Freddy shakes his head at the strange music. "Not really to my tastes, I guess." The PI opens up the doors out to the terrace. "Probably a nice view of the city out here though."
Freddy walks out onto the patio, a wood planked rooftop crowded with birdcages made of unfinished wood and chicken wire. The patio comprises almost a quarter of the floor space of his penthouse, but Brooks has seen fit to stuff the space with as many large bird cages as he can manage, the wooden floors dirty and stained with bird s!*&.
All of the coops are open, with no birds inside.
Amadeus doesn't find any symbols or even papers beyond what's in the trash inside of the apartment, but with a look outside he can see several symbols carved into the wood of the bird cages- as if someone were (or thought they were) casting spells on the birds.
The priest, still a bit shaken by the activities of the group, finally seems to come to a conclusion, and begins to snoop around the interior of the apartment.
God works in mysterious ways... I guess the greater evil and all.
Dominic looks over the apartment with an eye for detail practiced on Vatican scripture. He notices fine orange stains on the carpet, almost like a drizzle of the orange stuff was sprayed through the air. The bathroom and bedroom garbage cans contain wads of wax paper containing an orange substance and weeks old used condoms. The blades on the blender also have the same kind of orange compound crusted on the blades.
Officer Blanco paces through the apartment, taking notes on his pad but not offering any suggestions.
Disappointed but not entirely surprised by Brooks's lack of bookkeeping, Evelyn joins Dominic in running a fine-tooth comb through the apartment. She checks the bathrooms in particular, searching for any medications and drugs, illegal or otherwise. And of course, for Nectar.
With Evelyn's knowledge of Biology, she can tell that the mold growing on the bread in the breadbox and the bathroom towels is about 12 to 14 days old. With her knowledge of Pharmacy, she identifies a clear liquid bottled in the medicine cabinet as a powerful Mexican sleeping aid. One eyedropper's worth should put an adult to sleep within 30 minutes for up to 11 (1d6+5) hours. There are about five doses left in the bottle. An overdose can be lethal.
Freddy waves the medium out on to the patio. "Amadeus, do these symbols mean anything to you?"
Amadeus moves outside to check the symbolism.
Dominic poking around calls Evelyn over to the orange stains he found.
"Can you identify what might cause these stains"?
Amadeus moves outside to check the symbolism.
The symbols carved in the coops are a hodge-podge of ancient Mesoamerican symbols- Power, Rebirth, Mouth being the predominant symbols.
Evelyn hesitates when she sees the orange stains, but decides to answer Dominic's question as truthfully as she could manage. Without mentioning the Mouth itself, of course. "It's the drug I mentioned when we first met. The cult calls it Nectar. It's highly addictive, and is able to induce powerful states of euphoria. The people we have seen using it often resort to engaging in all sorts of debaucherous acts."
The doctor bites her lip before adding more quietly, "Anatoly died destroying one of the sources of the drug."
With that Evelyn heads out to the patio, both to check on what the others have found, and to run it through her own expertise.
From her extensive time bird-watching with her father, Evelyn can identify two different kinds of birds were kept in the coops based on discarded feathers:
One is a species of grackle, probably the great-tailed grackle common to the area, which is frequently mistaken for a crow and typically regarded as a noisy pest bird. The males are iridescent black-feathered birds, up to 17 inches with tails almost as long as their bodies. Females are brown and a bit smaller.
The other feathers belong to something about half the size of the grackle, probably the red-footed blackbird, a breed of sonorous blackbird that would be on the Southern edge of its habitat in Mexico City. They are known for their pleasing song.
Neither bird is commonly kept as a pet. They're omnivorous seed and insect eaters that occasionally eat carrion. By the looks of the coops, some 50 or so birds were kept here and not happily- there are signs that they were scratching and pecking at their enclosures. Worse than that, Evelyn finds evidence that they were fed fresh carrion: uneaten fingernails and finger bones stripped of their flesh lie amid the bird scat and seed hulls at the bottom of the cages. At least twelve fingers turn up, likely harvested from two men and one woman, likely within the last month.
In the tightly packed seeds and canvas sacks of dead, dried bugs Evelyn can find traces of Nectar- Brooks was dosing his birds with it for some purpose.
While Doctor Malley is cleaning her hands off from going through the bird cages, she happens to look back at the apartment from the patio and a thought occurs to her- the apartment is missing space compared to the patio. The outer wall of the penthouse would suggest that there is a hidden room across from the kitchen, sharing an outer wall with the patio.
Evelyn sorts through the disgusting mess with a steely expression.
"I've no idea what lunacy Brooks was intending, but he's been feeding the birds that were in these cages human flesh," she reports to the others with a tone one would normally use to describe the weather. "I've found at least twelve fingers already. He's also been feeding them Nectar, from the looks of it."
As she turns toward the apartment to make her way towards bathroom, the realization hits her. Her eyes follow the length of the walls in the apartment, a frown tugging at her mouth.
"Hm. I thought this place looked a tad small for a penthouse," she says, pointing out the odd detail. "A hidden room, perhaps?"
Freddy winces in disgust at seeing the fingers in the bottom of the coop. "Let's maybe keep the finger thing from the good officer Blanco over there. Don't want him pulling us away before we get anything useful out of this place."
When Evelyn mentions the missing space in the penthouse Freddy's jaw drops. "Wow, you're right. Let's see if we can figure out where this gap is." Freddy will head back into the apartment and start to check out the floor and walls. Any signs of footprints and hand prints in strange places, scuffing on floors where a wall would pull out, stuff like that.
Evidence collection spend?
Officer Blanco follows the rest of you outside onto the patio, just in time to see the fingers. He pulls out an evidence bag and begins sorting the finger bones, measuring them and taking notes. He points to Freddy's camera, speaking in Spanish. Translated by Dominic or Joseph, he says,"Gimme your camera, I need to photograph this."
The walls of the apartment don't bear any clear signs of passage and the walls all seem sturdy. On the patio behind one of the big coops you notice that the bricks aren't set as tightly as the rest of the outside wall. Looking closely, you can even see metal fittings peaking out that look like hinges.
Freddy will make sure he's changed out his film, then pulls the camera from his neck and passes it to the officer. "Sure thing, here ya go. We'll stay out of you way." The PI then moves over to the brick wall and gives it a push/ pull.
Officer Blanco takes Freddy's camera and starts taking photographs of the coops and the fingers measured against a small pocket ruler.
Freddy can't quite get the door to budge himself- maybe with a little more help he could force it open or maybe Brooks had a secret latch somewhere.
Freddy motions with his head at the door and says under his breath "Anyone see a latch around here? Really hope it isn't in one of the coops."
After digesting Evelyn's terrible revelation, Dominic stiffens his spine and follows the Dr. to the patio, where excited speech has began.
Upon seeing the human remains he crosses himself, and with a shape intake of breath, says a prayer for whoever this used to be.
He looks around at Freddy's question, but doesn't make any quick moves to move into one of the coops to look... unless nobody else makes the move.
After a few moments of quiet searching, Freddy finds the latch for the secret door under the coop directly opposite the door. Motioning for silence, he manipulates the latch and the disguised door opens. While Officer Blanco takes photographs and writes out detailed notes, you quietly slip into the secret room.
It's clear immediately why there weren't any papers or books in Brooks' penthouse- they've all been secreted away here in the hidden study. It's a finished room with a wooden floor, two brick walls and two plaster walls. It's clear to Joseph and Evelyn, with their knowledge of architecture, that this was originally intended as part of the main floor plan as a study or den but Brooks remodeled to hide it away. The sounds of the city and the flash of Freddy's camera fade away as you enter Brooks' private sanctuary.
Against one wall is a simple altar made of polished marble set on a wooden sideboard. Set out on the altar, perhaps as offerings or perhaps for some kind of blessing, is a record with Leticia de la Luz Side A/Side B printed on it, a sheet of Spanish lyrics for a new song (full of hackneyed metaphors and loaded with a simplistic refrain about love flying like a bird), a single-dose vial of Nectar, and a few half melted candles (unlit).
Above the altar, on the plaster wall, is an orange stain that Joseph and Dominic decide are a depiction of a fanged maw surrounded by eldritch symbols that Amadeus recognizes as symbolic of heads and mouths from various Mesoamerican cultures- jaguar mouths, bird mouths, serpent mouths. Other symbols painted in Nectar on the wall can be recognized by Dominic, Evelyn and Amadeus as Mayan writing, repeating the same five words over and over.
The rest of the room is furnished with an expensive wooden desk that Joseph, with his taste for the finer things, identifies as a handmade piece of jungle hardwoods, a rolling chair and a bookcase.
"This is... Mayan," Evelyn remarks as she inspects the painted symbols. Those college electives were really pulling their weight. "I recognize the style of the markings, but I don't know what they mean."
Turning her attention to Brooks's hidden book collection, she inspects the titles, searching for any that might stand out.
As exciting as a secret room is, Freddy will hang outside with Blanco to buy everyone else extra time in the hidden study.
The PI points to one of the fingers. "The lighting and angle are all wrong for that shot! Here let me give you some shade. There, yeah, now come in from above the finger." Freddy motions with his hands and directs the officer as best he can with the language barrier.
"This is... Mayan," Evelyn remarks as she inspects the painted symbols. Those college electives were really pulling their weight. "I recognize the style of the markings, but I don't know what they mean."
Turning her attention to Brooks's hidden book collection, she inspects the titles, searching for any that might stand out.
The bookcase is mostly empty, containing a dozen books on Mesoamerican art and culture, half a dozen blank books (still unused), three books on traditional Mexican folk songs and one book stuffed with correspondence from Samson Trammel written in a simple code.
Evelyn can tell that these books have been rigorously read and handled, without much care, and she can recognize respected authors and photographers in the mix. With her knowledge of Anthropology, she knows that the Mesoamerican texts are a range of classic and cutting-edge works in the field of Mayan and pre-Columbian religion and "fringe and forbidden gods" in the Mayan pantheon, especially one called Golxumal , also known as "The Fisher From Outside." According to highlighted passages, the Fisher From Outside was worshiped at an ancient site in the heart of the Yucatán- a site intended for other worship but captured and repurposed by the cult of Golxumal. It was called Chichén Xoxul .
As exciting as a secret room is, Freddy will hang outside with Blanco to buy everyone else extra time in the hidden study.
The PI points to one of the fingers. "The lighting and angle are all wrong for that shot! Here let me give you some shade. There, yeah, now come in from above the finger." Freddy motions with his hands and directs the officer as best he can with the language barrier.
Officer Blanco tries to wave you off at first- you don't need a common language to know he's trying to be macho and do things on his own. But once it's clear that you know what you're talking about better than he takes your pointers through basic Spanish and gesturing.
"There you go! Getting better already"
"We need to find someway to get this stuff out of here, and take it to someone who can help us with the language. Maybe check out this chee-chen-zho-zool place".
Joseph finds that most of the desk's drawers are empty save for blank paper, fine unused pens and other simple office supplies. The top drawer, however, seems to contain works in progress, including unsent letters and a small black notebook containing Brooks' notes to himself, with a fat chunk of pages torn out from the back. Most of the letters and notes are unremarkable, but a few stand out:
An unfinished letter to 'S.S.'
We have different aims, broader aims, you and I. I think we both share that in common. Don't you think? We both will be appreciated when our projects reach fruition. We both will be recognized, if not by T then by whatever dwells beneath Kailash that Devouring Mountain.
New songs are forthcoming. Do you want me to send you new records? Our newest is right up your alley, I think. The effect it has... especially on those who have supped from the mouth, it's profound. We have begun a new studio space where we can record the voices- both its and my wife's- in peace. When you come, you must see it. Perhaps sing with us.
There's much more that I want to say but I fear I have dispatched men into the jungle to explore an old ancient site once devoted (still devoted) to the god- a place where I believe I can speak w/it without going through T.
I shouldn't write any more than that until I know
An unsent letter to Samson Trammel
We trusted that you, in the name of the great liar, were telling us the truth but soon I'll know for certain what it wants and what it is and whether you were lying to us about about who what it is and wants. I've found a way to hear it and soon I shall have a way to speak to it for it to hear me. I've already sent men in pursuit of one of the god's old sites, erected by people wiser and yet simpler than us. Truer
You told us that it was truly your many-faced god, your Black Man but I believe you are lying to separate us from E's truths that E told his people. You are but a shadow of the man he was. Does the name Golxumal mean anything to you? The Fisher From Outside? It is the Liar From Beyond! I shall prove it! You'll be sorry for hiding your secrets from us- us!
Once I have a true audience with your god we'll see [ink splatter]
Notes on the expedition's methods, goals and supplies.
Transcript of notebook:
- D.F overland to Mérida w/crew
- Mérida into jungle- how long? Hire guide?
- how long at site? Week? Two?
- Telegraph from Mérida after site is found
- cameras, radio equipment? guns, cash, ample Nec.
- 10-12 men incl. translator?
- (crossed out)Ask Dominguez re: Francisco
- (crossed out)Will K. go with them?
- Payment in Nectar/$$
- (crossed out)Guns for 13 men
- Take pictures!
- Golxumal=Gol-Goroth?
Finally, there is a photograph of ten men dressed for a wilderness trek, labeled "Dominguez and his crew".
On the patio, Freddy is giving Officer Blanco a photography and documentation lesson when he hears what sounds like a pigeon landing. Perched above him and Officer Blanco atop the dirty coops is a single grackle, shiny and black, tilting its head this way and that. It opens its mouth to let out an eerie caw and reveals, at the base of its beak, a glistening and grisly mouth ringed with tiny, hooked teeth. Its caw is wet and brief, like a crow gagging on pus.
Then you hear the caw answered by the flock descending on the patio...
Freddy yells to Officer Blanco and gestures wildly. "We need to get into the house now!" If he doesn't appear to immediately take action, the PI will take his chances and bum rush Officer Blanco into the house.
2 point spend
Outside
Freddy takes Officer Blanco by surprise, shoving the cop into the house while the flock descends! A mass of feathers, beaks and claws engulf the PI, scratching and pecking at him with wet, gurgling calls.
Freddy is pierced and scratched by the flock as he hustles himself into the house, slamming the patio door after him. The cloud of birds swarms across the patio, several slamming themselves into the door, leaving cracks in the glass. Officer Blanco gets himself up from the floor, looking panicked. He crosses himself and reaches for his pistol.
In Brooks' study
From the closed study, you hear a commotion outside and Freddy shouting. Then it gets quiet again...
Freddy grabs at his wounded back as he runs in and sees what Blanco is doing. "Do not shoot the glass!" The pleads with the police officer through teeth clenched with pain.
Blanco keeps his pistol in hand, but doesn't raise it. He looks around.
"Where, uh, other?", he asks, motioning around the apartment.
Freddy bends over, hands on his knees panting. What were those things? Did that bird really have teeth? What the hell is this police officer trying to say to me??
The PI puts it together and points out to the patio. "There's a nook behind one of the coops. We've got to let them know about the birds." The PI rushes over to the one of the walls that seems to adjoin the hidden space and pounds on it. "Shut the door!!"
Amadeus looks open-mouthed at Freddy. "What the hell is going on out there?!?"
Evelyn crams the coded book into her purse - they would have to decipher it later. As she is about to close it, she hears the sudden commotion outside. Her hand shifts around in her bag, finding her handgun.
"Freddy?" she calls out with concern, though in the enclosed room, there was little hope of hearing anything. Slowly, she sidles over to the hidden entrance, seeing whether she could crack it open.
Evelyn and Amadeus crack open the hidden door and see that the patio is a riot of feathers, cawing grackles and blackbirds filling your field of vision. You can't see Freddy or Officer Blanco out there. The birds sound... sick or something, like their throats are full of phlegm. They certainly look aggressive.
Amadeus pushes the door a little too hard, knocking into the nearest coop and tipping the empty cage over. Birds begin swarming the tiny opening, pecking at his fingers until he's forced to slam the door to keep them out!
"ARGH! BIRDS! KILLER BIRDS!" Amadeus freaks out as he falls back, shaking from the sudden realization that BIRDS ARE TRYING TO KILL THEM.
From the apartment, Freddy can see the swarming birds focus their attention on the other side of the patio. An awful chorus of grisly birdsong fills the air.
Inside the secret room, the investigators can hear the flock outside on the opposite side of the door and become acutely aware that there isn't another exit to Brooks' hidden study.
"That would explain what we found out there..." Evelyn remarks, tapping her chin with a finger. She was unusually calm, considering that they were trapped in a room with killer birds right outside the door. Obviously, her gun would not do any of them much good.
"They apparently have a taste for Nectar. Perhaps we could distract them with that vial over there?" she thinks aloud.
Dominic is hesitant, a look of panic on his face.
"Maybe? Should we... should we just stay here and maybe Officer Blanco will call animal control? Or what about a loud noise to try and scatter them?"