Chapter 1: Uncertain Times

Stepan sands at the foot of the ladder, where he weaves the dim light stronger. He speaks in a high clear voice and the light fills the room. With a propper lighting then it is easy to search the room

She moves closer into the cellar, studying the remains and reactivating second sight if needed

Together, with proper lighting and the benefit of your arcane senses and talents, you examine the cellar, the sacrifice, and the remains.

Some mages have recorded incidences of strange creatures referred to as Flesh Intruders that take up residence within the body of a victim. They are Abyssal creatures that quickly begin transforming the internal organs of a victim into strange, specialized organs for its own use, and breaking everything else within down into a vile, acidic mess that it can use as a weapon.

This creature was only partially formed, and after being summoned into the body of the sacrifice, had likely emerged, and then retreated to the cellar to hide while it finished becoming. The second body, the one hanging in the front room, was probably the sacrifice, the price for the intruder to break through from beyond the qlippothic spheres. Whose body the intruder had inhabited, is unknown.

If you wish to connote this research, you will require access to a library. You've exhausted the clues from this location, and I'll assume this had included sketches of the symbols and layout.

GM Prompt: where to next? The barracks? Your sanctum? Somewhere else?

I would like to return to the sanctum to study this further.
And get a clean shirt. What do you say?

Yes. That sounds like a brilliant plan.

"All of this confirms to Dragomir that he needs more vodka. Vodka helps Dragomir think. We should definitely return to the Sanctum."

"Agreed. Let us see about figuring out these oddities."

The guards out front take silent note of your leaving. It occurs to you that the fight inside made noise, yet they didn't come to investigate. They seem thoroughly bored rather than concerned for your state. Odd.

The return to your Sanctum is uneventful.

If you wish to continue researching what you faced, then you'll need to make a research roll.

Stepan hits the books

same.

Studying

Having chased down all references you could find, you determine that the Flesh Intruder:
- another may hatch from a transplanted organ.
- this sort of organ donation has some affiliation with teachings of a form of Chinese qigong called Celestial Body.
- references to previous incursions all required the creature to be killed; its host could not be saved.

So what do we know?

Stepan starts ticking of his fingers
1 - Some creature have been summoned into a organ, where it grows
2 - It takes time to Become and mature into a fully grown creature
3 - If an organ transplant is performed from a affected body to a unaffected, it can create another creature

He frowns
What I do not understand who and why some one would summon these creatures

Upon arriving at the sanctum, Dragomir grabs another bottle of vodka and some rye bread. He heartily eats the bread and washes it down with alcohol, all the while muttering about how the guards at the crime scene were no help.

'We are dealing with someone who is touched in the head, no? Maybe it is best we tell the local consilium... but then again, Dragomir does not like the bureaucracy of the Pentacle. I am not opposed to solving this ourselves."

At the moment I agree with you my alcoholic friend

It is obvious that there is another willworker in Moscow, someone unfamiliar to you all. This person is operating with impunity, and does not care to hide their messes.

Was this their first act, or simply the first one you heard about? You cannot tell without questioning others.

"And another thing, why did those guards not react to our fight? Dragomir finds it hard to believe they heard nothing. We should look into this."

The Cossack stands up and walks over to Stepan, slapping him hard in the back. "Were it not for ‘Stepan the Slayer’ and his cane of sharpness, we might still be fighting that... Flesh Invader. Are you sure you aren’t part Cossack, Savelievich?"