The Group Thread

[DUNCE]

Brian nods at Fred's idea to investigate. "If we're all in on this then, I'd like to start my hunt at one of the local engineering hang-arounds, mayhaps an academy or sumpthin'." Brian gets up out of his chair and lands on the floor, leaving his half finished flagon of wine on the table. He turns to the party, and with a tone of finality asks, "Who's with me? It's up to y'all, but I be itching to git a move-on."

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Fred nods. "Agreed. I think we should both focus on the academy. Maybe the rest of you can check in with the local constabulary, or put up fliers, or..."

The Professor says, "Do not hesitate to ask me to open doors for you if necessary. If you need any more information, please ask". He gives you the names of the friends he knew, though to reiterate, he knows that they were working with other people.

[mrbuzzsaw]

"sounds good to me, ill go distribute fliers"

[DUNCE]

OOG: Unless anyone speaks to the contrary, I would certainly like to begin this quest in the fashion we have begun.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

OOG: Are either of you using scene powers prior? Mario used the Zone of Truth already, but everyone else should have a scene power available. JJ may, if his moral compunctions do not prevent him, attempt to use telepathy to augment his investigation.

[Grubrot Zodd]

Joseph, brimming with confidence and affable insanity, casts divination to aid him in his investigation, the odds of a correct divination being 79% (70% plus 1% per caster level)
If the divination fails, Joseph will do the same as below, but in a relevant general area.

Followed by leading a small group of his congregation into the streets, Joseph spreads previously conjured food and water to the poor along the way to where his divination guides him while asking them for information.

He then offers them a chance to join The Order of the Lunar Godhand, promising both physical and spiritual enrichment along with comprehensive protection. Joseph's congregates will also be passing out pamphlets.

[blacktothefuture]

...did he just say he slept with one of the missing guy's wives? Black will wonder to himself.

Seeing how Brian, Fred and Jesse are already jumping into full swing Black will take his own course of action. He stands up and with one curt motion pulls the sash that holds his katana in place tight and begins heading towards the door. His gait long and lax.

"I'll be heading towards the Carnivorous Valley to give it a once over. Anyone who wants to come with feel free" he announces on his way out.

[DUNCE]

Brian exits the door right behind Black, "G'luck to yeh Black, I hope teh see you in one piece again after this."

Brian then accompanies Fred to the academy.

Scene ability: Create as potent a sleeping potion as possible. It might be useful for this mission.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

OOG: Time to fudge some rolls . (Just kidding). Also, I don't believe you had conjured food and water prior; do you?

Joe is surprised to hear that his god is relatively silent on the matter, the divination giving him no guidance. However, he does get the sense that this is actually because the matter is important to the Moon, and thus the Moon wishes him to proceed as normally.

Joe is mostly rejected by the denizens of the city that he encounters. "Another cult full of orgies", a man replies. "Oh, to be young again". However, Joe does get the feeling in a dark alley that he is being watched or followed.

Will Black use a scene power? Such as the wind of his whirlwind so he could do some scouting?

[GM]

Mario will clink his glass down next to him before speaking up again. "Two more questions professor, for the sake of thoroughness." Mario sighs slightly and pushes his glasses strait before staring him strait in the eyes. "Are you the cause directly or indirectly of the disappearance of your friends and are we walking into a trap?"

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

"No and I do not know, respectively", he answers honestly.

[GM]

Mario will nod to the man then stand up and leave the bar in a somber mood. Seeing that all his friends have left he heads to the constabulary and the city watch to see if anyone has filed a missing person reports or any patrols have come across signs of them. I know what she meant now by feeling like an inquisitor.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

When Mario goes to the constabulary bureau headquarters for Auburn, he manages to speak to a detective who has just enough time to help him (after all, he is nobility). "Hmmmm... Let me check...

Says here we got a missing persons report for one of your subjects. Also, there's an injury statement. Seems that one of them nearly blew his arm off when he was trying to make a propellant. The officer on scene nearly arrested him for endangering himself and others and disturbing the peace, but from what I can tell, someone must have pulled some strings. However, he was told that to continue such experiments he'd need a new special laboratory. We got some petitions saying that our code requirements for that laboratory were impossible in the city and asked that we relax them".

The detective thinks for a second. "Hey! Maybe this is good news. Maybe your guys just needed some space to conduct experiments and so they went very, very far from the city. Post might not go out there, pigeons might not be able to get close, they might not be on a ley line for transmissions... It's possible that they're just out there doing whatever they're getting up to".



_________________________


Meanwhile, Brian and Fred attempt to ask around the academy using their knowledges of science and artificery. Some people knew the participants, but no one's heard from them. No one seems to have an ulterior motive, and many people didn't understand the research that was being done. It almost seems like the research was a bit plagued from the start, filled with bugaboos, and the way that people talk about it here doesn't seem appropriate for learned scientists. There are whispers of summoning creatures, consorting with magicians of unknown character and caliber, massive explosions almost like a weapon, and fools trying to fly.

Fred decides to ask one of the Professors what he might do if he was going to continue their research. The Professor, a slightly overweight demisnake woman, replies, "If I were to continue their research, from what little I could understand of it, I would want to be in a safe location. I'd also want a location that had good access to the ocean, both for safety and fire purposes and to bring in supplies. I'd want the area to be relatively flat and for there to be a relatively controlled climate. A sub-tropical area with limited rain would be best, like a grasslands. Of course, if I wanted to hide my research, I'd need to put it into a valley of some kind. Of course, if they were trying to make a weapon or summon a god, then the Vale itself would be ideal to hide".

[Sam Toxx]

Sam debates which group to go with, thinking that he would be more useful with Fred's group, he hops off of his bar stool in the corner of the roo and quickly runs out of the building on all fours after the party.

[DUNCE]

Seems these researchers were tampering with something dangerous, summoning has had dreadful outcomes in the past.

"Fred, what do yeh think? Seems teh be reliable, and all roads lead to Rome as yeh said, eh?" Brian says looking up towards the much taller Fred, "Black said he was headed that way, mayhaps he found some clues by now? Or mayhaps he found something a bit more interestin'?"

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

In response to Sam, Fred replies, "Why don't you do a little ninja-ing around, see if you can find any hidden information about these guys, maybe something in the criminal underground".

Fred thinks. "Yeah, it makes sense, we're all being sent to the Vale or slightly beyond it. I really would like to know, though, but it seems like the best lead we have".

[Sam Toxx]

Sam gives a soft nod at fred, "umm.. Yea, I suppose that I could do that, sure, just point me into the right direction I guess." he said trotting next to Brian still on all fours.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Fred says, incredulously, "Dude, I'm not a rogue. I have no idea".

[Grubrot Zodd]

Not showing the slightest bit of rejection when turned away, Joe nonetheless offers food and water to all he meets as a gesture of good will. Being satisfied for now with any converts he makes, and invites them to a sermon later that week. Gesturing his congregation to wait behind him, Joseph removes his flails from his belt, casting detect evil before venturing into the alley.

OOC: Joseph keeps a stockpile of purified and donated food and water at the chapel for distribution amongst potential converts and congregates. Considering the ease of which I can purify food and water and create water along with my current wealth, with any donations, I considered it a non-issue.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Joseph detects evil. Since this is the first round he has done so, he merely knows the presence of evil, not the type, location, amount or power.

At that point, a number of monstrous thugs surround Joseph. "Human preaching crap in our neighborhood, huh?" "Hand over all yas loots!" He guesses that they don't know he's a demon, that they're fairly strong, and that their number is roughly eight.

[DUNCE]

Brian looks towards the beast man with an irritated look, "Yeh have the whole of the area to spy on for ill gotten information. Besides, yeh should be able to do this yerself, or have yeh not done dis before?" Brian says in a sarcastic tone, "Or do yeh need the dwarf to hold yer hand whilst yeh sneak about? Show some initiative, and earn yer own pay, I a'int gonna earn it for yeh, boy."

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Fred says, "To be fair, we are not native to this... area. We do not have a robust network of contacts".

[DUNCE]

"Aye, yeh be right about that there Fred." Brian looks back over to Sam, "And to be fair, ye'll do what yeh can for dis job and ye'll earn yer fair amount of wage. T'be fair o'course."

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Fred smiles and nods. "To be VERY fair".

[GM]

"Thank you sir youve been very helpful." Mario will turn and walk out then go to wherever the group decided to meet after their investigations. "Seems they had a problem with endangering themselves and others in the city so were looking for a place far away from the city also he blew his arm off so he should be fairly recognizable unless he got it regenrated which isn't out of the question."

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Fred replies, "Yeah, that's about the size of it from our end. What they said on our end was that, if they are actually conducting an experiment, they'll probably want a flat, secluded area that's relatively temperate and warm, not too humid, you know".

Meanwhile, as Black heads out to the Carnivorous Vale, he finds that he isn't accosted on the way to the vale proper. Apparently, his reputation kept everyone sentient away from him, and he didn't seem like a good meal for anything bestial. He finds that the vale sinks from Auburn to near-sea level precipitously, and that the vale in essence totally encapsulates the peninsula. The vale is divided into roughly seven zones, three areas near smallish mountains or hillocks and four areas between them.

[Sam Toxx]

Sam gave a small laugh before hopping into a near by tree, "guess I'll just give it my best shot then, arrivederci to the both of you for now I guess, I'll find you if I find anything out." He will then climb his way up to the top of a tall tree and look around for a direction to start heading in.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Sam realizes that he can pursue infiltrating the criminal underground in a few ways. He could just skulk around, listening with his kitsune senses; he could change to a new cover ID complemented with Henge; he could keep an eye out for criminal activity then use that to find his way to the nastier parts of town; he could even ask the cops, given that he is a known hero.

[blacktothefuture]

"How boring, hardly the excercise I'd hoped for" Black will comment to himself as he walks. "Furthermore I'd hoped maybe a couple other people would have taken my invitation to come along..."

His eyes scan the surrounding hillocks and then move their focus his more immediate surroundings. Out in nature with nothing but himself and his own skills to keep him safe. More surprising than this feeling ever having been applicable in his "real" life is the mild feeling of familiarity with this fact. Almost as if it were another day.

"..guess I should just keep going".

Black will pick the closest hillock, walk through it and then systematically walk through the other six areas nearby. Should nothing transpire or catch his interest during any of the seven walkthroughs he will then return to town.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

As Black heads down towards the hillock, he finds that that sense of familiarity is quickly obliterated. His Zanshin is constantly giving him signals of his environment, and he is blasted by a world even more alien than the jungle of Earth, with bizarre slender mammalian creatures with reptilian faces, lizards that dangle like sloths and suckle their young, and birds with wings made of gems.

When Black finally reaches the level of most of the jungle, after at least a hundred foot descent, he moves into a medium-sized glade. That in and of itself is almost a sign of trouble. He sees that there's a ring of trees, around which grow several coiling vines. Black's Zanshin troubles him, and he soon finds out why: The vines are all the same on each tree. At that point, they begin to lash out, revealing foot-long stingers that seem to be coated with venom and, at the base, have a largish hole something like a mouth. Black is being attacked from all angles. He has reaction.