The Shattered City: Chapter One

[Kaitou Kage]

Cyrus had slid the ivory tube into his cloak as they left the chapel and remained mostly silent on the way back. Something about his gaze was calculating and intense, as if he was deeply consumed by thought.

Back at the Chateau, he listened as Celeste dressed down Katja for lacking fashion sense. He smiled slyly again and sidled over toward the two women. "Now, now, Miss Viardot," he said smoothly, "There are many lovely birds in the world. Some are beautiful in their simplicity instead of their color." His shades met Katja's eye. "Some are beautiful for their strength. And some..." The dommer's gaze swiveled over to Cerise, "are lovely for their cheery songs and clever ideas. Both of you ladies were admirable today. Such poise in the face of adversity."

He stood up straight and reached into his cloak. "Ah, and speaking of today," he pulled out the ivory tube and unstoppered it. "It seems like the rebels and other agents of Mytteri are growing bolder."

He paused and looked into the tube, then began shaking its contents out. "We found several gendarmes dead in the chapel catacombs."

A rolled paper slid out of the tube and into the dommer's hand. He set the tube on a nearby table and began unrolling the paper. "Drowned, it seemed. The catacombs were flooded, and we..." His smile slowly turned into a frown as he read the page in his hand. "...found...a...note..." He trailed off. Then his shaved brow creased sharply. The serpent visage on his scalp honed in on the paper as if trying to burn holes in it with its eyes.

"By His holy hidden name," Cyrus swore, "This is the charter of Dementlieu."

[The Whistler]

"Now, now, Miss Viardot," he said smoothly, "There are many lovely birds in the world…& c."

“Why, thank you, Dommer Isfahani! It is heartening to hear you say so.” Celeste looked legitimately pleased. “But I am afraid you misunderstand my meaning as regards the Mlle. Zweibach—simply because an outfit may require some minor alteration to truly shine during a formal occasion, does not mean that the outfit itself is not radiant in and of itself!” She turned to Katja with a smile. “Mlle. Zweibach, I should never dream of having you sacrifice your own aesthetic sensibilities on the fickle altar of Fashion—not when you appear perfectly lovely at the present!”

"By His holy hidden name," Cyrus swore, "This is the charter of Dementlieu."

“Merciful Heavens! Can it be…?” Celeste was galvanized—and examining the parchment from six inches away within half a second.

“…It is! Oh, how glorious! That this afternoon’s doleful encounter should lead to our Founding Document’s climactic rediscovery—oh, that a cloud should have such a brilliant silver lining! Why, Dommer Isfanahi, I…I am positively beside myself with rapture!”

That she was—though the unadulterated joy was quickly derailed by an uncharacteristic thoughtful moment. “But…what does this say of our mysterious perpetrator?”

[Cronax]

"That was not the best decision you ever made, my friend," she tells Tomas in a calm, earnest tone of voice.

"If that snake was truly unaware of the theft, that happy state of circumstances has come to an end now. If the Falkovnians find the 'relics' first, they can cause a loss of political face by returning them and curry favour with large parts of the public in one fell swoop.

Agale casually looks left, then right before following her over. "Yes, that was quite brash Mr. Eisenwald. If you would show the courtesy of revealing to us your intentions before the fact, I should appreciate it.

Even should the Falcon solve this mystery ahead of us, I think that unlikely. Claiming to have 'rescued' the artifacts to the populace would have the opposite effect and galvanize their sentiments. Their interests would be better served by negotiating concessions for their return with the Council in private.

The duchess seems to me to be at best a red herring. Vederrak had plenty of opportunity to conceal her presence, even considering the short notice upon our arrival. Whatever kind of monstrosity he was or is, his station as a diplomat does ensure a legitamate stream of petty nobles and pretentious tycoons"

[NeoTiamat]

The Chateau Malchance, Quartier Marchand, Port-a-Lucine; March 11th, 770, 4:26 PM

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She turned to Katja with a smile. “Mlle. Zweibach, I should never dream of having you sacrifice your own aesthetic sensibilities on the fickle altar of Fashion—not when you appear perfectly lovely at the present!”

"Alright then," Katja agreed. She unceremoniously dumped the whalebone corset onto the couch, taking a cross-legged seat next to it.

"Miss Zweibach's dress certainly matches even the exacting Dementlieuse standards... for a fine young gentleman," Alice said, with an amused smile. "Sadly, even with the masquerade, she is a bit too curvy to convince them that she ought to be dressed as such. But, since she will be wearing a mask, they can hardly know who she is to censure her for it."

"If they do, it's fine," Katja replied. "I am only coming because I was asked to. If there is trouble I may be needed."

"Ah, and speaking of today," he pulled out the ivory tube and unstoppered it. "It seems like the rebels and other agents of Mytteri are growing bolder."

He paused and looked into the tube, then began shaking its contents out. "We found several gendarmes dead in the chapel catacombs."

A rolled paper slid out of the tube and into the dommer's hand. He set the tube on a nearby table and began unrolling the paper. "Drowned, it seemed. The catacombs were flooded, and we..." His smile slowly turned into a frown as he read the page in his hand. "...found...a...note..." He trailed off. Then his shaved brow creased sharply. The serpent visage on his scalp honed in on the paper as if trying to burn holes in it with its eyes.

"By His holy hidden name," Cyrus swore, "This is the charter of Dementlieu."

"What?" Petrik rounded on her student. "You."

The young man was so engrossed in the piano-playing that he didn't even look up. The tall, severe-looking woman rapped him on the shoulder with her conductor's baton. This got his attention, to put it mildly. "Lesson is canceled for the rest of today. Go home."

He scampered off, glad to be free.

"This plot grows ever thicker and ever darker with this revelation." Lemercier said quietly, swirling the glass of brandy in his hand. The old man looked as he ever did, chubby and friendly, but there was a certain sparkle that was missing from his eyes just now. Something else gleamed in them now. "A theft, however embarassing, is a crime of property. Now we deal with murder, a crime a thousand-fold greater."

Prof. Petrik, meanwhile, had strode over to where Cyrus was standing in sharp, quick strides. A firm grip enclosed the Hazlani priest's wrist and the music teacher moved his hand so that she could read the parchment as well. A moment passed, and she sniffed. "It is the real Charter. Such a fragile parchment for such a potent symbol."

"My transcendent Seiglinde, this does not make sense. If someone was willing to commit heinous and gruesome murder to steal the Charter, then why is the Charter here? They could have taken it back simply enough. But if they no longer need it... where are the other three?" Lemercier asked the world at large, the brandy now forgotten. "Drowning, in my limited by eventful experience, is a very unpleasant form of death. And the Ministry of Justice takes a very dim view of the murder of gendarmes. This was not an action embarked upon lightly."

"We found them pretty deep in." Cerise said, wide-eyed. "Ten gendarmes, all drowned. One of them had the charter in his hands, like he didn't dare let it go."

"There's more. Kerry contacted the genius loci of the chapel to get directions. But when he did, something tried to kill him. Or give him a warning with claws out, I'm not sure." Cerise leaned inward, closer to the rest of the group. "And later, on the bodies, we found a note. It asked when a trail became a trap, and it was signed 'C'."

"A troubling tale, young lady. A very troubling tale. Δεῖμος καὶ Φόβος are abroad in Dementlieu this day." Lemercier said. But rather than launch into a long-winded discussion, he merely fell silent, deep in thought.

“But…what does this say of our mysterious perpetrator?”

"Was Professor Theorux right?" Cerise mused, a pensive finger to her lips. "Could the gendarmerie have stolen it?"

"It is far too great a coincidence that they would just happen to be murdered afterward," Therri said. "Whatever killed them must have known about this entire affair."

"But how? For, for that matter, why?" Richard asked, rubbing his beard. "As Professor Lemercier said, if they wanted the Charter, they could have, could have just taken it once the gendarme were dead. I don't, I don't think we would have scared them off when ten gendarme didn't."

"Preperation," Thierri said. "The gendarme were killed by a trap, drowning. The culprit didn't have to face them himself."

"But as you said, the culprit left a note," Lessard added quietly. "It could have easily taken the Charter if it wanted to."

"But if not the Charter, what was worth murdering them over?" Cerise pondered, kicking her legs slightly. "Maybe it was some kind of super-evil demonic ritual we stumbled across?"

"Bait," Alice said suddenly. The black-clad woman was nearly on her feet before she sat back down with a huff. "But there's far easier ways to lure a gendarme squad somewhere than stealing a national treasure..."

"And, and why were they all twins?" Richard asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Professor Lessard, Alice, and Katja all turned to look at Cyrus.

[Kaitou Kage]

After Prof. Petrik finished, Cyrus had started rolling up the parchment and putting it back in its case as Cerise filled everyone in. By the time he'd finished, he looked up to find everyone staring at him.

"Yes?" he asked dourly, "I think you'll find my brother and I are capable of taking care of ourselves if the murderer shows up. We are heralds of true Law, not ill-trained lackeys that likely took bribes and were victims of their own corruption."

He placed the cap on the tube with an audible pop and stared back at the others.

[yalenusveler]

The revelation of the Charter brought a look of surprise to Kerrian's face, but only a mild one. There was already a great deal of strange today. "I have a very strange question...do twins, especially male, play any significant role in Dementlieu's history? All the drowned Gendarmes were identical twins..5 blackbirds cut in two by a sword hilted with the sun."

The look he was giving Cerise, Celeste, and Richard suggested that if the answer was an affirmative one, he might be going off into an even stranger theory.

[NeoTiamat]

The Chateau Malchance, Quartier Marchand, Port-a-Lucine; March 11th, 770, 4:30 PM
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"Yes?" he asked dourly, "I think you'll find my brother and I are capable of taking care of ourselves if the murderer shows up. We are heralds of true Law, not ill-trained lackeys that likely took bribes and were victims of their own corruption."

"You are quite severe in your opinions," Alice sniffed at the rebuke. "Very well, sir, my apologies for my curiosity. It was not meant to impugn you, or you brother." The woman turned back away from him and picked up her tea. For a moment, a slight hint of a smile seemed to toy around Lessard's lips.

"A skilled man can die as easily as an unskilled one," Katja spoke, distantly.

"Good day," she said, standing up and walking out of the room.

The revelation of the Charter brought a look of surprise to Kerrian's face, but only a mild one. There was already a great deal of strange today. "I have a very strange question...do twins, especially male, play any significant role in Dementlieu's history? All the drowned Gendarmes were identical twins..5 blackbirds cut in two by a sword hilted with the sun."

"Hmm, twins... twins and blackbirds and sun swords," Cerise mused, pensively pursing her lips. "I remember a myth where the sun and moon were twins, but they were fraternal - a man and a woman - and, er, that was Rokushiman. Is anyone reminded of that old children's rhyme? You know, 'four-and-twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie'? Er, except there were ten of them, and they all drowned. So I guess that really doesn't have anything to do with anything. Leon had a brother, but they weren't twins or anything... Well, twins are supposed to have psychic powers with each other, so maybe they all knew to come to that same place in the catacombs? And... were all in the gendarme for some reason?"

Richard favored Kerrian with an expressive shrug. "I'm not a citizen myself, but I don't, I haven't, I can't think of anything that, that I've ever read of."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia, who had fixed an intense stare on the constitution once it was out of its tube, suddenly shakes herself and harrumphs.

"There is no trace of magical power left on that document," the Mage reports. "I can not recall any rituals right now that would require such a specific sacrifice, neither arcane nor religious. I do not remember reports of similar deaths occurring, so I do not have even a clue as to who might be responsible for such a deed. All I can say is that, as far as I know, it has not been done before."

Again the Mage shrugs. "I regret not being able to provide any more useful information," she says, sounding grim.

[Nerit]

Nerit returned from the group outing with a hardened face. She had said very little when they had found the bodies, but like Richard, the nun had uttered a prayer. It was the first time she had spoken her own language in front of the others.

Now she stepped past the couches to the windows, looking out to the garden.

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómina; et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace...

She placed her hands within her sleeves and gazed through the windows, though sometimes she glanced back to Richard and Alice.

[DocBeard]

"Signed C?" Tomas asks, deceptively calm, like the peace that settles over a harbor before a hurricane breaks. "Does anyone know any 'C's that would be signing things to them?"

[Cronax]

5 blackbirds cut in two by a sword hilted with the sun.

"Come again Mr. Mauganson?" Mr. Agale, who had sidled in a few minutes earlier, decided to cease an impeccable impersonation of the background walls.

* * *

"Twins... " He stared blankly at the now sealed tube thoughtfully, then went very pale. "Are you certain it possesses no enchantment Miss Mourneswraith? And more importantly, were any spells detected upon the unfortunate officers?" directing the latter inquiry at the catacomb explorers.

Rubbing his hands together, he thinks out loud "Let us establish the facts we have definitively ascertained so far. First, that four relics were pilfered from the University premises within a small time frame. Because the chemical agent used in the crime was acquired only shortly before the act itself took place, we know that the perpetrators had time to plan the crime prior to its commission. This in turn implies that they were not new arrivals to Port a Lucine. While twins are hardly rare, the likelihood of five sets all conscripted into the same gendarme unit with no singletons resent defies all probability. Which leaves duplication through some kind of thaumatalogical process. If this is in fact the case, it would stand to reason that a duplicate, or even the original charter remains unrecovered. Perhaps it is in the hands of this enigmatic 'C'."

While waiting for that to sink in, he took a deep breath, collecting his remaining ruminations. "Our own investigation was not as dramatic. You mentioned that they drowned as the result of some sort of trap. Could it perhaps have been the work of an over sized, aquatic analogue to our resident sous chef Favonious? I only ask because because the Duchess von Auerbach seemed unusually interested in their applications. I must say I am skeptical of the ambassador's involvement. He glances at Tomas and Lia for half a moment before continuing "But we did determine that Professor Theroux has not been entirely candid thus far. There has apparently been a recent attempt on his life."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Vedarrak claims innocence of the theft, it is true," Lia adds. "Apparently Falkovnia wants nothing but peace with its neighbours." An unkind person might accuse the professor of sounding sarcastic at this point. "But Vedarrak is not to be trusted in any way, I tell you this. His socializing with the heiress of the Navarre trading company seems ominous to me, still.

But no, monsieur Agale, I truly detect no magic on the parchment. Such auras are notoriously fleeting, I fear, unless magic of massive power has been applied. I have to wonder how much power would be needed to turn one man into two ... and why anyone would do that.

As for the water ... those catacombs are lamentably close to the sewer, are they not? I would have to see the room in which those men died to be certain, but magic need not have been used to kill them. I do wonder how they made their way down there, what clues they followed ... or what trap they walked into. And as for this 'C'..."

Lia hesitates, exchanging a look with Tomas and Remy Lessard, then shakes her head. "There was a C who was well capable of such deeds, but he is dead. Dead and gone. Or so I would have believed. And as for professor Theroux: did anyone ask him whether there had been an assassination attempt on his life? At the time, it probably did not seem pertinent to this theft, as it had not occurred. Nor had these most recent murders."

[yalenusveler]

"Come again Mr. Mauganson?" Mr. Agale, who had sidled in a few minutes earlier, decided to cease an impeccable impersonation of the background walls.

"I had a vision at the Chapel" Kerrian said, kind of glad his theory wasn't likely correct. "I saw 5 blackbirds being cut in half by a sword with a hilt that looked like the sun, but the halves kept flying down into water. I also saw landmarks we found in the catacombs. And...something got me to stop poking around, and probably would've killed me if it wanted to."

Kerrian didn't sound at all comfortable with that. "When we found the Gendarmes, their uniforms looked black due to the water. Five sets of twins, 5 blackbirds cut in half. This makes C probably the sword. There was more to the vision, but I don't think it had much to do with the theft."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"By the way," Lia says, "I may have missed your saying so, but ... did you report these events to the gendarmerie yet? If they have to find out by themselves and someone places you at the scene of the crime, there will be trouble."

[Kaitou Kage]

"I am going to do so before we leave for the gallery this evening," Cyrus said.