[ 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

i. old ghosts [ closed to byerly ]

[sulahnan]

[ It's a sudden thing, both the confrontation and the way one name being spoken halfway across the room can drown out the noise of everything else. Athessa stops in her tracks and looks for the speaker. Byerly.

She doesn't realize that she's moving until her palms are flat on the table in front of Byerly, ignoring whoever he's speaking to. ]

What did you just say?

ii. grim specter [ closed to colin ]

[sulahnan]

Her ears are ringing. It's hard to hear over it, or over the blood rushing, her heart pumping, her skin crawling. She was planning to finish moving all of her stuff into one of the empty private rooms--well, now only half empty, with most of her belongings in piles on the floor--but she can't. Not tonight. She has to know.

So she stops pacing, and lifts the crystal in her hand to speak.

"Colin. Are you free tonight?"

iii. haunted [ closed to colin, byerly, div heads ]

[sulahnan]

[ It takes some time to get from Hightown back to the Gallows, and it's only when Colin and Athessa have already barged into Byerly's office that Athessa realizes they could have messaged him via crystal. ]

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.

iv. unfinished business [ closed to colin, bastien, others as needed ]

[sulahnan]

The street is quiet, void of all but alley cats and rats when the trio begin their incursion. On the ground level, Bastien and Colin make their way in through the servant’s entrance to the kitchen. On the second floor, Athessa hops onto a balcony from a neighboring roof and slips in through an unlocked glass door.

In another situation, with a more blatant foe, the ease with which they get in undetected would be suspicious. In another situation, this might be a trap. There might be someone waiting just beyond the kitchen to attack Bas or Colin, or waiting behind the door to the study to grab Athessa as she silently passes through.

But there’s no-one. Here, now, it seems like hubris. The confidence of an old man who thinks he’s untouchable, and doesn’t need to take precautions because of it.

Fucker.

Athessa makes no sound on her way through the second floor, checking each room carefully for lingering staff or any sign of the footman, but the only sign of movement at all besides herself is the ticking of an old clock at the top of the stairs. A clock that she carefully avoids looking at too closely, perhaps afraid of seeing her own reflection in it. She slips past it, padding down the carpeted stair-runner and stopping on the bottom step, just before setting foot upon the floor of the foyer.

It’s completely dark, but it’s right there. The dreaded parlor, with its double doors wide open. She doesn’t look at it, staring instead at the parquet for a long moment before looking around for any sign of Bastien or Colin.

v. beyond the grave [ closed to div heads and probably a qunari or two idk ]

[sulahnan]

[ Discussion of what to do with the found cache of Qamek goes here. ]

nulla. spirits and seances [ open to all ]

[sulahnan]

[[ Feel free to tag each other or peripheral folx whose characters should logically be involved. I'll provide info if asked but otherwise this one is for everybody who isn't me! ]]

[bouchonne]

[ He nearly jumps when she slams quite rudely into this conversation. The rather seedy young man - Ioann, a fellow from town, whom By had invited in for a meal and a chat - jumps. Byerly simply blinks, slowly, at her, and then says quite pointedly: ]

Dear Athessa, this is not a conversation for genteel ears such as yours.

[ Ioann snorts, roughly amused, likely assuming that genteel is a synonym for pointy. ]

[sulahnan]

[ She lifts one hand from the tabletop to wave it dismissively. ]

Fine, whatever, but you--I thought I heard you say a name. What was it?

[ Even when she was throwing office supplies at him, she wasn't this serious, this intensely focused on a single scrap of information she needs to hear for herself.

And, for all the attention Byerly has, Ioann might as well be invisible. [

[bouchonne]

[ His eyes narrow at her. His fingertip taps, slowly, against the table in front of him. ]

Why? Did you hear a name you recognized?

[sulahnan]

I really, really hope not.

[bouchonne]

[ Byerly is quiet a moment, then says to Ioann: ]

Give me a moment, hm? Go get another helping.

[ Certainly not one to miss that opportunity, Ioann gets to his feet, leaving Byerly with Athessa. He studies her a moment, then says: ]

I'll need to know a bit more about your interest first.

[sulahnan]

Byerly-- [ This, said through clenched teeth before she takes a deep breath and tries to be something closer to calm. ]

I don't want to get into it only to find that it's not him, so please. Please just...tell me.

[bouchonne]

[ But his wary habits are a little too strong for that. ]

What is the name you believe you heard?

[sulahnan]

[ She doesn't want to supply him with the name and have him say it's right just to get a reaction from her. But he's much better at this game than she. ]

He has an estate in Hightown and hasn't been around for at least a few years. A patron of several brothels in the city but particularly buddy-buddy with the Madame at The Crimson Cat.

[bouchonne]

My, my.

[ His voice is a murmur. ]

It sounds like you know much more than I do.

[sulahnan]

[ And hers is a whisper. ]

Come on. Say it. Say the bastard's name.

[keenly]

It sounds so different from the way she usually is that it takes Colin a second to realize it's her. He picks up the crystal, mentally making the note to send someone else to the clinic this evening and clear up his own schedule.

"Yes. Is everything all right?"

[sulahnan]

"Uhm. Not really," She stops pacing, but only briefly. "I have to see for myself if he's really back. I thought he was gone but then Byerly said--"

She takes a deep breath and let's it go, setting off out of her room toward the ferry.

"It's Devigny."

[bouchonne]

[ The standoff is ended not by Byerly, not by Athessa, but by Ioann: the young man, catching the tail end of this conversation, butts in by asking: Are you talking about Devigny?

By's mouth twists a moment - and then he shrugs, and looks directly at Athessa. Well? Is she? ]

[keenly]

There's a pause as that sinks in.

"Where are you?" Colin asks. "Are you safe?"

[sulahnan]

[ Athessa removes her hands from the table as if it bit her and she takes one step back. It's suddenly hard to get enough air in her lungs, and she has to fight the urge to run. ]

He's back...?

[bouchonne]

[ By is quiet a moment. Still. Then he takes a deep breath, and stands, and says - ]

Come with me.

[ Then, to Ioann - ]

Send my thanks to Madame. Tell her that her worries have been heard.

[ And with that, he jerks his head at Athessa, inviting her along. ]

[sulahnan]

"I'm on my way to the ferry. I have to see with my own eyes if it's true," There's no reason it wouldn't be, but living in fear with an unknown hanging above her head is an unbearable prospect. "Will you--I don't--You're the only friend I have who's seen his face, and knows where he lives."

And one of only two who know why this matters.

[keenly]

"Wait for me at the ferry," he says, quickly picking up the keys to the apothecary and hurrying out the door. "I'm on my way right now."

After a moment's hesitation, he picks up something he almost never touches--his staff--and heads toward the ferry.

[sulahnan]

[ She follows Byerly out, but once they reach the hall the pace is just too slow. Her mind is racing so fast that she can barely understand her own thoughts, and the nervous energy coiling in her limbs bids her to run.

She doesn't run. She doesn't follow behind like a leashed puppy, either. Athessa starts to speed up to overtake Byerly and move past him. ]