(Matriarch) I Spy

[Xander]

Apollo exits the scene. Plot stuff tomorrow night!

[Xander]

As the mages approach they find little to speak of. Police tape is long gone and security is a few cameras on the corners of the alley pointed down into the space. Trees obscure one or two cameras but there's nothing the mages can do to hide from all four as they are.

The dumpster itself is fairly unremarkable. A standard metal container with plastic coverings and a side panel to slide open for easy access. An odor does emanate from the thing, though one that you could expect from a garbage bin that hasn't been emptied in a day or two.

The only thing out of the ordinary is how little foot traffic seemed to come through the alley. Blinds from the building are almost all closed, and people seem to pick up their pace and look away as they pass the alleyway by. No guards followed the group, and no guards were assigned to the alleyway.

Moira, Sacramento's new lucky Acanthus, hears something rustling inside the dumpster.

[Witch]

She had gone to the Circle with the intent to poke around the Guardian's area and maybe take up a watch rotation. Only instead of finding Phoenyx, she found Puck. Who was apparently crashing whilst Phoenyx and a few others went investigating a whole thing about missing peoples, and bodies, and so on.

There had been a debrief.

And well ... if Puck was at the Circle, then she didn't need to be. So why not head back out, join the group, and see if they could use her help?

So that is what she had done. It had been easier to find the location than the people but conveniently the people were at the location when she strolled up. She made sure to let her feet fall a bit heavier than normal as she did so, sending out a "Mind if I join?" ahead of her toward them.

Assuming her arrival didn't spook any of them into shanking her, she peered into the ally as she walked up.

Hi all! Witch is jumping into the plot with Mage ST's approval.

[Belle]

So far, so good.

Even with the security cameras around, Belle’s sure that they wouldn’t be singled out as more than curious bystanders. Though this means that using magic around here would be less than ideal. Witch arrives and she most certainly doesn’t shank the reinforcing Mage, but flashes a smile back in her direction. Focused on the task at hand, she approaches one of the blind spots by the trees and checks for anything that stands out: footprints, leftover cigarettes, anything somebody would’ve accidentally dropped or felt comfortable leaving where it might not be seen.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-01-15 20:38:11	Belle rolls 4 to Investigate Crime Scene (Wits + Investigation) (10 Again)	9, 10, 3, 1, 4	2 successes

[Moira]

Moira immediately hissed softly to her companions. "Something's in there.." Trying to be as quiet as possible! She of course started moving toward the dumpster. Curios Acanthus is curious! She never met a mysterious sound she didn't like!

[Witch]

Shanking didn't happen. Of course, neither did a "Hi! No, not at all. Come join us!" but she would take not being shanked as the same thing. Also, Belle did give her a smile. So definitely the same thing.

Turning at Moira's hiss, she watched as she stepped slowly toward the dumpster. Debating.

Likely it was just a squirrel or raccoon. This far past the event date, surely there wouldn't actually be anything but fading static data left here? Careful to not look up at any of the four camera's she followed Moira in.

Just in case it wasn't a squirrel or raccoon. Or maybe in case it was?

Either way ... maybe they should have handled the camera's first. If they did it now it would definitely look suspicious.

Please be a squirrel.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx looked around, seeing the Guardian arrive. "Hi. I don't mind, since our fourth seemed to need to head off. Do you know what we're looking for?"

Thewre's a glance to Moira, and the Arrow moves alongside the Acanthus. It could be dangerous.

It was odd that all of the blinds were closed. Wouldn't people need to keep an eye on such a place? That is was so avoided was making her suspicious.

[Xander]

Belle moves to one of the trees, and though she evades most of the cameras nothing in the alley can avoid them all. Her eyes look over the area and note a few things. The buildings on either side have exits into the alleyway that both have repositories for cigarettes. The crime scene tape and all the evidence seems to be long gone. Someone had meticulously scrubbed the alley of anything not meant to be there. Not especially surprising though. At a school that doubles as a hospital they probably don't want questions of murder and mutilation lingering on people's minds for to long.

Witch joins the group and Phoenyx, being the social and well adjusted one that she is, is the first to welcome her. The Obrimos then joins Moira as they both move towards the dumpster. At this point they both hear the quite shuffle of plastic bags and bottles accentuated by the occasional *crack* of glass. No animal noises seemed to emanate from the dumpster though. Whatever it was it probably wasn't person sized, but it was hard to tell by looking at a closed side door.

[Belle]

Belle's honestly a little impressed at the cleanup job that campus security has done here. Aside from the unpleasant smell of cigarette refuse, the rest of the alley seems to be devoid of any trace of gruesome murder. And there's a part of her that's definitely not complaining. "Looks pretty clear so far. Her voice is a bit lower than usual as she stews mentally over the lack of information, face twisted into a contemplative grimace.

Then she hears Moira and immediately shifts perspective. The dumpster was being rattled by...something? A raccoon? ​Doesn't make full sense to Belle: wouldn't campus security be more careful about nighttime activity, human or otherwise? But she's also aware of certain magics that can propel objects out of unwanted hands. We're dealing with somebody who's removing individual body parts and organs. Could there be some magic to animate those unconsciously? A gruesome possibility, but not outside of reason given Magic.

Belle moves over to the side door and looks over to Phoenyx, Moira, and Witch. "You ready to play catch?" She stands by the side door of the dumpster and puts her hand on the door, ready to pull it back quickly to allow whatever is thrashing about inside to escape into the waiting hands of the Magi outside.

Belle will hold an action of opening the dumpster door until all other Magi are prepared.

[Moira]

Moira nodded to Phoenyx, and she would have smiled had it not been such a tense moment, but it was, so she remained straight faced and solemn, but managing to at least let Phoenyx know that she knew that Phoenyx was totes there for her! Actions speak louder than words. For good measure, Moira took the knife from its sheath. The blade was wicked sharp, and the metal alloy was dull and dark and gave off no shine even when illuminated. Knife out her hand on the dumpster lid...

Is it a trash panda? Ohhh wouldnt that be cute bullshit, cause right now they had absolute fucking bumpkiss! Maybe its a hobo witness?! Ooo that would be fortunate!

This was about the long and short of Moira's spontaneous thinking in the moment as she moved to the dumpster and threw the lid open! Curiosty and a bit of her fiesty nature forming the odd expression on the Enchanters face.

If you need me to make any rolls, let me know in OOC and I will roll dem bones fer ya!