IC: Extassis, Les Etrangers Beaux Options

[Nikoli]

Murrey gently pulls apart the clothing from the area and begins patching up his teammate.

[Buddha72]

Barrens

The small sounds of drones and the oppressive weight of the silence fills the night. The few critically wounded squatters are soon patched up and no longer at risk from dying from their injuries. The area soon reverts to the distant sound of voices, gunfire and decay.

[Fenris]

As the drone finishes, Bakatare tucks the tattered edge of the pierced armor back into place. It was going to cost at least a couple of hundred nuyen to get that replaced.

Nodding to the van, he turns to walk back towards the skating rink. Limping from the wound in his side, he grips the staff tightly. A steady flow of Latin interspersed with much more modern curses punctuates each step. As he gets closer and closer to the rink, the limp seems to ease, and then disappear altogether. As he reaches the doors he seems to be striding confidently along with no pain at all.

He turns once, a brow arched, to make sure he rest of the team as around him before he pushed through the doors and into the unlit interior, eyes already sliding sideways as he gazed into the astral.

[Tashio]

Hiroto returned after his short patrol of the area.

"All clear this side."

Hiroto formed up quickly alongside Bakatare, his pace adjusting to him. Noticing Bakatare's tatted armor he offered, "I can assist in repairing that later if you wish," before returning to his alert silence.

[Buddha72]

The Roller Rink

The air hangs still in the air and very little light is present in the interior. You can see the majority of the space taken up by the actually rink. You can see a balcony running around the rink on the 2nd floor, allowing patrons to watch the action on the floor below. In the far right corner of the 2nd story a DJ booth hangs above the rink like a bloated corpse. You can make out the remaints of the light and sound system in the rafters.

[Fenris]

He lets his eyes slide over the interior, alert for the least glimmer that would indicate living creatures.

[Buddha72]

Bakatare

As you open yourself once again to the currents of astral space, you feel the death and fear flooding you. The interior seems saturated with the impressions of hundreds of individuals and none of them seem to have passed from this life easily. Underneath all of this is a disturbing under current of sated need, a feeling of satisfaction. It is harder to detect since to seems to only come from perhaps a handful of different individuals.

Shiver

You feel more than hear the hum of your phone.

[BishopMcQ]

Withdrawing the phone from deep within his coat, Shiver looks at the identification information. He rises from the couch and moves down the hallway to a polite distance from the others who are sleeping and doing research.

"Good morning."

[Fenris]

He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his coat. He always hated those sensations. Those feeding impressions, the series of emotions left when one life consumed another. He murmurs quietly over the sub-vocal microphone.

"Probably ghouls, but less then a dozen. Stick together and try to keep a clear path to the door."

[Buddha72]

Barrens

"Well done but I would think meat as talented as yourself would be that sharp." The voice sounds soft and urban, you hear the faint trace of the streets in his voice. There is movement from all around you, the subtle sounds of shifting or muscles tensing. "Are you the seeking soul Jonathan mentioned might be stopping by?" The voice sounds nearer and you see a body detach from the shadows and nimbly land from the overhang above, his movements silent and efficient. His appears to be in his mid 20s, dressed like a street thug. Garish tattoos run along his face, highlighted his solid white eyes - a tell tale sign of his conversion to a ghoul.

Shiver

"It's Sully.." Her voice sounds wet and forced, you hear her spit as if clearing her mouth. "..I think there might be a problem. I am in a ritual space right now and there is a collection of little dolls and one of them looks like you. Any ideas?"

[BishopMcQ]

Focussing his senses, the world around Shiver melts away. All that exists is his pupil, her breathing, and the sounds from the other side of the phone.

"Where are you? What were you hunting? This may be an unrelated incident, if not we will need to destroy the dolls."

[Buddha72]

Aaron

You can hear the slight sound of bodies tensing and shifting. You feel your awareness stretch out around you, seeking and hunting for others in the abandoned rink. You sense 4 other bodies above you as the lone figure lands some distance away.

Shiver

As the room around you drops away and your senses shift to the sounds from the other end of the phone, Sully answers. "I'm in the Ork underground, somewhere along the edges. I was following up on some rumors of a magician using Blood magic to do local wetwork. Rayne had found some evidence to support the rumors so I decided to take a look around. I found a little more than I was anticipating." You hear her strained breathing, perhaps a broken rib and punctured lung, it would account for the wet quality to her voice. You make out the sounds of at least two others, their breathing is deep and long perhaps unconscious. You make out echoes of water and sound, perhaps a basement or boiler room.

[BishopMcQ]

"We are focussing on the same problem from different angles. Destroy the dolls. Do you need assistance?"

These were the tasks that he trained her to perform, and Shiver was proud of her ability to complete them. Though the others in Brimstone weren't as stoic about the Path as he was, each of them contributed to the whole.

Looking to his watch, the old teacher tries to gauge how long the other team has been gone and when they are likely to return. Hopefully their task is going smoothly. If it was not, they would hav contacted the group here.

[Buddha72]

Shiver

"I should be fine but I called because the magician was in the middle of some sort of ritual work. I'm not certain if it was completed or not though it sounds like you're alright. The collection of dolls includes a woman who appears to be singing, a Japanese looking man somewhat on the frail side, some human male and then in the actual ritual circle was a doll that looks like a tall human." You hear her moving around as she speaks, perhaps getting a closer "look" at the figurines. "There is one more doll that was unfinished.." You hear the sound of a limp body hitting concrete some distance from the phone followed by a feminine voice, Rayne's, saying "Raja Khan." You hear some more movement then silence. "Rayne has finished asking around and the person who hired this Blood magician was named Raja Khan, ring any bells?"

[Buddha72]

Hiroto

The astral space here seems corrupted and stained, you pick out individual threads of people who died while got in the grip of pain and fear. You are able to sense a low but ever present pull of hunger and need beneath. As you adjust to the sounds all around you, you are able to pick out four different creatures breathing around you, coming from above.

[Fenris]

Bakatare steps foward, the shimmering blue field of force still glowing around him.

"Jonathan mentioned that you might be able to provide a bit more information on some items I've come into possession of."

[Buddha72]

Barrens

The lone ghoul begins to stalk forward, deep in the primitive part of your brain you feel the warning of predator run through your body. He pauses a few feet from Bakatare and seems to slowly take in his scent. "Shame this is work, you smell sweet.." He seems lost for a moment in the sensation of scent and then comes back to himself. "I am going to assume you know exactly what I can do for you so what items do you need read?"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

Aaron shifts around to try and keep and eye skyward, as well as elsewhere. He whispers quietly, in a voice intended to keep any without amplified hearing from noticing.

"Four bogies up top."

[Fenris]

"A pity, of course, but I appreciate your focus on professionalism." The sarcasm was, of course, an easy front. He was fairly sure the ghoul would represent no real threat if he had time to prepare or saw the creature coming.

Unprepared or sleeping, however...

He reached into the inner pocket of the suit to withdraw the plastic baggie containing both the syringe and the scrap of rope.

"I need whatever information you can provide about the people that handled these items."

He doesn't quite extend the items, however. "I assume there will be some sort of payment required...how is it you want to be paid?'

[Buddha72]

Barrens

"I think we can call it even considering the ruckus outside. Me and mine could always use more food for the cold nights ahead." He seems to pause to make sure the agreement is reached.

[Fenris]

Bakatare arches a brow and nods. He'd hoped it would be something like that, but you never know.

He held out the items, repressing the urge to sigh as he catches a faint whiff of the carrion smell.

It was never simple, or easy, and it always involved something aggressive or creepy...or both.

[BishopMcQ]

"I don't recognize the name, though I will follow up with some of my informants. Complete your assignment with the mage and destroy the links. What can you tell me about the unfinished doll? Gender, race?"

Shiver moves back towards the room where each of them had spent time dozing on sofas and the like. Extending his senses, he tries to pinpoint the locations of the other team members left in the apartment.

"The others are spread throughout town at the moment, though a large cluster of them are meeting with an informant in the Barrens. It appears that much of the influence behind these events is shrouded in the nascent politics of changelings. Be wary, a stone serpent and a former Prince of Tir move across the board."

[Buddha72]

Barrens

The ghoul closes the last few feet between hiimself and Bakatare to take the items in his hand. As he draws closer you can clearly see the teeth of a predator and catch a faint whiff of a carrion eater. He cups the items in his hand and his breathing begins to slow. Several minutes pass and he speaks, his voice sounding distant and strained.

"What do you want to know?"

Shiver

You hear Sully moving, perhaps running her hand over the unfinished doll. "It seems to me male I think but that's about all I can tell, sorry." As she speaks you begin to connect to your own enviornment. You soon pick out the sounds of Moira and your charge sleeping in the other rooms of the apartment. You soon realize that you do not hear any sounds or movement from Havoc. "When did wyrms start playing in the underground?"

[BishopMcQ]

"Recently I believe. There is something going on with the changelings. While it may be coincidence, the samurai is close as well. She is close with one of the individuals investigating this dilemma."

Shiver moves down the hallway to look into the room where he had left the trio. The old troll leans heavily upon his cane, the tip tapping against the floor as a third footstep.

[Fenris]

"A group of magicians used a ritual to kill a group of people. The leader of that group used these items in the ritual, although perhaps not exclusively. He carries an item of power, a gift from his patron. I want to know what that item is and what it can do."