To Find a Fiend

[Jirai]

Rhaena


The Constables assigned to watch the veiled girl would have... well, a rather boring job. They guarded this girl who simply sat in a chair, hands neatly folded in her lap. She stared at nothing, as best they could tell. However, regardless of this apparent inactivity, she was carefully searching the town and its surroundings, as she had agreed to with the High Constable. For the time being, she could conduct her search from the (dubious) safety of Myrken town proper. Only if there was nothing to be found from there would she need to move. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. Assuming, of course, that her brother didn't kill her as soon as he got wind of this latest escapade of his rather reckless sister.

For now, though, as the girl sat silently in a room, her mind was elsewhere - literally. A feather-light touch searched out something, somefeeling that would match the mapmaker's words. Searching for hatred. Searching for the Fiend.

[Teron_Ashfiend]

There was water and there was trees. Rain, humidity and terrible heat had toyed with the lake near the Broken Dagger for the entirety of the season. Amongst the living, thriving things there was a single, potent void. So while there was life there was also death. While there was nature's brand of peace there was also hate.

Festering hate, bound up in black chains of a terrible curse forged from Hellfire yet mirroring the shape of the heavenly gates themselves. Some terrible, joint compound of paradise and hell that bound the raging, tempestuous fire that burned like an unholy beacon and mirrored through a gray haze by some constant, silent and muted companion.

The smoke of his hateful, fiery being occasionally drifted into discernible shapes, a woman's face surrounded in lengthy hair and her countenance marred by dusted, ash-colored freckles; a man marred by an intricate brand centered upon his brow whose eyes spoke of a time when there was a starless midnight sky.

Yet that fire, bound and cursed, hesitated within the shape of a man. An old, tired man whose fury had burned through the vestiges and left him a puppet of smoke and ruin clad in ancient armor. Shadows trembled with his passing, echoing his endless rage for the passing of a moment.

It was a hot fire. An ever-burning fire that sought extinguishing yet in that seeking stoked itself to greater heights. Implacable and unrelenting, its smoke occasionally shaping itself into the memory of some small mercy before being dispersed on hot, soul-born wind.

He was the Ashfiend, he had told the cartographer. He was hate incarnate, clad in steel.

He was fury.

[Jirai]

Rhaena

Finally, her watcher would find a break from the monotony - though he was not privy to her entire reaction, the dark veil hiding the kalidiascope of expressions that crossed it, the sharp catch of breath was audible, her sudden wavering in her seat visible. She did not search any deeper into the seething mass of fury and hatred she had found. A promise held her. So she broke contact and suddenly she was snapping around to look at her guard, still shaking slightly.

"I need to see the High Constable. Now."

[Cinnabar]

There's a blink from the Constable charged with overseeing Rhaena's safety, an earnest-looking young man with the build of a farmer's son; a pause as he considers her words and finds her demand... awkward.

"The High Constable's still in Foggy Bottom, miss. I can have word sent for him." The young man hesitates; her tone implies urgency, and he's been told to watch over the girl to the best of his abilities, but not so much has been said about following her orders. "I don't know that he'd take well to being called away without some idea of why, mind. I could escort you there if it's urgent." Clearly reluctant to make that latter journey without good reason; so much harder to watch over someone if they're on the move, prey to ambushes or traps or such.

"Is there anyone else that you could talk to? There's the Chief Constables still back at the Yard, I think?"

[Jirai]

Rhaena

"I don't know!" And she didn't, really. The girl really knew nothing about the Constables or their organization. "I guess I could talk to them." She'd agree cautiously after a moment's thought. Besides, she wasn't sure if running off to Foggy Bottom qualified as "doing something stupid" or not. And since she had promised to tell Glenn before she did anything "stupid," perhaps talking to the Chief Constables would be a better idea.

[Cinnabar]

Once the decision's made it's an easy enough thing to arrange; a short walk to the Constabulary's headquarters in the company of another couple of uniformed men, a brief pause at the main desk to sign in, and then the girl is ushered into a rather cramped office. Files and reports are neatly stacked on shelves around the walls, and lockable cabinets hint at more paperwork within. On the other side of the plain but sturdy desk sits a tired-looking man of middling years and thinning hair, dressed in Constabulary greys. He looks up at Rhaena's arrival, then stands to offer her his hand in greeting.

"Ah. Miss... Olwak, yes?" Some small frown as he regards her, likely trying to peer past that veil; a keen, searching glance, but it lasts a mere moment before he's smiling politely, if somewhat humourlessly.

"I'm Chief Constable Haskins; I oversee the Detective Constables in their investigations and report directly to the High Constable himself. How can I help you, miss?" His voice is rough, but Myrkentowner all the way through, and certainly polite enough. For the most part he seems curious about this strange veil-faced girl, and what she might have to say.

[Jirai]

Rhaena

The peering she was accustomed to - the veil was not a particularly common sight in this place. And so she ignored it. She inclined her head politely towards the man. "Constable Haskins, a pleasure to meet you." So polite. "I... told the High Constable that I might be able to aid him in locating the.. Fiend." She explained. "I have. Or, at least, I have narrowed down the area as much as I can, without going closer myself. I thought this was knowledge he ought to have."

[Cinnabar]

That prompts a moment's pause, before the Constable nods again, tilting his head curiously. "I see. Well, if you are sure of the reliability of your information, I can have that passed along to the High Constable with all speed, and also directed to the relevant individuals involved in the Ashfiend investigation." He doesn't seem entirely certain of this veiled young lady, but he has his instructions and so he's willing to go along with them for now. He retrieves a fresh sheet of paper from the side of his desk, and readies his pen.

"So, Miss Olwak, what information can you give us?"

[Jirai]

Rhaena

"It is reliable." She answered with confidence. He wasn't certain - but that did not bother her. There was more than one way to skin a cat, when it came down to it. There was a pause before she continued. "Silver Lake. Or the forest around it, rather. I can't get more specific without going closer myself." Which she was (surprise of surprises!) somewhat wary of doing herself. She wasn't a complete idiot, as it turned out.

[Cinnabar]

That has the Constable looking up sharply, eyes wide. "The lake just outside town?" The disaster at Foggy Bottom is still fresh in his thoughts, and it is clear enough that the idea unsettles him.

"How close is he, Miss Olwak? And how quickly would you know if he approached closer?"

[Jirai]

Rhaena

It unsettled her, certainly, but that was harder to tell. There was a nod for his first comment, then hesitation for the second. "I am... not sure, sir." Another pause for thought. "I might notice, but he would have to get far too close, most likely. I could... track him, as it were. I think." This last was offered cautiously.

[Cinnabar]

"Hm." The Chief Constable chews on a knuckle for a time, gaze losing focus as he considers the situation. Whatever conclusion he reaches, it does not seem to please him greatly.

"This is difficult. I would say that it is most important that we gain a clearer idea of the Ashfiend's whereabouts, especially if you believe him to be so close to the town." Another pause for thought, creased brow growing moreso as he mulls over what she has told him. "I will notify the Chief of Streets, obviously, who will take the appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the public. As for tracking or following the creature... hm." At length he shakes his head, lacing his fingers on the desk before him once more.

"I cannot allow it just yet. Not with matters still as they are in Foggy Bottom. I will pass your information on to the High Constable with all speed and he may say differently, but I am not willing to risk your life, nor the lives of men under my command, in chasing down the Ashfiend at this time." He seems quite firm on the matter, quite resolved. "We have neither the means nor the manpower to confront the Fiend again, not so soon after Snowstill."

A more cautious man than Calomel, that much is clear; more circumspect, and not so keen to confront the Ashfiend directly. Perhaps fear, perhaps simply reluctance to lose more good men to the monster. Either way, he nods with an air of finality.

"As I say, I will make sure the appropriate people are aware of your findings. In the meantime, I can only suggest that you continue to keep track of the Fiend's location as best you are able; please notify us immediately if anything changes."

[Jirai]

Rhaena

The girl would nod. "I will certainly let you know, sir." And she would turn to leave.

[Jirai]

Rhaena

And so the girl would do nothing foolish, at least not immensely so. As she had promised Glenn, she did nothing - save that, every evening, she would check, and see if the hate was still where it had been.