"I saw you guys skulking around outside and got a hunch that you might be connected to the arsons somehow. I don't think you caused it though so and you guys seemed pretty sincere about trying to get to the bottom of all this. Do us all a solid and don't prove me wrong on that count."
He pauses for a moment.
"Oh, and there's a woman eavesdropping on us in the hall outside."
"Eavesdropping is a little harsh," Valda said with a small smile. "I didn't sneak into this building, or tell the receptionist any interesting things to get past. Since we all seem to be curious about the random fire starting and such, maybe we can help each other."
Using her Detect Magic and her training, Valda tried to work out more about the potion and how it worked, how it would be made and why.
He frowns, "Anyone else wanna come out of nowhere while we're having this big welcoming party?" If three's a crowd, what does that make five? At least Isagoras is someone Joe knows. All these people are making him somewhat uncomfortable.
His hands loosely find the pockets of his jacket, but he's ready in the event they turn hostile. "Do you two at least have names, because infringing on an investigation without even introducing yourselves properly is a whole other kind of rude."
Valda grinned. "I have several. 'Mistress' on Thursdays, for example. But if you want something a little easier for you fellows, you can try Valda. Valda Simmons."
A black classic Mustang with black tinted windows and the license plate BRUJA pulls up outside the building. A young light brown skinned woman with black hair gets out. She's wearing a revealing black dress like you would expect a belly dancer to wear, complete with the coins and jewelry one would also expect.
"I take it this is the place?" she asks, in Spanish.
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Isagoras smiles as he hears a familiar voice. He rouses himself from his revelry and turns. A smile grows on his face. He does not know The Poison One personally, but her reputation precedes her.
And that's what "and mean it this time" meant: Help may come.
"Sí. Para usted, que es el lugar. La Orden dijo que alguien podría venir. Me alegro de que usted es."
He offers his hand to the young lady and kisses it, in the proper way.
"But soft. Forgive me but I fear that we must needs engage haste. Events have progressed far further than we could have possibly realized.
Friend Joe, please bring us up to speed on what the next step should be. My own knowledge of the Soul Destroyer is limited, save that it was popular in the pre-WWII era especially with some ancient pseudo-Hindu cult tactics, mostly in the South."
She looks a bit confused at what Isagoras says, but smiles to him.
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He throws his hands up into the air in defeat. "I just had to open my mouth. Great. And now gramps is hitting on her too. Just fantastic. Valda, Random Hippie, Weird Hispanic Woman Who Gandolf seems to Know, welcome to the mysterious case of who left the oven on." Dave sighs, rubbing his hands over his face in exasperation, before righting himself.
"Look, sorry. Let's just get this over with and stuff. J-man, seems the battle plan is on you. And we even got ourselves reinforcements before we even had to call them in, it's like the commander was psychic and knew we'd need help."
Starsoul, aka Random Hippie clears his throat once more before saying, "Uh, actually, my name is Starsoul. And it's pretty obvious that the Universe brought us all together to figure out who..." ...or what? he fears, "is behind these fires."
'Not exactly a name that disproves being a random hippie, but whatever.'
"Right. Sure."
"Maria" she says.
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Starsoul takes a minute to silently walk about the room, being careful to only use the back of his hand when touching the walls or decor. He has the common sense to avoid leaving fingerprints.
"Maria. There we go. That's a nice, pretty, normal, " He glances at Starsoul. "Name. You guys can call me Dave."
She smirks at Dave and Starsoul. "You can call me Belladonna if you prefer."
Clapping his gloved hands together, Joey laughs as he surveys his new team.
"Well now - it's finally a party! Looks like we'll have enough hands to solve this mystery, for sure," he speaks as he idly roams the scene of the arson. "So, what we do know: Mot Kai Ruh. Bad stuff. Killy kill, leave ashes. Multiple incidents - likely all connected. Where does that leave us then?"
Turning to face his comrades, he plants his hands on his trench coat's pockets before continuing.
"Exactly. It doesn't. Because we're trying to figure out the why and the who. We're not asking the right questions to get the answers we seek."
Joseph kneels beside the pile of ash on the floor as he takes a moment to breathe and think before breaking his own silence.
"I've always hated the vegan diet - never understood the hype behind it.. this victim liked to eat at the restaurant across the street though."
With a grin spreading across his lips, Joey rises to stand upright and takes a step towards his peers, adding, "I believe we've found the question to help us along in our investigation: who's eye did she catch at that restaurant? She was a regular there, so her murderer must be too. Once we connect the dots, we can start asking the hard questions."
As his gaze passes between each individual, he laughs softly to himself before concluding with, "My name is Joseph, by the way. It's my pleasure to be working with all of you."
"We could go to the place, ask around. Maybe some of the staff there might know something, like if she was meeting someone or if anyone that seemed particularly interested in. Hey, maybe someone there even saw people come in here when it all went down." Dave makes a point to stay at least a few feet away from the others.
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Using her Detect Magic and her training, Valda tried to work out more about the potion and how it worked, how it would be made and why.
I'm assuming you meant the poison, not the alchemic test Joey used?
The poison is made of normal chemicals and plant derivatives, but it is ensorcelled with a necromantic effect that traps the soul in the burning corpse, thus destroying it into its ethereal elements (Isagoras will have figure that out by now as well, assuming he's kept his detect magic up).
I'll have to post the results a bit later. Stay tuned.
Also, DAVE wins the Buffy the Vampire Slayer award for his commentary.
Lora Mitchel lived in this apartment for years. The night she died, she went out for a while, and someone else came in, either using a key or picking the lock.
I need perception checks from everyone; everyone except Valda and Starsoul, who are still close to the door, take a -4 penalty.
Nodding towards the potion, "Names aside, Dave, I'd be careful of that. It basically locks a person's soul in there body then sets fire to it. Nasty. Destroys you forever." Which...was kind of terrifying. She'd heard of magic that could trap a soul, but not spells that could destroy one.
She raises an eyebrow at what Valda says, then says something.
"Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos,
Santificado sea tu nombre;
Venga tu reino
Hágase tu voluntad
En la Tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;
Y perdónanos nuestras ofensas
Como nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden;
Y no nos dejes caer en la tentación,
Mas libranos del mal."
Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
Joey shudders as he thinks about the poison more. Even the if he didn't accept the legendary mysticism about the poison, he knew that it did kill you.
..and science has already proven that if something kills you, you die. He thought to himself as he bit his lip.
Valda raised an eyebrow at Maria.
"Mira el lado bueno ... probablemente yo no soy una bruja en el sentido del bíblicos ' invocar espíritus malignos . Pero yo no soy mucho de uno por la religión. Salgo con muchas chicas. Pero sí, eso es bastante malo."
[spoiler=Spanish Translation]
"Look on the bright side...I'm probably not a witch in the Biblical 'summon evil spirits' sense. But I'm not much of one for religion. I date too many girls. But yeah, that stuff is pretty evil."
Dave stares blankly at the two girls. "Would it be too much to ask if everyone could just stick to English here? If you people wanna work with us, we gotta keep the language barriers down to a minimum." He pointedly decides to ignore Valda also mentioning magic stuff. What's with these people. Is Joe the only normal guy here?
Joseph looks to Dave and asks, "Davey, you don't know Spanish? I'm going to have to add Español lessons to our Thursday alchemy sessions. Don't worry though, they're just talking about how fine you are."
Giving Dave a thumbs up, he smiles deviously as he tries to keep a straight face.
[ooc]Lol He must not be able to contain his giggles, the silly little bastard xD
Though he would never admit it, Joseph was trying to lighten the mood to hide the fact of how worried he is. He would almost go as far as to say that he was scared.
"Yeah, I am pretty hot stuff. Just keep your hands off me." Dave just isn't that great at reading people, which is odd considering how well he can fool them. How does something work out like that?
"I was just saying The Lord's Prayer."
Nodding his head, Joey mutters under his breath, "We're going to need all the help we can get too.. Divine or otherwise.."
Dave frowns, glancing at Joe, but refrains from any other comment. Now, praying just because things were a little weird? He himself hadn't been particularly spiritual for awhile, he can only barely recall the last time he went to temple... Back when his brother was still around.
He quickly averts this train of thought.
Amid the banter, Isagoras, furthest from the noise in the hallway, is the only one to notice it. There are other people out there, moving very quietly.
I'm assuming he alerts the party. Initiative.
If that's cool, will do. Not used to what conventions are cool here and what are not.
Initiatives this combat:
Joey: 20
Maria: 8
Isagoras:
Dave:
Starsoul:
Valda::
Dave is quite ready to get this party started.
Joey
Valda
Isagoras
Starsoul
Dave
Maria
Plus whatever our foe is, I suspect, somewhere within that line up.
Sry, bad guys go at 10.
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Hearing Isagoras'alert, Joey draws his pistol and moves so that he is next to Isagoras and Maria.
"What the hell..? Be careful everyone - we may have attracted some negative attention, if Isagoras is correct."
Here's a link to a map the situation, though a little movement has happened since I drew it. I'll get more specific on the bad guys if someone looks out the door or when they arrive at the door.
Next is Valda
try going to http://randogaming.freeforums.net/ and clicking the first board, then the "Encounter 1 map" thread.