[ismilealot]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade & Arc   The professor busies himself with running the program to enhance the images, and as soon as he gets it running he straightens up.  "That'll take several minutes to load and enhance the image. In the meantime you can tell me as much as you felt, heard, saw & assensed." You hear a knock at the door. and the professor say's,"Come in." The man you saw earlier as he came out of this office re-enters the room. The professor nods to him and says, "I'd like you to meet a mage that is currently working on this problem. I believe your information could be valuable to him. Mage Turnstall." he says looking up at him. "I'd like you to meet several others that encountered the creature last night." He turns to you all and then pauses, "I'm afraid I must admit to a gross lack of manners. I'm afraid I don't know your names." He pauses then looking at each you with an eyebrow raised.

@ Feathers  After you knock you hear the professors voice say, "Come in." When you enter the room you see four women in various, and very different styles of dress. One of whom had more than a whiff of vomit on her as you passed her in the hallway and looked like she'd slept in her clothes.   

[Poindexter]

>>PL55125DF77468 Theresa en I be going to Zip's this afternoon. I told Kip you'd be calling.<<

<<@Agatha [Duckdown] See yall soon.>>

<<@Kip [Duckdown] Yo, this Agatha's brother. You got a ride with more than 2 wheels?>>

[ismilealot]

@ Duckdown  >>Ummmh, hi, ummh, nah man but my brother does. Ummmh, hey listen, I'm sorry about Meli man. I mean, who the fuck does that. Kill a little girl like that. I mean, can't be no real man do a thing like that. ummh yeah. Ummmh, yeah, you need a ride I kin call my brother. We kin swing by an pick you up an all. Agg is gonna be busy wit her sister an Zip an all that anyway. Ummmh yeah, so you wan me to call him an pick you up or something?"<<

[Triskavanski]

Masquerade sighs, shaking her head a little, as she steps forwards."Well, I could tell you.. but words would fail to describe it, completely and utterly so. It is something that words alone will never do to decribe the utter feeling of dread one would get when it screams, how it can drive even the sanest to madness, how it can attack.. taste... mark. I'm not very well trained in arts arcane, but I do have my own uses. Perhaps you might have a memory spell of some kind? I'd be willing to let you access that memory, as it will be hundreds of times better. Perhaps you might also want to do an examination.. as I felt.. marked, when it hoisted me up in its invisible grasp."

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc fidgeted during the exchange of words, visibly wincing and biting her lip as the images were put on painfully large and detailed display, relieved when they were minimized to work.  She seemed to zone out for a moment, her cybereyes whirring a bit as she pulled up a message she received...

<<@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>>

<<Message to: Duckdown [Arc]
<<Null sweat chummer, thanks for the jing.  It coulda waited though, you got good reasons for it.  Ride?  I'm in Snohomish with the prof and the others.  Looking like a real crew formin', omae.  I'll ring you up once I'm back down in the Barrens.  Where you need to go?

Quickly, she made a decision to fire off a small message to Red as well, text only.
<<Message to: Red [Arc]
<<Hoi.  Sorry I freaked the frag out.  Whole deal's got me on edge, yknow?  Hey, buddy of mine is calling me needing a lift.  One of the ones with me last night...his niece was one of the vics.  If this meeting sticks around for long, would y'all be stranded if I kipped out?  If so, it's cool, null sweat, I'll stick around.  Thanks, omae

Sending that off, she blinked, perking up and stepping forward after Masquerade said her piece, giving a nod of agreement.  Clearing her throat, she did her best to be proper: 4d6t5 1, but clearly wasn't used to the idea.  "Ah, yeah...hi, prof, I'm assuming you don't do street handles, so my name's Lauren.  What she said is pretty much right, though she kinda forgot one small drek of a detail: we spotted her in this thing's grasp, hanging her upside down in the air like a fraggin' rag doll.  I was there with two chummers of mine...one was Awakened, and he was wiggin' out just by the presence of the thing, and this cat don't wig out for nothin'.  He felt marked by it too..said it spoke to him or somethin' and described it as 'pure, complete evil' or somethin'...All I knows is, the laughter chilled even me to th'bone, it seemed to come from all around, and only a sick twisted mind displays its..." she cleared there throat, feeling a lump form.  "..prey like that..especially a little girl..."  She stopped, taking a step back and looking around self-consciously.

[Tamesh]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade & Arc   The professor busies himself with running the program to enhance the images, and as soon as he gets it running he straightens up.  "That'll take several minutes to load and enhance the image. In the meantime you can tell me as much as you felt, heard, saw & assesnes." You hear a knock at the door. and the professor say's,"Come in." The man you saw earlier as he came out of this office re-enters the room. The professor nods to him and says, "I'd like you to meet a mage that is currently working on this problem. I believe your information could be valuable to him. Mage Turnstall." he says looking up at him. "I'd like you to meet several others that encountered the creature last night." He turns to you all and then pauses, "I'm afraid I must admit to a gross lack of manners. I'm afraid I don't know your names." He pauses then looking at each you with an eyebrow raised.

Arc fidgeted during the exchange of words, visibly wincing and biting her lip as the images were put on painfully large and detailed display, relieved when they were minimized to work.  She seemed to zone out for a moment, her cybereyes whirring a bit as she pulled up a message she received...

Sending that off, she blinked, perking up and stepping forward after Masquerade said her piece, giving a nod of agreement.  Clearing her throat, she did her best to be proper: 4d6t5 1, but clearly wasn't used to the idea.  "Ah, yeah...hi, prof, I'm assuming you don't do street handles, so my name's Lauren.  What she said is pretty much right, though she kinda forgot one small drek of a detail: we spotted her in this thing's grasp, hanging her upside down in the air like a fraggin' rag doll.  I was there with two chummers of mine...one was Awakened, and he was wiggin' out just by the presence of the thing, and this cat don't wig out for nothin'.  He felt marked by it too..said it spoke to him or somethin' and described it as 'pure, complete evil' or somethin'...All I knows is, the laughter chilled even me to th'bone, it seemed to come from all around, and only a sick twisted mind displays its..." she cleared there throat, feeling a lump form.  "..prey like that..especially a little girl..."  She stopped, taking a step back and looking around self-consciously.

Red nods at Arc and Masquerade's assessments. "There was some sort of haunting music when I saw it. And laughter. A friend who was with me at the time, also Awakened, said her mentor spirit couldn't abide by its presence. I felt deeply unsettled myself, but I don't know if that had any supernatural component to it. Tanya White, by the way."

[Poindexter]

Both responses come in at the same time and Duck glances back and forth between the two, trying to make up his mind.

@ Duckdown  >>Ummmh, hi, ummh, nah man but my brother does. Ummmh, hey listen, I'm sorry about Meli man. I mean, who the fuck does that. Kill a little girl like that. I mean, can't be no real man do a thing like that. ummh yeah. Ummmh, yeah, you need a ride I kin call my brother. We kin swing by an pick you up an all. Agg is gonna be busy wit her sister an Zip an all that anyway. Ummmh yeah, so you wan me to call him an pick you up or something?"<<

<<@Kip [Duckdown] I might. Whether I do or not though, know that I appreciate the offer and I'm gonna remember that, trust. I'll holler in a second if i do.>>

<<Message to: Duckdown [Arc]
<<Null sweat chummer, thanks for the jing.  It coulda waited though, you got good reasons for it.  Ride?  I'm in Snohomish with the prof and the others.  Looking like a real crew formin', omae.  I'll ring you up once I'm back down in the Barrens.  Where you need to go?

<<@ Arc [Duckdown] How long do you figure it'll be before you can get home alone, and get cleaned up? I can meet you there.>>

Duck fires off a couple responses as he walks briskly back toward his squat to grab his nice clothes and maybe try to con Arc out of a shower at her garage. If she hasn't used up her water ration already today, that is. Can't have mom thinking I live in a drainpipe, now can I?

[Csjarrat]

Feathers was taken aback by the news. seeing the concern and hearing their stories he knew that galvansing support against this beast had just become much easier.
They talked like the downtrodden folk around the safehouse, their proximity to the site meant in all actuality, they probably would live around there and would have a net of people to hlp defend the neighbourhood.
He shook their hands as they introduced himself but his blood went cold at Tanya's retelling of the music and laughter. The images of the clowns, the laughter and the blood flashing clearly into his head. It had been a message. It must be its calling card...
Following Tanya's tangent of conversation, he joined in
My mentor also baulked at it's presence. We tracked it back to its lair and can confirm it is definitely awakened. It is either a blood mage, or something bound to one in one way or another. Our meeting previous to this went into detail about how one would be able to isolate and destroy an enemy of this kind. It won't be easy at all.

[ismilealot]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade, Arc & Feathers  The professor listens to you're descriptions and grows almost gleeful. "You're job just got a little easier!" he tells Feathers excitedly. "A blood mage does not mark his victims. Or at least he doesn't mark them that way." he says as he straightens up."If the thing that appeared in this video is marking it's victims, it's an evil spirit working through a mage. And that gives it a very specific vulnerability."He looks at all of you again and then singles out Khali. You said your mentor spirit responded to it. Feathers said the same thing. Can you tell me more?" He listens intently.

     When she's done descriing her impression and Wolf's responses he nods, And then he turns to Raven. "You say he marked you, and that he tasted you. Any possibility that the mark is to bring you into his fold of followers?" his eyes are boring into you for your answer, watching for any sort of prevarication.   

    Looking at Feathers he says, "We still need more mages capable of handling the creature and keeping it occupied while others kill the mage. But, this start makes me hopeful. Far more hopeful than my consults with Bernie have made me."

[Tamesh]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade, Arc & Feathers  The professor listens to you're descriptions and grows almost gleeful. "You're job just got a little easier!" he tells Feathers excitedly. "A blood mage does not mark his victims. Or at least he doesn't mark them that way." he says as he straightens up."If the thing that appeared in this video is marking it's victims, it's an evil spirit working through a mage. And that gives it a very specific vulnerability."He looks at all of you again and then singles out Khali. You said your mentor spirit responded to it. Feathers said the same thing. Can you tell me more?" He listens intently.

     When she's done descriing her impression and Wolf's responses he nods, And then he turns to Raven. "You say he marked you, and that he tasted you. Any possibility that the mark is to bring you into his fold of followers?" his eyes are boring into you for your answer, watching for any sort of prevarication.   

    Looking at Feathers he says, "We still need more mages capable of handling the creature and keeping it occupied while others kill the mage. But, this start makes me hopeful. Far more hopeful than my consults with Bernie have made me."

Red furrows her brow for a moment. "Just so we're clear, you're saying that this creature is being directed by mages to commit these murders, and that the preferred way of dealing with it would be to assassinate the mages? I'm not saying I disagree, it's just some very interesting new information and I'd like to make sure we're all on the same page."

When she stops speaking, she uses the break in the conversation to reply to Arc's comm message.

"It's alright. I'm feeling pretty tense myself as of late. And I don't really mind a brief departure so long as the rest of us aren't left stranded. You were are ride here, after all."

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc paused for a little bit, listening to the exchange, tapping her foot on the floor idly.  She bit her lip, listening to what sort of plan needed to happen to take this thing down.  So a finger wiggler is behind that thing...taking it down would mean the beasty goes away?  All well, but where the frag are we gonna find a lot of Awakened?  Noone in the Barrens has that kind of jing to hire out, and the local Awakened ain't gonna exactly come out of the woodwork..

She pursed her lips, instead using her focus to reply to Red real quick.

<<Message to: Red
<<Then I'll wait until this meet's over and I take y'all back to the Barrens.  Dunno how long this chummer's gonna need my ride.  Null sweat, I'll let him know.

Just in time, she pulled up Duck's reply to her.

<<@ Arc [Duckdown] How long do you figure it'll be before you can get home alone, and get cleaned up? I can meet you there.>>

<<Message to: Duck
<<Dunno how long this meet'll be, but doubt more than two hours.  Short of a rinse, doubt I'll get much cleaner.  Your water still down where you at?  Frag, did ANYTHING work before I set up shop, omae?  if the timing's tight, you can borrow my drek.  I'l let you know when over...just no fingering the goods, aight?
<<Attached: door.exe

Satisfied, she gave a smirk and nodded to Tatsami's note of positivity.  "Aight, that I can work with..mojo squad to run interference topside, geek squad below."  She cracked her knuckles.  "This fragger's gotta pay~"

[ismilealot]

Red furrows her brow for a moment. "Just so we're clear, you're saying that this creature is being directed by mages to commit these murders, and that the preferred way of dealing with it would be to assassinate the mages? I'm not saying I disagree, it's just some very interesting new information and I'd like to make sure we're all on the same page."

The professor looks at you and answers, "Not quite. I'm saying that this creature uses mages." He pauses and looks at each of you, "Have you ever wondered why mages with summoned creatures, are rare, and why mentor spirits are also very rare?" He pauses to call up a folder of known mentor spirits and you see them displayed in the air above his desk. "It's because those creatures are not native to our realm. They absolutely must have a conduit by which they may enter it. Most do not wish to come. And a mage forces them to their will for a service. Others, possess such goodness that they desire to help someone who they share a bond with, although as of yet no one knows what creates such a bond in the first place. But, just as there are a few of such goodness, there are a few of such extraordinary malevolence that the barrier that keeps them in their world is our  best defense." He pauses for a moment, "What I'm saying is that somehow one of those spirits has somehow bonded with a mage in our world, and is using that mage to do this. Further, based on the creatures handiwork so far. It is extra-ordinarily powerful. Most mentor spirits don't act in our realm, they simply don't have the strength. Instead they must influence and guide their protégé. The few that do posses the strength, are again limited in their ability to act."He stops and looks down for a moment. When he looks back up again the chubby, balding little professor is gone. Instead a man who has fought in to many battles and seen far to many evils has replaced him. "The fact that this one is able to, means that he is far more powerful than any spirit we've seen so far. And that he must be stopped. At any and all costs, because he is gaining strength, and there will come a time when it will not need to husband that strength at all. So, either you're able to intervene now. Or Fiends and Foul Magics finds out that it really is blood magic and decides that it justifies their intervention." He pauses, "And, if you can't stop it, I will be forced to agree with their assessment. In either case, I need to know, what your decision is. To gather every resource at your disposable to try and end this threat while it is still relatively weak. Or, to walk away as quickly as possible and put some distance between you and it and allow them to do their jobs unencumbered by any laymen interference.

[ismilealot]

Satisfied, she gave a smirk and nodded to Tatsami's note of positivity.  "Aight, that I can work with..mojo squad to run interference topside, geek squad below."  She cracked her knuckles.  "This fragger's gotta pay~"

Hearing that he turns to you Arc and says, "That's one. What about the rest of you?"

[Poindexter]

Duck is leaving his drainpipe with his "expensive" suit folded and tucked into his shoulderbag, and trying to decide between seeing if Arc's garage was unlocked and renting a "pay-to-slot" room for 20 bucks just to catch a shower. He's maybe a block away from the corner where he needs to make a decision when a message from the rough little human herself pops up. He smiles as he reads it.

<<Message to: Duck
<<Dunno how long this meet'll be, but doubt more than two hours.  Short of a rinse, doubt I'll get much cleaner.  Your water still down where you at?  Frag, did ANYTHING work before I set up shop, omae?  if the timing's tight, you can borrow my drek.  I'l let you know when over...just no fingering the goods, aight?
<<Attached: door.exe

<<@Arc [Duckdown] You're a lifesaver. See ya there.>>

<<@Marjory [Huey] Hey mom, I'll be there to pick you up in an hour or two. Sorry for the delay. I love you.>>

Taking a left toward the garage, he thinks to himself, Crazy how the world works out. Guy you thought was down for the long haul punks out and some random head steps up to pick up the slack. When he arrives at her place, the code she sent works just fine and with a mental order from his comm, the door pops right open, letting him in. Closing it behind him to keep too much of the cold from getting in, the tall ork looks up at the security camera. Just yesterday, i was all shuckin and jivin for the camera. Today, I got the door code. Later, in her shower, washing his hair for the first time in weeks, he washes himself with high octane mechanic's anti-grease soap that kinda burns his skin a bit. It kinda feels good in a strange way, too though. I gotta make sure I take good care of this girl. She got a good heart. I wonder what Deen's upto...

----------------------------------

By the time Arc arrives at the garage, the tall skinny ork is facing away from the door in his blue boxer shorts, standing in the garage with his clean and still damp hair dripping down his back. He's rocking his head back and forth to the beat of some old turkish funk concert footage trid from what looks like over a hundred years ago while ironing a pair of dark brown slacks, using Arcs workbench as an ironing board and an empty spare clip from his ingram as a makeshift iron. The bullets from the clip sit on the workbench next to him and a dark brown suit jacket hangs from an electrical wire running near him. He doesn't hear Arc when she comes in, due to how loud the music is playing.

[OOC: Song playing is http://youtu.be/OoC4qAcwtbc?t=48s]

[ismilealot]

@ Khali, Red, Masquerade, Arc & Feathers  The professor finishes listening to Raven and . . . . . . . .
Then he turns to the rest of you, listening to your answers. "I need to teach Feathers some things to aid him in this. Specifically a ritual that will bind the creature for a short time to enable you to try and kill it. The biggest problem is getting it to that location. The ritual takes some time to prepare and perform. So it won't be possible to go to wherever it shows up and perform it there. By binding the creature you will have a much easier time focusing fire to try & kill it. That will also give those who's job it is to kill the mage their only opportunity to do so. My home can accommodate all of you if you wish to accompany us. It might be helpful to have someone or even several some ones who understand magic able to perform this ritual. Who would like to accompany us?"