Entry tags:
[ CLOSED ] The Buck Stops Here
WHO: Athessa, Bastien, Byerly, Colin, Deimos, Flint, Raas, Thranduil, Yseult
WHAT: Revenge for past trauma reveals a sinister plot
WHEN: The Month of Guardian (aka now)
WHERE: The Gallows and Hightown, Kirkwall in general
NOTES: CW: This plot deals with sexual assault, revenge, and murder. Mostly the aftermath of the assault, no graphic descriptions that I can foresee, but be cautious. Opting out and hand-waving is fine.
WHAT: Revenge for past trauma reveals a sinister plot
WHEN: The Month of Guardian (aka now)
WHERE: The Gallows and Hightown, Kirkwall in general
NOTES: CW: This plot deals with sexual assault, revenge, and murder. Mostly the aftermath of the assault, no graphic descriptions that I can foresee, but be cautious. Opting out and hand-waving is fine.

By and large, the beginning of the month of Guardian in Kirkwall is unremarkable. Business as usual, even with the ever increasing cost of sugar, coffee, and tea. But for the inhabitants of Lowtown, it comes with signs that their waking nightmares persist.
For the past few months of winter, Lowtown locals have been whispering about a rash of murders and disappearances among the Alienages. Deaths previously attributed to exposure to the harsh winter weather are rumored to be far more insidious; some have claimed that they noticed wounds on the bodies as they were being disposed of, but any attempts to bring this information to the City Guard have been met with indifference or empty platitudes.
Less widely noted, and harder to attach to a pattern, are the instances of working girls being hired to entertain at private functions and coming back...different. Or not at all. To the average person, it’s barely even news, but to anyone who spends time in the brothels and listens to the chatter within, it’s clear that these are not isolated incidents, nor are they without concern.
While the alleged murders in Lowtown have no clear culprit and thus are blamed on anyone from random strangers to demons and Crows, the goings-on at the brothels go hand-in-hand with mention of one name in particular: Devigny.

iii. haunted [ closed to colin, byerly, div heads ]
BYERL--he's not here.
[ Indeed, the office is empty.
The barely touched glass of wine on the desk, however, hints that he's only stepped away for a moment. ]
Fuck.
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And inside her mind is just a mantra of what do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!
So when Colin hugs her, she doesn't hug back, but leans against him instead, and immediately goes back to anxious fidgeting. ]
He should be back soon, I think. How long do we wait before we call him on the crystal?
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We do it now. [Colin twists his own crystal and speaks Byerly's name into it.]
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Hoy, dear fellow. What news?
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If it's poisoned you won't mind if I dump it out, right? And throw all of the other bottles out the window in case they've been poisoned, too?
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And you -
[ No. He cuts himself off. ]
Why are you talking to me and not the guard. You -
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[A beat.]
The guard's in his pocket. We know which ones.
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For good.
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Why are you here, instead of there? [ Helping her? ]
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[He's shaking, he's grey, he's wondering if he's totally crazy or if he just made a cowardly decision and made it sound to himself like it was smart.]
Right?
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We shouldn't have come back we should've stayed and done something--
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Tell me everything you know.
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The carriage curtains were drawn, a footman or someone went to the back and took out a girl who was unconscious. Devigny didn't come out, I think the last time we saw him was...
[He trails off, then he looks at Athessa with wide eyes.]
...when he left, earlier.
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But when the realization hits, at the same moment that Colin looks at her, Athessa's frantic energy seems to dissolve along with the willingness for her legs to keep her upright. She sinks down to sit on the floor, taking a few deep lungfuls of air. Relief is so often a weight off the body that the way it sucks out every ounce of breath from you gets glossed over. ]
We have to act fast, then.
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At the end of it, to Athessa: ]
You should not be a part of this.
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He's...he's right. After what this week's already done to you.
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[ She doesn't look between them, because she knows what she'll see if she does. She sets her jaw and, after a moment, gets back to her feet. ]
I can't let him get away with doing this to anyone else. I can't.
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[ By's voice is soft and level. ]
Trust us to guarantee that he will not.
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crystal
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