World Tree MUSH

    When last everyone had a chance to investigate, the home of the old mayor was looked over, and unfortunately the group had to bail before anything could be fully looked into... despite a teenage amateur Magus finding a secret room under the study, one well-hidden even for secret rooms! Fortunately, whomever showed up seemed to have not been the authorities, and evidently decided not to alert them. Possibly the groundskeeper just checking on things.

    A little bit of time for things to cool off, some catching up with the rest of the group, and now things were right back at the mansion! A few more recruits to make sure everything is safe might also help, but for now it seems they're calm... even if the revealed staircase is cramped, narrow, and spiralling down into a room that smells of dank and rot. Never a good sign!

    There's at least one more person present than there was before! A seer who almost literally wandered into the group - and, nudged by her intuition, decided to offer them her services. There's some familiar faces in the group, after all.

    Falling in among the pack, Lian Kamoya follows along steadily, looking around the manor as they go. "So, now that I'm here, I wonder if someone might bring me up to speed?"

    It's not always the best idea to bring a giant chainsaw everywhere you go. So Valerian did not have that weapon on him currently. Instead, he has a much weirder form of self-defense with him today: A golf bag filled with about a dozen wooden bats is currently being carried across his back. It's less 'attention grabbing' than a 6 foot chainsaw (by his standards), anyway. 

    He's here on work, though! Specifically, he has been hired as a bodyguard for a Warlock. Which means he is hanging around Morrigan while she does her investigating. He is dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a varisty jacket. He is wearing a backwards baseball cap and chewing some gum to complete his 'Normal Human Earth' outfit.

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Juicer in """Disguise""", hanging out with Morrigan

"Master Kamoya." Misaki greets the Jedi Master with a polite bow, "And mister Railton. Could you help miss Lor'osa get past the walls? We don't want to waste any time." She says neutrally, no hint of a smile on her face. The girl is already transformed, and she leaps past the estate walls and heads towards where they found the secret room last time casually. Making sure to cast a light when they're inside, and brightening it when it becomes clear how bad the place they're going into is.

    Right so, back to the Mayor's house after a long long drive back from outer space.
    That's right. Morrigan drove back from outer space and promptly locked herself in her room for a period of roughly eight hours to recover her HP, Hit Dice, and Spell Slots. But after that? She's as fresh as a daisy! And dressed in jeans and a black tee and sneakers instead of her witch outfit.
    And this time she does not make getting over the wall of the manor into a competition, simply grumbling quietly to herself all the while in until the party finds that special secret room that smells of mildew and...
    "Rot." She murmurs. "Something's rotting down there." She says, peering down into the gloom and darkness, eldritch glowing green eyes cutting through the dark as clear as day as she makes her way down without so much as a light to guide her.
    For Lian's sake, the Warlock clears her throat. "What we're looking for are signs of a class 3 hauntening, spookening, or a frightening, caused by a possible tier one to two cryptid of some kind."
    Pause.
    "Ever since the Mayor here died the town has been suffering accidents and a drop in productivity. We're investigating his house now to see if we find anything relevant to that now before we check out the rest of the town."

 
 No disguise needed for ol' Muradin Bronzebeard. He showed up in full plate armor the last time and Misaki had elaborated quite a decent story about him a hot shot offworlder on very important business or some such. He walked up back to the area they were investigating in his normal gear along with the others, cleared the wall once again, and ambled inside whilst cracking his neck to limber up and get ready for any fightin' they could encounter within. Whilst they were waiting around for another opportunity for a shot at the mansion, it looked like they had picked up a few more party members which looked like fighters- Muradin was already acquainted with Valerian in particular and he knew the lad could fight, and something told him that Lian could handle herself as well. A warrior always recognizes another warrior after all. It seemed that their front line had gotten considerably more buff since last time, which was just fine for Muradin. He could do solo tanking just fine, but it always was nice having more people watching his flanks, or maybe making sure to protect the backline whenever he happened to overextend, which -let's be real now- it happened all the time. 
 
 "Alright! Where were we then??" Muradin summoned his mighty warhammer to his hand as he let Morrigan fill Lian in on the details. His focus for now was on trying to move things forward. "Shirou, ye got any readings on them secret entrances ye were scanning?" Asked the dwarf. "Also, oi! Lads and lasses! Who's on 'kicking Shirou' duty, aye? I think he mentioned something about getting hype focused and I gotta keep me eyes on the front, ye know wot I'm saying??" 

Krystal had a nice run at the local inn's bar with a certain dwarf in the downtime between the last trip to the mansion and this one. Fortunately, she didn't have so much to drink that she forgot what she felt the last time she was here. She offers all present a friendly wave and Muradin a knowing grin. 

 "Besides the approaching groundskeeper or whoever that was, the last time we were here I also felt another mental presence, though it seemed alien, certainly not from around here. I guess I can reach out and see if they, or it, is still here. Just need a moment to concentrate." She says before closing her eyes and reaching out with her mind, looking for any mental presence other than their group here.

    "Bronzebeard, I do- wait, kicking duty?!" Shirou Emiya gives Muradin a long, utterly bemused look, with a slightly hung-open mouth. "Uh, look, er-- I don't think that's necessary unless you make me work that magic again. Probably?"

    There is a nonzero chance that there was a case of nosebleeds when he did work Structural Grasp on the mansion the last time they were here, but nevermind that.

    "A-anyway... I didn't really have time to form a full print of the place before we had to go, but I remember where the entrance was at least. Come on..." Waving vaguely with one hand, and the other hand tugging idly at the strap of the tube-pack hiding his sword, he takes up stepping in front of the group, to lead them to the study he'd detected the mysterious blank space in.

    "I saw a small staircase behind the statue. I, uh... Not sure if we can just push it out of the way or if there's some kind of hidden mechanism for it, though."

    There's probably a trigger somewhere, but knowing where it is, the pedestal can just be pried open anyway. That isn't an issue for a group that includes a hardy Dwarf and a powerful Dragon Juicer. Wedging it open makes the stench of rot even more prevalent, but it's that sweet, sickly kind rather than one that smells like an actual garbage dump. The stairs also look... well-tread? They even have signs of relatively recent repairs, though obviously a fine layer of dust is on them now, since the ex-mayor has been dead a couple months now.

    On the upside, although there's a feeling of unease and some, like Valerian and Misaki, can sense there's something unnatural and probably magical down there. Krystal's probing thoughts sense... yes, something. Slippery like an eel, but alien, skirting the edges of perception like it doesn't WANT to be found, like it's erasing all presence of itself as it goes.

    "It's good to see you again, Miss Sakai," Lian greets, giving the young senshi a warm bow of the head in reply. Morrigan has a fair deal of pertinent information to offer, and the Jedi listens with interest, nodding her head a little. "Tier one to two... Am I right in assuming that means 'mild to moderate' or so? Is there any indication of what this cryptid is capable of?" She has less experience with supernatural beings, curses and hauntings than most, but she can still come up with a few basic questions to flesh out her understanding, if they have the information.

    Muradin is a new face; she watches the dwarf with curiosity, and he probably receives a polite greeting at some point on the way. Valerian is similarly watched with interest, and probably some amusement towards the bag of bats. Krystal is a familiar face, however, and the Jedi greets her with a warm, "Hello, again."

    It's Shirou that draws much of her remaining attention, however. "Some manner of magic that reads the structure of a place? That's fascinating." Lian adjusts her cloak a little bit, looking over the statue in question; she could move it, but she suspects she's not nearly the only one here who can. She'll leave it for the others.

    Of course, once the statue is moved, the air sours, both metaphorically and quite literally. Lian's brow furrows, and she shifts her cloak again, this time to leave a little more room to access her belt. "There's a darkness hanging around this place," she observes. Most of those here can probably sense it, of course, but someone has to say it.

 
 Muradin took a moment to return Krystal's grin and gave her a wink as she approached. There was much to do at the moment though and he didn't want to be unprofessional by chatting the Vixen up while they were both on the clock, so he kept on looking ahead for now whilst taking point a little closer to Krystal just in case there was an opportunity for gossip. 
 
 "Hmm? Wot!?" As he did, he stared right back to Shirou when he complained that such drastic measures weren't necessary if he ended up going into a trance. "Mate, yer the one that literally said 'kick me if I go hyperfocused'. I'm just repeating wot yer saying. I reckon if ye don't wanna get kicked ye shouldn't ask fer it, aye?? HAHAH!" All good fun as far as the Dwarf is concerned, and he continued on as Shirou and Krystal both relied some important information. It looked like now they had a lead and an idea of what sort of dangers may be lurking there. 
 
 "Ello there." Muradin gave a casual nod of his head to Liam as the woman greeted him, he'd love to hang out and chat but now that that they were making progress in their investigation, the dwarf had become visibly more excited and a wide grin was seen on his face as they removed the statue and an eerie feeling was there to greet them. He recognized this feeling before, the feeling of otherworldy danger. 
 
 "Darkness aye? Alright, weapons at the ready everyone, might be time to get our beards bloody." Sensing that there was real danger here, Muradin summoned his axe to his left hand and took point, leading the way below into the hidden stair case. Always eager to be the one in front this Dwarf. 

    "I'm making up numbers." Morrigan admits. "Fact of the matter is 'we don't know'. We just know 'it may be a cryptid of some variety'. Of WHICH variety, we are currently unsure." The Warlock explains a little more seriously.
    A light tap tap on her backpack and Mary Contrary pokes her head out, clambering out of the satchel and onto Morrigan's shoulder as the party gets the path open.
    "Looks recently repaired..." She muses. And that smell...
    "Okay kids. Who wants to see a dead body?"
    More seriously though she blinks a few times, linking her senses to Mary's sensors as she nudges the shinki off her shoulder.
    Said shinki looks a little apprehensive floating her way downwards even with a huge dwarf just ahead of her.

    Valerian seems to be keeping a relaxed gait and pace to him as he hovers near Morrigan and calmly chews on his bubblegum. Lian gets a polite greeting in return if she greets him as such, but he seems to be pretty keep on sticking near the Casual Friday Warlock. 

    "Hey just a heads up, they're some crazy shit up in this place. Magic gone wrong is my bet." He notes, eyes shimmering a faint blue color as his senses kick in. Light levels don't really affect him much at the moment, "My bet on the cryptid is a Tulpa. People believed this place was haunted for so long that their thoughts turned into a spooky monster thingie and now it actually is haunted." 

    He shrugs a bit.

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Pontificating on the nature of what creature it is.

Indeed there might be time for chitchat later, but for now, Krystal is very focused, doing her best to block out the distractions of all else going on in the mansion around her. Still, she can't seem to pin down the presence she can feel. "Whatever it is, it doesn't want to be found. It feels like it's actively trying to hide its presence, it's like trying to telepathically link with a ghost. I... can't say that I find that a good sign. We should probably be careful." She warns, finally turning to look at Lian. "Hello! Nice to see you again, Jedi."

    "That was back when I was actually doing it!" Shirou protests at the dwarf insistently still, with just the slightest huff. "I wasn't planning on testing the limits of Structural Grasp again right off the bat, so...

    And wouldn't you know it, when Lian calls to that particular application of magic 'fascinating', the red-haired pseudo-magus immediately gets a bit self-conscious about it, akwardly scratching one finger along his chin as he tells her, "W-well, I don't know if it's that special. Technically it's for reading the structural composition of an object, but... technically a 'house' is an object too, I suppose." Shirou doesn't do so well with the whole 'just accept a compliment' thing, see.

    Aaaanyway. Once the statue has been gotten out of the way, Shirou finally heeds the warnings of everyone, and unslings the tube from his pack and opens it to fish out the sheathed, silver longsword Anna gifted him, so that he might sling it to his belt for easy reach instead, while the 'party' sets to descending into the Spooky Basement that may or may not have a monster and dead people in it.

    "...Not everyone here has a beard though, Bronzebeard..."

"Don't be rude, Emiya-kun." Misaki whispers, "It's obviously a cultural idiom. He's not stupid." She takes the rear, providing a comfortable amount of light for the group and summoning both her guns, pre-emptively beginning to charge them up. Terrible trigger discipline, really.

    Descending into darkness, it's actually not that hard to find... a light switch. Not hard because the owner ran an insulated wire down specifically to have a light set up. It still works, too! And the room is small, but only because there are a half dozen or more people lumbering in, so between the workbench, the stone basin, the bookshelves, the podium, and the suspicious large arcane circle carved onto the floor, which is always a bad sign. The cup in the middle with crusted brown around the rim? Also a bad sign, since most people here have probably seen dried blood.

    The bookshelves are on the far end, but sparsely populated by what look to be old, leatherbound tomes with arcane lettering. Another, more modern book sits on the podium, one that's the same style as the journals up above. The feeling of disquiet is stronger here, but it's not so potent as to do more than give a crawling sensation... no worse than being around Raylene, really, unless her Horror is nearby. Whatever evil was down here, it no longer resides here.

    "A Tulpa? That's... Not a bad guess to hazard actually." Morrigan muses at Valerian's assessment. "But, the 'hauntings' have effected more than just this house." She notes before frowning, "Oh yeah, I feel it too though, something is very Wrong here. I'm talking Bad Juju."
    Nevertheless she follows down the stairs after the rest of the group and sees...
    "That's a blood sacrifice ritual of some kind." She says. "No one touch the blood sacrifice ritual circle. Look but do not touch." The resident expert on evil rituals says as she makes her way over towards the bookshelves.
    "Aramaic and Latin." She murmurs. "Never a good sign." Muttered as she rummages through the books.

 
 "HAHA! Ey, relax lad! I was mostly kidding about ye getting kicked, alright?? I'm sure it's gonna happen anyway- oops, did I say that out loud?" Muradin cackles as Shirou continued protests of what he said earlier. Honestly, it was just so fun to tease the lad that Muradin could be doing it without thinking. Also, in typical blundering adventuring party fashion, with Muradin and Shirou arguing at the front, this group was not being stealthy in the least- what with the rowdy dwarven laughter and the human boy complaining. 
 
 There was a time to get serious though, and with both Valerian and Krystal confirming that there was -something- within, Muradin limbered up and got ready to throw down. "I know that, lad. It's just a saying! He said back to Shirou confirming what Misaki had assumed. "But donna worry, I'm sure ye'l grow a beautiful red beard one day. Hm? Wot's this?" *Flick* The light switch goes on and suddenly his Darkvision was no longer needed as the room was revealed. There was a whole lot.. of.. nothing around here. Glancing around for a bit, there were some magic dookies that Muradin didn't recognize, and the smell of dried blood and such, but more importantly. 
 
 There were no monsters! 
 
 "Ah! Bollocks! And I even pulled Troggbane out!" Huffed the dwarf as he let Morrigan do Warlock related things that a dwarven fighter like himself had no business messing with. 

    "I admit, it's not my total specialty because I smash things, not study them and Tulpas don't really have stuff I can take off them," He confesses to Morrigan. As she examines the bookshelves, he watches over her shoulder and tilts his head a bit, "Latin. I've heard of that before. One of the dead languages." 

    "So is whatever is here gone? Because I was hoping to give it a whackin'."

    "I-is it?" Shirou actually asks of MIsaki, even if he does have the sense to look a little embarrassed for the faux pas he commited right there and then.

    Speaking of, he wisely decides not to comment on Muradin's suggestion that he might have a shock of red facial hair one day, too. He's not given much time to do so even if he was inclined to, anyway, for the mystery of the Spooky Basement is revealed!

    Er, well. The first part of it, anyway. Almost immediately, Shirou is approaching the circle curiously. "Oh-- Kiritsugu never teached me how to make these but it's--" And yes. He was already reaching for it as Morrigan warned people to not do EXACTLY THAT, and he promptly jumps back away from the circle. "R-right, not touching, not touching!"

    So he looks around elsewhere, instead, murmuring idly, "There might be nothing here, but this does kinda show that the mayor was up to... *something*. Unless someone else was using this place and he somehow didn't know this room even existed..." While Morrigan and Valerian make for the bookshelves, he wanders for the podium, instead. "Hm? Hold on, this doesn't look like the others, does it?" He wonders out loud, as he moves to take the book laid upon it.

    "It's certainly something no ordinary human can do," Lian replies to Shirou. "Even among my kind, it would be a rare gift. I certainly don't have it."

    But the idea of a 'Tulpa' is simultaneously interesting and worrying - enough negativity towards a place leaving a dark impression on it. A self-fulfilling prophecy... and also not unlike something that might happen back home. Thus, it's with a slightly troubled look that she steps into the hidden room, and begins looking around. With little experience in such things, however, she can't do much more than let her eyes wander, looking over this or that to see if anything strikes her as out of place... or if the Force nudges her that something might need a closer look.

     Krystal follows the others down into the room, and shakes her head at what they all find down there. "Well this nice... Now I'm waiting to see some demons come oozing out of the walls to devour us or something... But yeah, does seem like whoever was here is gone. Anyone able to tell how old that dried blood is?"

"Emiya-kun. Miss Lor'osa may lack in morals but she does not lack in common sense. What part of 'don't touch' did you not get?" Misaki asks, studiously avoiding touching anything at all while she studies the room, not that she really knows what to look for.

    MORRIGAN: The books appear to be the most dangerous kind of book! Mostly just notes and speculation and stuff that's probably outright wrong, but with enough truth in them to get someone into trouble! Fragments, largely, which might have something useful in them but often lack critical parts that cause the magic to fail... or do something completely unexpected.

    MURADIN AND VALARIAN: The room does appear barren, but there's still that weird sensation of something lingering despite this. Valerian can't seem to see anything despite his ability to detect the invisible, so perhaps it's merely... nearby?

    LIAN: This place has darkness, it's true. And evil, yes, but the most powerful imprint that the Jedi can sense is grief, mingled with determination and... sacrifice? Not the 'sacrifice a goat' kind either(though from the basin and altar that may have happened too) but great personal sacrifice.

    KRYSTAL: The presence, though slippery, does seem to be here still. A fleeting thought that whatever the presence is AVOIDS this place, but since it does so there's not a lot to detect without really stretching telepathic muscles.

    MISAKI: This is the one place where it feels weird. This close, Misaki's sense of the unnatural reality-warping powers of some magic is triggering, but only off and on. Like it's a tiny tweak rather than a twisting of reality.

    SHIROU: The journal looks to be dated, starting in early 1960's. It opens with clean, neat script, but tucked into the front of the journal is a note, typed out and printed but with a signature at the end that was manually added. It's always a bad sign that the first few words are 'If you are reading this, than I am most likely dead. I beg forgiveness, for I may have unwittingly released a great danger onto this town...'

    "Hrm..." 

    Mostly on a hunch and out of curiosity, Valerian takes one of the bats out of his golf bag and starts tapping it against the walls of the room as he walks around it carefully. That supernatural hearing of his is looking for the telltale gentle hollow noise that it would make if part of the room were walled over or had a hollow part behind it, "I feel like we're close, but not quite there yet. But near..."

    "It's a dead language but also one that a lot of occult books tend to be written in. Between that, Aramaic, and Infernal or Abyssal, anyway." Morrigan comments to Valerian as she flips through the books.
    "... No. No no no... Nooooooo..." She mutters rifling through pages before heaving a mighty sigh.
    "These are the kind of books you'd find in a hedge wizard's shack... Grains of truth amid wild speculation and incompetence. Dangerous in the wrong hands" She grunts, before shoving as many of them into her backpack as she can. "Still... I'm confiscating these. I'll give them all a thorough read through later." She says before turning to the spell circle and the blood sacrifice, getting herself low to the floor to inspect it more thoroughly

 
 There was that sensation still. Muradin kept Mirithos and Troggbane in hand even though he felt no reason to have them out. His nostrils flared and his shoulders tensed exactly. The dwarf may be no empath and his magical abilities may be poor in comparison to many of his adventuring buddies present... but he had the keen sense of an experienced adventuring. Whilst everyone else was investigating still, he kept his eyes about the room, his weapons had been resting on his shoulders and he lowered them as he looked behind him. 
 
 "Aye.." He agreed with Valerian. "I donna see beasties.. but I feels 'em.." The dwarf glanced about and ambled around the group, directly on the opposite side of Valerian as he was trying to protect any vulnerable spots in their party. If a monster showed up they'd have to go through him, Valerian or Liam first, which the dwarf had designated as the front line. 

    After a few moments of looking around, Lian finally stops and just closes her eyes. Intuition is nudging her towards the emotional imprint of the place. After a few seconds of focus, the Jedi begins to speak - not directed at anyone in particular, but simply speaking her thoughts aloud. "...What was done here... I think it was done for the sake of a loss. I sense a deep grief here. Coupled with resolve, a willingness to see things through... even if they had to give much of themself."

    Her eyes open, and a frown touches at her lips. "I can't tell what we've walked into, but I can tell it was, or is, a tragedy."

Misaki focuses on that feeling, "There's something wrong with reality here." She states, trying to locate the source of the feeling, concentrating on that sense. "Not sure what, I'll let everyone know when I figure out more."

    "I'm not touching the blood, Sakai, relax," Shirou mutters back to Misaki without really even looking over to her. The journal finds it's place in his hand, and is opened-- only for the note tucked to the very first page to catch his attention. "Huh? This is written with a typewriter, I think...?" The note's tugged out, and...

    "...If you are reading this, then I am most likely dead. I beg forgiveness, for I may have unwittingly released... a great danger onto this town... uhh..." The redhead swallows with some vague nervousness after reading that out loud, and then looks back to the others ."This kinda... seems really bad, doesn't it?" He says, before starting to flip through the journal itself, and reading out loud any parts he sees that might seem worth notice.

     Krystal listens as Shirou reads the note and nods. Certainly, with the rest of what they've found, it does seem quite bad. She can still feel this fleeting presence though, it's just out of her reach, might be beyond her ability as a telepath, but she's going to give it one more try. "Ok, I still feel a mental presence, seems to be avoiding this spot, maybe it's the one who did the sacrifice here..." She ponders, then sits cross-legged on the floor and begins to meditate to focus her mind, and channel all her mental capacity into connecting with this elusive presence.

    Valerian is pretty strong, so rapping on the walls should find any hollow spots, yet they seem rather solid. Stone with earth behind it, that's all. Curious, as it definitely FEELS like something is missing! That eerie sense of danger just doesn't leave, does it?

    Perhaps some light can be shed by Morrigan's analysis of the circle? The blood in the cup is likely human, but doesn't look like there was a lot of it. The circle is carved into the stone in such a way that a little dribble from the cup would 'charge' it, but actually stepping onto it won't hurt anything. The magic is directed DOWNWARD, not upward...

    Which might make sense, as Misaki's concentration, and Krystal's as well, are sensing things beneath the floor. Misaki just gets a stronger feeling as she tries to home in on it, but it's never very strong. Yet Krystal finally makes brief contact, and it's like there's a cacophony of voices for an instant. They don't seem to regard Krystal as someone to speak to... but they scurry away, like someone running into a wild animal that they want to avoid.

    As for Shirou's investigations, the note and the entries quickly clarify a bit. The daughter, Heather, was dying in pain, and her father sought help in the mystic arts. He was never willing to cross the line into sacrificing or bargaining with any entity that could save her life, but found one that supposedly gave her peace in her last bit of life... only the entity wanted to linger, and his staff started to feel listless and unenergetic. He used his blood and the blood of animal sacrifices to keep the creature contained, but the note and his last entries have him suspecting it was less contained than he had thought.

    "I know this feeling..." Valerian snaps his finger, "It's not identical, but it reminds me of a case I had in the Federation of Magic early on in my career." 

    He inspects the circle on the ground, "But this feels less evil, so I didn't recognize it quite right away. This feels like someone might have made a Murder Wraith. When I was a lot younger, I had to team up with a Cyber Knight to take one down." He stands up and pops his back a bit, sheathing the bat in the golf bag again. 

    "This feels sorta like that. But not quite as malevolent and harmful. Just disturbing."

 
 "Wellp, tragedies are usually wot happens when one bargains with dark powers like this." Muradin has been keeping watch thus far, but he has kept his ears open for the conversations and musings of his fellows in order to stay informed, and he heard Lian's quip about great sacrifice being involved. "This whole place has the feeling o' dark rituals and blood offerings to some dark gods. Tsk.. reminds me a lot of the Fel in a way. But somehow a lot darker and alien than soul consuming." Still no sign of any monsters though and Muradin was getting kind of restless, the dwarf rested his warhammer on his broad shoulder again and paced about keeping guard on the rear of the group. "Hm, I guess no matter wot world yer in dark magics have kinna the same feeling to 'em, aye?" The dwarf snorted as he thought of the mages he had known in the past. Surely that Jaina would have known what to do here.. but maybe she would have just said to just torch the whole place. "A Murder Wraith? Wot's that supposed to be? Some kinna ghost hitman or somethin'? Sick a specter on yer enemies sorta thing?" 

    Her own examinations concluded, Lian shifts her attention to Valerian, listening to the man for a moment. "'Murder Wraith' certainly sounds worrying." She lets her steps carry her idly, watching the others as she goes - most of her focus is back on the Force, this time more for any guidance it might deign to offer. It doesn't often give her anything dramatic, but there's a reason they tell young Jedi to trust their intuition. Sometimes the faintest nudge is enough. And if nothing else, she can keep her senses open in case any danger decides to approach.

"I know a thing or two about making deals with untrustworthy magical entities." Misaki agrees with Muradin. "Personal experience. Wouldn't recommend it." She shrugs, "And yet I would do it again." She points down, "The reality distortion is definitely below us. Anyone here good at digging?"

    "I doubt they made one here, but..." Valerian thinks about the best way to explain it, "A Murder Wraith is a special kind of Juicer. The Cult that worships the Horseman Death makes them. When a soul becomes so black that it is beyond any redemption, it gains the ability to inject death itself through its veins to power up. You're dead, but alive, and almost completely unstoppable. I saw one take a hit from a Glitter Boy's gun once and get back up again."

>> SUMMARY[Valerian Railton] >> Explaining a Murder Wrath Juicer in a second, smaller pose.

     Krystal blinks a bit, surprised by what she felt this time. "Well, that's interesting. I heard multiple voices all at once, but they avoided me like a dangerous wild animal. Maybe they can sense I'm a fox?" She jokes with a shrug, standing up again. "As for digging down to find whatever this is, I don't like it, but I guess we have little choice if we're going to put this to rest."

    "...I'm not entirely sure this is exactly like that," Shirou suggests while still idly flipping through the pages of the journal. "Whatever the mayor summoned, judging from this, was supposed to bring his dying daughter... peaceful final moments. I guess that *could* mean a mercy kill, but..." The boy shivers visibly. "... I don't know if this man would have wanted *that*. The blood is... from himself and animals. Whatever it is, it's probably what caused the people here to feel exhausted and what have you. Something that drains life force just by it's presence, maybe...?"

    He closes the book, and considers the prospect of going underground. And digging. "I don't think we have to necessarily dig," he suggests. "The notes mention trying to contain it with the blood sacrifice. I don't think that means it's buried itself so much as... Maybe there's another secret room here. And a mechanism to get to it?"

    He sighs, then, with the realization of what that means. "Well. unless someone has a better idea..." He crouches down to one knee, and presses his palm to the floor. "...Bronzebeard? You formally have permission to kick me if I start bleeding from the mouth." He'll at least wait a few seconds to see if anyone has an idea that *doesn't* involve excavation or him risking burning out his brain through large-scale Structural Analysis again.

    "You're wrong, kid." Morrigan says to Shirou. "That doesn't seem really bad. It probably IS really bad."
    What's a Murder Wraith?" She asks idly while inspecting the circle on the floor...
    "This is aimed down." Muttered thoughtfully. "He wanted to contain something beneath it."
    Morrigan does not bring up her pact, patron, or what she had do contact said otherworldly being.
    She gets her answer on what a Murder Wraith is.
    Shirou continues to read and the Warlock purses her lips.
    Taking a moment to look at the palm of her hand, she considers...
    "Well... Now that we know what the blood sacrifice circle is for..." She muses, nudging her shinki off her shoulder.
    "Mary, do the thing."
    Mary makes a little bit of a face and draws her sword... Which she uses to slash Morrigan's palm.
    There's a soft grunt of pain before the warlock curls her fingers to get the blood flowing from her hand into the cup-- and then picks up the cup and dribbles its now fresh contents onto the circle.
    "That should buy us a little bit more time while we search."

    Hmm, down. Well, now there's a lot to take in, because Morrigan slashes her hand and lets her blood run into the grooves! It's not nearly as effective as the SUMMONER'S blood, which was one more reason that was being used, but it does cause the circle to glow yellow, faintly, before fading again. Krystal will get a sense of an annoying flinch, but Lian gets a much more interesting bit of information. As the Jedi can sense life... twisted life, but life. It's faintly there, but there's more, much more, AROUND the circle and under the ground, and that has a brief flare of pain before it shields its emotions again.

    Shirou thankfully doesn't have to prove far, does he? By focusing downward he can find a weird, distorted pocket of space... and then numerous tunnels burrowing under it and downward, wide tunnels the width of a man, spidering their way well beyond the house.

    Whatever was captured down there, it escaped and now very much avoids the place.

    Lian's steps stop in place, and she outright flinches, just faintly. Her eyes dip downward, then come back up to look at Morrigan. "It certainly didn't like that. Actually painful to the... whatever it is." Her gaze drops back to the ground again, and she adds, "I'm not sure what it is, but something... living, somehow, lies under and around this circle. A great deal of it. It's been quite well-stated at this point, but it feels wrong, somehow. Something that shouldn't be."

 
 "Huh.." Muradin rubbed his beard thoughtfully as Valerian explained just what a Murder Wraith was. "Juicer.. that's uh.. wot ye are, right mate?" The Dwarf was still not 100% sure of what were the classifications, or shall we say, classes, of his companions, but he had a vague idea of what he was working with here. Either way, that whole explanation sounded bad news, some kind of not quite alive, not quite dead unstoppable force of destruction and murder... oooooh crap. "Bloody hell, if its anything like some kinna Death Knight we're all in loads of trouble." For the first time since he came to the Tree, Muradin actually looked concerned. 
 
 "Hmr..ye donna say.." He said next as Misaki mentioned having experienced with blood rituals and exchanges of powers. He did too, but perhaps not in the same sense that Misaki did, at least he did agree on something though. "It's always bad news, no matter if it was necessary." 
 
 As things come more to light and it was discovered that whatever they were looking for was directly below them, Muradin's eyes flashed as the question came if anyone was good at digging.. 
 
 "Well.." 
 
 Wait, was he always holding a pick axe? What happened to his hammer and his axe. 
 
 "I do be happen to be a dwarf, mate." 
 
 He couldn't help but chuckle when Shirou pointedly told him that he was now 'officially' on Shirou kicking watch, and the burly dwarf shook his head, resting the pickaxe that just had suddenly appeared in his hands over his shoulder. "See? I told ye it was gonna happen. Donna worry, ye do yer magics and I'll give ye a kick in the pants if ye start looking odd." 
 
 Speaking of magic though, as Morrigan cuts her hand and drops her blood on the circle, Muradin's eyebrows furrowed and he glared hard at the Warlock. He was about to complain before Lian explained that it was actually beneficial. "Sodding Warlocks..." Muttered Dwarf, though mostly to himself. 
 
 It appeared that their next step was below ground though and Muradin was just waiting the go ahead to start digging. If no other entrances to the underground could be found the dwarf would be delighted to show the prowess of his people have for digging and make one. 

    Shirou visibly sweats through his channeling of his own brand of magic. He even shakes ever so faintly ever now and then. But, just as a thick bead of blood starts dribbling from one of his nostrils-- he gasps out, and shoves his other hand to the ground to help support him as he pants out with the exertion.

    "O-...okay, I t-think that's... enough..." He mumbles, before trying to push himself back upright -- and not immediately realizing the red dripping from his nose.

    "...I can't get a proper read on whatever's directly under us," he tells everyone at hand. "It's like... space itself is twisted there. I think it's probably whatever magical containment was supposed to contain this... thing. There's... tiny tunnels there, too. Probably big enough to fit one person, but they're... many, and probably extend really far out. I don't think I'm physically capable of mapping it all out."

    He tries to push himself up from his knees then-- only to stumble slightly with the attempt. Maybe he'll just stay down there for a liiiittle bit longer. "I don't... think it's right *there*. But if it was supposed to be sealed both physically and magically on this end... There's probably an entrance to those tunnels somewhere else in town?"

     Krystal leaves the digging and/or finding secret chambers below to the others. Trying to blast a hole in the floor with her staff seemed like a bad idea, but she still takes hold if it anyway, ready to defend herself against whatever they're going to face from below, though she shares Muradin's worry, being very sure she hasn't faced anything quite like this before, and much less sure conventional weapons were going to be of much use. "Well I guess off we go, into the dark abyss..."

"Miss Lor'osa, I see you've managed to find a new way to disappoint me." Misaki sighs as she watches the woman feed the circle, "What if that circle was set up to drain the life of any person whose blood touched the goblet?" She asks. Otherwise, she keeps paying attention and stays near Shirou.

    "Yeah. I'm what's called a Dragon Juicer." Valerian confirms for Muradin as he stretches a bit and looks at the bearded man, "It's a whole thing on my home planet. Not a cheap procedure no matter what kind you become." 

    When it comes to what's down below, he's pretty honest, "My opinion is we head into the underground and do some tunnel exploring. We're gonna want to track down whatever this thing is, if you ask me. But, again, not really the expert."

    "Misaki that's what a blood sacrifice IS." The warlock points out. "Trading of life force for a desired effect... Though it looks like my blood isn't as potent as the blood of the original summoner..." Anyway..."
    "Quite frankly, I didn't like that either." Morrigan replies to Lian. "It hurt." She says as Mary rummages through her backpack and pulls out a small vial with red fluid inside it. Morrigan uncorks the vial and pours the solution onto her palm- which causes the slash to start sealing up right then and there with minimal scarring.
    "What was that my elf-ears heard?" Morrigan asks craning her head to Muradin and cupping one hand to her pointed ear.
    "Warlocks are awesome? Why thank you, o mighty king of the mountain."
    But then Shirou states his findings, and Mary is offering the young magus a handkerchief to dab his nose, because she is a helpful little shinki.
    "Mmmmmmm..." Morrigan considers. "If it's not there anymore we should check out whichever of the two sites have had more accidents... The elevator manufactory or the defense compound."

 
 "I see.." The Mountain King rubbed his beard whilst Valerian explained the nature behind the juicers. The thing was that while Muradin still had no clear understanding what were the powers or origins of a Juicer, he could easily put two and two together. He had seen Valerian fight and he was indeed very powerful, if this Murder Wraith was anything like him and supposedly even tougher they could be heading for some real trouble. Still.. there were quite a lot of them, so perhaps it was just a matter of getting the drop on this monster rather than let them pick them out one by one, that would be a disaster. 
 
 Muradin gave a sigh as Morrigan, of course, had to go and be snob about being right and rub it all over his face. The dwarf muttered some more and rubbed his face at Morrigan's antics as she perpetuated a Warlock's sterotype, but hey, it was her call, and as long as she was on his side Muradin wouldn't complain.. too much.. "Aye, aye..." He was starting to understand why Misaki had such a grudge with Morrigan, but moving on.. 
 
 "Ye did good, lad." Said Muradin once Shirou was done and patted his back as he rested from using his magics. Now that the party knew that whatever they were looking for laid under the ground, the path was clear for the Dwarf. "I'll get us a tunnel ready just in case we can't find any entrances elsewhere." 
 
 Cracking his shoulders, the dwarf got to digging! Swinging his pickaxe down and starting to make a big hole in the ground! 
 
 "Hm, hm, skin made of iron, steel in our bones.." 
 
 "We can't ever dig too deep, we don't fear what lays beneath.."