[Csjarrat]

As far as you can tell, the wound was caused by a knife, or sword, probably in defense. Shards of clothing can be seen between the teeth of the dead dog, it must have taken a chunk out of whoever was here before being killed in return.

The room you are currently in is clearly the kitchen for the residence. It hasn't been as badly disturbed as the previous room, and the power is still on, judging by the quiet hum of the fridge.
Two doors are present aside from the one you entered. Both on the far side of the room. The right side of the room is covered by cupboards, a cooker and worksurfaces. A small dining table and chairs are pushed up on the left side of the room. The corpse is in the centre of the floor.

[Teafo]

Well lets see what we've got behind door number one Collin thinks as he moves to the left door and presses his ear to it. Once certain of what is behind the door, he will move slowly into the next room with his pistol ready, the same way as he entered the kitchen.


Perception Test
Intuition 3 + Perception 2 = 5d6, 2 hits

[Csjarrat]

The right hand side door is totally quiet as you press your ear against the wood.
Opening the door reveals a darkened stairway down into a basement.
A light switch is located on the left hand side wall, a blood splatter present on the walk beneath it.

[Teafo]

Trusting his low light vision to guide him, Collin decides to forego the lightswitch for the time being. No need to draw attention to himself just yet, and heads down the stairs slowly.

[Csjarrat]

The stairs squeak and creak with each step as the darkness encroaches on you. The green hue of your lowlight vison slowly begins to take over as the ambient light drops and a curious scent envelops you as you reach the bottom of the steps and turn to your left and look into the main room.
From a brief scan of the features, you can make out that the room is dominated by a large fireplace at one end, which appears to be adorned with varying bric-a-brac. the floor is mostly empty aside from a small kneeling-table. The stairs you came down are the only route into and out of the room.
visual only perception test @ -2 for low light (rather than -6)
The scent is overly cloying, sweet even, and reminds you of something.. something you can't quite place...
Memory test please

[Teafo]

Perception Roll
Intuition 3 + Perception 2 - Circumstance 2 = 3d6, 1 hit[//url]

Memory Test
Logic 4 + Willpower 3 = 7d6, 2 hits

[Csjarrat]

As your eyes focus in the amplified half-light spilling down from the kitchen, you're able to pick out greater detail about the room.
The fireplace that dominates the room has a curious empty spot, a place devoid of trinketry and bric-a-brac. The presence of an empty space in such a cluttered environment stands out to you as odd.
Much of the Bric-a-brac reminds you of talismans of varying schools you'd seen in magic text-books and reagents cover the small kneeling table.

The heavy cloying smell reminds you of your days bumming about from shelter to shelter in the shitty bits of London, the Hobos speedballing from inhalers and smoking roll-ups mixed with whatever their meagre cash reserves would allow for.
You recognise this particular scent as the old awakened fave; Pysche and Red Mesc. Just what you'd need to push the boundaries of an enchantment or ritual.

[Teafo]

Realizing that these items are exactly what could have caused all of the problems in this village, Collin sets the flash on his camera, takes a few shots of the room quickly and then sets to gathering what evidence he can find. Best to document it all later when there isn't so much danger around. Once satisfied with the gathered items he makes his way back upstairs to check the other closed door.


Perception check at the door if it is necessary:
Intuition 3 + Perception 2 = 5d6, 2 hits

[Csjarrat]

The low light really impedes your photography. the flash tends to overcompensate for the darkness, leaving everything a touch overexposed and exaggerating the shadows on the varying talismae in the room.
The curious empty space in the middle of the fireplace takes a good shot however.
Spinning around and heading back up the stairs out of the basement, you find the second door is open.
You carefully push open the door, keeping the barrel of the pistol pointing into the void.
This stairway is well lit and smells fresh, except for the streaks of blood seen on the stairs and smeared handprints on the lower section of the wall.

[Teafo]

What the.... He leaves the thought unfinished as he makes his way slowly down the stairs. The light in this staircase making it much easier to see, yet the presence of the bloody handprints has him on edge. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs he will try to determine who or what has been here, and where the blood leads.

[Csjarrat]

Heading up the stairs, you see that whatever left the bloody prints was clearly badly wounded. As far as you can see, someone had been kneeling/crawling their way up here, using the lower section of the wall as a support.
The stairs creak and groan underfoot as they turn left into the converted loft space. A sickening smell of burnt flesh is barely concealed by sweet smelling incense, the smell strengthening as you ascend the stairs as slowly and as quietly as you can.
The blood splatters turn into obvious streaks. the effort of clambering up here must have taken its toll on the wounded person, patches of dried, dark blood have congealed on the stairs and and threshold. as your eyes break level with the floor, you can make out the slumped form of a body, your nose confirms what your eyes are seeing; this man body hasn't moved in several days. Flies buzz about the corpse and the stench is overpowering, much worse than the dog downstairs.

perception as you enter the room please

[Teafo]

Collin is forced to cover his nose and mouth  with his forearm to keep from coughing at the smell. At first drawn to the body, he knows that clues around the room will likely give him more answers than just a corpse.


Intuition 3 + Perception 2 = 5d6, 2 hits

[Csjarrat]

You rise slowly up the remaining stairs, each ancient floorboard squeaking in protest as it takes your weight. Reaching the top of the stairs gives you the full horror of the grizly scene in front of you.
The room was obviously a bedroom. It was well appointed with plush furnishings. Directly ahead of you was the corpse. against the back and right walls ahead of you was a lush four poster bed, a shrine of some description next to it, in line with the corpse.
To the left of you were wardrobes, a chest of drawers and a small work area, featuring a desk, a chair and a holoterminal. The desk is almost behind you, in the recess of the stairwell you ascended.

The remains of the person in front of you have begun to decompose, but it was obvious that they'd clearly died in extreme pain.
A small metallic handle of some description was visible between the shoulder blades of the dead person, bloodstained and covered in flies. Pooled dried blood lay in the recess of the contorted corpse's lower spine and had dribbled onto the floor, creating the trail you'd been following in.
The body had clearly been in a fight. Charred burn marks could be seen on several aspects of his lower limbs and a chunk of flesh was missing from it's right calf, a seared and burnt mass was all that remained.
It's left arm was outstretched, almost as if it were reaching for something.


Arcana or an applicable knowledge tests to inspect the shrine
Composure + perception to approach the body.
Hardware to inspect the terminal etc.
This place is really horrible, the stench is overpowering. please apply -2 dice pool modifier when working in the real world (not applicable to VR or astral)

[Teafo]

Composure
Willpower 3 + Charisma 3 = 6d6, 3 hits
Perception
Intuition 3 + Perception 2 = 5d6, 2 hits
Default to Logic for Arcana Test: Logic = 3, -1 for Defaulting, -2 for distractions, minimum 1 die
1d6, 0 hits (as was expected)
Default t Logic for Hardward Test: Logic = 3, -1 for Defaulting, -2 for distractions, minimum 1 die
Woo a natural 1... hope poking around looking didn't destroy the terminal O.o
Perception test 2 for astral space
Intuition 3 + Perception 2 = 5d6, 5 hits So that's where all my luck went...


Collin coughs into his sleeve as he enters the room. The scene unfolding before him paints the picture of a horrible ritualistic sacrifice, but he is unable to determine exactly what has happened at this time. He knows that he needs to get the word out of exactly what has happened to the rest of the world, this can't go on out here any longer. Knowing better than to disturb the location, he takes numerous pictures, including close up shots of the shrine, the dagger, the terminal and the wounds to the body. He works quickly in the physical world before opening his mind's eye to the astral plane to inspect the room before leaving.

[Csjarrat]

You manage to keep hold of your stomach as you get closer to the body, a swarm of flies erupts from the wound as you close in to take the photographs, dispersing around the room, buzzing angrily at the skylight as it denies them a route into the afternoon sun.
The weapon embedded in the wound features an intricate pattern on the pommel, your camera captures it perfectly. as you take more photos of the body, you reach it's face. Though contorted in agony and bloated from several days in the sun, it is just about recognisable as the target of your investigation. Double checking the mugshot that Herb gave you, you were fairly sure it was him.
Following his outstretched arm, you see he was reaching for something off the shrine, or maybe calling to the shrine for help?

As you took shots of it, you can tell intuitively that something is missing from the shrine.
Between the organised chaos of offerings, incense and reagents, there is an omission; a gap.
You can't figure out exactly who or what the shrine is dedicated to, or what would be missing from it, but its a reasonable guess that someone you knew would be able to assist from your photograph.

As you head to the terminal, you trip over the outstretched arm, it's rigour mortis enhancing its strength sizeably, catching you off balance. More flies are dislodged from the decaying body, causing you to swat and waft your arms. A not-so-deft blow knocks the terminal onto the floor with a metallic clunk. No matter how many times you press the power button, it remains in an "off" status.
Cursing your clumsiness and the disgusting conditions, you climb back to your feet and clear your mind of the physical, stepping sideways into the corporeal.
Immediately you are assaulted by the taint of death and rot. The brutal murder has left its mark on astral space, a dark zone surrounds the fallen body.

A bright glare emanates from the dark shadow of the killed man, the dagger in his spine clearly some form of bound foci.
The shrine pulsates with aura, almost too bright to look at. As you focus your second sight on it, a watcher spirit materialises in front of you and begins to speak in a deep, controlled voice.

Fy enw i yw Martin, yr wyf wedi bod o dan fygythiad gan ddau asiantau sefydliad am ddau fis. Heddiw, yr wyf yn talu pris am beidio â chydymffurfio â'u gofynion. Maent yn ceisio pŵer yn y pen draw a bydd yn aros ar ddim. Maent yn llygredig, gwenwynig, drwg yn y bwriad. Rhaid iddynt beidio â llwyddo


Language test: Gaelic (2) or Welsh (1), no -ve mods in the astral.