[Csjarrat]

Honey? yes please, that would be lovely
Feathers sat back in the comfortable chair and pondered.
To be honest, i'm not sure how to proceed. Eagle intervened and has compelled me to act, so fleeing and leaving these people to die is not an option. Equally, I do not have the strength to deal with this thing on my own. For now, I suspect a pragmatic approach of monitoring and disrupting its "feeding" would be best, perhaps set up some form of early warning system to allow us to prepare our defenses. That would take considerable co-operation...no...that won't work..
His speech trailed off as his thought processes took over, though he soon snapped back to reality as the prof's delicate china cup clinked against his saucer.
You'd mentioned earlier about defining whether this thing is a true practitioner or a summoned creature. How do I go about that?
Also, what kind of team would you need should I hypothetically want to take this thing down?

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  The Prof' looks at you quietly and then says, "A true blood magic practicioner leaves almost no trail, usually even being careful to erase some of his tell-tale signs. He can't afford to leave a trace for another mage to stumble across. But, a mage who has somehow attracted an evil spirit, and there truly are evil spirites that walk this earth, despite the popular notion that evil is a construct of religion, a mage who has somehow attracted an evil spirit is partially controlled by that spirit. And that spirit exhalts in it's release, and in the pain and fear it inflicts. The murders unfortunately are not in and of themselves a sign of that. For both the  true practicioner and the beast need to cause fear, and suffering for the maximum benefit of their art. And it is my understanding that no such display has been noted." He pauses then and shakes his head. You can tell by his body language that he believes it to be a blood mage with a familiar, rather than a mage under a summoned creatures control. "And as to the latter, the assembling of a team.........First and foremost you need those who are committed to standing, no matter the cost. Second you need a ritual to hold the creature in place, but, since that ritual is extremely time consuming it must be done in advance and the creature somehow brought to it. An unlikely circumstance you must admit. Third, you need those who can attack the creature with magic, and kill it if they can. But it is more likely that they will not be able to, however, if they can hold it, and keep it occupied while another team hunts and kills the mage, it's best tie into this world will be severed, and he can be easily defeated. And honestly, it is far easier to kill mage and summoned creature separately. The procedure is similar if it's a blood mage, but, it is far more difficult to achieve as creature and master are far less likely to be together. And a blood mage has spent a lifetime honing his craft. He will have far more offensive capabilities than the practitioner who's own evil, or madness, has caused them to be a tool, rather than the master." "If you think you can find such a team . . . . . "I will prepare some things that will help you, but, frankly, without a dozen mages accustomed to combat and full team of combatants, you stand little chance of surviving ."  The talk has taken the better part of an hour and half by the time he pauses for a break saying. I have some more things at the house. We'll need to go there.

    The troll shop attendant knocks and is bid entrance. She comes in and quietly murmurs into the professors ear. He turns to her, and says, "I can only give them a few minutes, but I will waive the usual fee. If they need more than that they'll need to make an appointment as I will be leaving with Mage Turnstall and be gone the rest of the day."

[SgtBoomCloud]

[Office of Dr Tatsami, Snohomish, WA  2:10 PM]

The waiting game.  Arc's apparent weakness.  Since the conversation died down as they waited for the professor to accept them, the short human had taken up pacing...and was starting to wear into the floor.  She paused only once as her commlink pinged with a message for her:

<<@Arc [Duckdown] Yo, my shit fell through. No luck here. What's going on on your end?>>

<<Message to: Duckdown
<<NOT FRAGGIN' MUCH.  Waitin' on some hoopla what got here before us, all hoity-toity probably with some mojo theory drek nothin' compared to the fraggin' stuff we gotta deal with.  If you free and wanna wait with me, I'll link my location for you ta trace or whateva.  HOLLA
<<Attached: Arclink.avi

Swiping away the message to send off with a fling of her head, she grumbled and paced some more.  The silence, only broken by the idle noises each of them made in their waiting reverberated in the Arc's head until she couldn't take it anymore.  With one more step, near the rest of them, she stopped with a stomp of her shoe, a loud clap on the floor as she took a wide stance, a vein on her head twitching as she ground her teeth, taking a deep breath, aaand....

"...Oh, frag it!  What the drek are we drekking standing here for, waiting for frag knows how fraggin' long before this drekhole's gonna show so we can fraggin' stop twirling around on our slots, HM?!"  Her words were coming out in a hiss, the girl almost spitting them out in what clearly was meant to be a whisper, if not for..well...that naturally not-so-inside voice... "I mean, come the frag on, we could be out there right now, tracking down this fragging hellhole what is turning our 'hood inside drek out, knowledge or no.  Instead, by the time we get back, we could fragging have MORE fragging bodies done up by El Creepo Fragging Smilyhoop^TM with those fragging god awful smiles, and guess fragging what?  NO CHANGE.  We need to fraggin' get off our slots and geek this fragger, because we all know that these hoity-toities, the bookies, the KE, hell even the fraggin' corps are still gonna be on their fraggin' hoops, sippin' their fraggin' wines or fraggin' TEAS long after the Barrens has fraggin' turned into one giant, BLOODY, SMILING, DEN OF FRAGGIN' CORPSES!  DREK, what the frag are we still DOING HERE?!"

...It didn't take a genious to notice the stress and panic to her words, likely a combined effect of a rough night along with whatever she bore witness to...best conclusion?  This drek was hitting her.  Hard.

[Triskavanski]

Masqurade blinked at the stream of words coming from Arc's mouth.  Moving up closer, she decides to attempt to do the most sensible thing, and place her finger on the ex-ganger's lips. "Shhh" she commands,

"Ah.. Doctor Tatsami, Its good to meet you, but since your time is precious, we'll skip the fluff and get down to brass tacks. In short, we've seen some drek. A creature so utterly vile, that its scream is enough to make one regurgitate. Perhaps you know something of a creature that laughs as it kills?"

[Tamesh]

Red looks up at Arc with shock and disgust on her face. She marches over to the tiny woman with an intense look in her eyes, and when she speaks it sounds like she's reprimanding a child for making a scene in a supermarket. Clearly upset, but intentionally soft as to not draw any more attention than is needed.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you think the only lead we have in making a difference here is going to come out here faster because you started throwing a tantrum in the middle of his office? We're getting a free consultation from a fucking professional and you're screaming in the middle of his goddamn office because we have to wait fifteen minutes-"

Masqurade blinked at the stream of words coming from Arc's mouth.  Moving up closer, she decides to attempt to do the most sensible thing, and place her finger on the ex-ganger's lips. "Shhh" she commands,

"Ah.. Doctor Tatsami, Its good to meet you, but since your time is precious, we'll skip the fluff and get down to brass tacks. In short, we've seen some drek. A creature so utterly vile, that its scream is enough to make one regurgitate. Perhaps you know something of a creature that laughs as it kills?"

[/color]

The elf is cut off by Masquerade. Probably for the best, too. It seems things are hitting her just as hard.

[Poindexter]

[Redmond Barrrens, Seattle, Ancients Turf, 2:20pm]

For a split second, it looks like the razorboy is gonna swing. Duckdown feels the familiar reactive tense to his own muscles just getting started and the adrenaline beginning to flow. AIGHT, here we- he and the muscular elf are both cut off before it can go any further when a tall, but beefy [OOC, did we ever clear up what race lil mik was?] ork lays a gentle hand on his shoulder and speaks to him, while Duck listens and quickly comes to understand.

"Hey, Silver, stand down man. The trog ain't meaning no harm. He be lookin' fer help just like he said. You think you're the only one that lost someone man. Take a look at him. That little girl that was killed was his NIECE. Blood is bond, word omae. My girl told me they spent all night lookin fer her, they were lookin' fer her man, an she still got kilt. You're brother man, he was grown. Tell me what chance she had, you had of stopping that thing."

No wonder he lookin to bust somebody ass. He feelin just like I do. Feeling that enough has been said already, he stands his ground and reaches into his long ratty hair for a spliff he rolled earlier in the day. After lighting it and taking a massive hit from it, he offers it to the large chromed elf before him, raising one eyebrow as he does. Once hes hit it and passed it to Lil Mik, the three of them have started a little circle right there on the corner. As it goes around, the elf starts to loosen up and the tension and aggression drains out of him a bit. Duck waits till it has gone around a few more times before speaking again. Once the tiny little spliff comes his way one last time, he holds it in one hand, looks up at Silver with a look of death on his face and says, "Best believe, when we get this motherfucker, you're gonna be in on it, wiz?"

After finishing up with Silver, Duck and Lil Mik stroll down the street together. Mik gives the standard condolences and whatnot, but the ork interrupts him when he gets to the bit about "... so Reesa said you were lookin for help?" before he pipes up. "Yeah. It's recently become far too clear to me that there really aint shit to motivate a motherfucker like cash. Not blood, not honor, not fam, not shit. Fuckin jing, son. So, that's what I need. I'm trying to put some heads on retainer for a sort of investigation and revenge job here and i need a wide variety of skills, wiz? So I gotta put the word out on the street that I'm payin', only..." He stops and turns to Mik with a forced smile, "... I aint got no dough. Just sunk everything I had into some new chrome and a new strap. Now you know I been runnin' for a few months now and you probably done heard I can swing my shit, so here's the deal; I need twenty five g's and I'm willin to work off the debt with interest. I know yall mugs got some work that needs doin that yall might not want pointin back at ya, or at least you're gonna sooner or later. I also know you probably aint got that kinda jing on you personally, so you're gonna have to go through your boy before you know anything. Just, hit me back when you know something, wiz?" The two of them bump fists as they part ways near the edge of Ancients territory around 2:30. His comm is finally finished updating it's operating system and he's had to click <<NO>> about twenty times already for various upgrades he doesn't want. When he's done, he can finally read the damn message.

>>Bro, when you get done talkin' ta Mik you need to go pick up mama. She wanna see Godra personally. An then after that she wanna see Zip.<<

Oh shit.

<<@Theresa [Duckdown] Will do.>>

Then, just as he's about to close the window, he gets another message from twenty minutes ago. A response from Arc. PIECE OF SHIT

<<Message to: Duckdown
<<NOT FRAGGIN' MUCH.  Waitin' on some hoopla what got here before us, all hoity-toity probably with some mojo theory drek nothin' compared to the fraggin' stuff we gotta deal with.  If you free and wanna wait with me, I'll link my location for you ta trace or whateva.  HOLLA
<<Attached: Arclink.avi

<<@Arc [Duckdown] Thanks but not just yet. Ummmmm, I hate to bug you for a ride again, especially after never having given you the fifty I promised you yesterday, but I need one. Once ya lose the rest of the crew, holler at me, wiz?>>
<<@Arc [TransferFunds] ny50.00>>

[ismilealot]

[Redmond Barrrens, Seattle, Ancients Turf, 2:20pm]
    Duck waits till it has gone around a few more times before speaking again. Once the tiny little spliff comes his way one last time, he holds it in one hand, looks up at Silver with a look of death on his face and says, "Best believe, when we get this motherfucker, you're gonna be in on it, wiz?"

@ Duckdown  The elf's eye's are red as tomatoes. But he just looks you in the eye, hard. "Word is bond. You find him, you call me, an me an all my blood'll be there. We'll kill him. We lookin' too, we find him, I call you, give you a chance to punch his face in before we kill 'im. Word is bond, you find him an we don't get a call, ain't no place on this planet you kin hide, 'cause I ain't no razorboy." He raises his hand then, and holds it out and up, sideways from him, and the streetlight 20 feet away explodes. A piece of glass hits him and you see blood trickle down his cheek. Might as well have been air for all that he flinched. "JK55497LM78914" He keeps looking you straight in the eye the whole time.

After finishing up with Silver, Duck and Lil Mik stroll down the street together. "...I aint got no dough. .....Now you know I been runnin' for a few months now and you probably done heard I can swing my shit, so here's the deal; I need twenty five g's and I'm willin to work off the debt with interest. I know yall mugs got some work that needs doin that yall might not want pointin back at ya, or at least you're gonna sooner or later. I also know you probably aint got that kinda jing on you personally, so you're gonna have to go through your boy before you know anything. Just, hit me back when you know something, wiz?"[/color]

Lil Mik looks at him when he's done. "Aight, I'll holla at my boy. See what I kin do fer you en Tessa. But, first I'm gonna feel him out. Make sure you ain't insulting 'im wit the offer omae. Silver's bro Dutch was high up man. An the whole fraggin' family is one kinda mage or another. Silver is one of their best, but, he just don't do the politics. Ya gotta be political ya wanna move up. But I'll talk to Blindside, feel him out on this an holla at cha. Word."

          You're comm buzzes with a message from Agatha. >>PL55125DF77468 Theresa en I be going to Zip's this afternoon. I told Kip you'd be calling.<< She sounds like she's been crying. She's babysat Meli and Phee a few times and she probably knew the girls the best out of your whole family.
 
@ Khali, Red, Masquerade & Arc The troll clerk behind the counter suddenly has a sprig of lavendar in her hand and looks at you all with an expression of steadfast appraisal. And then you hear a door and footsteps from down the hall. The clerk turns to you and says, "The professor will see you now. And she gestures down the hallway with the same soft jingle. You see an older human male walk out of the hallway. She smiles at him, "If you'll just take a seat Mage Turnstall. The professor will be a few minutes."

[Csjarrat]

Feathers felt defeated already and he hadn't even fired a shot. He flicked through the images of the scene he took with his commlink earlier, showing the prof the results of last night's carnage.
[color=redFrom what I've seen, there is little evidence this thing is trying to conceal its tracks. It left a trail right back to its lair in the sewerage, my spirit traced it and guided us most of the way to its lair.
To me, it looks like it wants to be caught, to be challenged. Perhaps so it can demonstrate its true strength?[/color]
He sipped the last of the delicious tea and conversed with the prof at length.
This ritual you speak of, could you teach me? The combatants shouldn't be a problem, there are more than enough guns in our neighbourhood. The rage I saw at the presumed impotence and disinterest of the police would be enough to harness into some kind of defence force, even if we were unable to mount a serious offence. The team of combat mages however, does present something of a challenge. We have some awakened, but nowhere near the level of skill or experience that you say we would require.
Heading out of the room, he smiled at the receptionist and took a seat, a little taken off-guard by the appearance of several street-savvy types in the waiting area.
He gingerly smiled at them as he took a seat, noting down the salient points of his discussion onto his notepad app to jog his memory later.
<<Meeting with prof>>:: likely to be spirit or familiar due to traces left. Need ritual to hold in place, timely and ?needs lure.
Isolate and kill each component of pact separately.
Confirm whether blood mage + summoner or spirit using mage as tool.
Potentially unite gangs for manpower?
Perhaps create early-warning system? Patrols? Sensors? Spirits + Wards?
He tapped his fingers idly on the chair arm as he dictated his thought processes into the application in its glowing green AR terminal.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc immediately shut up upon Raven's finger touching her lips, eyes wide, the girl practically livid as she fumed from the reprimand from Red.  Drag, if I didn't know any better, I'd say she's a Corp type...and a keen too, given the superiority complex.  Aight, keep it together.... Taking a deep breath, the girl didn't utter another syllable, jaw still set stiffly from her frustrations.  As the troll ushered them in, she followed close behind.  She had a feeling she would need the picture she took to show this professor....a thought she dreaded as she readied it in her AR display, proceeding down the hall.

As they passed by the older mage on his way out, Arc gave a Paise, mouth opening and her finger pointing casually insurprise.  Her mind reeled, a hint of recognition fleeting across her features, and then it passed.  "..hoi, I think I know that cat from somewhere...locally even.".. She whispered under her breath before the entered the office.  She shrugged it off, standing near the back of the room and shifting uncomfortably, letting those with a calmer tongue say the talky stuff.

[ismilealot]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade & Arc   As you enter the room it's a spacious well appointed office filled with shelves, books, a few knick-knacks and several plants. A short, round, balding man looks up at you through his glasses. "I'm Dr Tatsami. Pleased to meet you. I've had something extremely important come up and I'm afraid I won't be able to give you more than a quick consult. So it will help if you are able to briefly describe the nature of the problem and any Awakened descriptions that lead you to believe that the problem involves magical misuse."

@ Feathers  The troll mage that greeted you when you came through the door looks at you with quite a bit of curiosity, but only says, "If there's anything I can get you while you're waiting Mage Turnstall don't hesitate to ask."

[Tamesh]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade & Arc   As you enter the room it's a spacious well appointed office filled with shelves, books, a few knick-knacks and several plants. A short, round, balding man looks up at you through his glasses. "I'm Dr Tatsami. Pleased to meet you. I've had something extremely important come up and I'm afraid I won't be able to give you more than a quick consult. So it will help if you are able to briefly describe the nature of the problem and any Awakened descriptions that lead you to believe that the problem involves magical misuse."

Red steps forward, already pulling up the files on her comm to present to the doctor. Doctor Tatsami, thank you so much for taking the time to see us. I realize you're on a tight schedule, so I won't waste any time. My associates and I are having issues with what we believe to be a malevolent spirit. If you'd like to take a look, I'm sure these files can explain the situation better than I can."

She presents the brief clip of the creature taken from her glasses. "This is a visual of the creature. I realize it's not the highest quality, but it's all we have." From there she pulls up the pictures of the victims. "Here are just some of the damages it has done so far. It's been active for some time now, and we have no reason to believe it will stop any time soon." Finally, the video of the 'dancing' man. "We encountered this and some strange music shortly before an attack last night. I'm not sure what it means, but perhaps you can shed some light on the situation."

[ismilealot]

@ Red  He looks at the clip, and then transfers it over to a much larger screen that projects into the air above his desk. He studies it silently, and then rewinds and zooms in several times. "I'm going to run a program to enhance the quality of this. In the meantime, you said you were there, and heard music. Please describe anything you saw or felt or assensed." He pauses, and then says, "Wait just a moment. I'm going to call someone else in on this. I've been consulted a few times on the Laughing Man murders as I am the closest consulting expert currently in the field. But, as it happens, one of those consults was just this morning. And I'd like him to see this and hear what you have to say." He speaks into the air, "Brue, ask Mage Turnsall to step back into my office please." He pauses and looks at you shaking his head. "It always amazes me, if you'd been 20 minutes later, you would have missed me and had to come back. If you'd been here this morning. You would have missed him. But, right here, right now, you can perhaps aid him, by your information if nothing else."    

[Csjarrat]

Ah yes, a glass of water would be lovely, thankyou.

[ismilealot]

@ Feathers  She brings you the water and then pauses, "The professor is asking if you could please return to his office."

[Csjarrat]

He took the glass, swigging heavily from it, raising his eyebrows at the request. Finishing his swig he nodded and headed back in, preceding his entrance with a gentle knock.