A Murder in the Night

The crime had just happened. The corpse was not even cold. Yet betrayed was the divination. Magick and Sorcery, recently reawakened by a fluctuation in the energies of Planet Earth, had been sabotaged. Outwitted, outsmarted! The year was 2015. The Place was in the former European Union. The crime was unsolved, warded against spiritual investigation by someone mighty enough to enforce his or her will upon even the best of us!

Time was ticking, to abuse that proverb. Three ranking adepts were willed into investigating this murder before the Police would even be informed of it. Yet none of their powers could just breach the ward by which the killer or culprit was protected.

The adepts, as independent of each other they would like to work, would not be able to prevent a onetime personal meeting in this line of duty. Two Forces had high priority relevance in their investigation from the start. One was the Culprit or Killer, including the true motive, not just what police would be satisfied with. Second was finding out, what overtly powerful will-worker had made it inevitable to each of them.

The Cast (choice of Protagonists)

Adrian Pauper. Faction: Ashen Warlocks. Major Adept, 38 years old. Citizenship: German. Criminal Record: Clear. Favored Martial Art: Wing Shun.

Valeria Galsworthy. Faction: Witches of the Isles. Extraordinaire Minor Adept, 22 years old. Citizenship: British. Criminal Record: Cleared. Favored Martial Art: Muay Thai.

Dennis Monaural. Faction: Technocrats. Major Adept, 34 years old. Citizenship: French. Criminal Record: Cleared. Favored Martial Art: Savate-French Boxing.

While the adepts acknowledge their presence to each other, each of them summons the memories and lore about the persons perceived.

The Ashen Warlocks.

Bound into the semi-criminal underbelly of society, the ashen warlocks have risen to a form of notoriety due besting members of most other factions and styles on occasion. Officially noticed only since 1910, they are considered a young faction. Pledging Loyalty to the Occult Lodge of Ur has reinforced the estimation, that all ashen warlocks are actually former criminals. Give the admiring undertone most of them have for assassins and assassination, that part was no real surprise. The Sorcery of the Ashen Warlocks is usually intuitively-quick, sometimes dirty or desperate and varies from specialists to versatile loners or covens. Ashen Warlocks are empirical, not too fond of theories or academic databases. Even though raised from criminals, they are fierce in upholding and enforcing their traditions. They are as well notorious for their intolerance towards anybody who did not earn an achievement. Ashen Warlocks believe, that proper initiation means to unlock the true potential a person has. They do not believe in: Anything which is craved just must be possible. Warlocks use Sorcery, even when they know Magick by book.

Witches of the Isles.

As an ancient order they are wrapped in folklore and superstition. Celtic, that myth alone camouflaging plenty of truth. The Witches stem from a matriarchal society which was destroyed before modern civilization even noted its own history. They, as a faction, are actually as old as the islands they hail from. Many modern witches prefer academic backgrounds or corporate careers, though there is no duty to chose. The stereotype of the old village herbal woman is still fully accepted in their ranks. Witches tend to be overtly concerned with female rights, which is blessing as curse to them occasionally. Where Ashen Warlocks believe in 'culling failures' the Witches instead prefer tolerance. Though that has been blissful here and baleful there as well. As women are socialites by tendency there are supportive networks and subcultures spread all over the Planet. Witches are known to put the cause over mortal roles and morals on occasion. Witchcraft is a form of synthesis from Magick and Sorcery.

Technocrats.

With their primary focus on the use of modern technology this faction became the most famous since 1980. Often members do not even consider their magick to be magick it all. From that and similar stems the criticism of the Ashen Warlocks, that the genius of their ilk was corrupted by serving the same old masters for monetary comforts' sake, even where that results in abuse, elitism and stagnation. Traditionally Technocrats shun the Warlocks and view the Witches with contempt. High ideals, large-scale goals and comfortable positions in society have truly been proverbial blessing and curse to many Technocrats. While some conflicts with the Warlocks is historically noted, it remains a truism, that great Technocrats are felled by other great Technocrats. Technocrats use Magick as exclusively, as Warlocks do with Sorcery. Technocrat Magick is often known as Technomancy. The stain of fraud and computer hackers was countered by their own ilk; with a fluctuating degree of success, some would add.

Exemplified

Adrian allowed his senses to assess the environment. As soon as he sensed no threat from the other two persons in the vicinity. Clearly no suicide, yet no visible wound either. The thought that an unknown form of assassin had struck the woman down was not as wrong as he first suspected. Death by System-Shock. Whatever was done to the former living body was so forceful that it had made the body stop giving vital signs.

Valeria chanted a pledge of faith to Hecate, Lilith and others. Her right hand gestured, as if she would draw invisible symbols into the air around the corpse. Suddenly she took the cellular phone from her pocket and photographed the corpse from several different angles. The Killer IS male! The woman had died due brutal violation of an unknown sort. Even worth, the fiend had rejoiced in her death. Valeria struggled versus the nausea caused by her empathetic feedback.

Dennis frowned. The other two in their non-scientific approaches reminded too much of grandpa and grandma trying to keep up with progress. While he copied the data from the witches' cellular phone he focused repeatedly on the impressions of the crime scene and the corpse itself. A lethal shock seemed weird, yet possible. With all necessary data collected for later analysis he attuned his mind to the building itself. Cheap trick, the building as such was warded against divination to avoid that kind of prying eyes just as well, as technical surveillance.