MERC XIX: Toss a Coin to your Goblin

[Reinholdt]

[Interview]

Reina raises an eyebrow at the mention of Intersection. "Talk to some fey. Yeah, I can do that." Or in worst case, spy on them. "Dena huh?" There's a momentary nibble of the lip, but it passes. She remembers Dena. Been a long though.

"Do you or Dena have copies of these notes they've been sending that I can take a look at?"

[Gullara]

[Reporting In]

"I might not know much about, erm, entities, but don't gods have to keep the same name and identity since... I mean, they kinda exist based on the faith in that name, right?" Dena inquires as Vax flips through the pages, and there are quite a few.

While the majority are just notes there are also newspaper clips, photos and even sketches. Some looking rather gruesome or eerie. How they're connected to Helios she can't really tell without reading through it properly however.

[Kirk and Dena - Damage Control]

"Wasn't that how you to got to know one another?" Dena asks with a smirk. "But Tina knows how to get under your skin as she's been there many, many times. You've opened up to her like no one else, which is exactly why you don't want her mad at you. You gotta bury the hatchet before she gets really mad. I mean, I don't want to get trapped between your argument."

[Reporting In]

"It's a deep and complex subject. I could go into detail, but I suspect you're not interested in paying me for a lesson." Vax replies. "Suffice to say, some behave in that way, some do not. There are myriad classifications, and even then it doesn't capture the full picture." She tucks the binder away. She can't exactly dig into them without eyes, now can she. "I believe that should conclude our business. Unless you're unsatisfied with our findings? If you would like us to dig deeper on a particular angle we could discuss the cost of that venture."

[Kirk and Dena - Damage Control]

Kirk doesn't seem all that taken with levity at the moment. "I have to bury the hatchet, as if it's my responsibility to account for her problems." He fires back.

[Morty]

[Interview]

Dipsnig taps his bracer and brings up a holographic display:

In the name of the Voice in the Deep,

We demand that you cease the harassment of our serfs as they go about their work. Our manor's income depends on them.

Signed,

Voice in the Deep

"No one is quite sure who those serfs supposedly are and what constituted harassment of them. The manor did belong to a noble family, but they all abandoned it two generations ago. Now someone has moved in and it looks like they're some kind of fey. Dena should have more of those, if you're interested. She also came up with some security measures to minimize the risks of the fey stealing your soul. It involves a ritual with our on-staff warlock."

[Shadowcaller]

[Reporting In]

"No, I'm more than satisfied with what you managed to get your hands on. In fact, I'm going to give the fourth tower a bonus due to all the extra trouble you had to go through. Time is money after all." Dena remarks as she leans back in her seat. "Will cash do or do you prefer another form of payment?"

[Kirk and Dena - Damage Control]

"The way I see it you're both responsible for this situation. You can't have avoid noticing how Cantata reacted to your inquires and comments, Kirk. If Tina planned to marry her before we met then she will probably took a lot of offense to that. I mean, this is hardly the first person Tina have fallen for so I don't get why you started pressing the issue before we even knew about the whole marriage thing." Her tone is casual despite the subject matter and then seems to want to dismiss the entire subject with a gesture. "But I'm not gonna sit here and assign blame, just do what you gotta do, Kirk."

[Reinholdt]

[Interview]

"The complaints are probably exaggerated, knowing fey, but we'll check thoroughly." Reina frowns for a moment, in thought. She can't say she's much considered her soul, beyond where it's headed. Largely because she isn't entirely sure if she has one.

Guess this warlock will know? Or at least protect whatever technically inhabits this husk. "Right. Well just point me to the warlock then. Anything else?"

[Morty]

[Interview]

"It's entirely possible they make perfect sense from the fey's point of view. Who knows." Dipsnig's ears flick. "That's about it for now. Dena will give you any other pertinent information. Good luck."

[Gullara]

[Kirk and Dena - Damage Control]

Kirk waves his hand. Hard to say whether she made an impact or if he just doesn't want to get into it anymore. Either way she's cooled his head. "Fine." The drow stands. "I'll consider it, but this is still fundamentally a problem." He reminds her. But with little else to discuss, he'll make his exit if there's nothing more.

[Reporting In]

Vax's expression is difficult to read right now, but surprised it likely not far off. She nods. "Cash would do just fine. It's a flexible resource in this place, we've found." The real payment is yet to be obtained, but the cash is a nice extra. "I'll send the written report along later, as well as any information we can trace to Helios. Otherwise, until next time, Dena."

[Reinholdt]

[Interview]

Ah. So Dena will point the way to the warlock. Or they'll do the warlock thing together. Or something.

Reina just nods with a smile. "Not needed, but thank you. See you soon." She'll stand and head out to meet up with Dena.

[Shadowcaller]

[Kirk and Dena - Damage Control]

"It is a problem, that much we agree. Just don't make it more of one, alright? Telling Tina what to do usually has the opposite effect so keep that in mind. I mean, I'm trying to tell you what to do right now and look how much success I'm having." Dena grins. "So if you want to prove you're not like Tina, here's your big chance, Kirk." She remarks before he leaves and raises her hand in a farewell gesture. "But so long and good luck."

[Reporting In]

"Grand, I'll send you a cash payment then. Should come along tomorrow unless there are delays." She smiles politely as Vax goes to leave. "It was a pleasure working with you."

[Gullara]

[Follow Up]

Kirk heads to Dena's office at a totally different time and presumably not that long after his meeting with Arik in Riverside. It's clearly not long after that and that conversation never happened weeks ago. The drow knocks and enters. "Well I followed that Mithar lead." He begins.

[Shadowcaller]

[Follow Up]

Dena, whose on her cellphone, gives Kirk a casual look from behind her sunglasses. "-alright, but I gotta go. Something just came up." A beat. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it. Bye now."

She puts down the phone. "And what did you find out?"

[Gullara]

[Follow Up]

Kirk sits down, leaning back precariously in the chair. "So I followed up the Mithar lead, like we talked about. Wrong Mithar, though. Cessie directed me towards her brother. Did you know she had a brother? Doesn't seem like the public type. He hangs around in a graveyard." Weird guy, if you ask Kirk. "Claims to have dealings with Helios. Not a one off deal, but some sort of prolonged relationship. He knows that Helios isn't just some person at least. Says he's some sort of 'god'."

[Shadowcaller]

[Follow Up]

"Her brother? In a graveyard? Huh." Dena leans back in her chair casually as Kirk reports in.
"God you say? I did caught scent of that myself, straight from the horse's mouth in fact. Something about secrets and knowledge, right? Didn't know what to make of it though. A 'god' could be anything within the nexus and he doesn't really act like I'd expect a god to act anyway."

[Arkhosia]

Front Desk - A Few of Our Favorite Things

A rather spiffy-looking Ork in a postal service uniform ambles into the main office of MERC. It takes him a second to puzzle out where to go to, but his eyes light up when he spots the front desk.

"'ello, pack'age fer MERC," the Mailboy amicably greets, raising a hand to show off a simple brown parcel. Most folks would find it the perfect size to tuck under one's arm, but in his grip it looks far more suited for the hulking being's palm.

[Gullara]

[Follow Up]

"My gut says nothing too huge. Not the all powerful being type for sure." Kirk thinks about that a moment. "Arik has the same kinda magic as his sister. The whole elemental thing. Don't know if this was still a thing in your time back in the homeland. There were northeners making excursions around our territory. Reminds me of those." They ever made it inland by his recollection, but a lot can change in a few decades. "Do we know if Mithar is another from our neck of the woods?" Dena tends to be more up to date on this kind of intel.

[Front Desk - A Few of Our Favorite Things]

Valerie turns to give her usual greeting, but she's given pause. This guy is huge. Wait, she's seen big guys like him at the mall, she's sure. But that's an errant thought; she collects herself quickly. "Ah, yes. You're at the right place. I can take that." She stands and holds out her hands to accept the package.

[Shadowcaller]

[Follow Up]

"Yeah, you have a tendency to go with your gut Kirk, though not as much as the thing just underneath it." Dena remarks with a smirk. "But I see no reason to doubt the judgement of either of those things right now. He must be employing secrecy for a reason and if you're all powerful that usually doesn't fit with your M.O. Not to mention all the loops he has to go through simply to accomplish this relatively simple feat."

She pauses as she seems to consider Kirk's other question. "Our territory? Didn't take you for a nationalist, Kirk." Dena chuckles. "But there were all sort of humans inhabiting the region last time I was there and I do believe some came in their color. Settled in the northern regions if I recall correctly. Not sure if they're directly related to them but I think I've pretty much confirmed they're in fact from the same place as us. The fourth tower, the organization that Astrana worked for and the one I visited in HALO? They're from the same region as the invaders."

'Invaders' being their name of a particular kind of humans with dark skin that were the first to settle down in their homeland with imperial ambitions in mind. This gave them a particularly bad reputation among their kind, even for humans.

"It had been bugging me for the longest time but when I saw that symbol they had it hit me. I had seen it before back in the day and I even recall the name being mentioned several times. Blame it on be repressing stuff I guess, but I know that the sorcerer kings had connections to them."

The sorcerer kings being the warlords that ended up controlling the many human city states which formed once the invader empire broke down.
If they all actually were magic users isn't known but they at least employed them in their service, hence the name. But perhaps more importantly, Dena was also once 'owned' by one of them.

"Anyway, since both the Mithar's and the fourth tower were somehow connected to either him, the gorgon thing or the dragon he wants I figure it all ties together. If I'm correct then we might actually know more about all of this than we thought and we could start figuring things out on our own."

[Arkhosia]

Front Desk - A Few of Our Favorite Things

"Ah, good. 'Ave a plesant day, miss." The lumbering figure will hand over the package and, his task done, amble out of the building as quickly as he appeared. A Mailboy'z work is never done, and there are surely more deliveries to be made.

Upon further inspection, Valerie will find the package is addressed not just to MERC as a whole but a specific employee of MERC, a certain "Leis Oliveira" - which a quick check of the employee directory will reveal to be a newer accountant with an office in the building. There also does not seem to be any name by the return address, which references a location in Inside.

[Gullara]

[Follow Up]

Kirk waves off Dena's teasing. The woman is relentless. "Speaking of, you got anything noteworthy out of those Fourth Tower people? If we're looking for hard facts, I got nothing on my end. Arik didn't know the first thing about dragons. Mentioned the kind of dragons we're probably talking about haven't been around in a very long time, though. Most I got is that he doesn't think lying is Helios's style."

[A Few of Our Favorite Things]

Huh, right the new girl. Valerie's seen her in passing she's pretty sure, but they've never formally met. She walks around her desk, package in hand. Well, she needed a break anyway. She heads off to Leis's office space to drop it off by hand.

[Arkhosia]

A Few of our Favorite Things

Valerie will find Leis fairly easily at her desk, typing away at at her computer. She's a tiefling much like Astrana, her cherry-red skin contrasting wonderfully with the black and white of her skirt and blouse, and focused enough at whatever she's working on that she doesn't notice Valerie at first before looking up in surprise.

"O-oh, um, hello!" Leis greets her with a smile, turning to look up towards her and very subtly tidying up the mess of papers, tied yarn, a couple different books on magic and a somewhat concealed romance novel before brushing a slip of her curly hair back."Uh, what's up?

[Gullara]

[A Few of Our Favorite Things]

"Miss Oliveira, right?" Valerie greets with a friendly smile. She takes in the new girl with interest, now that she's seeing her up close for the first time. Valerie notes her eyes in particular. Huh. "A package just arrived for you. I figured I'd drop it off." She holds the box out for the tiefling. "I'm Valerie, by the way. I work at the front desk."

[Arkhosia]

A Few of Our Favorite Things

"Ah, I remember now! I've seen you around a bit, it's nice to meet you." Leis reaches out to accept the package, taking in the secretary with a similar interest - and seemingly noting Valerie's own with a flicker of curiosity. "This is odd, I don't think I remember ordering anything to get delivered here?"

Leis starts to study the label, concludes that nothing there elucidates the strange matter, and moves to neatly slice the tape open with a pair of scissors on her desk -before startling back in surprise as a strange green fume leaps from the seam with a cackle in a flash of eerie light! It dissipates into the air as suddenly as it appears, leaving the accountant looking rather confused and perturbed.

"...If that's what I think it was, that can't be good."

[Gullara]

[A Few of Our Favorite Things]

Valerie takes a small step back. "What was that?" She asks, certainly more confused than Leis.

[Arkhosia]

A Few Of Our Favorite Things

”it, uh... kinda looked like a spirit-“ almost as if on cue, one of the books on the shelf of the cubicle tumbles out, arcing perfectly to smack Leis in the back of the head.

“Ow! Okay, definitely something weird and spooky!” She steps up out of her chair, moving over to Valerie’s side and rubbing the back of her head as a gremliny laugh echoes from the corner of her workspace. A couple more accounting books and Manila folders start levitating, papers spilling out on the floor from the latter, prompting the tiefling to tug on Valerie’s arm. ”I think we should go.”

[Shadowcaller]

[Follow Up]

"Really? Nothing? What did you ask the guy exactly?" Dena inquires as she is reaching down to open her cabinet to pull out the file she had collected. "But yeah, everything is in here. Including some audio I managed to take of my conversation with their representative here." Indeed, Kirk will find a tape recorder small enough to fit inside the folder among the summaries Dena have written up.
"By the by, does the word 'diim' mean anything to you?"

[Gullara]

[A Few of Our Favorite Things]

Valerie let's herself be pulled away, but not without comment. "We should tell someone about that." She looks back at the minor chaos being caused, No doubt it's drawing some attention. Presumably someone can contain whatever supposed spirit this is.

[Follow Up]

Kirk starts looking over the written part of the report. He glances back up at Dena's question. His brow furrows. "What, you mean those jungle monsters people whisper about at night? Shape changing plant things apparently? Can't say I've encountered them personally before."

[Shadowcaller]

[Follow Up]

"So you do know of them? Since that wasn't the expression I got while talking to her at all." Dena throws over a few photos taken by one of MERC's security cameras of Vax as she enters their base.

"Her social skills were a bit rough around the edges but 'monster' is not the term I'd use to describe her. Looks more like the person you or Tina would wake up with after a night out." A beat. "Not to get your hopes up of course, she's a married woman after all." She puts her finger at one of the photos which is zoomed in on Vax's hand, in particular on the engagement ring that she's wearing.
"That's a human tradition, isn't it? They practice it here too. But I also recognize the language of the inscription on it. Looks like a bastard of our runic tongue as I recognize at least one word, 'beloved'."

The runic language was also called the old tongue and was clearly related to the current drow languages but only existed in scriptures found on ancient items these days. It had basically been adapted for the sole purpose of rune magic and was best known by rune smiths.

[Arkhosia]

The Parcelgeist

The two only have to retreat about a cubicle or two away for now if they want to avoid a few mean-spirited pens sent their way, leaving the entity to get itself situated and start really getting a feel for what objects are at its disposal around it. The sounds shift from papers being scattered to the winds and binders tumbling off shelves to drawers sliding open and folders being rifled through. It's far more quiet and orderly than before, which just makes Leis look all the more unnerved.

"Probably but uh, I'm not really sure who?" The tiefling glances over at Valerie in search of suggestions. It's probably not one of the custodians, since tidying up active magic phenomena seems like it would be above their paygrade, but she's not entirely confident that this is big enough of an issue that they need to go grab one of their superiors for help- especially when Leis realizes something with a flash of alarm.

"Wait, do you think you'll get in trouble for this? I-I mean I don't see how you could've realized something was up with the delivery, but I don't wanna cause problems for you if we can, uh, figure out how to dispel it or something instead." It's a bit of a tall order to suggest she might be able to manage it, but something about that cute look of worry on Valerie's face just causes her to blurt it out.

[Gullara]

[The Parcelgeist]

"Uh, I really don't know. I don't think there's some special thing I'm supposed to do with packages?" Valerie replies uncertainly. It's not something she's had to deal with much yet. Did she forget something, maybe?

[Arkhosia]

The Parcelgeist

"Well, it doesn't seem to be doing too much? Just uh, occupying my workspace." Which is quite a lot, to be fair. Poor girl can't exactly get anything done with a spectral entity nosing through all her things, much less throwing them at her until she runs away! Still, it hasn't spread to infesting any of the other cubicles, the closest of which are thankfully empty at the moment anyways - so it's only their problem for now. "Maybe see if we can handle this thing ourselves, grab someone else if we can't? I know a bit of magic, if I can find some info on this thing in a tome I could figure out a banishing."

[Gullara]

[Follow Up]

"So you do know of them? Since that wasn't the expression I got while talking to her at all." Dena throws over a few photos taken by one of MERC's security cameras of Vax as she enters their base.

"Her social skills were a bit rough around the edges but 'monster' is not the term I'd use to describe her. Looks more like the person you or Tina would wake up with after a night out." A beat. "Not to get your hopes up of course, she's a married woman after all." She puts her finger at one of the photos which is zoomed in on Vax's hand, in particular on the engagement ring that she's wearing.
"That's a human tradition, isn't it? They practice it here too. But I also recognize the language of the inscription on it. Looks like a bastard of our runic tongue as I recognize at least one word, 'beloved'."

The runic language was also called the old tongue and was clearly related to the current drow languages but only existed in scriptures found on ancient items these days. It had basically been adapted for the sole purpose of rune magic and was best known by rune smiths.

[Follow Up]

Kirk quirks an eyebrow as he looks at the picture. "I'd thought they could only mimic speech." Like a carnivorous parrot. "I suppose there's more than meets the eye. People do tend to be superstitious when it comes to things they don't understand. Still pretty strange, if I'm honest."

"So we've got a supposed 'god' who works with a northern elementalist, who just so happens to be the brother of one of Vigil's commanders. Then we've got some warlocks who have intel about this god's deal. Not surprising, given that's kind of what they do. They are the same type Astrana is, right? Then we have you in the middle of it all, something to do with gorgons and dragons." Granted Kirk hasn't been able to review Dena's findings just yet. Very hard to read and talk.

The Parcelgeist

"Well, it doesn't seem to be doing too much? Just uh, occupying my workspace." Which is quite a lot, to be fair. Poor girl can't exactly get anything done with a spectral entity nosing through all her things, much less throwing them at her until she runs away! Still, it hasn't spread to infesting any of the other cubicles, the closest of which are thankfully empty at the moment anyways - so it's only their problem for now. "Maybe see if we can handle this thing ourselves, grab someone else if we can't? I know a bit of magic, if I can find some info on this thing in a tome I could figure out a banishing."

[The Parcelgeist]

"Well I'm pretty sure Merc has some resources about this sort of stuff." At the very least Astrana's office has plenty on the topic. Usually it's more specialized, but Astrana does collect more broad information. "We could pop into Astrana's office and try to find something. Honestly I'd just ask her for help, but she's not in until after lunch today. We could wait, but, ah, maybe we should try to deal with this sooner than later."