Fevered Dreams

Game Master JonGarrett

So, I tried to use Prestidigitation to erase the footage, and asked whether that worked or not... if I had known earlier that it did not work, then I would have "accidentally" broken his phone, or swiped it or something... only finding out afterward that it didn't/couldn't work leaves me with my one/day silent/still spell already used, and Jennifer on tape, so all of that rigamarole was pointless... I mean, from a character perspective I suppose that makes sense, since maybe Median wouldn't have been able to tell if her spell was working, but it is kind of disappointing as a player.

Median goes around back to see if someone is home and willing to talk to them.

I'm sorry, I missed that you erase the footage. Work has been work the last couple of weeks. We'll assume that Prestidigitation was able to clean the phone's memory because the idea is entertaining.

Ringing the bell on the glass side door takes a moment to get a response. A middle aged man with heavy bags under his reddened eyes eventually comes to the side, looking through the door. "Yes?" was all he asked, his voice weary and suspicious.

I'm really sorry to disturb you, sir. I know that you have been through a lot lately. Unfortunately some hazardous materials were found at the homes of some of the other victims. We just need to make sure that everyone is safe. Is this the correct address where the victim, a...

Median makes a show of consulting her notes.

... Mr. Chaytor... was a resident?

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

(Median honestly does care about what these people are going through, but she thinks that a little bit of "official business" to give everyone some distance from raw emotion might help everyone.)

Just like before, Jennifer looks around outside. If there's any sort of back yard or alley to the Chaytor's property, she'll start there. After, she'll roam around front and the alleys of neighboring properties, including across the streets.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

The man's nose flared. "What 'Hazardous Materials'? My son didn't have any f***ing 'Hazardous Materials!' Let alone s*** that would get him killed by some f***ing sicko!" He slammed his glass into the fist suddenly, the armoured material creaking under the impact. "And you! You some, some f***ing ghoul, come to pick over his things or something? Huh? Who are you?"

--------

Jennifer scours the area. Most of it seems well swept, but she notices something the cops missed - the house behind the shop is to rent. It looks buttoned up pretty tight, but a fence panel seems oddly loose.

Sir, sir... we are not accusing your son of anything at all. We found evidence that the murderer may have been stalking some of the other victims without their knowledge, and broke into their places of residence and left... bits of hair and teeth and other... uh, "organic material." If that same thing is here, there might be evidence we could use to catch the killer, and you don't want that sort of thing in your house anyway. Did your son stay here with you? All we want is a chance to scan for that sort of organic remnant and if it is there, to remove it.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

Jennifer scours the area. Most of it seems well swept, but she notices something the cops missed - the house behind the shop is to rent. It looks buttoned up pretty tight, but a fence panel seems oddly loose.

Jennifer inspect the panel. She does a great job.

The man looks like he's going to shout some more before a woman in a robe comes and puts a hand on his shoulder, causing him to instantly deflate. "Excuse my husband, this is not an easy time. Yes, our son lived here. What is this about dangerous materials?" She speaks in a calm enough tone, but it's clear that it's the tone of someone who is simply too tired to cry anymore.

--------

Jennifer finds the panel moves enough to get into the rental property's overgrown garden.

Ross follows along with Jennifer, preferring to do some scouting around rather than dealing with people.

”Want me to go ghost and try to open it from the other side?”

Ma'am, we usually prefer not to get into the details too much with grieving family members, but I understand that you need the truth here, so I'll tell you all I can. We found evidence of some kind of bizarre ritualistic symbolism... in other words, what seem like tiny little voodoo dolls made out of hair and teeth and other bits. In the last place we found several, in the bathroom, bedroom, balcony, kitchen... obvious places where the victim lived, but really small, in places just out of sight, or where they would be easily overlooked.

We think the perp... er, the stalker may have done this with all the victims, ahead of time, and perhaps used bits of hair or teeth from past victims as well. Honestly, there is very little chance of physical harm to you from these things, even though all body remnants are labeled hazardous by the department. It's more psychological damage if you find something like that and wonder if the hair is your son's hair... that sort of thing. If you give us just 20 minutes to come in and do some scans, either we'll find nothing, and you can rest easier, or we'll find something, maybe help some other families find peace, maybe get a little bit of evidence that helps catch this guy. Please.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27

Ross follows along with Jennifer, preferring to do some scouting around rather than dealing with people.

”Want me to go ghost and try to open it from the other side?”

Jennifer nods. "See if you can tell if anybody is inside, first thing."

Ross and Jennifer are pretty confident no one in inside. The building looks cold and dark, the garden overgrown.

But if you wanna be sure, Perception check it up.

-----

The woman listened to Median's words without comment. "So, you think the person who did this was in my home?" she said softly. "Then yes, you can check to see if they left these things behind. We have enough sorrow here without such things." The man looked disquiet and disgruntled but opened the door.

Thank you. We will be quick. I hope we are wrong.

She looks around when she gets in and goes to the far side of the residence (or if there are floors, she goes upstairs). As soon as she can duck behind a door she casts a quick Detect Magic cantrip, and then walks through carefully, seeing if anything pings. She doesn't disturb anything that she doesn't have to, and remains overly respectful of their property.

If there is a case where she detects magic inside something that she would have to break, then let me know individually about that... that would require a specific decision rather than just a normal walk-through.

The home was nice, a pleasantly cluttered and lived-in area above the shop, although it hasn't been kept tidy the last few days. The plates are cluttered above the dishwasher, the dirty clothes basket is full, and what looks like a bag of takeaway sits by a full bin.

The woman showed Median to the boy's room, which seemed fairly typical of young man's room with a small ensuite bathroom. Magic pings behind the TV, in the bathroom and in the aircon vent.

Median points out some places to look in the bathroom and the air conditioning vent for the people that are with her (if anyone is), and goes and looks behind the television herself.

Ross and Jennifer are pretty confident no one in inside. The building looks cold and dark, the garden overgrown.

But if you wanna be sure, Perception check it up.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

If they feel that nobody is in the house, Jennifer and Ross start snooping around outside. If the don't find anything, they'll peer in the windows.

Median and anyone with her finds more of the poppets. They're made in much the same fashion as the first batch, although the twigs these ones are made of are a different tree.

------

Jennifer finds a path trodden from the damaged fence panel to the house. A window there proves to be unlocked, allowing easy access without much chance of being seen.

There is almost nothing in the home other than some basic furniture, so it doesn't take long to search. One thing of note is the master bedroom in the rear looks onto the back of the shop. It's quite easy to see Median, searching a room across the way, through the window. It looks straight into the young man's room it would seem. There doesn't seem to be much here, but...

There doesn't seem to be much here, but...

Are you asking for something in particular? Jennifer doesn't have detect magic, but below is another Perception roll.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Jennifer pulls out her phone and calls Median.

"Hey, look out the window. Can you see me in the next house over? Or is this a one-way peepshow?"

Median takes the call, glancing over at the window to see if she can see Jennifer.

Ah. Did you find anything?

Not yet, because she doesn't want there to be a scene with Jennifer involved, but after she gets the information from Jennifer and she is sure they are out of the outbuilding or whatever it is, Median will call in the wife and point through the window at the building, asking what it is. She will tell her that one of her team outside found a path, and that the killer might have been staying there.

Also, since this whole thing presents a possible ongoing threat to the rest of the family, she tells Valda that the police should be informed and a watch put on the house if possible... unless Valda has the resources to take care of that in-family as it were.

Ross, do you have a way to detect magic in the house?

"No, there's barely anything here. It could be that they moved in just to watch the family."

Unless Ross has anything he wants to do in the house, I think we're done in the house.

I don't unfortunately.

The floors in the house are bare, down to the floorboards. Beneath one they find old fashioned binoculars. They seem to be quite ancient, and from the faded lettering seem to be British military from the second world war.

Sounds like a good idea Median.

After Jennifer tells her about the binoculars, she says

Okay, I'll inform the family.

Code for time to get out.

After Jennifer and Ross are out of the house,

Median calls in the wife and points through the window at the building, asking what it is. She will tell her that one of her team outside found a path, and that the killer was almost certainly observing the family and staying there.

They bag up the little doll things (letting the couple see them if they insist, but no touching) to destroy later. Median takes pictures of everything with her phone to send to Valda... forwards the pics to Jennifer as well, in case she wants to update mystery voice.

Then they get out of the family's hair.

Since this whole thing presents a possible ongoing threat to the rest of the family, she tells Valda that the police should be informed and a watch put on the house if possible... unless Valda has the resources to take care of that through the supernatural community, which could be more effective.

Holding up the binoculars, Jennifer asks Ross, "Should we even tell Median about these?"

Ha ha... sorry for assuming. Maybe you should just pose with them at the window and scare the couple into moving. :)

No, I'm just being an ass. Obviously, we'd share what we found, and since this is a PbP, it makes sense to assume as much to keep things moving. It was just a joke; no apology needed.

Assuming the GM remains logged in, of course.

It was a simple enough matter to deal with the problem as best could be. The family were...less than thrilled, but seemed happy to have the stuff out of the house. Simply removing them improved the feeling of the home.

Valda confirmed that she'd have someone keep an eye on the place, and that the Poppets weren't harmful directly. However, prolonged exposure and focus on them would in effect marinade a person in negativity. Given they'd been found in places where they could be hidden and the victims seemed likely to focus, this seemed relevant.

"I wonder if the dolls were hidden before or after the victims were murdered. Probably before, I guess, if they have anything to do with them rising as undead.

"Anyway," Jennifer says, making an effort to cheer up, "to the last house!"

Median was getting close to burnout on the talking-to-people front, but she tried to rally and pulled up the information from Valda on the last victim's address so they could head out.

"Before seems likely. This is definitely the connecting thread that we've been looking for. Only issue will be actually finding who made the poppets."

"Yes. I hope Valda has some kind of scrying spell to help find the manufacturer", Joseph offers.

The final home is barely a home. If Fever has a bad area, it's this one. The apartment block is still standing, but that's about the only thing it has going for it. Three squat floors and zero maintenance that hasn't been required by law.

The buzzer to the building doesn't have names, instead having some uncreative slurs in the name area. Thankfully, the door lock also doesn't seem to work.

"Keep frosty, everyone." Joseph comments to the others. "This type of neighborhood is often rife with lower-vibration entities, like Desperation and Want, and even worse spiritual parasites. The last thing you want to do is walk around places like this at night, in places like Fever."

Median nods at Joseph's good advice and then proceeds up the stairs to find the correct address.

Jennifer follows, opting to stay with the group for this residence. She tugs her k95 mask into place and pulls her broad-brimmed hat low as she heads up the stairs.

The door isn't hard to find, as it has a police notification on it. The landing doesn't look like anyone's going to be paying much attention, though. Several bits of broken furniture litter the landing, and the lock looks...less than impressive. In fact, it's clearly already been replaced at least once.

Median knocks, unsure about whether the victim lived alone.

She also tries to detect any thoughts on the other side of the door.

Ross looks at the door and says, "I can try to phase through that door. Should be easy with my nifty new ghost powers."

Let's wait to see if someone answers. If not, then that's a good idea.

Argh! Why am I not getting notifications on this stuff?

There are no thoughts suggesting anyone inside, nor does anyone respond to the knock.

Median tells Ross she can't detect any thoughts on the other side of the door, and gives him the go ahead to phase through the door if he can, making sure to stand in between him and the outside world, just in case the cops have someone watching the place.

Joseph watches the group surroundings for any immediate danger. Perception: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (19) + 16 = 35

Ross nods.

Alright Z, let's do this.

"Ghosting in 1...2...3!"

Nothing happens.

Ross stammers, "That's...weird. Sorry, it usually happens when I want it to. Gimme a second."

"What the hell?!?"

"Sayyy plllease, Rossss. Don't be rrrude."

"Ugh. Can we please go ghost, Zaoth?"

"Yesss, we mmmay. Alssso Ross, to use one of yyyour human jjjokes. That is what she said."

Ross finally goes translucent and sticks his head through the door.

I think I'm at 4 of 8 rounds of ghost form.

The inside of the apartment is a mess. It's hard to tell if this is just how the victim lived, if it's been searched, or if it was robbed. The piles seem to have a certain order to them, but beyond that...

There doesn't seem to be anyone in the room, however.

Joseph can hear people moving, but it seems to mostly be that the place has thin walls and no sound proofing.