New Avalon

[Hammer Sister]

Rob gives his statement as requested, taking care to leave out the bit where he shot one of the assailants; he may have been able to get away with admitting it, but there's no point taking a risk unnecessarily. He retains his sketch; the police have the clothing the assailants are wearing, so they have the patches themselves.

[yamikuronue]

Erika waits patiently, adding very little to the story; she generally has nothing to report.

[CalamityJade]

And so, the evening drew to a close, with several people wondering what had happened. How did someone turn their celebration into a kidnapping attempt! Well, only time would tell what all that was really about.

But soon, the starlit skyline of New Avalon would give way to the brilliant dawn. The sun's rays making the city glow with an almost heavenly light. And with that dawn, news was spread throughout the city. The paper even had a front page article.

Night Festivities Interrupted by Unknown Group

Last nights Grail Boulevard Bazzar was interrupted when a group of assailants stormed the stage and appeared to be trying to kidnap the great Mordriana. Mordriana, who was hospitalized after the attack, was struck several times before being tied up. There were also reports that the unknown assailants were using some sort of unseen air transport to try and take the renowned fate-seer for unknown purposes. The New Avalon Police Department is now tracking down any and all leads to the reasons and any others involved in the attempt.

So, of course it was now the buzz of the town that someone was trying to keep people from speaking to Mordriana. That maybe some unscrupulous types were trying to keep others from reaching their Golden Age. There had always been talk of those tarnished people that tried to prey upon the Waiting in the hopes of making their own lives a little easier.

The morning also brought a new day to those that had been at the center of what had happened. Erika would find that she'd had a rather pleasant trip home. Nothing happened to wreck the already stressful and in the morning she had some interesting mail. It seemed that even with the premature end to the festivities, that those in attendance would still get their full experience. In this case, it was tickets to Break of Dawn's next performance! She was actually quite hot now, seeing that her talents led to one-of-a-kind shows that everyone would rave about for days and even weeks afterwards. Along with it was a...raffle ticket? She vaguely remembers their being a couple of raffles at the bazzar that she may or may not have entered.

Rob was interestingly enough summoned to the police department. It seemed that someone wanted to ask him a few questions about what had happened based on his accounts. It wasn't unheard of, but the police HAD to know he was a private detective and the two rarely got along, seeing how many were known for just being well-paid peeping toms.

T had an..interesting evening. Sure, she had gotten away fairly well. The police were MUCH too busy with the attack to track her down. Her sleep was rather odd. Instead of a black void or the past, her dreams were of bright blue skies under massive fields. It was of brisk coasts and the salty air of the ocean. It was of places she did not know of, but felt familiar to her, and the entire time there was the presence of something viewing these things with her. It seemed non-threatening and...only slightly more familiar than the settings, but not more than that. When she awoke she was still where she'd laid down and her things were still with her, so a plus, considering how some of the less fortunate treated themselves.

[Hammer Sister]

Rob hangs up the phone.

Ah fuck; someone must have seen me shooting one of the assailants.

Ten minutes later, dressed in his smartest suit, Rob leaves his apartment, heading for the police station. His mood is... ambivalent at best. While he has had rewarding assignments from law enforcement in the past, he's also had to deal with a lot of shit on the way; the more numerous private cases, though often less interesting, always felt more rewarding, thanks to the respect he received from his clients.

He then remembers that his actions saved Mordriana from being kidnapped. Maybe it won't be so bad. I may even get my next case; after all, someone has to find out where that air transport came from, and what group those patches represents...

[yamikuronue]

Erika smiles faintly to herself as she tucks the tickets and raffle ticket carefully under her new mattress. The place was still too small, but she had food, and a bed that wasn't broken, and a new outfit or two, so things were definitely looking up.

T wakes up in an alley, under a makeshift shelter to keep the rain off. It was cold and damp, unlike her dreams, but it was what she was used to, and it was a hell of a lot safer than her old gilded cage. Still, though... that field, that sky, didn't feel dangerous like the mansions of the rich. Maybe she ought to leave this city and see if she could find a place like that, a place where honest, simple work would get her enough to live on.

Yeah, right. Like I'd ever make it out of here, she thinks to herself, coughing into her elbow.

[CalamityJade]

Rob didn't have to wait long before being sequestered into an interview room. There wasn't any talk about charges or arrest or even anything about shootings, but someone obviously wanted to talk to him about last night and wanted privacy to do so. Still hard to tell whether that was a good or bad thing though.

A few minutes later a man in a rather familiar uniform came in. A dark blue uniform with silver stitching, buttons and belt buckles with the crest of New Avalon on the left and right shoulders. Shit, the Guilded Response Department? From what Rob knew, the GRD was responsible for responding and handling criminal cases that had something to do with the Welcomed of New Avalon. This gave them a good amount of leeway with how they handled cases, as they responded mostly to the 'ruling class' of the city and were to 'repair and remove what broke so that the entire place would shine like the sun' giving them the nickname jewelers. "Good morning, Mr. McCarthey." The man had short, black hair and dark brown eyes. He'd removed the hat from his uniform and carried it with him as he took a seat across the table from the private room in the police office. "I hope you got some rest from last night's events."

Erika's morning continued on this rather nice upswing from there. She'd gotten information that she'd have her regular shift, but that the manager was busy with some sort of big business meeting, so she wouldn't have to deal with that. Even with the events from last night, she hadn't been accosted by the police and she'd been relatively unscathed. And before then she'd been able to see several famous people...maybe one of them would recognize her later and she'd get a new job that actually paid well enough to start getting out of...actually, her 'luck; had been getting better since she made that deal with Mr. Harrox...but that just had to be coincidence right? I mean...he hadn't actually DONE anything yet, as far as she remembered.

When T moved, she realized she was holding that crystal that Mordriana had given her. Though she didn't entirely remember picking it up. Probably went to sleep holding it so she wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to grab it in her sleep. There were always a couple of theves around that would take your shoes if they could. Still...the dream had been nice. But no one left New Avalon. Not that anyone didn't go out of the city, but they always ended up back here. From what she'd remembered her fa- The one that'd picked her up had mentioned something like that. That there were places outside of New Avalon that seemed more real than the 'blinding buildings and bright people' that lived here. He was pretty odd, actually. Welcomed, but never really acted like it.

[yamikuronue]

Weird, though -- the only thing T usually clutches in her sleep is her knife. It was a really nice dagger, with a bone handle carved in the shape of a dragon; the one who she lived with had given it to her, and she'd hate to lose it. Plus, it was the first thing she'd want if someone woke her anyway. He'd taught her enough of how to use it to make her feel secure out here as long as she had it to hand. But to have the crystal in the other hand... that's weird.

[Hammer Sister]

Shit.

"Good morning officer," Rob greets as warmly as he is able to bring himself to. "I slept quite well, all things considering, thankyou."

[CalamityJade]

The officer gave a polite nod as he sat. "That is good to hear. Let me introduce myself. I am Vormir Drauss of the Guilded Response Department. I wished to speak with you about the events of the previous evening. From what we managed to gather, you were one of two citizens that had the closest interaction with the assailants, yes?" Well..at least this guy was straight and to the point.

The knife was still nearby, so it must not have been too much of a problem...now that it wasn't night she could see that the crystal had a light blue tint to it and that the wire wrapped around it had some small scratches at points. Seems like a weird form of payment, but it seemed pretty enough that someone would be willing to spend good money on it. Maybe enough to get some nice food for a while.

[Hammer Sister]

"That is correct, sir. The other citizen was a young girl; I'm afraid I don't know who she is. Together, we were able to stall the assailants and prevent the kidnapping."

[yamikuronue]

T tucks the crystal into her pocket, going over her meager possessions once more, as she does every morning:

• 
  

  One stuffed bear, half the stuffing torn out from a small slit in the side and one eye missing. Inside, she's stored her supply of cash: only a few scales remain from the handful of crowns she'd stolen on her way out the door, and thus far, begging hadn't netted her more than a few pence, but still, best to keep it safe

  
  


• 
  

  One bone-handled knife, for protection

  
  


• 
  

  One small packet of matches she's saving for emergencies. The sulfur-headed devices were safer than they used to be, but she still didn't trust them inside the bear, preferring to burn her skin than her money-hiding device.

  
  

And now, one glowing crystal, given to her by a fortune-teller in exchange for her "fate". Weird. She grabs the bear's arm, standing with a stretch, and looks around her hidey-hole. It'd been a few days,  which meant it was time to start scouting for a new place -- but first, to the dumpster behind the restaurant at the end of the block, to see if she could find any food.

[CalamityJade]

Vormir gave a nod. "She did seem very adept at disappearing. There are already people looking for her, but this is a large city." A small hint of concern. Maybe he wasn't nearly as strict as he was giving off. "But what I wanted to ask was about the men in question. Given your occupation, I would imagine you had ample time to gather some sense of them?" That...was a little alarming. Sure, they asked for a vocation from everyone entering the city, but wasn't looking at those records rather frowned upon?

Score one for her! Someone had thrown out some singed toast and jam. Probably some fresh guy that didn't watch what he was doing and tried to cover his mistake. Of course, there was no way someone working there would actually be any good at that. It was a privelage of the Welcomed to get away with things, and other just had to- "There you are!" Well..that wasn't good. From the tone of voice it was someone else accustomed to 'making their own way' and was also unhappy with T. That could be a long list, but not many would start things first thing in the morning.

[yamikuronue]

T has put the bear down to grab the toast in her left hand, keeping her right hand free for just this sort of occasion. She stuffs the toast in her mouth as she draws her dagger, turning wary eyes on the newcomer, ready to grab her bear and bolt if need be or fight if she thinks she can win.

[Hammer Sister]

Well, that was a little forward... may as well roll with it; it's not like I can do anything else anyway...

"I can only go by what I saw, which unfortunately wasn't much, but it did seem clear to me that these people were organised; while I didn't get a clear view of it, it was obvious they had some sort of aircraft to make their getaway in. But they also didn't appear to have an exit strategy for if things went wrong, which makes me think they were over-confident; a mistake often made by the inexperienced. Plus, with only three of them, they were always going to be vulnerable to a counter by a few brave and/or foolish citizens, especially with a crowd of that size."

[CalamityJade]

And there was Dergus. He was a pretty big guy for being in the gutters with everyone else, but he had a mean streak long enough to take whatever food or money he could get. He also seemed to have a particular problem with T and had gotten in several long-standing fights with. "Well well, whatcha got there, little bird?

Vormir gave that all thought. "I would tend to agree...except for the last point. Depending on your outlook, that would be rather safe with that small amount of people." He sighed a moment before continuing. "The aircraft seemed to disappear, which is quite a feat with as many lights are around the city. Then there was the fact of the assailants that were left...did you get a good look at them before the police arrived at the stage?"