5030/A Crystal In A Dune ft. Raha and Mihk

A Crystal In A Dune ft. Raha and Mihk
Date of Scene:	20 January 2017
Location:	Immortal Flames HQ, Ul'Dah
Synopsis:	Mihk and Raha do a bit of detective work to puzzle out who killed an Amaljah spy in the IF.
Cast of Characters:	N'raha Tia, 573

---

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Let it never be said that the Immortal Flames did not know how to handle prisoners. The Brass Blades may be the 'police' of Ul'dah, but the Grand Company still had work to do when prisoners of war were brought in. Even if they were murderous beastmen.

    But now one of those beastmen had been murdered in his cell. And the list of suspects was great. And no one wanted to talk to each other, it would seem. It would have been a breeze for the Flames to call up the Maelstrom to borrow an arcanist, of course, but that would have required their brass to talk to each other and then let the Maelstrom or the Yellow Jackets into Ul'dah on Official Business which would have meant, well. Questions. Like how the Amalj'aa ended up dead.
    And so, Outside Help. The Scions.

    Raha sighs a bit, looking at the setting sun through the small window to the outside world, the metal bars blocking off escape from the dimly lit cell. The scene had been trampled, and the body taken away of course. No one wanted a rotting lizardman in their midst, right? Right.

    Swift, High Commander of the Flames, stood close by. "Mr. Raha, are you certain she'll come? I have to admit, the stories you told..."
    The Miq rubs at his face and sighs at the mess in the cell. "She'll be here. As much damage as has been done... she still loves Eorzea. She doesn't want to see the Primals any more than we do."

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Click click click. Boot heels approach down the hallway. Mihk has never been one for the City States. The Guild has largely been accepted here but there are still many tensions in her own version of Eorzea. The Keeper turns the corner to the cell, and stands in the doorway, looking around and heaving a sigh. "I hope your men haven't trampled all traces, it's difficult enough to pick out lifetraces with an undisturbed scene, let alone one that has had uncareful boots stamping all over it." her tone is deadpan, but she seems to be here sincerely.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha casts a fleeting smile at the fellow Miqo'te, ears perking. "Hey, you came. Nice to see you." Though, she's already down to business. He shuffles back to the corner, and clears his throat.
    Swift is the next to step forward, looking into the room a bit. "As much as I could, once I found out what had properly happened. Someone actually called in a conjurer to save the bastard but it was no use. Dead long before anyone checked on him. Blood everywhere." He taps the underside of his jaw. "Someone shoved a dagger right up into his brain. Or he shoved it himself... or... well. You're the person we're asking." The commander tosses a glance to Raha, who shrugs a bit.

    The cell is bloody, with a large number of footsteps tromped through the bloody muck on the ground. There's also a stool that apparently was used to chain up the Amalj'aa to the great big shackles on the walls, and a bucket, also soaked in blood. It looks like someone had to turn it over to empty it out partway as well. Ew.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk sighs softly, and unhooks her Tome from her belt. "I warn, this will not be easy, nor will the information I do glean be very clear." Aether begins to gather into the page, the Geometry lifting from the page and beginning to turn, animating with the flow of energy. "I will, however, do what I can."

    The Miqo'te casts the spell, filling the room with animated 'glyphs' that seem to be seeking any unique markers in the general mess.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Glyphs and symbols appear and sway across the room, the Geometry flickering to life and slowly building up... a resonance. Magic was math was science was information, and this room is a wealth of that information.

    THINGS TO VIEW IN THIS ROOM:
    Manacles
    Blood Splotches
    Stool
    Bucket
    Cell Door
    Raha
    Swift

    Raha is rather surprised to see himself singled out, for the record.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk begins at the top of the list, focussing her attention on the manacles, though she does glance briefly at Raha for a moment... she'll get to him soon.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The manacles are heavy and made of cold steel, the sort of thing one might bind up the more magical sorts of things that one might fight out in the wolds of Eorzea. They are also Aether enchanted, to subtly inflict... discouragement from struggling in them, too much.
    Magical traces of blood from... someone Fire-aspected. Maybe the Amalj'aa but it's a lead.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk nods, writing the information into her tome in a glowing ink, before turning her attention to Raha. Might as well find out why the spell put a tracer on him. Her mismatched eyes casting over him to retarget the spell's focus.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "Uwah, hi hello." Raha's eyes cross a bit as Mihk focuses on him, and...
    The Echo pulses within him, and he blinks a few times. The touch of Mother Hydaelyn is close. Soothing.

    But there's also a flash of anger and rage, deep within the Cat and his anxious smile. He's... hardened, since the last time Mihk's saw him, at least. He's been stained by the same blood that was on the manacles, that Fire-Aspect tinged in his aura, but it's fading now.

    Raha raises his hand. "I was one of the guys who brought the bastard in, just f-for the record, and I have an alibi, if we're... uh, questioning people."

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    "Your aura has a fire aspected tilt... it is fading, but still there. Interesting." she doesn't seem to notice the 'presence' of Mother Hydaelyn, maybe she can't see the Light of the Crystal?

    That done, she turns then to the blood splotches, of course writing down the findings before moving on.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    BOY THAT WAS A LOT OF BLOOD. It must have been gallons of the stuff, all told, before it flooded down the drain in the middle of the muddy cell. There's footsteps in the muck, it looks like from when soldiers came in to take the corpse away, and from the 'what's all this then' phase of the 'investigation'.

    hough... funny. One set of the footprints seems to be... under the blood stain, in the muck, before the blood filled it.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha also brushes at himself a bit, blushing at the 'fire-aspected' comment, and mumbles something about 'firey heart of a warrior' and tries to look gallant at Mihk.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk is focussed on her task at hand, stooping and frowning a bit at the footprints. "There is a footprint here." she says, gesturing to a very confused looking area of the floor. "It was there before the blood spilled... however it is impossible to tell who or what made it." She shakes her head, then shifts to the door of the cell, standing and brushing her robe out.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Swift... seems to react more strongly to that than the rest of the comments. "Before? Blast it, someone DID see something." He brushes at the runes hovering over him, and tries to walk away towards a guardsman down the hall, who snaps to attention and tries to look ANYWHERE but the Commander. Oh dear.

    The Cell Door... curious. This particular model has no latches on the inside, no keyhole, nothing. Even the hinges are on the outside, the better to keep nosy prisoners from removing the door entirely, it seems. The only way in or out, is through the outside, after it's been unlocked and unbarred.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk narrows her eyes a little as Swift leaves, seems she'll have to wait to 'inspect' him. Her attention goes to the upturned bucket, focusing in on that with her Magic enhanced perception.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha blinks a bit over at the bucket, and shakes his head. "Man, that's just a bucket, you're gonna find poo in there, Mihk."
    Well, there might have been poo at one time. If this was that sort of bucket. Someone went to the trouble to get a new bucket, before this mess happened, because all that's in it is Amalj'aa blood. Or the traces of it.
    Also... steel? Which is odd in a tin bucket. Weapon steel? Mihk's getting a sense of a blade of some sort.

    There's also... a less bloody spot, in the shape of a bucket, directly underneath the place where the Amalj'aa was likely hanging when he was murdered.
    Sacrifice? Hmmm.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    "This is odd. It's new, likely changed not long prior to the incident." she furrows her brow, writing down what she finds. "Steel? This is a tin bucket, but I am sensing the elemental presence of weapon-grade steel, some kind of blade.

    She then looks to another spot as her eyes are drawn to it, pointing it out. "There... maybe the bucket was used to catch blood as a form of sacrifice?" She then shifts to the stool nearby, focussing on that.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The stool is likewise coated with blood, the fluid soaked in to make a fine brown patina at this point. But there's smear marks on the sides where someone might have been standing when stuff went down.
    Raha blinks at all that, and grumbles. "Gross. So they stabbed him and stole his blood? W-what can you do with blood like that?" There's an uneasy green look to his face now.

    Swift is now in full Drill Instructor Mode outside, giving someone the ass-chewing of their life.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk looks out into the hallway, and while Swift is occupied, focusses her senses on him. He was marked for a reason, now it's time to find out why.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The Geometry is... scant on this one, though there's lifetrace of the Amalj'aa on him as well.
    He seems to be finishing up his lecture on proper procedures and security, and turns back to the group, walking over. "...Many apologies. There apparently really needs to be a refresher course on how to handle... sensative prisoners, if what you're starting to describe is true." He readjusts his hat, putting himself good and proper again.

    There's red-brown smudges on his gloves.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk looks the Commander over. "Tell me, Commander... where did you get those smudges on your gloves?" she asks conversationally, closing her tome and hooking it back on her belt. "Regardless, there's precious little information here, your men did a smashing job of destroying many possible leads."

    She doesn't have much love for the City States and a very sarcastic streak. "I can tell you that this was likely somehow linked to the Beastmen. There are signs of sacrificial blood gathering."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Swift looks down at his gloves and then up at the arcanist, and... has the good sense to look embarassed. "Bother, I thought that... hrm. I tried to place everything back into the place of where it was when the initial report came in. I had... I thought it would help with the investigation." WELP.

    The 'trampling' bit also gets a sigh. "Many apologies, Lady Lihzeh. We are... not used to working with arcanists or the police forces of the other City-States." He takes off the cap, and bows. "We'll make sure to get this information to Raubahn and the others. I'm sure Mr. N'raha has the same task for the Scions."

    The Seeker smiles, and nods at Swift. "Yeah, I will. Hey, g-go on ahead, I've got to talk with Mihk for a bit. Is that alright?"
    Swift nods, and then stalks off, replacing his cap and glaring at the guard as he passes.
    A sigh, and a slump of shoulders from Raha, who shakes his head. "It's not much, but... it's a start. Someone let someone in to kill that guy. I mean, I don't blame them for that, but... gathering blood? That's just... Ugh."

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    "I smell something foul, and it is not the lingering corpsestench." Mihk says, looking over at Raha after Swift has left to inform the City Leader. "I suspect Tempering... but who, and how, are a mystery." she then steps out of the cell, beckoning Raha to follow. "Let us not linger in a house of the dead."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha doesn't have to be asked twice, and he steps out into the hallway, and starts heading past the guard himself... before turning to Mihk. He takes a breath, and seems to be steeling himself for something. "Okay, so, I was thinking and... You're not with the Feds any more, there are no Feds, you're not a 'baddie'." He makes the airquotes there...

    And then he reaches into his pockets to pull out two things. A linkpearl, and the badge for a Free Company. It's a stylized symbol of the Mother Crystal, with points of light around it. "...I want you with us. I mean, with the group... trying to fix this place. Doc and Highwind are gone, so it's just been... me. Trying to fix everything."
    It doesn't take magesight or Geomety to see the exhaustion in the Miqo'te's face, his body sagging with the effort to ask for help like this.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk looks at the linkpearl, and the badge. She furrows her brow, looking up from the items to Raha's face. "I was never a 'baddie'" she replies, airquoting much in mimicry. "My goals were the survival of Eorzea. If that meant serving it up to the Garleans, as the City States were not doing a good enough job, then so be it." she adds firmly. "That has not changed. Eorzea is my concern, it is my home, I was born here and I intend to die here, an old woman, having lived a long, fulfilling life. If the City States can do that for me, I shall back them. If the Garleans can, they shall have my support. Another force outside of our world? So be it."

    She takes the items, and nods to Raha. "You have my Tome, Warrior, you and your Scions of the Seventh Dawn but know my standing on matters concerning these things."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    A wry grin from Raha, as he leans up against a wall outside the cell block. "I understand, trust me. That's why... I work with the Scions and others like them." No spilling the beans on the Watch, no sir. "...Thanks, by the way. This is... this is bigger than us, it's bigger than all of us."

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    "The whole multiverse is bigger than all of us. We can only manage to do our own small part in it." replies Mihk with an air of pragmatic resignation. "I shall bring this up to my collegues in the League, we shall see if they are able to shed some light where my eyes have failed... I shall be in touch." At that, she turns, and begins to walk away, lest Raha stops her.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha watches her go for a few moments, and then...
    "Still on for fancy dinner, then?" A hopeful tone to that.

Mihk Lihzeh (573) has posed:
    Mihk pauses, looking over her shoulder as her tail swishes. "... sure. Later." she replies and amazingly, offers a small smile. A rare sight indeed on the drow-skinned Keeper.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Oh. Oh hey. That actually worked.

    And then Raha's fluff grows three sizes, and he beams back. Yessssssssssss.