TBA: Ashes to Ashes

Mile High Broil, the Lap, 7 Ascending Air

Suggested Music: Final Fantasy VII - In Search of the Man in Black

The room was crowded, but cozy enough. From the walls hung a number of a trinkets and decorations, all of them too old or worn to be useful, but interesting nonetheless. A few knick-knacks even contained subtle throwbacks to the First Age, a time many claimed was dominated by the benevolent rulership of the Shining Ones. But that was not the issue at hand - two Sidereals sat hunched over a table with a number of local news documents spread out in front of them, hoping to ascertain a plan of attack. The Zenith approached, and the Unconquered Sun was bright enough that even through the room's minuscule slat of a window, there was plenty of light to read by.

((As far as I know, the session left off where the two of you had decided to infiltrate these organizations to look for a link between Five Thunder's Falcon and Meticulous Owl, but you hadn't decided how you were going to approach that infiltration, so that's where I'm starting this off - Either one of you could start this one off.))

Overnight, Magistrate activates Methodology of Secrets, taking a +1 speciality in Investigation: Ancestor Cults and +2 in Stealth: Crowds

Magistrate sat reclined in his chair with his feet kicked up on the table. His glasses rested at the tip of his nose; his eyes were fixed on the document he was reading over. The two had taken a big step forward the previous night meeting Baldur himself. Their task now was to validate or discredit Baldur's claim. He recalled from the original mission dossier that the probability of an Abyssal presence was high, though he always remained skeptical of the Bureau's arbitrary statistics.

"I don't know what you would prefer," he said to Starfall, his eyes never leaving the paper he was reading, "but I'm suggesting we investigate the ancestor cult first. We have a few days before our next meeting with Baldur, so my inclination is that we should stick together."

He continued to scrounge the documents, looking for clues regarding potential ancestor cult meeting spots or times. He looked for patterns to ancestor cult activity in an effort to make a prediction regarding their next gathering. If the documents could not provide answers, he planned on spending two motes of essence per question to invoke Efficient Secretary Technique, calling upon an emerald pattern spider to answer the following questions:

When did the last ancestor cult meeting take place in The Lap region?
Where did the last ancestor cult meeting take place in The Lap region?
Was Meticulous Owl present at the last ancestor cult meeting in The Lap region?

Kirkland 00:49, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

Overnight, Starfall activates Methodology of Secrets, taking a +1 speciality in Investigation: Ancestor Cults, +1 in Occult: The Underworld, and +1 in Lore: Local Knowledge (The Lap)

Starfall somehow managed to look both relaxed and tense at the same time as he sat across the small table from his companion, he was leaning forward with his elbow resting on the table and his chin resting on his open palm. When he spoke he did so softly and with an almost lazy tone, still resting his chin in his hand.

"I suppose it depends on how you like to begin. Investigating the Cult would be the easier and less dangerous task, almost without a doubt. Unless of course it uncovers something Baldur was hiding and he decides to give us the same treatment he gave his master. On the other hand the Ancestor Cults I know much less about, and if we're being trusting of our shining friend it would make more sense to look into the undead dealings of the city."

Starfall glanced down to the documents on the table, he poked at a few of them with his free hand to move them slightly around the table as if looking for something, though he stopped before he seemed to find anything. He looked back up to Magistrate and gave a single shouldered shrug before he continued.

"Ancestor Cults are pretty common and not really so frowned upon in moderation, many people here worship their lost ancestors and have the right to do so. As long as they still give their lip service and prayers to the Immaculate Order no one is going to stop them, this is what makes it so easy for the Abyssal to influence them. Which means information shouldn't be too hard to come by, just difficult to sort through. It's unlikely Meticulous Owl is influencing every ancestor worshiper or even every cult within the city. We'll have to find the right one, hopefully that won't mean we have to find them all first."

Starfall stood up slowly from the table, placing both hands on the edge as if to push himself up to a stand and leaning over the table just a bit. He pushed in his chair haphazardly with his foot before taking a few steps towards the door, stopping to turn back towards Magistrate.

"I'd rather get my hands dirty finding information in the streets, I dunno how you operate but we might cover more ground if we split up. At least while we do a bit of recon. Whatchya think?"

--FyreFly 23:34, 7 July 2009 (EDT)