• Graded • The Other Half [Finn]

[Maltruism]

The passage would have branched in three directions, but one of them was closed off by a collapsed ceiling. This was an all-too-common occurrence since the explosion in the Underground during the Shadow beast rampages the previous arc. As it was, the option to the right clearly led to a door. It was an easy decision for Molly.

The door had been wedged shut with shims and weights, as the lock was no longer serviceable. It took several moments for her to deal with unblocking all the different parts of what had been assembled to prevent the door from being opened from without; and her concern for Finn grew as she could no longer see him behind her.

Tears stood in her eyes as she rasped an hoarse gasp of effort, pulling the door open just enough to slip through. She found herself near the end of a back alley, folder in hand, as she quickly gauged which way would bring her to a more populace spot. She cast one last look of guilty regret as she abandoned the spot where she prayed to see Finn emerge, and took to the nearest street.

As she went, she grabbed up a broken discarded pot and a part of a wooden dowel and began banging them together to get attention. Most citizens ignored her, those that did not laugh or tell her to shut up, that is. One man even tossed a silver nel at her feet, but she ignored it. Soon enough, a Black Guard trooper came strolling down the street toward the alley, being towed somewhat reluctantly behind a desperate Magge.

"There you are!" Magge hissed, pointing at Molly, and hurrying in an effort to cut her off from the escape attempt she anticipated. But her tone softened when Molly came running toward them, waving and pointing back the way she'd come. The Black Guard was ready to call it "case solved", but Molly would have none of it. Nor would she allow the middle-aged woman to have the folder.

The Back Guard now stepped in with authority and wrestled it away from the child. But he did not hand it to Magge, stating that it was obviously important. He now knelt beside the child, who visibly sagged with relief, and asked her what it meant. They quickly established that it was a case file involving Molly's family, and the tragic event that had led to her Hall-enforced enrollment in the orphanage.

But Molly grew impatient quickly and started stamping her feet and pointing back at the alley. Magge tried to calm her, but the Black Guard started to stare keenly down the alley. "Wait here!" he said to them. "If she reads, tell her to spell what's wrong in as few words as possible on the palm of your hand." he took off towards the mouth of the alley.

Within ticks, Magge's voice called out, "FINN!...One of our boys...he must be in there." The guard started testing doors. before he reached the one that was still ajar, Magge came up behind him, her face pale. "Mother's mercy, sir, she spelled 'Bad Man', and then pointed to where it had 'Flayed' printed in her file. Her whole family was found flayed to death. She was the only survivor. All of them, even her twin sister, were killed by a flayer."

Now the guard drew his sword. "Stand Back." he ordered them as he kicked the door open into the darkness. Magge's voice trembled behind him. "Oh, poor Finn...and poor Mr. Karamoore."

The Guard spun back to face her, his eyes lit with intensity, "Did you say 'Karamoore'?" he hissed.

"W-what?" Magge stammered, surprised by the heat of the guard's question. "Well yes, he's our new assistant at the orphanage, he was chasing these two down just now. They were sneaking into rooms where they didn't be-..." she began in a gossipy voice, before the guard cut her off.

"Quiet! Both of you! Get out of here! Go back somewhere safe." He turned back to the dark doorway, "...Karamoore...Karamoore...I know that means something..." he muttered, rolling his wrist to keep his sword hand nimble as he disappeared into the passage.

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 15th Ashan, 717

He sprinted into dark, chased by the indistinguishable cries of Karamoore. There was no sight of Molly anywhere. He darted into the leftmost passage. The path ahead was dimly lit, uneven, and he nearly tripped over the roughly hewn rock.

“You can’t hide!” Karamoore’s voice boomed from behind.

Finn redoubled his efforts. To his horror, the road was blocked. With a thumping heart he skidded to a halt before a large stone while Karamoore’s heavy footfalls drew ever nearer.

A sliver of light shone from behind the round stone. Fearing the worst, Finn pushed his fingers past the crack and pushed to the side. To his surprise, the heavy stone gave way, rolling slowly to the side. Gritting his teeth, Finn threw his entire weight into rolling the stone door open. A scent of ash and soot drifted from the room beyond.

“Get back here!” Karamoore’s voice sounded terribly close.

A rough hand grasped his shoulder, but he yanked himself free and jumped through the narrow opening he’d managed to create before the stone rolled back with a low thud. Blinded by a bright light shining through a hole in the ceiling, Finn stumbled around, desperately searching for an exit. But there was no way out. There was nowhere to hide. It reeked of fire and decay inside.

His loud breathing ricocheted against the rock and he heard the stone door turning behind him. Then he saw it. His eyes had adapted to the sunlight blazing down into the cavernous space. In the middle of the circular room stood the remains of a large pyre, littered with bones. Did someone live here? For a tick he thought the bones to be those of animals, but then he spotted the charred and withered remains of half-burnt limbs. Human limbs. Dozens of them.

The stone entrance rolled open and Mr. Karamoore came racing into the room, his face even paler than usual. Finn barely responded to the clutches that seized him as he gagged and covered his mouth with one hand.

“There are bodies…” he stuttered feebly.

“Got you!” Karamoore barked into Finn’s left ear as his thin, long fingers combed through the boy’s hair and took hold there. Finn yelped at the sharp tug at his hair but didn’t have the courage to retaliate.

“You’re in a world of trouble, do you hear me?” Karamoore hissed at him.

“But there are bodies! Don’t you see the bodies?”

Mr. Karamoore halted. He was tall, thin, and balding. His icy blue eyes glanced at the dreadful pyre. Of course he had seen it. He had half a mind to throw the squirming little rat onto the pile, but not before flaying the brat’s energy. It wouldn’t calm his hunger for very long, he knew, yet it was tempting to give in. Indeed he would have if that fat dunce Magge hadn’t also witnessed the whole ordeal. No, he would have to deal with the petulant child later. Some kind of unfortunate accident, a dozen or so trials from now… He looked forward to it.

His gaze darkened as he yanked at Finn’s hair, forcing the boy to look up at him. “Now you listen, and you listen well…” he said in a low voice. “You did not see anything down here, is that understood?”

Finn didn’t say anything as Mr. Karamoore shook him again. Did Molly have something to do with this?

“What’s this?”

Finn’s eyes widened. The letter he’d stuffed under his shirt had fallen from it’s hiding place and landed gently at Karamoore’s feet.

“Give it back! That’s mine!” Finn’s fingernails raked across Karamoore’s forearm as he tried to get the letter back, but Karamoore was too quick and kept it out of reach.

“Oh isn’t that sweet…” he said menacingly. “A letter from…dad? Mum? I think I’ll keep it…”

“Give it back!”

“I don’t think so.”

“But it’s mine, it belongs to me!” Tears sprung up in Finn’s eyes as he tried to snatch the letter from Karamoore’s hands. The latter tossed the boy aside and tore the fragile paper into two as Finn gasped for air on the floor.

“You saw nothing.” Karamoore re-iterated as he stuffed the two pieces into his pocket. “As long as you keep quiet, you’ll get it back.”

Finn sent a bitter scowl at Mr. Karamoore. “When?” he demanded to know.

“Soon,” Karamoore replied, though he had no intention of giving it back for a good long while to come. No, the letter clearly meant a great deal to the boy, and that made it useful. “Get up,” he said coldly, and remember what I am about to tell you…

---

By the time the Black Guard had made it into the underground tunnels, Mr. Karamoore emerged from the darkness of the blocked passageway, dragging Finn along with him by his ear. Karamoore narrowed his eyes upon spotting the Black Guard. This could get nasty.

“It’s alright,” he said in the most peaceful tone he could muster. “I’ve got him. He won’t be trying to run away again soon, won’t you?” He demanded a quick answer by tugging Finn's reddened ear to which the boy replied with a howl of pain followed by a rapid succession of no-noes.

“Were you sent by Magge?” Karamoore inquired. “Why don’t we sort this all out upstairs?”

[Maltruism]

A stare and a shake of the head can speak volumes. Everyone was marched back to the Hall of Rule and Reprimand with few words. Finn and Karamoore were placed in different chambers. Magge complicated things somewhat by her insistence that neither the boy nor the assistant caregiver were bad people. Naturally, she was inclined to cite Finn as the likely cause of trouble, having seen the truth of his mischievousness often enough. But she chalked it up to simple "boyishness" and felt it was not worth "...all this bother since clearly no harm was done."

She was ready to admit that Mr. Karamoore had a certain "creepiness" about him, but also felt this was just the way some people strike you, and should not be a basis for incarceration. The arresting officer, whose name was Morgan, promised her that no one was going to be arrested for either a prank or innate creepiness. But he had noted the white-faced terror on the face of Molly, who even now cringed in a corner staring at the door to the room where Mr. Karamoor was currently undergoing questioning.

He had also noted how this same Mr. Karamoore had not looked her way once the entire trip to the Hall. He knew from past experience that though such things were not evidence, they were noteworthy. The guard questioning Finn came out shaking his head, citing the boy's stubbornness and refusal to truly answer anything clearly. He was obviously hiding something, but Magge scoffed at that at insisted it was nothing more than childish rebellion.

Morgan repressed a glare and an order to the old gal to shut up. She was not helping anything by giving this verbal deposition. Her answers were too genuine, as well as being based on a legitimate span of experience, and were making it difficult to come up with a reason to hold anyone. Morgan was frustrated as well by his inability to come up with the significance of the name "Karamoore". All he really had was a hunch, and the manner that Karamoore himself had twitched as if he'd realized he should have used a different name.

It was not until the guard questioning Karamoore came out holding a torn letter that the case took an horrific turn. Morgan took it from his fellow officer. His eyes widened immediately and he strode intently into the room with Finn. He brandished the letter before the boy, not threateningly, but with excitement, "Is this letter yours boy?...Finn? Why does that Karamoore fellow have it? Is he using something here against you? Don't you have anything more you can tell us?"

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 15th Ashan, 717

Never before had it pained him so to remain silent. Remaining quiet was a challenge for him to begin with, but to do so while being bombarded by questions was even harder, not in the least because the guard opposite him was doing his best to be nice. Yet, at the most, Finn would merely shake his head or shrug his shoulders. It wasn't helping his case, he knew, nor was it going to help Molly, but it didn't matter. All that he could think of was that Karamoore had his letter. His letter. Frustated by the lack of progress, the guard left the small, bare room with a huff, giving Finn a chance to dry his eyes with his sleeve.

Then the door burst open again and the Finn nearly fell over in his chair at the sight of the torn, but still legible letter. He greedily tore the thin paper from the guard's gloved hands and begun to read as if his life depended on it. His mouth moved along as he went through the first half and he was about to read the second part when he realized the guardsman was still waiting for an answer.

"He took it from me," Finn muttered, and his voice sounded laced with an unusual trill. He opened his mouth to say more, but then thought better of it. "I'll tell you everything, everything if you promise I can keep my letter, pl-" He reconsidered again, and added one more clause to his demand, "and you must also promise that you'll let Molly go and that she won't be punished for coming along with me."

Once these assurances had been made, Finn eagerly stuffed the other half of his letter into his pocket for later reading. "I broke into Mr. B's office," he confessed, "to get my letter. I asked Molly to come with me, and help me find it. But then when we found it, we heard Magge and Mr. Karamoore approach, so we hid behind the bookcase. Well, I mean, we didn't know it was them until they came into the room of course." He paused for a moment, noticing the confusion upon the faces of the Black Guard. "There's a hidden door in the office. The bookcase swings open like this," he gestured, "if you press the right button." Naturally he skipped over how they'd found out where the button was to begin with. The more he left Molly out of it all, the better. "They heard us though, as I was trying to pick the lock on another. The one downstairs from the hidden..." He stopped again as he could tell from the dumbfounded looks sent at him that his story wasn't making too much sense. He puffed his cheeks and sighed "D'you have a bit of paper?"

Not much later he had completed a crude, charcoal rendering of the layout of the various room, including the forbidden room behind the stone door. Now the story could be relayed more clearly and the guard, judging by their nodding, seemed to understand what on earth he was talking about. Soon enough, he reached the part where he'd stumbled across the hidden pyre.

"...not all of them were burned though. More like charred, but not completely turned into ash." He wrinkled his nose at the memory of the stench that had lingered there. "Mr. Karamoore said he'd destroy my letter and would kill- strangle me in my sleep if I told anyone," he concluded as he bit down on his lower lip. "You won't let him go, will you?" he added anxiously. The terror marring his face only increased as his thoughts returned to Molly. "Don't...don't do anything to Molly, please, I made her come along," he pleaded,

[Maltruism]

As the boy unloaded his story to Officer Morgan, the guardsman's eyes became increasingly intense. He took the charcoal map from the boy and asked him to confirm that the mark the boy had made was in fact a hidden door made to look like cave-in rubble.

His grin was fierce as he pounded the table top in triumph. His grin turned somewhat sheepish as he apologized to Finn for startling him. He swept from the room, calling into the barracks for a squad to back him up, announcing they were going to get proof that their prisoner was a flayer.

There was immediate response from a dozen troopers, but Morgan told them that it was more important that they watch the room where the prisoner was being held. "Don't let him know that we're on to him. But don't let him leave. I only need a few men to check the place out, and keep the boy safe." he started to gather his equipment, but paused. "Be sure to bring Corsey along. We may need his Attunement to verify our findings."

The search was not difficult to complete; Finn was certain of the path in. But the chamber he led them too was a profound disappointment. The fire pit was as described, as was the smell. Of the stacked bodies, however, there was no sign. Officer Morgan stood by Finn against the gentle recrimination of the other officers, who felt it was a likely possibility that the youngster had led them to the wrong room.

The child confirmed his route by leading them directly to the door that opened upon the stairway up to the closet behind the bookcase in Mr. Barnelby's office. Describing his attempt to elude Mr. Karamoore led them precisely back the way they'd come.

The Attunement officer, Corsey, had stayed behind and had an important detail for them when they returned. "Well, I'm afraid I did not find flaying evidence, but I found something else. I think it can be enough to warrant an interrogation."

He walked to the far side of the pit, where the edge was nearly flush with the wall. "I know you can not see it, but I can see the distortion residue of a Rupturing portal. And the grain of it is coalescing toward the center, which indicates that a pull was attached to it. A strong one too, to have left such a grain in the residue for this long."

The Attunement Officer looked upon faces that registered only partial understanding, and with a slight delay to find more common wording he continued, "Someone with some great skill in Rupturing deliberately sucked everything out of this room through a portal. What's more, there's a residual pattern here in the wall itself that looks like domain etching of a ward to prevent tracing the route back to its original location."

He did not really need to clarify the significance of this point, but he said what was on everyone's mind all the same, "It's worth pointing out that the strong Rupturing residue would serve to obscure any flaying residue as well. This is some high-level shit."

The Officer's words were supported in even grimmer fashion by the looks on the faces of the guardsmen back at the Hall. A trio of those who'd been commanded to keep watch over the prisoner came out to meet them with expressions of shame and apprehension. "Sir, I swear we let no one enter or leave..." they began as Morgan sighed heavily, knowing what was coming.

"He's dead then? Karamoore?" Morgan asked, his only answer being the lowered gazes of his fellow guardsmen and a few silent nods. Morgan waved his men in close. "Okay, official word is we drop this investigation right now."

He waved away the modest protests to clarify, "Our cells are warded, yet someone got to him. That means it's someone with access to the original crafter of the wards, or the specifics of their formulas. And that means the Tower. We don't move on something like this unless we have a lot more than accusations. For now, we are stumped, you understand? All of you? Understand?"

He crouched down to Finn, trying to look confident, "You'll be alright if we leave this case go, son. We make like there's nowhere to go on this case and there'll be no reason for whoever silenced Karamoore to risk making any more waves. You can go back to the orphanage if you want. I can understand if you feel like getting out of town. If you actually have somewhere to go, I'd say do it. But if not, your best bet is to act as if nothing came from this incident. At least Karamoore is dead."

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 15th Ashan, 717

Magge, being blessed with big bones, happened to possess an equally large heart. When all was said and done she escorted both children back to the mess hall where they ate their rationed lunch in comparative silence. Shortly after these meals had been devoured, she assured both children that all would be well and that it would be best to forget about everything, when Molly piped up.

"What happens now?"

Magge, Finn, and even young Molly herself froze at the sound of her voice. Not in the least because it sounded far hoarser than one would expect a twelve arc old girl to sound. Nevertheless, a broad smile appeared on all three faces as they rejoiced the return of Molly's voice. In the privacy of her mind, Magge speculated that Karamoore's death had put the girl's mind at ease and that the return of her speech was directly co-related to the disappearance of the conniving fiend. Molly, on the other hand, had some vague intuitive understanding how the death of Mr. Karamoore, and thereby the disappearance of the man's magic, had lifted the curse on her speech. Finn merely gawked.

After they had recovered from the shock, Magge urged the two troublemaking children down the hall and spoke in a hushed tone. "I am afraid I must inform the Director, Mr. Barnelby, of what has happened here," she said in a grave voice. "You did after all break into his office and he should be made aware of the secret passageway behind his bookshelf."

Finn appeared stunned. "You mean, you don't think he knows?"

"Mr. Barnelby?" Magge replied with a light frown, "no, he isn't around often, I doubt he has anything to do with this."

Molly and Finn both burst into a fierce protest but were soon quieted by a lethal wagging of Magge's finger. "That's enough out of both of you! I've given you the slip back there because I don't want to see either of you put behind bars! I am sorry for what happened, Molly, but I will have to report this story to the director, and there's an end to it!"

The two children exchanged a telling look before hanging there heads in defeat. "Yes..." they murmured.

"Now, off you go," Magge encouraged them with a wave of her hands, "and for the love of Parhn, don't go starting any rumours!"

[Maltruism]

Come and get your Loot!

(There's plenty more where that came from)

FINN O'CONNOR:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +10
• Structure: +5

These points can not be used for magic.

Knowledges:

• Deception: Molly's Doll is Just to Pretend Childlike Interests
• Deception: A Secret Underground Door that Looks Like a Cave-In
• Detection: A Gap in the Floor Molding Might be a Hidden Door
• Detection: A Hidden Lock Release Button in the Wall Paneling
• Detection: Molly is Excessively Watchful of the Care Givers
• Detection: Molly is Definitely Interested in the Director's Office
• Drawing: Rough Draft of Orphanage Layout to Specify Rooms
• Intimidation: Extorted by Threat to Parents' Letter
• Intimidation: Wild Tales About Mr. B's Office
• Intimidation: Threatening to Tell the Care Givers
• Investigation: A Chance to Search Mr. B's Office
• Investigation: Searching for Hidden Clues
• Karamoore: Flayed Molly's Family
• Karamoore: Molly Got Her Voice Back When He Died
• Karamoore: Was Killed to Hide His Secrets
• Linguistics: Spelling out Words on the Palm of Someone's Hand
• Leadership: Showing the New Kid Around
• Location: Secret Passage from the Orphanage to the Underground
• Lock Picking: Watching Molly Use a Hairpin
• Logistics: Influx of Orphans Makes it Easier to Cheat
• Magge: Middle-Aged, Sweet, but Stern
• Morgan: Believes You Despite Disappearance of Evidence
• Morgan: Knows Karamoore Was a Bad Man
• Molly: Mute from Trauma, Magic, or Both
• Negotiation: Putting Your Outgoing Nature to Good Use
• NPC: Mr. Barnelby: Director of the Etzos Orphanage
• NPC: Mr: Karamoore: Orphanage Care Giver
• NPC: Magge, Orphanage Care Giver
• NPC: Molly: New Girl at the Orphanage
• NPC: Officer Morgan: Black Guard Officer
• Research: Looking Over Your Own File
• Running: Sprinting for Your Life Through the Underground
• Politics: Orphanage: Very Simple Priorities
• Stealth: Hiding Behind Another Child
• Stealth: Slipping In and Out of the Orphanage Unnoticed
• Strength: Pushing Heavy Chairs and Secret Doors Open

Injuries:

Nothing to speak of.

Fame: +5

Drew some good, sympathetic recognition from the Guards.

Loot, Loss, Devotion:

Nothing to speak of

Comments:

This took some fun twists that I'd not originally planned on.
I love how hesitant Finn was to do most everything he had to do, but did it anyway. He's a great character.
PM me with any comments or concerns.