Everett instructs the majority of his team to safely evacuate important guests from the building. He taps Teagan Oddtree and Astrid Weird to accompany him to the lower floors and investigate the explosion.
Keeley Little is tasked with escorting glamorous widow Ava Canny to her room at the Fata Morgana so she can floo home. Her vampire costume is barely a departure from her normal ornate Victorian looks, but she looks less out of place tonight than she has at parties past. Ava is a calm, collected charge, apparently unfazed by the mounting panic around her. On the quiet elevator ride up to the thirteenth floor, Ava offhandedly remarks that Keeley reminds her a little of her deceased husband, Anton.
Once they reach Ava’s hotel room, she thanks Keeley and tells him he can go. But as she’s unlocking her door, he senses something is off. At his insistence, Ava allows him to investigate her quarters. He’s gotten no further than the sitting room when Ava, still in the hallway, is set upon by cloaked attackers.
In the ensuing scuffle, Keeley takes a nasty severing hex to the shoulder, but manages to take out one of the attackers. The other two apparate away with Ava in tow. [Volunteer C] arrives on the scene a few minutes later to patch Keeley up and arrest the third cloaked man.
Meanwhile: Everett, Teagan, and Astrid descend to the depths of the Fata Morgana hotel. Everett does not sound surprised when he notes that it appears to have originated from the hotel’s secure vault, but does go on to add that the hotel had promised to relocate the contents of the vault for the duration of the festival.
As they approach the vault, the lights flicker out. But nobody has to light their wands to illuminate their path – Astrid finds that her potion-stained hands have turned luminous shades of ultraviolet and glow-in-the dark green. The ominous confirmation that her new experimental potion works sets Everett on edge, and he instructs the two aurors to be ready for a confrontation.
They don’t have long to take stock of the blown-out wall of the vault or its potentially missing contents, however, as Teagan spots a cloaked figure fleeing down the hallway. The aurors give chase, and pursue the cloaked figure up an access stairwell. Everett and Teagan pursue closely, while Astrid hangs back a flight to lob spells ahead of the cloaked figure.
Everett manages to get a hand on the figure, pulling the cloak loose and revealing a lanky man in ornate serpent-printed robes. He grabs Everett by the wrist, disarms him, and with surprising strength, tosses him into the staircase well. Thinking quickly, Astrid jumps after Everett and manages to cushion both their falls by breaking a phial of potion that explodes into a fluffy, cloud-like substance beneath them. They are unharmed, but now stuck in the fluff and a good twenty stories below the intruder and Teagan, who is on his own.
The climb is long, and the intruder shows no signs of slowing down; by the time Teagan emerges on the roof, he is two flights behind his target. He bursts through the door with little regard for his own safety, and is rewarded with a sharp pain in the back of his neck – he’s been stabbed by a needle.
Whatever he’s been injected with, Teagan can feel it spread through his veins. He takes a single step before all his joints and muscles lock up and he falls to the ground, paralyzed. The man in the snake robes kneels over him, picking up his head in both hands so he can turn it side to side and examine his facial features.
Although Teagan can’t even move his eyes, he gets a good look at this man’s face. He is perhaps fifty or sixty, well-groomed and in good physical shape, although aged by stress. Up close, Teagan can tell that the embroidered motif on his robe is not merely a serpent, but a basilisk.
“I think we’ll be seeing more of each other in the future,” the man tells Teagan. “Maybe next time we can have a proper introduction.”
Teagan at once feels like his blood is boiling hot and frozen solid. Though he lost control of his limbs first, he can now feeling his lungs stiffening too – each breath harder to take than the last.
“I know it seems counterintuitive, but you should try to relax. The more you struggle, the faster the poison takes hold.”
A second figure comes into Teagan’s view – this one still cloaked and masked.
“What did you catch?” the masked figured asks.
“Another Oddtree,” the man remarks. “Eleanor brought all her brats.”
“We have to go,” the masked figure says.
“Do you have the third vessel?” the man asks, still examining Teagan’s face.
“No,” the masked figured says, followed by a sentence Teagan cannot make out. Then: “But it’s time to go.”
The man is clearly irritated by this news. He drops Teagan’s head, which cracks loudly against the concrete. The two intruders retreat out of Teagan’s field of view.
Moments later, as if summoned, Eleanor emerges on the roof. She hesitates a moment as her gaze turns between Teagan where he is prone on the ground and the intruders where they flee on broomstick. For a moment, it looks as if she intends to pursue. Then, she crouches to Teagan’s side, grabs a handful of his shirt, and apparates him to the nearby Eshmun Extramundane hospital for treatment.
By the time Everett and Astrid make it to the roof, everyone is long gone.
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EVERETT'S GROUP
Keeley Little is tasked with escorting glamorous widow Ava Canny to her room at the Fata Morgana so she can floo home. Her vampire costume is barely a departure from her normal ornate Victorian looks, but she looks less out of place tonight than she has at parties past. Ava is a calm, collected charge, apparently unfazed by the mounting panic around her. On the quiet elevator ride up to the thirteenth floor, Ava offhandedly remarks that Keeley reminds her a little of her deceased husband, Anton.
Once they reach Ava’s hotel room, she thanks Keeley and tells him he can go. But as she’s unlocking her door, he senses something is off. At his insistence, Ava allows him to investigate her quarters. He’s gotten no further than the sitting room when Ava, still in the hallway, is set upon by cloaked attackers.
In the ensuing scuffle, Keeley takes a nasty severing hex to the shoulder, but manages to take out one of the attackers. The other two apparate away with Ava in tow. [Volunteer C] arrives on the scene a few minutes later to patch Keeley up and arrest the third cloaked man.
Meanwhile: Everett, Teagan, and Astrid descend to the depths of the Fata Morgana hotel. Everett does not sound surprised when he notes that it appears to have originated from the hotel’s secure vault, but does go on to add that the hotel had promised to relocate the contents of the vault for the duration of the festival.
As they approach the vault, the lights flicker out. But nobody has to light their wands to illuminate their path – Astrid finds that her potion-stained hands have turned luminous shades of ultraviolet and glow-in-the dark green. The ominous confirmation that her new experimental potion works sets Everett on edge, and he instructs the two aurors to be ready for a confrontation.
They don’t have long to take stock of the blown-out wall of the vault or its potentially missing contents, however, as Teagan spots a cloaked figure fleeing down the hallway. The aurors give chase, and pursue the cloaked figure up an access stairwell. Everett and Teagan pursue closely, while Astrid hangs back a flight to lob spells ahead of the cloaked figure.
Everett manages to get a hand on the figure, pulling the cloak loose and revealing a lanky man in ornate serpent-printed robes. He grabs Everett by the wrist, disarms him, and with surprising strength, tosses him into the staircase well. Thinking quickly, Astrid jumps after Everett and manages to cushion both their falls by breaking a phial of potion that explodes into a fluffy, cloud-like substance beneath them. They are unharmed, but now stuck in the fluff and a good twenty stories below the intruder and Teagan, who is on his own.
The climb is long, and the intruder shows no signs of slowing down; by the time Teagan emerges on the roof, he is two flights behind his target. He bursts through the door with little regard for his own safety, and is rewarded with a sharp pain in the back of his neck – he’s been stabbed by a needle.
Whatever he’s been injected with, Teagan can feel it spread through his veins. He takes a single step before all his joints and muscles lock up and he falls to the ground, paralyzed. The man in the snake robes kneels over him, picking up his head in both hands so he can turn it side to side and examine his facial features.
Although Teagan can’t even move his eyes, he gets a good look at this man’s face. He is perhaps fifty or sixty, well-groomed and in good physical shape, although aged by stress. Up close, Teagan can tell that the embroidered motif on his robe is not merely a serpent, but a basilisk.
“I think we’ll be seeing more of each other in the future,” the man tells Teagan. “Maybe next time we can have a proper introduction.”
Teagan at once feels like his blood is boiling hot and frozen solid. Though he lost control of his limbs first, he can now feeling his lungs stiffening too – each breath harder to take than the last.
“I know it seems counterintuitive, but you should try to relax. The more you struggle, the faster the poison takes hold.”
A second figure comes into Teagan’s view – this one still cloaked and masked.
“What did you catch?” the masked figured asks.
“Another Oddtree,” the man remarks. “Eleanor brought all her brats.”
“We have to go,” the masked figure says.
“Do you have the third vessel?” the man asks, still examining Teagan’s face.
“No,” the masked figured says, followed by a sentence Teagan cannot make out. Then: “But it’s time to go.”
The man is clearly irritated by this news. He drops Teagan’s head, which cracks loudly against the concrete. The two intruders retreat out of Teagan’s field of view.
Moments later, as if summoned, Eleanor emerges on the roof. She hesitates a moment as her gaze turns between Teagan where he is prone on the ground and the intruders where they flee on broomstick. For a moment, it looks as if she intends to pursue. Then, she crouches to Teagan’s side, grabs a handful of his shirt, and apparates him to the nearby Eshmun Extramundane hospital for treatment.
By the time Everett and Astrid make it to the roof, everyone is long gone.