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Unfortunately by the time Silver does his search the delivery is completed so you won't be able to slip into the back garage door like Agent Silver did. You're either going to have to hack a security door at the back or sneak in through the front past the night watchman. The front door would be a lot harder though as at night the doors at the front of the morgue are locked. Of course Agent Silver can attempt to sneak back and open the back door to let people in (As opening the door from the inside does not require a security card). Whatever the case, this is covered with an "Act Under Pressure" roll.
Eugene follows Joe's directions and helps him with the bags.
So Joe, what's the plan?
"The plan is, we're going to wait for one more person and then do a ritual to turn us all invisible. It's going to require us to stick together." Joe pauses for a moment then adds "How good are you at picking electronic locks? My friend said something about them having one."
...
He was about to put his phone away when he shrugged and sent one to Edgard: How close are you?
Edgard sends an answer - I'll be there soon. - and grabs his bike. Soon he arrives at the morgue, greeting Joe.
"Hey, I see it's becoming lively here."
"The plan is, we're going to wait for one more person and then do a ritual to turn us all invisible. It's going to require us to stick together." Joe pauses for a moment then adds "How good are you at picking electronic locks? My friend said something about them having one."
I think it all depends on the electronic lock, from a computer I might be able to get something but if it's a door lock I'm not used to cracking those.
"Okay, now that everyone's here, let's head to the docks area of the Morgue building. We'll do the ritual there, and not out on the street."
Joe passes out the bags, which contain several double-ziploc bags of ground clear glass, four bottles of water, chalk, and a box of white dental floss.
Upon reaching the back of the morgue, Joe will find an out of the way spot, take each bottle of water and pour half out, then fill the other half with ground class, all while quietly chanting. He will then spool out 4 8' strips of dental floss and tie them together making a rough + shape, which he will then connect each end to one of the bottles. Finally, he will use the chalk to mark the cap of each bottle with a symbol. He will then hand a bottle to Eugene and Edgard and take the other two himself. Motioning for them to spread out, he will stretch his arms to make the floss and taut as possible.
As he works, his chanting gets louder, until finally with a flourish, Joe will swiftly toss one bottle, draw a knife from his coat, and cut the floss before catching the other bottle.
There is a twisting sensation, and then
two things immediately happen: Edgard and Edward fade from each other's view, and Joe begins bleeding from his nose and one of his eyes.
"Okay, here is how this works. Each person can see the person directly across from them. Also, you each have about 8 feet of space to maneuver in. Go father and the spell will break for you. You can also choose to empty the contents of your bottle, which will end the spell for you and the person across from you. Finally, and this is important, the longer the spell goes on, the darker the bottle will become. Once it stops being clear, the spell will end for everyone, so we need to hurry. Edward you take point. I will be in the middle, and Edgard, you bring up the rear. Stay relatively close to me. Let's go."
So the other guy looking in on this is that kid touched by the supernatural. I guess I got to trust Joe on this one.
Eugene leads the group to a door next to the loading dock and opens his tool kit and begins to work on the lock.
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Well usually if its something that falls into your skill-set I would give you a forward. Still 10+ is more than enough to crack the lock.
As for Joe Arden, he's able to get the spell off however to extend the power of the spell to give everyone an invisibility field, he unfortunately has to channel a good deal of power. He overcharges the magical energy within himself causing a searing pain throughout his body as the magical energies fray his pattern. Still a cloud of invisibility goes around you, allowing you to walk around unseen.
Using the combination of the spell and Eugine's cracking the lock you're able to get to reach the freight elevator and take it down to the basement without being seen. You soon join Silver in the morgue.
When Eugene, Joe, and Edgard arrive to meet the unexpected Silver.
Silver!!!!
Eugene turns to Joe.
You're working with The Man! You can't know the Bulwark's motives ergo you can't trust him.
Eugene turns back to Silver.
What the heck do you want here? Going to burn more of my stuff or just screw us over and kill us when we're done being useful to you?
"He can't see you Eugene."
"Hello Silver. What have you found?"
"Magic?" wonders Silver to himself as he turns toward the sound of voices. He hears Eugene's accusations first and grimaces, and that grimace doesn't fade when Joe speaks.
"Firstly," begins the old man, "you should've told me you were bringing someone else. Secondly, that man's going to give up every detail about what we see to the internet, and that's going to get more people hurt. Bad call.
"However," he says in a cold, angry tone, "the Bulwark is here to protect Yorkton and its people - something you can't seem to figure out, 'Tin Man.' So, no, I'm not going to shoot you just because you don't know what the Hell you're doing."
Twisting his neck from left to right, Maxwell begins by motioning for the invisible men to follow as he goes into the examination. "Dan Hurtz. As suspected, it wasn't an animal or the like that killed him; however, whatever tore into him was finger-like in shape. I whatever creature did this was clawed and very strong, but not a simple predator - it didn't bother to eat the body. There seems to be evidence that suggests he was pinned when he died. Maybe magic could reveal more.
"Then there's Andrew Campbell." Agent Silver drops the report for Campbell on the computer desk. "Read it. It's interesting, and I'm drawing blanks. There might be more information on the computer, but it's password protected."
Eugene sucks it up.
Well lets solve this before anyone else dies. Let's see about that computer.
When there's a moment Eugene moves with his invisible pals over the computer and will break in.
"Sorry, I meant to tell you."
Turning to Eugene, Joe will ask "How long do you think it will take you to hack into that thing?"
"Mister Silver?" Edgard called the man. "It's Edgard."
He waves his hand, but realizes he's invisible. "Joe, do we need to remain unseen the whole time?"
After walking back and forth in the room he asks with uncertainty in his voice.
"And where's the body? Should I try... my thing?"
Eugene searches the computer for complete records of the Dan Hurtz and Andrew Campbell autopsy and any case file info.
Additionally searching for any other people that have come through the morgue with similar causes of death to these victims.
"Edgard?" Silver says with surprise. His brain starts replaying a certain memory over in his head...
He knew better, of course: that banshee was the reason one of the brightest, youngest agents in the Bulwark was lying on the ground in front of him, dead. Silver had only just barely realized what they were facing in time for everyone to cover their ears with something, but the young man hadn't been quick enough to save himself.
Maxwell didn't know whether a banshee was a ghost, a weird sort of faerie, or something else. However, he did know that silver would work a lot better than regular bullets. Yet every time he leveled his gun to fire at it, the creature seemed to just... shift out of the way. His bullets couldn't touch it.
But as they fought inside the abandoned house, the strangest thing had happened: the cupboard in the kitchen the banshee fought in came open. There was no good reason why it should have, but it did. Out from there fell a salt shaker that must have been at least ten years old, and when it hit the kitchen counter it burst in the air. Salt got on the banshee, and somehow it seemed more... physical.
Silver had taken the shot then, and his shot had connected. The creature wailed one last time before collapsing, and Silver and the other agents had gone forward, took a few pictures, and read the spirit banishing rites they had been given before they experienced how dangerous the ghost really was firsthand. The rites had worked, and the dead and wounded were recovered by the Bulwark. But Silver never did find out why the cupboard door had slipped open. It was a matter of extraordinary luck...
Now, as Maxwell hears the young man's voice, a strange observation came to his mind: hadn't Edgard been in that neighborhood that night, and hadn't he had a flashlight in his pocket? Maxwell frowns a little. But he's just a kid...
"The body's in the cooler in the examination room," Maxwell explains, stepping into that room as he spoke with the invisible people. Getting a sense that Joe and Eugene were still in the other room, he adds a little more quietly so that only the invisible college student can hear him, "Just promise me that you'll make your exit should anything really bad start happening, Edgard. You're young, and I don't want to have to be the one that delivers bad news to your parents."
Eugene consumes the records quickly then moves over to the corpses Agent Silver had been examining.
*twiddle's thumbs*
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Oh oh, well Eugene you get an experience point as you failed your investigate a mystery roll. As for the effect, basically you look at the corpse and are so grossed out by what you see that you vomit. Unfortunately this also means you don't want to look at that corpse anymore as you're so grossed out by what you see. There is a difference between looking at pictures and seeing an actual corpse killed in this way.
"We should clean that up," grumbles Silver. "Otherwise they could find out you've been here." He goes to fetch cleaning supplies - surely there's some nearby - and do just that.
Eugene wipes his mouth,
Sorry about that guys, the smell and look of the corpse together did me in. Anyone have any theories about what's going on here?
"First things first." Joe waves his hand and mutters and the invisibility spell breaks with an audible *pop*. Joe will then move to the body and draw the chalk out of his bag. He will start drawing symbols on it's face, including the eyelids.
"One of you should keep watch to make sure no one is coming."
"Of course," Edgard assures Silver. "I plan to live for as long as possible."
He turned the black ring on his finger and added with a gloomy face.
"Well, considering the circumstances."
The young man then observes Joe's manipulations and asks.
"What's all this?"
Silver goes to take watch by the door as Joe enters the examination room.
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Which corpse are you looking at first? Andrew's corpse or Dan's corpse?
Now normally use magic is not a substitute for an investigate a mystery roll. However you can Use Magic to provide a forward to a roll as well as a way of justifying how you get some information. Use Magic is NOT a Magic bullet to get all the answers to a case.
So depends, if you want the asset from Use Magic, you have to roll the Use Magic first before you make the Investigate a Mystery roll. Because if you flub the Use Magic roll it could affect what you'll get from the investigation roll.
After trying, and failing, to make any real progress on studying, Kyle decides he needs some fresh air. He hoped in his old Chevelle and went for a ride. It wasn't pretty to look at and the AC didn't work but it ran and got him from point A to B.
With Joe absorbed in whatever he's doing, Edgard's questions are left unanswered, so he tries to call for the spirit of the dead man. He closes his eyes and communes his feelings of searching for answers and desire to help to find the creature who did this. After that Edgard opens his eyes.
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Ok Edgard, using the Sight you definitely see a supernatural taint on the body. Not only does he see something was taken from the body but also you see a palatable taint of corruption on the body as well. Something of pure corruption left its mark on this body.
You can also ask two questions concerning the body.
Yes Joe you can attempt to use a speak with dead on a body. That is within the preview of Use Magic. There may be other rolls involved depending on how you're doing this.
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Ok well Joe you channel your magical energy into the corpse in hopes of contacting the spirit. Unfortunately this backfires as corruptive taint in the corpse absorbs your magical energy and causes the body to animate! The body snarls and flails around at Joe trying to grab him with his gnarled hands.
Make an Act Under Pressure roll to avoid being grabbed!
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Ok Joe, you're not grabbed but you still get scratched across the chest by the nails of the animated corpse. Take a point of harm from the impact although if you have any armor you can soak the damage.
How do you react to this? In fact, how does everyone else react to seeing a reanimated desiccated corpse?
Agent Silver starts reaching for his gun, then quickly reconsiders and yanks out his knife instead. He rushes away from his post and wordlessly tries to slice the corpse's throat.
Joe staggers back as his chanting continues, but then he sees his mistake: one of the characters got smudged, probably by his jacket!
Glancing down at it is almost fatal, as the creature attempts to grab him. He manages to jerk his hand away, but not before it gouges deep red lines into his arm.
Ignoring the pain for now, Joe says "Hold it down, we need to get the chalk off!"
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Agent jabs his knife into the corpse only to find that it is not very effective. Sure it puts a hole in the creature's torso but being a magical animated corpse it is more resilient than a living person. Likewise getting close also provokes Agent getting flailed across the body by one of the limbs. This inflicts 1 harm on him, minus any armor.
Ok Edgard, using the Sight you definitely see a supernatural taint on the body. Not only does he see something was taken from the body but also you see a palatable taint of corruption on the body as well. Something of pure corruption left its mark on this body.
You can also ask two questions concerning the body.
...
...Ignoring the pain for now, Joe says "Hold it down, we need to get the chalk off!"
Startled by the animated corpse, Edgard stumbles back throwing a ring hand forward in a "don't go near me" sort of way.
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Edgard channels the power of the unseelie court within himself and unleashes it on the animated corpse. The creature tries to get up and lunge at Joe only to slip clumsily and fall violently onto a table full of surgical instruments with one surgical blade piercing the eye of the creature. The creature is visibly harmed by this and as it is a magical attack it completely ignores his armor. The corpse is still animate though but the next person who attacks it will get a +1 forward as it is disoriented.
As for the problematic side effect that made a HELLA amount of noise. The crashing of metal, the angry screams of the corpse and the various objects falling to the floor is bound to attract some attention from security.
Chalk we need to remove chalk!
Eugene runs over to the sink and grabs an instrument bowl from the rack of clean instruments near the sink and fill it with water. Then with his bowl of water moves back the the corpse.
Here goes nothing.
Eugene pours the water over the symbols on the corpse intending for the force of the water hitting the skin to be enough force the chalk to run off the body.