The Midnight Sun

Montag stepped in quickly to catch her before she hit the ground, scooping her up in her arms as he carried her out of the burning wreckage. He started praying for the first time... well, for several years at least. Praying that she would make it, praying she wouldn't stop breathing on him as he weaved his way through the burning wreckage to get to through to the outside world.

Finally breaking free of the world of smoke and flame, Montag was joined almost immediately by a stretcher crew that gently took Kaelie from his arms and carried her away from the Midnight Sun. Montag attempted to follow after her, to remain by her side but he was swarmed by questions about what to do or where to go with the refugees. Montag was tempted to blast his way through the crowd, to fight to get back to her side, but duty called.

Reluctantly he got back to work reorganizing the rescue efforts, though he wasn't allowed back in because his helmet was still inside. The flames had finally begun to wither under the fire crews relentless assault, dwindling to reveal quite the amount of damage. Montag remained on scene to try and gather statements from the shocked survivors, though he didn't get far because of how busy the bar was at the time.

Though the blaze had officially been out for several hours now, Montag was still supervising the clean up efforts as the crews working in concert to move fallen beams to reveal beds of lingering embers, and poking holes in the roof of the Midnight Sun to help with the ventilation. They had been at their tasks for several hours, but Montag knew from experience that they would be at this for even longer.

Montag turned to face the source of his name being called for he-didn't-quite-know-how-many-timeth-today, and gave something of a wry half smile when he saw it was Iulia. He regarded her with bloodshot eyes from the smoke and from being awake for well over twenty four hours, and his upper half of his face that wasn't protected by the oxygen bubble was covered in a layer of black ash. His helmet was still unaccounted for in the wreckage, and he doubted it would be in usable condition after all this.

"Ms. Iotapa," he replied curtly but politely, "indeed, but things have been a bit busy for the pair of us unfortunately. Not like this is going to help any..." he trailed off, considering how to best phrase his report. "Well, I'm fine. All thanks to the Fae Juniper. She threw herself in front of a collapsing roof beam and pushed me out of the way. There's extensive structural damage as I'm sure you can clearly tell, and for the life of me I can't figure out how the Hell this thing started. Some say it was a gnome, but who doesn't blame things on them these days, others say it was a magic trick gone awry, yet others say it was intentional. All I can say is that none of the stories match and I'm left with no leads to hand you."

Dixie gasped as she stepped out of the carriage and saw the carnage in all its glory, clasping a hand over her mouth in shock. No amount of descriptions or warnings could have prepared her for the rubble, the destruction, the death. She hadn't been able to comprehend the scale of the damage until she'd seen it with her own eyes, and even now it seemed almost surreal. It was still real, however. Still far too real. Her hands shook, and she clasped them together as she followed the investigator hesitantly towards the fire chief. What was she doing here? How had she gotten herself into a situation like this? Iulia had brought her along to observe, but how could she observe something like this without breaking out into tears? She'd never seen anything like it, and wished with all her might that she never would again. Was this just another aspect of city life, one that nobody had told her about? As the fire chief reported the lack of evidence, Dixie looked around at the covered bodies lying on the ground. Would they ever be identified, with all their burns? Would anyone know who they once were? The stench of burned and decaying bodies made her stomach turn, and she glanced away and took several shuddering breaths. No leads from the fire chief...what did Iulia expect her to do? She certainly wasn't doing any good here, and couldn't bear to stand by idly when so many people clearly needed help. The investigator could handle this on her own, Dixie thought. Best not to pester her with questions at the moment. She stepped away, trying not to look at the linen-draped shapes lining the street, and headed towards where the wounded were being treated. At least she could offer some help there. Anything was better than standing around and being useless.

Iulia nods throughout Decker’s report, her grey eyes flitting from a notebook and rough pencil up to the fireman's face. It wasn’t surprising that the Fae had been with Decker, but it seems like she might have had some change of heart if she was willing to put herself in danger to save a human. Curious, but irrelevant.

“You really need that raise, Mr Decker. Thanks again to you and yours for making sure what happened here didn’t get any worse than it already was. I cannot imagine life in Isra without the Fire Department these days.”

As Dixie walked away towards the field hospital, Iulia again looked at the heaping ruin of the public house. The poor girl seemed terribly rattled, and who wouldn’t be? Iulia sighs, but not too deeply, conscious of the headache fermenting right behind her eyes. It feels as though the smells are tightening like hot chains around her mind. Internally, the Investigator clears her mind with a small prayer, grounding herself.


Iulia slowly turned over to a blank page in her little notebook to jot down a few shorthand ideas on the far right-hand side.


She put a small line under both plan’d and gnome.

“One last question. Did the fire present in any odd way at all? Aside from the obvious facts, did anything out of the ordinary stick out to you? I’m thinking color, smell, any small detail.”

Again, a wry half smile crossed his face when she mentioned him getting a raise, "We all deserve raises on this day, but there would not be enough budget to give everyone what they earned."

As to the nature of the blaze, Montag was an expert. Fighting fires, especially in such a magically imbued city such as Isra with so many possible ways to start fires, made it necessary for firefighting to be an exact science. It was often a falsehood that people thought fires were solely fought with water. With alchemical accidents, pyromancy, and just regular carelessness, all had to fought in their own methods. And each left their own specific evidence behind.

"Well what were initially dealing with on the outskirts of the fire was just a regular blaze," he started, pointing to the building and motioning with his hand as if to emphasise his point, "but the closer we got to the bar we find it transitioned from being fueled by the wood to being fueled by the alcohol, no surprise there unfortunately. The char patterns and lingering near invisible flames are evidence enough for that on the edges. The center of the bar is a different story altogether though. The flames were a green color and the smoke especially acrid, signalling some form of alchemical source of the explosion."

"But also," he lowered his voice so only Iulia would be able to hear him, "around several support beams we found evidence of highly concentrated alcohol burns, and from the charring intensity it had to be stuff strong enough that would make most patron go blind. So unless everyone was drinking white lightning with the intentions of committing mass insurance fraud for blindness, then I'm willing to bet that the blaze was started deliberately."

Her pen scratches furiously across the page to take down these new bits of information. An alchemical explosion tipped the scales considerably towards this being a deliberate act. Iulia mentally sorted what few facts she had and turned over working theories, her headache all but vanishing. With a flick of her wrist, the little notebook snaps shut.

“Excellent. Thank you, Mr Decker, you’ve been most helpful yet again. I’m fairly certain I agree with your interpretation at this point, but the afternoon is still young and there are many things left to discover. Please give me a shout if you think of anything else. Otherwise, my office will be in touch later. I owe you another pot of tea by this point, although some of my officers are starting to swear by that coffee swill...”

With another closed fist salute, the Investigator walks over to the rough lines of sheeted bodies. Officer Jenkins stands close by, conversing with another guard. Iulia gives them both a nod and speaks.

“I’d like to take a look at our victims here, check their hands and arms for irregular burn marks, see if them have any tools or items on them that might have helped spark that explosion. If this was a deliberate attack, I’d like to make sure our fire-starter isn’t lying here on the pavement. We’ll just do a preliminary check here and mark out the bodies for the office to take note of during the autopsies.”

Together, Jenkins and Iotapa kneel down by the body nearest them and carefully pull away the sheet. Actually, it was more of a tablecloth with a deep blue checked pattern and tasseled fringe. Hiding behind the soot and dust, dark coffee stains hint at the cloth’s previous life.

The elvin man pats down his jacket and pulls a pair of leather gloves out from one of the pockets whilst Iulia, hands already gloved, begins examining the cadaver’s arms. This body wasn’t too badly burned, but several long gashes across the neck and upper chest along with bits of shrapnel in the torso spell out the cause of death. Jenkins uses a small stick to help him look through pockets and up shirt sleeves. All the while, both guards talk back and forth to each other in short phrases, commenting on what they find. They might have been two gardeners talking about their rose gardens for how easily they talk about the carnage before them.

This continues for some time as elf and woman move from body to body. Uncover, examine, record, recover. By the end, they have marked out six bodies for additional investigator back at headquarters. A chill breeze picks up as the afternoon draws closer to evening and ominous looking clouds begin to crowd out the sun.

Iulia pulls the collar of her greatcoat up to cover her neck from the creeping chill. She peels off her soiled gloves and cast about for a clean pair, but ultimately gives up. Jenkins splashes water onto his face, for what had to be the fourth time, from a nearby bucket of icy cold water.

“Investigator Iotapa,” he drawls after drying his face, ”We’re going to want to move the bodies out of the street before it rains.” He peers into a small compact mirror, examining his face for a few moments.

Iulia looks around the scene to try and spot Dixie before replying. “Yes, take some of the guards from the hospital and have them put the bodies in that flower shop there. Keep the bodies we marked separate from the rest and put them nearer the door, then contact headquarters to have them send a wagon over to pick the cadavers up.”

The two salute each other and walk off. Unhurriedly, Iotapa walks over to Dixie and gives a sympathetic smile. The younger woman had done good work helping to check on the wounded, and the guards looked relieved to have an extra set of willing hands. Iulia moved to stand next to Dixie and gave her a small pat on the shoulder.

“Hello, Miss Starr. How are you holding up?”

Kate took Naoki’s hand and held it firmly. She kept her other hand close to her chest, as if holding an imaginary rock. But the sweet smell of burnt flesh made her pinch her nose. She did not want to see much so she only took quick peeks while they walked.

But there wasn’t much to see. The rubble… The smoke from the windows. Kate looked away every time her eyes caught the body. She tried not to keep count. But she didn’t move from the spot or let go of Naoki she thought of Naoki yes that was why she would not move.

“It’s horrible…” She said. Naoki had her eyes on some woman talking with the rescue workers. She carried herself in a way that made her look taller. Kate would wait until someone would tell her what had happened. Would tell her exactly what to do now.

Why do I need someone to tell me what to do... I hadn't thought that for a long time.

Kate swatted the thought away, to the depths of her mind and didn't move from the spot.

"Oh my..." Erasmus exclaimed seeing the scene although the ever present soft smile did not wholly vanish as he followed Selene. "You really think that your magic can have it back in one piece in a manner of moments?" Erasmus asked not quite sure whether this was one huge bluff from Selene's side or if she actually possessed those abilities.

"Miss Selene the guardsmen look rather unappreciative that you should pass through the barricade." he commented and let his eyes pass around the place. "If we buy this place I wonder if we have to contend with another terrorist attack again in the future?" he said and observed the charred rubble that was the remains of most of The Midnight Sun.

Suddenly Erasmus' gaze caught... an opportunity. Two actually and whispered to Selene.
"Please have me excused for a moment, this is for appearance's sake." he told her and turned towards buxom young lady tending to the wounded. "I love it when business meets pleasure." he said and put on his most charming smile approaching the unaware Dixie Starr.

Erasmus sat down on his knees seeing the girl tending to the bleeding victim wrapping him in bandages and with a serious yet charming expression he spoke to Dixie.
"What a horrible accident, how could this have happened?" he said and and sighed looking at the wounded in front of him. "I just happened to pass by with my colleague and it looks like every hand is needed here." he said with a concerned voice as he put his palm on a wound on the arm of the victim on the ground.

"Let it be known..." he said as he closed his eyes for a brief moment channeling healing power the wound of the victim seeing the bleeding stopped and the wound slowly closing in on itself. "I'm a Erasmus by the way, a former paladin and now owner of The Bank of Kaskash." he said and put his hand on the forehead of the victim. "They will need as much mental care as they need physical care after this, but it is nice to see so many brave people step up and help." he said and flashed her a smile clearly complementing Dixie.

"This is such a tragedy..." he said and shook his head. "My bank will most certainly be funding the victims after this disaster - we can't just watch idly when something like this happens. It just... affects us all." Erasmus said and bowed his head.