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Kalia Following the attack on the village of Pelo in the Empire of Tyron, the inhabitants who survived or were evacuated had to set up shop somewhere else - presumably, the Paladins may have had a hand in providing some manner of temporary shelter. Stripped of most of their elderly in a mad rampage, it's obvious that those who are left aren't sure what to do with themselves, and the handful of old men and women still alive are generally reluctant to show face without security around them, for fear of the vengeful spirit returning.

But that night, facts couldn't be obtained due to a number of extreme circumstances, ranging from murder to inciting more murder to eldritch murder. It was pretty awful.

More than just villagers though, the Paladins had also secured, thanks to Lilian Rook, a broken sword. Supposedly called the Lakeblade, this once-ornate blade is a rusty, blackened mess missing most of its blade, barely a knife's edge left to it (though enough for Kalia to stab people with, evidently). The only feature that survived whatever scorched and destroyed it is a gleaming blue magical gem in the hilt, which refuses to show battle damage or even regular wear and tear.

It's now a matter of piecing together what happened and why - but also to figure out what to do with the information. The elderly were targetted, claims were made about their betrayal and role in the current emperor's rise, the statue of the emperor was very intentionally defiled with their blood, and if nothing else, the Lakeblade does seem somewhat important, or at least definitely magical in nature.
Mairead Sandilands     Someone who is here, wearing a fuku for a school is Mairead Sandilands. She is here to assist and helps those here from the town/city/village of Pelo. As she works she wonders what to do to provide more help. She ponders what she can do as she walks to where this sword is thinking
Evangeline      Evangeline wasn't there during the attack, but any information on the demon known as Kalia is something she is interested in. Especially considering that Kalia may have contributed to Haguro's current state. She also assists as needed, but mostly stays near the sword to await those who can provide information. Of course, a pitch black creature that never touches the ground, has no facial features, and has cat ears and a tail may not help to set the people here at ease. Even if she is only the size and general shape of a 12 year old girl.
Staren     After the events of that night were done, and Staren was done thoroughly nano-salting the earth to frustrate Foreigner, Staren turned his attention to aid. The Paladins may have taken charge of the show, but Staren offers his services nontheless -- nanofabricators to assist with rebuilding efforts, golems to carry building supplies... If a show of security presence reassures the populace, he offers to supply golems and basic weapons and armor, although Staren stresses that these are not to be considered a stand-in for an elite.

    Today Staren is here to talk though. Presenting his offer to help rebuild to the people, and seeing if that gets any to open up enough to tell him who might know why the elderly were targeted and what the Lakeblade is.
Spider-Man     Spider-Man! Why is Spider-Man the one to come investigate this ghost business? Well, just because he's a superhero doesn't mean he can't branch out a bit, and he's /really/ eager to take on a Paladin case. For his part, he's not especially good at investigating magical matters. But one thing he IS good at is surprisingly relevant here.

    He's hoping to arrive with Lilian Rook -- and on-hand, he's got some kind of weird goggle attachment on top of his normal goggles, plus several weird little wrist-mounted gadgets arrayed alongside his webshooters. Chemistry gear! He's going to look into the matter of the sword at a basic level. He wants to analyze the sword as soon as she can get her hands on it. Perhaps there'll be good insights into /precisely/ where it was found by looking at its oxidization patterns, or perhaps the origin of where it was forged can be found in its undecayed chemical structure, or maybe that odd little gem might reveal a startling secret with spectrometry. Who knows! Spider-Man can only hope.
Maya Maya had been lending her own skills to help out with the displaced villagers. She'd held off on pushing for information until today, given how hectic things were but they need answers. Thanks to Lilian, they had the Lakeblade and they might be able to figure out just what was going on with it. She had also hoped building up a bit of a raptor first might get her a bit further when she finally brings up the subject of the lake blade.

She'd been working for a fair bit and finally was cleaning up now, it was time to go talk she also took note of Evangeline had been poking about and helping which was wonderful to have her help with the heavy lifting. She was now starting to seek out any of the remaining elder it was time to start asking a few questions.
Lilian Rook     The visored mask and tactical body gear is left behind this time. Partly due to damage, partly due to having no reason to requisition it. White blouse, black ribbon, dark pleated skirt, grey tights, black knee high boots, choker, hair down; bam, done. Completely different look. Unfortunately the Paladins badge doesn't really fit with it, so Lilian keeps it in the pocket on the way around as much as possible. The one thing from last time that she refuses to leave behind is the long sword in a dark grey and silver scabbard over her back, held in place at the shoulder and hip rather than a cumbersome strap. Though it looks pretty striking, it also doesn't look like she should be able to draw it, given the length and general precariousness of shoulder draws, but whatever.

    Immediately on arrival (after a polite round of asking about as to the status of the survivors, whom she doesn't particularly care about, but forces it for the show of manners, consoling a few of them about the losses of their husbands or grandmothers and the like and giving the usual lines about how they'll get the guy for this), she requests a space to see to the Lakeblade straight after, claiming she has certification for analyzing artifacts of its variety. Given the opportunity to do so, she lays out a proper desk space and begins setting up a handful of glasses, measuring tools, and a couple of brushes and droppers, apparently intent on doing it the old fashioned way. Even while doing so though, pulling on leather gloves and setting the sword down on a red cloth, she's taking a look at it for any identifying characteristics beyond the gem, and assessing it for a generalized magical aura; relative potency, alignment, 'flavour'; 'a strong aura of evil and abjuration magic', that sort of thing.
Kalia     Having Staren's golems or just people around in general is security enough to reassure the townsfolks. Of course, the biggest issue makes itself known quite quickly: it seems that none of the people under roughly 55 have any idea about the blade or even the spirit, judging by the fact the youngest to say they have an inkling is around that age, and then it's all upwards from there for the few remaining of the elderly.

    It would've been a problem if they'd all died.

    Putting the Lakeblade on display for it to be looked at (whether it was brought in by Haguro, Lilian, or anyone else) causes people to gather around, curious - the elderly are fidgety, uncomfortable. It's transparent.

    But the magic around the sword wouldn't explain the discomfort. It's elementally aligned with water, as one might expect, and has hints of being a holy blade, at least, when it's whole. As it is, it's no holier than a golf club blessed by a priest.

    It isn't especially potent, and it doesn't have any downsides attached to it. It very much fits the "hero's blade" trope it seems named after.

    Spider-Man's instincts are correct, of course; there's traces of certain plants and chemicals that wouldn't be able to grow in just any swamp, and with some back and forth he'd be able to narrow it down to a swamp a dozen miles north of Pelo with the friendly moniker of Swamp Carnivore. We'll uh, let you guess why it might be called that.

    The elderly are, pointedly, not saying anything while this is going on.
Mairead Sandilands Mairead Sandilands watches as people work and she thinks, "I can take notes for ye," she say to Spider-Man as she pulls up a keyboard that appears in front of her and has a screen up so those working on the investigation can read it. Silently she types what is going on and not looking at the keyboard, and if someone looks or anyone looks, there are no keys, just a curved beam of light.
Lilian Rook     "Well, it doesn't seem as if this would be the origin of that spirit, at least. Neither is it a solid case for the original owner rising up as a vengeful revenant. Quite the opposite; this was once a holy sword of some description. I suspect he would have passed on if he'd died in battle, or on the road. An especially strong impulse, indeed like betrayal, would probably have been needed to keep his soul on Earth. Probably." says Lilian, straightening everything out. "Water alignment is unsurprising, though maybe so for how badly damaged it is from sitting in it. I wonder if it was already damaged by the townsfolk before being disposed of? You know how rural folk are." Whatever that means

    Lilian laces her fingers, cracks her knuckles, and then sets to work with her appraisal kit, albeit half of the job doesn't even use it. Brushing it with particular esoteric solvents to remove layers of grimy oxidization and reveal the forging underneath, glasses to examine the patterning and materials for their age and cultural relevance/placement to how, when, and how long ago it was made, dusting it with compounds that react and glow certain colours in the presence of different kinds of enchantments similar to a PH test, and shining some kind of blacklight set from a crystal on it.

    Unless she discovers some pressing reason not to, she gets to delicately prizing the gem from its mounting, scrutinizing it separately for the obviously higher quality and more densely magical component's qualities. The blade itself is mostly the matter of 'antiquarian' or 'historic' appraisal to place its maker, place of origin, and design, whereas the gem she is keenly examining for what it is exactly. Enchanted sapphire? Solid magic crystal? Piece of a water fairy or something? What powers is it supposed to be lending to the sword? Clearly it's the one piece that hasn't fallen apart and gotten gross over the decades, so she'd like to discern where the dead hero might have gotten it.

    "What on Earth are you hoping to find with a chemistry set?" she asks Spider-Man with a little bit of evident incredulity, looking askance with a lofted eyebrow at the kit he's brought. Since she doesn't need both sides of the table though, she pawns the organic and oxidized material off to him as she removes it, and lets him take turns with his optical equipment. "Do you have some reason to suspect its final resting place to be relevant?"
Spider-Man     Spider-Man digs into his work pretty fast. He takes the opposite end of Lilian's table. "Wow, fancy workspace. Do you have to have a matching fancy lab to analyze a fancy sword, or can you just sort of put your lab gear in the wash with other fancy things and they all come out light-fancy?"

    He tunes his goggles. "Gah! /Wow/, Mister Stark really went all-out with a lot of this..." He maneuvers his wrist to do spectometer scans of various trace substances, flicking at what seems to be a homemade AR display, and rattling off various chemistry notes to Mairead to take down to help him narrow this fast as he can, then sometimes checking the notes himself to figure it out. "Alright, no, no, no... Cross-reference with swamp microbes, and then..." He pokes one. "Okay!"

    Got you a match! Looks like you can only find this in microbes from... Wow, why would anyone name something /that/? 'Swamp Carnivore'?" He shudders a bit. His goggle-lenses flutter in a narrow eye. He explains to her, "Well, I guess I don't know a lot about villages, but it kinda makes sense that if they dumped the sword here, they might have dumped other things he had there. And that might give us an idea of..." He stops, and thinks. "Honestly I don't know what it might give us an idea of. But, I mean, you have magic covered, so. Maybe you can find his weird, gross swamp-skeleton there and Do Magic At it." He gives Lilian the proportional shrug of a spider, which is eight times the shrug of a normal man.
Mairead Sandilands     Mairead ponders, "If there is a map or a direction, I can go scout," she mentions to everyone.
Staren     Oh, now they all gather around to look at the sword and the elderly look guilty but they still won't talk, huh? Staren's got half a mind to tell them off... so he tries to focus on something else instead: The sword itself.

    Magic is not his specialty, but after a dozen years in the Multiverse, you pick up things. He lifts the goggles from his neck into position over his eyes, and channels a tiny amount of potential psychic energy into them, allowing him to at least see any magic present, the elemental aspects (although he might have difficulty recognizing one he hasn't seen before, water is a familiar one), and any flows or channels of energy. While he can only guess at the precise function of a magical item this way, it might tell him /something/.

    If it looks like removing the gem might disrupt the blade's function, he'll warn Lilian of that. "You never know what he might find." Staren comments, of Peter. "The presence of unusual materials might tell us something about where or how this was made, as well."
Maya Spider-Man brings some unexpected and useful skills to the table she will sit back and let him do his work she's not been able to get anything from the few elders who remain. She'll think on how to get some more out of them but for now? She's going to be taking note of the Swamp of Carnivore.

"Mr. Stark doesn't do things by half measures. It could be they tried to damage it to prevent something about it from happening?"

Maya is more of the explode and heal sort of mage so she holds back letting people with science or magic skills better suited to it get a look over it though she does take an interest in observing the gem which is interesting.

"Could something in the swamp have done something to the blade? Maya does have experience salvaging thing so she'll take a look when others have finished with the blade to see if she can tell anything about its makeup but this is from the skill of someone who has experience in salvaging not someone who has trained metallurgical skills.

"I wonder if the blade is connected to a local deity or spirit? If it is we might find a way to contact that being and get some answers?"

She looks to Mairead "That could be useful, Mairead."
Lilian Rook     As the table gets more crowded, Lilian sighs, saying something about 'teach them a cantrip and everyone thinks they're an expert' while conversing with Spider-Man. Oddly (maybe not oddly) she doesn't make any room for Staren at the table. Clearly she must not like cats.
Evangeline      Evangeline watches the others talk and work, then looks down at the blade. "...I could try to repair it...it might give more clues when whole..." she offers quietly. She waits for Spider-man and Lilian to seem like they are mostly done, then floats forward and moves to take up both pieces of the broken sword and (assuming no one stops her) tries to repair it.

     This involves what might look like magic to some. She grips the two pieces, and they glow red before taking on a strange jet black hexagonal pattern. It looks like they are actually connected to her at this point. The gem might even take on the red of her leg-wings' panels. The little Neuroi then presses the two broken ends together, and a silver light appears. Much like a piece of paper burning in reverse, the break seals over. The dulled and tarnised blade fills in, and steadily any damage the sword had taken disappears in the wake of the silver glow.

     Once it is finished, Evangeline sets the sword back down on the table. It takes her a moment to loosen her grip, but when she does the blackness that had encased the sword suddenly shatters, leaving the blade as pristine as when it was first made. "...does it feel any different now...?" she asks.
Spider-Man
    "Oh! Yeah, actually." Spider-Man says to Mairead. "You can, uh... Fly or something, right? Like Mister Stark can? Can you try flying over Swamp Carnivore and maybe seeing if there's any spots on it that look like we should visit? Just, don't fly too low because..." He gestures. "It's called Swamp Carnivore, so I guess it might eat you. I don't really know. Just don't try to skip to the end, please." He also nods at Staren! "Yeah! I was wondering that. I can take a look too." He's gonna see if there's any notable conditions to its composition. Probably not likely, since it has been decaying and thus can't be made of Special Super-Starmetal or whatever, but who knows. It's sort of a hail mary shot, investigation-wise.

    He sets into it, clearing out some of the oxidized surface and applying a tiny little bit of acid-webfluid just to clean it all the way so he can get a clear spectronomic reading. Or maybe even just can do it once Evangeline is done and maybe it's clean! If so, /maybe/ he might find something that could direct him to a specific source. But given how hero blades work, he's not too expectant to find info.
Kalia     The grime on the sword, and the rust, are consistent with about fifty years of abuse by swamp waters, but underneath that are scorch marks that couldn't have been done by plantlife, unless that plantlife can breathe fire or explode. Which isn't impossible, but unlikely!

    The material it's made of is regular steel, although covered in layers of enchantments holding on through the power of, presumably, the gem in the hilt. It was probably made several centuries ago, but it doesn't really have regular wear and tear one would associate with aging. As with most holy swords, it was probably impervious to "aging" proper, but not awful swamp conditions for half a century.

    Removing the gem from the hilt risks undoing the enchantments keeping the blade together - proceed? Y/N

    Upon closer inspection, it does seem like the sword is basically a conduit for the gem. It might not even be the original Lakeblade, as the gem seems a lot older than the sword.

    Evangeline grabs the blade and repairs it. Nothing especially special happens! The blade reforms, becoming a shimmering longsword of silver and gold again. It isn't especially well balanced or designed, but it's transparently a symbolic holy sword, so it might not matter.

    One of the elders' eyes light up at the sight. A hint of nostalgia, maybe, but the others just seem all the more shamed by it.

    It'd certainly be possible to fly over Swamp Carnivore! Twelve miles away isn't a lot depending on flight speed, so a quick recon can't hurt.
Mairead Sandilands Mairead Sandilands nods to Spider-Man, "Ay," and the keyboard disappears and with a thought, Maireads uniform vanishes and a suit of power armor in on here and she got a foot taller. Looking, she smiles, "Anyone wanna join me?" she asks. "I can be there in a matter of minuites at my top speed of Mach 2.5." she adds.
Evangeline      Recon is something Evangeline can do, and if the sword can't offer any more information at this time then they may as well. She floats toward Mairead. "...I don't know if I can fly that fast...but I will join you..." she says. She'll leave the science-y stuff to the smart people. "...if the swamp is called the Swamp Carnivore...does that mean the swamp itself might actually eat people..?" she wonders aloud.
Kalia     Swamp Carnivore looks about as one would have expected. It's an awful, dark green, grey and black patch of land with murky, stagnant, bubbling waters, although the view is somewhat obscured by dying, blackened trees covered in thorny vines so lush and numerous that from high enough it could look like a healthy forest instead.

    One might certainly notice that another few dozen miles north of the swamp is a massive landmark, a palace the size of a city. Black and gold, not especially technologically advanced looking, but certainly impressive on sheer size alone. There are some pretty mean looking ballistas all over the ramparts and roof, though, so a blind approach might be ill-recommended.

    Back to the swamp, though, it doesn't seem to have any notable landmarks. One would likely only ever cross it to reach the palace, and the swamp's big enough that anyone coming in from the southern part of the area wouldn't have much choice to cross it to go north. There's a path, at least, so it might not be hard to find clues with a proper expedition.
Mairead Sandilands     Nodding to Evangeline, Mairead smiles "Thank you," she says. "I can carry you," she adds. "Is there a way I send real-time video from the swamp?" she ask those here. "That way, if i miss something others might see it?"

    Upon arriving, Mairead whistles and hovers as she records everything she can see in full 360 degree view. On her sensors, and the video feed, shows the different status of the area; Temp, height, wind speed, time, life and movement of creatures. Mairead zooms in to different areas and comments, "Wish i had something to grab samples for Spider-Man," is heard over the feed.

    "Should I go to that palace?" she asks.
Staren     Staren sends a drone to follow the flyers from higher up and at a distance, just to keep tabs on them.

    He doesn't need to be right at the edge of the table to work, but with everyone crowding around, he can't tell if Kalia is snubbing him or there just really isn't room.

    When ONE elder looks amazed at the sight of the restored Lakeblade, he turns to them, lowering the goggles from his face. "Can you tell us anything more about it?" he asks with a fake smile after a brief pause to think of a question that won't be offensive.
Spider-Man     Spider-Man prods and pokes at the sword, noting its construction. "Well, it was built to conduct /something/. I tried to understand magic things when I was fighting magic gangsters, but I didn't figure it out, so I can't say what. I guess if magic-conducting swords are rare around here, that's important." He shrugs a bit. He also stares a bit at Staren. "Are you also a king, like that other cat guy? Is that a king thing, or--?" He starts. No, stop.

    He's interrupted. He puts a finger to his earpiece. "Oh, uh, I don't like how those ballistae look, Miss Sand... Sandi... Miss flying lady." He says, to Mairead Sandilands. "Mark it on the map and I think we can head there soon. If we take the swamp path, maybe we can figure out more about what happened."
Lilian Rook     Lilian had made a certain comment when Spider-Man had addressed the sword as 'fancy', to the effect of it being 'decent' but 'not the Lamborghini of magic sword' after ascertaining he is American. When the floating cat doll thing turns it back to normal somehow, her theory is confirmed. "My point proven. Very pretty, but most definitely a symbolic item. Station of office or sword-in-the-stone affair. Perhaps related to a now-banned church, or with some prophesied application in killing evil emperors, if it was so important to hide. Certainly, it was built with a purpose in mind, and it was enough to compel a swordsman to carry around a lot of gold and silver without the most effective balance for it." she says.

    "As far as I'm concerned however, these people threw it away, so they clearly no longer want it." With that, she removes the gem as carefully as she can. She's already gotten a look (and taken photos) of its restored state, so if said restoration isn't enough to keep it from crumbling to pieces, she won't cry over it. She really wants to know everything there is to know about that gem. When she holds it up to examine it, she asks past it "Well? Which is it then? You people certainly know why it was important enough to dump in a swamp. Perhaps important enough for someone else to come after too. Someone who might decide to kill everyone over thirty this time. Help us do our jobs here, please." Not too firm, but not quite gentle, prodding at the evident guilt in the small crowd, and fanning a little fear with the recent trauma.

    "Oh, are we asking those now?" she suddenly says to Spider-Man, turning around with a hand on her collar. "Oh good. I'd been wondering; why are you supposedly a spider? And is that thing a robot of some kind?" she says, pointing to Evangeline. Then Staren "Further, why are you wearing cat . . . accoutrements? And what was your relation to the aberrants from the previous day?"
Maya Maya will not be much more useful in studying the blade she thinks she now knows it's time to get going to the swamp. She'll take hole of a small pendant muttering out a brief spell. Which causes a pair of blue energy wings to form from her back. She'll look to Spider-Man, Staren Evangeline and Lilian.

"I'm going to go catch up with Mai and see what I can do there, going through a place like that is more in my field of skills."

She pauses at Lilian talking about Staren's ears and just seems to grin faintly.

"I'll let Staren handle that answer."

Lilian's words about the blade being dumped, could it be they feared the wrath of whatever forged the weapon?

No matter with that she's going to take flight now to catch up with Mai and help her in poking about the swamp. Just don't let it have giant spiders...
Evangeline      Evangeline nods lightly when Mairead thanks her, but shakes her head at the offer to carry her. "...I can fly..." she says.

     There is a way to broadcast a live feed, and while Staren probably has that covered Evangeline broadcasts a live recording as well for anyone that can receive such things. "...I am a Neuroi...not a robot..." she adds over the feed to answer Lilian. What's the difference? It is hard to say. And the public broadcasting doesn't really help her argument that she is not a robot.

     She looks over at the palace as Mairead asks about it, giving the others a view of it as well. "...it looks like someone important might have lived there...or does live there..."
Staren     Staren blinks. "Other cat guy? N'Raha's not a king... and neither am I." He smiles, genuinely this time, and extends a hand. "Staren Wiremu. Hand of the Concord. I daresay that means more than most kings... but come to think of it, that discounts most of the political and administrative work they have to do. You're Spider-Man, Stark's protege, right? Good to make your acquaintance."

    "As for those castle defenses, I think we should send drones first and see if they're fired upon. And maybe show the locals here a picture of the palace to see if they can identify it -- perhaps it's where the local king--" he glances around the room. "--or, baron, or what have you, lives."

    Lilian asks why he's wearing cat ears. The ears and tail twitch. He folds his arms. "They're real. And they're ostensibly my allies, but it seems we greatly disagreed with how to handle this situation. I still need to sort that out, but while they may have other priorities, I swear that I only want the best for these people." Then he realizes he's never seen Lilian before. "...Wait, who are you and what do you have to do with all this?"
Kalia     Someone finally asks one of the villagers the obvious questions. Specifically, the only one who looks somewhat less uncomfortable than the others! The old man looks at Staren, then back at his fellows, then at Staren.

    "The Lakeblade was Pelo's treasure after the last hero to wield it ended his days there. It's said..." He quickly corrects himself. "Was said, that whenever evil reached for the throne, someone would be born to wield it and end tyranny."

    Another old man speaks up, angrier, "Gared was a reckless imbecile! Even under the assumption the emperor is a tyrant, Gared didn't have the makings of a hero or a knight. He'd have been killed, or worse, and then our village razed for being his origin."

    The first old man shuts up.

    Lilian removes the gem from the blade. It - the blade - seems to lose its sheen as a result, becoming a pretty, but mundane, blade, with not an ounce of magic left besides what was in place to properly channel the gem's power(s). It probably wouldn't be enough to socket it into a new blade, the recipient weapon would probably need to be made with the intent to harness power from its socket.

    Though Lilian's varied assumptions make the angrier old man speak up again. "Gared went around yelling about the prophecy and how he'd right the emperor's wrongs. It put a target on our entire village if they knew the Lakeblade originated here. We voted. There were only two against it. We couldn't let him reach the palace. He'd have gotten us all killed."

    Meanwhile, the palace is just kind of over there. Patrols wander the ramparts and the ballistas are manned.
Spider-Man     Spider-Man flicks those lenses to an uncertain expression. "Well, you know. I do everything a spider can! I spin webs and crawl on walls, stuff like that!" He takes on a heroic posture. "Catching bad guys, saving people. I fight crime!" He also shifts to a bright and positive posture. "And now I also help the Paladins! Mister Stark invited me." He sounds /especially/ proud of that last part. He'd demonstrate, but there's a small crowd and it would be awkward and disruptive.

    Spider-Man's mostly done with his own investigative angle, and has figured out what his next advised path is. Take the path through Swamp Carnivore to see if they can find Gared's bones or trinkets, and visit the city-palace past it.
Lilian Rook     "Oh. Hmm." Lilian gives the noncommittal noise remark to Staren actually having cat ears, like she can't decide whether that's more or less tasteful than putting them on. As far as she knows, it's the advanced gene-splicing form of terminal weebism, but it seems after a moment's lip tapping, she files it away as probably best to assume it's a birth condition, or else an ethnic thing. "If it's that close, I hardly expect they'd need pictures. Why don't you just ask them if they know of a giant palace within thirty miles? Or at all, really. It's close enough to be collecting taxes." she continues.

    "With my incredible powers of deduction, I'd guess it's the emperor's." she adds drily. "We don't currently have a strong case to be knocking down the door. Perhaps not even paying a visit, unless the emperor bears some relevance to an ongoing threat to these people, in the form of more victims of politically convenient treachery rising from the grave to exact bloody vengeance or otherwise."

    Then, "Oh! Forgive my manners. I'd forgotten I was still wearing a requisitioned tactical police set before. I'm Lilian. Lilian Rook, Immaculate Extinguisher of the Immunes, class Crimson Sword." With a twist of her wrist, she holds out her hand to Staren. "I was the one who interrupted that Kalia creature the last time. Unfortunately lowballed, I'm afraid. I'll make certain not to make that mistake again, believe me." she says, adjusting the strap of the incongruous sword over her back.

    Staren, and Spider-Man could probably swear it was a pretty generic affair before; steel cross hilt, leather wrapped handle. It's pitch black though, with an oddly complicated guard and intricate scarlet vines and flowers stenciled into the metal. A little bit of glittering black particulate falls off of it when shifted, like motes of frost.

    "About that." she suddenly shifts her attention to the villager. "What precisely has this emperor been *doing*? I understand the concept of communal face and the loss thereof perfectly well, thank you, but surely Gared must have had some basis for believing so strongly the emperor to be a malevolent tyrant that he'd pick up a sword and march off to battle, rather than moaning about it at the pub every Sunday. How many people agree with him?" She's still maintaining that firm yet lackadaisical prodding approach, prompting them to keep talking rather than specifically address something, because when people keep talking on their own tangent, they tend to speak their mind --often without meaning to. "No offense, but I also suspect your manner of burial has something to do with how easily he was able to come back as a wraith. I hardly need to speculate. He was very clear about his grievances, for a dead man."
Mairead Sandilands "There are patrols on the ramparts manned are the ballistas," Mairead states. "And ye can call me Mairead Mr. Spider-Man, she mentions. As she hovers, she looks at the guards and the feed changes to more tactical as weapons and other info appears on the screen "Depending on who is there, I am sure I have been spotted. I can flyby at Mach 1 if need be."
Staren     Staren shakes the hand. "Thank you. I would have been helping, but my 'allies' sabotaged my efforts. Yeah. It's alright. We all stop making that mistake about her pretty quickly."

    He turns back to the old man. "Yes... While, depending on circumstances, taking the emperor's side is perfectly understandable... what, specifically, was he trying to stop, and what did you do?" Staren tilts his head. "Although... if the emperor would raze your village simply for giving birth to one of his enemies, he hardly sounds like an emperor worth supporting, honestly." He raises a hand slightly. "But... we weren't here before. And it sounds like you're suffering enough already. Perhaps you had no choice."
Maya Maya shakes her head and is about to say something about don't buzz the castle, but Lilian has it handled the warning and is handling the investigation back with the villagers petty well from what she's hearing over the comm. She'll look to Mai before descending down into the swamp to catch up with Spider-Man, and when she finally catches up she'll hovering a bit above the ground and fall in with him.

"So hello Spider-Man, lets' hope your the only giant spider we deal with today, as this swamp looks a bit like one back home full of spiders the size of Terran Wolves."

She knows Mai's better in the air and since nothing is actively jumping her right now it should be fine for her to help Spider-Man hunt for clues here in the swamp right?
Kalia     "There was... some level of agreement with the claim. But Gared was a fool raised on legends and stories of heroes. The facts mattered less than the chance for him to be "a hero". He wasn't a knight, not even a squire. Too reckless! No sense of self-preservation. Thought being the hero meant he couldn't lose."

    A huff.

    An old woman chimes in. "The emperor is just, but he rules through fear. It's... fine, if you're on his good side. Like us. But people who aren't, he doesn't put up with. It's radical, but... it'd be a lie to say we live bad lives. He rewards loyalty very well."

    Seems sincere enough.

    The old man adds, "We didn't kill him. We gave him pheromones that attract the beasts of the swamp, and the empire was to ambush him while he was busy with that. Evidently it worked pretty well." That's how being innocent works!
Staren     Staren hangs his head slightly. "Of course you killed him. Murder by proxy is still murder. But killing all of you wouldn't make it right. Perhaps, though, you should ask the emperor if he likes you enough to build you a new town, before you rely on us." Staren sighs. "Where might we find a map of the empire, so we can see who's being mistreated and then... talk to the emperor about it? Perhaps he can yet change his ways."
Mairead Sandilands Nodding, Mairead looks and lowers as she scans the swap and records the swamp and layout. "I'm mapping the swamp for us," she comments as she sees Spiderman. Quietly she prays as she flies and will cover those on the ground as needed, as well as watch the skies and the Palace.
Lilian Rook     "I'll be the judge of that." Lilian says quite suddenly in response to the insistence that the emperor is a just one. "You said only two people objected. That means everyone else agreed to it right? Are the two who objected still with us?" she then asks. "I'd like to assume that Gared spared them."
Evangeline      Since approaching the palace at this time is ill-advise, Evangeline heads back toward the others. And seems like she had heard nearly everything that has been said. "...if your actions were for the defense of your lands and the empire...why hide it..?" she asks when she reaches the group again. "...and...why not simply...tell him that if he went you would have to report him to the empire..? ..it might have prevented him from going...and kept this spirit from rising up against you now...and if he had a holy weapon...does that mean one of the gods of this world blessed his mission...?"
Kalia     The old woman errs uncomfortably. "The two were... his parents." There's some manner of muttering and whispering amidst the old, and then she resumes with: "They died shortly after he did. Natural causes, but... I think it's obvious they died of a broken heart and soul. We've had to carry that guilt for the last fifty years."

    Well, except the youngest of the old people, who mostly just remember it happening but weren't part of the adult crowd back then.

    At Evangeline's question, the angrier old man approaches. "I mean it when I say Gared was a fool! We tried to warn him, tell him to leave well enough alone. But he was convinced he was born for a greater purpose, and the Lakeblade and its "prophecy" were a convenient narrative for him. He was a rash young man, nothing more."

    What of the weapon? They shake their heads.

    "No one knows who made the Lakeblade. It could've been a god, a fairy, or just a smith who knew magic. If it's divine, we've never heard a word of it. And truthfully, that legend is fine where it ended, six feet under. We don't want to oppose the emperor, or to be where a hero found the means to try."
Spider-Man     Well, Lilian made the request, and so Spider-Man gets to it. "Hey! Sorry, everyone. This feels really weird, but I have to arrest everyone really old here. I promise this isn't a ghost thing!" He leaps above the crowd, fine-tuned goggles zeroing in on faces designated by Lilian as criminals as he sticks to the ceiling. "You, you, you..." He starts blasting webs meant to stick hands to each other like impromptu handcuffs. If all that works out, he'll be wall-crawling out of the area they all gathered in for the sword business to sorta-swing around the village grabbing any of the rest that Lilian has designated, though she'll probably have to pick them out on the data-feed of his goggles-camera.

    He's extremely delicate considering their age. His webbing presents almost no opportunity for them to be injured in the process at all! It's probably the only reason he can be okay, albeit uncomfortable, with the whole thing. "Don't worry, everyone! I think courts have a thing for murders when a big emperor pressured you to do them. Parole sounds /super easy/ for something like that! I don't even know what the statute of limitations is for swamp-baiting." He jokes to keep his mind off of the problem.
Evangeline      Evangeline just floats there as Lilian calls for them to be arrested and Spider-man goes about it. "...even if though they are guilty...we have no authority here..." is the only objection she offers. "...we should take the matter to their ruler..." she addds a few moments later, rotating slowly in place without actually moving as she watches Spider-Man. "...if he demands they be released...they are his people...if he condemns them or refuses to acknowledge them...then you can return for them..."
Mairead Sandilands Landing near the others in the swamp, than going back to the village Mairead Sandilands blinks and looks to Maya and just stands there as she sends Clota back and returns to her school attire. " I do not agree with this," she says simply.
Maya Maya had fallen in with Spider-Man and fam in she did not look happy as she turned back coming in for a landing as Spider-Man moved to target the subjects of the arrests. Maya is uncomfortable with this but well? When you grew up in a world where most Justice came at the end of a gun, blade of spell deck? The idea of Courts is a hell of a thing. Spider-Man is much faster than she could have been. Maya has concerns deep concerns here, but this isn't the Union she can't just turn around and break out a beating.

She's going to have to see if they even had the legal clearance to act here before she does one thing or another.

Still Regardless of her own intentions? These people would be safer in Lockup then out in the open where other things might be prowling after them.

This sort of thing is, in the end, the Price of joining this organization through the zeal of with Iilian has troubled her maybe more than anything else. She will make sure no one is hurt in this process but she clearly does not look happy.
Mairead Sandilands Mairead Sandilands sighs and does the same, "I am sorry, but this maybe better," she says. "I will help you and make sure ye a safe," she adds as she does the taking into custody. Mairead is not enjoying this one bit.
Staren     Staren ends up in a long ethical debate with Lilian on the radio. "So." He looks around at the gathered old folk. "She wants to take you in to be tried for your crimes. Will you go with her?"

    If any of them actually say no, he asks why.
Lilian Rook     Lilian makes a call with split reactions over the radio. Thankfully, Spider-Man is on the case. Since he's broadcasting the data to her, she is easily able to pick out the individuals that were singled out and rescued in the last operation, especially given that Kalia had scarcely left a handful of them alive. There's still some pretty fierce argument about whether or not she should feel allowed to do it, but she quickly demonstrates her level of care for the Wrong Opinions being leveled by--

                -----[stop]-----
    Lilian walks over to the closest of the village elders --the angry one-- once Spiderman's web cuffs have taken effect. Getting her arms underneath him, she hoists him up over her shoulders like a very inconvenient mannequin, exerting a bit of magic to make the task easy. She then grabs the old lady and puts her over the opposite shoulder. Securing them both in place, she walks over to the Warpgate, muttering under her breath the entire way in highly immature mocking baby voice of Staren and Evangeline.

    Picking one of Ad Coleum's gates, she chucks then through, jogs back into the village, and repeats, grabbing two at a time and hauling them through the Warpgate like sacks of coal, until she has fully crossed off the list of verified survivors. She dusts off her hands, leaving the motes of clothes-dirt hanging in the air, then makes a particularly rude gesture at Staren where it won't go seen, before returning to her original position.

                -----[start]-----

    --making every senior in the area disappear, in the middle of Staren talking to them.

    "Sorry, but did I ask for permission?"
Staren     Staren is startled... but then he smiles at her. "There you go. Using your powers to enforce your will on the world in the face of an adversary. Good job, that's how things are decided in the Multiverse. And for that to change... someone like us will have to decide it."

    He sighs. "I didn't think them blameless. I think there are better options... but arresting them isn't... it's not something I'm going to fight you to stop." He turns to Spider-Man. "Well, you helped with this course of events. I hope you're right. You're partly responsible for what happens now, after all."

    He looks to Lilian. "It seems we agree that next we confront the emperor. I'm going to prepare first." He walks out of whatever building they're in and beams up.
Kalia     If the elderly intend to respond to the numerous ongoing discussions, it's cut short by their literal disappearance. The adults and young people of the village all seem incredibly surprised and agitated, and that'll likely take some smoothing over to prevent exactly what Staren fears, that these people are going to hate The Law after this.

    But at least it takes care of things here.

    Seems like it's time to decide a few things!

    Where do you want to go next?
    And what are you going to do with the repaired Lakeblade and its gem?
Mairead Sandilands Looking at this, Mairead blinks and glances to Maya. This just went bad as things clear out. "How about we talk about the Palace and the next step?" she asks. I would ok to keep track of the sword until we are ready for it to be used. What about the gem?"