The Scorched Library (Clooby, Darth, Squishy)

Judith Vilcaron 1/5/2 - Hylian - Darth_Slaverus
Julius Surgate - 4/1/4 - Hylian - Cloud
Clarence Clearwater - 2/5/2 - Hylian - Squishy

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Though the fire had been reduced to a few cinders amidst the rubble, the air was still thick with the scent of smoke. Clarence stared at the enormous field of rubble in front of him, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.

Once the rubble had been a magnificent library belonging to the Clearwater family and the academy, until a fire last night had destroyed the building and nearly all of its contents. It had housed mainly manuscripts written by the academy's many scholars, though there had also been a few priceless and age old tomes amongst them, now reduced to ash and a few scraps of scorched paper.

Besides the debris a table had been set up, the precious few books that had been salvaged from the ruined building neatly laid out on top. None of them had escaped the fire completely unscatched, but at least these had most, if not all their pages left and the damage consisted mainly of scorchmarks on the cover or around the edges of the pages. Clarence looked over the books, frowning when he did not see any of the rarer tomes the library had contained.

The strange thing was how the fire had been able to break out and destroy the entire building, as there were more than a few protective spells placed on it to keep the paper and rows and rows of shelves safe.

That it was not just a natural occurence or accident was certain, the question now was: who did it, and why?

Julius scoured the remains of the library. Charred wreckage and ash was nearly all the remained. His helmet lay on the ground beside him, he himself crouched over, inspecting the remains. He ran his gloved hand through the ash, pulling a handful up to his face.

Having only one eye in investigative cases such as these was a huge disadvantage. No depth perception, and on top of that, his eye was already beginning to get a little spotty. He blew the grey-white ash with a puff, and watched it fall onto other piles of ash. From what had already been investigated, there were numerous protective seals placed on the library. It was most definitely arson: that much they knew. He stood from his crouch, picking up his helmet by its visor as he once more examined the wreckage. Nothing but ash.

He moved to a separate field of debris. His sifted through it with his hands, careful of any remaining artifacts, whether they be evidence or not. But everything was evidence. Everything had to be evidence. This was the part of his job he hated; objects of this sort couldn't simply be returned to their owners. It was procedure. A boring, overly complex procedure. He moved onto his knees as he sifted through a larger mound...

His fingers brushed something solid. He searched for it again, unable to tell its precise location through the mountain of debris. There! A corner! He tugged on it carefully, wary of its potentially fragile nature. There was no sense in losing more than had already been lost. Retrieving it from the pile of ash, he brushed its cover gently with his fingers. As more and more ash fell from its cover, he noticed a brown leather cover with gold along its spine and corners. It seemed important. He carefully moved, holding the tome in a grasp that lingered between tight and loose. As he stood from his knees he jogged over to Clarence, the Headmaster of the Academy, and a girl... woman? whom he had never seen before. As the woman finished speaking to Clarence, he interjected-- Clarence would be happy to see this, after all. "Sorry to interrupt Miss-- I'm afraid I haven't caught your name. I'm Julius Surgate, a member of the Castle Guard," he spoke, shifting his eye contact between the tome, Clarence, and Judith. "I was assigned here to head this case, and I hope you don't mind me interrupting, but I've just found this tome. It looked to be of importance, so I decided I'd bring it to you," he added, placing the tome onto a clear spot on the table.

Clarence was pulled from his thoughts by a voice behind him. He turned around to face a young, pretty woman dressed in long robes. It took him a moment to realise what exactly she was saying, raising his eyebrows in surprise. He had not yet had the pleasure to meet any member of the Cult of Nayru, though he had heard of them often enough at the Academy, as his father was acquainted with their leader.

"Thank you, milady. That is very kind of you." Clarence managed. Then he noticed the woman's feet and winced. "P-please! Don't trouble yourself! I will not have you burning your feet for a few cinders and a pile of ash. We already have people working on recovering the books, though I'm afraid that this," he motioned at the meagre collection on the table. "Is all that is left."

At that moment another person approached.

"Ah yes, mister Surgate. They told me you would lead this case." Clarence responded to the blonde man. He picked up the tome the other man had just put down, looking over the cover and flipping through it.

The History of Hyrule, he noticed with a thin smile. At least that survived. The most tedious book he had ever read in his entire life. It seemed to be as sturdy as it was boring, which was a good thing in this case.

"It's a classic. Not the most exciting, but any book that survived is important." He said, putting the tome down again. Then he perked up, as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I'd nearly forget to introduce myself...! My apologies, my name is Clarence Clearwater, headmaster of the Academy of Sages. The library was under protection of my family, though, well... As you can see, it..." He fell silent, gesturing at what had once been a magnificent building, not entirely sure how to describe it. The blonde sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I fear that as of yet we don't have any trace or clue to a possible culprit, though I was rather hoping your guards would maybe have found anything? Or maybe you, miss Vilcaron? If you have noticed anything unusual please, do say so. Right now any information can help us."

“Yes, of course.” With a sense of melancholy falling over the group for a brief period, Julius took that time to return to the investigation.

Thankfully, the entire structure hadn’t been reduced to ash: a few stout beams still stood, or bits from the ceiling lay on the now barren ground, the rafters having fallen during the flame. Guards in jerkins and mail all waltzed around, clearing the ash from the disaster. The library had been almost a landmark to Hyrule: it was an asset to the Academy of Sages, and housed many countless tomes and artifacts from ages past. It was a museum, in a sense: housing things long since passed their use, vague bits of knowledge floating among its interiors. Julius suspected that something was afoot, however. There was no sense in simple arson; nor was this case simply arson. He knew well how guarded the library had been: a simple fire couldn’t have done this. No. This was deliberate, planned. Whomever their culprit was, he had a fine idea of how these wards held, and how to dismiss them without causing any sense of alarm. Clearly, they were dealing with an expert.

As the crews finished up, the daylight waned; the sun set far into the distance, just beyond the mountains to the west. The pinkish light of the day’s end made something apparent to him as he searched the scattered remnants, however. A strip of white cloth, with some kind of reddish colouring on it . . . perhaps a trace of the perpetrator?

The whole mess lead further than any of them could begin to comprehend. To Julius, it was just another crime; for Judith, it was the desecration of valuable knowledge; and finally, the library was of course in Clarence’s possession. Julius studied the cloth a bit more intensely for a second. At the strip’s frayed edges, he could make hints of violet colouring as well… Maybe a piece of the perpetrator’s costume? Wherever it lead, they would be sure to follow. That much would be sure. Yet, an unwavering sense of dread filled Julius as he hurried back to his companions, still in the midst of conversation.

Evening was upon the trio now. A matter of moments before, the setting sun had cast rays quite exquisite. And now, there was only the veil of night. Approaching both Clarence and Miss Vilcaron, he broke into a wild run for the last thirty or so feet.

“I’ve found –“ he cut himself off, the metal of his sabatons dragging through the scorched earth. “—something,” he finished, presenting the scrap. “It might not be much to look at, but it’s a start.” He had confidence that they had something solid to go on now. “I think with this, we’ll have a much easier time identifying possible culprits. Easier than chasing ghosts, at least,” he chuckled. His demeanor quickly returned to that of the stoic knight he tried to appear as, however. “Anyways. As it’s getting late, I propose we turn tomorrow. My men and I will stay posted throughout the night – however, I will extend basic courtesies to you two as well. If either of you desire to oversee operations with me, I will permit it,” he quickly added under his breath, “even if my superiors wouldn't ordain it.”

Clarence was about to thank Judith for her kind words,when Julius returned with... something.

It turned out to be a scrap of cloth. It was small, but as Julius had said, it was a start. He sounded more confident than a few moments ago, which was a reassuring thing to Clarence. Perhaps there were more tracks that they simply had not recognised as such yet, though by now it was too dark to search for more clues. It would have to wait until morning.

"I..." Clarence started, trying to find his words to respond to Julius' offer. "I would like to stay, please."

In truth, he did not feel like going back to the academy. Sleep was out of the question, as he knew he would simply lie awake, mind flowing over with questions and worries about what had happened. Though he might not accomplish much by staying here all night, it would give him a sense of reassurance, as he could keep an eye out so that the remains of the library would not be disturbed. And it seemed like the right thing to do, being headmaster. The academy, and the library, were his responsibilities. That it had burned down had already been a blow, had felt like a failure on his part, so investigating the cause was the least he could do to make up for it.

"Maybe I might not be able to do much tonight, but... I want to help. I have to help."

Then he turned to the priestess.

"Miss Vilcaron, if you wish to retire for the night, I could offer you a room at the academy for the time being? I doubt there is much we can do right now... I want to stay here to make sure nothing else happens."

"I appreciate your assistance with this matter, sister," Julius responded, turning to the headmaster. "As I said, you are more than welcome; that is, if you don't mind staying in a tent crowded with up to twelve other people," Julius laughed, smirking behind his helmet. "Anyways, Sister Vilcaron, I'll have one of my men take you to the academy; I assume you'll be going as well, Mister Clearwater?" He paused, looking towards Clarence.

"I'll see to it that you're cleared for entry upon your return," he continued, "it was a pleasure making your acquaintance, madam," Julius left off with the two of them, bowing to the miss, before departing towards the tent.

It was a white sort of color, appearing between white and khaki -- it was a sort of canvas material, keeping out the wind and some of the light as well. It was large enough -- that is, if you consider each person within the tent as having only a few square feet of space. It was a good thing, then, that he started his men off on usual rotation. First rotation consisted of four men: Francis, Ergol, Jacosta, and then Threshrow. He told another guard to take Clarence and Judith to the academy.
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The night progressed without much alarm at first. Clarence and Judith had made it to the academy safely -- Clarence had come back alone, Miss Vilcaron taking the headmaster's offer of lodgings graciously. The first two shifts of watch ended without event -- and it wasn't until fourth shift, which was around 3 am, that something became suspect.

Julius had been up during that time -- he dressed in little else but a loincloth and a shirt as he stepped out of the tent in a daze. It was almost as though he was asleep -- Din knew he wished he was, but his body had other concerns on hand, like urinating.

The tent was a few yards off from the site of the arson -- it was still quite easy to see the torches of the guards as they surveyed late at night, however. Julius wandered towards some shrubbery quite a ways off -- about ten yards from the tent. He heard some shuffling about not too far off, but he didn't think much of it. His senses didn't cause him to jump into action, either -- for all he knew it was simply a dog or some kind of woodland critter being jittery. Raccoons weren't entirely unheard of, either.

Julius approached the tent, idly counting the torches. As he climbed back into the tent, unworried, he drifted back asleep in a matter of moments. It wasn't until the next day, when they'd find three guards.bound and naked, and another dead with his throat slashed. A note had been pinned to his uniform: "More shall come, if hindered we are."

An eye with a teardrop coming directly off the bottom with it signed off the letter. Julius, shocked as he was, managed to utter a response: "Go get Miss Vilcaron, now. You," he said, somewhat angrily, pointing to one of the stockier guardsmen, "take this," he continued, pulling out the strip of fabric, "and go get examined by a tailor."

As expected, Clarence did not get a lot of sleep that night. The first thing he did, upon returning, was helping to move the table with the remaining books inside one of the tents, making a note of every tome in a small notebook he had retrieved from his robes. If he could help it, these books would be even more closely guarded than they had ever been in the library. Losing even more knowledge was unacceptable, and a clear sign of failure for his position as headmaster.

Still, somehow, while flipping through one of the remaining books, the Hylian nodded off, giving in through pure exhaustion. As agitated and anxious he had been, the whole day had worn him down in body and mind.

It was not a restful sleep at all, as Clarence woke up many times during the night, his limbs feeling like pins and needles from the uncomfortable sleeping position in a chair. At one point he could swear he heard something rustle outside of the tent, but soon enough sleep claimed him again, and when he woke, he could not remember.

The following morning, Clarence awoke feeling sore and sluggish, though the latter quickly faded when he heard panicked sounds outside. He emerged from the tent, only to be greeted by a myriad of guards running to and fro, Julius shouting orders in the midst of them.

"What happened...?" Clarence asked, paling at the sight of the man with the slashed throat.

"W-who did this?!"

Julius had calmed down by the time Clarence had awoken and Judith had arrived. He had declined to comment before miss Vilcaron arrived, commenting that it would be best to use their combined knowledge to piece together what had likely happened.

When Judith arrived to the scene, they congregated in a tent, while the rest of the Guardsmen spent the day mourning their fallen comrades. Some of them swore vengeance, some of them asked the Goddesses to bless their souls. Some opted to ay nothing at all. The actual funerals would not be for a while longer; their kin would be informed, and then they would decide funeral processions.

Julius spent a while distracted by the gathering of his allies. Some, off duty, he recognized, poured liquids into the ground; water, milk, even liquors. Regardless, he needed to find out who was behind this. Otherwise, it would eat at him for th rest of his life.

He snapped back to reality, departing from whatever reverie had so enraptured his attention before. None could tell, but vile emotions stewed from within him. He tried to project his calm, stoic outwards appearance again. It worked, as far as he could tell. "So, our 'official' information thus far first. From what our analysis provived, the cloth, or... whatever garments they wore, were extremely resistant to heat. So far, from what I've been able to gather, it's pretty much Dodongo Hide, perhaps with a few materials mixed in. Next, to have escaped the blaze, they would have had to have some form of magical aid. From the fww consultants I've had contacted, some possibilities are Portals, perhaps Wizzwarp... there's no way to know for sure, but we are positive they didn't simply leave. And next," he paused for a second, rummaging through his Adventure Pouch. He studied the parchment carefully, grimacing at it all the while. "And next, there's this." He put the paper in the center of the table.

"No one knows about this, other than the three of us gathered here. I'm certain at least a few had seen it before I'd arrived, but I'm not sure they got such a good look at it. Regardless," he paused here, to point at the symbol, "whoever did this wants us to halt our investigations immediately. I'm half-tempted to shelve the case, but if we do that, I'd have to shelve the murder as well. Anyways, the symbol. Headmaster, I'm not sure exactly how much you've read into that tome I recovered yesterday, or if it even covers what I'm about to say, but..." Julius trailed off for a second. He scanned their faces for a second, before continuing, "This mark belongs to a shadow organization in Hyrule. The Sheikah. They were, at a point, well known for protecting the crown of Hyrule. Body guards, if you will. I could divulge more information, but I'm afraid I cannot. Their line, however, still works incredibly close with the crown, and even the upper echelons of the Guard."

He took a second to breathe. "There was an incident at Impa, that you both are likely familiar with. I'll leave out the details, but the two whom saved the city? They were Sheikah as well. I'm sure that whoever's behind this is just... a copycat group, most likely. Still, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the situation as well. Mister Clearwater, if you'd please, would there be any particular... tomes, or perhaps artifacts, that someone would be interested in having?"

Clarence was feeling faint from the sight of blood and the slashed throat, and he was more than happy when Julius offered him distraction with his questions. He looked at the symbol on the paper, slowly nodding.

"Yes, I know about them. One of the two is a teacher at the Academy. But the Sheikah are known as one of the most loyal servants to the crown. I cannot imagine any of them doing something like this..." He pondered the guardsman's last question, trying to remember what had been stored in the burned down library. "There were various tomes on the history of our kingdom. As far as I know none of them contained anything risque or incriminating. Although..." Clarence took a deep breath, and brushed some stray strands of hair behind his ear. "This library also acted as a kind of... archive, so to speak. The castle and the Academy house other parts of it. When documents reach a certain age, they are no longer considered relevant, and are moved here. They can be documents of any kind, marriage certificates, trade logs... and certain less savoury things. Letters and orders whose very contents could be called treason, or contracts for... well... unpleasant things. T-there weren't many of them, I'm sure, but still..."

Clarence had never paid a lot of attention to the records, stored in a separate, closed off section of the library, but as the library had belonged to his family, he knew about their existence. For something that had never seen relevant, it was making him terribly nervous now.

"They were filed away in a closed off section, only those with permission from the royal family or the Academy's headmaster were allowed to look at them. Though I can imagine there were some... documents stored there, with information someone could not want the world to know."

He looked from Julius to Judith, swallowing nervously. He could only hope that whoever had done this was only after documents, and not the people who knew more about them...

"I imagine it could be Sheikah all the same. Or Hylian, perhaps," he spoke, looking towards Judith. "But yes, I do believe this gives me a plan. Miss Vilcaron, Sir Clearwater, if you'd remain here under the protection of my staff, I do believe I have a plan that should serve us well enough. I'll explain it when I get back, but first, I do believe I have a store to pay visit to." He departed from them there, letting the guardsmen under his watch know of his destination.
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In short, it was a pawn shop. People there would sell their undesired belongings -- but it was so much more than that. It had an underbelly Julius dealt with more often than he had a taste for.

You see, the store in question was also a place to requisite the more… questionable goods one might have the need for. These ranged from various hallucinogenics – to more magical, sometimes illegal things. The particular item he was there for was something normally odd, at the best. It was disturbing in its own right at the worst. It was a mask, imbued with stranger magic than usual, even in Hyrule. You see, this particular mask fed (in a sense) off of its wearer’s feelings for sleep – of course, it could just as easily be altered in such a way as to allow its wearer no sleep, but still allow the ever increasing, boundless need for sleep to seep in. In time, it would drive people insane. Eventually, they died.

So really, it was no wonder as to why Julius had to go there to procure that particular item – he would have been hard-pressed to find it elsewhere. It was as much a curiosity as the ever-present shop. Rupees changed hands in an instant, the mask being paid for and donned as he left again for the remains of the library.
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He made it back in near-record time. The trip, to nearly the heart of Castle Town, had taken perhaps a half-hour at most. Julius had no urge to sleep, now. He truly could stay up all night.

He stepped back onto the grounds. Something was off. It felt… sinister. He sensed the area, which was quite quiet at the moment, and felt the life forces around him. They were all… no, this couldn’t be right. He looked to his left. About a dozen feet away was a Guardsman, but… No. No, this couldn’t be happening, Julius thought, as he drew his blade.

An arrow pinged off of his shield. Yes, it was happening. He yelled out for anyone – Threshrow, Jocasta, Ergol. There was no response. “Judith! Clarence!” He yelled as he closed to the traitor… if he was even a member of the Guard in the first place, at least.

After Julius had left, Clarence turned to Judith. Her steadfastness was... reassuring. This whole investigation slowly seemed to be turning more and more into a nightmare, but the priestess and Julius gave him hope. And at least he was not alone in this mess.

"Sister Judith, I am most grateful for your assistance in this... matter. I honestly do not want to think what would have happened if I had to face this- this nightmare alone. I truly hope we can put an end to this soon."

Not entirely sure what else to say, Clarence pulled a small notebook from his pocket, flipping through it until he found the desired page. The mage was sure that the guard was also keeping note of their findings, but it could never hurt to have a backup. He pursed his lips as he scribbled down everything they had found and theorized so far.

Julius' sudden shouts startled Clarence so bad his hand slipped and drew a big black scratch through his notes. He immediately dropped his work and dashes outside, fearing another attack.

"S-sir Surgate!"

Julius muttered under his breath. He'd have to have a talk with miss Vilcaron later, but it would have to wait until they dealt with whoever this traitor was. Thankfully, he was already somewhat crippled, and Julius reached him just as his blade had finished sliding from its scabbard, the rasp of the metal being nothing more than a whisper on the wind.

How would he approach this situation? If you knew about many of his escapades, you'd know good and well the answer would likely be death, especially considering the guardsman's traitorous ways. Surely, he'd be put to death eventually -- but not now. They had information. Valuable information, in fact. And they had a way to extract it, as it would so turn out to be.

Julius' shield flew into the side of the man's head, rendering him unconscious as the blade flew from his hand. He looked around. Judith was, thankfully, alright, if bearing nothing more than a few scrapes and scratches. However, now still was not the time. Julius turned back to the would-be assassin, looking him over carefully. They'd need to carefully deliberate any possible action he could take.

"So, I'm guessing you're wondering what I went to go get," Julius wagered, taking off his helmet as he talked. "I went to get..." He removed his helmet all the way off, revealing the black webbing covering his face. "This." He removed it, showing it to his companions. "Allow me to explain further. Using this, we can make it so that the prisoner there isn't able to sleep... but he'll still feel the need to." It was... morally ambiguous, at best, and torture at worst. However, considering the series of heinous crimes that had just been committed, it seemed rather minor, and far more humane than physical torture. All they needed to do was wait for him to regain consciousness...

Clarence's mind was reeling. Whoever had burned down the library was not simply satisfied with that, but was also actively hunting down anyone who dared to investigate. And with his own connection to the library- and its contents- being public knowledge, well... It was not something he liked to dwell on.

By the time he had shaken himself from shock, Julius and Judith had deflected the assassin's attack and knocked him out. Heart still racing, he moved over to the priestess' side to help her to her feet.

"Are you hurt, miss Vilcaron? What you did was... very brave."

When Julius' explained his curious piece of equipment, Clarence merely nodded. He had seen the mask many times, it was a popular, if slightly questionable accessory amongst students, especially once exams came around. The use Julius proposed, however, was of an entirely different kind.

"Torture?!" He wrung his hands nervously. "I... I cannot say I approve of this. I understand we have little choice, but still..."

Clarence was torn. Torture was a cruel measure, even if its victim was a criminal, but they needed whatever information the assassin had. It was his duty as heir of the Clearwater family and headmaster of the academy to get to the bottom of this. This was not the time for mercy.

The blonde sighed, dropping his hands to his side.

"...Very well. I trust you to make the right decision, captain."