Of Jesters and Orcs 10

The QQ thread is here: https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/of-jesters-and-orcs-dcau-pf1e-dnd3-5.29004/

[CENTER][u]Of Jesters and Orcs[/u]

Chapter 10: A Mystery Begins

<<<Mopsa Yeats>>>[/CENTER]

“Well, this sounds bad…” Well, not really… Mopsa had encountered and lived through worse crises before in her very long life.

But generally speaking when Magic users either turned up dead or barely managed to survive an attack, it wasn’t good. Most of the time it simply turned out to be overzealous Witchhunters, sometimes it was factions fighting over who had the better patron (witches could be an odd breed, truly, and it vexed her why they didn’t acknowledge her patron as the best), and very rarely it was extremely paranoid provinces that didn’t trust outsiders and looked at everything that existed outside their lands in suspicion.

But given that it was a whole different world, the possibilities were endless. Though she was willing to put good gold on the possibility that it was related to jealousy or spite in some form.

“It’s not good,” Nightwing said with a nod, “Granted we don’t really enjoy dealing with magic, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to keep on top of the situation.”

“Hmm…” Karaka just scratched his chin in thought, “This almost seems like a Mage hunt…”

“Oh, they were clearly assassinated,” Mopsa said, “Look here, the stab wound wasn’t what killed them, they were poisoned. You can tell by how the blood pools.” She was kneeling and pointing at the relatively small pool of blood under their stomach. It should have been larger. “So they wanted it to look like a murder, a robbery gone wrong. That’s why the drawers and such have been gone through.”

Karaka nodded, “Efficient.” He added, almost sounding impressed, “I know Assassins that would love to trade notes,” He added before looking at Nightwing, “This world wouldn’t happen to have something similar to an Assassins guild would it?”

“The League of Shadows,” He replied, not sounding surprised by anything Mopsa had said, “What I don’t understand is why they’d go after a random hedge mage in their own home. They usually stick to more… impactful targets. Ra's Al Ghul isn’t the type of person to go after random people with powers without an incentive.”

“Auspicious name. But they don’t stay true to the name, seeing as this League is known,” Karaka said with a snort, “The answer is simple, what is the greatest incentive of all?”

“Batman is the reason they’re known, they have a grudge about that,” Nightwing noted, “Shame he’s in Africa right now, he’d probably be able to track where the killer went…”

“... Fair enough.” Karaka acknowledged, “But the question is… who the client is? It takes a lot to make a person willing to spend what must be an exorbitant amount of coin for a mass killing like this…”

“Spite, jealousy, simple hate, maybe for amusement?” Mopsa mused, “Assuming it’s a mass killing anyway, it could be targeted. Is, was, he part of any covens do you think?” She’d have just asked the man himself, but it had already been too long to revive him… judging from the smell, anyway.

“He had connections to the magical underground.,” Nightwing said, “But no. He wasn’t really affiliated to any covens. That said, he was considered an honorary son among to Black Rose coven.”

“I assume they aren’t criminals if you haven’t broken them up yet,” She replied, “Can you get me in contact with them?”

“They’re pretty harmless, mostly eco-activists that regard Poison Ivy as a Messiah of sorts from my understanding.” Nightwing said with a shrug, “But yeah I can, though you should be ready for either conversion attempts or flirting…” There was a story there, and if it was any other time Mopsa would try to pull it out.

Maybe later though.~

“Lovely, I’ll bring Karaka with me. They’ll be interested in him too and it could do him some good to stretch his mind a bit,” She said with a nod before standing up, “I could also put a shadow demon in the corpse to get us there faster, but I don’t think anyone would appreciate that for some reason.”

Karaka just snorted and cuffed her shoulder with a faint chuckle.

“No, generally further mutilating the deceased doesn’t get you many friends,” Nightwing said dryly.

“The body would be fine, better than fine really, it would only be mutilation if I borrowed it.” Her voice was low and considering. “Would be funny, admittedly, for his assassins to see him up and walking around like nothing had happened, but it would hurt his family, wherever they are.” She was aware of the disquiet look she was receiving from her two companions, but she figured it was about time for them to see at least a little behind her mask. They deserved to know her thought processes, at least.

“Karaka, Nightwing, how would you assassinate me?” She asked, “Just your first guess on how to do it with what you know of me.”

“Hmm, well I’d probably have to figure out how to separate you from your familiar,” Karaka said thoughtfully, “But beyond that… it would largely be up to luck. You have the advantage on me in experience as well as a large repertoire of spells to use.”

Nightwing thought for a moment before saying something that was so simple she had to kick herself for not considering it. “I’d use a car bomb.”

“... Remind me not to get on your bad side,” She noted with a blink, “Effective though. I’ll need to watch out for that alongside similar things.” She had spells for that, but prepping and casting them every day was going to be a pain. “Now then, let’s get some lunch and then we can figure out if this Rose coven is being targeted specifically or if it was just him. Or any magic user.”

“The Rose coven doesn’t have any disputes… well, other than with Big Business anyway,” Nightwing said with a snort, “That being said, I doubt any CEOs are paying an assassin to kill them. But I will admit… this feels personal…”

“They might have cursed someone that took offense,” Karaka said, “I wouldn’t even blame the guy for it either.”

Mopsa nodded. “Curses can be very nasty to deal with,” She said, “Even minor ones that are mostly inconveniences… curses have a nasty habit of escalating unless the curse is kept in check.” She shrugged, hand going out for Neveah, “I’ve cursed a few people and demons before. I assume they weren’t happy with me for the few moments of life they had left after.”

She spoke with her familiar at the speed of thought, smirking softly as she did. “Fly to Ivy. Inform her of the killings and ask if she’s heard of anything like it.”

Neveah croaked before flying off faster than a crow normally could. Karaka watched but didn’t seem really surprised, and she wouldn't be surprised if the old orc had a general idea of what she was doing.

Still surprised her just how observant and insightful the green skin could be.

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Mopsa hummed over her drink, a sweet and bubbly concoction called ‘soda’ that she’d found quite some enjoyment in. “Ivy has news,” She announced before taking a sip.

“And the news is?” Karaka asked, not sounding surprised as he enjoyed a BLT.

“Jason Blood, a demonologist mage, recently survived an assassination attempt himself. A car bomb, as a matter of fact,” She said, “He disabled the explosive before it went off. He assumed it was targeted at him specifically, but with George’s killing…”

“It implies that it’s a wider net,” Nightwing finished with a nod, “We need to find out if it’s Gotham only or something bigger. I’ll contact some of the League’s magic users to see if they’ve spotted anything.”

“Still, I’m curious as to the reasoning,” Karaka said, “Though I suppose it doesn’t matter. Spite or simple revenge, it’s a poor reason to pay for a cutthroat to do killing beyond your ability.”

Mopsa’s eyes closed for a moment as she worked her way through the possibilities, fingers tapping rhythmically against their shared table. “It may be part of a ritual or to get rid of potential sources of frustration for some evil plan. The demons used to do this type of thing regularly in the keeps around the World Wound, Star Keep in particular.” She would know, she was born there. “But we can’t know for sure yet.”

Nightwing nodded. “... I’ll be honest, I’m almost willing to put money on it being out of envy or jealousy,” He said, “I mean… I’ve heard of pettier reasons. But, honestly your reasons sound better, Mopsa.”

“I have experience,” She replied simply. “The big question is if the person that’s doing it knows why it is. Hitmen have an infuriating habit of not asking for simple details like that, but if they know… well, I’ll extract it from them one way or another.”

More unpleasant looks, but it wasn’t like she’d be killing them. Permanently, anyway.

Though it seemed that Karaka was the first to put his opinions aside, though he did snort faintly in amusement. “Hindsight being what it is… I don’t suppose you know Speak to Dead? Or a spell similar to it, would you?”

“Speak With Dead? I do, but it wouldn’t have helped much. I’d have only have been able to ask a few questions, and with how he was killed…” She shrugged. “We’d need more than ten or fifteen questions.”

“Hmm, good point,” Karaka said, “Amusing that the spell has the same limitation though,” He added with a faint chuckle.

“On similar planes, magic tends to rhyme,” She replied with a shrug.

Nightwing cleared his throat. “One of the Coven’s proper members has also recently been murdered,” He said, drawing her eye instantly. “They’re willing to meet with both of you here. I’ll be contacting the League back at base.”

Karaka just nodded as he finished his BLT in a single massive bite, “Curious…” He mumbled but didn’t seem interested in sharing his thoughts.

“... About?” Mopsa asked, poking him as Nightwing left, “Go on, out with it.”

“Well, assuming that this plot is targeting this coven specifically. Then why go after this demonologist?” Karaka said, “Unless he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and given the cursed nature of this city I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case. It feels… too simple I suppose…” He added.

“I don’t think it is just the Coven, they’re just easier to kill than we are,” She replied, eyes half lidded as Neveah got close enough to see them from the roof of a nearby building, “Much easier.”

“... You suppose Nightwing’s theory of a jealous human holds water?” Karaka asked, “It is a tale as old as time, really.”

“No, I don’t,” She replied, “If it was, they’d go after specific mages, either famous ones or the ones that are just closest to them in location. It’s one thing to hear about some random wizard half a planet away and another to hear about one that’s richer, more popular, and more famous than you that lives down the street from you.”

Karaka nodded as he took a sip from a bottle of tea. “Touche…” He admitted bowing his head slightly, “How are Ivy and Harley doing, by the way?” He asked, figuring to change the subject temporarily.

“Neveah arrived when they were less than well dressed,” She replied pleasantly, “Does that answer your question?”

“Well, they certainly have a healthy relationship,” Karaka said with a chuckle, “... Still want to get my hands on this Joker, just to talk I assure you…” He added sarcastically.

“I call first dibs!” She replied with a wide smile. “Just to talk, yes.”

“We can talk together, even take turns.” He said with a grin, but there was nothing friendly about it.

… Was it racist of her to think Orcs generally didn’t look friendly when they grinned? No, because they had tusks and fangs. And a really mean bite.

The entrance of the sorceress they were waiting for was… less than dramatic, certainly less so than the girl had been hoping for. Covered in a black cloak and arcane, though not magical she noticed, symbols and wearing a mask; she was the opposite of discreet.

All said, Mopsa could appreciate the girl’s sense of dramatics. She’d give it a three out of ten for effect and a six out of ten for the attempt. Not enough shadows and fire.

“I assume you’re from the Rose coven?” Karaka asked, looking at her curiously.

“Shhh!” The girl hushed them, “Follow.”

Mopsa sighed as she stood up to do so, head shaking, “You are terrible at this, you know that right? Watch, I’ll show you how to do it right!” With a wave of her hand, she cast an ever so simple spell. Darkness spread out like smoke, eliciting a few screams, and completely covered them. One hand was on the girl’s shoulder with the other on Karaka’s. “Now you lead us away.”

Karaka just snorted in amusement. “Show off,” He deadpanned.

The girl stammered but, indeed, continued to walk. “I’m always a showoff dear orc,~” Mopsa purred, “You should know this by now…”

“Quiet! Someone might follow us!” The girl complained.

“Oh for the love of…” Mopsa sighed and shook her head. “Amateur, so very amateur!” So saying she cast another spell, this time on the girl. “Oh, they’re very cute and you girls and boys are in way over your heads.”

“W-what?” Mopsa didn’t reply as she cast another spell, teleporting to the coven’s hideout. It was good that the girl viewed them as family, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked…

Karaka just patted the witch’s shoulder, “She does that.” He said sympathetically.

Still, appearing in the middle of the group of mostly teenagers and a few university aged men and women was hilarious, particularly with the looks on their faces.

So Mopsa began to giggle, knowing that her clownish appearance would just spark more fear in them as she bowed to the group.

Sighing faintly, Karaka spoke up, “We’re working with the Bat clan,” He said, “We’re looking into the murder of Magic users.”

“... We know,” Said the oldest after a few moments, “But we didn’t expect you to just…” Her hand waved at their present location.

“She does that,” He said once more.

“I have my reasons! Specifically, if you want to be discreet teleport or don’t come in obvious witch attire,” She admonished them, “Or just be me and be the best thing to ever grace the face of any plane I visit. Since you aren’t me, use your heads!” Her own head shook, bells gently ringing, before she sat down on something that looked important, an arcane effigy of some kind. “Now then, darlings, tell the good witch Mopsa everything and she might decide to help you.~”

Karaka just leaned against the wall, just standing there like a looming menacing green sentinel!

She’d help them anyway, but it was always good to establish dominance… It made people more eager to speak.

And speak they did.

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