirely possible that I could set a person on fire. Or a building. Never approach anything supernatural as if it isn't dangerous. Approach knowing that it is, and ask whether you can confidently predict what form the danger might take, and whether you have properly prepared for it."

"But you saw what happened in the attic earlier. Sure, Assorian turned out to be reasonable. Sure, getting your mind read isn't exactly the worst thing in the world. Emily's fine and everything turned out okay. That does not change the fact that I exposed my sister to potentially dangerous magic because I wasn't sufficiently thorough in my precautions. So if you really want to dive deeper into the supernatural world, the most important question to ask is, are you prepared to accept the consequences when you're wrong?"

Erica let that hover for a moment, gave it a chance to sink in, before she cracked a smile. "Don't get me wrong though. You've got talent. You could go far as a mage. Just be cautious about it, okay? Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. The thing is, one of the bindings on Assorian requires him to remain within a mile of the caster - who for the purposes of this spell would be either you or your sister, we're not sure which. But the bindings will destroy him if he doesn't. Now, Emily's looking into removing that, so if she can find a quick fix, you won't have to worry about it. If she can't though, he'll have to stay here for the time being. I'm telling you this so that you know why. If we do have to leave him here...just keep an eye on your sister. Eric said she was giving the book some weird looks earlier. And she obviously isn't Assorian's biggest fan. We're concerned she might do something reckless if given the opportunity."

"I'm not going to tell you to hide anything from your sister. But if Assorian has to stay here, I think you should at least weigh carefully whether what I told you here is something she needs to know about."

~Okay so removing the binding independently is going to be a trick but I think I can link it to someone or someplace else. Has to be a person or place with powerful magic though. So I'd say our place is the logical move but I suppose we probably ought to check with the higher-ups and make sure that's okay.~

"...Or I guess I could have just waited for the five minutes Emily took to solve the problem and not bothered you with it. That...that totally works too. Right, okay then. Just, you know, never mind that whole shebang. Good talk."

Meanwhile, Erin asked Assorian, "It's about that werewolf information you had showed Emily earlier. I'm figuring you know how important it is to her, or you wouldn't have revealed it in the first place. But if you would still be inclined to share it, I mean, we'd all really appreciate it. Colleen's basically family."

[Llyarden]

Arabella is quiet for a few moments. "Could she actually, um, do anything though? I mean, it's a super magical book with a djinn in it. From what I've read about magical things, they don't normally care about people trying to destroy them with, um, mundane fire and stuff. And if you guys are going to help Assorian not be, um, stuck in the book, it's not like he'd have any reason to do anything to her either."

"Or you could just take it away," she admits, giving a small, amused smile at Elizabeth's backtracking. "But...would I still be able to visit him? Not because of the magic or anything," she adds hastily. "He probably knows more about my parents than anyone else."

[Very well,] Assorian replies...but for a few moments, nothing happens. [However,] it adds, [as you've already seen this day, knowledge is not always a good thing.]

But despite its apparent reservations, it redraws the information it had shown Emily in the attic: the rough territories of werewolf packs all across the States, the occasional location within that territory that's used as a meeting spot, and even a couple of names of members of the packs. It is perhaps noticeable that there is a lot more detail about some packs in comparison to others - presumably those are the ones that Euphemia allied with over the centuries.

[Quellian-dyrae]

To be fair, Emily had been trying to protect everyone.

She hadn't revealed, either to the Moon sisters or to her own siblings, what she had learned about the circumstances of their births. She also hadn't revealed the details of Assorian's motivations for alerting the Wardens to her. Candice and Arabella deserved to be able to live their lives untainted by that knowledge, and her siblings...well, there was no practical benefit to her siblings having that information, so there was no need to inflict it upon them.

But while that had seemed like a good decision at the time, it did mean that Elizabeth had no reason to hedge when she answered, "Probably. It might depend some on how my superiors want to handle his custody. But if it ends up we just wind up linking the binding to our place, yeah, you can visit whenever you want."

"Thank you," Erin said, sincerely, taking out her phone and snapping a picture of the information for reference. It was all just so much data to her, but Emily and maybe Elizabeth would hopefully be able to piece together something useful from it.

"Really," Emily added. "It means a lot to me. And, um, thank you for the warning. I'll make sure to keep it in mind."

Erin cast her sister a bit of a look, tilting her head a bit. Emily was...not exactly the sort to be cautious of knowledge.

But Emily just continued examining the bindings, and Erin didn't press her. It was rare enough for Emily to make up her mind about something that Erin knew she wasn't likely to be swayed from it. Instead, she said to Assorian, "Okay, so let's talk legalities. Normally this is a formality but actually it might be useful information to you. First, you have the right to remain silent. Or, well, I guess blank in your case..."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I think we can pretty much call this a wrap, unless you've got anything else to do/any more tricks up your sleeve. They'll get in touch with their superiors and fill them in on everything, and see how to handle the binding, with the suggestion that they can bind Assorian to their house. They do definitely have some stuff they're going to want to work on over time. Should I just detail that in general, or do we want to bring Downtime Actions into play?

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Because I forgot to mention it earlier: all characters gain 1 Hero Point for solving the case.

It's about a week after the events in Marshtown. You've been back to the town on more than one occasion - other than being carried around with Candice or Arabella, Assorian has to be kept in the Moon house, which puts it in the rather awkward situation of being 'in custody' in what might be the least jail-like jail ever. This is a fact which Candice remarks upon, pointedly, on multiple occasions, and eventually ends up renting an apartment in town until Assorian can be removed from 'her' house.

Doing so is progressing quickly - at least, quickly for the justice system, at any rate - delays in equal measure due to the complicated magic required to bind it somewhere else and to the reticence of the judge handling the case to make something of a landmark legal ruling without consulting with other lawyers. Lots and lots of other lawyers. (The fact that the djinn can only communicate through writing certainly did not make anything easier.)

Ansaldi, meanwhile, doesn't seem to make any trouble - at least, none that the officials at the prison he's sent to aren't capable of handling. And no werewolf packs try to kill him either, so that's a plus.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, starts putting Assorian's information to use. It's not, unfortunately, as straightforward as simply tracking down the named werewolves and asking for their help. A dozen years apparently changes a reasonable amount in werewolf packs, because a fair few of the named werewolves can't be found at all, and many of those that are left don't publicise their nature, making getting in contact with them and communicating what you want without revealing them to their families a rather tricky proposition. All in all, Assorian's information doesn't provide any key leads - but it does offer a new tack to take, and Elizabeth manages to find a small web forum apparently designed for werewolves to communicate with each other in the post-Unmasking world. A lot of its members are clearly phony, and those few that she thinks aren't don't seem too willing to help when they learn what she wants...but slowly, she begins to make progress.

It's a Sunday evening, with the sun just beginning to set over your house and making for quite a picturesque scene, when the doorbell rings. When you answer, you find two figures standing there; the first an unfamiliar teenage girl, probably seventeen or eighteen, with long, platinum-blonde hair and grey eyes, carrying a largeish bag. The second figure is familiar at least by sight if nothing else, though you may never have spoken to him - a tall, thin man with slicked-back dark hair and an elegant moustache, dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit with an umbrella tucked under his arm. This is Commander Julian Ignis of the Wardens of the Circle.

At least, that's what he looks like to whoever answers the door. To anyone who's more than about five metres away, he instead looks like a rather portly man with something of a family resemblance to the girl (who looks exactly the same regardless of where you stand.)

"Jolly good work with Euphemia Moon's book," he begins, as soon as the door opens, speaking in a crisp, upper-class British accent without bothering with an introduction. "The more her legacy is erased, the better. Shame you didn't just let us deal with the bound demon, but still, good show. This is Aina Stendahl," he continues, waving vaguely at the girl, who looks a little embarrassed. "You'll..." He pauses for a moment and clears his throat noisily. "Ahem. That is to say, we would be grateful if you would take her in for a short time."

"Any questions?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Emily happened to be the one to answer the door, and blinked in surprise when she saw the Commander of the Wardens standing on the other side. She listened to his congratulations, critique, and ord-ahem, request with a sort of dazed uncertainty. "Um?" she squeaked out when he finished and asked if she had any questions.

~Uh...guys? The Commander of the Wardens is here, with a teenaged girl I don't recognize, and he's asking us to look after her for a bit. What do I say?~

~Sweet, houseguest! I'll make up the guest room.~

~...Does anybody else find it at all suspicious that it's Ignis making this request? Why wouldn't grandma come ask us? I can't imagine he's so much less busy than she is that it makes sense to send him rather than just some other Warden.~

~Mmm...more formal?~

Elizabeth, meanwhile, came walking into the room, heading over to stand beside Emily. "Commander Ignis," she said with a nod. "We're happy to help the Circle, of course. But...well, why? Is someone after her, or something?" She gave a little bemused smirk and added, in jesting tones, "Unless you're just installing an undercover Warden to keep an eye on us, of course," the comment followed up with a little chuckle.

Spoiler

Show

Cold Reading: (1d20+15)[23].

Also, Assessment on Aina: (1d20+15)[31].

And just for drill, Well Informed on Commander Ignis: (1d20+15)[32].

[Llyarden]

Ignis had already started kinda shooing Aina in - apparently taking 'Um?' for assent - when Elizabeth appears. He tuts for a moment, and then gives a rather patronising chuckle. "Rest assured, if we wanted to keep an eye on you, you wouldn't find me at your front door."

"Oh, also, she'll be accompanying you on your...'cases,'" he adds, a heavily sarcastic emphasis on the 'cases.' "Merely as an observer."

You get the distinct impression that he deliberately avoided answering Elizabeth's other question.

[Quellian-dyrae]

~...He wants her to come with us on our cases?~

~Sweet, audience! I'll make up a priority list of upcoming cases by likely entertainment value and-~

"No."

~Aw...~

~What do you mean 'aw'? I agree with El a hundred percent here. Escort missions are the worst.~ Expertise (Video Games), yo.

"Our cases are potentially dangerous. Bringing her along would expose her, us, and the people we are trying to protect to additional risk. Less importantly but still notably, we're federal agents. This isn't some concert tour where we can bring a friend along and hang out backstage between sets. We're glad to help the Circle, but not at the cost of lessening our ability to do our jobs."

"And while we are willing to help, we won't be obligated to, and we won't do so blindly. So I ask again: why are you asking us to take her in?"

Emily looked to Aina, giving her a little, awkward smile, and said, "Um, you don't need him to speak for you, you know."

Spoiler

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I'm a little doubting it, but I've got her name so let's give it a shot. Well Informed on Aina Stendahl: (1d20+15)[27].

Emily will try to coax Aina to open up. Persuasion: (1d20+10)[24].

Meanwhile, in his room, Eric went with the straightforward option to figuring out what was going on, sending a text to his grandmother.

Hey grandma! Commander Ignis here, asking us to watch someone and let her come with us on our cases? Being cagey. You know what's going on?

[Llyarden]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Aina is Immune to Well-Informed.

Ignis scowls slightly. "We are not, in point of fact, idiotic enough to foist a civilian on you without any protection. She's wearing an enchanted ring that occludes her from casual detection. As for your duties as federal agents, we've already sorted that. As far as your superiors are concerned, she's a criminology student. All the relevant paperwork has already been filed and approved." And it becomes quickly obvious why it's Miriam, and not Ignis, who handles the social aspect of the Wardens - if it was Miriam here, she would have been able to hide any smugness she might have felt at the Circle's apparent influence over the FBI. Ignis, on the other hand, seems unable to stop a small smirk from flickering across his face.

"In any case, if I was inclined to reveal to you the decision-making process of the full leadership of the Circle - a privilege not granted to actual members, to say nothing of unaffiliated Supernals - do you not suppose I might have done so to begin with?"

"I, um..." Aina seems rather unsure. "I don't really know what I could say? I'd...like to stay with you, I guess? And maybe I could help with your...whatever it is you do? Cases?"

Upstairs, Eric gets a quick reply...sort of. His phone buzzes, as if it's received a text, but when he looks, there's no new message - but the message he sent has changed. (Because as old-fashioned as they might be as far as the Unmasking is concerned, the Circle have not been left behind by technology.) [Yes. Can't say much. Keep her safe.]

"And incidentally," Ignis continues, downstairs, "I see little purpose in asking Miriam for advice. If we had wanted you to play twenty questions with your grandmother, she would be here and not me."

"I wish it was her here," he mutters under his breath, before clearing his throat again. "Ahem. Since you aren't Circle mages, I suppose some allowances must be made, so..." He puts his umbrella point-first on the ground, where it remains standing without any apparent concern for the laws of physics, and stands to something approximating military attention. "I assure you that Aina's presence will not interfere with your 'work' -" and he more or less manages to avoid sounding sarcastic this time "- for the mortal law enforcement. Should this prove to not be the case, you can relinquish her to our care once again."

"All I am asking you to do," he continues, picking his umbrella up again, "is give her a chance. That seems to be something you're fond of doing."

[Quellian-dyrae]

~Thoughts?~

~Grandma says she knows about it, and is requesting we keep her safe. My biggest concern was that Ignis was trying to do this behind her back for some political thing, but if she's involved I don't see a problem.~

~I think it'll be fun!~

~So you guys are both yes, Emily's no, so I sup-~

~I didn't say no.~

~What about the whole escort mission thing?~

~It...it was a joke. I was joking. She seems sweet, and I don't think she's here to spy on us or anything. I'm okay with...you know, giving her a chance, like he said.~

~The thing that bothers me is the secrecy. Why wouldn't they tell us why she needs protection? What we should be on the lookout for, at the very least. Or come to that, why not have grandma ask us, or since they can push it through the FBI, just have them assign her to us? Or send a Warden to make it seem routine and be able to answer with "oh I wasn't briefed on the specifics". Heck, even give us a false explanation! But sending the Commander to ask us, but not tell us why...what does that accomplish other than arousing our suspicions?~

~I'm speculating here, but...maybe that's the point? Maybe they're doing this so we get suspicious and investigate ourselves. Because they don't know what they're dealing with or whatever, or because they can't risk their typical network or contacts finding out that they're looking into it. There could be some sort of oath or rule prohibiting them from acting more directly on the matter. Or they could just be too proud to admit that they don't have all the information. They're wizards, but that doesn't mean they're trained investigators.~

~...Maybe. Or it's some sort of test.~

~Or it's some sort of test.~

~Well I say bring it! Emily's good at tests!~

~Um?~

"It is," Elizabeth agreed, and she looked to Aina. "If you wish to stay here, you're welcome to. And as long as it's been cleared through our superiors, you can accompany us on our cases. We will have some ground rules that we'll expect you to follow, though."

POOF! In sudden shower of flower petals, Erin was suddenly there!

"Alright cool! Aina, right? I'm Erin! C'mon, I'll give you the tour!"

Elizabeth gave a little shake of her head and looked back to Ignis. She'd give a moment to let Aina go off with Erin if she so chose before saying her next bit, because it wasn't strictly something she needed to hear, but if Aina didn't follow along immediately she wouldn't hide it. "Concealing her from detection is fine, but her being targeted directly wasn't my first concern. I'm sure I don't need to lecture you of all people on the hazards of being in the vicinity of a magical battle even if you aren't a primary target. Am I correct to assume that ring is going to keep her safe from stray bullets and energy blasts, or being caught in an explosion meant for us? If not, we're going to have to spend time whisking her to safety, dedicate attention to shielding her from harm, or worse comes to worst, taking risks upon ourselves to jump into harm's way for her. Which we will do, but if we know she can absorb the odd bit of splash damage without much concern, that will certainly ease the logistics of having her along."

Eric, meanwhile, texted back a "thumbs up" emoji and "blowing kiss" emoji.

[Llyarden]

"Eep!" Aina jumps slightly at Erin's abrupt arrival. "Oh, um, thanks! So what kind of cases do you do?" she asks, as Erin leads her away. "Are you modern Poirots or something?"

Ignis watches them go before returning his attention to Elizabeth. "The ring will protect her to an extent," he explains, "and permit her to move around the outskirts of a fight to stay out of the way of wide-ranging attacks without making herself a target. However," he continues, looking possibly more serious than before (which is saying something) "there is a fundamental difference between Aina and all of us - she is not a combatant. Physically she will be in little danger from being on the sidelines of even a fight between creatures as powerful as you are, but she forms attachments easily, and watching others get hurt is...difficult for her. If you travel with the intent of getting into a fight, unless you are confident in your ability to triumph all but unscathed, I suggest leaving her behind. Regardless of her own wishes on the matter."

Spoiler: Emily

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You get the sense that Ignis isn't being completely truthful about the specifics of how to protect Aina. His orders to leave her behind when you know you'll be in a fight, and his assertion that she'll be safe hiding on the outskirts of fights, are genuine, as is his statement that she's not a fighter. But you're not completely convinced that it's the ring that would be protecting her.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Or something," Erin said with a laugh as they walked off. "We're supernatural investigators. We basically check out any weird magical stuff that's going on and..."

Elizabeth took a moment to wonder if the phrase "creatures as powerful as you" was meant to be derogatory, but elected to be generous and assume he was speaking of creatures in general, which may happen to be as powerful as them.

"I understand, but we rarely intend to get into a fight. I'm more concerned about situations where, like..."

"We go to helpfully remove a dangerous necromantic item from a guy's house and instead he wolfs out and attacks us?" Emily offered. Not that she's bitter, or anything.

"Like that, yeah," Elizabeth agreed with a bit of a smirk. "I'm just saying, if you want her tagging along with us, that means she'll be potentially exposed to those sort of situations whether we want it or not. Now, granted, the odds are that we will come out of it pretty much unscathed. But still."

~I'm not entirely convinced it's the ring that's going to protect her, guys.~

~Oh yeah no. If she doesn't turn out to be some sort of uber Supernal, I'll be totally shocked. I'm betting juvenile dragon, myself. Takers?~

~Put me down for fledgling demigod.~

~Are we talking low-end physical deity style demigod, or more Hercules style divine-mortal offspring?~

~I mean, do I seriously have to specify? Nobody asked you what color dragon.~

~I dunno you're the one who knows all the Supernal types, I just thought you might have something specific in mind when you said demigod.~

~Wait, dragons are-~

~No, they are not color coded for your convenience.~

~We already decided Harry Potter is more accurate than Dungeons and Dragons last case. Any other bets?~

~I'll go with the long shot and say eldritch abomination. That sounds like about our luck.~

~Nice! Em?~

~I...that...this is not where I expected that observation to take us.~

~And yet, here we are.~

~Really, you should be less surprised by now.~

~You have a bet?~

~No. I don't have a bet.~

~And Emily can't decide! News at eleven.~

~It's not that I can't decide, it's that I think it's crass to wildly speculate about what manner of supernatural being she may or may not be. Especially when even if she is, it's entirely possible that she doesn't know and that sort of thing can be really hard for people!~

~Hey, I think it would be totally awesome to be a juvenile dragon! I mean, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade half fey sorceress for anything. I'm just saying, there are other equally solid options.~

~Equally sol--? It's not a dinner menu it's...she's...gods, I can't even...~

--

Spoiler: OOC

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Just to note, having now thought about their actual home layout, especially after remembering I made it size H, I have retconned that Eric was not, in fact, upstairs .

Meanwhile, Erin took the perfect opportunity for me to describe what their house actually looks like Aina on the tour! Chattering all the while.

From the outside, the building might have looked like a mid-sized hotel, to a large degree because, well, that's what it had been originally. While it had a picturesque location nestled between some of the rolling hills along the California coast, opening up to a wide expanse of beach in the back, it wasn't really super-close to any big cities and the drive to the highway was just a touch inconvenient, so over time its clientele had dwindled. The siblings had removed most of what had been the parking lot in the front, leaving just a curving stretch of road leading up to and away from the building. The rest had been replaced with soil, which had made the foundation for Eric's gardens. (Well, they called them Eric's gardens, although to be fair their dad had a pretty fair hand in them too. Working in the garden had just kinda always been their main father-son thing, and that hadn't changed when they moved). There was a vast array of flowers, well-trimmed hedges, and fruit trees all throughout the grassy expanse in front of the building, all leading down to a towering oak tree in the far front where the driveway reached the main road (that tree, and the area of grass around it, was an original; the parking lot had ended several yards back). If one had paid attention on the approach, they might have seen a treehouse up in its branches. More of Eric's handiwork; it was a scaled-up duplicate of the one they had had outside their house as kids.

Now, this was a lot of space for just four people, but actually, all of the actual living space was on the first floor. The lobby had been converted into a living room. On one side of the entrance there were some comfortable armchairs situated around a squat square table, all sitting before a fireplace. On the other side was a big, brown, almost stupidly plush three-piece couch that was curved around the television (with Emily's video game systems set neatly beneath it). The little closet nearby held their library of games and DVDs and such. While the brown furniture went fine with the wood floor and paneled walls, they didn't look especially elegant or expensive, and had clearly been chosen for comfort over style.

Erin took her first to a guest room so she could set her stuff down, and quickly showed her the bedrooms. There were six downstairs, the siblings' four rooms and two main guest rooms, all of which had windows looking out, and doors opening out, to the deck which led to the beach, on which was a grill, a patio table, and an inset hot tub. The rooms were pretty standard hotel room size, with queen-sized beds with nightstands on either side, spacious desks with comfortable chairs (the two guest rooms had computers on the desks, though at the moment only Emily's had a laptop on hers), televisions, dressers, small closets, and ceiling fans. The siblings' rooms all had different colored decor and different sundries scattered about - they all had at least a couple photographs on their desks or nightstands, but Emily's room in particular had several on the desk and the walls alike. Eric's room had its share of houseplants, as well as a few movie posters on the walls. Erin's bed had an almost obnoxious number of pillows and a fair few stuffed animals ("Don't judge!") and there were a few paintings on the walls, including a particularly well-done portrait of the four siblings themselves. Elizabeth's room was kinda a mess, with the bed unmade, a small pile of dirty dishes piled on her desk and a couple bowls containing a few unpopped kernels of popcorn on the floor beside her bed, half a dozen glasses on her nightstand, and - perhaps particularly impressively considering these were, after all, people who could alter their attire with a thought - at least half a dozen pieces of laundry on the floor. There were, however, also several trophies of various kinds sitting atop her dresser.

Each of the bedrooms had its own bathroom right across the hall, and down the hall from the bedrooms was an office room with four wheeled chairs around a glass-topped central table, three sides of which held a laptop. There were glass desks lining the walls of the room, and some of them were still displaying a few icons and such for their touch-screen interfaces. It didn't look like much at first glance, but it was a pretty slick computer and communications set-up. Emily's work. The rest of the first floor was mainly taken up by, well...

"The main event!" is how Erin had said it.

Yeah, the hotel's kitchen? They had pretty much left that one in-tact. Well, that's not entirely true. They had totally upgraded all the appliances. But in terms of it still being a giant kitchen suitable for a mid-sized resort hotel? Yeah, hadn't changed that part at all. It attached to a big dining room with several tables. "We do house parties sometimes," was how Erin explained it, although most of it was sectioned off by a curtain. There was one dining room table on the side of the curtain nearest the kitchen, where they usually ate if they were eating together or having people over. "It's usually a safe bet that at least one of us'll be making something or other for most meals, but you're welcome to help yourself too."

The second floor was actually still basically set up like a hotel. Again, occasional house parties. They were still entertainers, after all. Which, to be fair, also explained the full-fledged auditorium that took up most of the third floor. "We do have it set up for movies too. Usually we just watch them in our rooms or the living room, but this is fun sometimes. Just let one of us know if you need any help setting it up."

The fourth floor...well. "Personally, not gonna lie, my favorite part's the beach. Eric kinda holds dominion over the gardens. And Elizabeth, well, she just loves playing around with the building itself. Renovating it and stuff. But this floor we call Emily's Playground." Now, it wouldn't be entirely fair to say Emily held sway over this entire floor. She wasn't the only one who had bought all the books in the well-stocked library, although probably about half of them were hers. And the state-of-the-art forensic laboratory was a fairly recent upgrade. They...hadn't been entirely sure how well equipped the FBI facilities would be for supernatural stuff, and well honestly they didn't really want to be waiting for weeks to get results back from a lab when they could run them themselves, although granted Emily was the one with the scientific education so in practice it was usually her running them. But yeah, the sleek, shiny, fully-equipped technological workroom that was filled with various devices in various states of completion (the visor Emily had built for the last case was on one of the work tables, already missing one lens and with half the wires removed as a result of her last Idea^TM) was definitely all Emily. "It's okay if you come up here. You just might not want to...you know...touch. Things."

The fifth floor was where things got serious. Likewise recent additions, half of it was a fully-stocked medical infirmary, complete with a morgue and...a fair few things that no normal hospital would have. Samples from Erin's own research into combining and expanding modern and magical medicine. The other half, which was sectioned off by a solid steel wall and a formidable door, held various clean, actually even reasonably comfortable (they had small but private toilets and showers, actual beds rather than cots, and little tables), and blessedly empty holding cells. "It, um, I'll be honest, you probably don't really need to come up here ever.
And if we ever need to hold onto anyone dangerous up here, it might have to be off-limits." There was one other room on the fifth floor, but the door was securely locked, and Erin didn't take her inside. "That room's...private. It's for, like...dangerous stuff. Don't try to go in there. I mean, I'm serious here. The security system will activate if anyone who doesn't share our blood tries to enter, and the security system is not nearly as nice as we all are," she said with a kinda awkward laugh.

And then the top floor was where things got weird. Now, if Aina had any ability to sense magic, she might have seen various glyphs of warding throughout the house (and several on that private door and around the holding cells). But the room Erin called the "portal room" was absolutely chock full of them. The chamber was pretty large despite being mostly empty - large enough, as it happened, to have room to wage a pitched supernatural battle rather comfortably, if the need arose for some...strange...reason. But the only features of the room were two ornate, rune-covered metal arches, on opposite walls perpendicular to the entry. "Those are Gates. The one on the left can open to any FBI headquarters in the country. The one on the right opens to this location in the Supernal. We, our parents, and our grandmother are the only ones who can open the right one, and us and certain FBI officials the left one. ...In theory, anyway. So it shouldn't actually be possible for you to do anything in here, but nonetheless, we will ask that you not enter this room without one of us accompanying you." If anything, Erin sounded even more serious than she had when talking about the private room. Of course, between the building's wards and securing any other gates in the area, this was basically the only way onto the grounds from the Supernal. Not that Erin had any reason to be touchy about that at all, no-siree-bob!

The other main room on the top floor was a good bit larger than the portal room, but equally empty. At the moment, anyway. Erin's cheery enthusiasm was back in full force as they walked in, even if her voice echoed off the walls a bit. "Okay, this room, our grandmother set up, and it is super cool. It creates all these like quasi-real illusions to like...fight and practice against and stuff! Super fun. It's not dangerous or anything, like it feels real but they can't actually hurt you. If you want to try it out just let one of us know and we'll set you something up."

The tour ended up on the roof, which itself was mostly taken up by a swimming pool, which was surrounded by some patio tables (again I state: house parties, yo). A few grills and a little bar were at the end opposite the beach, and there was a shed nearby with two doors, one of which opened into a regular storage, the other to a refrigerated one. They came up to the roof just in time to be able to catch a great view of the sun sinking down into the ocean. "And that's pretty much it!" Erin said once the sun had gone all the way down. "Soo, let's see, you getting hungry at all? We were getting ready to make dinner when you guys got here."

[Llyarden]

Aina follows Erin with kind of an awed expression, and it takes her a little while to actually think of something to say. "How did you buy this place?" she eventually settles on, as she sets her bag down on the guest room's bed.

When you get to the fifth floor and see the assorted holding cells, though, Aina's expression goes from amazed to a little scared. And from the way she reacts when she sees the highly-warded portal room, Erin gets the distinct impression that she can sense magic. "Don't go into the portal room or the prison," she summarises, trying not to look too closely at the largest concentrations of glyphs (which is somewhat easier said than done). "Shouldn't be too difficult." And she tries to sound cheerful, in much the same way as Erin had bounced from serious to happy within the space of a corridor or two. But there's a definite quiver in her tone, and when she learns the purpose of the training room on the top floor, she actually backs away a couple of steps, despite Erin's reassurance that it isn't dangerous. "I'll...I'll just watch you guys, I think."

The mention of food cheers her up a bit, though. "Ooh, yes! Um, please," she adds belatedly. "I...don't really know how to cook anything though," she admits.

Back down at the ground floor, Ignis nods - though he seems almost amused by the mention of the attack on Emily. "Sometimes conflict is unavoidable," he agrees. "Just do your best to keep her out of it. Regardless, I shall take my leave. Good luck with your...cases." He raises his umbrella as if he's about to tap it on the ground...and then kinda pauses, and tucks it back under his arm and starts walking back down the drive. "Travel by mundane means," he grumbles as he goes. "Paranoid idiots."

Spoiler: OOC

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You can take your other two downtime actions now.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Farewell," Elizabeth said as Ignis headed out...but when she caught that last little mutter, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Emily, who herself seemed a bit shocked, set a hand on her sister's arm as she felt the temperature begin rising around her.

Elizabeth watched Ignis go with her hands clenched into fists, taking long, tense breaths through her nose. As soon as he was gone, she slammed the door shut with all the force she could muster (which to be fair wasn't like incredible, the siblings were all fit enough sure, but none of them were exactly paragons of physical prowess).

"El he probably didn't-" Emily began to say.

"Paranoid idiots?" she ranted. "PARANOID IDIOTS!?" she shouted loudly enough that Emily flinched back from her and PWIFF! Eric suddenly appeared in a burst of snow and icy air (Erin and Aina, fortunately, were in the auditorium by this point, which had good soundproofing). "For not wanting just anyone to be able to blink into and out of our home on a whim!? Oh, gee, Commander Ignis, I'm sorry our security measures have briefly inconvenienced you! Surely, your being able to avoid a fifty yard walk is far more important than securing our home against supernatural intrusion! It's not like we have to worry about being abducted by Unseelie raiders or anything! Yes, definitely, we're obviously the idiots here!" It was getting awfully hot in the living room, and Elizabeth was starting to glow.

But Eric stepped forward, taking hold of both her arms (and gritting his teeth a bit; her skin was painfully hot to the touch), and then giving her a hug. "Yeah, he's a fool. The world's full of them. Don't take it out on our living room."

The glow faded from Elizabeth, and the temperature in the room slowly fell to normal levels. Admittedly, it was somewhat less from the words or the hug than from the cold clarity of Winter balancing the fiery passions of Summer. After a few moments, Elizabeth nodded and Eric let go. She didn't bother apologizing; it was something they all needed sometimes, and they all knew the score. And certainly, any reminder of their time in Unseelie clutches could provoke an intense reaction from any of them.

Taking one more deep breath, Elizabeth looked between her siblings. "Food?"

"Yes."

--

"We're pretty successful artists. I mean, yeah, this place eats up the lion's share of what we bring in, but it's like whatever. Quality of life, right?"

...

"It's mainly just in case we need to hold someone temporarily and the normal facilities won't be able to contain them," Erin explained of the cells, seeing Aina's nervousness. "We're not setting up some secret prison or anything. It's just that our place has like a lot of magical wards and defenses and things, so we wanted to make sure the option was open if we needed it. Hopefully we never will though."

...

"Oh. Oh-ho. Do not you worry about that one little bit! Cooking is totally a thing we can do! C'mon, we'll whip something up," Erin extended a hand to her and when she took it POOF! they were back downstairs in the kitchen in a burst of flower petals. The other three were already there, Eric rinsing vegetables and passing them to Emily to chop up, Elizabeth setting a pot of water boiling and a skillet of oil to heating. "This shouldn't take long, you can hang out here or go put something on tv or whatever! Our house is your house," Erin said as she went over to wash her hands.

If Aina did stay to watch (or help; if she expressed a desire to help, they'd give her some things to do), two things would become immediately apparent. First, the siblings worked fast. Stupidly, supernaturally fast. Even things that didn't strictly involve movement on their part seemed to take much less time than they should have. Second, they were almost eerily coordinated. They were chatting and laughing and joking with other, and making small talk with her, pretty much the whole time, but they never seemed to discuss what they were making, ask each other to do something, anything like that. They just kinda all...did what they needed to do. Like they were working off a script.

A third thing would become apparent less immediately, but still in short order. Erin miiiight have had a different definition of "whip something up" than normal people.

...

In less time than it took to deliver a pizza, the siblings had laid out a salad made with vegetables that had been picked straight from the vegetable gardens on either side of the house, homemade clam chowder in bread bowls, a baked crabmeat-stuffed salmon on a bed of stir-fried vegetables, and a sort of sweet sticky rice with garlic and onions. From the kitchen still came the smell of promised dessert, a tray of big chocolate chunk cookies that were keeping warm in the oven in preparation for being topped with ice cream.

The meal was all set out on the main dining room table, in the curtained-off section of the larger dining hall. Erin and Emily had taken seats on either side of Aina, while Elizabeth and Eric sat opposite them, pretty much literally placing Aina at the center of attention.

"So...? Tell us about yourself!" Erin encouraged her cheerily as plates were served up. "Where are you from? What do you like to do?"

"Are you in school still? ...Or, well, are you actually a criminology student, by any chance?"