Pushing the Sky!

[Carthrat]

"I see," says the servant. "Excuse me, sirs, but you'll need to place any weapons you have with you in this cupboard," he continues, indicating one just near the door.

[Dracos]

"cupboard?" Cosgrove twitched.

He begrudgingly looked at the man with a GLARE OF DEATH before slowly placing his weapons in the cupboard.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

The servant flinches slightly at the Glare of Death, but nonetheless leads the motley crew into a library. It's a typical old-mansion style library, too- towering bookshelves, old, musty tomes, and a large, domed roof. There's a large reading table in the middle, and on a high-backed chair sits a middle-aged man with greying hair, dressed in a neat suit, reading a book.

"M'lord, these men wished to see you," states the servant, and the lord looks up.

"Well, if it isn't Richard," he says, smiling. "And young Fitz, too! You probably don't remember me, boy, but I remember you. This must be your brother, yes?" His voice is very articulate and proper; very English.

"I'm afraid I don't know you, though, sir... well, I expect I soon will. What brings you all to my mansion?"

[Dracos]

"My name is Cosgrove and it be curiousity over glowing boxes and swords that draw me here for the moment."  He shrugged.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"Remarkably detailed," replies the man, nodding. "Care to shed some light on what he means, Fitz?"

[baka]

"Well, Sir Edward, it's quite strange. A strange person gave Charlie this case -" Fitz turns, gesturing for Charlie to show the case "- saying to give it to me, and not to open it. And then, when we went to pick him up from the station, he'd disappeared. I got a phone call the next morning from somebody called 'Keysan', telling me that Charlie was in a building in London. I managed to sneak in and find him, and on the way out we met Cosgrove here, with the case."

"Outside the building, a huge purple monstrosity calling itself 'Avatar' was chasing Richard, and making a huge mess of the street. I managed to hold it  off for a bit, and noticed it..." Fitz struggles for the word. "Felt. It felt a lot like Mystrix. Anyway, it turned out it knew Cosgrove somehow - could you explain that, in a minute? - and it left peacefully. And then, here we are."

"Oh, and I almost forgot. While I was in the building, somebody called James Royce Davis called me, claiming to also be in Her service, and asking about the case."

[Carthrat]

The Earl stays silent for a moment, pondering over your words.

"The first order of business, it seems, is to open the case," he says, stroking his chin. "You present many mysteries, and it may hold some answers.

You've been contacted by some very strange people, though. James Royce Davis has supposedly been banishes from the Lady's sight," he goes on.

"And I have heard the name 'Keysan' before. It's not the mans real name- he is some kind of mercenary-for-hire. I shall try to find out more about him.

But for now, tell me more about this 'Avatar', if you would."

Throughout his speech, the Earl has remained completely calm. Not even a flinch or a blink at Fitz's story; just the quiet reservation of a faithful man.

[baka]

"I don't know a great deal about her. When I first saw her, she looked like this huge demon, and seemed like she could tear down the shield I put up around her. And, as I said, she stank of Mystrix. After I let the shield down, she shrank, down to a normal sized person. Didn't look normal, though. She had purple hair, and horns."

"She said something about our - that is, Selenites' - day coming soon."

[Carthrat]

"That sounds grim," comments the Earl. "It knew him, you say?" he asks, eyeing Cosgrove. "Why don't you tell me how?"

[Dracos]

"Ah, well enough.  Met her in the forests of Ireland.  Was camping out there when some kind of weird ship crashed down during a torrent.  Normally, I tend to mind my own business with such affairs, especially with such weather, but given she seemed pretty sick, it wouldn't have been right to leave her there.  So I carried her to the local doctor's and left her there to get better.  Left her there and got ambushed by a squad of gunmen a little while later when I was continuing my trip.  They flew me down to London while I was unconscious apparently and patched me up, being intensely curious about my short sword and figuring they'd keep my family sword.  Being that's among the things you simply do not do, I went ahead and retrieved my property only to find her floating around, freezing people and saying she owed me a favor on my way downstairs and then had to stop someone and ran off.  Later I found her chasing Richards and Fitz here and got between the two of them until she calmed down.  Then hitched a ride with Richards here."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"Quite a journey you've had," notes the Earl. "They were after you, or the swords? Or both? Can you think of why?"

[Dracos]

"They were after my short sword.  They took me because I was with it.  Can't say I know why, though it glowed when it was near the box earlier and all the chaos was going on.  Same with the box, actually.  It's probably some kind of magic, though damned if I know.  had it for quite a while and it's never shown the like previously."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

The earl nods, reclining in his chair. "We must attempt to open the case," he says. "I don't suppose anyone knows the combination lock? No? Well, there's nothing for it, then. Bring Mr. Cosgrove's short sword," states the Earl. "We may as well try to force it."

[Dracos]

"Tried that earlier.  Didn't really work that well."  Cosgrove commented.  "Pretty resiliant case."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

"It's only made of leather," notes the Earl. "It's probably magically enhanced. No matter. We can deal with that."

A servant reappears with Cosgrove's blade, and hands it to him- a hint of apprehension on his face.

The earl clasps his hands together and mumbles something inaudiable for a few moments. A faint light spills from his hands and slips across the briefcase, then fades away.

"Try and force it open," says the Earl.