Paris by Moonlight (IC)

[Ari]

The gnawing rats dug their teeth into the crevices and exposed areas of skin that presented themselves, and soon Marceau's body was on fire with pain! Howling in surprise and the agony of their piercing teeth, he swatted and clawed for several seconds before his confused mind hit upon a dangerous, unlikely plan of escape. Flinging several of the rodents from his arms, he whipped out one of his new razor cards and a flash-bang grenade from his belt. With tremendous force he cut into the cylindrical package of light and sound, tearing away the portion that detonated it by accident, and tossed it into the air. With great effort(due in no small part to the rat biting his neck) he whipped up his left arm to shield himself from the burning shot of light that reflected itself on every dank wall, off the ceiling and the floor to create a panorama of white fire.

When it subsided, he gingerly lowered his arms, and began the laborious process of helping off whatever rats had clung to him in surprise, blindness and pain.

[Supercape]

Marcel had brought out what could only be described as a metal club and was beating off the rats from his feat in broad strokes. He had been bitten in several places and his blood was up.

"Vermin!" he shouted at them, and stamped on the head of a particularly large beast.

Rene was shocked, and was swatting off the horrors left, right and centre. "Zut Alors!" he cried "What monsters! you should have warned us, Marcel, of this plague down here!"

Marcel paused, and brought up a squealing Rat caught in his pudgy but broad hand, inspecting it closely, still kicking with his boots and swaying his club around his feet.

"These aren't any rats I am used too...bigger, meaner, uglier" he sniffed "and they smell different too..."

The rats, whilst blinded, where still swarming, and even attacking each other in their frenzy. They had some breathing room but they were still dangerous.

"Let us get out of here!" said Rene "I have seen enough Rat's for one decade..." he added, shuffling towards the door. The space in front of him illuminated with a few blast of orange flame, pouring forth from the mind of the mystic painter and burning the rats in front of him.

The three men edged away, still fighting the blinded rats and suffering the occassional bite, until they left the room and slammed the creaking Iron door shut.

[Ari]

During the chaos of their disorderly retreat, the King of Suits had ceased his flight briefly to grab the body of the dead woman, which for lack of a better way he had wrapped in his cape and slung over his right shoulder . After their harrowing escape he leaned against one of the walls, panting heavily, eyes staring into the cool darkness of the sewer. Once he had settled the rattled blur of his mind he turned slowly to the two mages "<Are you two alright?>" he asked anxiously "<Do you think that was Gallu? I'm pretty sure rats don't attack in swarms like that naturally>". He wondered vaguely if he ought to get a helmet or something, or at least improve his armor. The case for that was strengthened by the fact that one of the rats had gotten lodged between his breastplate and ballistic cloth, and had briefly turned into a chain of the things after several maddened compatriots had grabbed onto it. Only with great difficulty(though for all that it had happened quickly enough) had the miserable creature escaped.

[Supercape]

"Oui" replied Rene, dusting himself off "although I smell worse than ever. Those vermin, they had...well, a smell, you know? something horrible I cannot quite place. "

Marcel nodded "I've been working the sewers for years, and smelt all kinds. But there was something there, something...wrong in that smell, even for down here..."

He paused and looked at Rene.

Rene looked back and nodded. "The Gallu? you are both thinking that? Ah, oui, myself too. The demon-bull wreathed in smoke and fumes. And he sends a plague of vermin, maybe? to conceal his tracks? or perhaps he senses something on his tail?"

He paused "Us"

[Ari]

Marceau dropped the cape which wrapped the rotting corpse in shock "<So..so that means it knows for sure we're after it?>" he looked back at wall behind him, as if trying to look back into the room they had just left full of blinded, maddened rats "<And it can now track us and attempt to kill us at any time now?!>" he had never felt a deeper terror in his life. Humans he could fight, even monsters like those fish-like Deep Ones or the red beings with the myriad of powers he could screw himself up to do battle with. Something as alien as an actual demon, one who could turn themselves into pretty much anything, wasn't on his list of "I Can Take This".

Shaking himself out of a near paralysis of fear, he gently picked back up the fallen body "<So, what do we do now? Get back to the surface and try to gather as much as we can from this poor woman's body, then try to gather more evidence and find more clues?>"

[Supercape]

"I do not think ze beast can attack us anywhere..." replied Rene thoughtfully "but on ze other hand, we have nowhere of knowing where it can strike us. However, I doubt ze sewers are a particularly safe spot. So! I concur with your plan, leaving here seems to be a most prudent idea..."

Marcel nodded his agreement.

"It must be said, however, we stink" Rene continued, and pointed at the corpse "And, that poor woman..stinks even worse. A big strong man like you can, no doubt, carry the creature to the surface, but a decomposing corpse is a bit...conspicious, even in ze middle of the night...It depends what you want to do with it. You know all about ze modern art of deduction, not me. I can, however, offer to paint you in ze ink of invisibility" he added, brandishing his paintbrush.

"But that will not conceal ze smell, only ze sight!"

[Ari]

After a long time spent staring at the black and red bundle at his feet, Marceau declared "<Rene, that will do fine for me. Make me invisible, and I shall not be anywhere near another's nostrils so that they cal smell me. I'll use my grapple gun to get around above the streets and make my way back to your house, I'm sure I can find my way back>"

Slinging the corpse gently over his shoulder, he began to make ready for the upcoming rooftop trek, tying it carefully to his armor and jumpsuit through the loops and blunt hooks that previously had seemed entirely decorative. He still needed a hand to keep the corpse steady, but otherwise he considered himself quite ready to go swinging through Paris.

Although, he thought to himself, The buildings around here for a half a mile or so around will likely be in ill repair, and that includes the roofs

[Supercape]

"Very well then!" replied Rene, who weaved his brush in front of the King of Suits, its magic ink coating both man and corpse, until both completely faded from view.

"Invisible Ink!" he explained with a smile.

"Marcel and I will meet you back at Marcel's home, I hope you can remember the way. You always seem to have a good memory, so I hope that will be no difficulty for you. Just keep upwind of anybody. At this time of night, Paris is quiet, but these big cities never really sleep, do they?"

With that, Rene and Marcel trudged off down the sewer.

[Ari]

After a few minutes, during which Marceau tested the moving of his now invisible body, he said eagerly "<Many thanks Rene! Now, I'm off, I think you and Marcel should take a different route back, maybe even stay at a hotel for the night or something. Might keep Gallu from figuring out for sure where we have our base>"

Bowing deeply, he added awkwardly when he realized he was invisible "<Uh, thank you again, it's an honor to work with you two>" he set off back through the sewer, wading quickly through the rushing stream of filth to the nearest service tunnel, where he quickly(after more than a little exertion upon the achingly-heavy metal)he pushed his way back into the cool Parisian night. Adjusting the dead weight he carried, he made his way quickly up onto the nearest roof, where he began a careful routine of movement across the skyline, never letting his footsteps be heard above the softest of clicks, thumps and scrapes. The aged, weakening construction held up far better than he had expected, with only a few crumbling walls and cracking roof tiles interrupting his progress.

With rather more care than speed, he made passable time nonetheless, dropping onto the roof of Marcel's home with a soft thud of impact on the heels of his feet. Turning to the front door he gave a soft knock on the door, hoping there wasn't a horrible monster inside that would turn him to hamburger.

[Supercape]

"What time do you call this?" said Rene, opening the door and winking slightly.

He looked like he had taken a shower, his hair was wet and he was not wearing his beret.

"You smell like a sewer, my friend, and those bones you carry smell even worse...bring it in, although it will smell the house out..."

Once inside, Rene dismissed the invisible ink with a wave of his wand. The corpse looked even worse in the pale electric lights of Marcels home.

"Come come!" motioned Marcel, in the kitchen, downing a glass of wine as he did so "horrible work tonight, help yourself to some wine. Cheap stuff, but it serves it purpose in the early hours of the morning, after digging up corpses and facing of a plague of rats..."

Rene lead Marceau through to the Kitchen, where Marcel had laid down some plastic tarpaulins on the floor.

"A bit shabby" conceded Rene "but it will have to do if we are to remain undercover. What now?"

[Ari]

Setting down the body with great care, Marceau crouched next to it, a wave of gloom washing back over him as he examined the rotting body. Rene's "What now?" startled him out of it, and he began at once "<Well..we need to figure out how exactly she died. Clearly it was an animistic attack, but what kind of animal will be quite helpful in finding out more of what Gallu can transform into>" he held up the tooth he had recovered and put in a small capsule in his belt "<This too. If the creature really was Gallu that is>"

He then began the long and gruesome process of figuring out which harm had come before which, if the victim might have been dead before certain blows, what kind of being could make which kind of mark with which of its weapons, and the other manifold horrors that needed to be learned before they could proceed. The wine did a great deal of good, though he as a rule never drank.

By the end of it, Marceau felt sicker at hear than he had for many years, and the dead thing was still in front of him, leaking dankness and the maggots that had taken root within. It was a relief to stand up again, put away the recording device and sink onto the floor, staring miserably at it. After a moment he looked over at Rene and Marcel "<I have learned..a great deal. Could we make ready to sleep for a bit? There is one last thing I need to figure something out from that gash on the left thigh and I would like to come at it with a fresher mind>"

[Supercape]

"<I have learned..a great deal. Could we make ready to sleep for a bit? There is one last thing I need to figure something out from that gash on the left thigh and I would like to come at it with a fresher mind>"

"We certainly can" replied Rene "but only after you have a shower. I don't think even Marcel will put up with your stench on his sofa..."

Rene took a glance over the mattress Marcel had put out for him. It was lumpy and just a little dirty. He sighed. As a master artist, he had a modest fortune in money - he could, and often did live in luxury in many ways, although he was generous and was not extravagant in his lifestyle (although he could afford to be). A lumpy mattress, at his age, was not welcoming.

But then again, compared to the rough conditions of the 18th and 19th Centuries...

"Well, good night, my friends!" he said, and drifted off to sleep.

Next Morning...

"Uuurgh...I don't feel well..." moaned Marcel, waking both Rene and Marceau. The man was covered in sweat, and his rough face looked clammy, with broken red blood vessels...

[Ari]

Marceau himself was hardly in perfect health. While he didn't have the symptoms Marcel was suffering, he still had that feeling of simple wrongness that often accompanies diseases. Still, he felt a lot better than he guessed Marcel must. "<You poor man!>" he cried in horror, taking Marcel by the hand, seating him and industriously swathing him in a blanket "<I'm so sorry this happened to you, and it wouldn't have if you hadn't helped us>" he sat glumly beside him, wondering if they would end this investigation in the hospital.

Looking at Rene he asked "<My friend, do you have the power to heal Marcel?>"

[Supercape]

"My friend, do you have the power to heal Marcel?>"

Rene sat quite still, pondering.

"Ze Rats..." he concluded. "Summoned by the beast no doubt. I am afraid my arcane abilities do not include healing" he confessed "at least, not straight away. Given enough time, the right books and instruments, I am sure there is a ritual to counter the infection - although that is not to say it would necessarily be successful..." he added.

"Rene, I am sure you can do it" said Marcel "I have books, the Vitae Vicarium, Die Sieben Formen der Körper, Rimozione della morte, yes I know nobody thought a copy of that still existed..." he mumkbled, then coughed up some blood and green phlegm.

Rene nodded.

"I will try, but it will take a time. A long time. And then, we have Marceau to consider. Is time on our side?"

[Ari]

The younger man nodded earnestly "<The sickness has reached me too, though I don't suffer the full effects yet. I can still help you get what you need and assist in solving the case>" getting back up he began the laborious process of re-donning the more inflexible parts of his armor. As he re-armed himself, he reviewed the information that he had so far gathered from the woman's corpse(he winced as he glanced back at the decaying pile on the tarp, glad he had covered it with his cape): it was almost a certainty that she had been killed by Gallu due to the distinct odor that still hung upon the body, Gallu had changed for at least once while attacking due to the different animal marks on her bones and flesh, the last change had been into some kind of cat-like animal like a tiger.

The picture wasn't promising. Gallu could change form on the fly, thus enabling him to subvert others' tactics with ease. No matter which form it took it was quite powerful, and it could rip a normal human(Such as myself...) to pieces with ease. If they wished to combat it they would need to either be in a battleground set up overwhelmingly in their favor, banish it back to wherever it came from, or else call in somebody much stronger than they. He made spoke his considerations to the other two men, asking them at the end "<...so, what in your views could we do to either discourage Gallu from further attacks, or else enable use to conceal ourselves from it?>"

[Supercape]

"<...so, what in your views could we do to either discourage Gallu from further attacks, or else enable use to conceal ourselves from it?>"

Rene sat himself down with pen and paper, and scribbled a few words down. Despite the serious situation, he couldn't help but show some gleeful appreciation of the ancient books that Marcel had shown him.

"I imagine ze Gallu is more active at night. Not inactive, but perhaps weakened, less alert, less powerful. Its eyes are everywhere, but perhaps they only see well in shadows, in places of evil, death, the places where we gently brush the underworld, you understand?"

Rene wondered for a moment if Nick would no more. The Gallu was a demon however, not an undead. It only dragged people to the pallid realms.

He gave the paper to Marceau, careful not to touch him. His mystic vitality, aside from giving him long years, also rendered him somewhat resilient to disease, but it was not, in his opinion, worth the risk.

The paper had a few items on it - Vinegar, Rainwater, and, somewhat oddly, Sheep offal.

"Pick up those on the way back" said Rene "I can do most of the work and set up here, but I will need those to finish the ritual..."

[Ari]

"<That's very helpful to know>" said Marceau, much more cheerful now that he could help out "<I'll not return until these items are acquired Rene. Though..I might need some directions on how to find sheep offal in urban(even suburban)Paris, I don't think it's all that commonly used nowadays, and it might be tricky to find someone who sells it>". Upon receiving whatever advice Rene could give on the matter, he took a bite to eat and some water to drink, leaving the cape behind to cover the corpse due to it not having been cleaned, he set off with all speed into the wider city, careful to keep in his guise as a normal fellow, with his costume concealed under his habitual coveralls.

Rene's advice on where to look(and who to ask), combined with his own skill in finding things out soon('soon' in this case being an hour or so) brought him to a small specialty meats shop. From the look of it, it had seen better days, but few more so than this one, with a line of eager customers that extended to and thoroughly blocked the front door, leaving Marceau in the uncomfortable position of near-loitering, which combined with the face mask he had gotten on the way to keep from spreading the sickness through his breath, made him look rather more suspicious than he would have wished.

He hoped fervently the proprietor had loads of offal, and he wouldn't need to search "In the Back" for it...

[Supercape]

GM

"In the queue please!" shouted the butcher serving up the various exotic meat stuffs. The place was busy - a queue of six people were already waiting to be served, and a little old lady joined Marceau soon after.

The man in front of Marceau muttered "always so damn busy in here, you would think they would get some more staff. Damnit, but there is nowhere else to buy salted alligator meat!"

He turned to Marceau, nodding at him.

"What are you here for monsieur? haven't seen you here before...chef? restaurant owner?"

He held out his hand "Phillipe Verdoux, at your service!" he said with a friendly smile.

He did look vaguely familiar...

[Ari]

After a moment's thought, Marceau bowed politely to the man before him, saying "<Neither, monsieur, I am but a simple citizen come to buy some offal for a friend of mine who requires it for his cooking>" looking down at the offered hand he added "<I apologize and don't wish to be rude, but I'm currently ill, and a physician informed me that I'm contagious. Otherwise I would shake your hand with all fervor>" looking now to the other man's face, he asked curiously "<Verdoux? Are you related to a restaurant-owner in Freedom City, he runs a place called Aliments Avenir>" he marveled at the coincidence of meeting someone who might be a close relation to someone across the world. Throughout his travels in Eurasia, he had on occasion met people distantly related to each other sometimes having the same name, and rarely being at all aware of each other. It had been quite odd to meet people of such vastly different nations, politics and experiences, and know that they had as a brother someone who would be almost totally alien to them.

I wonder if that will get more or less prevalent he wondered idly. Not having any basis to pursue that line of thought, he brushed it away, focusing on the very real and present man in front of him.

[Supercape]

"<Verdoux? Are you related to a restaurant-owner in Freedom City, he runs a place called Aliments Avenir>"

"Aha!" said the man, breaking out into a broad smile "you know Uncle Verdoux! Oui! Oui! He is my father's younger brother, and we all love him! Ah, I miss him, gone to America to make his fortune and bring some proper food and wine to that ghastly place!"

He seemed genuinely happy, and shuffled along one space as the queue shortened.

"Oh, but how do you know him! Ah, I must visit him, have a proper party! I am a cook myself you know, I work here in the restaurant business, maybe I am trying to follow in his footsteps! But, if you know Uncle Verdoux, then you are a friend of mine!"

"viscus vadum putesco"* muttered the Lady behind Marceaux in a hoarse rasping voice.

"Come, friend, embrace me!" said the cheerful Phillipe.

* Translation (Spoiler)

The flesh shall rot

[Ari]

"<It's good to meet you, and to be able to tell you your uncle is in good health!>" exclaimed Marceau merrily, fond memories of his all-too brief time in France years ago coming back, loosening both his tongue and his posture. Relaxing his shoulders, and smiling as best he could with the mask over his mouth, he said unthinkingly "<A friend and I met in his shop due to both of us having a hunger for real French cuisine, and by shocking chance we managed to prevent a ghastly attack on one of the patrons from reaching lethal proportions>" he grinned cheerfully "<As a token of his thanks, I and my friend may partake of the meals he serves without charge if we wish, though I haven't taken that option as of yet>"

He smiled politely at the woman behind him, saying "<I am sorry, but I can't understand Latin, never had the opportunity to learn it I'm afraid>"

There was a lengthy pause as Marceau looked from the opened arms of the other man, to pretty much everywhere else. "<I..I dare not. As I mentioned before I have a contagious disease, and I would think it a terrible evil to do anything that might infect you with it. I should only be ill for a few days, after which I will be free to embrace you as much as you wish!>" he smiled hopefully at the Verdoux.

[Supercape]

GM

Marceau's revelation about his infective status caused a slight, but audible murmur of worry in the queue.

"Alez! I hope you don't come to near our meats with that infection!" shouted the Butcher, hacking into a piece of liver with a heavy sharp knife. "Don't get to close!"

The queue shuffled again. One person stood in front of Phillipe, getting served. Then Phillipe, then Marceau, then the Latin mumbling old lady.

She was a small woman, in her seventies perhaps, wrapped up very warm, with a woven basket, dark glasses, and headscalf. She looked weathered, and infirm, but still had life in her yet. She was five foot at most, and didn't look at Marceau when she was spoken to, keeping her eyes fixed ahead of her.

"I'm sorry dear..." she mumbled, with what seemed genuine sincerity.

"Next!" called the Butcher, as Phillipe moved up to be served, and a satisfied fat man walked away with a haunch of kangaroo meat.

[Ari]

The yoing Frenchman laughed cheerily "<No worry of that, good butcher! Just toss over some sheep offal here>" he held out a gloved hand "<-and you'll not need to fear for the health of your meats>"

To the apparently contrite old lady he said expansively "<It's alright ma'am, I'm sure I would be uneasy around someone who was sick too, think nothing of it. My name is Marceau Suvou, may I ask yours?>" he smiled as best he could around the mask, shuffling ahead as the line moved forward to admite Philipe.

[Supercape]

GM

"<It's alright ma'am, I'm sure I would be uneasy around someone who was sick too, think nothing of it. My name is Marceau Suvou, may I ask yours?>"

The old woman just stared straight ahead, mumbling to herself. A fly landed on her face, and she paid in not attention. Then another landed on it.

Phillipe took his order of pheasant and waved at Marceau "best meats in Paris!" he smiled "you must say hello to uncle Verdoux from me!" he added as he walked out, satisfied. He waved his hand at the air, batting away another fly.

"What can I get you, Sir?" said the butcher, slapping his hand on the table and squashing a fly "we have any and all meats known to mankind!" he added, proudly.

A slight buzzing could be heard all around.

[Ari]

It took only a few seconds for the nightmarish possibility-no, nightmarish certainty to arise in. His mind. Why else would such a commotion of insects so suddenly appear, and who else but Gallu could be what they heralded? His brain began racing through the various escape methods he could use: grapple-gunning across the Parisian rooftops? The more he thought about it the more and more he returned to it. On the one hand it was hardly a surefire way to escape Gallu, but at the very least it would b e quicker than trying to escape on foot, and would potentially lead to fewer chances for people to die-

He stopped his thinking short: what if he wasn't the target, what if the demon was coming around to kill someone else entirely? Mind buzzing with the unknowns facing him a sudden suspicion drew a darted glance at the elderly woman, as the "sorry" suddenly seemed a great deal less personally-meant. The idea that she might be in league with Gallu caused him to roll his eyes, and he directed his thoughts to the more immediate facts. Like how quickly he could find a place to remove the coveralls...