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Firenza wrote:Good sir, I am a patient lady, but I will not be taken for a fool. It is clear that not only are these goods unsuitable for a bored teenager using a Ouija board for the first time, but you yourself are nothing more than a parlour magician. Now, shall we start again? And maybe you could offer an old lady a seat whilst you're about it?

I will try using the slate with my climbing gloves on. Can't be leaving fingerprints you know.

And I shall try and head round to the window Deej went through, and join him. When I get to it, i'll let him know, so he doesnt have a heart attack when I seem to pop out of thin air next to him

Shop-

Phlegastus stops the capering as if struck dead, goes vacant for a few seconds whilst muttering and then starts to talk in a far more normal voice, it's still very deep but it doesn't grate. The change in demeanour is massive, but not as obvious as the rapid increase in size. Within seconds of Firenza's pointed statement it's grown to almost the size of a troll.

It points at Jon;

Phelgastus wrote:Ahhh, there was me thinking you were all blunt like this fool here so I didn't even look, an error in judgement it would seem.

My apologies wicca, have a seat.

And apologies to you young bokor. I see Samedi walks with you.

How can I help you?

A couple of plain recliners with soft leather covers appear from thin air behind Firenza and Jasper, Jon seemingly gets to stand and be ignored.

Warehouse -

Joose, you'll have arrived ground floor near the window. No-one seems to be around as you ghost along.

Deject, there's a lot of shortcuts on the slate, thankfully the business type who's forgot to lock it has been ocd with the files. they're all ordered and neat and as you scroll over them the slate flashes up a small synopsis of the folders. They're business related and there's hundreds. You spy a keyword search function that might help.

Gimme a few logic -1 rolls, threshold of 6, interval is 1 minute per search if you want to use it, or you can wait on Lex and see if he's any better.

I'll do a search for budgets.

Firenza wrote:Thank you. I understand your need for discretion, so please do not be offended by my words. My friends here are Jasper and Jon. As you have already pointed out, Jon is not Awakened. He is, however, a friend and a visitor to these shores - I would appreciate it if you would extend him the same courtesy of a seat.

Either way, we are here, as you might have guessed, on business. An unusual magical occurrence happened recently in which many people were killed. Blood magic - very unpleasant I'm sure you'll agree. The cultists were seemingly led by a man called Faustus, and they were all adorned with blue robes. Do you know anything that might be able to help us?

Jon wrote:Yeah, well... you smell funny

Jon goes to storm out of the shop and realises the cage is in the way so stands at the back with a pissed off look on his face

Climbing into the window: extended test, target of 4, at a -2 modifier.

2 hits, 1 hit, then 3 hits

Lex, to Alvrin wrote:Find anything?

I'll take a look around too: perception + int + actively looking= 9
1, 3, 6, 5, 6, 4, 5, 3, 6: 5 hits.

Phelgastus wrote:I would wager he has not travelled as far as I to stand in this reality. Wicca, you may think me callous but I have suffered much at the hands of blunt psyches and I'm afraid I apply a prejudice as a result. Still, you have a clean soul and you vouch for him. I shall comply.

Phlegastus gives a low bow toward Jon and an identical chair appears behind him at the back of the shop.

Phelgastus wrote:Apologies most of all to you, crazed son of albion. Tell me, what is it I smell of?

No matter, I shall ponder your wiccan friends words.

Phlegastus wanders off amongst the shelves, muttering to itself and occasionally raising its voice to talk to you.

Phelgastus wrote:Blood magic? A terrible perversion of an ancient creed. Svartur toframour are a bane on all planes of existence. All things torn down over time it would seem.

As you lose sight of the creature it reappears back behind the counter and leans in toward Jasper.

Phelgastus wrote:Tell me elf, why do you not talk? I know you have a tongue and that it is lined with silver and coated with tar and fermented cane sugar. I see this, but I do not know.

It wanders off again, holding it's hand against seemingly random places in the shop, a piece of wall here, a book there.

Phelgastus wrote:You also speak of a Faustus? You are aware of the works of the human playwright Marlowe? The story of a doctor and his deal with the devil? This story is told in many spheres of existence, but the frail nobility of humans uses simple words that sear across the soul. I possess a copy of that too if you would like to read it?

I digress, you would appear to have arrived at a most fortuitous time. For a visit from a blue robed elf with dead eyes and a heart so dark it was like a dead thing gnawing at the world has left me with a conundrum. We shall ascend to the library. Follow.

A hole in the wall has appeared behind the counter, it's got a door frame, but it's nothing but a flat rippling slice of inky black. Phlegastus walks through it.

Joose, your keen eyes spot a almost microscopic camera lens in the wall above the door facing the window.

They also spot a faint ripple of movement in the floor behind the closed door to the office, as if someone's weight has just moved the floorboards.

Lex, to Alvrin, via text message to his PAN wrote:Camera, over the door facing the window. Might not have spotted me yet. Pretend you dont know its there. If someone is watching, we dont want them to know we know they know, you know?

Can I see the thermal of someone through the door? If I can, can I tell if they are facing it or not?

HereComesPete wrote:Tell me elf, why do you not talk? I know you have a tongue and that it is lined with silver and coated with tar and fermented cane sugar. I see this, but I do not know.

'Cos I'm working 12 hour shifts.

Jasper, retrospectively and without any agression wrote:Ah doesn't hayve such uh way wid words as mawmaw do, an y'all seem ta hayve gotten mah numbah. An ah don't got y'all's. 'Sall.

I'll continue fiddling with the slate then, while making sure to have my Streetline Special ready to go on it's arm slide thing.

Joose - no, it's quite a thick metal one. You don't know whether it was locked when it was closed either. The movement in the floor suggests they've walked past however, but you're not sure on that.

Deej - I made you some rolls, possibly you missed the request

In all it takes/will take a few false starts and 14 minutes for the search program to find and produce the full work up of the budgets across the whole file system and compile it for you.

You can of course put the slate down/pocket it whilst it works if you want to assist Lex in watching the door intently.

The end result is a well crafted and bewilderingly complex chart of cross flowing, trend lined, multi-function spreadsheets all blended into a single output. The search engine is very good, but it may have provided you with more information than you can disseminate whilst stood in the office.

So, stay or go? Find the destination of the camera or stand around? Take the slate or leave it and hope it can output a file to your pan and then erase its actions before it's owner returns? Choices choice!

Shop - Anyone following Phlegastus through the strange doorway?

HereComesPete wrote:Shop - Anyone following Phlegastus through the strange doorway?

Me!

HereComesPete wrote:Deej - I made you some rolls, possibly you missed the request

haha, I just read it again and for some reason I thought you had asked Grimmie for some rolls for some reason...

Logic - 1 is just a 1 for me, so I'll just leave it alone because it's too easy to critically glitch and it will take forever.

Warehouse office - Okay, you're leaving the slate. Joose, you want to have a go? If not, what's your next move ladies?

Shop - Pants is on his 12 hours shifts (tee hee) so I'll move Jasper through the door along with Firenza. Fabbles? Is Jon going too?

Jon wrote:Yeah why not? See if there's anyone upstairs wants to insult me too

Jon follows on through the door

HereComesPete wrote:Shop - Pants is on his 12 hours shifts (tee hee) so I'll move Jasper through the door along with Firenza. Fabbles? Is Jon going too?

Ta

Shop - As each of you step through the door/portal thing there's a sensation of cool air and then you're standing on the balcony half way up the edge of a huge room. You can't see any windows, and above and below more balconies run around the circumference of the room. ((Kind of like this))

The room is roughly circular, possessing uncountable shelves of books around the edges and in the middle, in the distance you can see a series of tables piled high with books and scrolls. Random intersections in the floor shelves hold display cases with a variety of strange objects on show.

Phlegastus turns as you all emerge through the door (which dissipates as soon as you're all through) and steps toward the centre of the room away through a gap in the railed balcony.

Phlegastus wrote:Concentrate and hold onto your friend and he will come with you.

One second it's next to you, the next it's standing in the middle of the room a good fifty or more metres away.

5punk

Pete's second shadowrun adventure: The Well of Wyrd