Scene #3290: Magician's Night

Owner	Pose
Nero	Here, in the ever raining, urban jungle known as Ramuh, strange happenings were going down. Previously, a group off Elites approached a seemingly abandoned penthouse to investigate the traces of magecraft within. They were met with incomplete answers, and plenty resistance. Enough that they were forced to retreat and regroup. Now, after taking time to prepare and piece together the few clues they had, a second approach was decided upon. Among the first to arrive was Saber, standing in front of the property with her hands upon her hips. She stared up at the building, an unreadable expression upon her face. Whatever was happening here today, they would certainly put a stop to it once and for all. After putting an end to a war, having a strange, off worlder working their off worlder magic in a nation that was finally coming off of a tense war situation. Inciting a new wave of uncertainty would certainly be no good. So was Saber's line of thinking anyhow. The property was deathly silent. Mist billowing out from it ever onwards. An oppressive feeling could be felt from any who approached this place. As if being warned not to come any further. Those with magic senses could feel that this was a warding spell, meant to turn people away. It was stronger than typically necessary, but still not enough for an Elite. No obvious activity seemed to be taking place from one's vantage point outside. But those who have been inside knew better... It was time. Time to enter yet again.
Scarlet Everille	Scarlet's already familiar with the scenario. She was here last time after all. This time she's come a little more heavily prepared for combat, and with a freshly drawn stack of pre-written countermagics, though neither are visible, as usual. The only real, obvious difference is to those with magic sensitivity, which is the rather dense source of prana within her messenger bag, no doubt the object recovered from this very dwelling roughly a week ago. Who knows? It could be important. "Well, Ashcraft hasn't come back, or if he has, he's done so in an improbably sneaky way. He'd only just left when we arrived before, so I assume he either doesn't intend to come back, or is going to be out for a while longer. Assuming nothing else is at work, this is as good of a chance as any to wrap this up." She adjusts the strap of the bag over her shoulder, casting a second glance to that misty ward, an abnormal amount of red light catching in her eyes.
Lancer of Black	There are few evils in the world Lancer of Black can imagine worse than those done unto children. This is not inconsiderable - on the path to peace, Lancer of Black committed many evils in his life, and is intimately familiar with many more. His experience with evils is vast. If he can't think of much worse, then it probably doesn't exist. It is because of that that the Knight of the Dragon has returned to this miserable rainy grey urban hellhole. Though he loathes the big city and its endless glassy mirror-towers, its hustle, its bustle, and all things in between, the thing he loathes the most is the evil being perpetrated by the Magus. The Servant is not carrying a spear today. He appears unarmed. Of course he is not - he is never unarmed with Kazikli Bey, and in fact has already invoked the Noble Phantasm beyond the enemy's gaze today. It is Lancer's opinion that the enemy will be easier to surprise if he never hears Lancer utter the invokation word. Of course, this means an increased drain on his Master, but Thomas can take it. "We shall see," is all Lancer says as he strides towards the ward.
Kyra Hyral	For Kyra, the concern was more of 'an offworld has come to kill children' which really does reflect poorly on offworlders and Magi of the Grail Wars. Regardless, she was eager to see the situation resolved and this Ashcraft man dragged off, hopefully to be put to death. She's pretty sure that if they manage to capture the man alive that is exactly what the Judges would sentence. Kyra has come prepared though at first glance it doesn't /look/ that way. She seems to be carrying a whole lot less gear than usual, aside from the rocket launcher-like CURE-ALL on her back. She's changed her fingerless gloves to look more bulky-perhaps fighting gloves? Saber would have seen her start wearing them shortly after the command seals appeared on Kyra's hand in order to conceal their location. "Maybe he never left." Kyra suggests, "And he somehow just made it seem like he did. I really hope that is not the case since it could mean he could overpower or counter your scanning magic in some way, Scarlet. But if not, well, this makes an ideal time to finish clearning out this penthouse." She glances to Lancer curiously for a moment before mentioning: "As much as I'd go for some street justice here, if we can capture this guy alive and turn him over to the local law enforcement, I'd actually like to push for that. Strange as that might sound coming out of /me/..."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason wanted to see things to the end on this, they had an extraversal magic user doing experiments on children. There was no go place this could go yet she had ot see it through to the bitter end as she now arrives she's not bothered by the rain, no. She's from Levithan she kinda likes it but right now she she was. She looke dover ot Kyra keeping near her long time friend as she looeked to her. "I don't like the sounds of that but if we can corner this magus? If there was ever a person to get a black spot it's this man."
August Kohler	Last time August Kohler was here, he almost burned the place down. Luckily it got neutralized, but he still feels pretty guilty about it. Hopefully the second time is better. He approaches the others, bowing softly as he peers up at the penthouse. "What's the plan? If he's here...do we kill him?" August grits his teeth as he thinks about it. /Could/ he kill him? Not physically, he believes he could. But could he get the willpower to do it? Only time will tell.
Riva Banari	RIVA'S BACCCCCK Okay so people ight not be jumping for joy on that one. Riva certainly isn't. She didn't REALLY want to come back here. The palce is spooky and full of horrible things. Her sense of justice, however, demanded it. The guy who is responsible for this needs to be punished to the fullets extent of blunt force trauma. "Sooooooooooooooo." riva drawls out as they sort of meander back to the scene of many crimes. "Do we have a plan?" Oh, right. Minor points.
Nero	Saber offered no comments. Everyone seemed to be prepared to do what they came here to do. Or improvise. There was always that. She shifted to spirit form soon after and the group made their way into the premises once again. The lobby was much the same as they had last left it. ...Which meant there were burns and scorches here and there. Traces of ash from burned up wolf corpses could be found as well, though mostly scattered about. And down the western hall, if anyone bothered to look, the results of Lancer's overkill spree from last time were still present. Spears still jutting out from the walls, floor and ceiling. All in all... No one bothered to clean up. Well, they had tackled the eastern hallway last time. What remained were the stairs leading up to the next floor, or the eastern hallway. Lyria mentioned last time that she could sense something underground in the east. That was also the direction that Scarlet had also sensed a large amount of magic power. It was very likely that the two details were connected. There were no ghostly children running around this time. No laughing, no playing. Perhaps they were elsewhere. There was only one way to find out.
Scarlet Everille	As soon as she enters, Scarlet spends a good minute motionless by the door, looking nothing other than a little bit distracted as she mentally goes through the process of remote viewing through each of the bottom rung familiars she had dispersed into the building, cycling through their faculties that pass for vision and hearing like a bank of security camera screens. Provided they're all still accounted for and that they view nothing of note, the only real course of action to follow up on is to dismiss them entirely, sending them back into Nowhere from where they had come. If they should see anything of note, they won't be going anywhere any time soon. "Now where were we?" Redundant question. Breaking the ice. "Right, we were headed down the opposite way on Lyria's recommendation. We've already cleared out the west, and the east has more presence than whatever is upstairs. I'd like to get to that first, before more hired muscle arrives." She gestures down the ash-covered corridor, not even hiding an amused sniff at Kyra's suggestion. "I wouldn't consider it likely. He's ex-Clocktower for a reason."
Kyra Hyral	HEY KYRA IS HAPPY TO HAVE RIVA HERE. "The plan is go in and finish clearing everything out. Collect evidence, maybe we'll find some clues as to where Ashcraft ran off to. Scarlet says he hasn't been back to this place since we were here last." Upon entering, Kyra pauses and takes special note that there were still /spears/ everywhere from Lancer. "Are those...permanent? I didn't think the effects from a Noble Phantasm could stick around given how 'expensive' they are to do." Kyra says slowly, only now a little bit disturbed by this. At that, Kyra motions to the stairs, "I agree, let's hit whatever it is that's the huge source of magical power downstairs. If there's an experiment going on here still, it's probably down there anyway." Kyra heads in that direction but definitely does /not/ lead the way. She leaves that up to the likes of Riva, Saber, and Lancer.
Lancer of Black	"Killing a man is not very hard," Lancer of Black tells August, as if reading his thoughts, "It requires an act of will and a strike in the right place. Human beings are not special, no matter how much we may wish that we were. Capturing a man alive is much harder. Three times the effort is necessary to take a man alive, and it is three times as likely your companions will die." He doesn't volunteer any thoughts on arresting the man. Lancer is not from this world. He doesn't know how its justice system might work, and frankly, once you throw people from outside a world into a world and they start committing crimes against it, who really gets to judge? It's messy. It's unpleasant. And comparitively, simply executing the man before God and everyone was probably the best option. At the same time, the soft-hearted among them would probably not approve. He didn't expect Scarlet would protest fiercely, but Riva, Kyra, and August...none of them truly seemed comfortable with the idea. They were young. They would learn one day. There are some crimes whose punishment is universal. Lancer glances down the hall at the remains of Kazikli Bey's first explosion. That was good. It was a good trap. If he needed to, he could use it. He doubted he would. But if he needed to, he could. Lancer simply turns towards the corridor they're supposed to go down, not saying anything further. His imperious walk is like that of an angered lord storming into the castle of a rebellious subordinate - forceful, fierce, and ready to deal with the situation by any means necessary.
August Kohler	Right as he enters, August takes a breath and summons the spoon into his hand. He wants to be ready this time. He needs to be in control. "East sounds good. Lead the way." He fiddles the spoon in his fingers, following closely behind Lancer as he moves. Lancer seems both trustworthy and wise, if incredibly deadly, and he'd prefer to stick around with him in case the violence starts. Though the silence is a bit unnerving. "...Have you done stuff like this before? Investigating people like...this?"
Riva Banari	Riva nods to Scarlet and Kyra, who lay out The Plan for Riva. This sounds logical. She nods. "Right." We'll see how long that plan lasts. She picks her way through the wrecked lobby, heading in the requested direction. As usual, she helps lead the way because she's become a tanky type. She is staying away from the hall of spears. NO REASON.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason had sensed something underground and was very much aware that there was likely a thing down there, what it was she had no idea. "Sounds like a plan then isnm't it Lady Everille." Lyrai eras on the side of caution and remains formal. For now she's reaching out again and trying to get a feel or the lay of a the land so to speak. "No it's not sadly, sometimes I wonder about that but we can't worry about this now, we need to end this."
Nero	The eastern hall is mercifully silent at first. No sudden traps, no contracted familiars waiting to club them to death. Nothing. Various doors line the inner wall, leading to inconsequential places. Closests, guest rooms, unused storage space. However the furthe they got, the more they would be able to hear something. It sounded like laughter. There it was. The sound of children playing again. Emanating from the door at the end of the hall. It's already ajar in fact, and there is no resistance. Any who open it fully will find a number of ghostly children, four precisely, running about and causing a ruckus in what seemed to be a spirit's version of tag. That is to mean that they were running, flying, and phasing through material objects in an effort to avoid whoever was 'it'. It was a surreal sight. The room itself was like a miniature library. Shelves lined the walls, shelves full of reference material on all manner of things. Magic, biology, medicine, some leisurely novels, and even books on Galiandan history and lore. It seemed this Ashcraft fellow did at least try to learn a bit about this world. Likely only to suit his own ends. But something was wrong. This place was far too small for what Lyria and Scarlet sensed. There must have been a way underground. But where was it? All that could be seen were shelves packed with books. One of the kids, actually the same boy from last time, took notice of the group and smiled. "Hey! It's those guys again! They're back!" He stopped and everyone else stopped as well, looking on curiously. "Are these the guys that were here last time?" "You mean they did that whole BOOM SPEARS EVERYWHERE thing? That was awesome!" "That's not awesome! They killed the big doggie, didn't they?" "I want that hoodie!" ...Talking to them wasn't going to be productive. They were all over the place.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra's eyes linger on Lancer's back, narrowed, as she hears his words to August. Though they hadn't directly addressed her, she knows he was addressing her request for capture and clearly Lancer did not want to be complicit in that. Already she is wondering if she'll have to fight the Servant to keep Ashcraft long enough. "If he dies here, though, without the rest of the world hearing his crimes, then we haven't showed the rest of the Multiverse that Galianda won't be putting up with crap like this." She follows along with the group. "We need to make an example of him. A very public example." The contents of the library surprise Kyra just a little. Were Ashcraft not a child-murdering bastard she'd appreciate his taste in literature and nonfiction. The grim reminder served by the ghost children being present here keeps these feelings well away. "Hey kids." she greets, her voice sounding a lot more subdued than usual, "We're looking for what's probably Ashcraft's lab. We're pretty sure he was up to something really bad-so if you happen to know where it might be or how to get to it-" she points to that one particular child, "-I can order you one of these hoodies."
Lancer of Black	"Intrigue is the game of the nobility," Lancer of Black replies to August patiently, in his thick Romanian accent. He goes quiet again as he looks around he room. The stillness bothers him immensely. Nothing should ever be that still. Stillness meant ambush, and- Ah. The sound of children playing gets Lancer of Black's attention. The Servant is less than amazed by the spectral children playing tag (it's hard to be amazed by something you, yourself, are capable of, and it's important to remember that, as lifelike as he seems, Lancer of Black is basically a magical ghost). He does not comment on Kyra's words. Whether he agrees or disagrees is impossible to tell. His attention is fixed on the children. The Impaler Prince crouches down and reaches for one of the children's heads. At first, it might seem like he's going to do something bad, but the Servant simply ruffles the child's spectral hair. "You are good children," Lancer says quietly, still crouched, "Innocent and honest. Hold to that. It is so rare in the world." Then he straightens. "Where is the man who made you into ghosts?"
Scarlet Everille	"Unofficially, yes." Scarlet replies to August, whether he's speaking to her or not. He seems nervous enough that he could use the conversation. "You don't get very far in my situation without learning how to tell who's behind what, and who's moving against whom in what manner. I'm not big into forensics, but this kind of thing is, admittedly far darker than the usual, but along the same lines." She seems to have nothing to say on the subject Lancer broaches. After all, she's never personally killed anyone. The room at the end of the hallway becomes something of a relief as soon as Scarlet counts to the number 4, and she makes no attempt at hiding a show of it, some implacable quality about her bearing speaking of deep relaxation once all the children are accounted for. It's a wonder that she can smile upon seeing their disembodied ghosts. "There we go. All four, safe and sound~ Relatively." She appends. "So that box wasn't a trapped soul. That's a load off my mind." Scarlet isn't stunningly tall so she doesn't have to crouch down to talk to the kids, merely lean forward with her hands on her knees, long hair sliding over one shoulder. "Mister Ashcraft still hasn't been back yet? Did he tell you when he might be coming home?" Alarmingly, she sounds a hell of a lot like a great babysitter right now, using the kind of tone that immediately puts worried parents at ease, despite the fact that anyone should know she's never had to suffer small children in her life. A few people are asking the same questions, but she might get a little more cooperation by couching it more simply and with less obvious ulterior motive. She's already getting a good look around the room though, progressively shifting through higher and higher phases with increasing expenditures of magic until something becomes visible. She's not too hopeful for a cliche secret lever disguised as a book, but she refuses to believe her initial impression had been so wrong.
Riva Banari	Riva os gettign considerably spooked by the time they reach the door. I mean, she KNOWS what she's going to see in there. Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite what she had in mind. "Hey guys." Riva says with a sort of wan wave. "Nice to see you all again." The others have more or less taken up trying to ask questions of the kids, so Riva starts poking around. Nice library. Maybe there's a closet or something somewhere that might lead downstairs?
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason humms at the size of the place something's wrong she can feel it it's not the right size too. "So this place is way too small from what I was sensing." She pauses at the kdis and does look at them for a moment looking at hte kids with a fair but of syampthy at least they seemed to be happy and still kids, yet? This had to to be set right. She keeps calm and is looking about while others ask questions. She looks to Scarlet fort a moment thinking. "He could have another bolt hole or we got to find how to get to the rest of it."
August Kohler	"Do we? Is it really worth the risk...murder's wrong, but, if he fights us, should we really take the chance to try and capture him? If he surrenders, we can capture him, but if not..." August sighs again deeply, the spoon twiddling speeding up. He's going to respond to Lancer, when the children run through. August eyes for the child he spoke to last time, kneeling towards him when he spots him. "Hey. How are you doing? It's been a while since we last spoke, hasn't it?"
Nero	"Huh?" The boy whom Lancer addressed blinked a few times before answering. "Ghosts? We're ghosts?" He tilted his head a bit. "Mr Ashcraft said that we were going to be heroes! Heroes that opened the path! The path to....uh....what was it again?" Seems like he didn't remember. He trailed off, a look on his face making it seem as if he was wracking his brain to come up with the answer. So much so that he didn't actually answer Lancer's question. The one Kyra addressed, a small girl, smiled at Kyra's offer to order her one of those hoodies. "You can!? Hooray!" She hopped up and down excitedly, but then caught herself and tried to look more composed. "Um...! I mean, well-" She looked at the boy who had spoken to Lancer, and then back to Kyra. "...You want to go downstairs?" Ah, so there was a lower area. She turned and approached a certain bookshelf situated at the center of the wall of shelves. "Um....which was it...?" She brought a finger to her lip, brow furrowed in confusion. "I....I forgot! Guys, which one was it again?" Another boy looked at Scarlet, floating casually in the air as if he were swimming. It was kind of comical. "Mr Ashcraft?" He stopped his silly ghost swimming and took on a more lazy posture, arms folded behind his head as he looked upwards in thought. "...He left? I don't think he ever left. Right guys?" The others nodded. "He told us he needed to get some important work done a while ago, and then locked himself away somewhere. ...We can't find him!" To the girl that was looking for the way downstairs, he floated over, rubbing his chin. "I think it waaaaaas....this one!" He reached out and pulled a book! There was a KER-CHAK sound. Followed by a creak. The entire bookshelf pressed itself inwards and then slid to the side, revealing a stone staircase leading downwards. It was crude, as if it was hastily made. There definitely wasn't a construction crew involved in this one. The boy that they all spoke to last time gives Riva and August a wave. "Hey! I'm good! It's pretty awesome, not having to eat or sleep. Me and everyone else can just play all we want." He crossed his arms and nodded proudly. "Go to bed? Hah! I don't have to sleep! Take that! AND we're gonna be heroes! Mr Ashcraft told us so!" Heroes, huh?
Scarlet Everille	Oh. Well look at that. Bookshelf lever. If this guy ever installed that in his house where Scarlet lives, he'd never hear the end of it. "So he hasn't been in the house itself for a while, but he hasn't gone outside. It would explain a lot if he were holed up far below us actually. I only wired the house itself, since we never got to this room before, and only Lyria can sense where the underground is." It's faintly annoying, but Scarlet can deal with it. "The real question is what exactly he has down there that's worth an entire, solid week in the basement, and how he's actually living in it. This looks like it was carved out recently. I doubt it's a luxurious, long-term panic bunker." There's no real reason to hide that much from the kids. They don't seem to be in any position to stop them, or to even care enough to try. They can get the disappointing news about going home to their families later. Since it's a well established order by now, she lets Lancer and Riva go down first, going with Kyra near the back. She spends her time on the staircase shuffling through a deck of those thick, heavily inscribed cards, and checking a couple of thin, cylindrical cases with larger stencils rolled up inside of them. She doesn't expect to need to draw anything from scratch, so she's spent her prep time picking out ready-to-go designs for most likely purposes.
Lancer of Black	Lancer says nothing about them being heroes. It's not surprising. A child's dream of heroism was so very different from the truth. A child's dream of heroism was big and grand and powerful, something that moved the world in victory and never found defeat. A child's dream of heroism was motivation. The truth was a lesson. The truth was that victories were bought in blood. The truth was that for every Hero whose name was etched in the Throne, there were ten thousand who died hoping to achieve that dream. Was Ashcraft attempting to subvert, or reproduce, the Ritual? Was he trying to create the Wish-Granting Apparatus for himself? Foolish. Stupid. A stupid price for children to pay. Or was it the Swirl of the Root maguses talked of so often? Thomas didn't know what it was, except the so-called dream of all magi. Lancer therefore didn't know what it was, except that it sounded pointless and impractically philosophical. Or was it some other thing? Immortality? Becoming a Dead Apostle? That, Thomas had given Lancer an extensive lesson on when Lancer had finally asked. Some magi fell into that foolish trap. Becoming a vampire...what a ridiculous idea. What a horrible idea. What a nightmare. The secret passage opens. Lancer turns and walks down it, leaving the innocence of the children behind him as he steels himself for the horrors that await. Whether they are horrors for the party or Ashcraft will be made clear all too soon. Of that, the Impaler Prince is certain.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh yeah, I can." She's not sure how well a ghost girl can wear a hoodie made out of physical things. So far she hasn't actually seen any of these spirits manipulate real world objects yet. But no sense in not trying, right? Especially if this helps everyone find the jerk that did this to these kids. "Oh yeah, we want to go downstairs." And thankfully, the kids kindly show which book is it that opens the bookshelf passage that Kyra /thought/ would be in the other bedroom. "Heroes, huh." Kyra actually does not like the sound of that given the context of what a 'hero' is in a Grail War. But she won't voice this around the kids. Of course, she continues sticking near the back.
August Kohler	"You already are a hero. Thank you." August smiles weakly at the child, as he silently moves down the stairs. Once he believes the kids are out of ear, he speaks. "He's doing /bad things/. That is all that matters here. The goal here should be obvious. We stop him, and save those kids. Let's...let's do this." Despite this, he's still pretty nervous about it. What will happen down there? What is he doing? /Can/ they be saved? It's all he hopes. Clenching down on the spoon, he gets ready.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason she smiles to the kids and looks at them for a moment. "Yes we do want to get downstairs. IT would help us a lot." She looks to the little girl as she speaks to her for a moment. She pauses about him not leaving? Okay she knows they might have a fight in hand. She'll leve the kid to their view but she does understand somethings abotu what they have to do. "Get ready for traps I'll send a spider drone or two ahead of us." she pulsl the thing off her hip and sets it down and will let it go on ahead. "We should be ready for a horror show regardless." She nods and will follow Riva and Lancer down.
Riva Banari	Well, that was handy! Riva smiles to the ghosts, and tries to give the one who opened the way a little hug, though she's pretty sure she's going to pass right through. "Thank you! You're being very helpful. We're going to go get everything sorted out with him, okay?" She looks back to the original bot then, and she frowns a bit. "I don't think this is what heroes are supposed to be like, though. Aren't they supposed to be helping people and stopping dangerous things from happening? He's just had you guys fly around and play for a long time, hasn't he..." She shakes her head. "Well, we're going to go see if we can work thing out. We'll be back, okay?" Riva says, warming up a little. Familiarity breeds hugs, dammit. Not contempt! She does, however, turn to head down the stairs. She and Lancer are going to have a nice long /talk/ with this guy.
Nero	Down the stairs the group went. The kids watched them all go, looked at each other, and then... "So, wh was 'it' again?" Looks like they weren't concerned with good or evil, or following. They had a game to play. The staircase wasn't very long. About the length of going from one floor of a standard house to the next. When they finally reached the bottom, what they found was...well, it looked like a crude laboratory. A large, open space without much furnishing done. Made entirely out of stone, there was no electricity down here. Instead what lit the place up were archaic lanterns, burning with an arcane flame. It wasn't ideal, but it was enough light to see. A stone work table in the center could be seen, along with bloodstains, surgical tools, and various broken magic artifacts and potential catalysts perhaps. Failed experiments? Off to another side were several large, black bags. Body bags. Something typically used for investigations and cleanup. Do you want to open those? Against another wall of the makeshift workplace was a desk. A worn wooden desk with various books, writings, notes, and other such things on it. Situated in a way that makes it seem as if it were the most recent thing used, was beat up leatherbound journal similar to the one in the western study. The only other notable thing in this area was a considerably tall suit of armor. It looked like something out of medieval europe. Poised in a stout, lordly manner. It stood with what seemed to be a matching longsword embedded into the pedestal it was set on, hands resting atop the pommel. It also looked out of place here. Maybe it would have fit above ground as a display piece, but... Interestingly, Scarlet would be able to sense that the huge magical presence she felt before was coming from /inside/ the suit of armor. Also, it was empty. No one was here.
Lancer of Black	Lancer dislikes the empty workshop. He doesn't dislike it because it gives him the creeps (very little gives him 'the creeps'. His claustrophobia is not extreme enough to really bother him in most scenarios, merely make him slightly jumpier than ordinary). He dislikes it because it smells like an ambush. Someone doesn't vanish into the basement and then not come out without an ambush planned, particularly a mage. Lancer instead takes on the grisly duty of opening the body bags. Dead bodies and handling them are not really a thing Lancer has ever shied away from. Anyone who knows anything about his legend knows that. What's in the corpse-collectors?!
Kyra Hyral	Kyra glances over her shoulder as she descends, catching the children promptly resuming their game of tag. At that rate, she had to wonder if they were aware they were dead. Or rather, if they even /cared/. "This guy was here for nearly a year and this is the best he could do?" Kyra sounds disgusted and disappointed as she looks around the sparse furnishings. Her eyes drop to the body bags and her stomach turns. No, she will not open them, but she will use the Scan spell on them to determine if they give off any signs of life (hah) or residual magic radiation. She /immediately/ turns away when Lancer starts opening them because potentially mutilated children is where Kyra draws the line. After that, she gravitates to the desk where a pile of notes and journals. Much like before, she picks up the leatherbound journal and starts leafing through it.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason has not been so worn down by life to think that Heroes dont' exist but she doesn't thnk she's one. She knows what she's really like but shes does like to help where she can. She might be a Pirate Brat but then again Mom had some standards and she did live long enough to have a family and retire right? She moved sown and she looked at the various broken items she leaves them be for now and the body bags? Well she's got an ide of what's in there and doesn't really want to look. "Hiding the bodies from failed experiments I suspect." She's going to however start looking thorugh the notes with Kyra to see what she might find.
Nero	What Lancer finds, is bones. In another bag, he finds a terribly decomposing body. In a third, he finds a different, terribly decomposing body. It's been months. And in the fourth, a body going through the first stages of decomposition. These are undoubtedly the bodies of those children up above. The size and numbers match up. Also, it smells. It's wretched. To Kyra, they give off no signs of life. However, there is a faint, lingering trace of magic on them. Likely what made them all ghosts.
Lancer of Black	The regal Servant's thoughts are impossible to read as he opens the body bags. He does not visibly appear terribly affected, or shocked. Is his will that strong? This is the man who impaled twenty thousand men in one night, after all. Perhaps brutality is simply so ingrained into his life that no brutality can shock him. Mercifully, he zips them back up a moment later.
Nero	Kyra and Lyria's checking of the notes reveals to her that it's some kind of scientific diary much the same as the last one. Pages are torn up, whole entries are gone, but a few manage to escape damage. They read... 7/19/2015 - 'I need more. I need more, I need more I need more I need more. One soul is not enough. I must acquire more. I will never reach the root of all things like this. I will never reach them. I will never catch up. I must make haste.' 8/8/2015 - 'I have acquired new souls. I must exercise caution in this strange, continent spanning cityscape. The Enforcers will not find me here. Yet I believe there is a different brand of danger, should I become careless. The first soul has begun to deteriorate. I will not let my life's work fail now.' 9/28/2015 - 'I have done it. I have done it! I have halted the deterioration of the soul, I have managed to harvest that innocent virtue. I need a little more time, and then soon, I will find the the correct path. The road to the light that I seek.' 10/14/2015 - 'One more soul to push my work to it's last stage. There is no more to be done. With this, I should theoretically be able to reach The Root. This is what it was all leading up to. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Leaving my world, hiding in another, and continuing my work...But it will all soon come to an end.' 10/22/2015 - 'Akasha lies before me. I have no more time to waste. I must make my journey now. finally, salvation is within reach. Wait for me. I will be there soon.' The rest is too damaged to decipher.
August Kohler	As August enters, he pokes around. He has no idea what to look for. When Lancer opens the bags, however, he retches, covering his hand with his mouth. And when he gets over it, he's pissed. "...What an animal. What a goddamn animal. Where is he?" He clenches the spoon tight, as he approaches Kyra to read over the notes. "Salvation? SALVATION? He hasn't earned salvation! If anything, he's earned a painful firey demise!" It takes a minute before August realizes he's getting out of it, and he shakes his head and moves back to the stairwell. "Sorry. I'll wait over here and keep a lookout."
Scarlet Everille	Pretty much as Scarlet suspected. Crude. Rushed. Primitive, even. In-advisably dug out of the bedrock foundation and furnished with whatever junk he could drag down the stairs. This was not a wealthy or well connected magus, and probably not one seen in high regard either. Almost definitely, even. Then again, that should hardly be surprising. A magus in high standing is unlikely to be so fervently desperate for the acceptance of his peers. The journal can be confiscated and read at any time. The lanterns aren't of note, and the notes only so much as someone would want to pick through the breadth of his work for a trial later. The artifacts and catalysts may require proper disposal, based on the risk of some of them still being volatile, but don't appear to be a threat yet. The body bags... Scarlet isn't touching those. The tools give her a good idea of what was done to the cadavers no doubt inside of them, and she isn't about to go anywhere near that. Aside from it being a biohazard, handling butchered corpses is some gross med school nerd's job to do in a sterile workspace. The armour. That's what stands out. There's only one obvious conclusion here. A magus experimenting with removing souls from bodies disappeared into an unfurnished basement with no food, electricity or plumbing for weeks, and hasn't come back out, but an out of place, articulated, human shaped object in the room is giving off plenty of conspicuous magic. There's no possible way this isn't exactly what she thinks this is. Scarlet steps out right in front of the suit of armour, placing her hands on her hips and staring straight up into its empty visor. The gesture isn't terribly impressive coming from someone of her stature, but all the same, there is an inappropriate moment of gut-dropping severity as she does. Though her tone is level and even, the moment she speaks, what little warmth there is in the room seems to leech out so quickly that frost could be imagined crawling up the walls, the flames of the lanterns guttering abruptly as if on-cue. Even without anything being visible, the fact that it isn't just Scarlet alone standing there is palpable. The unnerving, alien, and ravenously hostile presence of the unseen creatures that do her bidding, extends from her like an exaggerated shadow across the wall, making her seem much bigger than she actually is. Any yet for some reason, for a single instant, it seems as if the girl in the middle of it is the scarier of the two. "You aren't fooling anyone, Ashcraft."
Riva Banari	Riva shuffles around, kind of poking at things as she tries to make some sense of what's going on. but she knows body bags when she sees them. She knew this had to happen, but knowing it intellectually and /seeing/ it are two different things. When she sees the bags get opened, the horrible contents within, she suppresses a retching noise, the smell and the horror and the indisputable truth that those kids were in fact murdered and their corpses were left here to rot slams into her. She staggers to one side, caught between wanting to scream in rage, bawl her eyes out, and puke. You can fight a thousand zombies, but it's just not the same as this.
Nero	The armor does not move upon Scarlet's accusation. Silence followed for several seconds. And then there was a twitch. The hands resting atop the sword's pommel move down to grasp the handle. And a single red light, indicating an eye lights up inside the visor. Whether or not it was Ashcraft himself, the armor said nothing. But what it did do was lift that heavy looking blade overhead with an otherworldly level of strength. And then, without hesitation, the armor brought it downwards into a heavy downward swing. That... ...was undoubtedly a problem.
August Kohler	August is watching. Waiting. When Scarlet speaks to the armor, he focuses on it. Is it Ashcraft? If it is, what will they do? But, they don't get an answer. Instead they get a direct strike, and an August moving and tossing his spoon into the air, the familiar blue energy sparking around him, as the burned soldier of steel prepares to manifests above him, gun leg ready.. "Tin Soldier! Save her!" As the Tin Soldier manifests, it moves rapidly with August's will, going to slam straight into the armor and take the entire blow for itself. August digs his feet into the ground in anticipation, as the Tin Soldier moves its leg up to aim directly at the armor's chest...and fire. "...Come on, we need to destroy it! Somebody pin the weapon down, I'll keep it distracted!" Looks like it's time for battle, as August's nervousness on his face turns into firm determination, a need and desire to end this bastard. "Let's go!"
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason is going through the notes and she's pausing to take photos of them with her mPhone too. They might need it later but what she finds there leaves her with horrifed look on her face. She reads the pages her face gets grimer the farther she goes on. She wonders if he's trying to reach someone as she goes over the last page. "This root sounds like an abomination of a thing if people are willing to what has been done here to reach it." She's unaware of it's nature but will be asking questions when she gets back to the Union about this. "Looks like he already did whatever it it he wanted to do." Then she pauses at Scarlet she sets the notes down and pulls a pistol to be ready and then she sees the armor. It doesn't move, but she does get her cutlass as well and when it start to move she readies the blade and attacks the armour.
Lancer of Black	Lancer of Black is unfortunately not surprised by the armor. There are a lot of reasons for this. The main one is that Lancer is experienced in ambush tactics, and this basement is a really obvious place for an ambush. It's full of utensils, tools, magical artifacts. It's unfamiliar ground. It's a spellcaster's laboratory, which means it's a sanctuary, where they're strongest. But most importantly, in Lancer's mind, is that the body bags are here. Body bags, placed like this, exist to unsettle and distract. They exist to draw attention. He should know all about bodies placed to distract, after all. Granted, not in this specific manner, but being surprised by the manner in which you're attacked in a Holy Grail War is how you die fast. August moves to save Scarlet with the Tin Soldier. Lancer gestures like a king giving silent orders to a battalion. A spear stabs out of the ground directly next to him. Lancer yanks it out of the floor, taking it in both hands, and lunges for the armor. The spear peppers the armor's arm, chest, and head rapidly as Lancer stabs around August, the Tin Soldier, and Scarlet. Servant strength backs the spear. All it will take is finding a weak point...
Kyra Hyral	Kyra is quiet, desperately trying to focus on the journal, trying to shut out the smell of rot. Distantly, in her mind, she does realize that at least there are remains. And with children ghosts still persisting, a necromancer can easily be called in to verify any testimonies. It will be a solid case in the Ramuhan justice system, provided they could get Ashcraft. Still, trying to focus on these things and the journal does not help. Kyra finds her rage building, a part of her telling her that maybe it would be more efficient if they just killed the magus themselves. Maybe it would be better if they killed him immediately instead of waiting for a Judge to play executioner. "I hope we're not too late..." Kyra murmurs, looking up suddenly as Scarlet accuses the suit of armor of being Ashcraft. Though it seems silly, she knows Scarlet well enough that she wouldn't shoot off such a guess without good reason to do so. It might not be too far from the truth, though, seeing as the armor gets up and attacks Scarlet! August comes through for protection of her mage friend, which is a relief. Tossing the journal back down onto the desk, Kyra turns and suddenly has one of her explosive flasks in her hand. "HEADS UP!" she warns everyone-Lancer in particular, "EXPLOSIVES!" The flask is thrown with enough force that it will shatter against the armor.
Scarlet Everille	Scarlet is still adamantly certain that Ashcraft is responsible for the armour's intelligence, but whether or not it can still really be considered him isn't quite so clear. She has little idea of how far his magic had really gotten in territory that has yet to be fully explored by the Servant's world, and what exactly he would have done even if it had gone perfectly. It's bountifully clear that whatever spirit inhabits the armour has largely forgone human emotion, perhaps even human thought, but whether that's an imperfection in the ritual, or whether he had wanted the transplanted intelligence to be free of it... well, questions for later. Scarlet isn't about to stand there and get hit in the face with a sword. As the Tin Soldier appears in front of her to take the blow in her stead, she reacts uncannily fast, ducking out of the way with uncommon deftness as Lancer brings his spear to bear, slipping out of the line of fire and booking it for a safe distance back from Kyra's explosive flask, taking up position by the white mage and instead focusing her efforts on properly identifying the source of magic. She already knows what Ashcraft's magic looks like in the metaphysical sense. She has a good idea of his "aura", so to speak. With some concentration, she should be able to figure out how much of him is in that suit.
Nero	Before the armor's blade could land upon Scarlet, August intervened, his Persona slamming straight into the armor and throwing off it's swing. It found itself fired upon soon after, the force of the blast causing the entity to step back, even if it did not mean to. Lyria's cutlass strikes were met by the knight' own blade, clashing with and parrying each swing. But it was distraction enough for Lancer to swoop in and unleash a flurry of thrusts. Each thrust, backed by Servant strength punctured the armor. But no clear weak point was found. With each hole punctured however, a harsh, red light shone through. There was something /inside/ the armor. Judging from the way the light shined, it must have been the center chest somewhere. That's drowned out momentarily however, as Kyra's explosive flasks fly. There is an explosion, as promised, scorching the armor. In the aftermath, it remained standing. It was merely a suit of armor. It did not feel pain. It did not feel emotion. All it was meant to do was cut down any who have come this far. And that is what it will do. As if finding new resolve, the armor flared up, red light shining from within. That light also enveloped it's sword, and it dove forward towards Lancer, Lyria, and the Tin Man without regard for danger. It struck with a furious, horizontal swing cloaked in red light and aimed to cleave into them all at the same time. The light did not seem to have an elemental aspect, and was simply 'power'. Scarlet's analysis would reveal that what was inside that suit was...well, it wasn't entirely Ashcraft, but it was definitely a part of him. A fierce, bubbling rage seemed to brew from it. It was the same aura, tinged with anger and hatred. Perhaps he separated that part of himself and implanted it into this armor? Who can say. What was certain was that this was not 'him' in the overall sense. Saber meanwhile materialized by Kyra, blade in hand. But she did not join the battle. She stood back, prepared to defend her Master, and Scarlet if necessary.
Scarlet Everille	Scarlet chews her lip with a quiet "tsk" at what she finds, some of the excess light fading from her eyes as she drops her hand, switches down her collar and slips her fingers into her bag instead, flipping through a stack of cards by memory and withdrawing one in the middle in a single, smooth motion. "It's Ashcraft, but only a part of him. I don't know if he left it behind and went elsewhere, whether it's all that's left of him after the rest was burned off by magical failure, or whether he's in there and the one aspect is suppressing it, but it's good enough for me." She tosses the card horizontally, spinning briefly before sliding neatly between the suit of armour's feet. They resemble eastern talismans only out of convenience, being much thicker and weighted down with the exotic compounds used to draw them than a piece of sacred paper. She then drops to one knee, pressing both hands against the ground, gaze locked straight ahead, and the pre-drawn circle bursts into eerie violet flame, distorted by some sort of seething, bubbling corona, as if it had been fired like a bullet into deep, dark waters. The air wavers like the passage of an explosion's pressure wave in reverse, contracting around the red light within the suit of plate mail instead of expanding outwards. Should the others succeed in busting apart the armour, the malevolent light within should be trapped, unable to dissipate or escape by passing on.
August Kohler	August doesn't know what the armor is. But he's angry. And whatever it is, it works for Ashcraft. It is an accomplice to the murder of these children, to all of the sins this man committed. And along with August, it needs to burn in hell. August moves himself to the side, as he braces himself. He takes a minute to cast a spell, to weaken the armor's fire resistance, which noticably drains him. But something else will drain him much more. Shouting out in order to reinforce it, he grins sharply. "Incinerate it. Don't leave a single speck left!" On command, the Tin Soldier begins to rev up its gun...as it wreathes itself completely in fire, burning itself from head to toe. August falls to his knees, focusing on his will to keep the Tin Soldier moving, as he slams his hand out at the armor. The Tin Soldier thrusts forward in pantomimed agony, charging the armor in order to burn it. August works up every nerve not to scream, smashing the armor over and over with the Tin Soldier's body and focusing solely on the fight to keep his mind off it. He's willing to kill it even if it risks himself.
Lancer of Black	There's something satisfying about seeing August launch into the pillars of flame before Lancer can strike again. Fire is purifying, cleansing. Christians have used it forever and ever, after all, as did the Zoroastrians, as did many others. Fire burns away impurities. Fire leaves behind ash, sweet and rarified ash, purged of what it once was and ready to begin the cycle anew. Lancer helps it along. It isn't obvious, under all the fire. But within the armor - literally spreading inside not the empty spaces but the /solid plates/, like spider-web cracks through glass - spears surge. Because it was stabbed once with the spear in Lancer's hand... The spears are lightning-fast, and are consumed under the fire just as quickly as they appear. They're merely wood, after all, and the Persona is white-hot, burning gloriously. What the spears of Kazikli Bey really are, inside those plates, is kindling for August's white-hot fire. Lancer will not take this moment. But he will help it along.
Riva Banari	Behind the others, there is a yell and a blur of red as a figure charges forward, slamming towards the suit of armor. With a scream of raw emotion, Riva slams her big hammer towards the armored figure, whipping the magically-augmented weapon from side to side to use raw brute force impacts to drive it back. It looks like she found a target for her emotional turmoil. "YOU BASTARD!", Riva yells as she brings the weapon down like a sledge over and over.
Kyra Hyral	"Only part of him? As in he split his soul or something?" Kyra makes a disgusted face, "Disappointing. I was hoping we'd have a /body/ to drag back with us." Notably, she doesn't specify a living or dead body in this situation. As Saber appears next to her, she gives her a nod, and remains where she is, considering something. "Would you say that the piece of Ashcraft is animating that armor, you think..?" With that thought, she casts a hand towards the armor, weaving more white magic, though this a very potent piece of antimagic known as the Dispell. The spell filters up from below the armor, white light stabbing upwards and outwards to violently strip away any potential enchantments. With other people closing in close quarters, it wasn't safe to continue with the explosives.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason is trying to keep close up with the thing she's manage to keep it distracted for Lancer to get in and really rip into it. She's not sure about this thing as she looks at it the light form inside it and she does not seem very happy at all. The Blade come she moves ot parry it and shift out of the way. She's not sure what this thing was but the armor needed to go down. She shift he struke moving to try and push the attack with the others to bring it down. "Anyone have an idea of what's fueling this thing?!"
Nero	Saber nodded. "Indeed. That armor is being animated by his lingering portion of will, I presume." However, what became of the rest of him? Who knew. What followed next was swift. August weakened the living armor's resistance with a spell, and then sent his Persona charging after it, wreathed in flame. The knight moved to respond head on, but something stopped it. It's armor was being pierced from within the very material itself. This, along with Kyra's Dispell are all that will be necessary for August's flaming charge to do the job. It is tackled and engulfed in flame, and the suit of armor smolders, and then then began to crumble apart. Riva charged in at that moment, hammer swinging and impacting with the crumbling and on fire armor. Filled with a similar rage, the armor attempted to bring up it's remaining arm to swing it's blade at the woman, but so no avail, it was already falling apart, and each blow it took caused more chunks of it to break off. Exposing more of that red light. Before long, there is not enough of it left to move. What remained was merely a pile a scrap metal. Scarlet's seal is enacted right then, preventing that malavolent hatred from escaping. A harsh red glow filled the space, now that it's vessel was destroyed. Much like the orb Scarlet had in her possession already, there was another. This one filled with a corrupting, negative energy. Saber spoke up at that moment, lowering her sword. "I do believe that is the end of that." Pause. "...Thankfully this place will not catch fire."
Kyra Hyral	Kyra gasps as Riva charges in all so suddenly, filled with anger and rage over what has happened here. It's understandable-Kyra can empathise and part of her wishes she could unload so powerfully as Riva is doing upon the armor. "You smashed it, Riva." she says quietly, "You got it good." August croaks for assistance, his own magic apparently harming him even further due to a mechanism that Kyra has not completely understood yet. But that isn't a barrier to the treatment-Kyra levels a Dispell at the Tin Soldier as well, removing the flaming effect that had been invoked as a buff. "Is everyone alright?" she asks, despite seeing that everyone here was pretty much physically sound. Mental anguish was not something that Kyra could do anything for. "We just have the upstairs to check now." she adds, albiet with little enthusiasm, conveying that she thinks there won't be much up there compared to this chamber.
Lancer of Black	Lancer of Black is silent for a long moment as the monster crumbles away. Then, in the aftermath, he flicks his hand to the side. Spears erupt out of the bodybags. They punch upwards through the corpses, through the bones, through the table. They skewer everything Lancer can hit, cracking and shattering the bones, tearing apart the skin...grinding the bones down to nothing but powder. Lancer's face is utterly impassive. He turns away from the gruesome sight and the burning armor, and begins walking up the stairs.
August Kohler	As the armor explodes, the Tin Soldier pantomimes roaring in pain, as it lands on the ground. The fire is put out easily by the dispell, allowing the Persona to fade away. August slowly climbs to his feet, grabbing the wall to hold himself up, when he spots Lancer blow up the corpses. He grits in his teeth in anger, hoping that the Servant did not just prevent the kids from being saved. If he did...he didn't know what he'd do. He wants to punch Lancer. He wants to scream at him. But he knows it's a bad idea. He needs to keep his cool. Especially, especially, right now.
Scarlet Everille	Scarlet leaves Kyra with the mysterious words "One can be just as good as the other." before striding forward, an unseen presence quashing the lingering embers in her path as she arrives at the ruins of the armour and plucks the burning red orb out of its place, layering on another couple of wards simple enough that she can do them without aid. Basic stuff. She then uncaps one of those slender, hermetically sealed canisters from within her bag, letting loose a quiet hiss like the opening of a soda can, and plinks the orb inside, snapping the two ends back together and engaging the electronic lock, the air inside venting back out. "Well. Now I think I have some context on the orb we already found. This could be... interesting to say the least. Kyra, do you have-" Scarlet is cut off by the frenzy of grinding and tear ing that rips from the body bags, spilling the awful stench out into the room as the putrefied organs within are split open. "Was that REALLY necessary?" she continues instead, backing up the stairs with her hand over her mouth and nose, eager to get out of the room before she catches some kind of disease. "I doubt we need to, but if you insist, please lend me your mphone. I'm going to dial hazmat and forensic investigation teams regardless."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason says, ":makes ure the thing is down and she lowers her weapons she looks about the lab and she does wonder just what the thing was was it a fragment of the mnan? A trap? She's not sure what to think. "I'm okay Kyra...SO what happened did he split his soul up somehow?" Then comes the msell from the now exposed corposes she makes an ill face but gets the idea exposing this hoping he can end the spell it's cold but she understands why. "I just hope this is the end of this...""
Nero	Saber regarded Lancer's actions with a gaze that suggested that she doesn't entirely disagree with him. Nothing is said, but she does shrug vaguely. After that, she followed the group up the stairs, sticking close to Kyra just in case. When they finally leave that wretched basement, they find that the spirits of those children are no longer about. They must have run off somewhere else while the group was down there investigating. Left in their wake, was an uncomfortable silence. They collected the two orbs and have bested multiple challenges by this point. But...somehow, it did not feel over. Saber took a glance about, finding nothing out of place from previously and crossed her arms. "Something does not quite add up..." The others are regarded momentarily, and then she looked away. "...And yet, who can really say?"
Kyra Hyral	Kyra gives Scarlet an odd look, then moves to peering at the canisters that Scarlet has brought with her, which she assumes to be some kind of magically-sealed hazardous materials container from her world. Mentally, she makes a note to ask to examine one later. Her attention is quickly stolen as Lancer decides to lance everything, including the bodies of the children. "...excessive..." Kyra croaks, turning away with a hand on her mouth as she starts to gag. Bile rises into her throat but she manages to force it back down. Hastily, she gathers up the journal and any other notes left lying around that haven't been pieced by the lances, and hurries after Scarlet, all too eager to leave this room now. "Sure, I'll let you have it when we're back upstairs." she says, her voice muffled. Moments later, she does pass the mPhone over to Scarlet. "I think there's a whole bunch of Ashcraft missing and I damn well hope it didn't make it to the Root."
August Kohler	August has nothing to say. He's exhausted. He's angry. And he's sad. He clutches his side as he moves forward, looking up at the others as he tries to atleast get himself out of the penthouse himself. "If you don't mind...I'll probably need a ride to a Union hospital."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason lowers her wepaons and puts them away she grimaces darkly for a moment. "I pitty the police's Necromancers they are going to have a hard time with this case." She just slumps now and wants to see this put to rest but it's forever left her mark on her views towards the magic users of the world this man came from. "I need to find out more about this Clocktower and the world that he came from."