[Lumen]

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I see him.  Fuck yea I got time for shots!  Let's get pissed mate!"

[Csjarrat]

Johnny returns with a bottle of sambuca and two glasses, but as he makes his way over to the table you hear a screeching of tires outside.
You hear four shots, the din of breaking glass and screams.................


Chapter 1 Ends for lumen
-Total karma earned 5
-1k payment
-Pistol looted

+1 enemy, Micky "The Mugger" Maxwell (please add this as a free quality)
-2 reputation with Maxwell Crime Family (now hostile)

well done!!

[Teafo]

Oh well, I guess I'm not as sneaky as I wish. You caught me, Collin reaches into his bag and pulls out his camera, displaying it to the bartender Look, my editor got some wind about things going bump in the night around here, wanted me to see if there was a story worth writing. he plays into the man's assumption of him being a reporter before asking for his help You wouldn't have heard of any of that have you? I really need to make a good impression or I'm gonna get fired

[Csjarrat]

The barman turns to a bloke at the bar: "haha, what did i tell you bill. i can spot em a mile off! you owe me a fiver!"
He turns back to you,
Look kid, you seem like a nice guy. there is some really screwed up stuff happening around here so i'd recommend you stay here tonight. We've had allsorts of stuff go missing, cattle mutilated in the middle of the night, strange sightings of big beasties. you name it. Most of it is probably hot air, but something weird is going on. Room is 45 with breakfast.
Have a pint or two and chat to the locals, they're shit scared since the coppers turfed em out of their homes. they havent told us nothing either, just closed the roads. There's a couple of lads 'ere from Oakhampton, playing pool over there. I take it thats what your boss as sent you up 'ere for?

[Teafo]

Yeah, that's right, thanks for the help - my boss will really love this stuff. He's real big into these paranormal type stories Collin gives the man the cash for the room before heading over to the bar to see what information he could illicit out of the Oakhampton boys.

[Csjarrat]

"Yeah, well just keep your wits about you lad, this isn't just any "bump in the nigh" story that you city boys so love, John over there got hurt trying to drive something away from his barn. Wound gone all funny 'an everything. Breakfast is between 6.30 and 9am. Rooms are through that door and on the 1st floor. You're in number 13, last door on the right. Do you want anything to eat? I can get the nightporter to make up a sandwich and take it to your room? There's your pint mate, that'll be 3 quid."


As you approach the table with the two blokes sitting by it, you notice one of them has a bandage strapped around his right arm and appears to be in quite a bit of pain.
The other one eyes you suspiciously and nods to john (who is mostly turned away from you) to alert him that you were heading over.
The table is just big enough for 4 people to sit at and the young girl begins to play the second half of her set as you approach, Introducing herself to the crowd as Gabby.
The music is soft, and her voice is crisp. You've never heard music like it before and it sets a lovely warm ambiance in the pub.

[Csjarrat]

//Incoming Message::<<BaByDoll101>> Hey, sorry for the delay. things turned out quite interesting shall we say?
I can't get any Matrix Ping replies from any node around Oakhampton, the nearest MSP nodes appear to have been manually shut off.
I got into one of them but the IC rumbled me before i could learn too much. Server was in "maintenance", so whatever has taken it offline happened deliberately. It does mean if you're heading up that way, you won't be able to call for help, or find out whether i let you take me out for a drink ;-) <<50NY deducted from your account>>//

[Teafo]

Collin pays for the drink and carries it with him, sipping amiably as he approaches the men at the table. Hi there, my name's John, he uses the name on his fake SIN just in case things get a little nasty, You blokes mind if I sit? Barkeep says you might have an idea of what's going on out Oakhampton way. Something going bump in the night, I was hoping you might be able to help me out with this story my editor wants run. He's big into these supernatural things you see, and anything you can help with... well, I'd be much obliged.

As his commlink populates the message Collin quickly checks it on his imagelink, smiling at the prospect of that drink with BabyDoll after all.

\\Outgoing message: <<BabyDoll101>> Thanks for the heads up, I'll see if I can't find where it got switched off and get it back up and running. I might be a little slow with this computer stuff, is there something I should look for? Some big lever switch that says "Matrix On/Off" I should look for? I'd like to have a backup if I can, and if I can get you connected around that IC, maybe you could dig up a little more. I'll keep you updated as I can. In the meantime, go have a drink on me\\ He quickly taps out the message only half paying attention as his focus is more on the two men at the table with him.

[Csjarrat]

The two men eye you suspiciously until you "let slip" that you are a journalist.
'Bout time someone started takin us seriously. We been having these weird things 'appen to us for weeks now, no months.
Started a while back up north of Oakhampton near Hampton court. Farmer up that way got some old stone age earthworks on his land. archeologist types said it was a barrow or something. anyways's eee gets up one morning and theres a bleeding great big 'ole in the side of it!
Some standing stones about 5 mile from ere that 'ad been moved in middle of the night too.
We've had our workshops broken into. 'ol mick had a couple of cattle killed, 'orribly mutilated they were too.
Next thing we knows, blooming coppers knocking at the door, kicking us out of our 'omes. One of em said there was a gas leak, t'other one said to you it was a chemical spill din' he?
They're paying for us to stay here for a few nights while they get it sorted or summat, but we cna't go back and i cant even dial in to my home to see if its alright as matrix connection is down too!!"

[color=green//Doubt it, to be honest. You'll need to be an electrical engineer with decent tools to get it back on but i'll have a dig around and see if i can find any plans that would help locate the box. you might be able to find out if it was damaged deliberately or something, that might help your investigation??//[/color]

[Teafo]

Well boys, that does seem a trifle problematic. I'd like to get a closer look at what's going on up there. You said Hampton court eh? I think I'd better start there. And those standing stones, how big were they? Any idea what could've moved em? And one last thing, anything taken from your workshop? Anything to get an idea of what's out here. You know how people are, the more details, the better chance help can be on it's way, right? Collin asks while continuing to drink his ale.

//Not much chance of finding an engineer out in these parts. Keep me updated on those plans if you can, I will likely be going out of touch tomorrow morning, gonna spend the night here then head up the road to the town proper. I'll keep my eyes open for any intentional damage and update you when I can.//

[Csjarrat]

"Yeah, its an old estate not too far from here. Police have got the area locked down though, all the roads are closed as far as we know, so you'll need to go on foot. If you follow the road out the back of here, it'll bring you up Mr Johnsons farm. follow the farm track to the north and you'll be heading in the right direction. theres a few copses of trees and some light woodland to keep out of sight in.
If you're going digging about up there, make sure you can either fight or run, whatever shifted them stones has got some strength. Had to have lifted em, there were no drag marks!
Nowt went missing from my workshop, but I did have some of my old mother's jewelry go missing about a week back. Beautiful pendant necklace, must have been a couple hundred years old. I'd be very much appreciative if you come across it and could return it to me."

//Sure thing, this has piqued my interest now. I'll drop you a line first thing in the morning before you head out then. I'm gonna get digging, see what I can find. Good luck with them Yokels!! :-)//

[Teafo]

Thanks for the directions. I'm not always proud to say it, but you know how us journalists can get pretty sneaky at times. I'll see just how attentive these police really are in the morning. Collin makes a mental note of how to get through the police blockades through the farm before his mind catches on something else, An old necklace huh? I don't suppose you've got a picture of it? Or maybe you could draw it for me? Make it easier to find and get it back to you. Of course in his mind he was wondering just why that necklace could have gone missing. If most of the items being taken were magical in nature, it could never hurt to get your hands on a little extra.

If the man could produce an image of the necklace, Collin would send it to his fixer to see if he could get in touch with a talismonger and get a better idea of what it was exactly.

[Csjarrat]

Nah, unfortunately mate, I havent got a picture of it. it did have a really intricate pattern on the back though i can't remember it in enough detail to draw it, could have been Chinese or Japanese or summat. We'd not long had it valued actually. They said to get it insured for couple of grand as it was really rare. Don't know much more than that I'm afraid

The night passes easily, the soft music and the plentiful ale giving the place a warm ambiance. Your rushed journalistic cover means that people are happy to speak, though you learn little more of use.
The Villaage of Oakhampton is about a 15minute drive through windy country roads, but those roads have been closed off for a few days now by the police. most of the people you speak to have conflicting ideas as to why they've been kicked out of their homes. No-one knows how long it'll be before they get back in, and all are very worried.
Eventually, you decide to hit the hay, and awake to the smell of freshly cooked breakfast wafting up the corridor. your alarm goes off at 6am, giving you roughly two and a half hours of darkness to work with.

[Teafo]

As his alarm sounds in the darkened room, Collin snaps the toggle to off and quickly dresses. The smells of breakfast waft down the hall to his room, but he knows there just isn't time to stop and eat if he wants to get anywhere near Oakhampton before the sun comes up. And he is well aware that if he wants to get there without the police seeing him, the darkness will be a very helpful companion. He enters the main common room and grabs a quick piece of toast to eat on his way, and quickly downs a glass of juice before heading out to his truck. He pulls out his gear bag and quickly slips into his chameleon suit before putting his clothes back on over top. No need to have the locals suspicious of his motives or why a reported would have a chameleon suit.

Once satisfied that his gear is easily accessible, he works his way north along the trail mentioned by the men last night on his way to the Johnsons' farm.

[Csjarrat]

//Incoming Message:: BaByDoll_101[<<Morning sleepy head. I found you some old old plans from the MSP. {ENCRYPTED ATTACHMENT} Unless you can get a decent engineer you're not going to be able to get into it, but you probably wouldn't want to draw that much attention to yourself anyway right? The main server rack and antenna for the surrounding villages is located near an old utilities building, pretty small, just behind the village hall in Oakhampton. The IC they've got patrolling these nodes is strong, very strong. Much stronger than you'd expect for a poxy little Nexus covering a couple of villages. Thought you'd like to know ;-)>>

You step outside into the chill autumn air, and a thin covering of frost belies how cold it is. The sun isn't up for quite some time yet and the meagre street lighting does a bad job of lighting the main road through the village.
You hack a right out of the pub and pick up the old lane up to the Johnson's farm, the eerie morning silence disturbed only by the occasional rustle of the wind through the hedges lining the lane and your rythmic footsteps.

The walk to the farm doesn't take long and your lane begins to sweep to the left, widening at the corner into a large gated gravel driveway entrance to the farm. One light is visible in an upstairs room as you approach, covering the driveway in a dim half-light and casting the meakest of light out into the lane.

Perception test at -2 for low light please