The Barker Street Irregulars case 2 A vision in pink

[walking stick]

As he finished speaking Beety handed him a glass of water with ice in it. "It's also something to do with The Rose Of Midnight growing inside you."

[Stella Gaslight]

"I will go."  Celia needed a bit of time to understand her own feelings about Tobias. She walked slowly up the stairs wondered if she should try and mother Tobias or treat him as another irregular.  How was one supposed to react to this?  Celia knocked gently on his door.  "I am sorry to wake you Reid but there is something I need you to see." She felt bad for bothering him .  He was probably quite tired from the acrobatics on the carriage this morning.

[Ranger Reid]

Hearing the knocking, Reid answered huskily  "one moment."  He hoped his voice sounded sleepy, not tormented.

Reid walked over and opened the door.

[Stella Gaslight]

Celia broke in to a smile when he stepped out. He looked worn and without realy thinking she hugged him.  "Sorry today has been hectic. I promise not to run you ragged if I can help it."  Her cheeks were beyond rosy as she let him go.  "I do need your help.  I think London may be under attack but right now we are chasing threads and trying to find out how and why."

[Ranger Reid]

The sudden comfort of Celia's touch made pulled Reid to the present.   The sword and it's ghosts could wait.   He smiled a sad little smile, took Celia's hand shyly and started down the stairs.

[Stella Gaslight]

"I think someone is messing around with life magic but not in a way that is documented anywhere in my library.  I mean people come up with new spells all the time but one of the imposable things is creating life from nothing. I just don't know." She sighed. "I am suposed to be very knowledgeable about all magic done in the city but things are moving so fast now..." Celia trailed off and turned to look him in the eye. "I am very happy you are here.  I know you must have a life out there and you have held it aside to stay with me. That means a lot, it truly does."

[Ranger Reid]

Reid smiled.    "Some elements of my life have tracked me down here.  Others are the reason I need to stay here for a while.  At least, they were the reasons. "  He looked really uncomfortable with such open discussion of feelings.

"Anyway,   I don't know much about magic.  Though I do have some experience with Shaman magic of the tribal Wendigo.  But I doubt that will help here.  Still, tell me how I can help."

[Stella Gaslight]

"Someone is stealing the people out of portraits all around the city.  The problem is I have no clue why.  I have a hunch they are using life magic just like the bees that chased us but I don't know how they are connected.  London's magic is still a little off and I wonder if that is a part of it or if I am grasping at straws." She was worried that this time she wouldn't see the attack coming before it was too late.  Her confidence had taken a hit in the last fight.

[Ranger Reid]

As they entered the sitting room Reid saw Mallard in the corner musing.  He looked around at the others.

"Do we know when this first happened or if there is any connection between the paintings?  Same painter or anything?  Any connection in the rooms they were in, the time of day the change happened?   I would look for any patterns first.  "

[MWBailey]

"WHIPPETTImperative Order SixteenSTOPProceed two paces to your right, stand in the gutter and snap your fingersSTOPEND

Was what the aethertelegraph receiver in Marley's watch had clicked out. He followed the instructions to the letter. Bill squawked in surprise, but not in the street; instead, he squawked when the two stood in front of Molleley's desk in Whitehall. "Whatinna blue blazing underwear of Aphrodite is --! er, what..." he trailed off as he caught sight of the Grand Master; Bill found that the fellow resembled a perpetually-apoplectic high priest from his distant past. He wasn't sure which past that was, just that it was his and that the Grand Master of the Order of Knights Temporal bore a striking resemblance to him just now.

"We're for it now, ain't we, Looby?

Mollesley was dressed in a purple quilted satin dressing gown, smoking the ridiculously ornate German covered pipe he was so fond of, his graying and thinning hair poking out at odd angles from under a white nightcap with blue stripes.

Marley had the distinct feeling that he was in a lot of trouble. That was evident both from the fact that Mollesley had obviously used a portal to come directly from his bed at home, and that the pipe he was smoking was puffing out smoke in a rhythm that hearkened to the action of a steam locomotive pulling a heavy grade and not reducing smoke. All of that, plus the fact that Mollesley's eyes very nearly burned. The frown pretty much contributed to the overall imporession as well...

"Well, yes, 'Bill'," Mollesley said with a remarkably reasonable adn calm voice that made Marley want to crawl under the desk in front of him. Bill as well felt that a roaring fit would have been better than that equable tone. "Yes, I'd say you two are 'for it,' near enough..."

[Stella Gaslight]

"The first one I know of is The Roses of Heliogabalus but from what Charlie told me that may have happened more than a week ago.  It was reported after a dinner party at Lord Leighton's house in Holland Park but the police thought it was some sort of prank and didn't even attempt to process anything until there were thee more cases two in private collections and one very flashy one at the Victoria and Albert museum. So far I cant find anything magical linking them but maybe I am missing something." She was not looking forward to speaking to aristocrats.  They often thought magic was silly and complained that paying her was silly.  Like she was some sort of quaint oddity from olden days that sat around and did nothing.

[Ranger Reid]

"Celia," started the ranger, "can you feel London?   I wonder if you feel for it, if there is anything similar about the places this has happened?   Maybe on the River side of town, or each spot near a graveyard or something.   I don't know what the connection might be, only that it would make sense if there was one."

[Stella Gaslight]

"Let me hold that portrait and I will see what I can find"  Celia had not called on London in a large way since the night of the golden figures and she was a little frightened that it would not come to her call,  She placed her hands on either side of the picture and felt a sluggish sort of puce.  Celia focused harder seeing it as a dark thread that wound in to an increasingly more complicated web.  It seamed to spread like a an illness all it took was contact with what she guessed had to be someone who looked at one of the infected paintings.  Celia pushed harder and the black remnants on the picture reacted by staining her fingers like a spreading dye. The harder she pushed the more it crept until it was up to her elbows.  Celia brushed closer to the source only to have the picture suddenly heat up until she was forced to nearly throw it across the table. She came back to herself with a yelp. It felt like her arms were on fire.

[Ranger Reid]

When Celia yelped, Reid almost tore the picture from her hands.  As it was he did pull it away as she finished.

"Are you okay?"

[Stella Gaslight]

"I think so. It burns a bit though." She rubbed at her skin noticing the fading dark veins.  "I think it was trying to take me over.  This is worse than I thought.  It is spreading very fast and I couldn't get close to the source.  It is protecting itself."  Celia knew they were in for a struggle.

[walking stick]

Beety hadn't seen a Rose of Midnight for years.  Once a thing like that took root it would begin to shrink and distort his perception. A dragon she spoke to referred to the effect as Bonsai of the Soul.  The fact that Abraham was resisting that hard showed an amazing strength of will.

[Steampunk Away]

Abraham snarled and grabbed his neck in pain. He quickly fell to the floor in such a state, now screaming in pain.

As Reid took the painting away, Abraham slowly calmed and stood up shakely.

[Ranger Reid]

Reid came back to the room and looked at Abraham.   "I was asking about connections.  Are you alright?   And is,there something you,can tell us about what is,going on?"

[MWBailey]

Meanwhile, across London...

Two ravens, one of whom was also, somewhow, a certain knights Temporal Lieutenant, wre perched on top of the spire of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, doing what ravens do on such high perch- ah, lets just concentrate on their conversation...

"What're you blubberin' about? It could be worse, we could both be 'uman and guardin' some big clock somewheres. But that bloke did scare me, I ain't ashamed ta say."

"I AM human, Bill - by the way, what is your name, really - I'm human already, or at least I was. Why'd you have to go and open your beak about me being a raven? I warned you, Mollesley's got wizarding on the brain, he'll try anything just to see if it works."

"You ARE a raven, you lout. You never stopped bein' one, doesn't matter if you was in sommat else's body, you're STILL a raven, you're in everybody's collective, er, uncon, sommat, what that weird lady said." Bill thought for a moment, and decided to take a slightly different tack. "You're in all our 'eads as 'Looby,' and as 'Marley,' what used ta be Esme's adopted boy 'Clumsy.' You're also 'uman as well, and that won't change neither. You might forget it after a few centuries, speakin' from experience, but yer bowth, so you'd better get used to it. Can you still work magic? "

"I haven't tried."

"Might be a good idea ta try, clumsy as you still be, beggin' yer pardon. Well, if ye're through wit yer bizniz, lets be off tae ye're billet, mum'll be glad ya finally come ta yer senses."

"You mean she knew?!"

"We all 'know', why d'yer think we follows yer everywhere? Idjit." Bill flapped away for the spire, then flapped in midair waiting for Marley. "Will ya stop with the pussyfootin'? Ya want me ta shove ya off, like Daddy Longshanks used ta do?"

"No, No, I'm coming, alright?" Marley said, standing up and taking a step forward as if he were a human trying to walk in midair, then catching himself with his wings just when it felt like he was going to fall.

"Sheesh, You look jus loik Lord Millstonn when he committed suicide. can't yer take off any better'n 'at?

"I'm still thinking like a human, alright? And who's this Lord Millstone?

"Millstonn. And never yer bloody moind, It's sommat I used ta know. I already told yer 'ow old I am, near enough...

"What?!"

"Never MOIND, lets just go."

A sexton, who had been sweeping unmentionables form teh walkway inside the lower part of the spire, upon hearing the ravenly speech looked out as the two flew away, and and took his flask form inside his coat. "Two ravens. An attempted murder, haw-haw." He pulled out the stopper and upended the bottle onto the roof of the dome below. "Bloody stuff..."

[Stella Gaslight]

Celia was curious and very carefully touched Abraham the black veins were back and burning like fire.  They were less dense than before but more painful. She steeped back quickly noticing that this time the veins left burns behind as they faded.  "I could be wrong but it seams likely that whomever infected you is behind this as well or perhaps the same spell maker because it has a very particular style."  Celia winced as her arms touched each other. It was time to brake out the ointment. 

Toby had been watching closely and scampered off before she could say a word and returned with it.  He took some out and rubbed it on the parts of her arms he could reach.  "You have to be more careful mama."  Toby had never thought of her mortality until he saw the other her die. Now she made him worry sometimes.

[Ranger Reid]

Reid winced seeing Celia in pain.   He looked at Abraham, "can you tell us how this happened?  Maybe it will help narrow down the area we should be looking at, or even figure out a person to look at."

[Steampunk Away]

"Took a wrong turn while in goblin territory. Fell through the floor and remember hearing some deeper voices talking about a plan. I don't remember much else than walking to a pub and waking Mallard up."

Abraham stayed seated on the floor while reciting his tale.

[Stella Gaslight]

"So we are looking for more of a underground group maybe criminals because if they are near the goblins they either can't afford better or they need the anonymity that the goblins can provide.  I have some ways to poke in to things there but the moment I do anything large if they know magic at all they will know I am watching.  You can't wrangle London in discreet ways." Celia was pacing slightly while picking at her food between thoughts.  It had taken more energy that she thought to trace the painting.

[walking stick]

"Celia, sit down and finish your food, you have to eat more than that to keep up your strength." Beety was concerned,this was going to be a nasty case and they would all need their stamina "Toby, Tobias both of you please eat a proper meal, you can't help your mother on cake alone."

[Ranger Reid]

"We can also revisit our new friends at the goblin market.  I would be surprised if anyone is doing something big without their knowledge, and possible help."  Reid nodded to Beety, "after we are fed and rested.  I am not sure how much time we have, but some of us " he couldn't help glancing at Celia,and Abraham," are already weakened."