15403/All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small
Date of Scene:	17 July 2023
Location:	Pennsylvania
Synopsis:	Things happen.
Cast of Characters:	Illyana Rasputina, Stephen Strange

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Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Sometimes it's not very smart to mess with the skeleton. It just isn't.

The ancient house claims to date from the Revolutionary War, if not earlier. Recent inspections by a respected company speak to the soundness of the place, as much as an 18th century structure is 'sound.' Especially one spanning a creek. The real estate agency listing on the place speaks of its 'charms' and 'rich history,' which essentially amounts to stuffing a modern farmhouse look (everything is greige) atop what amounts to a personal dungeon pool. Or something equally as disturbing, it's really not that clear whether a spring exists or someone unearthed a murky well. Regardless, the effect remains the same.

A skeleton in the water. Pool noodles float harmlessly in this basement upwelling, a few floating can holders aimlessly congregating near the opposite side. The air is musty and dank, the stench of forty thousand minutes of rainfall in the past century filtered through a sticky and dense patch of soil. That's not the reason to be here though.

The reason are a family of six, mostly teenaged boys and one parent, drained of blood. Of a dog, subjected to the same fate, though the bite taken out of something... well, it's a very old bone. A hunk of meat hangs off of it, and that meat is incredibly fresh, while the sinews are incredibly stringy and ripe. Weird, all in all.

Stephen Strange has posed:
A stone house. Could have been a mill, possibly, judging from the location, with the creek. Certainly could be old enough to be haunted. Definitely odd enough to have the basement submerged....or purposely built to act as a food refrigerator. Wouldn't be the first time a spring was used as food storage facility.

Though, obviously, from the looks on the main living floor, that is where the food was. Not the dark pool of water that comprised of the basement.

"Any theories?" The voice is a soft baritone. It could have belonged to any particular law enforcement officer. It has that sort of timbre. But no, the voice is that of one Master of the Mystic Arts...though usually, he prefers the simple appellation of Doctor Stephen Strange. And, with those he knows better, not even that was needed. "sanguination aside, it does seem rather peculiar. Out in the middle of quite literally nowhere, particularly no qualms about species, since the dog was drained as well. But certainly the most peculiar is the ancient bone with the grocery-fresh meat upon it. That...is a mystery, indeed."

A pause. "Almost as cryptic as why a family of six would live in such a building. Besides the historic building designation on this humble abode, I see little reasoning to live here. And, considering my whole oeuvre is 'spooky', that is saying something."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The bridge-like structure of the building spans the waterway, and the rough boxy shape cannot be softened so easily by a garish pink petunia hanging basket or the planter full of neon-green potato vine and marigolds, though someone tries. To their credit, the bright and happy flourishes may be welcome under the dismal summer sun and a cloudy, sweltering day.

Illyana stands under an umbrella that isn't particularly useful for anything either. The swirling clouds of Van Gogh's Starry Night loom over her blonde head. In case the dripping floor somehow starts dripping off the walls. "Wrong country for rusalka. They like cleaner water. Most domovoi do, but the forest is right. Maybe they offended local spirits, but the blood loss... that is corporeal. Something does not pull blood out for no reason."

She is the sort, unlike Stephen, with no real right to be here. Neither cop or forensics, she doesn't look the part. But that's probably helpful given the cops don't even see her, a veil of space lensed around them with one of her portals pointed at the wall to give a reflection. Useful, if a bit of a danger of demons escaping. Gods help them if they do, with the queen and Sorcerer Supreme right there. "Someone turned and they fought, maybe. The smell is bad enough, who had the downstairs bedroom? I would claw everyone out of the way too."

Stephen Strange has posed:
"Admittedly, I have seen worse. Smelled it, too. Just...not in recent memory." With the two magic users standing off to the side, to let the state law enforcement do their job, Stephen gets to do...not much. But, what he would be doing is not exactly standard procedure, anyways. Still...the blood loss. That he agrees on with Illyana. "See...that is my thought as well. Spiritual offenses come and go, but the extra step to drain the bodies completely is visceral. And tangible evidence with that bone. Possibly a femur? I would need to take a closer look to be sure."

Not that Stephen would want to take a closer look. Cursed remains are never fun to play with.

"There was a struggle, certainly. I would daresay that the canine was the early warning system here. Too bad the poor animal wasn't quite fast enough. Judging from what we can see, the dog only gave a few moments more of time than not. Not with the placement of the bodies." There is a beat as Stephen looks about. "Going back to the bloodletting. You don't see any spots at all, do you? Depending on how messy this was could help determine possible culprits." Not that Stephen is just relying on just the five senses. Mystical senses are on point as well. "The physical investigation is throwing things off...but we will make due."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The disbelief of something smelling worse than the dank scent of stale water, sour fear, and blood spilled is something. "Was it the time with the huge rainbow worm from the Cancer dimension or the universe full of rotting plant-life that tried to visit? I lose track. There are so many." Illyana isn't exactly teasing. Her dark arts certainly invoke a lot of... well, trouble. The kind of trouble that makes other people uncomfortable or lose their lunches. Her gaze glows with that portal one, the one giveaway of her mutation, and obscuring her ability to enjoy all the homey décor. Like bodies. And bloodstains. And the dog, dead where he fell, hackles and all.

At least the humans aren't the worst. Somewhere there's probably an upset cop, and EMTs already have gone. Heck, the situation is precarious enough they might need state resources and no rural district much likes that. "The femur? Da, looks longer than..." Far be it from her to be squeamish. Squeamish was beaten out of her ages ago. Stephen has asked, so she fetches the damn bone, handling evidence by manifesting a black glove from mid-bicep to fingers. "It smells extremely bad upclose. The flesh is squishy." Ripe and juicy, like a fresh hock of... thigh? Human? Pretty much.

"Mm, not much over there. I wish I had James' nose, he is the best at smelling these things. Best of a bad lot, da? Maybe I call one of the demons to--"

You have to know there's one listening in, or at least eager to be called through, a hopeful 'squee' on the other side of the portal.

Stephen Strange has posed:
There is a visible shudder as Illy brings up memories of both of those...unfortunate visits. "Well...I was trying to forget both of those occasions...but yes, both of those would certainly this occasion a run for its money. Though, between the two, I would be hardpressed to determine which one was most offensive to the olfactory." Still, with those reminders, the house is not smelling nearly as bad now, nor that femur in question either.

Squeamish...doesn't happen for Strange. A surgeon doesn't have the luxury to afford to be squeamish. At least, not in this case. There was no putrefaction. No liquidation of vital organs or anything of the kind. Just the case of extreme blood loss and a thigh that has no business of being as fresh as it is on a bone that is quite possibly as old as the house. Still....the scent is not pleasant. "Human flesh, seemingly. But the femur does not look like it was recently severed. So, that lends to the question of why. Vampiric, maybe...but here in the rural landscape seems rather foolish. And that much removed? Even with supernatural healing, that would take a bit to recover from."

A chuckle escapes upon hearing of the willingness of a demonic bloodhound. Still..."well, if you want, we could. However, it might be more simple to simply cast a location spell. After all, we do have a convenient bit of matter to use to focus on. Use our rather fragrant sample here to lock on the rest of the creature...see where it leads."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Unfortunate incidents in a series of unfortunate events. "Our job, da? The one no one else can do, because if they could and wanted to, they would be Victor von Doom." The shake of that blonde head leaves a mark of amusement in Illyana's wake that doesn't show on her face. She collapses the umbrella so she has a stick to hit something with if anything decides to get up, which is questionable at best, given the population upstairs consists of plants, couches, ugly chairs, and a lot of grey decor. Grey is a blight upon a house.

She might be amused to wave a bone in his face. Call it a case of seeing what makes him tick. "You think this is part of the bone and not added there. Da, the sinews appear to be part of it. But the bone is old and the flesh new. How did it get there, and why did it leave?" Questions yet to be answered.

There are no dog bites on the flesh that's there. The wounds are huge, tears and shredded bits, not a neat severing.

"They want to meet you, one day. They have a song written and performed many, many times. I am sure that the Dark Dimension is sick of hearing it, but they will not have Mindless Ones singing in chorus."

Stephen Strange has posed:
"They? Your loyal subjects, I assume?" That draws a wry grin from Stephen. "That would be a first. Serenaded by demons." Still, Stephen did not say 'no'. Perhaps it is the curiosity of what exactly this song might be that keeps him from declining. Or, rather, it could be that he is concentrating on the matter at hand.

Sure....he'll go with that route.

"I do think that it is part of the bone. But, the fortunate aspect of a simple location spell is that we can test both flesh and bone at the same time. It should lead to the same source but, if not, then we have a bigger mystery to solve. And we are short of a talking dog and a couple of people, but I am sure we will be able to manage on our own."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Illyana tips her head. "The Hell Lords certainly show low enthusiasm. You must have left an impression." A bad impression, a terrifying impression? Who is to say? "They say the most unflattering things about humans. Demons, though, think quite highly of you. At least mine do. They often think highly because you are all contractable. Like a virus, but worse."

She can't help but to smirk widely them, to smile dangerously through a veiled look. She does not question further than that, flicking her wrist and shifting the lens slightly to keep them hidden if her husband moves around. "I have your back. Cast as you want, da?"