5punk

Mr Blake wrote:Mmmm, the gentle arrogance of youth. How I miss such armour of ego. Lex my dear boy, I will be paying you the already agreed sum plus another four as an apology.

Alvrin, you will receive three thousand as a total buyout of your contract, plus another four as an apology.

Jon, you get your agreed sum plus another five thousand for providing me with such invaluable service on the strength of Anytime's request.

Everyone else I will offer you four thousand nuyen as my apology.

Furthermore I will arrange introduction to areas of interest for each of you, if you work for me then I want you to have the best possible chances of success.

I will also be offering you five thousand more each to find any trace of this cult. An asset fund will also be provided for any specialist equipment and transport et cetera. If or when you find traces we will then discuss how to proceed in terms of containment or eradication.

As I'm sure you're aware sometimes cutting the head from the body makes it die, other times it makes two more grow back, we must not stumble blindly after every lead.

Mr Blake wrote:I do have a few tidbits of information regarding the cult, but despite the unconscious state you were all found in by Jon here I think it likely you will have more of an idea between you as to what was happening than I do. A collective mental jigsaw puzzle as it where.

I know it's long winded, but if you could all furnish me with a short account of your actions and what you saw whilst in there it may help me to furnish a how and why to your collective what.

Mr Blake wrote:Aah, yes. Tell me young elf, did the lonestar investigator inadvertently tell you anything useful whilst you were incarcerated?

Jasper wrote:Useful t' me, f'shure. Didn' say a whole lotta else. They got a bunch o' dem bras in blue locked up I reckon, an' some guy called El Tee wus runnin' the whole thang. Dunno'f y'all in cahoots, seem'd like y'all's sort.

Mr Blake wrote:El Tee? I would assume he was the lieutenant in charge going by usual parlance. Anytime, a check on him if you would. Mr Deigh should be able to furnish us with more information to I shouldn't wonder.

Mr Blake wrote:Jasper, this South American looking man whom you followed, can you recall what he said to you? Did you see him again once you were inside the mansion?

Jasper wrote:Bra called me sumthang. Barone, like Samedi. Yeah, called me barone an' said I'd be late for da meetin' wid da ghost dude. Don' reckon ah look'd 'im at the haos doh.

Mr blake wrote:Hmm, well it's certainly worth looking into, it could be more than a case of mistaken identity.

Anyone else willing to share their experiences within the mansion or are you all going to stare blankly at me?

As I said, I was contacted to steal the painting. I picked up the fake at the bar, then headed to the mansion. The security guards were a joke, I didn't even have to try to sneak in. Now though I have to wonder if that wasn't on purpose. Anyways, I went in through the front door and slipped away to try and find a disguise to get past any possible security. I made my way to a room under the big staircase where I found two of the guys in blue robes doing some kind of chant. I found one of the robes off to the side, and they guys seemed pretty involved in what they were doing, so I figured that the spare robe would make a decent disguise so I put it on and headed back out. Then I went upstairs to the master bedroom. I remember a kid at the door to the bedroom and that's pretty much when I was knocked out.

That wasn't you Lex, was it? When I woke up the kid was gone and I saw some nasty blood magic stuff that didn't look very friendly.

Firenza wrote:I found a note on my door one morning. The usual sales pitch promising the earth and sky - literally in this case. However there was one part of the note that made it seem like they knew something about my past - and sure enough when I turned up my estranged sisters were all there.

Here, I still have the note on me if you wish to read it.

HereComesPete wrote:I will get round to updating this, been a bit busy saving the world.

Mr Blake wrote:I think the security is woefully lacking because of my brothers insistence on paying as little as he possibly can.

Tell me, do you know what happened to make you black out? Did you put the robe on as a disguise?

Mr Blake wrote:Aah yes! I would indeed like to peruse the note. Anytime, please pass the note.

Were you a singular recipient of this note? That would be a very clear indication of intent if it was the case. Sometimes coincidences are just that, other times an external influence may be at work. I wouldn't attempt to assign any discernable pattern on this cult at this time, a single violent encounter does not a campaign make.

Mr Blake wrote:Now, I'm aware it's late and you've all had a rather stressful time of it, but is there anything else you think would help get this investigation kickstarted? Jon, Lex? Anything either of you would care to share about your time in the house in regard to the cult?

Jon wrote:Other than the fact that there was chalk drawings all over the shop. Walls, floors, everywhere. And I had a headache which felt like a fucking hippo was sitting on my face. Not suprisingly I felt proper sick with it. Once the magic barrier came down that all cleared though

Jon wrote:Also found these, dunno if they're of any significance to this or any good to you. I haven't got a clue about that kind a thing

Yes I had donned the blue robes as a disguise, since it appeared that the robed people were running the event. When I was outside the main bedroom where the painting was located. I believe that right before I passed out I remember that the runes, or whatever they are called, on the robes began to glow. At that point I felt as if I was no longer in control of my body and instead was merely an observer. The blood magic at work in the mansion was definitely the cause, as some rather bizarre things began to happen, like I could feel someone else's blood pouring from my orifices and some sort of attack project from my hand. The attack, whatever it was, is what sapped all of my body's strength and caused me to pass out.

After that, I awoke to find the kid gone, the door to the bedroom was open and inside were two of the most hideous abominations I have ever seen. Just blobs of flesh. Needless to say I wasn't going to find out what they were exactly over a 3000 nuyen gig. I decided to try and leave and stumbled across a hidden staircase that was left open and I thought it might have been possible that whoever had taken the painting had escaped through that and decided to go that way. It was a bit maze-like to me, but I think I was getting close to an exit from the mansion when something knocked me cold again.

Lexx wrote:Im not sure there is much I can add. I entered the house shortly after the rest of you, and made directly for the painting. As I reached the door, I was discovered by yourself, Alvrin, although initally I thought you were one of the other robed men. I saw the robes glow, and you made strange movements like you were about to launch some sort of attack. As this was quickly followed by some sort of tugging on my mind, which in turn was followed by your passing out, I assumed it was some sort of failed magical attack. I...slipped through the door, but was followed by some more of the robed gentlemen. As I felt I had no other option, I dispatched them as quietly as possible. The timing of the "blobs" you mentioned appearing and the deaths of the robed men seems suspiciously similar, especially if blood magic is involved. Anyway, the blobs either failed to notice me or were uninterested in me, so I grabbed the painting and made for the door. I had established by this point that there was a magical barrier of some sort stopping my exit, but I am a patient man, so planned on waiting at the door till the barrier was lowered. On my way out, I noticed the noise from the fight, and figuring that the evil looking chummer making all the bad noises was probably the source of the barrier, I lended a hand taking him down. Tough sod, too, he took enough hits to reduce most people to a smear on the carpet before rather explosively croaking. I assume his death is what caused our being knocked out, as the next thing I remember is being brought here. Thanks for the aid by the way, I believe I took a small hit in there.

I hope I didn't cause too much pain or anything, I was powerless to do anything about it.

Mr Blake wrote:Aah, what an excellent discovery Jon! A mediocre pair of reproduction alabaster figurines depicting washers at the river. I have no idea why they would be so slim and slipshod in their clothing choice, seems a recurring theme for classic artists does it not.

Another suspect purchase by an elder of the family, truly my antecedents were like jackdaws, nothing but gimcrackery and falderol like the painting. I'm afraid they're worth very little. Only a few civil war pieces held any monetary value in that house, I'm afraid however that the resulting magical taint will have made the house, it's contents and the land utterly worthless.

Mr Blake wrote:Well, all of this is very helpful ladies and gentlemen. The barrier was being maintained by two disciples outside of the main room it would appear, Jon is the one who felled the barrier by destroying the runes on the floor. I believe Alvrin you went into that room when you were looking for a disguise. An aura of compulsion still lingers, hence the slack jawed expression of the crowd, seems they had been slowly and subliminally coerced into this state.

Two robed survivors, saying nothing, unprobable and unbreakble. Two wicca in my care, currently in a similar state to the robed fools.

Not much to go on.

One thing you mentioned in your, hmm, what is the term. 'Sit-rep' is it Jon? Anyway, one thing you mentioned is your incarceration in the garage. I am a bit intrigued as to what it was that held you, it seems this mysterious voice you didn't see but then fled could well have been guiding this so called 'Faustus' and his minions. He sounds like a highly imbued adept, but possibly not one to run an operation like this.

Mr Blake wrote:Regardless, you've all had a rather long night and dawn is approaching, best that we get you all to bed before you fall asleep again. Now, you can stay here if you want, or we can provide transport to your own abodes. I will be in touch in a few days regarding the next phase of our operation, if you check your accounts you will have your money.

Jasper, I'm not entirely sure how to provide you with your four thousand. A cred stick possibly?

Jasper wrote:Uh. Awrite, s'pose so. Ain't never had dat kinda moneh b'fore. Shore would be nice tuh make dodo in uh proper bed too. So y'all gonna wanna get us back t'gethuh so we's cun all say 'bout dis here een-vestigashun?

Lex wrote:I shall take you up on the kind offer of a lift, Mr Blake. Thank you for a most interesting evening. I trust one of your lovely assistants will return my remaining gear before I leave?

Well, boys and girls, its been nice to meet the good guys behind all that mess. I look forward to working with you all soon. Sorry to run off, but its almost my bedtime and I would like to try and get a bite to eat before I turn in. Here is my comcode if you need to reach me.

While I thank you for your generous offer, I think I would prefer the familiarity of my own place at this point. If you could provide a lift to my bike, that would be sufficient. And whenever you wish to continue, do not hesitate to ask. Again, thank you for your generosity Mr. Burke and thanks to you Jon, if you need anything let me know. I feel that it is time for me to take my leave.

jon wrote:Cheers for the offer Mr B but I'll head back to mine. I'm fuckin knackered