sao paulo ♔ see her tail lights vanish in the dark

[starprince]

Thief- The Fratellis

WHO || Poe, Natasha, Ward, Amy, Miles, Peter [closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a bizarre clue in an art theft
WHERE || Nara Roesler Gallery, Brazil
WHEN || Before the concert, time-line wise
HOW || Actionspam 

The Knights are met by the sun elf curator of the exhibit at the Gallery in Sao Paulo, a golden skinned man named Elluin, who wears an expensively tailored suit with a skinny black tie, his long white hair tied up in a man bun. Yep. He walks them to the place where the piece had been on the wall, now vacant. A balustrade blocks off the area from the public, and a small placard hangs beside the blank space.

"It is the strangest thing. The pages were actually tacked to the wall in place of the painting. There can be no doubt that they were left on purpose."

Comments

[keptbiting]

[ amy is equally blind, probably to the point that she and miles run into each other. wow guys, fucking wow. SHE ONLY PRETENDS TO BE A POLICE WOMAN. after that stellar display of stupidity, amy moves to peer at the placard next to the missing painting. ]

Was the painting itself significant?

[starprince]

[ "It was indeed. The painting was a piece that fell through from the Shadow World. It depicted one of our native lands, one of the most important historical pieces we have in this world. It is priceless." ]

I'll bet you someone out there is trying to fetch a price for it, at least.

[newgenwraith]

[as being someone that fell through and has tech that can't be replicated, something strikes him and he turns back to the conversation]

Forget about price. Is there someone from your lands who would gain from being able to take something this priceless from you? I mean, it's obviously disheartening - but what would you be willing to do to get it back - and who are the people who would take advantage of you in that kind of mindset the most?

[someone tried to take BB-8 and Poe would literally sell his soul to get that droid back. What were these people willing to give up?]

[starprince]

[ the man's brow furrows as he considers this, pacing slightly.

"There are various cultures who have disdain for my people, although we have not been targeted by anyone precise. In truth, we meet more hatred from those of this land than our own." ]

[betrayed]

[He nods, listening.]

When it came through -- did anyone request any specific testing? To verify that it came from where you think it came from? [He knows most paintings get authenticated. X-Rays whatever it is to make sure that they aren't fake.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he nods ] There were numerous tests done on it before it came to our possession.

[newgenwraith]

Did anything else come through with it at the same time?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he shakes his head ]

It was an isolated item, not part of a greater location. It changed hands a few times before finding its way here.

[betrayed]

Who else had ownership before it ended up here? [A beat]

Also, is it possible to see the results of any of those tests?

[behindcloseddoors]

I can send them to you, but there's not much to be seen, other than verifying what I've told you. The last owner was a private collector of elven descendant.

[newgenwraith]

Did that owner ever mention having had attempted thefts or threats of it before he gave it to you?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ he shakes his head ] Not at all. If there were anything further to report that was suspicious, I assure you, I would tell you. But unfortunately, this case is somewhat baffling.

[betrayed]

Alright, so where are the pages that were left behind in its place?

[Enough 20 Questions that don't seem to be helping them, lets get to the "clue" that was left behind.]

[behindcloseddoors]

Of course. Follow me. [ he leads them back to an office, where the pages have been sealed under a glass case, flicking on a light to better illuminate them.

several images of the buddha are present: each of them rather old, but there is also an image of this broken piece as well.

each is labeled in the book -

the first is "Buddha attended by 2 Bodhisattvas, Mathura, 2nd Century CE"

the second: "Standing Buddha Offering Protection

Period: Gupta period (4th–6th century)
Date: late 5th century
Culture: India (Uttar Pradesh, Mathura)
Medium: Red sandstone",

and the final "Statue of Kanishka I, 2nd century CE, Mathura Museum." ]

[keptbiting]

[ aww buddha's head is gone, sad. amy peers at the pages but.... they still mean nothing to her. ]

What's Mathura?

[behindcloseddoors]

Ah, yes. A city in India. There was a particular school of Buddhist art that flourished there.

[newgenwraith]

[Poe hasn't learned anymore basic since 5 minutes ago, so the words mean nothing. But he just looks at the pictures]

Any of those students happen to be around here now with their own schools?

[betrayed]

And -- do these images have anything to do with the original art piece that was stolen? [Since, the narration, just realized no one really asked what exactly was stolen.]

Do you have a copy of the original piece -- so we might be able to see if there's anything that's referenced?

[starprince]

[ the guy shakes his head at poe's question.

"The school in question is centuries old," he says, before turning to ward. "Nothing that we've been able to ascertain. But yes, we can show you a picture of the image." he directs them to an office, where he pulls out a large book with glossy pages. the piece is a landscape that shows a beautiful elven city at sunset. ]

Someone bothered to steal that?

[betrayed]

[Ward glaces to the photo of the painting and tries to recall the pages that were left behind. He tries to see if he can see anything that might connect them or might leave something as to what exactly those pages mean in relation to this painting. (IDEK... Knowledge Art 17??)]

[starprince]

[ nope there literally seems to be no connection ]

[keptbiting]

[ amy peers at ward before shrugging helplessly. she honestly doesn't know what else they're supposed to ask or look for or inquire about. the clue wasn't even a clue, wtf. she's mission leader and it's going to suck going back to the castle a failure but amy doesn't know what they're supposed to do if every avenue they go down leads to a dead end.

anyway she elbows peter because RUDE. ]

[starprince]

[ the curator notices the look on amy's face, and says:

"You can see why we had to go beyond the police. This is... not a normal case. We are all somewhat baffled."

peter rubs his arm and says: ] Hey, you've got us on the case now. We'll figure it out. [ he looks back at the others, his voice a little strained from the forced enthusiasm ] Right gang?

Let's... figure it out.

[keptbiting]

Er, right, yeah, totally.

[ amy nods too enthusiastically. ] You mind if we have the room to discuss. Amongst ourselves?

[ give me ur office. ]

[krasnayapautina]

Right. [She speaks up again with a firm nod. MMmmm dead ends, her fave (not).]