IC: The Sun Never Sets, IC thread for The Sun Never Sets Options

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar puts away the photograph he had out. "Greenwater it is. Unless someone has a better idea."

[phlapjack77]

I will join you in Greenwater. I want to view the desecration that these Sisters supposedly caused to Mother Earth.

The town of Cle Elum is also very near. It would be good to see the site of the attack there as well.

Smohalla's manifested form fades away, his astral form winging back to his physical body as quick as thought.

[Tecumseh]

The drive from North Bend to Greenwater is not a fast one. As the eagle flies the two towns are only 40 klicks apart, but they're separated by several mountains, forests, and rivers. The drive takes the better part of two hours and involves driving west then south, skirting the very edge of the State of Seattle limits. You get stuck on Kanaskat Road behind a slow-moving truck (with just enough traffic coming from the opposite direction to prevent you from passing), which gives you plenty of time to contemplate the fact that "Seattle" is on the side of the road to your right while, to your left, there is the land belonging to the Klickitat people. You're quite far from the downtown Seattle core and, quite frankly, both sides of the road look exactly the same. It's a two-lane road with a wall of trees on each side, periodically punctuated by a piece of farmland or an open field with grazing horses and cows. Oh, and there's the occasional unmanned drone, plus plenty of cameras and motion sensors, to make sure everyone stays on their side of the street.

The final approach toward Greenwater follows Highway 410 as it parallels the White River. You pass through stands of old-growth forest that were spared by the Anglos for state parks and recreation areas. The road climbs until it reaches town about 500 meters above sea level. It hasn't snowed yet but it will as soon as the first low pressure front with moisture blows through.

The entrance into town is a short bridge that crosses the Greenwater River just before it merges into the White River. You feel a tightening in your stomach as you pass over the bridge. What's left of the town - mostly cinders and charred wreckage - is dismal. The town itself was tiny; less than a hundred people lived here at the time of its destruction. There had a been a gas station, a general store, a tavern, a roadside diner, a store selling mountain gear (both summer and winter), and maybe two dozen homes. There's no evidence of any of it now other than pits and heaps of black.

You drive through town and see nothing manmade remaining intact. All the buildings were flattened and the vehicles are now overcooked husks. It looks like the gas station detonated, but for all the flames and burn marks evident on the pavement you barely see a singed tree or a blackened bush. The destruction here was very targeted.

The mana isn't gone; it's not a void. Instead it feels like the mana is tied up or constricted. There's a psychoactive blight giving the mana a bitter flavor, tainting its use and sapping the Talent of the Awakened. [There is a rating 2 background count within the scene of destruction - the "aspected domain" if you will.] The effect makes everyone feel mildly queasy.

You only see one person in town. There's a male elf halfheartedly sweeping up debris on a plot of land where there used to be a building of some sort. His site is a little cleaner than the others, most of which look like they were untouched after they burned. This guy looks like he's making an attempt to clean up, but it's a daunting process and he seems tired. His hair is dirty-blonde and he has a sandals-and-granola look about him. His face and clothes are marked with soot as he brushes up rubble and clouds of ash. He takes your arrival as an opportunity to rest on his broom as he watches you drive around.

[phlapjack77]

Smohalla's eagle form arrives before the others, his flight giving him faster access to places such as these, nestled in the mountains.

He arrives, his clothing wrapped tightly in a bundle and clutched in his talons. Setting down, he shifts to his human form and dresses.

Waiting for the others, he sets about inspecting the mana anomaly until the rest of the group arrive.

Being a creature very tied to the astral plane, he did not like what he sensed.

As the group joined up, he turned his astral senses on the male elf.

[Tecumseh]

The elf is mundane. He doesn't have any cyberware or bioware or anything of a magical nature on him. He's young (maybe mid- to late-20s) and strong but is obviously fatigued. It looks like he's been breathing some dust and ash - he should be wearing a face mask to cover his nose and mouth - but he hasn't inhaled enough to cause him any long-term issues. Emotionally he's borderline depressed and feeling a great deal of uncertainty. But you also detect a glimmer of gratitude deep inside him.

[phlapjack77]

Greetings. My name is Smohalla.

We would like to ask you about the events that happened here.

Smohalla keeps his sharp eyes trained on the young elf as he speaks, and waits for a reply.

[Tecumseh]

The elf blinks languidly a few times, not quite sure what to make of Smohalla. The shaman's stare is a little unnerving and his syntax is a little formal, but in the end the elf shrugs and decides he doesn't care.

"The name's Llewellyn. As for what happened, I'm not in much a position to say. The town burnt down. Some of the others say that a man made of fire ran through town, lighting all the buildings ablaze. I didn't see him myself and, even if I had, I'm not a leading expert in men made of fire."

He gestures with his chin to the remains of a larger building across the road behind you. "That was the fire station some ten days back, if you can believe that. Unusual for a town our size to have a station of our own but we're the first town from the Seattle border and the last one for quite a ways. Anyway, fire started there, I overheard. It was getting late, going on midnight, and the town was buttoned up tight. Maybe not the tavern, but most of the rest of us were in bed. So the station went up first and took the fire engine along with it. The the fire spread in a loop, starting at the east end, then doubling back once it got to the end of town where you drove in. All the houses went up sequentially, I'm told. I didn't see the order of things. By the time I got out of bed and staggered outside all I could see was the whole town aflame. Quite a sight. Might have been some beauty in it if it hadn't been for the panic."

He gives that a little thought before giving a little shrug and continuing. "Not much in the way of emergency services out here. No water line, no fire hydrants, you understand. Most of the houses are working off wells and pumps from the river. Most of the time we're lucky to get 350 kPa [50 psi] out of those pumps. It's even less now with the river at its low mark. Too early for the winter rains, see, and too late for the summer snow melt. The hoses were a dribble and didn't dent the flames. We all just stood out in the street and watched."

He nods to himself at the memory of it. "Guess that's the remarkable thing though. No one hurt. Everyone made it out. What are the odds, do you think? You figure at least one person's too drunk or too brave or too unlucky, but not the case here. A few cases of smoke inhalation, maybe some nicks and cuts, but we all walked away. That's something, suppose."

He holds his broom out at arm's length and considers it. "Not sure why I'm even bothering with this, really. Just feels like doing something is better than nothing. Leaving it the way it was seems wrong. Or maybe I just don't know what to do with myself. Don't know where life goes next. But at least there is a next, neh?" He props his chin on the broom and looks at you again.

"You aren't the first to come around asking about it. Figure that won't come as a surprise to you. We had a big team of investigators come out and comb all over the place. Didn't clean up much, mind you, but gave everything a thorough once-over. Never heard what they found, or maybe there was nothing to hear. Go ahead and have your run of the place." He looks around. "Nothing more to mess up here."

[AtroposReborn]

As the group drives through the town Ellesar takes a few quick photos of the rubble. Once he notices Smohalla engaged in conversation with the lone elf he turns to the others in the vehicle.

"It would seem our associate has already made a new friend. Perhaps we should go see what they are chatting about"

[phlapjack77]

Do you know what group these investigators belonged to?

I would like to investigate the firehouse, where the fire started.

Smohalla walked over to the burned-down firehouse and knelt to inspect the ground several times, his eyes searching.

Looking up from his crouched position, he traced the route of the fire-man in his mind, trying to create a picture of the path of the destruction.

Looking over his shoulder, he seemed to now be looking in the direction the fire-man might have come from.

[pbangarth]

As the team enters the town, a thick cloak of depression settles around Stogie. "Oh, this town has gone through shit." The emotions of the townspeople as their homes and lives burned away lingers, insinuating themselves into Stogie's perceptions and magic, sapping them with hopelessness and despair. Jake whimpers and leans into Stogie. He holds the dog tight. "It's OK, boy. It's OK." Both know that's a stretch.

Brief moments of astral light penetrate the gloom that forms a background that consumes mana before it can feed the Awakened. Here remains the memory of a mother and father rescuing a child from a burning basement. There a girl's heart leapt with joy when she saw her doll dangling from her big brother's hand. Amazingly, there is no hint of death. How could such destruction happen and yet not take a single life?

Struggle though he might, Stogie can't hang on to all his powers. He has to decide. The knife is a goner, for now. His perceptions dull, and his iron constitution weakens, all lessened but none gone completely. But his empathy and healing powers remain strong. They might be needed here.

"Jake, go take a look around. See who or what else is around the town. Stay close enough for me to feel you." The dog hesitates a moment, not wanting to leave his master's side when Stogie is clearly feeling wrong, then he leaps out of the car and begins a methodical search of the perimeter of the town, adjusting his movements to accommodate Stogie's reduced range of communication. Stogie smiles at that. "Fucking dog never ceases to amaze me.

"Yeah, let's go over and join Smohalla and the guy he's talking to." He turns his astral attention to the townsman, an elf by the looks of him.

[Tecumseh]

Llewellyn's eyes widen, clearly surprised by the question. "'What group the investigators belonged to?'" he repeats for clarity. "Why, the police!"

His look turns inquisitive after a second as he considers something. "But perhaps you have a point. It was the Sinsearach authorities here and I'd be misleading you if I didn't admit that they looked overwhelmed. You see, this here" - he pauses to indicate the crime scene - "is a bit of a grey area for the law. Strange, no? Seems clear enough, but it had the police wringing their hands.

"I'm sure you know, there is the national law and then there's the tribal law. National law only concerns itself with things like homicide, assault, treason, things of that nature. The investigators were saying that if someone had be harmed or killed then this would be 'first-degree' arson. But here, despite the scale of it all, is only 'second-degree' arson and thus under tribal law." He shakes his head in wonder.

"The first to get here were some small town police units from Ellensburg. It took them half the night to get here! Some more investigators came up from down south but they didn't get here until morning. Don't think they found much. But, in their defense, how much can there be to find when it's a man made of fire?"

[Tecumseh]

Jake is less than thrilled about breaking away from the group but he complies to begin his olfactory investigation. Llewellyn watches with interest, impressed by the dog's training.

It has been a dry autumn this year. This area hasn't received any rain since the town burned so the ashes are largely undisturbed. For the most part Jake finds what you would expect. There's ash and burned wood and the residue left over from where various propane tanks failed and released their compressed gas. There's scorched metal on trucks, glass that either melted or shattered or both, and the smell of various household objects that burned - natural and synthetic fabrics, plastic goods, and so on.

Again, despite the dry weather, very little vegetation seems like it was affected. A few of the houses had small patches of grass or gardens that couldn't escape the heat, but none of the surrounding trees or forest look burnt, despite the dry conditions and their relative proximity to the flames. It's not impossible to think that the destruction was somehow limited or contained.

It's only when Jake gets near the river on the north side of town that he finds something different. It smells like a large group of canines.

"Oh, there used to be a pet grooming shop there," Llewellyn says, noting Jake's interest in the area. "Strange business for the town but seemed to do okay. The kennel was empty so there weren't any animals in the building, but I wouldn't be surprised if there had been some dog or cat hair in their garbage that got burnt."

Jake doesn't agree with this assessment. He's not smelling burnt hair. The tracks aren't fresh - they're at least a week old now - but there were wild dogs here, maybe wolves. Sniffing around, he picks up more traces of the scent scattered around town.

[pbangarth]

Stogie listens to Llewellyn talk about the earlier investigation. The bristle in Jake's attitude alerts Stogie. He nods to Jake to continue. Show me the places where you smell them. "Wild animals. Maybe wolves. They'd been in town a week ago, or more. Did you notice anything back then?"

Stogie makes a mental note. If they have spirits available, and wolves as scouts and guards, sneaking up on them could be difficult.

[Tecumseh]

Jake investigates further. Here, he indicates at one site. And here, he points not far away. And here, here, here, and here, he continues, basically finding traces of them wherever he goes. It seems that the dogs or wolves or whatever they were combed through town too, just as Jake is doing now. He can pick out about half a dozen different traces. Maybe a small pack?

"Wolves, you say?" Llewellyn asks, looking slightly bemused. "No, I haven't seen any recently, but I haven't exactly been spending whole days here either." He glances around to indicate the current lack of habitable structures.

"They're common enough in the woods though. Used to see them reasonably often when leading tours. Grey wolves, mostly hunting elk and white-tailed deer. Never gave us any trouble. The tourists loved it. Wouldn't exactly surprise me if they came through town to claim, or reclaim, some territory."

Jake isn't noticing any urine markings though. He just smells prints, not territorial markers.

"It's been quiet around here during the day," Llewellyn goes on. "The birds seem to have gone elsewhere, though the trees are fine. Maybe it was time to go south. Winter will be here before we know it."

[phlapjack77]

<salish>
Shepherd, do you sense anything strange? I can't seem to find any traces myself.

Animals have been known to act strangely around the presence of twisted mana.

Wolves..hmmm. Wolves not marking their territory. Interesting. Do you think Jake is on to something important?

[pbangarth]

<salish>I think it is strange that wolves or something like them would come into a human settlement at all. The fact that they did not mark the territory suggests they didn't come to take back land but were curious, or looking for something. I don't know. It may be nothing. But given the circumstances, everything strange should be suspect.

[AtroposReborn]

Ellesar eyes the two warily. "Something you'd like to share?"

[pbangarth]

"Yeah, sorry. I like the Salish language, and take any chance I get to speak it. No, it's just that Jake is sniffing out visitors to the town, maybe wolves, and they seem to have gone through the whole town, not marking territory the way canines do. It just seems odd. If the Sisters have spirits and wild animals working for them, it's gonna be hard to sneak up on them.

"And, you know as well as I do, if magicians have the time to prepare for visitors, it never goes well for the visitors."

It strikes Stogie that he just mentioned their targets in front of an outsider. Damn. Well, might as well ask, now.

"Listen, Llewellyn, is it? You know anything about some women living in the area? Call themselves the Three Weird Sisters. This is an avenue we're exploring."

[Tecumseh]

Llewellyn looks surprised. "You think the Sisters have something to do with this?" he asks. "I guess first you have to believe that the Sisters exist."

He contemplates the idea for a long moment, his head tipping back and forth like a metronome as he silently debates whether the idea is plausible or not. He looks skeptical.

"The Sisters are like sasquatches: you're pretty sure they exist because new stories pop up every now and again, but almost nobody has ever seen one. Scratch that. I've actually seen a sasquatch; never seen the Sisters. But you're not going to see a witch that doesn't want to be seen, neh?

"You hear all sorts of wild and fanciful stories about them," he continues, waving his hand airily. "The whole spectrum: boogeymen that kidnap kids, benevolent tricksters that cause good-natured mischief. The most credible accounts I've heard are that they're Wiccans living in the forest, as Wiccans are wont to do. I've never heard of them venturing out, let alone burning down a town. Can't see the logic in that."

He scratches his head. "Most stories place them to the south of here. But, as I said, I've been leading tours around here for half a dozen years and never seen a hair of their heads. If they wanted to burn down the town, it's past me why. All we have..." he pauses to correct himself, "had was a gas station, a restaurant, and a tavern. We served hikers in the summer, skiers in the winter. There's a ski resort 40 minutes up the road. We're going to miss out on that business this winter. We were the only town between the resort and Seattle." He sighs, then shrugs.

[phlapjack77]

Stories place the Sisters to the south. The wolf tracks start north.

We should follow the wolf tracks to see if they give us any information.

This way, either we find those responsible, or we gain information that could help us.

[AtroposReborn]

"Sounds good to me," Ellesar states, "but let's be wary. For all we know we could be walking right into a trap. As Stogie mentioned earlier, if it is the three we are searching for and they have other beings working for them then we should tread lightly."

Ellesar takes a picture of the devastated town and carefully avoids the remains as he walks over to where the tracks begin.

[pbangarth]

Stogie, follows Ellesar, and sends a mental command to Jake, speaking out loud so the rest of the team can know what the dog is doing.

"Jake, move out front and sniff ahead. Stay in range. Let me know if you notice anything important. Stay safe." Stogie concentrates, and passes the power to enhance speed and toughness to Jake. The point man always needs to be ready for trouble.

[phlapjack77]

<salish>
Shepherd, please watch after my clothes while I'm away. They're pretty easy to wrap up and stow.

<english>
I will provide a view from the sky.

Smohalla's form shimmers and dances, shifting into that of an eagle amongst the fallen clothes.

The eagle takes to the sky with a scream, headed in the direction that mirrors Jake's movements.

He calls upon his spirit brother to scout with him as he soars on the thermals.

[pbangarth]

Stogie gathers up Smohalla's clothes. Maybe the disturbed mana of the town has irritated him. Fuck, what am I, the valet service? He remembers, though, the times the team has watched out for Jake.

[Tecumseh]

"You take care now, y'hear?" Llewellyn says to bid you goodbye. He watches you go with a look of curiosity.

Jake leads the way across the river, finding a relatively shallow patch that allows him to walk across the shallows getting only his paws wet, then jumping between a couple rocks that straddle the deeper parts. The river is low at this time of year and it wouldn't be much trouble to just wade across, but it's not exactly warm outside and boots full of chilled river water don't sound appealing.

Across the river the wall of mountains jumps up immediately. You only have to walk 200 meters before it becomes very steep. The grade straight in front of you is basically 100%, meaning that that the mountains rise at a 45 degree angle. It would be a brutal climb if you didn't know the way, but luckily Jake is tracking the scent and the scent follows a less intense course. It weaves back and forth, following switchbacks on the hillside.

You're surrounded on all sides by evergreen trees. This land was logged generations ago but the trees have had a hundred years to grow back. They're dense and they cling to the mountainside tenaciously. The mountains trap the clouds, the trees trap the moisture, and the moss and mushrooms love it. There are bugs under every stone.

It's quiet in the forest. You keep your ears open but don't hear much other than the footsteps of your fellow hikers. It smells familiar, like plants and dirt and the life of the forest. Whatever Jake is following is well beyond your olfactory range. He looks back occasionally to make sure everyone is keeping up, never venturing more than 20 or 30 meters in front of the group. Tracking a large pack of wild dogs seems a little counterintuitive to him, but he's happy enough to get out of Greenwater that he doesn't really mind the new task at hand. The scents he's following aren't strong but there's enough that he feels confident in his direction.

The view from above is quite thrilling. It's fun to swoop up and down the mountainside, the trees reaching up, their tops softening the landscape into a dark green blanket. Astrally, the scene is so full of life that it's hard to distinguish between it all. [-2 Astral Visibility, p. 114 Street Magic, which applies on the ground too.] There are so many overlapping plants and trees that the scene is one giant glow cascading down the side of the mountain. It tastes fresh and wild, a decided relief from the queasy aura permeating Greenwater.