Syntax Error 41 - Backdated to Friday

[wizard_redfive]

[Filtered away from those who mean the resident's harm]

[Not long after the search party is attacked and some of its numbers are snatched away, Dairine opens the journal. Her voice is serious, hiding her fear quite well. Unless someone personally knows her, they probably won't even notice it from voice alone.]

Guys, we have a problem. A big one.

Something grabbed two people from our group in the woods, Conan Edogawa and the Doctor. It was tall, humanoid, but with large ears and a surplus of teeth. Also fast. We don't know if it is responsible for what happened in the castle, but since we have already lost one resident, we can't afford to take chances. [She is NOT letting one of her friends get torn apart like that.]

I'm going to be in the library to see if we can learn what we're dealing with. If you can help or want extra safety, you can join me. Once we know what this is, we'll need another search party ready to retrieve them. I can't guarantee it'll go smoothly so for the love of all the Powers, do not join this group unless you have some kind of fighting experience.

Also, whatever is preying on us might have kidnapped more people that I didn't see. If you've noticed anyone else missing lately, please mention it. We need to keep an eye out for each other until this is over.

[Nita]

Neets, I need your help. [Normally she'd be loath to make such an admission, but this is an emergency.]

Bring your Manual. Our wizard's holiday is over.

((Research and gathering for the plot. Library section will be open shortly.))

Comments

Library - Open

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine can be found in the library pulling books of the shelves. Her main base is one of the larger tables, where a large pile of books has already formed. Spot sits next to it, running through his data as she searches for more possible sources.

In person, it is much more obvious that something is wrong. Dairine is paler than usual, her actions tense, and eyes avoiding contact. If it weren't for her task at hand, she might not be able to keep it together.

That idiot, Conan. If anything happened to him, she'll never forgive herself.]

[lightbranded]

[Will heads to the library as soon as he sees the post in the journal. He'd had enough of standing by and watching. He'd seen too many terrible things happen in the castle that way. This time, he would involve himself.

He steps into the library purposefully, and immediately approaches Dairine.]

What do we know so far? And what do we need?

[wizard_redfive]

[She is very grateful to see Will. She isn't sure how useful he would be on the battlefield, but she knows he is in many ways smart about things that live in the Dark. He is also akin to the Powers in some ways, and having the Powers on your side is always a plus.]

We know what it looks like and that for some reason it wanted humans. What we need most of all, is a name.

[lightbranded]

[Will frowns in thought.]

What did it look like? I'm afraid that it wanting humans won't narrow it down much.

[wizard_redfive]

It had large ears, many teeth, and skin that looked greyer than human skin. I didn't get that great of a look at it though. It moved too fast.

[schrodingersghost]

I'm going on that next search party.

[Maybe it was stupid, but Danny kind of felt that this was his fault. If he'd just been a little stronger, a little more aware, maybe he could have stopped this. If he couldn't even do that much, what did he even have all these powers for?]

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine knows the feeling. Had she known that Conan was following them, she would have kept a closer eye on him. She should have known that he was following them for that matter. He always had before, what would stop him now? Stupid, stupid! She shakes her head to clear it, then focuses on Danny.]

Do you know how to fight? Preferably monsters or supernatural stuff.

[Her tone is not judgmental or condescending. After all, she has plenty of experience in this despite appearances. She just can't afford to not check.]

[schrodingersghost]

Yeah, you know the ghost-like guy that was glowing and floating? That was me.

I kind of have ghost powers. And lots of experience fighting ghosts. Not the boring ghosts they used to have around here. More like evil mind controlling spirits from another dimension.

[wizard_redfive]

Oh yeah, the one that nearly ran into me in the hall!

[She remembers that.]

All right. Sounds good to me. Any chance our mystery monster seems familiar?

[lord_wizard]

[After laying the extra wards at Chimera, Felix heads straight to the library. He had known that the state of the place was meant to be a hurdle for them, which was compounded by the lack of information. One woman, shredded to pieces. Something fast that hungered for flesh. And then...there was this new information.

He passed the mirrors all the way from the tower to the library, full of glimpses of his brother's haunted, wounded face. The cloth he carried pressed to his face was already blooming with the blood on his face. What was causing this?

Felix had hoped he might be left alone in his search, but it comes as no great surprise that he finds Dairine here already. He stares at the floor as he speaks, afraid to let her see.]

Have you had any luck?

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine is a little preoccupied with searching the shelves for more books, so she doesn't look over right away. She isn't surprised to hear Felix here though. The leader of Chimera would be the type to research when things get bad.]

Debatable. Spot made a list of all humanoids that share our mystery kidnapper's features, but it's too long to identify it yet. What we need are some more details to narrow the search down.

Assuming this being is in the Manual's data, of course. If not, we're checking other books on monsters and folklore. Something's bound to show up. [They only have to hope it's in time.]

[lord_wizard]

[As inconspicuously as he could, he stored the kerchief in a pocket, the flow of blood evidently halted for the moment]

What criteria is part of your search so far?

[If he didn't have to mention the blood, he wouldn't]

Dairi-->action

[inlifesname]

You don't need to tell me twice. I'll be there in a sec.

[And she's there pretty much as fast as is humanly possible. Silently, she looks Dair over, assessing her condition before saying anything.

Actually. She's not even going to bother with greetings. She's going to pull Dairine up and into a big hug. Sorry, sis. But she's just so glad that you're okay.]

Action

[wizard_redfive]

[When Nita arrives, Dairine stops what she's doing, but doesn't say anything. She's not sure what she could say that wouldn't reveal too much about what is going on in her head.

But when her sister suddenly hugs her, she finds herself hugging back just as tightly.]

Neets... [Thank goodness her sister is all right, even if the rest of her life seems to be in jeopardy.]

[inlifesname]

[There's a thousand things she could say: 'be careful,' 'I'm with you,' 'we'll get through this.' But Nita and Dair have never been the overly sappy sort and most of that is understood without words anyway. So, eventually, Nita just settles for pulling back from the hug and setting her face into a determined expression.]

Got any thoughts on where we should start?

Late late Friday evening - The Discovery

[wizard_redfive]

[After the disturbing journal entry of the Doctor dying, they had quickened their search for answers. Half an hour later, Dairine was getting ready to pull another pile to go through when her hand knocks over what looked to be a... leather scrapbook? It looked handmade, with different types of paper inside. Why would the castle have this in the library?

The last time a book had fell in the library, it had been relevant. So she picks it up and brings it over to the table.]

Let's give this one an shot.

[lightbranded]

[Will looks up form his own stack of reference books.]

What is it?

[wizard_redfive]

[She drops it in front of him.]

A handmade notebook or something. Look: the pages have clippings attached to them and it's handwritten.

[toobravehearted]

[ When the Doctor joins them in the library, he doesn't look too great. For what's been going on and the death's alone, that's understandable. But there's something else at play in the castle; he looks more than perturbed about it. First things first however, not necessarily in the right order. ]

How are you getting on? Anything we can go by?

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine immediately looks over when he comes into the room, eyes shining with relief that he's there. However, they're quickly clouded over with worry, both at his appearance and the strange tone he had when they last talked.]

We're getting closer. There's only seven options that Spot can find that match all our criteria, which is much better than before. Unfortunately they would need to be handled differently, otherwise we'll likely end up in the same situation as our friends.

[She hesitates for a moment before adding.] I do know where Conan and the other resident are though.

[dictated]

[fearbringer]

Why did you form a group to go out into the woods in the first place? Because of the girl?

[dictated]

[wizard_redfive]

Yes, because of the girl. We had to figure out what happened to her some way or another.

[dictated]

[fearbringer]

She was killed in the Castle. Why look in the woods?

[dictated]

[wizard_redfive]

It wasn't in the Castle anymore, so the woods was most likely place for it to hide.

dicated

[teenagebadboy]

I can't really help with retrieving whoever was taken. I can throw a punch and protect myself but that's all. I had some practise with Altaïr some time ago but hardly enough to be of any help. You got any idea what's going on?