NeroÂ’s polished manner among the rich and privileged was that of a man accustomed to dealing with the higher class. His feigned smile and hollow rhetoric fit right in with the wealthy crowd, and he easily guided Annia through the motions until they finally reached and greeted the Hargraves. The encounter was brief, but enough for the detective to notice that Lord Hargrave admired Annia a little too openly, and Lady Hargrave likewise paid too great attention to the eladrin.
Failing or open marriage, he noted to himself as he drew Annia away for the waltz. She admirably managed to spot Warren before he did, and did as instructed to confirm the lordÂ’s identity before he launched into the danceÂ’s first steps. Nero enjoyed only the first few minutes before intentionally leading Annia toward the master of the house and clumsily bumping into Garren.
“My apologies,” he immediately declared and turned from his dance partner to placate the young man. “I’m such a dolt.”
“Get away-” Warren began to declare before spotting Nero’s dance partner and immediately changing course. “Quite alright, sir. An accident, I’m sure.”
Nero inwardly rolled his eyes at the young lord’s predictability and played along, “I’m terribly sorry. Perhaps we’ll step from the dance floor until I’ve found my sense and feet.”
“Robbing the floor of such a beauty would be a terrible crime,” said Warren, smiling at Annia. “I would be glad to entertain the lady while you center yourself.”
Nero shined a brilliantly false smile and said, “By all means, my lord. I’m certain it would be her pleasure.” He bowed and retreated, shooting Annia a discreet wink as he passed her.
Far too easy, he mused to himself as he weaved through the crowds, averting his eyes as an embarrassed man should. He stopped a butler and asked, “Where can I refresh?” Then he headed in the indicated direction, but steered off once he was out of sight. Quickening his pace, he found the residence wing and set about checking doors until he found one with a non-uniform lock to the rest.
This must be it, he thought to himself. Warren and his parents had fallen out some time ago, but he still kept a residence in the family manor. However, a young man who holds a grudge, and apparently consorts at the Temple of the Abyss, wouldnÂ’t dare leave his private space vulnerable to his parents and serving staff. A custom lock was just the sort of paranoia up WarrenÂ’s alley, even if it was picked just as easily.
Nero stepped into the room and tucked away his lock picks before taking a quick survey of the apartment. It was large, but not obnoxiously so, and spartanly furnished. New firewood lay atop fresh ashes within the hearth, indicating that Warren was staying here for the time being. A balcony door was shut against Sigil, and an open bed chamber lay to the left. If I were a paranoid young noble fascinated with demons, I would have a secret space where I keep my most private things, he mused to himself and headed for the bed chamber. And I would keep that space uncomfortably close.
He quickly scanned the bedchamber, considering each article of furniture and decoration as a possible facade for a safe, and noticed that the headboard of WarrenÂ’s bed was fastened to the wall. A more thorough inspection revealed that one of the panels within the frame was just slightly more recessed than it should have been. The mechanism was cleverly disguised as a knot in the polished wood.
The panel slid aside to reveal a small safe containing a jewelry case, small book, and vial. Nero examined the vial but couldnÂ’t identify the murky fluid within. Within the case he found a pocket watch that opened to reveal a wonderfully crafted clock face, and a portrait of Kinna Coster embedded into the reverse side of the cover. It was the same depiction within her locket. The book was securely latched and locked.
Pocketing the three items, Nero closed the compartment and left WarrenÂ’s apartment to return to the ballroom and observe AnniaÂ’s progress.
Lockets and Love
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*Midnight
- Posts: 870
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Upon his return Nero would eventually be able to pick the couple out from the middle of the dance floor. The beat the band sets was far from the sedate pace of the waltz and now resembled a Tango. As the couple dance they seem to whisper to each other a smile plays upon the young man's lips his hands run posessively over Annia's body as the dance ends his eye catches Nero's his expression a taunting sneer. As the music stops Annia steps away from Warren but he keeps hold of her hand and firmly pulls her back. The couple exchange another thirty second conversation before Annia casting one lingering glance at Warren makes her way to Nero. She slips her arm into his.
"Let's get a drink and we shall compare notes"
She seems to be about to lead him away but remembering etiquette and where they are she allows him to take the lead and once they are away from the crowd her calculated cold manner settles on her, her previous flirtatious smile just another mask at the ball. She takes a sip of her wine and leads them to a secluded corner once there she leans closer to Nero the casual observer would think it a lovers embrace as she whispers what she has to say into his ear.
"He seemed awfully of himself, awfully certain I should know who he was. When I said all I knew was he was a wealthy heir with a slightly dangerous reputation he suggested we retire somewhere quieter so we could get to know each other."
She takes a sip of her wine as much to pause for breath as anything.
"Naturally I refused him claiming I would do nothing with you here and being a man who is used to getting what he wants persisted as imagined he would. He has a house in the hive ward which he uses for such rendezvous'. I have agreed to meet him there in two days he will probably come alone should we need at this point to directly confront him, and let us be honest at some point it appears we will have to."
She takes another sip of her wine before adding.
"Oh and he has a gift for the arcane, I don't know if he's a sorcerer like I am but they're definitely something, you don't spend as much time working magic as I do without spotting it in others. So that's what I found how about you?"
"Let's get a drink and we shall compare notes"
She seems to be about to lead him away but remembering etiquette and where they are she allows him to take the lead and once they are away from the crowd her calculated cold manner settles on her, her previous flirtatious smile just another mask at the ball. She takes a sip of her wine and leads them to a secluded corner once there she leans closer to Nero the casual observer would think it a lovers embrace as she whispers what she has to say into his ear.
"He seemed awfully of himself, awfully certain I should know who he was. When I said all I knew was he was a wealthy heir with a slightly dangerous reputation he suggested we retire somewhere quieter so we could get to know each other."
She takes a sip of her wine as much to pause for breath as anything.
"Naturally I refused him claiming I would do nothing with you here and being a man who is used to getting what he wants persisted as imagined he would. He has a house in the hive ward which he uses for such rendezvous'. I have agreed to meet him there in two days he will probably come alone should we need at this point to directly confront him, and let us be honest at some point it appears we will have to."
She takes another sip of her wine before adding.
"Oh and he has a gift for the arcane, I don't know if he's a sorcerer like I am but they're definitely something, you don't spend as much time working magic as I do without spotting it in others. So that's what I found how about you?"
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*A. Thereal
- Posts: 95
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Nero nodded at her explanation and then quietly revealed what he discovered in Warren’s bedchamber. “Time to go, I think,” he said a moment before closing the distance between them and bringing his lips a hair’s width from hers. “I’m kissing you right now,” he playfully explained. “And we’re both enjoying it. Now we’re becoming indecent for the setting and must immediately leave before compromising ourselves with these fine folk.”
Nero rose and led her from their private corner, offering a shameless expression to those few who had observed their false kiss. Once out of Hargrave Manor, he escorted Annia to the barriur cart and eventually home. “I have some work to do,” he explained at her door, bowing to kiss her hand. “I’ll contact you very soon.”
Later Nero sat in his impromptu office in the Weary Spirit clinic, an untouched bottle of bourbon and WarrenÂ’s open journal sat on the table before him. The lock had been trivial, and the book eagerly shared its contents with the detective.
The eladrin produced the vial of fluid and set it beside the journal. “Someone is trying to frame Warren for Kinna’s murder,” he mused to himself. The loose threads were coming together to weave a familiar tapestry. “I think I’ve finally got this sorted,” he said to himself and tucked the articles away. Sure as he was, he had to be absolutely certain before he made his move, and the first step was visiting Maelfina and confirming that the vial was indeed the same toxin used on Kinna.
He departed MaelfinaÂ’s brothel an hour after arriving and headed directly for AnniaÂ’s house.
Nero rose and led her from their private corner, offering a shameless expression to those few who had observed their false kiss. Once out of Hargrave Manor, he escorted Annia to the barriur cart and eventually home. “I have some work to do,” he explained at her door, bowing to kiss her hand. “I’ll contact you very soon.”
Later Nero sat in his impromptu office in the Weary Spirit clinic, an untouched bottle of bourbon and WarrenÂ’s open journal sat on the table before him. The lock had been trivial, and the book eagerly shared its contents with the detective.
wrote:Father was furious today when I told him that I saw Emma – no, not Emma, now she calls herself Kinna. I saw her today taking luncheon at the Dragon Buffet with the Lancaster girls. I understand father’s outrage. How could she possibly show her face in the Ward after refusing my hand? No doubt she’s been slandering our good name. I think I may have to do something soon, for the family’s sake.
wrote:She came and saw me today at my private home! How dare she after rejecting me? We both have problems with mother and father, we both want to see wrongs righted, she declared. Why shouldnÂ’t we work together, she asked. Why indeed. Father and I may not see eye to eye on all matters, but I didnÂ’t abandon the family to play whore with Hiver scum just because one of the most eligible bachelors in Sigil proposed. She left in tears, but not before threatening to reveal our secret. Something will have to be done soon.
Evidence was a tricky thing at the best of times, but Warren’s journal screamed of ease and falsehood. In his five years of investigating, the only time Nero had come across such conveniently available and condemning evidence was when someone was framing another. Would that be so odd? Nero thought to himself, frowning at the new twist. Warren may be young, but he’s not stupid. How likely is it that the very three pieces of evidence necessary to damn him would be right there waiting in an unlocked, unwarded safe?wrote:Nohteroth turned me onto the most sublimely horrid poison. Not only does it kill the victim with the faintest scratch, but taints their very soul even after death. It’s costly, but really no price is too high to pay to silence that bitch and keep the family safe – and repair my blemished honor. Now I only need a trusty dagger hand to see it done.
The eladrin produced the vial of fluid and set it beside the journal. “Someone is trying to frame Warren for Kinna’s murder,” he mused to himself. The loose threads were coming together to weave a familiar tapestry. “I think I’ve finally got this sorted,” he said to himself and tucked the articles away. Sure as he was, he had to be absolutely certain before he made his move, and the first step was visiting Maelfina and confirming that the vial was indeed the same toxin used on Kinna.
He departed MaelfinaÂ’s brothel an hour after arriving and headed directly for AnniaÂ’s house.
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*Midnight
- Posts: 870
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
As Nero arrives he is greeted at the door by a boy in his late teens, whilst Annia is slight and pale the young man is broad shouldered and muscled he could be a smith or involved in some trade that involved physical work, his skin is darker too though not much. On closer inspection though one would see a certain family resemblance, the same raven hair the blue eyes and a pronounced jaw, he regards Nero for a moment in silence before he speaks.
"She's upstairs its the room on the right."
The house is by the standards of the hive large and again by that ward's modest standards richly decorated. From the kitchen there is the smell of cooking meat as well as the unmistakable odour of onions as if someone were preparing a stew. The room Nero is directed to would be much like the rest of the house a bedroom clean, and well ordered perhaps to a point which suggests some kind of compulsion on the part of the occupier there is a solitary painting of what appears to be a ship in the harbour of some prime world and on the table beside the bed a tall flower, a lilly guessing by the scent colour and shape. Upon the bed sits Annia barefoot and dressed in a simple loose fitting black top and baggy trousers. With her is a small cat that bats at a ball of dark red negative energy she holds in one hand. The tiny creature appears bedraggled and under fed tufts of its fur are missing as is one of. Its ears. The cat's appearance and the fact that it is invigorated as opposed to harmed by the negative energy would suggest it is undead, it turns to Nero and makes a mewling noise. Annia speaks.
"Don't mind him he gets a little grumpy when he smells food, he still thinks he can eat things"
She waits as Nero explains his findings.
"So who would benefit from framing Warren, and how do you propose we proceed?"
"She's upstairs its the room on the right."
The house is by the standards of the hive large and again by that ward's modest standards richly decorated. From the kitchen there is the smell of cooking meat as well as the unmistakable odour of onions as if someone were preparing a stew. The room Nero is directed to would be much like the rest of the house a bedroom clean, and well ordered perhaps to a point which suggests some kind of compulsion on the part of the occupier there is a solitary painting of what appears to be a ship in the harbour of some prime world and on the table beside the bed a tall flower, a lilly guessing by the scent colour and shape. Upon the bed sits Annia barefoot and dressed in a simple loose fitting black top and baggy trousers. With her is a small cat that bats at a ball of dark red negative energy she holds in one hand. The tiny creature appears bedraggled and under fed tufts of its fur are missing as is one of. Its ears. The cat's appearance and the fact that it is invigorated as opposed to harmed by the negative energy would suggest it is undead, it turns to Nero and makes a mewling noise. Annia speaks.
"Don't mind him he gets a little grumpy when he smells food, he still thinks he can eat things"
She waits as Nero explains his findings.
"So who would benefit from framing Warren, and how do you propose we proceed?"