[ CLOSED ] The Buck Stops Here

[sulahnan]

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.

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.

Comments

[sulahnan]

I...don't know. I wouldn't expect the footman to have carried the girl upstairs, but he isn't feeble, so maybe. I'd guess a room towards the back of the house, where she's not likely to be heard when she comes to. Maybe even the cellar, if he's not worried about her smashing any wine bottles.

[ She shrugs and shakes her head, of course far more abreast of the situation than anyone who's only observed from a distance should be. ]

Yseult wants us to stay undetected, or make it look like a common burglary if that's not possible.

[keenly]

[At times like these, he wishes he had telepathy and could ask where did he keep you? but the fact of the matter is that Athessa might not even remember. Not because it was years ago, but because memory around these things is unreliable. And if she did remember, she would suggest a specific room. Colin's hands shake. He tightens them around his staff to hide it.]

We can make it look like she escaped. Trouble is when he sees sensitive documents missing and decides she's the one who stole them. She'd be worth the pursuit to him then.

[cozen]

If there are documents to take, and if they are worth more taken than remembered.

[ Then they can worry about it. And by worry about it, he means take them, and worry about protecting her from pursuit later—but he doesn't like to be too cold-bloodedly pragmatic, out loud, when it may not even be necessary. ]

Is all of his staff complicit, or only the footman?

[sulahnan]

If it comes to that maybe we can set a trap for him, [ So long as they're laying out hypothetical situations. ] But I don't think all of the staff are in on it, no. The footman definitely is, and I'm sure some of the staff know but I think most of them are only as complicit as someone who sees a crime and doesn't report it.

[cozen]

[ Good to know, if only to calibrate exactly how willing he'll be to bash any of them in the head with a vase. ]

Do you know them? [ A little prying. But mostly practical: ] I mean, will they recognize you?

[sulahnan]

I...don't know. Probably not the staff, [ it's been thirteen years... ] but the footman might.

[ Hard to say whether it'd be a relief to be forgotten, or infuriating for such cruelty to mean so little to the ones who inflicted it. ]

[keenly]

Here. [Colin delicately maneuvers behind her.] Let me braid your hair. You can tuck it up under a hat or a hood, it's less distinctive.

[sulahnan]

You don't think the ears are a dead giveaway? [ Wry, as close to playful ribbing as she can muster, but she quickly combs her fingers through her hair in a vain attempt to detangle it before he tries to plait it. ]

[cozen]

[ Bastien smiles a little at the joke, but only a little, and it goes away quickly. ]

Is there anything else I need to know?

[ Of course there's plenty more he wants to know. But he trusts Athessa—or would prefer to trust her, at least, and see how it works out—not to hold something back if it's going to endanger the girl they're going after. ]