World Tree MUSH

    The job posting is through several means, or perhaps it's just a random arrival. Either way, through map or a prearranged van with a hired driver, or just happenstance of Vines sometimes flickering around the town, the location to meet up for the full explanation is on the outskirts of the small town of Welville, up a gravel road, leading to a refurbished old colonial house with a sign marking it as 'Simsons Bed & Breakfast' and a place to stay aside from one of the local motels. It has digital satellite and plenty of amenities, though uses well water and the like. Definitely a sleepy little rural place! It does, fortunately, seem to have spotty but serviceable cell phone service, for those who care about such things, but this is roughly early 2000's and any higher tech is an import.

    The Simsons are a middle-aged pair of brother and sister, though a sharp eye will notice that the brother had a wife until recently. But that's kind of immaterial, what's important is they do greet everyone who arrives and show them to the large drawing room, where a map of the town, some photos and news clippings, and a white board has been set up. The client for this job, Raylene Dunwich, is also there, a proper-looking aristocratic girl that looks to be in her early to mid teens? Kind of young for this, but there's plenty of stranger things out there, so maybe that won't draw comment.

    When everyone she knows is coming has arrived, and warm tea and some biscuits served, she gets right down to business. "Sorry for calling you all here. Normally myself and some acquaintances of mine would be handling this, but the Spirit Chasers are missing, probably in some extradimensional trap or something, and I unfortunately have an infestation of a particularly virulent cryptid pest to handle a few towns over, so I need someone to be my eyes and ears and hopefully solve this while I'm away." She curtsies. "Raylene Dunwich, at your service."

    She gestures at the various bits assembled on the wall. "A little over forty years ago, after one of the mayors resigned due to the tragic death of his daughter - one of the last cases of polio, apparently - and retired to live his life in the manor outside of town. He recently died, and that's the only major event I've connected to problems that have occurred since then. This town has a few offices but the major employer is an elevator assembly and testing facility. There's also a defense contractor in the area. Both of them have had a sudden surge of accidents lately attributed to human error and sloppiness. While it could be some kind of gas leak causing it, patterns such as this usually indicate something more supernatural is at work. So I'd like people to quietly investigate. Well, as quietly as offworlders can, but fortunately offworlders are not unknown here, if rare enough to be a curiosity."

Misaki is wearing her school uniform, and is finishing up a quick meal as she walks onto the grounds of the old house. "A pleasure, mister Simson, miss Simson, miss Dunwich. I am Misaki Sakai." She offers an introduction, "Anything unusual besides suspicious gas leaks?" She focuses on Raylene, "I would rather like to know anything that could turn out to be relevant, even if you think it's unlikely."

 
 Supernatural incidents!? 
 
 Well, that's just a fancy way of saying Undead, right!? And wouldn't you know it? Muradin Bronzebeard is a master at slaying undead! Kill 'em all twice is what he always says! 
 
 Though he has been in Tree for quite some time, Muradin has yet to grow acquainted with these fancy communication technology known as phones. He certainly has heard of it, Anna seemed pretty adamant about getting one, and nearly everyone in Alola carried some kind of box that allowed them to communicate to others from large distances. Certainly useful tech, but one that Muradin had never relied on in Azeroth, and thus he comes in to town carrying the equipment he had when he first arrived. His armor, a flintlock and his legendary warhammer and battle axe that lay merged deep within his soul. Not much has changed in Muradin despite his time in the Tree.. at least no visibly. Dwarves, stoic, proud, unchanging, unmoving, like rock. It would take a long time or a big event for Muradin to ever be something else. 
 
 Ever his plucky self, the dwarf arrives waving at everyone with a confident grin in his face. He glances about the sleepy inn, keeping a wary eye out for strange things, but ultimately focuses on his employer- a young looking human lass indeed, though the dwarf had certainly learned that young age is certainly not a hindering factor here. After all, Anna was probably...younger than Raylene? Or at least he thinks so, hard to tell with humans- but nevertheless her age hadn't stopped her from tearing demons to pieces so he feels he can rely on Raylene for information and leadership. 
 
 "Well met! I'm Muradin Bronzebeard, Mountain King of Ironforge." He says to Raylene by way of introduction, bringing his meaty fist to his armored chest for a warrior salute. "Slayer of orcs, trolls, ogres, undead, ghosts, dragons... uh.. slayer of things in general!" He grins and rubs his beard. "Gotta admit, this ain't my usual type of jig. I'm more of a kick the door down and clean house type a dwarf, but it sounds like there might be quite a bit o' danger 'ere, and I ain't too shabby as a bodyguard for investigators and the like. I'll make certain we all make this one alive." Never hurts to bring a tank along, is what he thinks. After introductions, Muradin crosses his muscled arms across his chest and waits for further instructions, listening to what the others have to say.

    Earlier:

    Morrigan Lor'osa had been skimming through possible job postings on her cellphone when she came across the one that Raylene had put up.
    "Huh. Look at this one, Mary." She says, prompting her shinki companion to pull up a holoscreen detailing the same information on her phone.
    "Looks right up our alley, Master." The Maryceles shinki chirrups.
    "Mmmmhm, what say we go check it out."

    A little less earlier:

    A gray 2003 Ford Windstar minivan comes rolling down the road at a lazy pace, stopping in front of the Simsons Bed and Breakfast, a half-elf dressed like a total witch emerges from the car with her shinki partner on her shoulder.

    NOW!

    Morrigan sips on tea while sliding Mary Contrary a tiny bottle of jelly, sitting back in her seat while regarding Raylene a little closely with eldritch green glowing eyes.
    "Huh." Is all she says at first amid rubbing her chin. "The Spirit Chasers? There was a group of kids like you running around solving mysteries and fighting the supernatural? Or are you just 'the young one'?" Morrigan asks a little bluntly between nibbles on a biscuit. "Not that youth is everything, I'm fully aware of the vim and vigor kids have these days letting them do all kinds of crazy adventuring stunts." She says, particularly eyeing Misaki as she does so.
    Just don't call her old or anything.
    Nevertheless, the Warlock crosses her legs under the table and plants her chin on an upturned palm.
    "Human Error and sloppiness are rarely just that in this line of work." She notes. "The question is what KIND of supernatural something is at hand? A haunting, cryptid, or Something That Should Not Be?"
    Nevertheless, this has her attention, and she waves a hand. "Don't worry about me though when it comes to investigating, I can be subtle! Totally!"
    "Master you dress like a witch, cackle, and like to shoot first and ask questions later." Mary Contrary points out.
    "..."
    Morrigan takes her jelly bottle away.
    "A-aww!" The shinki pouts.

    Apparently there's no shortage of teenagers to go around. Shirou Emiya might be on the older end of it (in some countries he's counted as an adult!), but still! The red-haired faux-mage has somehow found his wya here -- probably because he ended up intercepting some message meant for Tonbokiri's crew again, and he's both too curious and too helpful for his own good.

    And he probably ran into at least some people on the way here, too. And he even recognizes some of them!

    "Oh. Sakai-san, Bronzebeard-san," he calls to the teenaged girl and dwarf respectively before they all step into the house to meet with the Simosns and Raylene.

    Shirou for his part is more or less quiet while the situation is explained. He already feels a bit out of his element...

    And he's definitely giving Morrigan wary, vaguely concerned looks. She may or may not remind him of someone else.

    "Quietly investigate..." The redhead repeats over the instructions, at the end, scratching lightly at his chin with one finger. "I mean, I don't think me and Sakai-san stand out *too* much, at least..."

     Krystal got a notice about this job posting on her ship's computer and figured it was something her telepathic abilities might be helpful for. However, she decides that showing up with said ship in the usual attire she wears when she's working as a pilot or expecting a fight, might be a tad too conspicuous for this job. Instead, she shows up wearing a lavender coat, dark blue leggings, and a gray top. 

     So apart from her ornately decorated blue and gold staff, which is collapsed and attached to her belt sort of like a Jedi would have their lightsaber, and the fact that she's a tall vixen with blue fur, she looks like a perfectly normal woman ready for a stroll through the cool late fall weather as she enters the inn and makes her way over to join the others. 

     She greets Raylene with a nod and offers the others a quick wave. "Hello, I'm Krystal. I'm a telepath if that might be of use here, and of course, if this gets violent I'm certainly ready and able to fight."

    "Hypothetical gas leak," Raylene corrects to Misaki. "More likely it is something supernatural. I have a sense for these things, and it's been tingling since I arrived here. No doubt my more magical friend is making whatever is here get nervous." She doesn't specify what friend, since said invisible friend is outside right now anyway. "In any case, well-met to all of you."

    She takes a seat to answer questions first. "Some level of bluntness can be useful, and I do suspect there may be danger involved. My request did require someone who could defends themselves, Lord Bronzebeard. I doubt it's orcs or trolls, but some kind of ghost might be involved. More likely something less ephemeral but more monstrous." She tsks.

    Morrigan gets a shake of the head. "They are a high school club, a few years older than me. I'm... home-schooled so I couldn't join even if I were old enough. They did help me out a while back, though, so I occasionally give them a hand when they need a witch's touch. I am quite adept at that."

    Over to Shirou, Raylene smiles, "No, you do not stand out. You even dress contemporarily, unlike Koyomi."

    Finally, Krystal gets a slow look up and down. A dwarf, a witch with a tiny robot, and now a vixen? That said... "Hm, you'll be catching eyes, but we've been Blossomed long enough that people have heard of more exotic nonhumans here, you should be fine. A telepath can be very useful, just be cautious. If this is some sort of cryptid causing this, it may have some kind of mental protections." She sighs, "Any further questions before you get started?"

"I'm sorry, miss Lor'osa. Not all of us can be crones with a heart that's shriveled up like a prune." Misaki offers Morrigan with a cheery smile, "But I do try to be a shining beacon of heroism." The light mage delivers that pun completely deadpan. She fishes out a bottle of jelly and hands it to Mary when she thinks Morrigan isn't looking. "Nice to see you again, Lord Bronzebeard, mister Emiya." She smiles to Krystal, "A pleasure miss... do you have a family name?"

The magical girl listens to what Raylene has to say. "I have a knack for finding certain kinds of reality disturbances." A pause, "And some other magical abilities, but I would stand out a lot more if I were to use them."

 
 "Oi! Shirou!! BWAHAHA!! Yer always in the thick of it, lad! I like that 'bout ye!" Muradin cackles loudly as seeing Shirou is an unexpected but pleasant surprise. The dwarf SLAMS his hand on Shirou's back in a very dwarven amicably sort of way, happy to run into the boy again. "Say uh, did ye happen to bring with ye that sword Anna gave ye? Might come in handy, mate." The dwarf then whispered to Shirou, though he had to go on his toes a little to reach the human's ears. 
 
 Muradin then heeds Raylene's words and gives a nod. "Oh, aye, I can keep it all subtle like when things aren't getting dangerous, ye donna have to worry 'bout me." He says rubbing his nose lightly as their host explained what manner of monster could be causing these problems. "Ethereal or not, me weapons are made to rend flesh and spirit alike. I'll ye folks safe, of that I can assure ye." Muradin seems confident, he may not be a top class detective but he is certain he can keep this group safe while the smarter folk did the searching. He already had his role in this group just the way he liked it. 
 
 And speaking of a role. It's then that he notices Morrigan and despite his best efforts he purses his lips and scowls a little bit. Oh boy, a /Warlock/. Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Muradin may not be in Azeroth anymore but he'd recognize a Warlock anywhere in the Multiverse. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time he worked with the type, it just still gave him the hibbie jibbies. Though at least the dwarf makes sure to avert his way quickly away from Morrigan so he wouldn't be caught staring. 
 
 Speaking of things that seem different and yet the same, in comes Krystal and Muradin looks rather taken back. "Oh! Ello! Are ye some kind of.. Blue Worgen?" The dwarf asks rather bluntly. "Ye wouldn't be from Azeroth would ye?" It was worth a shot asking. 

    "My heart isns't shriveled like a prune!" Morrigan huffs. But she doesn't let herself rise more than that to Misaki's jibes, crossing her arms and huffing mildly.
    Mary acquires more jelly; with a tiny 'Thank you' she starts guzzling it down before Morrigan can say anything.
    Morrigan, who tends to spoil her shinki anyway, just huffs and doesn't say anything on the matter and moves on.
    "A high school club then. And we'll have to talk witchy-shop some time maybe." She offers, "Still, if they're missing that puts this in our hands doesn't it. I'll change into something less-witchy, myself, on the way to catch less eyes."
    Speaking of catching eyes, she notices the look the Mountain King has been giving her- and Shirou too.
    "You know, you two have been eyeing me like I've got tentacles growing out of my face, is something up?"

    "Y-Yeah, I guess I ju-BWAGH?!" Shirou did NOT expect to get smacked like that on his back. He actually almost tumbles over as a result of the dwarf's friendly gesture. "Awawa... It's good to see you too, Bronzebeard-san..." He perks up a bit when the whispered question comes (and let's be honest, Muradin probably doesn't need to lean up *that* much since Shirou isn't particularly tall either). "Oh... Yeah." He tugs lightly at the tube-shaped carrier slung from his back. Not wearing a sword openly today, but he wasn't going to let a perfectly good sword just lay around gathering dust. "Is silver okay for ghosts though...?" He honestly doesn't know! Supposedly only magical weapons would have been good for Heroic Spirits, so maybe this is the same thing? Technically his Reinforcement isn't enough for that kind of thing.

    He blinks and visibly stiffens up when Morrigan more or less calls him and Muradin out on the staring, and some color drains from his face. "Er... no, nothing's wrong! Honest. I just... You just reminded me of someone else I knew once." Someone who may or may not have tried to rip his magical circuits out but NEVERMIND THAT RIGHT NOW.

    And as for any more questions? As far as he goes, anyway-- "I'm good! I'll try my best, anyhow."

     Krystal nods to Raylene. "I'll try to keep that in mind, thanks for the warning." She isn't exactly the best at shielding herself from mental attacks, but she hopes she'll be able to manage here, and doesn't want to worry the others about her. She returns Misaki's smile before answering about her name. "Alysia, a pleasure to meet you also, Miss Sakai." 

     Muradin's question of what she is gets a shake of the head as she turns to the dwarf. "I'm not sure what a worgen is, but no, I'm a Cerinian Fox, and unless there is a parallel world where my home planet wasn't mysteriously wiped out, I'm probably the only one left in the universe." She says with a frown. She's never worked with a warlock before, and as long as they're on the same side, she has no problems with Morrigan or anyone else here.

    "My condolences," Raylene first says to Krystal, though it's in such a tone that it's not clear if she actually cares or not. Raylene's a bit of an odd one there. To the rest, generally, "Hopefully seeking out reality-warping effects won't be needed, but you have plenty of leads right now. The old Mayor's manor, the residential areas, the elevator company, Gilberto, and perhaps other leads that aren't quite so obvious. I've told the Simsons here-" She nods toward the kitchen where they wandered off during the 'private talk' - "That you'll be staying some time and may have other guests in and out, but feel free to use this as your base of operations. They can likely be trusted but have no experience with this sort of thing, so don't expect too much help beyond giving directions to where you can find something."

 
 "Excellent! There's a good lad!" Muradin says to Shirou quickly when the boy shows him that he indeed is carrying the silver sword. When Shirou asks the master dwarf if it's actually going to do anything against ghosts, Muradin leans towards Shirou again to impart some hardened adventurer wisdom. "Ghosts can be tricky, but when it comes to fighting undead and demons, ye canna go wrong with silver." Nods the dwarf. "Rule of thumb; silver is fer monsters, steel fer mortals, that's how the stories go." 
 
 After his brief talk with Shirou, the dwarf turns towards Krystal and, well, let's just say he got more than he bargained. Not only is Krystal not a Worgen, she's a mite too open about her tragic past. "Ooof... aye, same here, lass. Me condolences as well." He clears his throat a little and rubs his beard. Well, that was a rather awkward start to all this... 
 
 As Muradin is trying to figure out what else to say to Krystal, Morrigan calls him and Shirou on the staring. Shirou has his own excuse but Muradin seems caught off guard that she decided to address the stares so soon. "Wot? Me?? I uh..." His eyes move from side to side trying to make something up on the spot. "Nay! I uh.. was staring... at..." Then he notices the Shinki. "At yer wee lassie over there! Wow! What or who is that? She's bloody adorable!" Though it was more of an excuse to avoid talking to Morrigan directly, Muradin does seem intrigued by Mary. 
 
 Despite all the apparent goofing off, Muradin is keeping his head in the game. A poor warrior he would be if he wasn't ready to set out at a moments' notice. "Wellp! I got all me gear with me! If ye fine folk are ready to sally forth and investigate, I'd be glad to be off alongside ye, me friends!" 

"Guess we should figure out where to go first." Misaki thinks about the options, "And what our story is. Mister Emiya and I can probably fit in a little, but the rest of us are either clearly not human or you know, miss Contrary already explained what the problem is with the last one of us." She thinks, "How about we pretend Lord Bronzebeard is looking into this world's technology and culture, and miss Lor'osa and miss Alysia are the adventurers he's hired to protect him, while mister Emiya and I are the curious kids who decided to tag along with this strange batch of offworlders?"

    "Silver's not good against ghosts." Morrigan says plainly to Shirou. "Great for fighting demons and devils, sure, just hope you're not up against any ghosts without a magic-imbued weapon." The Warlock notes. "Silver's good for other things too though. Like physical undead- ghouls, wights, withers... And werewolves." Pause. "Werewolves aren't undead. Also just hope you're not up against a werewolf. Their bites are nasty." She says waggling a finger Muradin's way because he has the right of it as well.
    The dwarf who was... Staring at her shinki. Sure. That's what he was doing.
    "Thiiiis. is Mary Contrary." Morrigan introduces the little helper robot, who holds up one tiny arm in greeting from her perch on the Warlock's shoulder, holding on as said Warlock gets to her feet. And sticks her tongue out at Misaki.
    "I already said I was going to change into something less-witchy, geeze."
    That doesn't do much for the cackling and the shooting first and asking questions later.
    "Anyway give me five minutes to change and I can drive us anywhwere." She says motioning for the minivan outside. It's got plenty of room for the party. "So where are we headed? The manor? The elevator place, or the defense contractor place?"
    Pause.
    "I, for one, vote the spooky manor."

    Shirou was already nodding to Muradin's advice... but then Morrigan makes the point of correcting him on the effectiveness of silver against ghosts. "Oh. WEll..." He winces after considering his options for a moment. "...I'm sure I can think of some way I can help. Hey, I heard somewhere ghosts don't like salt, what if--" Pause. "...No, that's dumb, nevermind..."

    He is never going to admit to momentarily considering coating his sword with salt. He would never live it down.

    "Nice save," he asides to Muradin then with a light bump of his elbow against the dwarf's side, nodding firmly because clearly they have both gotten away from having stared at Morrigan now. Yes.

    "That... makes sense, I suppose. At least if people are used to seeing off-worlders here?"

    Morrigan's suggestion earns a subtle narrowing of eyes, however. He doesn't outright deny the option altogether, but...

    "..:Why do Ifeel like I once saw a western cartoon that was something like this...?"

     Krystal doesn't really have anything to add on the nature of weapon composition and effectiveness against ghosts, but it does cast doubt on how well her own weapon will work. "Hmm, wonder how effective my staff will be. Don't suppose bludgeoning an ethereal ghost is going to do much, but I don't really know enough about ghosts to know if energy blasts would be any different. But in any case, Misaki's plan for how we draw as little attention to ourselves as possible sounds about as good or better than any idea I could have come up with."

    "The manor is as good a starting point as any. You can find it here," Raylene points to the map, and then hands Morrigan a road map, since GPS is unreliable and new here. "I should note it is still private property. You won't find any police wandering around, but it may have an alarm system and is likely to be locked up tight. However, nobody lives in there, so assuming you don't trip an alarm you should be fine to snoop around. Just don't steal anything irrelevant, I'd prefer to keep our tresspasses against the law to a minimum." She doesn't seem too concerned about BREAKING the law, she just doesn't want to do it for no reason.

    To move things along...

    Fortunately, for a first choice, the manor is a good one. It's out of the way, and off another side road, but this one is paved. It's a large gated manor, with a nice metal gate, and the walls overgrown with vines. It definitely doesn't look hard to just climb the walls at any point, or just go around through the forest if need be... it's more a decoration than a high security place. The manor itself is old, by the standards of the US, but looks reasonably modernized, including a large garage and what looks to be a groundskeeper's home. Which is occupied, though probably just with whomever is keeping the lawn mowed. It has numerous windows, several fireplaces, and doors of course. Fancy. Even a fountain in the middle, though it looks to be turned off.

    "Ooh a road map, how rustic." Morrigan chirrups as she looks the map over and the location of the manor and commits it to memory.
    "Oh please, steal anything irrelevant? What do we look like, some kind of band of roving murderous hobos?"
    Hah hah... hah... hahhhh...
    Nevertheless, given five minutes to change out of her leather armor and robes, Morrigan plops into the driver's seat and ushers everyone into the Windstar Machine.
    She is very insistent on people buckling up on getting in, and is... Actually a perfectly safe and legal driver.
    SO she rolls the van up to the manor and puts it in park, the half-elf emerging in a plain black tee, a pair of jeans and a set of comfy sneakers.
    For sneaking.
    "Right then, last one over the wall's a rotten egg." She says starting to climb up the vine covered wall.
    Kind of slowly.
    Yeah it's not exactly easy going for her, but she makes it to the top and hops over.

 
 "Hmph!" Muradin purses his lips in annoyance as Morrigan reminds him and Shirou that silver is not exactly a sure fire way to deal with ghosts. "Mayhap not, but Raylene did say it might be a more physical monster in nature." Says the dwarf rather grumpily, arms crossed over his chest. "In which case, the silver sword might come in handy after all." He huffs slightly, not liking his adventuring experience be put into question, least from an apparent Warlock. So much in fact that he Muradin goes out of his way to defend Shirou when Morrigan mentions the he should be lucky they're not dealing with a Werewolf. "Oh, I'm sure me lad Shirou 'ere could handle a Werewolf! I've seen 'em take on demons ye know??" 
 
 He chuckles and elbows Shirou back when he mentions the save, "Aye, ye too." Muradin may have just used Mary as a way to steer suspicion away from him, but now he seems genuinely interested in the tiny robot helper. "Huh, are those from yer world or can anyone get one?" Oh yeah, this dwarf wants to get his hands on a Shinki! Probably. 
 
 Misaki's plan actually draws a clap from the dwarf and he cackles heartily. "Well then! I'm the big shot explorer with me band of adventurers and tag along kids aye? It just so happens that I have experience doing that, haha!!" He cracks his neck and stands up as their course is set. "Alright then! Onward!! 
 
 A -surprisingly- safe van trip later. Muradin emerges from the car wearing his armor still. Misaki's plan is rather solid that it allows him to still waltz about in town wearing his plate armor and have an excuse to doing so. "Pfft! Gonna make it a race will ye? Hah!!" The dwarf cackles as Morrigan starts to slowly climb up the wall. Dwarves aren't known for their dexterity.. but Muradin is no ordinary dwarf.. he is a legendary /Mountain King/. 
 
 Thus, he walks up to the wall, easily jumps 8 feet up in the air, tucks into a ball and makes a couple of front flips -just to one up Morrigan apparently- and then lands on the other side feet first. Dusting himself a little looking rather smug about it. 

Misaki wasn't going to transform. She wasn't going to stand out.

Then Morrigan issues a challenge.

One transformation later and Misaki just leaps past the wall like it's no big deal. She finds somewhere to lean against and take out a stick of pocky, waiting for Morrigan to make it to say, "So, you're finally here?"

     Krystal follows and hops in the van, taking care to keep her tail out of the way as she sits down and buckles up. Once they're at the manor, she gets out and follows Morrigan, leaping up to grab the fines and climbing over relatively swiftly, vaulting over once she's gotten near the top, and landing gracefully. Once she's back on the ground, she takes her staff with the actuation of a hidden switch, it extends to its full length and the tip spreads out a little, looking sort of like a dull spearhead. She grins as Muradin leaps clear over. "Would never have guessed you could jump that high. Got some springs hidden in those boots?" She asks with a laugh. "As for getting in the manor, my staff can unlock some kinds of locks and doors, I could give it a try so we could maybe walk in through the front door rather than having to break in somehow."

    "I'm not sure that's--" Shirou starts to say, but then thinks better of trying to bring Muradin down from speaking up the boy's praises. You know, no matter how much Shirou himself might be WILDLY not confident about the prospect of facing a werewolf.

    And also nevermind that he barely managed with the demons last time. But at least he lived, right? Hahahahaha...

    The dwarf leaning waaaay too easily into the cover story gets him to look after him sheepishly, however, as he stomps to Morrigan's van. "... He's really into this kind of stuff, huh?"

    Getting driven around in a car is a *welcome* change though, for sure, after all the time he spent in carriages and riding a pony in other worlds. Or just getting tossed around. The car's familiar and comfortable! Even if it is just a five minute road trip.

    "Do we... have to make it a contest, though?" He asks after they've approached the fence, but... well. Everyone's already leaping up. Oh, well. Guess he's in on this too.

    Shirou himself doesnt outright leap the fence, no. but he does jump just high enough to get a bit of a headstart, before using the vines and the bars of the fence itself to climb the rest of the way and vault up... or, well. He does hang at the very top of the fence for a moment, and reach his hand down to Morrigan in offer. You know, in case she feels like she needs help, with absolutely zero thought put into wether or not that might be hurtful to her pride or anything.

    He just wants to help, you know?

    Surmounting the gate and wall isn't that hard at all. Fortunately this place doesn't bother with security cameras that you can tell, just an intercom at the gate. The old Mayor was apparently quite well-liked, so the idea of more than the minimal needs of security isn't really a thing.

    It's not a long walk, though one does have to be wary of the groundskeeper. Krystal's suggestion of unlocking the door is a valid one maybe? The front door(well, double door) is certainly inviting, or a cellar door or side door is also an option. The place looks well-kept anyway, though a few places of fading paint or older wood can be spotted. The construction is pretty solid though, and the first floor is largely stone.

 
 "Hah!! Not quite, me lass!" Laughs Muradin as Krystal asks how he's capable of jumping that high. It's a fair question, he looks extremely bulky, not to mention that he's wearing -full plate armor- from head to toe no less, for all intended purposes Muradin should not be capable of such high dexterity acrobatics. "It's all about making weighted squats every day. Hard work and perseverance will take ye far!" Ever the determined dwarf, Muradin decided that he wanted to jump high and by the forge he was going to do it. 
 
 He shakes his head a few times at Shirou trying to help Morrigan out, he'd expect nothing less from the kid honestly, it's why he likes him so much. Shirou's antics give Muradin a big ol' grin before he's turning back to the manor and taking point after Krystal suggests that she'll unlock the door first for everyone. "Well, I ain't expecting any fighting to happen just yet, but best to be sure. Weapns at the ready, lads and lasses." Says the dwarf as he summons his warhammer to his hand. Just the hammer out for now, he wants to have one hand free in case he needs to grab something. 

    Morrigan reaches the other side of the fence!
    And everyone is already there waiting for her. Shirou even helps.
    "... Grow up, what are you, thirteen?"
    Sure Misaki is about that age, but that's not the point.
    ANYWAY.
    "Nah, Shinki aren't from my world." Morrigan says to Muradin.
    "We're built by the Multi Moveable Systems company." Mary adds on. "You can buy one at any licensed retailer."
    Morrigan waits for Krystal to do the thing and unlock the door! Though if that fails, she nudges Mary off her shoulder.
    "Mary do the thing."
    The thing being to have the little shinki look for an open window or float down a chimney to get the door too.

"Fourteen, and I'm more mature than you." Misaki shrugs and turns around, she doesn't really have anything to create an entrance without damaging things. "You know, Miss Lor'osa, something you said before stuck with me." She smiles, "I think tentacles growing out of your face would really suit you. You should consider it."

     Krystal chuckles at Muradin's response about his jumping ability. Certainly seems to be a folly to underestimate this dwarf. As it seems no one is in disagreement that she should at least try to unlock the door, though why anyone would object is a good question. She decides maybe the back door would be a bit more inconspicuous. 

     So she heads around back and down toward the cellar. She then points the end of her staff toward the door lock and a couple of long metal pins extend into the lock, picking it and turning the lock to open it. Krystal blinks, surprised by her own staff. 

     "Huh, didn't know it could do mechanical locks like that and was actually expecting it wouldn't work..." She opens the door and begins to enter the cellar, the end of her staff now emitting a soft glow.

    "H-hey," Shirou's voice comes up in the middle of MOrrigan and Misaki's... er... conversation, and he even comes stepping between the two of them. "Is now really the time to fight? Let's just focus on the job for now, okay? ...I'll see if I can borrow a kitchen somewhere after this and I'll make dessert of some kind for everyone, so let's just get along for now, okay?"

    Yes. He's bribing them with food. Delicious Emiya Menu Food.

    "Anyway, what's the plan after we're inside? Do we just make like some kind of mystery solving team and split up to look around?" Shirou can't say he's entirely fond of *that* idea mind you. He looks over the exterior of the building while waiting for the door to get unlocked, and frowns in thought.

    "...I could probably work on getting a layout of the place, actually, if you want. It's just... a bit bigger of an object for me to Analyze than usual but I should be able to do it..."

    The side door that Krystal chose opens up into a small mud room, then into the kitchens and such further in. The lock itself seems perfectly acceptable, and no alarm goes off, at least none that's audible. That being said...

    Searching this place is going to be a chore without some kind of help like drones or Shirou's ability. It's an old house, which means lots of narrow staircases, small closets, walls that have been replaced or repaired, and so on.

 
 "Huh! Really nae!? I can just buy one o' ye??" Says the dwarf at Mary's response. Well, that is mighty convenient actually. Here Muradin was thinking that he would have to travel to some great mystical land and form some magical path to acquire one of these Shinki, but it turns out he can just walk up to a store and buy one. Now that's more in line with his dwarven standards. "Multi..Moveable.. Systems company.. right!" Muradin pulls out a pen and his notepad, which are actually great feats of technology themselves since he's more used to quill and ink. Of course, what sort of adventuring party would they be if they didn't have a bit of in fighting? 
 
 "Oi! Oi! Easy ye two!" Muradin takes point along with Shirou and he too steps between Misaki and Morrigan as he smells a fight brewing between the two of them. "Can we focus, please?? We have a town to save!" He'll let Shirou play good cop while he plays the bad one if that's what it takes. 
 
 Hopefully that's enough for the two girls to settle down and he ambles around, following Krystal through the back door, hammer once again out and at the ready. "There'll be NO splitting up!" He says at Shirou's suggestion. Though he does bring a fair point, what to do once they're inside. "Well, the way these things usually work out is that if there /is/ a monster behind all is, which all signs point that their is one, we just need to walk around enough until we bump into one of the wee beasties." 
 
 "As I said, keep yer eyes peeled and hands on yer weapons. We donna know wot may be lurking in there." Clues would be nice but as the tank Muradin is on the look out for threats. 

    "Oh please, you are *not* more mature than I am." Morrigan says. She's about to say some more when Shirou intervenes!
    And bribes them with food.
    Pause.
    "... That better be some really good dessert." She sniffs.
    Moving on!
    Drones like... Shinki? Morrigan's lashes flutter in a series of blinks, before her senses are linked to Mary's.
    "Lead the way~."

    Not splitting up may be a good idea. With a place this size, if something were lurking about, it could pick people off one by one... but at least Mary can flit about with a minimum of trouble, helping to map the place out. It's kind of dark since not every place has windows, and it doesn't look like anyone is living here. Just as Raylene said. A few rooms already have dust covers on them.

As they explore the house, Misaki begins building up a map. It's crude, each room basically down to a handful of polygons. It's good enough for finding 'holes' in the map once you've all of it. "You can't make me like her with food, mister Emiya." She points out.

 
 That's the idea, Muradin has lead far too many adventuring expeditions to not know the basics of dungeon crawling. While this particular missions requires a bit more finesse from him, it still has the same fundamentals of a dungeon. Stay close, watch each others' backs, and be on the look out for anything-- it also helps if they don't start in fighting again! Gods! "Alright.." Muradin sniffs the air as Morrigan and Misaki hopefully have settled down, his dwarven vision accustomed to the darkness allow him to navigate the dark rooms without too much problems, though he's not exactly being stealthy as the ka-klanking of metal armor follows his every steps. Frankly though, he's not really sure what he's looking for here. "Anyone find anything yet? Meebe some journals of the bloke that used to live here?" 

    There is a library, of course. And yes, a journal, though a quick flip through seems to reveal short, mundane entries about his day to day life, and sometimes a reminder of his daughter, or someone else who had passed, or his time in the town. Nothing particularly interesting? Other than a frequent mention of restless dreams and the like.

    But as the group is investigating, and making a rough map, it's hard for it to be of use because there are a LOT of gaps. Just... small ones. The size of a closet here and there, perhaps supports.

    Morrigan flips through the journal briefly, lips pursing as the group moves on.
    "Restless dreams..." She muses, before frowning.
    "Anyone else getting a weird feeling about this house?" Muttered while Mary's sensors continue to scan for her. Misaki is the one really making the map so she'd probably have a better clue in about that.

    Shirou can't say he's entirely upset about Mary taking point in the quick mapping out of the mansion instead of him. Confident as he might have been about being able to use Analysis like that, he's not *entirely* sure how well his head would have actually handled analyzing the structural composition of an entire manor.

    So he's... content to just follow, for now.

    "I'll do my best!" Shirou tells Morrigan with a vaguely akward laugh -- at least she seems pacified?

    He does keep to walking near Misaki while they move through the halls of the mansion, though-- and he winces lightly at the rather straightforward statement from her. "You don't have to like her," he murmurs, in a voice low enough that hopefully only she will hear it. "Just tolerate her for now so we can get through this without any trouble..."

    He does keep peeking at the map Misaki is drawing on the way, too. And eventually... he frowns. Things considered silently while others go through texts in the library. THat map just keeps going through his head...

    "...It might be really cliche, but maybe there's some hidden rooms somewhere...?" He wonders out loud, before suddenly deciding to... crouch down and press his hand to the floorboards.

    "...I haven't exactly done something of this scale before, so if it looks like my head is about to explode or something... er, I dunno, kick me or something, I guess? I can get kind of hyperfocused."

    Before anyone can point out how ridicilous that might sound, the young magus is already closing his eyes. "Trace On--" comes the activation phrase, and a subtle stream of Shirou's own mana into the structure, aimed to spread through the whole mansion over the course of several minutes. All for the purpose of forming a blueprint inside of his head -- accurate down to the placement of furniture in any given room.

    It just, er... takes a while. And a minute into it, the boy is already visibly starting to sweat. And his brow's twitching every now and then with some occasional little spikes of pain.

     Krystal looks around a bit, it seemed that others had better means of mapping the place than she could come up with, so she left that to them. Though at the mention of Shirou's head exploding, she offers in a helpful tone. 

     "I could... try to monitor your mental state, and attempt to jolt you out of it if things start looking like they're going belly up." She was also already mentally probing the area, trying to detect if there was someone or something else here with them before it could surprise them.

    Fortunately for Shirou, he doesn't have to map the entire mansion before finding something! One of the 'blank spots' does lead to a hidden room... lead to. As in, it's a tiny, cramped staircase hidden behind a decorative statue near the study. It isn't obvious how to open it, but it could be figured out. A larger, but still smallish room is hidden in the CELLAR, made to look like it's just a part of the foundation, where it couldn't easily be mapped out.

    Krystal reaching out with telepathic senses is a good idea too. When she does that, she senses two things. One, being someone is approaching the door out front. Several someones, perhaps police or the like. But the other is just... the faintest suggestion of another mind. Alien and distant, not exactly 'here' but perhaps at the edges of detection just because of how strange it is, feeling like a slippery eel that darts away the moment it's touched.