[farothel]

"Don't worry, I've done debriefings before," Sylvia said, "and I have an eidetic sense memory, so it's not as if I have to forget as that's quite impossible.  The only reason I was about to take pictures of all the small details is to shove under people's noses if needed."
She held up her camera before she started to tell him where everybody was and who had killed, or at least attacked, who.
"There was some sort of toxic spirit that compelled them," she added at the end, "spirit of man I think.  But for that we need a mage who can follow the trails, not just an adept who can just see the astral."


OOC: description is given by Chrona a bit above.  Page 14 of the thread.  As I have eidetic sense memory, I can describe the scene quite accurately, smells and sounds and everything.

[Ren]

Brian listened to Angeline retelling the events intently. He felt she was still shaken a bit about what happened but admired the ability to put that behind and to revisit the events, so close afterwards. The sudden appearance of the spirit disturbed him, as well as the noxious aura it seemed to emanate. And it must have been a pretty powerful one: a simple appearance usually didn’t cause the instant development of an astral background. The mental influence it exerted also indicated it being strong. Some of the dead guys might have been an easier target but to influence a whole group at once – it was very unnerving.

After the retelling, Brian asked “By the way, do you know the guy checking the bodies? Does he also work for Mr. McLister? It would be nice if you could introduce us.” He was ready to shake hands and exchange a few introductory words before conducting his own search.

The ork didn’t really try to recreate the exact actions of those in the room. He assumed the bodies and other things were already moved so he concentrated on other important issues. The most important of these were to look for residual matter, both from the spirit itself and from the noxious aura it emanated. He noticed the forensic kit that the other man found and turned to him. “Can I use that?” He then gathered any clues he found in the containers not already sealed.
Visual perception: INT(4) + Perception: Visual(6) + Enhancers(3) + Home Ground(2) + Looking(3)

Smells: INT(4) + Perception(4) + Home Ground(2) + Looking(3)

Magical Threats: LOG(3) + Magical Threats: Toxic(4) + Mnemonic Enhancer(2)

[Nathen]

"Oh, sure i don't think they will mind." Nick looks the orc over, 13D6E5 => 6 | ones: 1, Perception 4+ INT 5+ Specialzation (2)+ Perceptive (+2)
"My name is Dr. Underwood, or just nick if you would prefer." Nick sticks out his hand .

[Ren]

Brian accepted Nick's hand with the same apology he offered McLister. "Name's Brian." Looking at what Nick was doing he asked. "You an investigator?"
The doctor could tell that not only Brian's hand was made of steel. His whole right arm was somehow a little bit bigger than the left, even though Nick suspected that the left hand might also be artificial. The almost soundless whining of servos also came from around the feet. The clothes the ork wore were definitely armored. No hidden weapons could be noticed. What was also telling, that the ork's movement was very fluid despite his size and weight, there obviously was some cybernetic enhancement installed.

[Nathen]

"im afraid not, i usually deal with patients who are still screaming..." Nick lifts the bag of commlinks and the drone that was found. "found their commlinks to hopefully get some info and then there was some sorta spy drone in the corner that i found, oh yeah and none of the bodies have been moved,from the wounds and what ive been told they pretty much Lost their S$@% and went after one another."

[farothel]

"Like I said, they went bananas from that spirit," Sylvia said, "I'm still not sure why I wasn't affected.  We really need a mage on this.  Move a bit, Nick, will you."
She said the last to the doctor so she could take a picture of Harry's wounds.
"Oh yeah, Brian, meet Nick.  Nick, meet Brian."
She continued to take pictures of the dead people and the surroundings, including the drones and wheelchair.  It was also a way for her to add some details to her memory for later processing.

[Nathen]

"alright Brain i think the room is yours to do your thing." Nick says with the flourish of his hand.

[Sichr]

@Brian:Description of the fight reveals nothing more than you already found out. A few samples and such things may enable you to find out the nature of the toxicity more precisely. But it would reveal only things you already know, since you are master of sniffers
You recall that toxic spirits usualy adopt the nature of their "cradle"...the place they had been summoned to this world.This one smells of brimstone and ash, but also of some different flavour, which smells like napalm and petrol.
Use of such influence power as described by Angelica means something different from roaring beasts you are used to meet in field operations. More intrigued and cunning. You would need more informations to be specific but Angelicas guess of somehow twisted human nature in this being may be true.
Also...the ability to Taint the place just by its presence and to wipe out team of professionals by turning them one against the others (well, this you feel was more luck than intention...that crazy cyborg was something you won`t meet every day) speaks of great power. Again, you will need more leads to have better guess.

[Ren]

They say brimstone and ash are the most often used spices in hell's kitchen. Their smell immediately brought the picture of Mount Rainier to Brian's mind, than the lava flows of Puyallup. That had to be the place, assuming the thing hailed from the Sprawl. Napalm and petrol were a peculiar combination. Petrol was once found throughout the city in abundance so a number of places could be found where it was still there. Napalm was, however, a strictly military material so the place where the spirit came from, must have had military relations in the past. That relation surely would narrow down if he wanted to determine where to look.
Military knowledge if there was any military bases in Puyallup that might have held napalm:
LOG(3) + Military(3) + Mnemonic Enhancer(2)

Area knowledge to narrow down in which neighbourhoods i would start looking for the place:
INT(4) + Area knowledge, Seattle(3) + Mnemonic enhancer(2)


After going through the room, Brian put two newly sealed evidence containers into Nick's hand. "Think these will be useful for further checks. And you're right, the commlinks might hold some additional information indicating why the spirit attacked, some footage of its actions, and so forth. However this is not my area of expertise: you'd need the services of a hacker for those." He then turned to Angelica. "I think i'm ready to give a preliminary report on my findings to Mr. McLister. Please come with me if you're also interested." With that he returned to the main area of the bar and looked for McLister.

[Sichr]

@Brian: If the place you are searching for is Pouallup, the search would be more than difficult. Terrain and environment is highly unstable, records from the past, maps, locations etc, destroyed by two Crashes and the natural disasters. As far as you know, there is no public Hi-Res map available for the area. Official authorities seem to pay little attention to whats going on there, since the area is mostly too dangerous to allow any commercial activity. Wasteland in the shadow of active volcano. Occasional earthquakes. Acid rains and ashfalls, fires and geysirs bursting ocassionaly anwhere. A few people living there are refugees or criminals who are mostly avoiding contact with outside world. Only a few stable communities known to endure there. No known military instalations.

@All:As you enter the main room, you see that the place is closed and empty, with the only exception of William and his bodyguards. Han is loading the shot glasses into the washing machine, apparently wearing protective gloves and being quite carefull.
William smokes the cigar and between PAN operations he sips his own glass of whiskey. When he hears your steps and the finale of your speech, minimizes the PAN out of the direct sight and turns at you.
Looks like now we can talk. Gentlemen, lady, take a seat. Before you start with your summary, I`d like to inform you that I`ve made a few additional contacts and there are more resources we can use to solve this situation. But before I make the call to arms, I want to know what we are facing and plan my next steps accordingly.
He takes his glass and walks over to the big table, that would be comfortable enought for this late night negotiations.

@Mars:
Incoming message...
Source commcode identified: William McLister (related links available)
Tracing source AcessID location: Auburn, Seattle, 304th Street E &132nd Avenue E
Encryption: Standard PRC protocol
AV check: safe
Open...
Possible opening for matrix operations consultant. If you are available at the moment, ping me back. Project currently pending for green, Ill get back to you ASAP.

[Ren]

After everyone took their seats, Brian started to summarize what he found. “According to the information and physical evidence gathered up till now, and the recounting of events by Angelina, here’s what I suspect. The gathering of people in the room was suddenly and unexpectedly assaulted by a spirit, materializing from astral space. The spirit emitted some kind of aura that caused allergic reaction, reducing the capabilities of those present. It also used some kind of power that enabled it to influence the perceptions and/or actions of those nearby.”

His voice flowed in an impersonal, monotonous tone. The others could see this was not the first time he gave verbal report on something. The sentences followed in a well-composed sequence, listing all points that Brian considered important.

“The massacre of almost all was the result of the latter phenomenon. Although the magician present was able to cause considerable damage to the spirit, causing it to flee, possibly resulting the ending of the influencing power, the situation escalated to the point where only the total annihilation of the participants could finish the conflict.

"According to preliminary tests on residual matter found, the spirit was a type of toxic. I identified parts of its smell: brimstone and ash indicate volcanic origin, napalm shows that the summoner might have access to military equipment, or a place where it was previously stored, and petrol hints at some kind of refilling station for petrol-fuelled craft. Puyallup is a likely place to look for the source. Lab tests and extensive data search might confirm my finds and further narrow down the possible area.

"Also, as Angeline said, the astral signatures show that the spirit was present for a purpose and that makes me conclude this isn’t the last try on the summoner’s part.  Its actions indicate that it has some negative emotion or defined purpose towards the drawing. I base this on its first act being trying to get one of those present to destroy the drawing, which also might be the thing that led the spirit to this place. Other options might be the spirit or the summoner saw one of the participants auras or there is a different item that was looked for.

"My recommendation would be, if further action is to be taken, that a constant astral guard of at least two watcher spirits should be kept up. For astral tracking, a magician with considerable experience should be hired, as the spirit should easily be able to dispatch an inexperienced one. For physical defense, the use of tasers and other electric weapons is suggested. A close-combat specialist adept might also help but I advise caution, as I don’t know yet if the touch of the spirit’s body is harmful or not.”

The ork took a deep breath and finished by saying “That concludes my report on my findings and recommendations for the moment. As I had no access to footage from the deceased’s equipment, and I don’t know the reasons for the meeting, it cannot be considered complete, but this is the best I could do until further information emerges.” With that, he sat back and waited for the others to fill out what he might have missed.

[Nathen]

"That pretty much sums it up unless you wanna know how they killed each other, i also took the liberty of collecting commlinks that we might be able to find something of interest on them, and there seemed to have also been some sorta spy drone that was crippled during the fight that might even hold footage if you know someone who could get at it." Nick coughed a few times into his hand, "Still selling beer?"

[farothel]

Sylvia shook her head at the doctor.  'What's with him and alcohol,' she thought.
"He's right about the toxic spirit and the vulcanic ash," she said, "The others had found some residues on the scene before and analysis showed it to be vulcanic, probably from Puyallup.  It's probably not Carbanado, but that still leaves a lot of territory.  And toxic shamans in Puyallup isn't exactly new either.  I just wonder what a toxic shaman needs a techno for."

She turned to the others.
"The original run was to find back a missing boy," she quickly explained, "probably a technomancer, although we weren't sure yet."

[Sichr]

William raises his head, as he wants to interrupt.
Yes. That is exactly the case. But before we will continue, I need to say a few things.
First. It is good that your findings support Ms. Angelica`s saying. That means she is not involved in the attack and that she is here for good reasons, whatever they are.
Next, I would like to say that there is nothing that obliges you to continue in this mission. I called both of you here to be sure about what happened here. So far, your job is done. I am already in your debt and the reward for your work would be transfered to your accounts in the moment you leave this place.
Third, I would like to continuie right where I`ve interrupted Angelica so abruptly. There is an insult. An open, bleeding wound. More to it, there is violent act against the peace on my turf. I`ve hired those men to send the message. The message that such disruption against my kinsmen won`t be tolerated. That it would be punished with anger and dedication. I`ve never left any ends loose and this won`t be the case. My men! My coleagues and friends, members of my family, are stalked upon, kidnapped and murdered. My land is spoiled by evil and it is time for me to say THIS ENDS HERE. I believe your motivations are pure in this world and age. That you are honest professionals able to carry my message to those responsible for those fucking deeds. That you will be able to find them, crush them and make them beg for their lives before you end their miserable existence. Ive offered 30 grands to the team you saw massacred in the lounge. Now, I am offering the same ammount for each of you and those who will help, and double of that ammount  for the team as a whole for expenses, gear and reserve.
His voice grows up with every word he said, at the end he was almost shouting. Then he takes a deep breath, and finishes his speech in calm and controlled voice.
Well, this is my offer. You are not obliged to hear it, and I wont force you into danger that obviously lies ahead. So.
It was talmost theatrical, but it has strange oldschool touch lot of things is missing this days. He looks everyone of you, one by one, straight into the eyes, .
Are we partners?

[Nathen]

"With  that much i could move out of my shitty house.... i might even be able to use that to find out the truth....""Im' in"