Mithias appeared through the portal all too near to Drake and immediately backed away from the heat, stepping into a half-puddle of melted slush. "Gyah..." He remarked, holding his hands up against the blazing aura Drake was giving off. "Thank you for melting the landing point, Drake my friend, but you should refrain from expending so much energy, particularly magical energy, for there are those who might notice such a thing."

The wind whipped over the edge of the trench of snow that surrounded them as they waited for the rest of their group to arrive. Mithias looked around, extending his senses to detect any sounds, movements, or scents that might be relevant. Seeing Drake still shivering, he commented, "Did you fail to bring adequate clothing? I don't mean any insult. It's just that I myself can no longer feel the cold to judge." That was only half true. Mithias wasn't completely insensitive to it. He had to keep his own blood from freezing at least, or even he would have problems.

Extending a hand, the vampire offered a minuscule taste of his own brand of magic, heat manipulation. Softer, gentler, and more slowly, he caused some warmth to build up within Drake's own body. Carefully he concentrated, making sure that only the barest rise in temperature occurred so as not to harm this delicate life.

Atlas finished his rant on Vermont with something about Xanax and minerals. He got up, and turned to Baron. "I am motivated by the promise of death. Kidding!", Atlas remarked, stepping through the portal. The first thing he noticed: His bottle was empty. He turned, looking at his surroundings. "Ah, this is near the haunted log cabin I talked about!", he remarked to nobody in particular. The ice barely bothered him. Pulling out another bottle, one would think Atlas had a magic coat, filled with all the liquor in the world. At this point, one could only guess.

Stepping forwards, snow crackling under his feet, Atlas took a long breath. Cold. He recognized this chill. Siberia. It was cryonic Magic. Christ, what if that crazy lentil farmer had come back from the dead? Ignoring his last thought, Atlas took out one of his knives. 6 in all, each with a weak magic enchantment. Fire, Ice, all that. This one, this one was special. A family heirloom he had grabbed from... Someone. It acted as a boomerang, increasingly useful to him, as the winds grew stronger.

@Wraithblade6

Drake looked over to the vampire who got his attention. Hearing Mithias warn drake of his magic, Drake would use less magic for the fire now as it shrunk significantly, no longer being a bright silhouette. The flames now leaked from his armor and lingered a bit on various sections such as the left shoulder and right hip. Embers were falling from Drake's cape and fingers though no sign of any damage to himself or the armor were present, suggesting that the ash as well was made by magic as a sort of after effect. His knight-styled helmet's face guard hid his face completely, as the gaps in it to allow Drake to see were blackened with a lack of lighting preventing most to see his face. "Apologies its rather cold." He said, his voice shivering.

After feeling the touch of the vampire the fire would die down more so that only embers fell from Drake's figure. "I only take what I own." He said flatly, lowering his axe to the melting snow. "So whats the plan?"

The icy wind whipped and whistled all around Coal, causing piles of snow to slowly crawl forward like glaciers. Snowflakes spun and twirled in the air, floating gently down before sizzling out of existence once near the heat Coal radiated. Save the wind, everything was silent.

“This is getting a bit dull,” Cerberus’ voice shattered the silence as if it was thin ice, his purred tone seemingly carrying on for miles in the cold desert.
“Are we in the right place?” Coal asked, lifting his head from his stick-figure drawing in the snow, white was all he could see. However, Cerberus’ eyes shone yellow as he scanned the area as he hunched his furred back, “Maybe a few feet off mark, I see houses over there.” Coal narrowed his eyes, it didn’t help. His human eyes couldn’t pierce the veil of snow and ice.
“C’mon,” Cerberus said as he lept off from Coal’s shoulder, beginning his walk towards the houses, “Let’s get to the place before you turn into an ice cube.”
Coal sighed and groaned as he got up, the heavy pile of forming snow on his back sliding off as he followed close, his runes in the snow following too. Why not prep a little magic as he waited?

Isa, the rune of ice, followed close at Coal’s heel. Causing a path of pure ice to form wherever it went.

Hagalaz, rune of storms, seemed to shift in and out of reality, while effectively blocking the snow storm and ice from harming Coal.

Raido, rune of movement, was directly under Coal’s shoe. What helped Coal traverse the thick snow, and what caused the other runes actually move.

The rest of his conjured up snow angels and snow-drawings were useless and were already cleaned up by the howling wind.

“Nervous? First mission and all, I’d assume you’d be,”
Coal shook his head at the familiar, “Me? Nervous? Nah, it’s just finding clues. I doubt it’d be too stressful,” the pair stopped as they reached the ice-caked homes, forgetting the original topic entirely.

“All this snow, and your team wants to get rid of it all using shovels?”

Coal shrugged, “They seem to want to do stuff mundane. Total waste in my opinion, what’s the point of having magic if you’re not going to use it?” Cerberus nodded in agreement as Coal raised his arms, palms splayed as the runes in the snow glowed a bright purple, “Much quicker this way.”
The snow shook. The snow on the roofs, under Coal, and falling from the sky, all seemed to shake. Large chunks of ice and snow were coming loose and tumbling down the side, creating larger piles of more snow, but more importantly, clearing the way to the door faster.

He heard the crunch of snow slowly getting louder, as a distant and blurred silhouette of a man grew clearer and closer, a few more dark specks joined, marching towards the frozen-solid homes. Cerberus' immediate response to hiss, while Coal waved friendly. His team was finally here, and on time to see his (hopefully) impressive handiwork.

He was surprised to see that there was a portal, it was much better than his car because eventually he would need to stop miles away from their rendezvous point and continue on foot in what would be endless snow. He walked towards the portal as he heard Jaklo’s offer to enchant a shovel, it was a nice offer from him, since Azai was only taking the shovel for show. As he approached Jaklo he noticed that he was lost in thoughts for a moment, he knew from the time he spent with him that he was worried about something maybe he was worried about the new guy, or maybe worried about the team from new guy. Azai knew that Teddy’s death got into Jaklo’s mind, and made him more worried about his friends. Teddy was a great wizard he was even about to become a friend of Azai, luckily that didn’t happen or else Azai would bottle more depression into his shell... Azai placed his arm on Jaklo’s shoulder trying to comfort him ”Don’t worry Jak I’ll make sure they come back safe. You have my word on that.” Azai didn’t wait for a reply from Jaklo and walked through the portal, only to remember that he forgot to ask for the enchantment of the shovel, but that thought quickly disappeared from his mind when the cold hit him right through to his bones ”God damn, this is hell when it freezes over.” Luckily his suit and trench coat enhanced fabric helped him from freezing in his ground, he thought about raising his body temperature to beat the cold but that was going to drain a lot of mana from him, so he had to suck it up and continue with his mission.

The streets were covered in thick snow, 5 feet thick. He could see Max who was already digging his way through the snow, he waved to him and wanted to join him as he saw the snow shaking and trembling opening a path towards their destination. Azai walked through the path to see a kid, it was Coal the new guy he recognized him from the picture that was sent to him with the debrief on his smart phone ”So much for stealth…” He saw Coal waving towards them. Azai wasn’t a fan of causing a ruckus especially when his team hasn’t got together and decided what to do yet, but he wasn’t going to say anything since he was still new and this was his first mission.

“...” Jaklo was entirely silent as his eyes narrowed and he began to growl after Azai finished talking.

He grabbed a boot from the shelves and chucked it at Azai’s head as he entered the portal shouting,

“My name’s not Jak damnit!”

The boot went through the portal only a second behind Azai, but appeared on the other side striking him in the head about ten seconds later. Jaklo grumbled and muttered about his name all the while tossing the other boot back and forth unsure if he wanted to throw it as well. One was good for now, so he dropped it and hoped Azai heard him.

Jaklo now properly pissed was ready to rip the head off whatever was messing with the weather. He headed through the opposite portal and met up with the combat team. He loaded Arcane Justice here with four Dragon’s Breath rounds. These weren’t standard issue either. Like all the rest of his gear Jaklo only used what he made. These were very similar to his hunter’s firebomb, and would easily melt through even enchanted ice at close range.

“Alright, the hunt is on and the plan is simple. We find it, we kill it, and then we all take a photo with the new trophy.”

“Friend of yours?” Cerberus asked, not tearing his bewitched eyes off Azai.

“Well, not friend. Team mate more like it. I didn’t even speak to him yet,” Coal replied, focusing more power on the runes and the wispy tendrils of purple light that rose from them.

“Hopefully you don’t make a fool of yourself this time.” Cerberus snickered as Coal glared daggers at him, mumbling something foul under his breath as he continued his work.

The snow and ice was clearing fast fortunately, the roofs were clear save for some deep grooves that still held some slush. The door to the first home-sickle was starting to clear up, just a few more inches of clear ice was left. The warped and fuzzy door became clearer the more it thawed.

“Hey, I’m almost there-”
A sudden cold wind sliced through the silent air, the ice covering the home grew twice as thick, and Coal actually shivered. Either the storm was growing stronger, or Coal was burning more mana than he thought. Coal immediately wrapped his arms around himself, eyes screwed shut as he muttered an incantation through chattering teeth. His jacket stopped flapping, and the wind and snow slowed, warmth returned to his body. However, fear still resided.
With all the sudden fear and self doubt, his power was weakened. The runes glowed a weak sickly colour, and the snow around him stopped melting.
If his mana-burning runes failed, he would succumb to hypothermia quickly. "I can’t hold back the storm of the century in this,” and many more dangerous scenarios wrecked both Coal’s mind and calm.

Starting to heavily regret his choice of flimsy clothing, Coal dug his hands in the leather-bound bag at his side, firmly grasping the comforting presence of his bottled up physics and talismans. Magic wasn’t only about mana anyway, he was a witch, he could be crafty and do anything with bits of twine and twig. The very energy of the universe flowed through him, he could survive just as his ancestors did. Witches were prosecuted for centuries, and yet they are still around. What’s a little foul weather to him?
The thought of this comforted him, and the familiar body of his familiar wrapped around his neck helped too. There was nothing he needed to fear, he’d promised himself to prevail, and that’s what he was going to do.

He started conserving his energy, causing the ice around him remained constant. Never growing, nor shrinking. "I’ll save every last drop of mana, and blow everyone away with a spectacle of genius and magic!" he thought to himself, drunk on what little confidence he had on that moment, he didn’t really care what was wishful thinking, and what could ever possibly be a reality. At least he was hopeful.

Once, as a child, Lenya had fallen through the thin ice of a lake in winter time. It had been fortunate that her sisters were with her and able to get her out and warm before permanent damage was done. The same icy finger clawed at her now. She pulled her coat tightly around herself following Max as he worked to clear the snow.

The whole area seemed to hum with a faint magical energy. There had been a working here certainly. Irritably, she brushed at the snowflakes sticking to her long eyelashes. It wasn’t wise to use magic if they were sneaking up on a mage. Her eyes fell on Coal who seemed hardly dressed for the weather and thrummed with magic of his own. It was possible he had already ruined any attempt at stealth. Seph should really have assigned him to team cannon fodder.

Reluctantly she closed her eyes and began to chant softly to herself. It was a subtle effort, hardly noticeable as magic at all. A faint alteration in wind patterns left them in a gulf, the gusts shifting slightly away as she tweaked the probabilities. Next she seized on the ambient magical energy and the disruption caused by Coal and her own workings, bringing the vibrations into synchrony so they cancelled each other out. Abruptly the magical charge she felt in the air dropped, hopefully masking their approach.

Max was nearly to the door now. She wondered if she should take out her gun or something. Instead she followed along behind max with her own shovel, carefully digging out the snow that fell behind him as the drifts slumped so he could focus on going forwards.

“Careful,” she breathed, “Whatever happened here wasn’t pleasant.”

@Austronaut@HeirloomRoses@Polyphemus@Witch Cat

Azai was impressed by the kid’s magic, he looked like he a lot up his sleeves, but was he experienced enough? How many times did he have the chance to improvise in near death experiences? Well maybe this mission would tell if he did, so Azai approached his with a nice gentleman attitude with a dash of pride and confidence that he used to give while meeting someone knew, and scratched his head from the boot that Jaklo threw at him, it was a good throw that he expected since he knew Jaklo hated to be called Jak ”You must be Coal right? I’m Azai Ninsusinak. You seem a bit cold kid, those runes on your body seems to be failing in this weather…” That’s when Coal pulled something from his bag and altered the ice around him, it was a clever trick no doubt but it had its weaknesses too, he wouldn’t be able to use the full strength of his muscles when they are cold like that, unless he had something up his sleeves. Azai raised his left eye brow and showed a slight smile ”Good thinking kid, but you know there are easier and more useful tricks to do. You see my suit and coat? They are have enhanced fabric, they keep me from freezing and drive a little bit of the cold away.” that’s when he saw Lenya and Max as they approaching the door.

Azai didn’t say anything as he saw Lenya approaching; she was right when she said that nothing pleasant happened here. The team seemed apart, Coal was tampering with his own thing while Max and Lenya were doing their own thing alone, and Glory still hasn’t arrived. Those were not a good sign for a successful mission; it was a bit surprising to him since he knew them long enough but these things still happen. Azai took a deep breath and called unto Coal, Max and Lenya ” Hey guys, listen to me. I know that we are teammates and we do not have a team leader, but we have to work together. I will not force you to anything but I have a plan, so will you listen to me?” Azai sounded confident and strong yet giving a cool nice tone, trying not to sound demand full.

” I don’t trust these people, they don’t seem to very skilled,” Cerberus hissed in Coal’s mind, his amber eyes boring holes into the skulls of the mages he stared down.

”Relax, I’m sure they’re great! All the dick-measuring brawns are miles away, so honestly, how bad can these people be?”, Coal whispered into Cerberus’ mind as he lifted his fixated gaze off the shaking snow, looking over his shoulder and seeing someone approach, ”Look! Here comes one now,” He felt Cerberus tense on his shoulder, spreading his wave of consciousness towards the long-haired man, and whispering to Coal again, ”Azai, his name is Azai. Meaning strength”.

“Hello!” Coal said, trying his best to seem approachable and not as if he snapped minutes ago, “Azai, right? Right.”
Behind that cheery complexion, Coal was sizing him up and down. His gaze quickly darting from side to side, inspecting Azai. He seemed physically strong, odd seeing as this was the investigator team. He was acting all tall, dark, mysterious, the protagonist in a romance novel. But he possibly could be a softie, like a protagonist in a romance novel. Coal didn’t dare to try to probe Azai’s mind further, thinking best to not risk the chance that he might have some barrier.

“You seem a bit cold kid,” Coal went from smiling to blank.

”Did he really call me a kid? Coal twisted his mouth into a tight smile, his hands clenched behind his back, a flare of anger sparking in him causing the the bewitched snow to tremble with his anger.

”Good thinking kid,” Azai’s smug tone threatened to make Coal snap, he didn’t even listen to whatever he had to say. Coal’s want to dump a literal ton of snow on his head grew and burned inside him, and a snow ball hovered threateningly above Azai. At any moment he could drop that freezing chunk down the bastard’s back, he could feel Cerberus egging him on, ”Go ahead, be mean!” he seemed to say.
At the last moment, Coal stopped. The chunk of snow dissipated mid-air. No lights, no smoke, just gone. Coal shrugged and muttered a quick thanks, turning once again to the parting mound of snow.

Everything seemed oddly still, as if the chill had frozen time too. Coal’s ambition to be a snow-Moses and part the ice left him, and he was making no progress, Max and Lenya were just standing there as far as Coal was concerned, Glory was missing, and Azai-

”Hey guys, listen to me. I know that we are teammates and we do not have a team leader, but we have to work together. I will not force you to anything but I have a plan, so will you listen to me?”

And Azai was taking charge. Coal and Cerberus turned their heads simultaneously towards him, heads cocked in curiosity, they were finally getting somewhere! “The blowhard was useful for something after all,” Coal and Cerberus snicked to each other.

Maybe they still had some chance of not being a crap team.

Drip, Drop. Drip, Drop

The faucet played its broken tune, droplets falling with deafening force upon week-old stirfry. With a simple flourish, the metal fixture twisted around itself. ”Looks like I’m not getting my security deposit back.” Cassandra thought, turning and tossing on her cardboard mattress, failing to ward off the cold with thin sheets and cheap sweaters. Maine hadn’t been forthcoming. In six weeks, Cassandra had managed to obtain and subsequently lose three jobs because dealing with her clients’ exes with a pox “wasn’t what they had in mind.” She was living off leftovers and scraps from previous employers, which amounted to bad take-out and a shitty studio apartment with faulty appliances. How the mighty had fallen.

Cassandra hopped out of bed with false enthusiasm, preparing herself mentally by feigning excitement about her day. Well, maybe it wasn’t entirely false. She’d received the call from Markiel Relovski a few days prior, telling her that she’d been accepted to work for Wells and Raick. The tri-tone on her phone told her that today was the day to prove her mettle. She should have hurried, should have made it seem like she had any sort of work ethic, but instead she took her time, powering through her intensely cold shower, applying her makeup in a faded mirror and poor lighting. Despite every physical obstacle, she managed to come out of the bathroom looking as radiant as always. She quickly slipped on her best Elvira dress and tallest highheeled boots, threw on a fashionable, black trench coat (a rather strange combination of words), teased her hair until the scarlet strands had fallen into place, gathered all her magical fixins, and walked leisurely out of the door, down the stairs, and into town.

---

W&R was imposing, not because the building was anything special, it certainly wasn’t the most beautiful building she’d ever lain eyes on, but because it held within it a great many mages capable of grand feats of magic and mystical tomes and tools aplenty. She wagered that within these four walls, there was magic enough to take out half the country. She sauntered through the front door, her hips swinging rhythmically from left to right. She saw folks rushing downstairs, readying themselves for their current case. Some maniac screwing with the weather, making Maine even more of a frozen hell-hole. Markiel came speeding behind them from his office, likely sensing the witch’s presence.

“I see the cavalry's already marching off?” she said with a flirty smile.

“Cassandra! You’re just in time for the action. I’m afraid there’s no time for introductions or a guided tour.” Markiel replied with a sickening amount of enthusiasm.

“Shame, I was hoping to ask you incredibly invasive questions about your accommodations,” she sarcastically replied. Markiel seemed to wave it off.

“I’m sending you with Group One. Your teammates are Jaklo, Jacques, Drake, Mithias, and Atlas.”

“Sound like a lot of testosterone,” she interrupted.

“Don’t worry, they’re some of our best, you’re in good hands with them. I’ve opened a portal to the target location downstairs. Go down once you feel prepared, maybe have a quick word with your teammates, then get to business.”

Cassandra nodded, giving him a quick, sarcastic salute, then following the remaining few downstairs to the portal leading to the storm’s epicenter. Once on the other side, she was greeted by her hoard of male helpers, their ages and appearances fluctuating. They all looked relatively normal and around her age, except Drake who looked more youthful. She tried to size them all up with just a few looks, but she knew that a lot like this would have more buried beneath the surface. Perhaps for the first time, Cassandra decided not to judge these men by their looks alone and would wait until she heard them speak.

“Don’t worry, lads,” Cassandra began as she walked up to the group, “I’ve come to add a feminine touch. Cassandra Owens at your service, pleasure to shed blood with you.”

@fdeviant

Drake smirked at Jaklo's orders, perhaps going out in this hellish weather would be worth it after all. The thought of an exciting battle between us and whatever was causing this blizzard grew to Drake's excitement. However his smirk momentarily faded when he saw the newcomer, before she spoke, he almost immediately assumed she was some sort of villain, however it soon became clear due to her coming from the portal and her words suggested she wasn't. However Drake didn't remember seeing her at the office, or any of his recent week days, could it be someone was more late then him?

After Cassandra finished her sentence, Drake grinned immensely at the attractive yet villain-looking teammate, well then again we do already have two vampires. "Good attitude, I think we'll get along great if you like bloodshed and burning things." I'd lower my helmet's face guard, my black and red knight-like armor giving some protection from the heavy falling snow, and Mathias's heat keeping me warm. As she came within the group, I would hold out my hand, though not for a handshake, the position was different for that. Moments later my hand would grow flames, as if my armored hand was constantly excreting burning oil, the flames would be burning off of my fingers and palm, to the edge of my wrist, the wind would constantly cause the fire to dwindle and lower a bit but it remained burning nonetheless, offering a good amount of warmth to each of the members within the proximity. "Drake Sigurd, honored to serve you m'lady." I gave a small bow feeling a chivalrous first impression would be best. I was tempted to question the choice of bringing a dress and high heels to the battle field, while it was amusing I suppose it didn't too much to care, however I couldn't help but tease. "I do have to say though, you trying to give your feet hell in those shoes?" I gave her a smirk beneath my helmet.

@jasonwolf

"So how exactly do we plan to find this mage sir, this blizzard makes it impossible to see a damn thing." I asked, keeping the flames on my arm steady enough, not to big or bright to attract attention nor strong enough so that it would exhaust much of my energy, just enough to keep us mildly warm and keep the snow from building up beneath us.

The cold air was saturated with magic- a sort of coppery scent. Too close to the taste and smell of blood for Max' liking. Still shivering but sweating from effort beneath his heavy clothes, he continued to shoulder through the drift, numbed fingers clutching the metal shaft of the shovel. That is, until Coal tore past him with one of the most brazen displays of magic he had ever seen. The taste of copper increased in his mouth as Max gaped.

Now, anyone in the neighboring houses who happened to glance out the window knew magic existed. And more to the point, they had lost the advantage of surprise. Any magician could sense this flaunting of power, if one was waiting inside they would have ample time to prepare and fortify themselves. "Drat," Max muttered, the strongest curse he felt able to muster through his annoyance. With nothing else to lose, he began singing a song that seemed appropriate as he shoveled through the last few feet to the front porch. The rhythm made the final push that much easier.



Finally, ice crusting on the ears of the foxy hat, Max managed to climb onto the porch with the others, despite being the first to set out. He wondered after Glory, hoping she hadn't gotten separated and lost in the storm. The girl wasn't familiar with snow, but unfortunately they just didn't have time to look for her. Out of breath, panting, Max listened to the others. He nodded at Lenya's comment. Something awful had happened here. Something that didn't belong in this world had arrived. Max folded the shovel, slipped it into one of his oversized pockets, drew his shofar instead. The horn might be his best weapon if he was confronted by something otherworldly.

Azai said he had a plan. He seemed a little too sure of himself, but Max conceded that he himself didn't have any ideas. "I'm listening," he said. "Just keep in mind, anyone in there must know we're here by now." He tried not to make that remark accusatory, but he couldn't help looking at Coal as he said it.

He quickly looked away, reaching up to brush snow off the foxy hat. His ears weren't even cold. Dang, that was actually a pretty good hat.

Atlas took out the thermos, closed his eyes, and took a drink. Tasted like chocolate. Content with his equipment choice, he noticed a newcomer walk through the portal."Great, another addition to the Jackass Brigade.",he complained to himself. Turning around, he looked at the arrival. Some redhead. After living for 140 odd years, Atlas had become a decent judge of character when not inebriated. This newcomer looked...manipulative was the best Atlas could come up with. An opportunity to make one more enemy was not an opportunity Atlas wished to pass up

"Name's Atlas.", he said, attempting to smile. Unfortunately for every party involved in this exchange, there was still blood on his teeth from the thermos. Realizing his mistake, he remained unfazed. Giving off a passive aggressive gesture to the newcomer, he turned away and scowled."Odds are she's a witch. Christ. The brat's going to have a tantrum when he finds out"

He turned to Mithias, pulled out the book, and smiled. "Let's hope it's not a repeat of the Westshire Club incident, da?"

After the obligatory greetings, Atlas pulled out four of his knives. Inias, Simiel, Tubuel, Tubuas. Atlas needed an idea of the extent of the damage, and so began reciting incantations while holding the knives. Tubuel and Tubuas' light and void mixed, creating a radar of nearby life. There was practically nothing. This was bad news. Next, Inias and Simiel. This would usually draw every nearby earthworm to the surface, but only one arrived. Whatever was going on truly was sinister.

The vampire turned his head to see the witch, white skin, black shades, beautiful, thick black hair that was barely contained in a tie behind him. He was fairly large when seen so close up, a creature resembling that of a giant wolf or stallion that had somehow managed to shift itself into a human rather than the other way around. For someone who wasn't used to it, it was like being next to a living monster, a dinosaur, or some other such rarity, yet it truly existed, and there it was standing 4 feet away. The tips of two swords were just visible, sticking out from the edge of his coat.

Mithias ceased his concentrating, leaving Drake for the moment to generate his own warmth. The wind was still blowing, and fat snowflakes plastered themselves on his forehead with impunity. "Hello Cassandra." He greeted her, making no comments on her dress. He turned back to the others, getting everyone to focus on the task at hand. "Drake, Jaques, Jaklo. We need to get inside. It's not good trudging through 6 feet of snow without even knowing which direction we're going. I can trailblaze ahead and push most of the snow aside. Drake can follow behind me and help make the path walkable for the rest. I'll try to get us inside one of these buildings."

((Investigations))

The house had held up well considering the weight of snow on top of it. There was a thin layer of ice coating the whole building giving it an eerie otherworldly look. With the door defrosted the group was free to enter. The power was out and the snow blocked all of the first floor windows making the area very dark save for the open doorway.

The house was a two stories, but still very small. The first floor was almost entirely open. From the doorway there were stairs to the right, on the left was the kitchen, and across the way was the living room. The whole place was in disarray. It looked like an earthquake had knocked over anything not secured. Not there was much to fall. The whole place was very lightly furnished who ever lived here probably only moved recently or wasn’t able to afford much.

The second floor was pretty much just the bathroom, bedroom, and closet. Once again the rooms were largely lacking in furniture. The stairs up were very noisy creaking at the slightest amount of weight and making a thud with a person’s full weight. There were no signs of a basement despite the space under the stairs being walled in though.

Overall only one thing was clear whoever lived here wasn’t here now.

=====================================================================

((Combat Team))

Jaklo had been trying to get a bead on where they were so he could start tracking their quarry. His senses were some of the keenest in the office and he had by far the most tracking skills being a beast hunter first and foremost. Out here though with this weather he was still having trouble. While the winds howled deafeningly there was another sound echoing through the vermont countryside. Jaklo’s ears noticeably perked up as he raised a hand to them.

“One… two… One… two…” He began to count.

His eyes widened noticing the pattern.

“It’s moving, it’s actually walking, and I don’t think it’s a mage anymore.” Jaklo shouted rushing back to the group, “Whatever this is it’s a lot bigger than we thought. We should try to get a closer look so investigations knows what we are dealing with.”

Jaklo hadn’t even noticed the witch that joined the group. His focus was purely on the hunt now. He had Legacy in one hand, Arcane Justice in the other, and a devilish grin on his face.

In the furious blizzard, Baron felt a wave of numbing cold wash over him. His shining blue tattoos flared brightly, bringing a sharp pain all across his body as though he was being branded. Eventually the sensation faded, leaving Baron comfortably warm despite wearing little more than casual wear in the middle of the raging storm. He smiled, glad for the spell despite any pain it brought him. His eyes surveyed the offensive team gathered around, eyes working hard to pick them out from between the flurry of snowflakes. "Atlas... Mithias... Drake... Jaklo..." He thought, taking a mental inventory of the team as he looked. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw an extra body pop through the portal. "Who the hell?" He thought, eyes narrowing as he peered at her. His intuition made him think demonologist right off the bat, though that was hardly reliable in this line of work.

“Don’t worry, lads, I’ve come to add a feminine touch. Cassandra Owens at your service, pleasure to shed blood with you.”

Baron smiled at the words, though his tentacles still waved annoyedly at the unexpected guest. Almost mindlessly, the tentacles waved in a repetative pattern -every second or so one would sweep across the ground and remove a layer of snow. This resulted in a steadily growing area of clear ground around Baron himself. He looked down at his metallic arm, frowning as he felt the mechanics respond slower. He idly brushed away snow that was getting caught in the workings of the device, frowning as he did so. His head perked up from his preoccupation when Jaklo spoke.

“Whatever this is it’s a lot bigger than we thought. We should try to get a closer look so investigations knows what we are dealing with.”

In response, Barons tentacles moved of their own volition, spreading out just slightly wider as if to make Baron appear larger -similar to what one might do when facing a mountain lion. A grimace crossed his face. "Yes, how lovely." He stated simply, as many of his tentacles faded from existence, only to be replaced with new ones. Rather than the conglomeration of orange and blue he had sported earlier, the large majority of these were oily black surrounded by a purple haze. As the orange tentacles vanished, Baron slumped further down until he began actually using his cane to hold himself up once again. He moved -or perhaps limped closer to the new arrival, raising his head.

"So, what is it that you bring to the table, as far as 'shedding blood' goes?" He asked curiously, raising his voice above the howling winds. As he raised his voice, his natural French accent became more prominent, slurring the words just slightly. His tentacles all moved downwind so that their disorienting fog wouldn't be blown into the area of his teammates. Even as he spoke, his eyes peered into the blizzard, hoping to catch some sign of their adversary.

Wind and cold ripped at Cassandra’s skin and clothes, her red mane quickly turning white in the growing blizzard. Snow threatened to swallow her as she moved closer to her team, many of whom were busy clearing it away from their immediate area. She knew what she’d be up against and still she decided to dress to impress. Beauty is pain.

The first of the group to acknowledge her was Drake, who spoke with an elegance that betrayed his years. He bowed, and Cassandra chuckled and returned the gesture. How strangely cordial of him.

“. . . you trying to give your feet hell in those shoes?” Drake teased, his arms enveloped in flames and casting a warmth over the group. Cassandra welcomed the momentary escape from the chill, and she didn’t really mind a joke or two at her expense.

“They’re not as bad as you might think . . . maybe I’ll let you try them on later, you could do with some extra height,” she joked in a sultry voice.

Atlas welcomed her next, though it wasn’t much of a welcome. He gave a give quick reply with blood-stained teeth, then turned away to play with his knives . . . typical.

Then came the beast of the group, Mithias, who towered over her and had an almost alien look. She did take a moment to admire his dark locks, which were flying about almost as wildly as were her own.

Finally, there was Baron, a truly strange combination of mechanical limbs and eldritch tentacles. Cassandra felt uneasy around such a man, but she kept her discomfort hidden. This wasn’t the time for her to feel intimidated. If anything, it was her chance to be intimidating.

“So, what is it that you bring to the table as far as ‘shedding blood’ goes?” he limped over in curiosity.

How would she describe her talents? Would she simply label herself a witch and assume they were familiar enough with this world to know what she meant? Would she give them a display of power or pull out her trump card? And what of this threat that was approaching, how would she handle herself against something unknown? These questions raced through her mind as they stood there in the cold. She hadn’t cared about first impressions before, but never before had they mattered. Normally, she saw a client once, did what they needed, got paid, then went along her merry way never to see them again. This was different, she actually had to work with these people. She decided to take a chance.

“I’ll show you,” she responded, removing her Hawthorn wand from her side. She weaved a large circle into the snow, sigils and lettering of her family’s decorating the interior and exterior in beautifully symmetrical patterns. She spoke the chant:



Light emanated from the circle’s center, a small spark growing into a raging flame that formed as she incanted. Once she was finished, the flames had take shape. Where the magic circle once stood, a large, ornate, brass cauldron took its place. It seemed to ward away the snow that collected around it, creating a clear patch in its immediate area. Cassandra went over to the Pit and rubbed its side as if it were an obedient pet. A flame was lit in its belly in response, providing the group with even more heat and light.

Cassandra smiled and turned back to Baron. “This is what I had in mind.”

@fdeviant
“They’re not as bad as you might think . . . maybe I’ll let you try them on later, you could do with some extra height,” she joked in a sultry voice.

Drake huffed at her response, though in a more playful then offended way, "I won't be so short for long." Drake commented with a grin before returning his attention to the rest of the group, he took note of the rest of allies, the monster of a vampire Mithias, Baron the, well, whatever he is, Atlas the rude vampire with the knives, and Jaklo the hunter.

“It’s moving, it’s actually walking, and I don’t think it’s a mage anymore.” Jaklo shouted rushing back to the group, “Whatever this is it’s a lot bigger than we thought. We should try to get a closer look so investigations knows what we are dealing with.”

Drake grinned with excitement as according to what Jacklo had said, it sounded as if they were up against a monster, which happened to be Drake's favorite prey challenge. He readied his massive half ton axe with an easy grip to the side, however he became distracted.

Light emanated from the circle’s center, a small spark growing into a raging flame that formed as she incanted. Once she was finished, the flames had take shape. Where the magic circle once stood, a large, ornate, brass cauldron took its place. It seemed to ward away the snow that collected around it, creating a clear patch in its immediate area. Cassandra went over to the Pit and rubbed its side as if it were an obedient pet. A flame was lit in its belly in response, providing the group with even more heat and light.

Upon seeing the burning cauldron, Drake's eyes lit up like a child at Christmas morning. His thoughts momentarily left of the threat ahead and instead dove straight into the cauldron that likely would burn any mortal flesh upon contact from its heat, however Drake seemed unharmed as he entered, and would remove his helmet with a relaxed expression. His eyes closed and a small smile on his face as he remained in the protective heat of the cauldron, Mithias's heat provided the bare minimum protection, my own heat expends my energy, the cauldron, however, provided a perfect scenario of heat and relaxation, despite what would most imagine would be an uncomfortable position, the heat was too alluring for me to care.
"I think I'll stay in here for a little bit, I'll catch up don't worry." He said half asleep and barely paying attention to reality.

@dragonmancer

"You are fucking kidding me..." Jaklo growled.

The hunter grabbed a small blue sphere from his belt and chucked it at Drake's head. On contact the orb break releasing a blue fog. When it cleared Drake's head was encased in ice despite any heat around him. At this point Jaklo grabbed and dragged him out throwing him into the snow.

"We are on job right now. So stop fucking around before I send you back to the office in a wheelchair." Jaklo roared actually brandishing legacy, "You can mess around on your own time, not when there are lives on the line."

There was a clear rage and fire in Jaklo's eyes. He was already set to fight their foe, and now all that rage was being directed at Drake. He hated amateurs trying to do a professional's job. They put everyone in the magical community at risk as well as many who were completely oblivious.

"So are you gonna act like a hunter or a child?" He shouted.