ic Spirited Away

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

 

11:00PM

The Fens

Freedom City, New Jersey, United States
Thursday, January 11th 2018

 

Moe had drawn a lucky lot in working the closing shift at Joe's.  The past forty minutes had been dedicated to cleaning up the inside of the diner essentially by her lonesome.  With two trash bags in hand, she made her way to the alley just about ready to finish her shift.  That was when she heard the scream.  It was high pitched and definitely attention-grabbing.

 

The Drunk Tank was essentially a college bar.  And the sole reason students attending Freedom College would travel as a group into the Fens without being part of some sort of alternative school club.  The bar was actually a remodeled jail, whose design still leaned heavily on its law enforcement roots.  In some way a testament to the feelings of law and order in the Fens.  Whatever the case may be on this particular night Captain Anabelle Flint found herself engaged in the middle of a drinking contest with a 200 lb. college football player when she heard the blood-curdling scream.

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"By the sixteen...no wait! sheventeen dancing dervishes of Allhazred!" shouted Flintlock, standing up, sitting down and standing up again. Her finger wagged in a vague figure of eight at the ceiling.

 

"That be a blood curdling scream!" she declared looking the football player in the straight in the eye with one eye of her own. Her eye other followed lazily, in no hurry to marry up the gaze. 

 

"I know, I wonce read a book on blood curdling screams! Blood Curdling Screams to curdle your blood, by Mortimer Von Oot. Why, he was a clever man, oll' Morty, but by the all the known unknown Gods, he was a drunkard...I Shwear, he wouldn't hid midday without five glasses of brandy. Shix! on a tuesday. Why, he never liked tuesdays. Can't say I blame him either, the most vapid of days, say I!"

 

She knocked her whisky off the table with flailing arms as she demonstrated the story. As the glass smashed on the floor, her brain caught up with the situation. It was a blood curdling scream, after all. 

 

"And on that note, Gentlies and Ladymen, I must bid you depart, for adventure calls, and I must harken to the horns of horrible horrors! Or something like zsthat, jusht poetic!" she said, with gallantry, one hand on her heart, one keeping her floppy pirate hat on her head. 

 

Hat firmly in place, she half stumbled, half ran out of the drinking den towards the scream!

 

 

Edited December 30, 2017 by Supercape

[Cool Homosapien]

Tips were scarce tonight. She was thinking about asking Frank for an early off, but she knew how he handled those. 'You leave and there'll be fifteen people in here.' She sighed. at least he was giving her something to do right now. 

 

A scream was not an uncommon sound in The Fens. But still it warranted investigation. Scanning the area with her emotion detection. She expected fear from the victim, and anger from the attacker. Throwing the bags in the trash, she set off in the direction. No costume. She took off her name tag and put it in her pocket.

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

The scream led Moe to a two-story house badly in need of maintenance.  The front door was wide open giving a clear view to the inside of the house where she could see a woman lying on the ground.  Before Moe even stepped inside she already knew the woman was dead.  After all, there was nothing to feel  from her.  At least not directly.  That was until she entered the house there was an almost intoxicating air of fear radiating from the body.  Drawing Moe near, until ultimately the woman was kneeling over the corpse.  

 

Flintlock for her part ended up in the rear of the house.  The door wasn't open, but it was unlocked.  Giving the inebriated pirate a front row view of a woman kneeling over a dead body.  The living room in which these two were in showed signs of a struggle.  Upturned furniture, a broken tv, cracked pictures, nothing was left untouched.  Even the light fixtures had exploded on some point.  But, every other room visible to the immediate vicinity simply appeared to be "lived in."  

 

Implying that whatever happened here didn't extend past the room Moe was currently towering over a dead body.

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"Murder! Murder most foul and horrid!" screamed Flintlock, putting her hand to her mouth, then pointing at the woman. 

 

She stumbled through the door and wobbled, making sure her stomach stayed in one place, and, with iron will borne from centuries of experience, she kept the contents of said stomach from finding one of the two emergency escape routes. 

 

Assured that both ends of her tract remained closed with iron certainty, she stumbled forward a few steps. 

 

"Madam! Pray tell what wicked wickedness has occurred!" she said theatrically, waving arms about like an enthusiastic amateur dramatics enthusiast. "Be this man dead or dying? Mayhap I can help with the latter, and avenge the former?"

 

[Cool Homosapien]

The house was quiet. No one here but this dead body. Signs of struggle. But no one else. Until the silence was broken by a sharp accusation. Moe's reflexes kicked in ad she jumped! A drunken pirate. Well, this wasn't an uncommon sight either. Weird people all around. Then again she had now room to talk. Moe's eyes were mood ring colored. A swirl of red for anger, yellow for surprise, green for confusion.

 

"Wait a second, I come in here and no one else is around. And then you follow me in yelling about murder?" She pointed at Flintlock, "you're the one with the kooky outfit, are you going to kill me?" She smiled and crossed her arms across her chest, "I'd highly advise against that!" Her eyes shone white with confidence.

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"Never fear, Madam!" replied Flintlock, "I do not kill on Thurdsays! An inauspicious day!" she said, reassuringly, winking and tapping her nose. "What would Odinson, say, hmm? Oh probably nothing, just roar for some more Ale like the tedious bore he is!" she said, spinning around flinging her arms around to embrace the air. 

 

"However, this is a tragedy of Shakespeare!" she pointed at the frozen body. "Frozen! By the eleven dances of Murhani!"

 

She peered over the body, smitten with frostbite. "A mystery! You aren't a frost giant are you? You look a little short to be a frost giant. A lot short, actually" she concluded, clocking the height. 

 

She slumped down in a chair, head spinning.

 

"Uhhhn..." she groaned, and burped. "Pardon me! oooh...feel better now...." she said cranking her neck from side to side. "Now, what happened? I just heard a scream and ran in here. I guess you do the same?"

 

 

[Cool Homosapien]

Moe looked at the pirate stumbling around. "Yeah, no killing on other days either," she prodded with her voice, keeping her arms crossed. "No one else is here except us," she said as the pirate examined the body. Moe got the same information she did from her investigation. her emotions, mostly covered by drink, were mixed between excited and sad and scared. She didn't suspect the pirate was the killer. But kept her guard up just in case.

 

"Yeah, I was taking out the trash not far from here," Moe said answering the pirate. "Who are you? My name's Moe."

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"My name, madam, is Captain Anabelle Flint, of the Black Flag" she took off her pirate hat and bowed deeply. She almost kept her balance too. Just a slight wobble.

 

She straightened up and stuffed the hat back on her head. "Most people know me as the dread pirate Flintlock!" she said, more proudly. "Although me lootin and pillagin days are done with. Not me drinkin days though. Plenty of drinkin days left!" she muttered. 

 

"Me and me heart crew of nearly alive pirates, we sail the seven dimensions, the ocean of all, on strange tides, and stranger lands, rootin out the horros from dimensions beyond the seven. Beyond reality itself!" she half-sang, full of drama. 

 

"On other days we just try to stop murdering and stuff" she conceded, sitting down again. 

 

"Now, I be a Shawshbuckling Sorceress, I can summon and command the things from beyond. And I know me seacraft. I know plenty of things. But I'm not one of these policecop people" she admitted, scratching her head under her hat. "Not much good in solving murders, much as I would like to!"

[Cool Homosapien]

Moe wished she were in costume at the moment. She had to play the bystander now. The weird mood ring colored eyes bystander. The pirate was kind of noticeable? Moe racked her knowledge of superheroes. Nothing that she could pull off the top of her head. Like almost every female hero around here, the pirate was very pretty. "It's nice to meet you, Annabelle. Flintlock," she corrected herself. "Now that we have our introductions," she unfolded her arms, "we have a murderer on the loose!"

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"Well met by midnight, Madam Moe!" replied Flintlock with a little jig and clap of her hands. 

 

"now, to business! Frozen corpse! Recently expired, one would presume...but should we presume...hmmm...hmmm...."

 

"The priority would be, it seems, the possibility that the murder was recent and the culprit within our vicinity...mayhap to perform more villainy!" she took in the surroundings once more. "'Twas a struggle, it would seem. And I would be guessing the place was ransacked, our villain in search of something...mmm...but what? This was not a rich lady, it would seem. I've stayed in worse guest houses in Paris. And that, let me tell you, is saying something..."

 

She tapped her foot pondering the nature of the problem and the key to unlocking it. 

 

"I could ask her, of course..." she pondered, indicating the frozen corpse. "Speaking to the dead is quite possible with the right ritual. Not very pleasant, though, and it would taken the rest of the night to set up properly. I would prefer a more elegant and swift solution!"

 

She looked at Moe, wondering if the woman would have any smarter ideas!

[Cool Homosapien]

Moe searched around the place. She looked at the body and around the room they were in. Still it seemed like she would turn up empty handed. "Well," Moe scratched her head, "she and I are going to have some of the same answer. I got nothing." Moe sighed, pulling a biology text book from behind the couch. "Flintlock," she said thinking out loud flipping through the pages of the book, "does it seem strange to you that there is nothing around here to point the way to an escape? I've watched crime TV before and they a least leave a trail. What about you?"

Edited January 3, 2018 by Cool Homosapien

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"I've seen so many strange things, nothing seems strange" said Flintlock, a glazed look creeping over her eyes. 

 

Don't think about them! Don't think about them! 

 

She slapped herself (mentally) back to the moment and focused on the situation, and most pertinently, the human horror of what had happened. 

 

"I doubt this is your regular murder. 'Tis not by knife or blackpowder yon maiden died, but cold. And it may be winter, but its not that cold. Some spirit, mayhap. Some ghost or sorcerer. Maybe Mister Freezy and his Freezonium Freeze. Who knows?"

 

She cracked her knuckles. "But as you say, whoever did this is not here now. Which means they must have left. By some means. I shall take a look outside...check the exits..."

 

So determined to do, she did just that!

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

As Flintlock stepped outside she could make out the faint sign of a police siren.  A single police siren.  It could've been the first officer on the scene.  Or even the only patrol car willing to make a stop by the fens.  Really, the area didn't lend itself to active police supervision.  Even with high pitched blood-curdling screams that could be heard even by raucous bar patrons.

 

When the vehicle came into view it was an unmarked police car.  A black mustang with blazing red and blue lights.  Stepping out from the vehicle was a stern looking latina woman wearing gray dress slacks and a blue buttoned-down blouse beneath a black blazer.  Her service pistol clearly visible as she made her way up the stairs.  The detective gave the drunken pirate a quick look and then as if she was used to the sight she made her way past.   Surveying the room she openly sighed before finally speaking.

 

"Hm, third one this month.  So talk me through what happened, ladies."

[Cool Homosapien]

Oh great. Cops. And here Moe was with only one alibi, the drunken pirate lady. Moe closed the textbook and drummed her fingers on it. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Moe smiled at the cop lady. "What you see is what you get," she motioned to the room. "Heard a scream. Went to investigate. Found Flintlock doing investigations too!" She nodded to Flintlock, "we seem to have some very strange circumstances, eh?"

Edited January 7, 2018 by Cool Homosapien

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"Verlity and forsooth, so it is, and it is so!" Agreed Flintlock, saving her arms about vaguely.

 

"Methinks mayhap it be sorcery, or science. But probably sorcery!"

 

"We be at the services of the noble and righteous and etcetera etcetra watchmen, eŕrr...policemen of Freedom City. And on that note, what do you mean, third one? Pray tell, and set tongue to work!"

 

 

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

"It's probably not a good habit to run towards screaming in the future, ma'am."  The detective told Moe.  "Assuming you didn't do this of course."  

 

"I don't know anything about sorcery.  Here's what I do know.  For about a month, children well teenagers have gone missing in the fens.  Potentially more, the current running theory is teenage runaways.  Pretty common stuff from the Fens.  The weird thing is two other times the parents claimed to have seen some sort of monster.  Maybe your sorcery, I dunno.  But, they came out of it with a pretty nasty frostbite.  This is the first time someone's been killed.  That's...unfortunate.  Anyways this 'monster' leaves without a trace.  Though you didn't mention any children or monsters.  So perhaps that has changed."

 

The last statement was almost accusatory.  But, Moe didn't sense an ounce of fear from the detective.  As if talking to a drunk pirate and waitress in the middle of a crime scene was almost rote for her.

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

Flintlock mulled over the mystery. 'Twas a perplexing one!

 

"A sadness, a horror" she started, for the tragedy of the story must not be forgot in the effort to unpick it. She felt some tears, and did not hold them back. 

 

"Whatever force, be it mundane or eldritch, cause this, it must be stopped!" she then determined, slamming fist into palm. "Good ladies, if you will permit, I would perform some sorcery!" she declared flamboyantly. 

 

"To peel back the web of time, spin back the clock. See what happened, see our murderer! Yes, with the right incantations and rituals, can be done, although 'tis taxing, to be sure. It can fray your nerves, a little. I would suggest some rum, just to take the edge off!" she suggested, hopefully. 

 

"And it takes some preparation. A few hours, perhaps, if I do it correctly. And then, we can see exactly what happened here!"

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

"Perhaps if you do it correctly?  And what happens if you don't do it correctly?  I've had enough bad sorcery to last a lifetime"  The detective sighed in exasperation and took a seat on the couch.  A couch that was currently part of a crime scene.  Complete with a clear view of the body on the ground.  "Never physical evidence.  No, let's fray the mind instead."

 

It was a bit fast and loose with procedural rules.  But, so was waiting hours at a crime scene for a drunk pirate to prepare a bit of sorcery.  It wasn't long before Moe had excused herself.  Claiming she needed to close up the restaurant.  It wasn't entirely a lie.  But, the reality was she was taking the opportunity to build.  The detective for her would take the opportunity to call the precinct.

A coroner would be needed.

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

Flintlock did not respond to the detectives comment about how she had seen bad sorcery before, but certainly noted it. 

 

"I shall need salt! I shall need the hair of the victim! I shall need a brass clock created by 19th century Dutch Masters only under the light of the full moon on Wednesdays!" she declared. "Although a spoon will do instead of the clock" she added. 

 

"And I shall need RUM!" she said, stamping her foot in defiance. 

 

And so, the bleak and ghastly ritual proceeded. Lamentably, this was not clean or enlightening sorcery, but the dark and horrible incantations that were found in dark and horrible books, written by dark and horrible men (or women). Flintlock found that Rum helped numb her brain to the sanity blasting visions of the universe that came with the sorcery she knew. But it was still a terrible experience. 

 

"The oceans of time recede, ah! whistling pipes! can you here them? from the centre of all things, the bubbling chaos and the blind idiot gods that whirl in a fever around it. Here, where the stars live in dark light, all things meet, and time has no meaning. To guide us through, the echoes of dead women and...yes, the black flapping wings of Nyapoolethp! Aieee! Aieee!"

 

She barely held it together, but through all the insanity she could indeed see through time back to the murder...

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Macy Ryan, the deceased, was cooking a late night snack in the kitchen.  The television was playing in the background and it seemed as if everything was normal in the night.  Macy opened her mouth to call for her son, but the vision was playing as if on mute.  Flintlock completely unable to hear what exactly Macy was saying.  Not that it would matter, as soon visual context was all the information the pirate spiritualist could need.

 

Suddenly her child came running down the stairs.   A cursory look could tell anyone that the pair didn't appear related.  Both in facial structure and skin color both mother and child couldn't look any more different than one another.  From behind the boy came a dark an ominous figure.  It was like staring at a humanoid shadow.  One with no legs simply floating down the stairs.  It was akin to looking at an image of a grim reaper, minus the lack of scythe.  Clearly, the creature was after the child.  Macy screamed and attempted to protect her son by covering his body. But, the creature angrily waved its arms and both the furniture and mother went flying across the room.  The boy was left unharmed, for the moment.

 

Macy struggled to her feet and charged for the creature.  A crucifix necklace slipping out from her clothing and making contact with the creature.  The creature recoiled in pain upon touching the cross around Macy's neck.  Suddenly its hands jolted out and grabbed both of Macy's arms.  Freezing her with such sudden intensity that the woman screamed out in pain before ultimately succumbing to her injuries.   Soon after the creature would toss her body aside and once more send the furniture flying.  It moved to grab Macy's son and the pair would begin sinking into the shadows.

 

Before the creature would fully leave it turned, and from Flintlock's perspective, it was as almost as if the legless reaper like entity was facing her directly.  Its featureless face would suddenly don a pair of yellow glowing eyes.  Staring directly back at the captain.  Suddenly it felt as if her mind was being frozen from the inside.  As sudden as the pain was, the sensation was done.  A lingering feeling of anger left in its wake.  Much like as if someone had angrily yelled at Flintlock.  With that the vision faded, and the pirate captain found herself back in the center of the room.  

 

 

[Supercape]

Flintlock

 

"Sorcery! Sorcery! The Yellow King! Ah! Carsonne, the red dusted walls and black rivers! What cold fortunes...what cold fortunes!" mumbled Flintlock, then she bolted straight up, eyes wide like saucers. 

 

"By Nero's rosy cheeks, what horror!" she proclaimed, staggering slightly. "I saw something most wicked and cold. A shade, a shadow, who sought the child of our poor victim, although for what purpose I do not know. Whether our victim be the adoptive mother or friend of the child, I could not say either. But one thing I do know is that the shade saw me! Through TIME ITSELF!" she flared up dramatically. 

 

And then sat down, shuddering with an inner frost. 

 

"I would think that the escaped child, oh! How i hope the child escaped! is our best lead. But wait, we must also learn what manner of shade this is, and why it seeks children? For this surely was not its first act of malice. Detective, what say you? Have their been children in the other crime scenes?"