Rest finally came and time was made to restore lost reserves of mana (and eat. eating is still important). Finally, it came time to look into the gnawed pile of human arms in the room Fluffy had taken for himself.

Although Mistral was ostensibly the owner of perhaps the largest single artificial structure on Earth, in Grey's absence she had lived like an unsettled ghost haunting its endless halls.  She had picked no place within the Ebon Pyramid to occupy, preferring to live a vagabond lifestyle in which she bedded down on a basic cot with only the barest necessities.  Her spartan accommodations were in fact literally without place, as they were co-located between many darkened alcoves at once, any location of which would quickly be abandoned if spotted by visitors.  After the destruction of multiple places she'd thought of as homes in varying degrees, perhaps she could not be blamed for difficulty in claiming any place as her own.  This intentional eschewing of comfort had toughened up her new body, but it did not equate to good rest and recovery.

Thus, despite the fourteen consecutive hours of sleep being sorely needed and helpful, Mistral still looked and felt tired when she rejoined Noah.  With a slightly over-large mug of Sir Jitters' special recipe black coffee in hand, she said to the dragon, "Fluffy has been rather busy, I understand.  The locals have taken to calling him la Tarasque, a hybrid dragon-beast with a lion's head from traditional folklore.  Not so far from the mark, as legends go."  She sipped the black brew as they somehow crossed a three-hundred meter vaulted corridor in just a few steps, the terrible smell growing stronger as they moved.  She said, "The lair is not far ahead now, though I have been hesitant to come too close.  The bone heaps send a less-than-welcoming message to our visitors, and new residents."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:14, Sun 17 July 2022.

Noah wasn't far off curled up with a slate out as he was setting up the details to wrap the whole tower in a 'hole in the middle' rote. He had a paranoia that someone was going to fire a missile at them at some point. "Kind of fitting when you think about it. Murder cat of doom McFluffy the third esquire isnt as interesting as Tarasque." He floated along as he was typing away. "All in all the cat is terrifyingly intelligent. If he has been attacking people it's because they shot at him." Fluffy and Noah had an extreme relationship. He thought of Fluffy as kind of a pest but he was sure Fluffy didn't attack without cause.

"How bad of a pile is it?"

 Wraith (with an exception of the duration he had been with Noah helping to save Grey) had been stationed by Jitters outside of Fluffy's door. He made for an intimidating door guard so no one in the tower had caught on yet.

 However, looking inside, the pile was nothing less than thirty arms (left arms, all of them), severed at the shoulder, that had been chewed down to the bone. Mistral (had she ever tried to scry on Fluffy's location) noted just how hard it was to pinpoint him. Even to an archmage such as her, his exact position was cloaked and dispersed to a rough radius of 100 miles.

 ... though a minimal amount of inquiry noted that one village in particular was disturbed about the presence of the Tarrasque.

"Quite the gruesome collection.  Some thirty arms...  left arms, plus précisément."

Mistral inclined her head to Wraith as they arrived at the lair, knowing it best to pay respect to the feline embodiment of death itself.  Looking in upon the grisly heaps of gnawed left arms, Mistral quickly surveyed the remains and traced their sympathy in search of any common factors between the victims.  Hunkering down to look closer at one of the newer chewed bones, she said, "Such dangerous behavior would normally earn destruction or banishment at the least, but I owe my own life to Fluffy more than once-over.  He deserves the benefit of our doubt, à mon avis."

Mistral arose and turned back toward Noah to say, "Fluffy is notoriously difficult to trace, even for moi.  There is one village in particular that has felt his presence more than any other, however.  You may wish to take a less alarming form, as the locals have good reason to be wary of dragons."  Sunlight shone in as the door that had previously fed out into the corridors of the Ebon Pyramid now opened directly out into a byway of a French country village.  This connection wasn't a disorienting portal but a seamless connection, as if these two disparate spaces had always been physically joined.  The archmagess strode out into the sunlit village and waited for company.

Turning around after passing through the door revealed the interior of a tiny, disused bus stop shelter rather than a bone-littered monster lair.  It was a tiny bus stop, after all, so it was strange to think that it might connect to anything else.  Mistral tucked hands into her hoodie pocket and took off walking out into the village, unsure as of yet what she was looking for.

 The people of this tiny town walked quickly, casting furtive glanced around them as they walked. They kept their distanced from people and spent no more time outside than they needed. Though the town was bright and seemed refreshing enough, a pall of fear had swept over the entire village.

 A quick walk around the town (which took less than an hour. It's a small town) revealed only one place that had been disturbed. It now had a pressboard nailed to the frame but the back door to a general store had deep gashes on it, resulting in the doorknob being torn clean out of the frame and then forced open.

 The owner of the store (an older French gentleman in his late 50s) recounted his tale of a terrible clicking monster tearing down the door. When he'd reached for his gun, the beast tackled him and struck him with spines (he produced the 6 inch spine to show you) causing him to lose the feeling in his arms. It then took a first aid kit from his store and flew away.

 Others, if asked, told stories of clicking sounds from the rooftops, of a feeling of being watched, and of the distorted sound of a woman calling for help.

Prior to departing Fluffy's lair and arm collection, Mistral cocked her head with interest and remarked to Noah, "Intéressante.  Thirty left arms, belonging to no more than ten individuals.  Perhaps the victims have une capacité extraordinaire to heal severed limbs, or something stranger.  Can you make anything of it?"  The archmage highlighted for Noah the subtle threads of sympathy that had led to this deduction, picking them apart from the rest.  She then performed spatial traces upon the owners of the missing limbs, attempting to find what had become of the rest of them.  If nothing came up then it was likely Fluffy had made a meal of them.  It would certainly be intriguing if any remained alive after losing three left arms.

Mistral toured the town as an unremarkable visitor, forgotten the moment any eyes turned from her.  She made note of the oppressive and paranoid atmosphere, though it was curious that none of the townsfolk appeared to have suffered direct assault from Fluffy.  The general store told more of the story, both in the form of physical evidence and in conversation with the proprietor, conducted in French.  She asked the gentleman if she might see where the first aid kit had been taken from, and looked for anything physical linked to it.  A portion of the taken kit itself would be best, but even others of its kind would be of use.  It would of course be a trivial matter for her to examine every detail of the store or indeed the village itself without anyone's knowledge or consent, but she would try for courtesy first.

After departing the store, Mistral quietly conferred with Noah, "Fluffy is not here to harm these folk, but he does hold some special interest in this place.  He broke into this shop with the goal to acquire first aid supplies.  The assault upon le propriétaire was incidental self-defense."  She paused to mull it over, then said, "Strange as it sounds, I believe that Fluffy attempts to care for someone's wounds."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:42, Tue 19 July 2022.

Noah started gesturing making a cat's cradle with threads in his hands until he made another pouch. "This one has a fair bit more beef to it Mr. Wraith. I am going to suggest we pack up your other suit and fold it into the gem of the key. That way if someone pops this one you have a backup right handy."

Noah twisted around and as he came back around as human Noah in his sharp black suit he normally wore. He had his Mana Star cane and a new emerald Tartan Tie. "Mana is scant so the Tass suit will have to wait." He nodded to her, "You're much more skilled with scrying than I will ever be. Most of the time he finds me and either knocks over whatever I am working on or mimics the voices of the group to screw with me."

Noah followed along as he could read the signs and he could read what people would say but he couldn't speak french himself. When the man held up a spine Noah held up his hands. "Its a contact poison of his. A hit in the head does some wild stuff but it's one of his nonlethal options. Though I have no idea what the poison's half-life is." Noah put on medical gloves and attempted to take the spine from the man. No need to have the poison around with civies.

Noah did wait until he was out of earshot, not knowing who could speak English around here. "Fluffy is smart but someone would have to had shown him what they needed. Moreover Fluffy must REALLY not want to hurt people here. It is in his genetics to want to remove the arms holding guns. The fact the store guy still has both of his arms is a huge sign of restraint. Kinda proud of the murder cat." He reached up touching the space between her shoulder blades, giving access to his shot gun blast of various spheres should it help her.

 The owner took her to the shelf where the kit had been taken. Aside from claw gashes in the metal, nothing looked particularly out of place (ie. the shelf had been restocked).

Prior to departing through the door to the village Mistral looked Noah's dapper presentation up and down, then considered her own nondescript hoodie and leggings.  Such disparity in style would not do for going incognito.  She sighed and with a gesture she suddenly appeared to be wearing a stylish olive trenchcoat, matching slacks, a blue scarf and a modern version of a deerstalker hat to complete the gumshoe look.  Mistral then stepped out through the doorway without elaboration.

OOC: Beat 3 successes on Composure + Gnosis to detect the outfit as illusory, though it's probably not hard to infer ;)


As Noah spoke Mistral went briefly still with eyes fixed in the middle distance as she performed multiple sympathetic traces and scryings simultaneously.  She used to have to sit down and flutter her eyelids to focus her attentions elsewhere, but she had improved her aptitude since those times.  A faint smile touched her lips as she reported quietly, "Someone has shown him, evidently.  Fluffy cares for a wounded woman in un château abandonné in the hills near to here.  There is rather more to this murder-cat than one might think."  She began walking in a direction and said quietly along the way, "We shall go there, but first I've another lead."  A brief walk through a narrow byway between a stony wall and a hedge transitioned seamlessly into a forested path, even though there were no forests immediately bordering the village.  A glance behind revealed the village was now gone, as a matter of fact.  Mistral stopped at the forest's edge to regard a Romani traveler trailer park not far distant, nestled in among the trees just off a dirt road.  She remarked to Noah, "We are now some eight kilometers outside the village.  The collection of left arms originated from this place, although I see no person missing limbs.  Curieuse."

Mistral turned to Noah and asked, "It is entirely possible that we shall not be welcomed here.  Would you like to do the talking?  It is not my strong suit."  She intended to approach and inquire about any recent troubles with local wildlife or the village, asking as a neutral outsider.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Wed 20 July 2022.

PM

Mistral raised a hand in a halting gesture to Noah as she gazed out toward the trailer park, and to those that gazed back.  To him she whispered, "You may want your Second Sight.  You have attracted attention."

She addressed the gathered wolf spirits in the susurrating whisper of the Shadow Tongue, "Greetings.  We have come seeking peaceful parley regarding the Taker-of-Arms.  Who leads here?"

"Your mastery of transition magic is enough to make anyone dizzy." He was still tickled about flashing around with no vertigo. He couldn't help but smile when Mist offered for him to speak and she spoke up. She really had changed from the shadow she had once been even if she was still speaking down of her ability out of habit.

He blinked up his sustained death sight in his right eye and omni in his left. "The city-wide suggestion to sleep broke something inside. I can't even cast magic without burning mana... Not sure if them looking at me is a result of that or just my scent?"

"A friend once told me, not all but most Gypsies are werewolves... I hope they are in a speaking mood."

Mistral whispered, "As well it might.  That ought to have been an Imperial working, but I have never known you to follow rules."  She laid a hand upon Noah and opened his sight to the large pack of wolf spirits presently watching him.

"As for who dwells here, I believe we shall learn soon enough."  Naming the Taker-of-Arms up front was perhaps a risky diplomatic play with the Arm-Takens, but Mistral generally preferred to get straight to the point.

OOC: Cast Grant the Second Sight on Noah

 One of the wolf spirits broke off from the pack and returned a minute or so later. The pack then began to move as one to the trailer park. There they met with a burly man with a chin that could have cut glass wearing black pants and a flannel shirt. His hair was slicked back and he had a rifle slung over his shoulder and a 9 inch knife at his belt. "Salutations étrangers. Je m'appelle Gaston. Qu'espérez-vous apprendre ici ?"

Mistral and Noah stood across a forest meadow from the burly huntsman who was apparently the leader of the pack of spirit wolves.  He was well-armed and in fearsome company, but he greeted them reasonably enough... in French.  It seemed that she would be the one to do the talking after all.

"Enchantée, Gaston.  Je m'appelle Mistral, et voici Noah."  She tipped her illusory deerstalker hat to the man, and then went on, "Nous suivons la Tarasque, et son sentier nous a amené ici. Connaissez-vous cette bête?"

French... Noah looked off into space as he read the live translation. Grey was a blessing and a half even if she wasn't directly there. Once he got the introduction he inclined his head slightly.

This was well in Mistrals hands. So he looked off into the distance. He was curious what animal made up their caern spirit.

 Gaston eyed Mistral warily. "Et que sauriez-vous de cette bête ? Comment exactement sa piste nous a-t-elle mené?"

 Mistral noticed the others in the camp begin to gather. They shared his wariness and the spirit wolves began to look anxious, pacing back and forth around the two.

Noah tilted his head and watched the wolf spirits prowling. He beamed his next words over the connection Mist and He kept up nearly all the time. ~mange on the wolf spirits. Not a good sign.~ He stood with the cane held normally but between he and the amassing werewolves.

~I dont see a big spirit either. Dont wolves have like a totem spirit or something?~

OOC: Continuing to speak in French, but formatting it like "<speech>", just to save us the extra google translate step :)

"<The Tarasque is a friend of ours.  This land is new to him, and he does not know who abides here.  It is possible that he has... misbehaved.  We seek first to know what has occurred, so matters may be set right.>"  Mistral chose her words carefully, as what would constitute 'setting matters right' could vary quite a bit depending what they learned.  After a long pause she went on, "<My tracking method is my own, but let us say that we have followed a trail of blood.  Blood from missing arms.  You know of what I speak, yes?>"

As she spoke aloud Mistral examined the spiritual landscape with her archmage's expanded awareness, studying what ailed the spirits.  In Noah's head, Mistral reported her findings and said, ~These ones seek to hunt Fluffy.  It is possible that they have good reason to do so.  I hope that we might come to an accord, but if we cannot?  I am prepared.~

 Gaston reached up to hold his left arm when Mistral mentioned it. <"Yes. I know of what you speak and, since you know as well, that makes this very simple. Your 'friend' hunts us now regularly and torments the people of the village below. Not only that, it has desecrated our sacred places. We will find and kill it. Only then will matters be set right.">