(BAB) Water under the bridge

[Animus]

Animus understood his friend's worry about the bridge. If anywhere in the city was enemy territory, this was it. Not to mention the terrors it could no doubt unleash on the city. That it nearly had unleashed, so long ago.

But whatever fear the structure might cause, he refused to flee from it. Not while there could still be information to be gleaned. Whatever was happening, it had claimed lives and would continue to do so if unchecked. Which made stopping it his duty.

On reaching the underside of the bridge, the Thyrsus begins surveying the structure, for anything out of place. Anything that might leave a clue to what interest an Awakened would have had here. But even in the midst of the search, he keeps one corner of his attention outward, ever vigilant to the prospect of outsiders closing on them. The potential cost of surprise was too great to do otherwise.

[Key]

The underside doesn’t seem any different than any raising bridge. The two towers can move the center piece of road up so that larger boats can pass underneath. Atop this middle section is a control room that can monitor and raise the platform; where as below the middle section is a small cement platform that is accessible by a narrow walkway that is fenced in my chainlink sections.

Since it was up inside the network of metal pieces it’s almost difficult to see, but it seems like the only place that you could go from the underside.

[Animus]

Eyes flick around the underside of the structure, weighing options. Every minute they were there alone was a risk to Gallows' safety. If this was going to take a while, they needed better odds in a skirmish.

Even if, in the worst case, it was just better odds of being able to escape in one piece.

Finally he looks to Gallows with a bit of discomfort. "I'm calling West, give us a better chance if things go south. Plus, he's probably better with architecture than me."

Without waiting for a reply, he taps out a quick text message.

This better not end like the last time we tried to work together.

[Gallows]

Gallows nodded to Animus as he surveyed the underside of the bridge. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for, but he wasn't finding it.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "Backup is always nice. I haven't worked much with West before--what is he like?" Gallow cocked an eyebrow. He had seen West around the Consilium, of course, and had heard a bit of his reputation, but Animus probably had a better perspective on it than he did. After all, the two of them had been here longer than anyone else.

[Animus]

"He's ... efficient, almost to the point of singlemindedness." A short pause. Those wounds still ran deep. "Not much for interpersonal skills, but he's done as much to keep the Consilium together as any of us. I'd trust him completely at my back in a fight." As long as he doesn't decide I'm as much of a danger as the enemy.

The Thyrsus feels the buzz of an incoming message and glances back at his phone. "He says fifteen or twenty minutes. We should probably wait up, in case they've got some sort of alarm up there."

[Key]

duop duop duop *and various other time warp noises*

Time passes West West (The Mage) can arrive now.

[West (The Mage)]

The weather was cool enough that he'd worn an overcoat. He was fond of them -- it made concealing things much easier. The coat, like his suit today, was tan. Nondescript, and worn; the sort of clothing one bought off the rack at a discount store. They didn't hang particularly well, and were wont to wrinkle, giving him a drab, unassuming mien.

He walked until he saw the pair, recognizing them by their contrasting appearance, and approached.

It had been years since Kai had painted the Bridge, and it brought back memories of that earlier time. In retrospect, he wondered what effect the disappearance of Kruegan's had on the city.

West nodded to each man, and glanced around them.

"What've we got?"

[Animus]

The Thyrsus lets his attention wander the surroundings for a moment before focusing back on West. "Nothing good. The murders have been accompanied by the appearance of tass blades and even worse news. Abyssal taint spreading through the ley lines. When we were at the Bismark, the knife that had appeared in Qadesh's corpse started resonating with the Hallow, triggered a reaction of some sort. I fought it off, but a bit of the resonance settled in Gallows, Ixidor, and John Cook. We still don't know what it's doing." He lets a bit of worry and pain flicker through his expression. Some things weren't easily forgotten.

"The Ley Lines lead here, especially where the Abyss is concerned. So far we know that presumed Mages by the name of Oberon and Freya have claimed this territory. And that an Awakened tried to break in under the bridge, only to be chased by gangsters. He jumped into the river and was pulled out by two people in a boat, but we don't know more." A pointed look at the bridge's understructure. "Or what had brought him here in the first place. That was going to be the next thing we checked out."

Animus falls silent, letting the news sink in. It was more talking than he prefered to do all at once, but West needed to be brought up to speed.

[West (The Mage)]

Tass blades.

They smacked of hubris. Why anyone would bother, when they could just as easily use carbon fiber, was a good question.

"Interesting MO. Either they needed the tass for something, or they can't use a knife."

He voiced his thoughts aloud, sifting through other scenarios. Methods told you much about the mind behind them. He didn't bother asking if they'd brought a knife -- obviously a Trojan.

"Fucking Bridge."

West glanced at it, shaking his head in annoyance.

"These others -- Oberon and Freya, do we know anything about them?"

[Gallows]

"The names are new to me," said Gallows after nodding his greeting to West, "But I'm a sapling around here compared to you two. I was hoping you might recognize them--if not, I doubt they're Pentacle, not if neither of you has met them yet." He frowned. "Then again, I suppose they could be completely new, but one of us still should have heard of them." He sighed and look out at the bridge. "My fear is that they may be Scelesti."

Scelesti could be a disaster in any Consilium--being from New Orleans, Gallows knew the danger well. He was only hoping that they could nip this in the bud before their corruption spread.

"Using a tass blade still seems odd to me," Gallows said, pacing. "Then again, the blade didn't appear until after death. I'm not sure yet--did the blade cause the death, or did the death cause the blade? This could be some sort of bizarre tass harvest, but there are easier targets."