The night passes without any clown-related incidents (except maybe in Nate's dreams).
Any other ideas - specific people to talk to, etc.? I'll wait a (real-time) day or two.
In the morning, before meeting at the diner for breakfast, Faith suggests, "Let's do what people are expecting us to do, follow up on leads we got yesterday. Let's focus on that haunted lover's cave. I'll check with the local LEO to find out if there are any recent events in that area and whether we need to obtain permission from anyone to go there. I'll ask if there have been any other unsolved crimes or disturbances. Ya'll ... errg. YOU ALL can check out anything else if you want, maybe the local library, if they have one. We should also be on the lookout for anyone else coming into town. Might be our competition here to do some recruiting."
Early the next morning, as Faith starts to leave the hotel to meet everyone else at the little local diner up the street for breakfast (pre-arranged by everyone the night before), the desk clerk at the hotel hands her an envelope. On it is scrawled "for the TV lady".
Inside, there's a note that says "Meet me at the lover's cave at 10 AM today, I have a story you'll really like." Really bad handwriting.
I'll assume Faith shows the letter around to the gang at breakfast (so you can start talking about it now if you want to), but I need just her to make a Notice roll at -2, please.
Penalty: -2
Result = 3 - 2 (penalty)
"Need coffee!"
"What you got there partner? A love note? Arlo smiles as he sits down. Despite his normal late night hi-jinx he tends to be a morning person.
John just snorts, as if that idea was inconceivable to him.
He didn't wait for everyone to show up before ordering, and is already devouring a large breakfast.
"Morning," Nate says as he plops down next to Arlo and grabs a menu. "So, breakfast and then it's off to chase ghosts, yeah?"
Faith arrives at the diner looking a bit sleepy, drops the letter on the table and sits. She normally is pretty bright-eyed by this time, having gotten up early and done some kind of work-out, a run at least. But the odd circumstances of this mission, plus taking a watch during the night, has put her off her usual routine, not wanting to separate from the group and having no good location in the hotel to work out.
"What you got there partner? A love note?" Arlo smiles as he sits down.
Faith shoots daggers at Arlo, but the corners of her lips curl up in a slight smile eventually. She orders coffee and a cheese omelet and hash browns, after discovering they have no fruit other than fruit juice and they have no idea what a California Omelet is.
"Morning," Nate says as he plops down next to Arlo and grabs a menu. "So, breakfast and then it's off to chase ghosts, yeah?"
Faith passes him the note and waits for him to read it before saying, "We were going to investigate the cave anyway, so let's just get there in time for this meeting and see what happens. If it's not a local yokel getting cute, it is likely either a real lead on whatever the monster recruiters are looking to enlist or it's the monster recruiters themselves, hoping to take out the competition in an out-of-the-way location."
To help maintain the group's cover, after the group has decided what to do about the note, she talks in a louder voice, "Let's hope this has more potential then that fiasco at that town in Tennessee. Two hour hike just to find someone hung a bedsheet over a stalagmite in that cave."
Gavril joins the others at the diner and gets a large breakfast himself, rivaling John in terms of content. He eats it quickly, musing as the others discuss things and glancing at the note. After he finishes, he orders a coffee and leans back.
In response to Faith's louder comment, he picks up on the clue and nods eagerly. "Da, was not even scary. Is no good for show if not scary, even if not real. Maybe this town live up, eh?"
He then leans in, and after a moment, grabs a napkin and pulls a pen from his pocket. He writes for a few moments and then turns it around for the group to read his messy but legible scrawl. We wanting to go to cave togge togith all of us? Or just Faith? Bring weapon?
Quietly, John muses "Hmmm...that's a good point, the note doesn't specify. It *was* addressed just to Faith, but it's not clear if the person meant just her or all of us. Maybe we should all go up there, but only Faith go into the cave to begin with? Then if it's ok with whoever's in there, we can all come in? Or they can come out, I suppose. Let's talk outside about...the other stuff" nodding at Gavril's note.
After finishing the meals and paying the bills and going outside, John says "H*ll yes, I'm bringing a weapon! I'd suggest we take the van about halfway, then stop somewhere secluded to load up with weapons and vests and anything else we can find in the van."
Unless anyone else wants to discuss planning, you get as far as the van can take you without incident. According to directions given to you by locals, you then set out thru the woods on the 10-minute hike to the cave.
Finally you climb over a small hill, and you see the opening to the cave in the small valley below (about 100 feet away).
What do you do?
In response to Gavril's napkin note, Faith points to the "all together" option.
Later in the car, she agrees to everyone being armored and armed for bear (there could be bears, after all). She herself puts on her pack with her ammo and other gear. She puts her katana and wakizashi where she can draw them, but covers the hilts with some cloth to disguise their presence to a casual onlooker. She suggests someone carry a video camera to keep up appearances. She has her pistols plainly visible on each hip (Lara Croft style). Since it's daylight, she's not expecting werewolves, but she'll put her garlic bullets in her left pistol. She'll have her kevlar vest under her t-shirt. She'll leave most of her other gear in the van except a head-mounted flashlight, binocular/camera, and leather gloves. She has all her weapons except her bokken and her billy club.
Her suggestion is to approach the site cautiously, as if we are expecting an ambush. Near the cave, she will take the lead, but wants the others following her a short distance back, so she has back-up if things break bad, but can hold people back if she discovers a lone person waiting to talk.
Gavril shrugs, his ubiquitous flak jacket already on as always. He also fingers the pendant around his neck, which has helped protect him from more dangers since he acquired it, and shoulders a small carry bag that contains a new double-barreled shotgun with plenty of shells. "For if no can punching," he comments, patting it with a frown. "But is loud. And have to switch to bag beans or real buck. And is hard to aim." He gestures to his eyepatch. "But is good to have, I guess."
"Not everyone may understand how dangerous your punches are. But most people know how dangerous a shotgun can be, so just pointing one at someone is often enough to keep him passive," Faith observes. "They're also better when dealing with swarms of creepy crawlies. It's hard to punch each insect."
The "local police" are a couple of guys (one in his 20's, the other in his 40's or 50's maybe) sitting at their desks (feet up), bored out of their minds until Faith walks in. At which point they both scramble to stand up, practically at attention. :)
They are most willing to be helpful, and say they have LOTS of "weird stories" to tell you. After 10 minutes of what sounds like gossip and kid's tales, you finally manage to ask about the lover's cave. They say it's technically part of a small National Forest in the area, and nobody minds who goes there.
They try to get you to stay, they have HOURS of stories to tell you, but I imagine you manage to figure out a way to get out of their clutches. :)
So the Patriot team parks the van and heads for the cave. Faith hopes they don't meet any families out for a day hike, or any park rangers. Once the group gets close, assuming no one is on the trail, Faith suggests the men fan out and cover her from the sides as she approaches the cave along the trail, with whomever has the video camera behind her.
Flak jacket on under a light windbreaker and Desert Eagle holstered, Nate pauses outside the vehicle to load the twelve-shot drum of his beat-up semi-auto Streetsweeper shotgun. "Crap weapon," he says apologetically to Gavril, "but it gets the job done. And sometimes when the action's fast, two shots aren't enough."
Inserting earplugs and pulling shooting goggles down over his eyes, he hefts the weapon into a comfortable position. "Let's do this."
John is carrying the camera, several paces behind. Otherwise this next bit won't work...
I think, just for fun, I'll tell Faith what she experiences in the cave in private, then she can post her reactions here - hopefully tomorrow.
Arlo is silent for the most part, his mind somewhere else, as he follows the others into the woods. He will try to keep Faith in his sights, while staying as inconspicuous as he can.
Notice Total of 13
WD
XD
Arlo doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.
John stops about 15 feet away from the mouth of the cave as Faith goes in.
Faith has a flashlight that straps to her forehead, leaving her hands free. She walks cautiously in. After about a minute, John hears her call, JOHN! Get in here. Something you need to see ... and photograph.
After a few minutes, they both emerge and call the team in for a conference at the mouth of the cave.
"Okay. When I got in there, there was a young woman on the ground. She's dead. Not sure how she died, but there's some blood. We just took pictures and left everything alone. May be time to go into forensic mode."
"Okay, that can't be good. You didn't touch anything, right?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Faith looks offended at Nate's question. "Ex-cop. What do you think? Some of you can start out here, looking for footprints and other indications of recent activity. Arlo and I can handle the scene inside the cave. I left a lot of my forensic gear back at the van, but I've got a few baggies for evidence if we need it. I can study the body and try to find a cause of death. John it might be good if you focus on watching for anyone coming our way. I'll take the camera and use it to document the crime scene. We will be looked upon as suspects if we aren't careful to document what we find. This might even be an attempt to frame us for something, so look sharp. Assuming nothing bizarre is involved, we ought to contact the police soon."
Gavril looks around, frowning. "I no good at look for evidence. Maybe stand watch? Guard? By van or cave or here?"
Once a suggestion is given for where Gavril should stand watch and run interference for the group, he'll go there and stand by, ready to try and dissuade anyone other than police from interfering with the group.
Nate snorts. " 'Ex-cop' is the very temptation that might make you fondle the corpse, for all I know."
He looks around concernedly. "We're probably screwed anyway. They have footprints, DNA, I wouldn't be surprised if there are infrared cameras in there," he says, gesturing at the cave, "that have already snapped photos of you standing over the body. LEOs, FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security likely all on the way already. Probably behind the whole PATRIOT infiltration thing. Damnable government conspiracies!"
Giving the definite impression that he could keep going, Nate aborts his rant to shift his shotgun and dig a prescription bottle out of his pocket.
By the time Faith finishes her comments and Gavril raises his query, the pills Nate popped seem to have helped his disposition. "Splitting up's usually not bright, but maybe you or I should trek back to the vehicle to grab whatever she needs," he says to Gavril. Then he turns to Faith. "We have handie-talkies, yeah? I'll turn one on, rubber-band it into transmit, leave in the van, and bring the other one back with me. That way if someone starts snooping around the vehicle we'll get advance warning. We may even be able to hear them driving up."
Faith ignore's Nate's snub on her former profession and says only, "I did not touch the body and we did not tramp around the place, only close enough to get a good look at the body and take a few pics." As she's saying this, she's pulling a pair of latex gloves from her backpack, along with some baggies.
"My main concern is to learn how she died and find out who she is. So if you want to keep watch out here while I do that, that's fine with me. I would like at least one of you with me for backup." She's looking directly at Arlo as she says that.
Arlo shake his head as if to clear his thoughts, then jumps to join Faith. "Yeah. Sure. Let's go. Sorry, my mind was somewhere else". Arlo picks up his gear bag, and goes to join Faith. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone". He shoots back over his shoulder with a grin.
Walkie-talkies are SO last millennium! I envisioned a couple dozen ear-buds stashed in the van - everyone is always "in touch with" everyone else, and they are much less obvious when out in public.
I have no idea how much an ear-bud could pick up when not in someone's head (and so probably neither do you), but you could leave one on and tucked under the van, I suppose...
So, I just want to get the scene right :
Faith and Arlo are going into the cave.
Nate's going back to the van for supplies, and coming back to take them into the cave (and leaving an ear-bud near the van).
John will stay in front of the cave.
No one's really *told* Arlo what to do, so what does *he* want to do? Stay by the van, or stay in front of the cave, or in the woods near the cave, etc.?
Arlo is going into the cave with Faith.
Oops, my bad, I was thinking "Gavril" and typed "Arlo". I unfortunately do that with my students all the time.
No one's really *told* Gavril what to do, so what does *he* want to do? Stay by the van, or stay in front of the cave, or in the woods near the cave, etc.?
Given that nobody's told me anything, I'll go with the original plan Gavril had of standing by the car. That way he can keep an eye on it, make sure nobody comes too close to the cave, and if worse comes to worst, he can give a loud shout to alert the others via the headsets. Of course, if he's got an earbud in himself, then it's likely they'd know anyway... but Gavril may not realize that.
He's also the most likely of the bunch to be taken for a bouncer type, so there's that. Maintaining cover!
While Nate's in the cave delivering equipment and helping out, John hears the sounds of multiple people crashing thru the brush (they're making no attempt to be silent), and runs into the cave.
"We've got company! At least two from the sounds of them. I didn't hear Gavril call out, so I don't think it's him. Or maybe they originally came from a different direction."
You all hear over your earbuds, in Gavril's voice :
"Hello, officers. How are you today?"
<short time passes>
"What is problem? Where going?"
<short time passes>
"Da, if you say so, I stay quiet."
But John still comes into the cave, just to be *not* in-the-open.
You have a few minutes (I'm retconning the "10 minutes" from before) before you hear people walking thru the bushes.
"Crap!" Nate yelps as he grabs his shotgun and tears out of the cave.
"In position," he says quietly over the comms.
Faith is wearing gloves and makes sure her hair is secured well by her SF Giants baseball cap. As she goes in, she watches where she steps and tries to make sure she's not tracking over other footprints or evidence. She encourages Arlo to follow, stepping in the same general path as she does. Once at the scene, she does a scan of the cave with her flashlight, being sure to check the ceiling and spend a few moments being quiet to see what sounds are there.
Then she examines the body for cause of death and general contents of wallet/pockets. She'll also check for a cell phone and see what calls may have been made recently and to check if there is even reception in the cave. Any evidence she finds, including phone data, she'll photograph before putting things back where she found them.
Result = 4
Result = 3
John says "Can anyone think of any way we can communicate with Gavril to make plans? We can tell him what we're going to do, and tell him what to do, but apparently he can't say anything out loud to give us intel about what's going on at his end."
Arlo silently steps to the other side of the body, and placing his UV flashlight in his mouth, scans the scene.
Notice total of 10
XD
WD
Investigation Total of 7
WD2
"Say. What's this?
Just to cover bases, before the cops come into view, she'll dash off a text message to the police informing them of the discovery of a body in the cave, provided there is cell reception in the park. If she can't send it, she'll keep it in her draft files so it has the time stamp of when she attempted the message.
Regarding John's question. "Not much to plan. We will holster our weapons and gather near the cave entrance looking at the pictures you took. The earbud will pick up what we say to the officers. We can try to drop hints that Gavril can interpret but he'll have to make his own judgment calls with what we can say. So much depends on what these cops are up to. It may be they just got a tip to check out the cave and are coming here to see what they find. So we show them the pics and hope they find no reason to suspect us of a crime. On the other hand, if they're part of the conspiracy to recruit monsters, who knows what they'll do?"
Nate lies silently in wait, listening to the conversation being piped into one ear.
"This whole thing could have been a set-up," he opines softly. "We need to think about who we might've shaken up or pissed off."
Then a wave of paranoia rushes over him. "Or maybe this all goes so deep they already had intel we were coming."
Regarding Faith and Arlo's searching : she has the usual stuff in her pockets, including a cell phone. Faith can record the last-incoming and last-outgoing calls screens, but you'll have to do some more work before they tell you anything. There's no cell reception in the cave, and just 1 bar outside the cave.
She was killed by one shot to the heart, at point-blank (within 6 feet) range. The bullet is still inside her.
Given Arlo's high Investigation roll, you notice very faint abrasions on her wrists, as if they'd been tied together with rope.
Guess that's it, unless you have any specific questions...
Nate - I was anticipating an upcoming opposed roll, your Stealth (hiding) vs. their Notice, that's why I asked.
But if you're untrained, the default is neither the associated Attribute nor a d4, but a d4-2.
But, what's the +2 from for both rolls? Otherwise I'd say your roll was a 4-2 = 2.
"Or maybe this all goes so deep they already had intel we were coming."
John snorts, probably a very ugly sound thru everyone's earbuds. "Dude, even *if* there IS a 'they', we were poking around asking questions all day yesterday. Even tho this does look suspicious, it doesn't mean PATRIOT's been infiltrated."