Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Balthazar stood with his legs about shoulder distance apart and his hands with palms open and facing the floor. To his left Osmond and three land troopers who'd been pulled from the local garrison stood with weapons ready for the inevitable moment when the door would be opened. To his right, Pylos and three other land troopers stood equally prepared for what would come next. Balthazar had discovered something unusual underneath one of the gravestones while investigating the city wide robbery of lanterns and candles. Like all cases, it seemed that it was going to get a little bit stranger before it started making sense.

"Ready?" Balthazar asked the Element's behind him. They didn't know what they'd find inside but they'd come prepared for anything. The land troops that were there with them equated to muscle incase a fight broke out- even though Balthazar was confident he was the only fighter needed to resolve anything they found beneath the grave. Number had a unique effect on intimidation. If you could convince the subject that there was no point in whatever path they were taking because you had the superior numbers, you could stop a fight altogether.

The other Elements nodded and Balthazar took a deep breath. He knelt down and placed both his hands on the already freshly disturbed earth at the base of the headstone and let his breath out before inhaling again through his nose. He reached out with his oldest spark to the earth beneath his palms and he asked it politely to part so he could see what hid beneath. He stood slowly and the earth did not rise but when his open hands balled into fists, the earth began to roil and soften. He drew his arms upwards like a yogi taking a breath and the soil began to peel backwards around the wooden five by five surface that Balthazar had felt beneath the ground.

In a matter of a single bit, the soil had peeled itself back far enough for the whole of the group to see what it was hiding. No coffin, no true grave, and no metaphorical doorway to the Beneath- instead they'd found a literal doorway. Two doors to be exact. It seemed that they opened outward into the graveyard. It was slowly beginning to make sense to Balthazar why the earth had felt empty, it was. A tunnel, a cave, a trench of some sort, he recognized an underground hiding spot when he saw one.

"Trooper Black, take point." Osmond said, prompting Balthazar to kneel down and place his hands around the handle. He jostled it but it did not come open. "Problem?" Osmond asked when he realized that the door wasn't budging. Balthazar gave it another tug and heard the definitive sounds of chains on the other side.

"It's locked." Balthazar said, "Anyone opposed to me opening it with magic?" He turned to look at the other Elements and saw no complaints from them so he placed his hand on the wood near the handle and reached inward to his youngest spark- transmutation. He'd discovered that while Defiance had a wide range of destructive capabilities, Transmutation had effective and precise capabilities at even the earliest stages. In this case, corrosion. The wood beneath his hand began to rot and melt as small etheric explosions destabilized the material. Eventually Balthazar's hand slipped through and he reached around for the chain, taking hold of it and melting it just the same as he'd melted the wood of the door for his hand to get through.

With the chain broken Balthazar pulled the doors open to reveal a dirt path, not even trimmed into steps- just a ramp, leading down into a small circular opening. It was not a large place but it was large enough for four of the Elements, including Balthazar, to stand inside it. Scattered on the floor sat nearly two dozen different lanterns and candles, the very loot that the detectives had been looking for- however no criminals to go with it. There were shovels and pickaxes leaned against the wall in a few places and Balthazar could guess why. The thieves were building a tunnel system beneath Scalvoris- or connecting it to one that existed.

"All clear!" Balthazar called out to the Elements who were lingering out at the entrance. "Apart from the stolen candles and lanterns, it's empty. We'll have to stake it out and wait for the criminals to return."

"We should investigate this... hole a little more. We might be able to find some other clues." Osmond suggested prompting a nod from Balthazar.

"I agree but not in these numbers. If the thieves see us lingering they'll run and then if we don't find something here, we're out of leads. The land troops can return to the garrison, there are only two cots. That means two thieves and Pylos, you, and I can manage that." Balthazar suggested. Osmond scratched his jaw for a moment and then nodded.

"You search, I'll organize the others and try to clear out before the thieves get back."

"I just don't get it, why candles?" Pylos asked after a long stretch of silence while the trio lingered around the Witchwood, lying in wait for the thieves. Osmond was positioned at a different tree but Balthazar didn't feel comfortable letting Pylos go anywhere on his own so he kept the boy with him. Balthazar was willing to humor his curiosity as long as he kept his voice down. He indicated as much with a gesture of his hand and Pylos nodded. Balthazar peered around the tree they were standing near towards the entrance to the hideout which they had covered in dirt again to conceal that they'd found it.

There was plenty in the little dug out den to link whoever showed up to the crimes. Blonde and red hair, both more unique than black and both found on the cots. The dirt on the walls and floor was the same as the dirt from the houses that had been broken into. There were spare clothes in a bag as well that had been overlooked at first because it was hidden beneath a rock. The clothing gave them a vague idea of the size of at least one of the men they were looking for but it was still only a vague impression. The land troops had returned to their usual patrols and the detectives waited for the thieves to return. All logic indicated that they had planned on returning based on what they found inside.

"I suspect it had something to do with the digging equipment. Given enough time if they'd gone unnoticed they might have been able to dig a good hideout beneath the graveyard and they'd need light for it." Balthazar explained.

"But why not just... steal valuables and then buy the candles or lanterns?" Pylos pointed out. Balthazar's brow furrowed a little and he nodded. It was a good point... but maybe what they stole wasn't the point at all.

"They showed most of Almund that they could swipe something from their homes without any impediment. Maybe it was about the message, not the lanterns, and the lanterns were just convenient for them." Balthazar mused before hearing two voices approaching from the entrance to the Witchwood. "Maybe we'll get to ask them, now quiet." Balthazar peered around the tree to try and catch a glimpse of the two approaching men's faces. A red head and a blonde, just like the hair in the den indicated. It wasn't enough for Balthazar to move yet though. If these were the thieves, he wanted to see them go into their hideout. Otherwise everything else might have been explainable. They might have conjured some story to get out of it... but not if they saw them go in.

The duo, one with blonde hair and one with red, began digging at the very grave the Elements were watching. Pylos wanted to move but even then Balthazar urged the boy to wait. They could have been grave robbers. They could have been working. They could have made many excuses to avoid confessing to the larger, Scalvoris wide crime that had been commit. They waited until the men had dug the grave out completely and it was then that Balthazar realized his mistake. He'd melted a hole through the door so that they could get in. He had not been able to repair the hole he made. A general sound of confusion arose from the two thieves and Balthazar gestured for Pylos and Osmond to move in.

The trio descended on the duo quickly from three points so when the blonde noticed the white haired Balthazar first, he turned to leave and ran almost directly into Osmond. "Trouble, gentlemen?" Balthazar asked the two of them. He saw the redhead take his shovel into two hands and Balthazar's gaze shifted to Osmond to see if the other Flame Trooper had noticed it. He did.

"Put the shovels down and come with us back to the Element Hall for questioning. You're both under arrest." Osmond said in a stern tone that only seemed to strengthen the redhead's resolve. The blonde didn't seem nearly as confident and Balthazar, seeing an opportunity, took it.

In a stern, but not really threatening voice, he said, "Look at your friend, red, he's not going to fight with you. That puts you at three against one and believe me, you won't beat the three of us with a shovel." It seemed to do the job. The redhead lowered his shovel and tossed it to the ground.

"You don't have anything on us." He grumbled.

"Oh yes, we do." Balthazar assured him as he and Osmond moved into restrain the duo. The blonde and ginger didn't put up much of a fight after that but there lips were sealed about how they'd commit the crime. Pylos mused ideas the whole walk back to the hall and they never gave anything away. Pylos kept musing even after the men were locked up and it was just the three detectives returning to fill out the reports for what had happened. Balthazar had to admit a strange sense of deja vu as he worked. It seemed the Witchwoods was a hotbed for criminal activity more than supernatural activity... then again the rumors did make it the perfect place to hide... when he wasn't working.

The interrogation of the suspects revealed that they'd stolen the candles because they planned on creating a larger tunnel system, but it was hard to tell if they were being genuine or not. Regardless they did confess to the crime when presented the abundance of forensic evidence that they couldn't quite understand. By dawn the next trial the paperwork would be finished, submit to record, and Balthazar would be onto another case.