Eldritch Guidance

“Of the three most major cults, there are none more deranged than those of the Rattle Bone cult. Believed to be the most mentally unstable of all the cults, they are an organization made up of mad necromancers that delight in collecting the bones of people to use in their macabre idols. Of the many necrotic orders that have existed throughout recorded history, the Rattle Bone cult is believed to be the most powerful and knowledgeable in the black arts of necromancy.

“In the past, many saw necromancers as wizards who tried to understand the nature of death through cruel, and now illegal methods. All usually done in the pursuit of immortality. But, this is not a standard that can be applied to the Rattle Bone cult. Even so, people have commonly mistaken this cult as an organization that operates like the stereotypical necromancers from old stories. Its members have not shown any interest in studying necromancy for those conventional reasons. It seems that their obsession with necromancy is simply a tool for them to help collect bones.

“This cult mainly makes up its membership from aspiring, but failed artists. As such, It is sometimes also referred to as the ‘Cult of the Mad Artist’. It is not entirely understood how or why so many of its members are made up of current and former artists.

“Interrogations from members of this cult have revealed something they refer to simply as the ‘Rattle’. It has been described as: purpose, inspiration, a sound, and a feeling. The ‘Rattle’ is often used as an unintelligible reasoning as to why they engage in such unbelievable acts of inhuman cruelty.

“This cult has been observed and written about for centuries, but the goals and actions of this cult remain unintelligible and relatively unknown even today.“

—Writings of Light Scholar Lukka on “The Machinations of the Nameless Cults”

On the west side of the Graheel, Joe was sitting in a small teahouse called Sunny’s. He was sipping a really dark tea while snacking on a few baked goods the tea-house sold, all while reading a local newspaper. He was currently waiting for Mike and Dan.

It had been a week since Dan joined and they talked with Jack.

The plan of action today was to talk to this Wren Cummy person that Big Jack had told them about. This person's store, “The Mortar and Pestle,” was only a few blocks away from this teahouse, so Joe and his team decided to meet up here before they went to Wren's.

Joe wasn't confident that this Wren person would be helpful, but he already knew he was grasping at straws as it was. There wasn't much info to go off to help find who could, or would murder Rob. So, he felt there was no harm to at least trying to see if this person has any info.

He figured that it must have been a group that killed Rob, based on the way he was acting before he died. Also, Joe didn’t think that a lone person could sneak into the police headquarters, murder someone, then sneak off without being detected or leaving any evidence of themselves. Therefore, he concluded that there must be more than one person that was working to go after Rob.

Joe only had only two hypotheses on which groups it was that could have managed to kill Rob. The first group was one of the many professional assassination groups from one of the underworld Assassin Guilds. These Assassin Guilds were not well known to Joe, but he had heard rumors about them. And If the rumors he heard were real, then they would be the only group that might have enough technical skill to pull something like this off.

If it was an assassin organization, it meant that Rob had managed to anger someone with deep pockets. Joe imagined that hiring one of these hidden underworld organizations was not cheap. He had an idea of who it could have been to hire these assassins, and he was hoping to be wrong. He didn’t want to pursue that trail of investigation and get involved with the person he suspected. So, he was hoping for the other group.

The other group he suspected was one of the nameless cults. Joe was not sure which cult it would be, but he knew that it would be a cult that was crazy enough to kill Rob from inside the police headquarters, and somehow get away with it. There are a lot of things that’s still not well known about those cults. So, it might be they had some sort of magic or method to sneak in and kill rob that wasn't yet known.

There was also the strange wooden object on Rob's body that was identified as being related to the cults. Creating a clear connection between him and the cults of the nameless gods.

“I wonder. If it was the cults, what did he do to piss them off. Did Rob murder one of their members? That sounds like something he would do. If it was a member from one of the big three cults, then it would have to be the Blood Callers. They are only one of the big three that might engage in retribution for killing one of its members, but it could very well be one of the many lesser cults as well.” He pondered to himself.

There were thousands of smaller cults out there, each with their own creed and twisted philosophy. Even if Joe could determine that it was a cult, figuring out which cult would be extremely difficult. With such a small amount of information he had, Joe was hoping that this Wren person could help him in these cult matters.

He didn’t think that Wren himself knew anything about cults, Joe was actually hoping that this herbalist had some connection to the druids.

Druids had been fighting the cults for longer than even the church of light. They might be the only other people that might have the info that Joe was looking for on cults. But, he had to find them first and he didn’t know anybody that would know where to find them. Joe was hoping that the herbalist would have interacted with a druid before. Druids are said to be nature freaks and plants lovers so maybe a herbalist, someone who handles plants, might know where to find them.

Joe brought himself back from his pondering and focused on reading the newspaper. He turned the page of the paper and read the headline: “Another Accident Resulting In Student Death At Graheel University”.

Joe: “Hmm. What’s going on at that university? That’s like the third student that died this month,” he mumbled to himself.

Before Joe could get into the article, he heard the sound of the bell on the store's front door ringing. Looking up from his paper, he saw Dan entering the Teahouse and looking around. Joe waved, drawing Dan's attention to him before he walked over to where he was sitting.

As he approached, Joe noted Dan's clothing. He was no longer wearing his black and blue police uniform when they first met. Instead, he wore a gray trench coat with a matching fedora just like how Joe and Mike dressed.

Dan: “Sorry I'm late,” he said as he took a seat in front of Joe.

Joe: “I see you got the clothing I told ya to get.”

Dan: “Oh, yeah. I got the same clothing as you, like said to. But, I'm not sure what's the point. My regular uniform would be just as good.”

Joe: “We’re an investigation unit. Part of investigating is talking to people, and a lot of people don’t like talking to cops. So, we don’t wear our uniforms when we work.”

Dan: “Really? But I would think people would be more receptive to talking if I was in uniform, and they knew I was a cop.”

Joe: “Ha ha ha, you're funny. Sorry, I forget you’re from the boonies.”

Dan: “Are people's opinions of us really so bad?”

Joe: “Kid, public opinion of us has been on the decline for years. Combine that with this city's complicated history, and I'd say it’s fifty fifty whether or not you're going to run into someone that will hate you for being a cop.”

Dan: “That sounds insane.”

Joe: “Tell me about it, but it's not our job to worry about what people think of us. We still got a job to do. So where’s Mike? I thought he was with you?”

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Dan: “He told me to go ahead. Said that he would catch up after he finished some of the paperwork.”

Joe: “I guess in that case, you can pull a chair and grab something to eat while we wait,” he said as he started to read his newspaper again.

Dan: “Um…” he said, struggling to try to say what he wanted.

Joe: “Cat’s got your tongue. Speak up. Just say what you want,” he said as he turned the page of the newspaper he was reading.

Dan: “Um, I was told they wanted us to investigate the strange deaths at the university. Just to ensure that they really are accidents and no foul play is going on.”

Joe: “Tell them no.”

Dan: “Should we really be doing that?”

Joe: “Did this come from Chief Murdock?”

Dan: “Um, no,” he said while shaking his head.

Joe: “Then we were not doing it. I assumed that this request came from Lewis’s investigation unit.”

Dan: “Y-yeah, how’d you know? They said they had a lot of work on their hands and asked if we could help out and take this case for them.”

Joe: “It’s not a case Dan. It's a headache they’re trying to pass onto us.”

Dan: “Oh, really?”

Joe: “You've never dealt with that university before. Anything involving that institution is just a mountain of paperwork for nothing. The university doesn't let the police on their grounds without filling out the proper papers, which then takes months to do. And by then, any clues we could pick up would be gone. It’s a waste of time to investigate anything that’s going on at the university.”

Dan: “So, it is like the eastside situation, but with the university.”

Joe: “Kinda. They're not hostile like they are in the east. Just stubborn. And they do help us out from time to time. So, while I wouldn't say the relationship between us and the university is amazing, it's not bad. At least, it’s not bad as long as you are not part of the investigation units like us. Making our job as investigators a lot harder than it needs to be.”

Dan: “This city is so weird. We're not allowed in the east end or on the university grounds. That’s like almost half the city. How much crime must be going on all the time.”

Joe: “You’d be surprised. Not a lot of violent crime goes on in the east end, and almost never on the university grounds. The Nighthounds do a pretty good job of keeping the peace in their territory, and the university has their own little private police force that works on the grounds,” he said while turning another page in his newspaper.

Dan: “My first point still stands. This city is still so fucking weird,” he said while sighing, “Is there anything i need to know about this university private police force. It’s the first time I'm hearing about them.”

Joe: “Hmm, they call themselves the enforcers and they are made up of a combination of faculty and students. Once in a while, they catch someone committing a crime and pass them off to us. Beyond that, there’s nothing else to say about them. Not much interaction between us and them. So, not something you’ll need to worry about.”

Dan was about to say something else, but stopped once he heard the sound of someone else entering the teahouse. It was Mike that just showed up. He scanned the room for a few seconds before he saw Dan and Joe and made his way to their table.

Joe: “You're late.” he said as he put the newspaper he was holding down

Mike: “Well, soooorry. At least one of us actually has to do the paperwork.”

Joe: “I thought that’s what Dan was for.”

Mike: “I’m not going to dump all my work onto Dan. Also, Dan, you're doing a great job. You’ve helped me cut the paperwork in half and I really appreciate it,” he said while nodding to Dan.

Dan: “No problem Mike. Just glad I could help out.”

Mike: “Well now that I'm here, let’s get going.”

Joe: “Sure you don’t want to grab a bite to eat first, since we’re here.”

Mike: “No,” he said, completely deadpan. “ I want to get this done and go home.”

Joe: “Sounds like you’ve given up before it even started.”

Mike and Joe knew each other well. They could instantly tell what was going on in each other's mind just from a quick look. Joe sensed that Mike was being very dismissive and showing little to no interest in talking to this Wren Cummy. He somewhat understood why, but he needed him to be focused for the task ahead.

Mike: “I’m not hopeful this Wren-guy knows anything, but let's get it over with.

Joe: “Wait, I wanna go over something quickly with Dan before we head out. So, sit with us for a bit.”

With a sigh, Mike took a seat at the table with everyone else. Joe then put his newspaper down and turned towards Dan.

Joe: “I’ve realized that we’ve never gone over each other's combat abilities since you joined.”

The newly joined young officer's eyes widened in surprise and a bit of worry.

Dan: “Wha? Are we going into something dangerous?”

Joe: “No, but we should learn about each other's capabilities anyways. Better to learn now than in the middle of a scuffle.”

Most police officers were mages, and understanding each other's arcane abilities was essential for the job. It allowed better coordination in the event a fight broke out. Learning about each other's police officers ability was part of basic training for all new officers.

Dan: “Oh, OK.”

Joe: “You’ve already seen it before, but Mikey here is attuned to the earth element. He has incredibly fine control and can create bindings out of sand.”

Mike: “I’m also proficient in a bunch of other binding spells. Also, I have some more minor attunement to water and necros elemental forces. So, I can utilize those elements if need be.”

Joe: “So what’s your elemental attunement,” he said directed toward Dan.

Dan: “I'm attuned to water and earth in both equal amounts, and can’t really use much else.”

Joe: “Ok, so you're a Di-mage. That could be pretty useful.”

Most mages were attune to at least three or more elements, which most chose a single one to specialize into. But, Di-mages were mages with a unique attunement that were attuned exclusively to two elements. They couldn't really use any other element beyond what they were attuned with, but the power they could draw out of the element they could use was much greater than an average mage.

Mike: “Any particular combat specialties?”

Dan: “Um, no sorry.”

Joe: “You can at least put a ward around yourself and use basic attack spells, preferably non lethal, right?”

Dan: “Yes. I did basic combat training, but I'm not a combat specialist. It's why I joined the investigation unit. I’m much more proficient in illusion magic than anything related to combat.”

Mike: “Well, illusion magic is not completely useless in combat. But, what’s this about illusion magic? Can you be more specific in what you can do?”

Dan: “I’m very good at changing myself, or others appearance. I can make you look like anybody else.”

Mike: “That…could be quite useful,” he said as started to think of the use case of such an arcane specialty.

Joe: “How well can you deceive other mages with your illusions?”

Dan: “Other mages? Well, when it comes to other mages, I'm not sure. I think I might be able to get away with a single illusion on my face that I'm actively focusing on. Being able to feel aether makes it hard to fool other mages. Also, even if I can fool someone else, if they touch the area where I put the illusion on, they would immediately discover something was off.”

Joe: “So what I'm hearing is that maybe you might be able to fool other mages.”

Mike: “Joe, needing to use an illusion to fool other mages probably won’t come up too often. We mostly deal with non-mages, and the mages we do deal with are not that well trained and could easily be fooled by illusions,” he said, trying to defend Dan.

Joe: “Mike, this isn't an attack against Dan. I already made a promise to you about that. I’m just trying to get a sense of Dan’s limitations. And from the sense I'm getting, his illusions are not gonna fool an archmage.”

Dan started to look a little more visibly depressed by Joe's comment.

Mike: “Fuck you Joe. That’s an absurd standard to put Dan up to and you know it. Thinking any normal mage could fool an archmage.”

Joe: “I have high standards and I'm just being honest. Anyways, want to give us a quick demonstration of your illusions, Dan.”

Dan: “What, here?”

Joe: “Yeah, it's just an illusion to change your appearance. Just do your face, you don’t have to do full body illusions.”

Dan: “Um, I would. But, the thing is once I undo the illusion it leaves me soaked.”

Joe: “That sounds a little odd.”

Dan: “Well, I use the water element to reinforce my illusions. It's ok while the illusion is active, but once I end it, it leaves a whole bunch of water behind. It’s also why you can detect it when someone touches my illusions. It makes the area where I apply my magic feel wet to the touch.”

Joe: “So an obvious weakness, which is good to know ahead of time. I’m not sure we're going to need your illusion magic for today, but it’s good that you know how to use some combat magic and can defend yourself. Anyways, I think we can head out now.”

Dan: “Wait, you never said what your element or abilities were,” he said, directed at Joe.

Joe: “Oh, right. Sorry about that. Well, I'm a Null Mage.”

Dan’s eyes widened in surprise at the information Joe revealed about himself.

Mike: “Yup, that's right. Our dear leader here has no elemental affinity,” he said in response to Dan's shock expression. “But, don’t mistake Joe as one of those Null mages that have no ability. He is one of the rare Null mages that can use unique magics.”

Dan turned his head back to Joe for an explanation about what Mike was talking about.

Joe: “Ah, I’m a Vectromancer.”

Dan: “Um, what is that exactly?”

Joe made a quick gesture with his hand and the metal spoon he used to stir his tea floated a foot off of the table. He then made another gesture and the spoon twisted and bent before returning to its original shape and gently floated back onto the table.

Joe: “I can manipulate metal. Specifically ferrous metals, as the magic I can use is magnetic based. I’ll show you how it works some other time. Now that’s out of the way, are we all ready?”

Mike: “Yeah, let's get this over with.”

Joe: “While we’re walking there, let me explain how good cop bad cop works,” he directed at Dan.