Asher's Story S2E4

 

"Severance"

Our story starts in The Fang, the hub of politics and policing. Asher is seated in the office of his colleague, Detective Arcadia Brinstone, and due to the looting caused by The Great Storm, and the rioting sparked by the death of Londa Rolon, The Authority lacks the man-power to investigate a new problem that seems to be growing.

In the poorer Wards, as well as The Skids, magick seems to be glitching, people are losing their arcane abilities, and a Detective, Allmon Reven, working under Arcadia, has gone missing while looking into the death of a magic dealer. And strangely enough, the death of the dealer was accompanied by the melting of a piece of magetech.

After getting a briefing by Arcadia, Asher texts Prewitt. The two are to meet at Obscura Arcana on Magus Row to investigate the scene of the crime before heading to Doc Janick's Surgery, and arcane clinic located in The Skids that has been seeing "sick" patients that have been affected by a new drug...

 Once at Obscura Arcana, Asher allows Prewitt to practice her lock picking skills on the closed shop. And, like she was a seasoned pro, the young gnome clicks the door open.

Books, and artifacts. Shelves full of magical and techomagical tomes line the walls of the small shop with tables full of magical devices filling the room. 

The two spend some time looking around and soon find a nondescript inhaler. Empty.

Does this have something to do with the shop's owner, Dumple Dorendip, death?

Maybe so. So the next stop is the police sub-station where the gnome shop owner lies waiting to be picked-up by the coroner. 

Upon looking at the dead Dorendip, Asher thinks, "why would his magetech, a right hand and forearm that can cast Identify, be melted?".

Asher inquires wither or not Dumple was doing anything under-the-table that would be illegal and put him in the cross-hairs of criminals.

The sub-stations chief, Sgt. Ahlo Lyon checks with the area beat-cop who confirms Asher's hunch.

So then, what, is really going on?

Back to the magic shop to check the back alley. As it turns out, Detective Allmon Reven mentioned going to search there right before he disappeared. A solid lead...

Our heroes begin a search of the area behind the shop, hoping to find a clue, when four, oddly dressed, individuals appear in the alley. Three woman in some sort of mirrored armor and carrying wickedly sharp knives, and a man, in the same Mirror Cloth, wielding a maul made of some strange, unknown, metal, begin to advance on Asher and his assistant. 

The man says, in a deep tone, "they must have sent us another...".

Asher and Prewitt ready attacks as Asher announces who he is and why he's there. He also asks the stranger who they are.  And, getting no reply other then "ladies, get them". Asher and his skilled assistant, engage the assailants. 

The woman, using there strangely sharp knives, slice at Asher, creating wounds that continued to bleed, while Asher uses his Hunter's Mark and Dragon Pistol in a harmonious display of gun-play. Young Prewitt, skilled in the ways of grenade-tech, throws a new creation called "Sparkle Boom" that blinds all four assailants in a array of color, turning the advantage in our heroes' favor.

Still bleeding, Asher downs one of the women and Prewitt launches a grease grenade that levels the other two woman, knocking one out, but not before one of them throws a orb shaped device to the ground that fizzles out.

Things are going well. Asher soon decides to focus his attention on the maul wielding man who throws another orb shaped device that, again, fizzles out. 

Are these "thugs" attempting to create temporary null magic zones? Asher isn't sure...

Fearing death, the man turns and flees as fast as he can. But reacting quickly, Asher is able to shoot the coward in the shoulder and he seems to crumples as he rounds a corner, just out of the alley. 

The last woman, standing and carefully moving out of the grease zone, decides to make a run for it as well. 

She is met with the cold hand of Death. But the initiate that was knocked out is handcuffed by Asher and dragged back to the shop to interrogate. But at the last minute, the bounty hunter decides to try and charm her magically...

It works, and before The Authority arrives, the half-elf is able to find out that she is part of a cult called the Pale Dawn that is flooding the streets with a drug called "Severance". He also finds out that a reclusive elite named Varis Coldgrave is the leader of the Pale Dawn. Turns out that they want a "return" to a time when the city was pure, and to do that they want to purge magick from all of Æther City.

 Troubled, Asher calls Arcadia and the two, after sharing details, decide that the heroes should travel to the South Side to a hideout owned by the Pale Dawn, and then to a charity auction later that night that Coldgrave will be attending.