Closed Of Love and Murder (Madeira, Roland)

[Asterope]

Aster bit back her disappointment; Roland had been right, after all. It had been foolish of her to think Madeira could help with such a thing, especially with as little knowledge as she had. Asterope bowed her head, an apology on her lips, when she suddenly caught sight of Madeira's face as her words trailed off.

The spiritist had gone even paler, and she was gripping the handkerchief tightly, her knuckles bone-white. Just then, the grey-haired woman entered the room once again, and Madeira requested her to bring someone's rucksack.

Aster ignored the plate of tea and cookies, sudden excitement and hope stirring in her at the sudden shift in gears; it seemed Madeira may know something after all. The blonde sipped absently at her cup despite the fact that the tea hadn't been poured yet; Aster didn't address that fact, though, too intent on thinking back to when she and Roland had found the corpse.

She frowned slightly, her brows furrowing. "No, there was nobody there. I'm certain, I would have seen somebody else." She said it confidently, but hesitance stirred in her as she did so. There hadn't been anywhere to hide in the clearing...had there? No, certainly not; she'd walked almost the length of it when she collected the flowers to lay on the man's chest.

The second question made her pause, and she looked at the spiritist with deep and obvious perplexity. She was fairly certain she could recognize the path that had lead them to the clearing, but finding it again sounded like an impossibility.

"I...believe I could find it." Aster hesitated. "But Madeira, you know as well as I do how difficult that would be. I'm open to trying, though, if you think it will help." Despite the improbability of it, the suggestion wasn't entirely a bad one, as they really had no other leads to go on.

She glanced up when the door opened once again, the older woman returning with the rucksack that Madeira had requested; Aster watched intently, wondering what the pack could hold that Madeira thought would be of any use. She waited until the grey-haired woman had departed again before she asked, however, her voice hushed. "What's in there?"

[Madeira Dusk]

"I have a feeling it will be easier to find than you think", she intoned almost dejectedly as the maid returned. If her theory was right, and Asterope meeting her in front of the manor with an eerily familiar murder was not coincidence at all, Ionu wouldn't hinder it's own fun by keeping them from their goal.

The maid set the beaten, well worn leather bag by Madeira's chair, nodded, and left, shutting the door behind her. But this did not deter the ghosts who had followed her and the tantalizing aura coming from inside the bag. A few hovered halfway through the solid wood, watchful, but dared not come inside uninvited. They did not fear Madeira like they did most of the other Cravens, but it did not do to get on any Spiritist's bad side.

Asterope asked what was in the bag, her voice hushed. "Battle armor", Madeira replied jokingly, but the tightness in her eyes said there was some grim truth in it.

Madeira pulled the bag to her lap, and even that small effort cost her. She did not see how she could carry it across however far Ionu would insist they travel. Perhaps she should just take what they need most. Pushing the untouched tea tray aside she began unloading her bag onto the table. From within she pulled out a jar of sticky black dough, another of soulmist, a long string of jade beads, a ebony crossbow, a bracer crossbow mounted on a cuff of leather, ten bolts for each, and a bent and scuffed notebook. She wound the beads several times around her skinny neck so they hung like a long necklace, and from the black jar she scooped out a measure of dough and swallowed it.

"Have you ever shot a crossbow before, Aster?" she asked completely out of the blue, picking up the smaller of the two bows. Somehow she couldn't imagine the healer had picked up a weapon in her life.

"You wear the bracer on your wrist like so. Then if you pull back this wooden piece here with the opposite hand, that draws the string back. See the hollow trench? If you put a bolt in there, it's armed. Then you simply point to what you want to shoot-" she suddenly twisted in her chair, pointing the bow at the door. At once the startled ghosts vanished with a sound like a sigh of breath. "-and pull the trigger", she finished. The string gave a sharp twang as the unloaded bow fired empty space.

Now that they were alone, this was the point where she would have to come clean about her suspicions, as unfounded as they were. Madeira put the bow back on the table, ran her tongue over her teeth, working up some moisture in her suddenly dry mouth, before pressing forward.

"I was in the Garden a few weeks ago." she admitted. "An idiot snuck off to the maze with a new, younger lover as he was being hunted by his dead wife. I was meant to retrieve him, but she found him first. Another woman and I managed to save the two, but I couldn't exorcise the ghost. I mean", she justified quickly, "it's probably nothing. There are plenty of wealthy grey-haired men in the city. But... His name was Roger Martin." she dropped the handkerchief on the desk, and the blood smeared R.M insignia seemed to glow in the lamplight.

"It's probably nothing", she said again, as if by repetition she could will it to be true. "But if I had a hand in killing this man, because I was too weak to fight properly, I have to know. And if Olivia is still out there..." she paused, unable to go on. She was no better off than she was back then. If Olivia was back, there was little chance she could exorcise her alone. "Please take me back. If you say nobody was there, chances are nobody was. But I just... I have to know."

[Asterope]

Madeira's words were foreboding, and the way she spoke them sent a slight shiver down Aster's spine. She was beginning to think that perhaps she was getting in over her head.

A chill seemed to have followed the maid into the room, but lingered even as she left and shut the door. Aster glanced around warily, but she couldn't see any ghosts; though, she supposed that didn't really mean much.

Madeira jokingly replied to her, voice light but eyes devoid of humour. It made Asterope suspect that there was indeed some truth to her words, though what sort of battle armour the spiritist meant, she had no idea.

Her confusion only deepened when she watched Madeira unpack the bag. Two jars were placed on the table, one full of a rather disgusting looking black dough, the other filled with a strange, milky substance. A long string of pretty jade beads followed, and then Aster understood the seriousness of Madeira's tone when the blonde pulled out two different crossbows.

Asterope watched Madeira wind the beads around her neck in a double loop, and an incredulous expression followed swiftly by one of disgust, then awe, and finally curiosity crossed Aster's features as Madeira scooped some of the black dough out of the jar and popped it into her mouth.

"What is that? And why in the stars did you eat it?" She asked Madeira, wondering if the spiritist had gone mad, and if she would have to treat her for some sort of sickness or another after eating the dough.

Madeira, however, seemed entirely unaffected and unbothered by what she'd just done. At her question, the Eth gave a shake of her head. "No, never. I've never even touched one." She watched intently as Madeira casually strapped the bracer to her wrist, explaining what she was doing as she went.

Aster had no idea why she would ever need to use a crossbow; she certainly had no intent of using one, if she could help it. But all the same, she paid attention to the impromptu lesson from the blonde, watching her draw back the wooden fixture that pulled the string back.

She was surprised when Madeira suddenly twisted in her seat, levelling the unloaded crossbow at the door. There was a loud twang as Madeira pulled the trigger, and the chill that Aster had been growing accustomed to suddenly vanished. So there had been ghosts lurking around; and it seemed Madeira had scared them off.

Aster's gaze cast to the other crossbow sitting on the table still; she wondered if it worked the same way. She assumed so; but before she could ask, Madeira began to speak, her voice slow and careful as she admitted to having been in the Garden recently herself.

The Eth listened intently, though she was unsure where Madeira was going with her story; if she was new to the business of spiritism, she might have wondered what a ghost had to do with anything. But even her small taste of Madeira's life back when they'd met in the theatre had shown Aster that ghosts were capable of a lot, so she kept quiet, allowing the blonde to finish her tale, curious to see how it connected to her own.

She didn't have to wait long. As Madeira recounted the story of the foolish man and his young paramour, she revealed his name. Roger Martin; R.M., the initials on the bloodstained handkerchief. She tried to insist that it was nothing, but the words sounded weak. They both knew that it, in fact, probably was not nothing. It simply wasn't the way Alvadas worked.

"Alright," Asterope said, simply. It seemed that instead of begging the spiritist for help as she'd thought she'd been doing, the two were now helping each other. Her last encounter with a ghost had been frightening and dangerous; Aster expected this one to be quite the same, but she'd come this far.

Inhaling deeply to steady herself, the Eth smoothed down her skirt before standing up. She didn't want to dawdle more than was necessary. "Is this everything you need, then?" She asked Madeira, casting her golden gaze over the materials still sitting on the table.

She hesitated, then gestured to the second crossbow. "...Should I take that?" The blonde already had the other one strapped to her wrist, and it seemed foolish for her to carry two crossbows. It seemed equally foolish for Aster to be unarmed, though she had no idea how a crossbow could affect a ghost. She had her dagger with her, as she always did, as well; but she assumed Madeira's tools were more useful, given the amount of experience the spiritist had in dealing with such things.

Swallowing, Aster clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to stand still and not show her nervousness as she glanced around, waiting patiently for Madeira to confirm her words or not. Once the spiritist had geared herself and Aster up to what she deemed acceptable and reassured the Eth that they were indeed ready to go, Aster would lead the way out of the room and back into the dim hallway.

[Madeira Dusk]

"Alright", the Eth nodded, throwing sparks on the walls as the lamplight refracted off her glassy horns.

Asterope didn't ask nervous questions or give into uncertainty. Her molten gold eyes were hard and sure in her marble face. It didn't take Madeira, the practiced liar, more than a tick to recognize that the Eth wasn't faking it. This was the cool, collected determination of a healer; someone who knew what the worst case scenario looked like and knew what it took to fix it.

It took perhaps a tick too long for Madeira to realize she had spoken to her again. It was embarrassingly easy to get lost in the ethereal creatures beauty when she looked you in the eye.

"Ah, yes- I mean, no. Take this one." The spiritist pressed the bracer crossbow into Aster's hand. The dark red leather was worn and smooth, stitched with black thread in winding patterns, while the crossbow mounted on top was a small and narrow confection of ebony and silver. "It doesn't shoot as far, but it's accurate and keeps your hands free. And if you did end up accidently shooting me or someone else it would take a very lucky shot for you to kill them", she pointed to the ten bolts secured with loops of leather underneath, which were only twelve centimeters long and half as thick as the ones on the table.

"I don't think I can keep my hands steady enough to shoot anyway", she held her disease wracked hand palm up, to show the slight temble in her fingers. But you don't need much accuracy to swing this", she gave the head of her cane a firm twist, and pulled several centimeters of the thin hidden sword out of its wooden sheath.

Everything she owned was already imbuded, including herself. The soul darts would work just fine in Asters hands as her own, and she could Lie with ease. But it was always prudent to have fresh soulmist on hand. So Madeira closed her eyes, turned inward, and focused on the dough that sat heavy in her belly. With a practiced effort she bent her soul with the determination of her mind and pulled it into the raw materials. She let it soak through, let it absorb and change within her body. Centimeter by centimeter the dough dissolved and something cool and light took its place. When it was done, and the last piece of raw dough melted away, Madeira let her concentration snap and her eyes opened. She would not cough it up quite yet, not unless they needed it.

"Ok, now we're ready." she closed her cane and got unsteadily to her feet. At the last moment she snatched the handkerchief off the desk and stuffed it into her pocket.

She lead Aster out the door and down the hall, the tap of her cane on the hardwood floor the only sound. Her mind was turning as she considered what they were about to do. What if Ionu hasn't pushed them together at all? What if this was some random murder, done by a living person? What if they were wrong? Or worse, what if they were right?

Soon they were out the front door and down the cobble path. The section of fence where Roland disappeared was still empty, as she expected. Yet the sight still brought a swell of anger from within her. This was Roland's problem just as much as Aster and hers. How dare he abandon them?

Madeira was still fuming about this as they stepped out into the street. When she suddenly held out a hand to stop the Eth.

"Perhaps we should pray?" she offered, fumbling her anger and stuffing it away. "It could help."

Closing her eyes, she held Aster's cool hand tightly in hers and prayed to the deity of Alvadas: "Blessed Ionu, God(dess) of Illusion and protector of our city. Remove the obstacles from our path and open the maze so that we may find who has hurt your people. Lead us, as you already have, so that we may be of service to you and this beautiful city we call our home", she ventured, wondering if perhaps Ionu was susceptible to flattery.

She breathed deep and opened her eyes. It was always calming to speak to the gods, regardless of whether or not they were listening.

"Lead the way", Madeira waved Aster forward. "I'll keep up as best I can."

[Asterope]

Aster hesitated momentarily when Madeira handed her the bracer crossbow, but took it regardless. The weapon felt strange and foreign in her hands; the leather was worn but lovely, stitched through with various patterns and smooth under her fingertips as she buckled it onto her wrist.

Asterope winced slightly at Madeira's words. "Let's hope my aim isn't that bad," She spoke, trying to keep her voice light, as she made sure the bracer was attached properly, taking stock of the bolts that the spiritist pointed out. It gave the Eth some relief to see that the other woman was armed; she had no doubt that Madeira could take care of herself.

As they stepped outside, Asterope's gaze followed Madeira's, and a frown curved her mouth downwards as she examined where Roland had stood earlier. Disappointment flooded through her, much more prominent than anger, though irritation did stir in her stomach. Despite his reluctance, Aster had thought she could trust and rely on Roland. She was dragged out of her thoughts by Madeira stopping her with a hand.

Pray? Aster was slightly surprised; she supposed she hadn't taken Madeira for the religious type, but then again, she didn't know the blonde that well. Asterope allowed the spiritist to take her hand in her own, the other woman's pale skin almost shockingly cold. As Madeira prayed aloud to Ionu, Aster gave a brief prayer of her own to her deity as well.

Syna, please guide us with your light and keep us safe in your warmth. Aster's eyes automatically glanced up, squinting slightly at the sky. If the goddess heard her, there was no sign of it; she brought her attention back to Madeira as she finished her prayer, and Asterope gave a small nod.

"Let's go, then." Aster began to walk, knowing the direction didn't matter; she kept her pace slightly slower than she might normally have to allow Madeira to keep up, glancing back every so often to adjust her speed as needed.

The two women walked in silence through Ionu's city; both excitement and trepidation ran through Aster in equal parts as she kept her eyes out for the path that lead to the Garden. The crossbow, despite being rather light, weighed heavily on her forearm.

Finally, Aster caught a glimpse of what she thought was gravel down a street to her right. She motioned Madeira as she made the sharp turn; sure enough, a few paces down the street, the cobblestone turned to gravel and the buildings thinned out before disappearing entirely, leaving only grass. Ahead of them sat the tall hedges of the Garden's maze; they had never looked so foreboding.

The gravel crunched beneath their feet as Aster led the way down the path towards the entrance. "Ready?" She asked Madeira, looking to her partner for confirmation. Whether she was or not, Aster could feel that it was much too late to turn back. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the gap in the hedges.

The Eth's skin prickled uneasily, the hair on her arms and the back of her neck standing up. Perhaps it was the reason for their visit, but she felt uncomfortable and on edge, more than any other time she'd entered the maze.

"So do you think she's dangerous to others?" Aster asked, as she began to walk. She angled her head towards Madeira as she spoke, and her voice was a hushed whisper, though she didn't even realize it. "The ghost, that is."

The air was stagnant with no hint of a breeze as they walked, and their breathing seemed loud and out of place in the thick silence that blanketed the pathways. They passed a bush full of multicoloured roses that Aster didn't recognize; it was pretty, but she didn't have time to stop and admire it.

Continuing forward, she was met with a dead-end; the hedge in front of her stretched high up into the sky, higher than the others. "No good," Aster shook her head to Madeira as she turned around, then felt a chill run down her spine.

The path they'd just come down was gone; in its place was a much narrower path that sloped downwards, dappled with dark shadows and surrounded with high walls. It was eerily familiar. "It's this way," Asterope murmured, brushing past Madeira to lead the way down the path. It didn't take them long to reach the clearing.

Aster stepped into the space, glancing around uneasily. The corpse of the man lay by the fountain where she and Roland had left it; the flowers on his chest were dry and withered, and he was rotting even worse than before, the stench making Aster's bracer-less hand fly up to cover her nose and mouth.

Swallowing hard to remove the lump in her throat, Aster approached the body with hesitant footsteps. "This is him," she murmured, probably unnecessarily, to Madeira, her voice muffled by her hand. The air was cold, almost icy, and Aster's back tingled as if she was being watched. The feeling was familiar to her by then.

"She's here, isn't she?" She removed her hand from her mouth to speak, her voice dropping even lower so that even Madeira would have to strain to hear her.

[Madeira Dusk]

Grades Awarded!

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request!

Asterope

Skills

• Running: 1xp
• Observation: 5xp
• Socialization: 4xp
• Caretaking: 1xp
• Rhetoric: 2xp
• Investigation: 3xp
• Weapon- Crossbow: 1xp
• Deduction: 2xp

Lores

• Lore of a lucky find
• Location: Craven Manor
• Madeira and Roland: bad blood
• Socialization: acting as a mediator
• Caretaking: handling ghostly children
• Madeira: knows something about the murder
• Alvadas: impossible to search
• Lore of the basics of using a crossbow
• Spiritism: how to scare ghosts
• R.M: Roger Martin
• Lore of controlling nervousness
• Roland: cant be trusted
• Syna: a prayer for safe travel

Awards & Retribution


Notes

Roland Eir

Please contact me for your grade!

Madeira Craven

Skills

• Socialization: 3xp
• Intimidation: 1xp
• Negotiation: 1xp
• Leadership: 1xp
• Investigation: 2xp
• Teaching: 1xp
• Spiritism: 1xp

Lores

• Asterope and Roland: an unusual couple
• Roland: an acrobat
• Asterope: needs her help
• Asterope: embroiled in a muder?!
• Intimidation: demanding cooperation
• Eth: sensitive creatures
• Negotiation: offering alternatives
• Lore of murder in the Garden of No Return
• Leadership: giving orders
• Alvadas: has it's own motives
• Lore of teaching to use a crossbow
• Intimidation: silent threats
• Ionu: a prayer for safe travel

Awards & Retribution


Notes
Notes here.