872/Act While In Delirium

Act While In Delirium
Date of Scene:	28 October 2014
Location:	Divided Equestria <DE>
Synopsis:	A church is investigated by several people in order to find clues on a grisly murder.
Cast of Characters:	239, 264, 470, 475, 513
Tinyplot:	Crying Clowns

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Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Divided Equestria. Pretty and pastel though the land may be, not all is right here. Named for its divisive and warring factions led by the formerly gentle and friendly Element Bearers. For those who don't know it, this is a world that has gone so very wrong. For those who do know it, then this will simply be another journey into a world of tragedy and pain.
    With the recent chaos near Golden Pines that has probably been covered up fairly effectively by the Archmagister's faction, House Moon and Star, the populace is on edge, running on rumors and hissed whispers of terrors in the night, but things have gotten worse.
    Pinkie Pie has gone missing.
    Hard Boiled Manehattan detective, Gum Shoe seems to be in need of help at the town of Sunny Hills.
    Something monstrous happened in a small church in the town of Riversplit, just west of Stalliongrad in Twilight's territory.
    Everything is going so horribly.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Lunars have this way of simply riding rumors like a ship sails witht he wind, it seems. One might say that a little bird tells them about things...

    That probably isn't literally true. Most of the time. And it's not the case this time.

    But a red-tailed hawk has come swooping down from the skies after investigating the rumored Churchgrounds. It's acting like no red-tailed hawk should, really, peeking into windows, looking at the grounds...

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Wearing her broad-rimmed hat and accompanied by a silent, capable-looking stallion bodyguard, Twilight pulls up near the CHURCH in a carriage, as usual. The Archmagister herself has come to take a look, muttering dangerously about 'issues' with the interrogation. Ness may be with her, but the important thing is that she's looking over the church with a thoughtful, considering pair of eyes.

    The unicorn adjusts her hat and sighs. "Might as well see what Secret Service turned up. Where are they, anyway?"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness is, indeed, nearby the Archmagister. He's giving a sideways look at the bodyguard, apparently not sure what to think of them still. He has one hand in his pocket and the other has a half-bent Lucky Strike between his gloved fingers, which he smokes idly, "Good question, Archmagister." He agrees with her, adjusting the hat atop his head and appraising the church with careful gaze.

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    Also arriving with the group at the church is a vaguely familiar seeming woman in a very nice suit. She's armed to the teeth, as is completely natural and unremarkable in these dangerous times, and will take a look out at the church. "Secret Service? I'm sure they're very capable." She says, a bit neutrally in tone, mostly just wanting to make conversation. She'll rub at her red-specked eyes before getting out and looking around the area, trying to scope out the surroundings of the scene before they might head inside.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    The town of Riversplit is a small river town close to the edge of Moon and Star's territory to the north, bordering lands with constant threat from Rainbow Dash's House Stormwing territory, and the mountainous borderlands that are home to the Gryphons to the north. It's set right by the main river that feeds water to Stalliongrad, but needless to say the people and ponies here are always a little on an edge due to the double threat from the north, even though the borders are pretty well defended.
    But this is something that's struck close to home for them. The town is quiet, with most of the residents locking themselves away while Secret Service and his investigators wander the streets, questioning from house to house, a slew of ponies and men in dark suits with shades doing dark work.
    The church itself is a hotbed of activity. Armed and armored Moon and Star guards cordon the area off- taking no notice of the hawk that a COMPLETELY NORMAL HAWK touching down. They're more focused on the higher ranks coming to investigate.
    Twilight Sparkle, Ness, and Polite words are all aproached by a slim unicorn pony, brown pelt, black mane, dark shades over his eyes and an ear-piece. He also has a suit on, though it doesn't hide hise cutie mark of an ear wire.
    Meet Secret Service.
    "Archmagister. Federal Agent." He pauses squinting at Polite Words, "Associates. Unexpected but pleasant surprise." He says in a dry, completely business oriented tone. "You'll be pleased to hear we haven't let anyone in or out of the scene. We have the priest detained for questioning, or you can see the site yourself."

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "Have we met before?" The federal agent says to Polite Words. He extends a gloved hand to her and says, "Eliot Ness, US Treasury Department. Miss Sparkle hired me through the Syndicate," Whether he's met Polite Words before or not, he can't remember, so he's being polite and introducing himself.

    "What happened here?" Ness asks immediately to Secret Service. Ness admits to liking the police ponies more than the federal ones, just because they gave him less of a hard time before he got a footing here. This shows in his tone, "Any witnesses?"

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    "Hmmn." Twilight looks thoughtful, somewhat like her younger self might, considering the situation. "So much activity, it isn't a good sign..." She lets Ness meet Polite, walking toward the church with a curt nod to Secret Service. "Good work."

    She's not exactly friendly to her underlings, but given her reputation that's to be expected. SS probably knows her well enough to realize she's thinking more about the problem than any niceties. "Let's look at the site for now. I don't trust an oral recounting without a way to question it back."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "Murder. Ritualistic. No witnesses." Secret Service replies. Because Ness is now in Twilight's employ he gets the full breakdown, and the suit-clad pony seems to not let Ness' tone get to him, one hoof rising to adjust his shades before motioning inside the church. "It's a mess in there. Whoever did it tried to make sure to defile everything as much as they could. The priest found it this morning and reported it. We've been here all day because it's highly suspected to be Cult activity."
    The way is opened immediately when Twilight wants to take a look, guards stand aside, leading into the entrance of a small chapel. The pews have been smashed and wrecked, display of a clear struggle. Stained glass windows have been smashed and there's old blood everywhere. The unicorns have used some magic to preserve the scene, but the worst of everything would have to be the lone body laid out on the altar.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Oh hey, all kinds of official-looking people are appearing. The Red-tailed hawk has perched itself on a sign while examining the church. Nobody pays much attention to animals, even if one happens to be doing something weird it's just an animal, right? One that'll probably do something weird, head somewhere it shoulodn't, and get baked into a pie maybe.

    This one, however, is keen on getting into some other kind of mess.

    It takes off with a mighty set of flaps and circles the church again. If there's any way in - a broken wall, a belltower (if it's old enough), a large vent maybe...

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness nods his head and says to Secret Service, "Ritual Murder. This have anything to do with the undead sightings?" He asks to Secret, scratching under his chin and sighing a bit in thought, "If it's cult activity, it might be just the beginning," He conjectures, stepping into the chapen when it's opened.

    Ness takes off his hat slowly and then takes a deep breath, looking around the room. His keen detective abilities kick in as he tries to piece together a narrative from the crime scene's current evidence.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    There is actually a slew of shattered windows for the hawk to get through- with enough space for Finna to get in and snoop around.
    Clopping along in with the group, Secret Service chuffs softly. "Potentially. Hard to tell with the Cult of Laughter. Though this doesn't look like one of their usual works. There's something off about it."
    From the wreckage to the chapel it looks like there were multiple assailants, terrible scrawlings in several handwriting styles deface relics and holy images of Celestia- even gone, some have taken to worshipping her, despite the dark circumstances of her disappearance. Something might stand out to Ness, though. The knife in the corpse.
    The corpse itself is in horrible condition, mangled and clawed, but the altar the body was set on has been etched and scraped, sigils and runic signs of magic written in an elaborate magical ritual of some kind. It's hard to tell if the dead was a man or a woman, from the level of damage, but they WERE a unicorn.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    After a few moments, Ness says aloud, "Multiple attackers." He paces around the room a bit, cigarette in hand. He's pretty sure the magic will keep the ash from mucking with the crime scene. He thinks for a few more seconds, "That knife is from the assassin that has been targetting the Archmagister. Or it resembles hers."

    He rubs his chin and places his hat back on his head, looking to the corpse while clenching his jaw, "Motive's not fully clear. Might be sending a message. Might NOT have been a message to Twilight." He looks at the corpse, "Internal problems in the cult, could be house cleaning disguised as something more. Could be framing the assassin for a ritual. It's not clear yet."

    He looks to Twilight and the guest, "Either way, very unsettling."

Finna (513) has posed:
    With everyone else entering the Church, Finna decides to mute the sound of her wings flapping (which involes infusing her body and motions subtly with Essence...) as she takes perch on a rafter overlooking the altar. With raptor vision, she doesn't need to be very close to examine fine details. And what the bird-shaped Lunar's seeing is disgusting her. Some cult's work is right, that's for sure.

    She'd intended to investigate more thoroughly given some rumors that had reached her, but with others coming in that'll have to wait. It would not look good if she was found here- these people do not seem friendly, and she might seem too suspicious.

    What luck thouggh, the people who followed know much more about this than she does. Perhaps she will not need to investigate too much more than them...

    But she does know quite well that murderers often return to the scene of a crime. Something like this might well lure the culprit back to watch investigators bumble around. So while she's watching and listening, her ears are open for the sound of anyone else approaching. Possibly even them just breathing...

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Twilight's horn lights up, giving a little extra light to the scene... and in a wavelength that throws disturbances into sharp relief. Walking in with Ness, she frowns at the mention of the knife and what it could mean.

    "This doesn't seem like that assassin's manner," she finally says. "Insane, maybe, but she's always done things in a very clean, planned manner. Someone in the same faction, maybe? Or..." She pauses, pondering. "This is your area of expertise."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    The whole scene is rife with the muted noise of all the investigators outside, too many feet, too many lungs, too many rustling suits of armor. Though Secret Service frowns deeply, he hasn't seemed to notice Finna just yet. "Markings on the face match the Assassin's last known attacks but the rest isn't making much sense."
    The corpse indeed has an ear to ear smile cut on the face, eyes gouged out in star shapes. But the body itself looks like it's been partially DEVOURED.
    Written in blood on the base of the altar is the word 'Lamb'
    "The priest is with my men outside. He'll be detained for questions at your leisure, Archmagister."
    Twilight's light results in an odd shimmer of the blood in the circle. Places where it didn't finish seeping in.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness conjectures aloud, "If there's in-fighting in the Cult, this could be one group trying to pin their hits on the assassin," Ness theorizes, sighing a bit and exhaling some smoke. He adjusts his tie with his free hand and looks at the word.

    "Lamb mean anything to you, Archmagister?" He asks, reaching out to touch the marks that indicate devouring, "This body has teeth marks, I think. Could be more of those laughing dead."

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    Twilight is walking around the edge of the scene, more analytical than anything else. "Mn." That's her reply to Secret, nodding that she heard his statement before she moves to look at another angle. Her eyes are on the arrangement, the details.

    Finally, the Archmagister looks up. "Necromantic. Possibly attempting to raise the victim as a servant. It doesn't look like they got to finish though. Someone interrupted the ritual. Lends support to the factional rift... unless we have a vigilante on our hooves, but it would be a vicious one."

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    The Sidereal will catch up in a literal sense, as well, coming in from the outside. In spite of her usual lack of footwear, she's very lightfooted in the crime scene, moving from one side of the church to the other, not seeming too worried about disturbing Ness or the Magister. She's going to kneel down, finally, near where the word has been written.

    Someone might think she's using some sort of super secret Sidereal technique to get more information. They'd be completely wrong. Emily is kind of meh at this sort of investigation, and is really on the whole much better at making corpses than she is at investigating who else made them. "Necromancy terribly common around here?" Though she'd fought some undead.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    If it was the Laughing Dead they're not present now. Though all past accounts of them have displayed them to be fairly mindless and not capable of such elaborate displays. They barely even have the motor function to hold a knife let alone wield one.
    "Priest says this might have been the grounds keeper. Been missing all day, all sources lead to that so far. Name was 'Grave Marker'. Kept the church in order. Background checks come up clean for him. "Trying to figure out the significance of the word ourselves." Secret Service adds.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness nods to Secret Service, "Your reports show the Groundskeeper as a Unicorn? Looks like the vic was one." He notes, taking his hand off the bite wound and wiping his gloves with a hankerchief, "I doubt lamb has the same religious significance here. I don't know what it could be."

    Ness seems a bit stumped, pacing the room a bit. He takes out a brush and a container of powder and dusts the jutting knife for fingerprints.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    "Necromancy is not common," Twilight says in a serious tone. "Only the Cult of Laughter practices it with any great regularity. And this has all the marks of something of theirs. What we don't know is why..."

    Twilight stops and glances to the door. "Agent, what do you think of the theory that he may have seen something he shouldn't have, hm?"

Polite Words (239) has posed:
    "Right." Polite Words says, standing back up and dusting her untouched skirt off. "His name was Grave Marker?" She asks, looking for confirmation. "And.. Lamb has a few different meanings for rituals like this where I'm from." She briefly considers something, but seems to decide to pass for the moment on sharing with the group, stepping away from the altar.

    "Well. I suppose necromancy would have its uses; this would be much easier if we could just ask them." She jests, quietly, gesturing towards the body.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "Grave Marker. Sex: Male. Species: unicorn. No family, no relatives. Quiet type. Kept to himself. Retired war veteran for house Moon and Star. Nothing of major note beyond that." Secret Service reads off from memory, adjusting his shades.
    Did he see something?
    "Possible. Eyes were gouged out. Standard Cult of Laughter practice."
    The knife is... COVERED in fingerprints. Ness hits a complete jackpot as he gets a whole hand worth of them. Several full prints and a few partials. Just who they belong to though is anyone's guess right now.

Finna (513) has posed:
    All things considered, Finna isn't really a good investigator. She's run into some cults. It's usually very easy to figure out where people are disappearing to, who's behind it, and slitting a few throats or going snake on someone. No fair fight's owed a demon cultist or awful necromancer, after all!

    But nitty-gritty crime investigation? Someone else in the Blooded Hawks did that, if it was ever necessary. She paid attention, but... well, that's about what she's doing now, isn't it? Paying attention to what the more competent people are saying.

    Seen something he shouldn't have, huh? Now this is worth investigating.

    Oh well, looks like it's time to reveal herself.

    Shapeshifting back into human form, Finna descends from the rafters... on a string of silky, silvery Essence. Literally, she's hanging like a spider from Essence webbing attached to the rafter. For those few strong-willed enough to see it, fox ears that glitter silver and a wagging tail adorn her otherwise human form.

    She's RIGHT BEHIND the group. Like, ten feet behind them.

    "Seen something he shouldn't have, huh? And missing all day? Then where might he have gone? I might be able to tell you!"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness carefully picks up the knife and puts it in a plastic bag. One good thing about communicating with future worlds: Plastic bags. A simple pleasure he was learning to love. He holds the bag out to Secret Service, "Peace offering. You might get some good leads off this." To Polite, he sighs a bit and then says, "It's similar in my world. But I am not sure Lamb would have the same meaning here. Maybe a name?"

    Ness looks to Twilight, "This wasn't the Assassin. Look at all these prints. She wears gloves. You may be right at this person saw too much, I may be right this is a frame job. Right now what we should do i-" He cuts off when Finna speaks, "Archmagister get back!"

    Ness, having already had one person come out of nowhere to try to kill Twilight, won't risk it again. He reaches under his jacket and draws a pistol, immediately stepping between Twilight and Finna as he pulls back the hammer on it, "Who are you?"

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    "Hello, Finna," Twilight says when the foxgirl introduces herself. She's met her before! Toying with her hat, she considers. "She is... not harmless, but likely not hostile, Federal Agent. And she may be able to help us."

    She glances to Polite next, shaking her head. "I know all kinds of magic, but I do avoid Necromancy as much as I can. Bad news, all around." She frowns. "But I want whomever did this found. Defacing the Sisters is not something that I take lightly." There's a very faint, cold threat in her voice, probably the sharpest that any have heard yet.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    When Twilight gives the 'all clear', Ness seems to relax, nodding his head to her. He uncocks the gun and reholsters it at his hip. He looks towards Finna and tips his hat, "My apologies, maam. Can't be too careful during times like these and I take my jobs very seriously."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Finna's sudden appearance catches Secret Service off guard, and in an instant he too has whipped around, horn glowing with an aggressive light and trained on the Lunar. But when the Archmagister seems to know her, he backs down. Though a watchful eye is kept on her from beneath his shades, he gratefully accepts Ness' plastic bag of evidence storage. "I'll have the prints taken back to the lab. See what we can do from there." To Finna's offer he peers. "Whatever you're going to do, I want one of my ponies watching you the whole time."
    Well he's not going to stop her.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Whoah there." Finna frowns, whilst upside-down. So it kinda looks like a smile. But she seems to be unfazed by the threat of a firearm - and glowing horn - pointed her way. Not unusual for an Exalt, really. She figures he won't get twitchy or instincts fingers as long as she doesn't get any closer... so she smoothly rights herself and drops to the floor.

    "Sheesh. If I was gonna attack any of you, isn't saying 'hi' first just a biiiiiiiiiit silly?" 'Not harmless, huh.' Mostly harmless?

    Mostly harmless. Should she be proud of that rating? Oh well.

    She does smile when Eliot stnds down though, and plants a hand on her hip. "Twilight! Haven't seen you since that chat in the other Equestria, and now I'm hearing there's assassins after your tail.... some spooked peoplee came through a warp gate earlier muttering about a murder so I came by for a look... and if this has to do with the Cult of Laughter, I'll lend a nose as well. No promises, you know how unreliable scent trails can be. Anyone creepy enough to make zombies laugh needs a claw in the face."

    Not apparently 'anyone creepy enough to make zombies,' but making them laugh was going too far in her book?

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "Oh right, I remember you now. You were at that incursion of them on the border of Golden Pines, yes?" He asks to Finna, "Sorry, I just plum forgot you," He apologizes again, "I was burning the midnight oil and wasn't on all sixes that night."

    He looks to Secret Service and nods to him, "Might pull up some results on those prints. Then we know who to shake down till they squawk like a songbird."

    He rests his right hand in his left and cracks his knuckles through his gloves.

Magister Twilight (475) has posed:
    "Any help you can provide would be appreciated," Twilight says mildly. "Something is getting everything all riled up again, and I'm not going to let things get out of hoof again."

    She pats Eliot on the shoulder, then walks toward the door for now. "We'll see what the Priest knows later. This is definitely not something commonplace. If this is a botched ritual... it makes me wonder if a successful one went undetected. And that... could spell trouble."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "If it's a botched ritual, this'll happen again... I can bet you that much." Finna grumbles out... then turns to Eliot Ness with a grin.

    "Uhh-huh! And the person behind it's won a prize: my personal attention! A week's worth of nightmares.... rrrruuuurgh." She shudders, whilst making a disgusted face.