Home of a fallen hero (attn: Grip of Steel, Matthew Greene)

Steven was the first to arrive at Taylor's house, not surprising, considering that he was the one that called the meeting. He didn't know whether or not the door would be locked, so he tried it. He figured Matt probably had a key, so it wouldn't be a problem if it was locked.

Not long after, Matthew lopes up to the door in Urhan. As he arrives he reverts to Hishu, the halberd appearing in his hands. A shiver runs down his spine as the memories of previous visits combine with those of the other night. With a nod to Steven, he unlocks the door and enters.

A wistful look briefly crosses his face. "Taylor's cooking was always something that I enjoyed. It's one of the many things I'll miss."

The door isn't locked. Taylor wanted his place to be open and inviting to all.

(Anyone who enters in a non-hishu form roll me a wits+investigation roll+2, everyone else just a regular wits+investigation roll)

As Matthew heads inside, he catches an unpleasant scent. Shifting to Urhan, he gestures for Steven to follow him and begins following the scent to its source.

Spoiler:

Steven follows Matthew inside.

"Do you know where Grip-of-Steel is? I wouldn't think he would be taking this long."

Wondering the same thing, Matthew activates pack awareness.

Spoiler:

Then he growls out a single word in first tongue: "Coming."

Entering the house, the smell finally hit Steven. He paused, dumbstruck by the odor. "Holy crap!" He said, when he could finally speak. He continued to follow Matthew, deciding that it would be better if only one of them had to endure the fullness of the stench.

The two of you follow the smell to the bathroom, where there seems to be a blue tarp over the tub. Lifting up the tarp, a hoard of flies escape, and you see a decomposing human body.

Matthew quickly shifts to Hishu before the stench becomes truly overpowering.

((Is the body at all recognizeable, maybe one of the people who have gone missing recently?))

(make a wits+Investigation check)

Matthew's voice is grim. "Do you remember the missing person report they put out a couple weeks ago? An elementary school student who disappeared on his way home from school? I'd say we found him, for what it's worth."

Steven cringed at the sight of the body. No, it wasn't just the sight of the body that did it, it was what the body meant. It meant that something had happened to Taylor, something horrible, that he could do this. Didn't he teach elementary school, after all? It also meant that his murderer had been right. . .

"So. . .what do we do about it? We can't exactly leave it here, but there are few things I want less than to prove that bastard Willowsbark right."

(unfortunately, I posted the disappearing kid too early. He should have disappeared on the 8th, Feel free to repost and I'll delete old posts if you desire.)

Matthew shakes his head. "Why would this prove him right? He may have been missing for a week or two, but he can't have been dead for more than a couple days. I think he was killed after Taylor's death."

Grip-of-Steel arrived to the scene. He didn't want to surprise his packmates and came in silently but without hiding himself in any way. He was in hishu form and the only thing that showed his reaction to the body was the expression of slight dislike on his face.

" Sorry that it took so long. I got distracted by some drunkards. What has happened here?" There was something different in Grip-of-Steel's voice. It was maybe a bit deeper, slight tone of grief still lingering in it. It had been like this since.... the event.

Sighing, Matthew looks up at Grip-of-Steel. "The corpse here was one of the missing children. Beyond that, I couldn't tell you."

Grip-of-Steel sighs and thinks for a moment: " We seem to drown into problems and our pack is smaller than ever. Do you have any idea who did this? I just can't think that Taylor..." his voice vibrates a bit "... would do something like this."

After that Grip-of-Steel seems to harden: "Nevertheless something needs to be done. Do we want to take the easy route or a harder one?"

"To be honest, I just can't shake the feeling that the Beshilu are involved. Some of the humans have even taken notice of them."

Matthew sighs heavily. "I'm willing to take whichever route is more likely to help solve some of our problems."

Steven relaxed somewhat at the mention that Taylor might not be behind this. More so when Grip of Steel arrived.

"I hadn't ruled out the thought of a frame job, myself. The question is, did Tony know about this body, or was he just making accusations? It's interesting, I called us here because I wanted to talk about where we should go from here, but it seems overarching goals are beyond our reach for now."

Matthew gives Steven a slightly confused look. "Did you catch accusations that I missed? The only ones I remember were directly related to that his bout of Death Rage."

He falls silent. Before long, facts and memories begin to piece themselves into a pattern in his mind. He goes pale, and not because of the smell. When he next speaks, his voice is shaking. "Taylor's last words were to tell Johnny he was sorry." He gestures toward the corpse. "His name was John." Matthew's thoughts are in turmoil. What happened between the two of them? What other skeletons did Taylor have in his closet? He quickly sits down, not feeling at all well.

"Oh, I thought he was trying to hint at something. When Taylor said to tell Johnny he was sorry, I thought he was referring to the drunk, his name is John, isn't it? Maybe this kid was one of his students? Maybe he was sorry that he couldn't protect him from whatever happened, maybe he was sorry he couldn't give his family closure or a proper burial?

"I figure it might be important for you both to know, since I think I'm the last one in town to know this, there is a Verge in the school where Taylor taught. When I went with Taylor and Jacob to deal with the Beshilu, that was all we found. Taylor wanted to ward it against humans, but I don't think any of us could. It could be connected.

"And could we move to say, the kitchen? I don't much enjoy having this conversation while standing over a body."

Matthew stands up and greatfully leaves the bathroom. Once in the kitchen, he slowly begins to feel a bit better. He lets Steven's interpretation of Taylor's relation with the kid stand, subconsciously wanting to believe that that is all there was to it.

Matthew gives a slightly forced smile. "You weren't the only one who knew about the Verge. I can get a general sense of where my packmates are and what you're doing. Not always; it takes some effort to maintain it. But I was 'watching' that night, and I could tell that you were in a Verge, or, more accurately, I knew that Taylor and Steven were. And Taylor wastn't the one who could ward it. I am.

"The Beshilu probably created it, and I think I know where they are now. There apparently has been an unusual number of reports of rat problems recently, and they're coming from the sewers. When we're ready to hunt, that's where we should start. It'd sure be nice if they were the worst of our worries, though."

Grip-of-Steel follows others into the kitchen. " Yes me have many problems Matthew, but not so many we can really take care of. The beshilu could be one, so it is fine for me. We should also think about the body a bit. The easiest route for us would be to leave this place and never come back. Leave the body and let everyone think what they want. It isn't very probable that this could be connected to us. All the other options have greater risks. Whatever we decide I think we shouldn't hang out here."

Matthew shakes his head. "What, just leave the body here to continue rotting in the open and further defile this place, not to mention what the police will do if they find it? No. If nothing else, Taylor's home deserves more respect than that. Either we burn the body or we bury it."

Every action has repercussions. What type of spirits, I wonder, did his death generate? In an attempt to answer his own question, he looks across the gauntlet.

Spoiler:

There is no spirit over the body.

Grip-of-Steel nods to Matthew: "Okay. I assume you don't want to burn it here. Do you have a plan in mind? We need a car if we are going to move it."

Give me a wits+occult everyone. +2 for irraka.

And you can continue to talk, just post the rolls as soon as you can.

Spoiler:

"I don't have one. What about you Steven? Is the backyard safe enough? If someone sees us we get tons of problems." Something tingles in the back of his mind, but Grip-of-Steel just shrugs and concentrates on the task at hand.

Spoiler:

"I don't much like the idea of having a corpse in the trunk, but the alternative seems worse. If someone sees us burying a body in the back, you can bet the cops will dust every inch of this house, and none of us are wearing gloves. Originally, I was planning on us talking about somehow acquiring this house to use as a headquarters, but I'm not sure I ever want to see it again.

"I was also going to suggest that we find a totem, but that seems to have been pushed aside by a number of questions. The leading one seems to be: where do we go to dispose of a body?"

Grip-of-Steel thinks for a moment: "Safest place would be in the Shadow I think. Humans can't follow us there. It doesn't feel very good, but...

Matthew sighs. "I think that's his ghost floating over there. If we had some way of speaking with it, we might learn something useful about what happened." Am I sure I want to learn what happened?

"Can we dispose of a body in the Shadow? I don't think we'd be able to take it across the Gauntlet unless we dedicate it, and I'm not okay with crossing naked with a corpse on my back. That might not apply at a Verge, though."

When Matthew mentioned the ghost, Steven added, "Yeah, I feel it too. I'm out of my league with ghosts, but I can only assume that it's here because of the body. So will it follow us if we move the body? And if so, what happens if we go into the Hisil? Will it follow us through?"

"We can use the Verge at the school if we can get to it without being seen. About the ghost, I guess there's only one way to find out. And if all goes well, I can ward the Verge while we're there.

If we can't get in, dedicating the corpse may be our best option." Matthew grimaces slightly at the thought.

The group of you decide to bury the body. It doesn't take long to do a makeshift grave. You leave the house, locking it up before you head out.

End Scene