Built from Pain Part 3

## Story

Seline, Talia and Joshua go down to the Golden Goose bar a few blocks away from the office. They sure some of their adventures with Joshua while drinking. Several drinks later, Talia rouses a passed-out Joshua escorts into his room above the bar. Only to return and find Seline singing karaoke. After collecting Seline, Talia is unable to rent a room at this bar. The bartender suggest the Gray Lion. Talia stops at the restroom with Seline and goes from a stall into their estate. She carries a still singing Seline up to their room and deposits her in their bed and returns to the restroom. Talia thanks a bewildered bartender on her way out. Talia stealthily, kinda... sneaks into the alleyway to spirit of horses into the estate. At the Grey Lion and back in the estate, Seline is still singing like an angel according to Talia. She holds Seline before sleep takes her. "It's a restless sleep filled with dreams of fire at a certain point it clarifies into a more solid dream as you run from house to house hiding trying to get to the forest edge. Mother said get to the forest, get out of town, hide in the woods! And you rushed past a shadowy figure and bump into him and there's a curse as an object drops to the ground as you scramble away and look behind to see strange man standing over you holding a pistol, one lying on the ground. He fires after you but misses as you turn and look behind you and see your village burning. You see that man, the man you saw on the posters all over town, put a bullet through one of your cousin's head and then suddenly you're not running towards the forest anymore. You're running towards him! Suddenly you're not a child anymore, your black trench coat flares out behind you as you feel a surge of power down your right arm as Death's Whisper materializes in your hand. You bring it around to his face as you reach point blank range and you pull the trigger. The sound of the shot makes you from your sleep." Talia ask Death's Whisper if he sent the dream, he did not. However, he did help with the wolf in the woods. Talia writes to Nikki and Ernest informing them Death's Whisper has granted her some abilities and ask for their opinion on it. Talia's raven returns with Raven's message: that is troublesome news from South but not worried yet. Talia sends off her letters and returns to a hungover Seline who casts Lesser Restoration on herself. In the Victoria Greshan dossier, there's nothing new. In the dossier on Jareth's family, it's a report on a relatively small fire. A single house burnt completely down with some collateral damage to adjacent housing. There were two casualties one in the fire and one seemingly of smoke inhalation. Jareth's father, a tiefling was found in the house. Jareth's mother was found by the river bank, dead of smoke inhalation allegedly according to the report. Back at the Vance residence, Daniel tells Seline and Talia, Gwendolyn went back to Victoria's house. In the main hall and glancing through open doors, she saw things were missing and assumed that Victoria was gone. When she attempted climb the stairs she saw blood trails and large bloody boot prints and some bloody handprints. Daniel says it might be Victoria's manservant, a half orc. Gwendolyn was frightened off when she heard growling coming from floors above her. Seline and Talia have Daniel and Gwendolyn verify their story with Zone of Truth. Daniel feels that based on what Gwendolyn saw his failed Liza in his promise and asks if it is true, that Victoria's remains be brought back to be buried with his wife. Talia promises not to kill Victoria unless it's necessary. Talia also leaves a note with the DMP for Joshua, updating him with their current mission and the send the calvary if he doesn't hear from them two days. They stop for holy oil and water on the way. Victoria's houses in the extreme northern edge of town, almost outside the town. It's separated from other properties for at least 50 yards. There is high iron fence that surrounds the property but the gate for it is currently a jar. The yard is slightly overgrown, there are hedge bushes that are spaced out in waves away from the house and layered. While nearly as tall as Death House, it is twice as wide. There are oak double doors in the center of the building with high glass windows on either side of it and there's some sort of glass structure attached to the rear of the house. Talia smells fear at the gate probably Gwendolyn's. Seline and Talia share a good luck kiss before they go in. Inside the front door, Talia still smells Gwendolyn's fear but along with the normal scents of a house, she smells blood but it's not fresh and there is something else she can't quite place. Inside, another set of oak double doors to the left is a coat closet and to the right is a painting of a decrepit windmill on a hillside at sunset. On the staircase are two sets of footprints in blood. The first set go half way up and then hurriedly back down and are a smaller woman's flat shoe. The other set are big stompy looking boots that went up and down several times. Up the stairs is a hallway balcony to the right, is a couple doors right in front of them but not double doors. Although to the left are more doors, left of in front of them and more doors down the hall. Additionally the blood spatter indicates something bleeding was carried up the stairs and down the hall. They follow the blood to the end of the hall. Entering the door, it appears to be a small study with shelves with books missing. The scent of formaldehyde hits them as they enter. Tables that had been against the wall have been dragged into the center of the room. On them, appears to be a baking pan with some metal things on it and wires from it are hanging off the table to what appears to be chemical battery. In the baking pan, is a frog that has had wires installed into various parts what the frog appears to have been there for a long time. In a packing-case is a battery, a some copper wire and several books scattered about. One of the books, they pick up appears to be a old research log. At 15 plus years old, it has some of Victoria's records of earlier experiments involving dead animals and various voltages. Victoria appears to be very meticulous and thorough in her experimentation as well as her record-keeping. While Seline is reading the journal, Talia here's faint movement and rumbling about them. The smell she couldn't quite place, comes to her as machine oil. Down the hall and in another room, they find a bedroom. On a four-poster bed, the sheets have been removed in the mattress is soaked in blood. There's a body lying on the bed. Body is tied to the bed but is on it inverted with the head hanging off the foot the bed and the skull opened. It was likely dead when tied down because of the bullet wounds in the chest. Some bloody tools are strewn about. The body's been there at least since she's returned. Through an ajar door in the bedroom, they go up a narrow staircase also bloodied but they hear movement ahead of them on the next floor.

## Characters

### Players

* Seline Argent
* Talia Grey