Case 1: Victims at the park

Paranormal Entities Surveillance Division

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Name: Margaret Jean LeFayMargaret Jean LeFay, a strong S class Psychic with red flowing hair and striking emerald eyes and an enigmatic air, found herself thrust into the watchful eyes of the Paranormal Entities Surveillance Division (PESD) due to her innate but unbridled psychic abilities. Since childhood, her powers manifested in unpredictable ways, rendering her a magnet for the paranormal. The first incident occurred during her high school years when an emotional outburst unintentionally triggered a poltergeist episode, causing objects to levitate and swirl around her. Another startling event took place at a local carnival when her unchecked empathy fused with a dark energy, causing a psychic feedback loop that sent visitors into temporary emotional disarray. The most alarming incident happened when, overcome by a sense of foreboding, she inadvertently opened a temporary portal to a spectral realm during a routine investigation, unleashing eerie manifestations into the physical world. Despite her earnest desire to control her powers, Margaret often found herself grappling with the consequences of her uncontrollable psychic abilities, a challenge she faced head-on within the confines of the PESD.

Paranormal Entities Surveillance Division

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Name: Ajay Bisnoi
Date of Birth: 08/09/91
Citizen: United States of America (Indian emigrant)
Language: English
Martial Status: Single
Listed As: Private Consultant
Code Name:
Hair Color: Black, dyed brown
Eye Color: Brown
Heigh: 5FT 11IN
Body Type: Bulky



Dr. Ajay Bisnoi came to America as a post-doctoral research fellow from India. His research expertise on toxiciology and pathology had given him a post as medical research scientist in ****** hospital group. He also worked as a consulting expert for ****** and ****** pharmaceutical division. However, it was reported that he had been secretly destroying blood samples and corrupting sensitive information of company servers. Several complaints and chargesheets was brought against him for destroying public property, destroying sensitive information about the employing companies, and accessing or altering several patient records. He went rogue, and FBI agents were deployed to investigate his whereabouts and bring him to custody. This was somehow linked with the catastrophic destruction of ******** sector building of ******* group, where Dr. Bisnoi was found at the scene and apprehended by the police. When cornered and questioned Dr. Bisnoi revealed that the ******* group had a division that was run by a entire cartel of blood-consuming vampires who ran the entire show. Apparently, patients bled regularly, and better-quality blood was sold to a higher echelon of society. He claimed to discover the perpetrators and took action to destroy one of their important meeting places. He seemed entirely convinced that more of these abhumans exist and are currently acting against him. He was sent to a mental asylum for proper rehabilitation and recovery.
Out of the asylum, he is back in his service as a pathologist who got recruited by Paranomal Entities Surveillance Division (P.E.S.D) for his expertise and knowledge regarding the supernatural and other paranormal occurrences.

Paranormal Entities Surveillance Division
Name: Seth Roland
Date of Birth: 03/14/95
Citizen: United States of America
Language: English
Martial Status: Single
Listed As: Operative
Code Name: Star Eagle
Hair Color: Sandy Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 6' 2"
Body Type: Muscular/Lean

BIO: Seth Roland is as American as the next operative, which is to say, he is a patriot and works for the betterment of his fellow man. He was raised in the farmland of Southern New Jersey and attended an Ivy League school for criminology and pre-law. He was recruited for the FBI shortly after graduation and worked there for five years before being recruited into the PESD. His work on the FBI had begun to stray into the purview of the PESD and a lead operative noticed his inability to be flustered by the strange things that inhabit the fringes of our world. He has worked for the PESD for five years now, and has received awards and high marks from the Agency, though he has begun to grow skeptical of the mission. The motives of the PESD are unclear at best, and at worst may be worthy of considerable suspicion, especially given that the hierarchy within the Agency is secretive and highly complex. He is at odds with his superiors more often than not, and is considered a bit of a rebel, despite his high decoration. He is an expert in combat ops and is a crack shot with a sniper rifle, often running support for other ops. He is currently assigned to watch a number of suspected monsters, splitting his time equally among several cases.

The day starts as any other day at PESD. Seth arrives at work and gets to paperwork he'd rather not do when his superior comes over. "Seth, we have a case for you. Come with me." Sidney Callahan is a woman in her late 30s. 5'8 without heels and a stare that could paralyze you, Seth knew she was always serious. This kind of work was no joke to her, and she expected other to take it the same way. After the two arrive in a briefing room, she pulls up images on a computer screen on the wall while operating a table with holographic images of landmarks on it. "We have been getting reports of people going missing. Normally, this wouldn't even appear on our radar, but you know by now that I wouldn't mention it if it was normal." The table suddenly highlights three wooded areas less than half an hour outside of the town. "So far 5 people have all gone missing, and these are all of the locations. The reason it appears on our radar is because was a substance found at all of the places I mentioned here." She then points to the screen. A white goo appears and rotates. Next to it appears silhouettes of multiple types of spiders. Each time the spider gets a red X on it and the screen rotates to another one. "The substance is similar to silk that is still sticky, but no spider matches. We think this substances is a clue to a monster kidnapping. I want you to take Bisnoi and LeFay with you. You do good work, but I want you to have backup, like it or not. Report back to me when you have leads. Dismissed." Sidney leaves before Seth can get a word in edge-wise. She always was a cut-to-the-chase woman. She ran the PESD like a well oiled machine, and everyone could tell why.

Later on, Ajay and Margaret each get a call from Seth telling them to meet him at a diner for lunch. This was the team's code for "we have a mission". When everyone arrives, they sit at their usual table. The waitress, Zoe, knows about the PESD and works undercover. As such, the group is always given a table where no one will overhear their conversation.

Ajay was working with the molecular structure of a designer drug when the phone rang. The criss-cross lattice work of molecules rotating in front of his screen was reflected on the spectacle, which covered his hollow eyes with dark circles. He involuntarily reached for the coffee mug without even looking at the phone. Too many phone calls have made his hand remember the position of the phone, but he often mistakes the phone for the mug and the mug for the phone. He tsked as he realised that his hand had grabbed the mug instead of the phone, and he turned from the screen to see who was calling. It was Seth Roland, the FBI agent working for PESD. That got his attention, and he picked up the phone to answer.

A medium distance drive from his workplace to the dining, Ajay was silent and contemplative for the entire journey. PESD made him remember all those bloody memories during his personal crusade against the vampire abhumans. How they have massacred Isabelle. He took a long drag from the lit cigarette to calm his nerve before entering their usual table. He could see Seth waiting there with all his professional attitude. He sat with the others saying, "Another PESD operation? What do we have now?"

Seth, having laid out the briefing materials on the table before the others showed up, sat waiting patiently. He was annoyed to be pulled off of his latest surveillance job, but you would never know it from his expression. He felt like he had made headway which would now be lost, though the mission that they had been put on promised to be an interesting one, if it was more than just a mysterious disappearance. He waited with his coffee in the booth of the diner for the others to show up, and he didn't have to wait long before Ajay showed up, ready to get down to business. Seth looked up at him with a cool expression and replied, "We have some mysterious disappearances, five in total, with an unknown web-like substance at each location. I thought you might be interested in the findings regarding the substance." Seth pushed a folder towards Ajay as he sat down. It contained the PESD forensic report on the substance, including the molecular workup and other chemical information that didn't mean much to Seth.

Maggie comes enters the diner and waves to Zoe "Hey Sugar, Strawberry Milk Shake and an order of Chili Cheese Fries." She walks over to the two gentlemen but stops at a booth where a single woman is sitting "He knows. Don't go home.. As if nothing just transpired She continues her path to the others she grabs and spins a chair at the table so it is facing the opposite direction. She plops down using the back of the chair as an armrest. "This better be important. I was in a Yoga class and the instructor is Fiinneee."
She swipes the papers that Ajay was currently looking at "Missing People, Strange webs. You two scared of Spiders?"

Ajay browsed the files, going over the reports, pictures of the crime scene and the general situation. He scratched his beard in deep thought and said, "Webs and missing people? Has there been any mortal remains of bones or digested body matter? It seems very specific and unique. I think we will know more if we can visit the crime scene."

As Margaret arrived, he greeted her with a smile, "Good Morning Miss LeFay. How are you doing? PESD assigned you to this case? Hmm, now that you mentioned it, I have mild arachnophobia. What about you?"

OOC: So, I want to do a research on the information that we have currently. Do I roll Investigate a mystery now or do I get the information from the GM.

OOC: I like the name. Zebra it is.

She groans. "How many times do I have to tell you... Don't call me Miss LeFay. Call me Maggie or Meg..." She flips through the papers "I am Doing... You know... She sighs and looks around for Zoe or her food. "I guess they did. I was just told to come here. Wasn't expecting you two here. " She looks at the different spiders on the pages. "Nah spiders don't bother me. I have seen worse creatures in my dreams...

Megs pulls out her cell and starts searching to see what she can find out about these disappearances. See if the area has any old wives tale or folklore that might include any spider like creatures...

"What about you Ajay? How is life, anything new? Seth, you kill anyone important reasontly?" She doesn't say that last question quietly...

Ajay smiled at the jest he made with Maggie every time they met. "As you wish Maggie, as you wish. My life has been the same. I can't go out that much due to work load but atleast I am not held in isolation, in a soundproof room, tied up in restraints. It feels good to work again. Now, it feels great to have PESD backing me." He continued to riffle through the reports occasionally writing and typing something in his phone.

After the reports were read, he looked up at the others, "I think, we won't get much from here. I need to collect some of these web samples myself and checking the crime scene will give more insight. It would be better if we visit the site and do our own investigation. What do you think?"

Seth ignores Ms. LeFay's pointed question and grins enigmatically at them both. "Hello Ms. LeFay. Thank you for joining us." He turns to Ajay and begins to reach for his phone. " I will need to check with forensics to see if there is an open scene for us to visit. They might have samples of the substance for us to test as well, though it would be better to see the scene and get a sense of things. Let me make a call." Seth then gets up and puts his phone to his ear, having hit the number for the forensics supervisor before rising.

She groans at being called Ms again... She stacks up the papers and pushes them in front of Ajay.
Maggy leans in the chair towards the kitchen and calls out "ZOE!!! MAKE MY ORDER TO GO." She stretches in her chair than her face has a sly grin she yells again "AND PUT IT ON SETHS TAB!!"

"Soo... Who's car we taking and who is driving? Dibs on Shotgun!" Maggy waits for the others to get ready to leave.

"So it looks like we are going to have to make a go of it on our own. None of the crime scenes are being attended right now, so we get to take our pick." Seth says, ignoring Maggie's outburst as he delivers his news. Delivery done, he turns to her and says, "We are taking the Agency's van, as per usual. If you are ready then let's go now. Which should we visit first?" He says as he turns his phone around to show them the three sites marked on his maps app.

Ajay nods, saying, "Let's visit the farthest site first. We can go to the closer ones after we complete investigating the first one." He stands up and takes his belongings back to his shoulder bag, ready to move out with others.

OOC: Is the farthest site located in a very remote location? Like, away from any locality?

Grabbing her food she gives Zoe a quick hug. "No Promises" She rolls her eyes. "These two are so much fun to work with...
She takes a drink of her shake and grabs a handful of napkins from the nearby dispenser. "Far Site first sounds great. She holds the door open for the other"Come on Slow pokes. We don't got all day." then heads to the car.

When the van arrived at the location, Ajay came out and surveyed the area. He noticed the 2 other minivans and looked at their number plates. He brought out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his polished metal flip lighter. Waiting for others, he took a long drag and released the smoke. As the others got out, he said, "So, this is the location? Let's get to work." He took out his backpack and started walking through the area to their designated crime scene, making information searches on his phone along the way. He was trying to find out the general topography, tagging the location coordinates and looking for whatever was close to the area.

OOC: Does the minivan look like a public van or police van? I am surveying the location to get information about how this place can be utilised by a monster. Do I roll Investigate or not. I believe we haven't reached the crime site yet. Once we reach there I will be rolling for investigate anyway but that will be for the monster/crime there. I just want to know more about this area.

She plops down in the front seat of the van "Dang man. Did you steal this or was it issued?" She looks at all the surveillance stuff "Does it have a booster or Ejector seat?" Anything I shouldn't touch?

Once on the road she inserts her ear buds, puts up her hood, and sticks her feet up on the dash. She loudly drinks her Milkshake and messily eats her chili cheese fries. She somehow manages to not get her clothes cover in cheese sauce but the van not so much. Finishing her milk shake she lowers the window and tosses it out.

Once they arrive at the park she gets out and stretches. "Ok gents. What is the plan?" She ask leaning against the van.

Seth drives in stoic silence, though Maggie might have noticed his occasional grimace when she got cheese sauce on the upholstery. As he puts the van in park and gets out, he looks around, surveying the area for threats and also notices the two vans. He makes a note of their tags and looks them up on the computer that he has in the van, trying to figure out if it is just a couple of families or if the owners of those vans has a record. He notices that Ajay is already at work investigating, and turns to Maggie. "The plan is to examine the scene, as well as any possible points of egress from the scene, and report back. We are also hoping to find more of that web substance." And with that he checks his holster, gets out the case with his sniper rifle disassembled in it, and walks towards the trailhead.

"And which way is the scene? Should I try keep my senses open for anything strange or useful?" Meg's starts skipping to the picnic area. While the others grab their stuff.

Ajay looked at others when they came out. He noticed Seth watching the minivans and said, "Anything you found out about them? Looks like civilians. It would be bad if more came in contact with this kidnapping monster." He turned to Maggie, "It would be great help. Keep your senses up Meg, and tell us if you notice something odd. Let's proceed to the crime scene and start studying and collecting samples."

Seth eyes the families, a passing thought of what it must be like to have a family like those brushing past his mind as he walks further out to the scene of the kidnapping. He spots the mass and points up to it as he turns to Ajay and says, "It looks like some of the substance might be left at the scene. Now to get it down. Any ideas?"

Ajay took another drag from his cigarette as he observed the webs up on the tree. He finished it, dropping the end filter on the ground and squashing it with his shoes. Given the location of the web, the monster was absolutely arboreal. The surroundings will definitely give some clues about it's behaviour and hunting patterns. He looked at Seth, "Do you have a rope? We can use it to climb up and collect some samples."

OOC: I believe we will be carrying mundane stuffs with us for investigation. I don't know whether we will have rope though.

Seth looks in his backpack for a length of rope, and comes out with a coil of rope of about 50 feet that he luckily remembered to pack. He begins to unspool it and swings the end around in order to throw it over a branch to create a rudimentary pulley system to get someone up there.

Ajay unpacked sealed plastic bags and started wearing latex gloves before climbing the tree using the rope. He slowly hoisted himself, directing Seth with instructions about when to stop and when to proceed. As he reached closer to the web, he took a plastic bud from inside the bags and started twirling the bud, attaching it to the web. Once the entire cobweb got stuck to the bud, he placed it inside the bag and sealed it. Signalling Seth to lower him down, he surveyed the surroundings from this vantage point to notice anything unusual or noteworthy. Were there any other cobwebs in the trees? Were there signs of any hunted prey? Something dangling from the tree perch?

OOC: I am looking for monster activity from this high up vantage point. Do I roll Investigate to know more about the monster behaviour or activity?

Maggie leans against a tree and mean mugs the two families for a bit.
One of them gets up and leaves.
Rubbing her temples "Got one family. Other one is being stubborn. " She walks to Seth and holds on her hand. "Can I borrow your badge."

Seth looks at her over his sunglasses and replies, "There is no way they will believe that you are an Agent. Let me take care of this. You do your thing on this end and make them feel uncomfortable." He then finishes lowering Ajay down, unstraps himself from his harness that he made from the end of the rope, and begins to approach the other family.

OOC: Okay, so I rolled a 7 and I have 1 hold. I am spending the hold to ask the first question, "What happened here?"

Seth walks over to the family, and heads towards the husband and wife. He flashes his badge quickly so that they don't get a good look at the origin of it, and says, "Hello there. We are conducting an investigation in these woods into a disappearance. There is reason to believe that the abductor is still at large, so we recommend that you vacate the area. "

Seth frowns at the man, but steps closer and opens up his badge again to give them a better look.
"I am a member of a special task force of the FBI that deals in disappearances like this one. I am advising you, for your and your family's safety, that you move to a different park just for right now." He then closes his badge up and puts it back in his pocket. He eyes the man to see what he will do next.

Ajay was looking at the webbed shape of a desicated deer corpse when Seth and Margaret went to deal with the stubborn family. His expression had fear mixed with awe and excitement. Reaching his pocket, he took out another cigarette and lit it up, taking a long drag. This was clearly a big monster. A big Arachnid? Or a mega-arthropod? Something that can release fluids to spin webs? And it's hunting big animals like deer? This is bad news! He needed to examine the corpse, and the best way would be to dissect it in the laboratory. If it is indeed an abnormal variant of Arthropod, it can mean many things. They can inject eggs into their prey or even paralyse the victim with potent neurotoxins.

He went back and called, "Seth, Maggie, come over here; you need to see this." He beckoned at both of them and pointed to the webbed deer corpse. "See that? its our monster's prey. My guess is that our monster is a big arachnid. At least that's what I can glean from this site. I need you to make a call and get that corpse down. We need to look into it back in our labs. In the meantime, let's visit another scene to cross-check and get more information about our monster."

"Father's going to look up PESD. Might need to deal with him.
Meg heads over to check what Ajay is talking about. She stops and looks around hearing something big around.

Seth sees Maggie use her powers and looks up to the skittering noise. He sees where the web narrowly missed him, and tries to read the situation to see how he should act next. He has his sniper rifle case in hand, and pops one of the latches with his thumb out of reflex.

Ajay noticed that Seth and Margaret were both taking time to come to him, so he went back looking for them. As he crossed the place where the civilian families were doing their picnic, he watched Meg standing and listening to something. At that moment, he heard the skittering sound above, which caused him to look up and survey the area. It was not a good sign; something was there.

OOC: Rolling for read a bad situation. With the monster on prowl, I am guessing Seth will choose something else, I am going to choose 'What's my best way out?' question.

Ajay looked up and then shouted, "Watch out, I think it's on hunt. It's arboreal and prefers large tree canopies to climb and traverse. We must go for open areas which it won't be able to reach."

Seth quickly drops to his knees, opening up his sniper rifle case and begins to assemble it as quickly as humanly possible. He yells to Ajay, [b]"This is our chance to take it out! Plus we may learn about its behavior, we cannot run. If we need to retreat we go to the picnic area. For now we will move in that direction while fighting."[/b] He says, pointing to the picnic area.

Standing next to Seth to block any sticky substances shot at him. Meg gathers a handful of shadows out towards the creature.

Seth eyes up the creature through his scope, and fires into what he thinks is the center of its body mass.

Seth grimaces with pain as the creature bites him, but his armor protects him for the most part. He feels the penetration of the creature's fangs and the venom pumping in. He struggles to free himself but seems to be stuck fast.

Ajay's jaw dropped, releasing his lit cigarette, as the giant-sized arachnid came down and grabbed Seth. "My god, it's big! Be careful; arachnids are very fast and nimble." He watched as the spider injected something inside Seth, "Oh no! It's poisoning him. Shit!"

He brought out his Magnum and aimed at the spider's thorax; if the bullet hit, then the spider might release Seth. Taking a steady aim he fired his magnum.

OOC: I want the monster to release Seth. I am guessing it will be "Protect Someone"? I am rolling it to see the result. Nice! I will choose "You hold the enemy back".

Maggie pulls a good size hunting knife from her boot and starts cutting at the sticky stuff.
"You good?" She ask as the smoke around her dissipates and her eyes slowly change back.

Ajay holstered his magnum and walked towards the giant spider with a mesmerising look. "This is impossibly large! I want to dissect and study it. Is it a supernatural creature, or has it somehow been enlarged through the use of magic? So many questions, and such a wonderful specimen."

He then turned to Seth and Margaret and said, "I don't think we should let this slide. I need to take a better look at you, Seth. This creature has poisoned you, and who knows what it has injected? I need to look at the wound and do some analysis. I have a place where we can stay while I check on you. On the other hand, this thing should be transported for further study. I request that you petition for a clearance. I want to study this creature."

OOC: I see. I wanted to force it to release Seth. I didn't know any moves that would let it. So, I thought Protect someone was perhaps the right one, even though it would endanger me.

Seth frees himself from the webbing with Maggie's help, and sits up, wincing with pain. "I'm ok, but I will need to deal with whatever poison that thing pumped into me quickly. Let's gather its corpse and get back to the van, I think I have some antivenom in there that I might be able to use."

You stay. I will bring the Van closer." She swipes the keys from Seth. A few moments later she is backing the van closer to the dead spider thing

Helping Seth into the passenger seat. I go back to push the spider thing into the van. "Ajay You drive you know the way. " Megs gets into the back trying to stay away from the spider.

As they try to get the spider into the back of the van, and see that it will not fit, Seth sits up and grimaces a bit before spitting out, "Ajay, you decide the best parts to keep. I would say the head and the spinnerets, but that's just me." And then he lays back down.

Ajay looked at the spider's enormous body and thought for sometime. Then he turned to Seth and said, "Let me look at your wounds; let's do some initial cleaning and first aid. It will help me understand how bad it is."

He applied initial first aid as best as he could and then looked at the spider again, wondering what he could do. Finally finding a sharp blade, he went to work on the monster's corpse. He dissected out the mouth appendages, fangs, and pedipalps. Then he followed inside to trace the venom glands, finally located the spinnerets of the spider and dissected them out. He bundled all the organs in the back of the van and came up to the driver's seat. "Let's get to my place. I have picked up all the important things I could possibly take. Now we must take a good look at you in a more appropriate place." He boarded the van and started the engine. His destination was to the infirmary he had.

OOC: I will provide first aid to Seth and then I will dissect out some organs from the spider. Hopefully they will fit on the back side of the van.

Ajay drove the van back to his secret hideout, which was not known to many, but for the sake of P.E.S.D. and the dire situation of his companion, he had to divulge the location. He drove the van in a congested suburb where several apartments were situated in close proximity. It was close to a factory site, and pollution was heavy in the air. The streets were littered with homeless or drifters, and it would raise a lot of questions about where exactly Ajay was taking the van. He drove on without saying much, and when he reached one big apartment, he talked to the security and gave him a roll of cash before nodding and exchanging small talk. The security guard opened a side garage door that was full of dust and scrap car parts. It was almost alarming when Ajay slowly drove the van inside such a mess of a garage, but he parked it without hitting or tumbling any scrap or gear.

He turned to Margaret, "Bring Seth and follow me." He walked downstairs with a set of stairs and fished out a key, with which he opened a collapsible gate leading to sealed sliding doors. After proceeding through the sliding door, they were inside a large basement room full of several medical diagnostic tools, along with some medical beds with attached liquid infusion stands. He tossed the key at a computer table and said, "Welcome to the Infirmary. Don't ask me if it's official or licenced, because I won't say anything. I try to do good work here." He pointed to one of the beds and told Meg, "Get Seth to the bed and strap that monitor. I will take some blood infusion and study the venom. Hopefully we can get some matches in the venom bank, at least a matching homologue of structure. Also, if you don't mind Meg, can you bring me those organs that I got from the monster and store them in that cold storage? And finally, the coffee maker and fridge is there; if you feel hungry or need some caffeine, you know now where to get it."

He started working on Seth by collecting a blood sample and isolating the venom through it's characteristic molecular structure. Next, he matched it with existing venom structures to find out a possible way to neutralize it. He dressed Seth's wound and applied some known antivenom to reduce it's action while matching the new venom that this monster had.

Once the organs were brought out, he studied them finely, dissecting them and observing them under a microscope to better grasp their function and anatomy. Several hours later, he had decoded the venom structure and synthesised an antivenom, which he injected into Seth. He finally sat beside him and exhaled, "How are you feeling, Seth?"

OOC: We will probably burn the corpse of the spider when we leave the site. For my question on the first Investigate roll, I would like to learn "What can it do?"

OOC: Can I ask like what the monster can do as a whole? I mean like it's behaviour and hunting pattern?

Ooc: So, I brought the mouth parts, the spinnerets, and the venom gland. I want to find out if it is similar to normal spiders, like normal spider getting enlarged by magic or if it is an entirely different kind of spider that is big in size? Does it bite and chew or does it suck using probosis (like normal spider)? Is the venom strong enough to hunt big prey or like normal-sized one?

Maggie walks around the hide out trying to stay out of everyone's way. She stops and stands in front of a map of the attacks. "Hey. Ummm." She looks at the three spots on the map. "Do we think there are three of these spiders things? Could three areas be their hunting grounds?" Or was it just one spider using all three areas...but that doesn't make sense. Spiders are ambush hunters."

Seth sits up gingerly on the bed, trying not to move too quickly so that it doesn't disturb his wounds too much. "Much better, thank you Ajay. I know that it is dicey to reveal this location to us, but I am very appreciative that you did. What did you learn about the creature from your dissections?" Seth gets up off of the bed and walks over to the map. "I agree that it would have to be three different spiders. My question would have to be, where did they come from? Who or what made them?"

Ajay filled up a cup with hot coffee and passed it to Seth, while drinking it himself. "Seth, I know that you work for the...umm...authorities, but can you please keep this (he looked around the Infirmary) secret from them. I know it will be against your vows but I don't want this shut down or monitored. I trust you and Meg (he eyed Margaret) and I want you two to be the only ones knowing about this."

He was sitting on a chair with wheels which he manoeuvred using his legs and moved towards the map while answering Meg, "I think you are absolutely correct. I don't believe that it's one creature with a large hunting ground; I think there are multiple of these." He turned to Seth, "From my dissection and investigation I haven't got anything concrete. It's biology has a big enough gene pool to isolate anything specific. I need more samples and more time. But, for now, I have decoded the molecular makeup of the venom and thus I have synthesised an antivenom, which I just gave you. It looks like it has a potent neurotoxic effect, leading to total paralysis in victims within a period of 2 hours. Since we have an antivenom now, we can be well prepared and ready to synthesise more if we need."

He looked up at the desk clock and said, "Well, it's quite late. Let's rest up and move out to the next location tomorrow. If you are hungry, you can cook while I need to work more on our new monster here."

Watching the families pour in Meg just sighs. "Let's just find its hunting ground and deal with it before it finds another prey. Hopefully these familes stay out of hair if we are quick about it." Meg looks at the map and tries to find which way to go.

"Excellent work Ajay, and thank you. I think that I can omit where my treatment occurred when I write my report. No reason to worry about being found out just yet." And with that, Seth went to get some rest.

The next day when they arrived at the site of the closer disappearance, Seth was feeling more like himself. He had learned from the last attack, however, and carried his sniper rifle fully assembled and slung on his back. He looked around at the park, and said to Meg "Agreed. There is no way that we will be able to turn away the number of people that are likely to show up today. Now, do we know how often your average spider needs to eat? I am thinking that it may have eaten deer or other large prey before turning to humans as a source of food. Maybe we should get in touch with the rangers to see if they have noticed any deer carcasses with odd patterns of wounding." Seth said as they walked around. "Let's go down the path then, and see to the other site. We can be in and out quickly unless we are attacked again."

Ajay came out of the van with others, surveying the park and checking his watch to note the time. He turned to Meg and Seth, "This is a large area and it would be difficult to keep all the civilians away from the park. As for spiders, they are cunning predators. Most likely, they will pick off prey one by one and store them in their nest, waiting for the appropriate time to feed them. This goes along with the venom that I found. It doesn't kill, but paralyses the prey. Most likely, they will inject the prey and let it run or web it up, waiting for the venom to take it's action thus disabling the prey. When the prey is paralysed, they will collect it and take it away. I don't like so many civilians. Let's try to find our monster, if we detect something we can fire guns to scare the civilians away. Meg can telepathically scare them into thinking there is a shootout, which might convince the civilians to run away. But, then we will have a very short time to deal with the monster and escape."

He eyed Seth's sniper rifle, "On the other hand, we can do another thing. You check the park and look for a good vantage point. We might be able to lure the monster to your firing line, or maybe somehow make it stand out so that you can take it down with a good shot? What do you think?"

He suddenly remembered something and went back into the van searching.

He came out cursing, "Shit! I thought I had the smoke flare. It's back at the Infirmary. If we had it, we could have marked it's location to you Seth and made it easier for you to shoot. Damn! Forget it. Let's get on with the plan."

OOC: I am using "prepared" move to search for a smoke flare. Let's see if I have it.

Seth ponders that plan for a moment. "I like the idea of us lying in wait for it, and I always appreciate being able to get settled into a good spot for finding the range for a shot. I will just have to do my best without the smoke grenade. Given that the last one attacked us when we were investigating the site where it took prey previously I would surmise that it likes to stick to the same hunting grounds. Perhaps we should mark the site off with tape before we begin our investigation for the safety of the civilians in the area." Seth said, then turned to Meg and said, "If there is anything that you can do to draw the creature out then perhaps that would be best. Not that I want you to be bait necessarily, but maybe you can at least get us a good line up for a shot."

"This creature is a spider. Maybe you playing with it's web last time caused it to come out."
Meg's looks for any of the white web substance in the trees as they walk. Once we some web we should set up shop nearby. Pester the thing until it comes out."

As you look around, you fail to find any tracks. Little do you know, the monster was overhead. Instead of attacking, it goes deeper into the forest, setting a trap for the hunters who don't know they have been seen. (This is a "to the audience" kind of thing)

Ajay continued to smoke his cigarette and followed Seth and Meg towards the designated crime scene. This large open park made their plans to hunt the monster more difficult, but they had to do something quick. The park area would soon attract more civilians, and it would give more opportunity to the monsters to do their predation. He wondered how it would react this time, but the chance of interacting with another of these specimens would be paramount to understanding their origin and nature.

Margaret starts to get a small headache and then has a realization. It sometimes happens without such warning, but when she gets this exacte kind of headache, a dark power is going to try to manifest at some point that day (often at the worst time).

Seth joins Ajay and Margaret until they find the last known sighting of the two missing people who were at this park and then goes back to try to find a good vantage point. Being a park, there isn't much, so he finds a tree near the entrance with a good view. As he does, he swears he see something moving in one of the trees on the opposite side of the park at the path Ajay and Margaret are not on. Just then, he notices a tree shaking somewhere close to where Ajay and Margaret are. There is a chance there are two threats here.

Ajay started looking for clues at the crime scene. He threw the burnt cigarette in a nearby dustbin and started analysing the place. He searched for webs, which was the most obvious sign for these monsters. Maybe a cobweb will lead them to it's nest. Then warily, he looked up at the trees, trying to keep an eye out for the monster lurking above them, waiting for an ambush. "Meg, keep an eye out while I survey this place. Our monster will probably attack from above."

OOC: Do I roll Investigate a mystery move?

OOC: Ajay will try to find it's nest based upon the crime scene clues. So, I guess the question will be, "Where did it go?"

OOC: Rolling Investigate a mystery. Wow! That's my first failure in a strong move. We are screwed but I get an xp!

As Ajay is searching, he thinks he finds the trail he is looking for. As he follows it (and I presume Margaret is there with him), he sees the trail suddenly end. Looking around, a white thread suddenly shoots down and attaches to the back of his shirt. Margaret immediately notes and has only a split second as she realizes the spider notices them and actual set a trap that they just fell into.

Maggie mood has changed. No longer her sarcastic self she is silent and broody. You notice her stop and rub her temples every so often.
Seeing the web shoot down Meg starts running towards Ajay.

Ajay gets hoisted I to the air, but a branch sways in the wind that wasn't blowing before. The branch ends in a Y shape and Ajay gets caught inside. The force separates Ajay from the web, causing him to fall down and land face flat on the ground. It hurts but it is superficial.
Seth hears Ajay go "woah!" over their communication devices each of you have in your ear, but missed what happened as he noticed smaller shapes in the trees in the other side of the park

[b]"Ajay! What is happening over there? I've got bogies on the other side of the park, are you engaged with one as well? Where is it?"[/b] Seth calls over the comms as quietly as possible given the stress he is feeling, and tries to read the situation.

Helping Ajay up off the ground Megs starts pulling him and herself away from these trees. Her eyes fog over black again and tendrils of smoke wisp around her. She searches for the spiderthing in the trees and tire to pull it down to the ground.

Ajay wasn't expecting him to be monster food, and he gave a surprised yelp when the monster started to hoist him up. He thankfully escaped the freaking monster's grasp thanks to Meg's quick action. He fell flat on the ground and hurt his left shoulder crying out in pain. "Aaah, damn you freaking monster." He brought out his gun, trying to aim high, as Meg came and dragged him away. "Thanks a lot, Meg. I owe you one."

OOC: Can I fire at the monster by rolling kick some ass?

Seth thinks about the best way to protect Ajay. He doesn't have the best line of fire from where he is, as the monster is always obscured by tree foliage. Moving to a tree in that same area would help him get a good line of fire on the monster, but expose him to the monster. It is up to him to decide what to do.

Ooc: Can I roll protect someone?

Seth curses under his breath and retracts the bipod on his rifle before standing up and running closer to the rest of his team. He quickly reaches the trees closer to the site and quickly scales a likely looking tree that will allow him to steady his rifle in the crook of its branches. He gets a bead on the monster and fires. The shot goes very wide, as he hadn't stilled his breathing properly before squeezing the trigger. A rookie mistake, it's true, but his adrenaline is high and he hadn't time to do his breathing exercises before sighting and firing.

As you fire, the concussion of the bullet reveals the tree branch Seth is sitting on was more hollow than expected, causing him to fall out of the tree and onto the ground.

Ajay watched in terror as the monster landed in front of Margaret ready to do something terrible. He screamed and threw himself in front of her to get the monsters attention, "Meg, Watch out!" Bringing out his magnum, he fired a shot, targeting the creature's head at a very close range.


OOC: Protect Someone. I am choosing 'you inflict harm on the enemy'. But, it doesn't say how much harm, does it mean like just one harm or the harm of my weapon?

Ooc: I will have my magnum out and use it like I described in the scene.

Seeing Ajay in trouble, Meg pulls out her knife and begins cutting away at the web, wrapping him all up.
"0Seth! Where are you!? Bring this thing down!? Megs yells out

Margaret manages to cut Ajay free without complication as the spider recovers from the shot. As she does, she things she hears a voice through her telepathy say, "Mother wants food... Food fight back ... Food must die... Mother want woman..."

The spider climbs down from the tree and begins walking over to Margaret and Ajay, mandibles snapping as it looks to want to bite.

Scooting away from the spider as it approaches. Meg rubs her temples again, and her face contorts in pain. "This thing... She groans as she tries to focus. "Is talking in my head? Said Mother. It...Wants me."
She focuses on the spider, trying to get inside its head and cause it as much pain as possible.

Seth picks himself up. limping, and walks closer to the creature and his teammates, then brings up his rifle to get a bead on the creature. He makes sure to hold his breath when he squeezes this time, remembering his training, and focuses intently. He cannot let this creature hurt the people that he has made a promise to protect.

Ajay grabbed Margaret's arm and yanked her back, throwing himself in front of the monster, "You ugly piece of crap! You don't know when to give up." He aimed at the monster again and shot it point-blank with his magnum.

Ooc: Rolling protect someone again. I guess I protect Margaret but I take the harm.

OOC: Can I roll to see if I have armour with my preparedness move?

Marget's eyes look glazed over; she is sweating profusely and is shaky. She seems panicked, almost crazed. She pulls out a knife from her boot and starts slashing at nothing. "GET THEM OFF!! GET THEM OFF ME!" She starts stomping at the ground and using her blade to push things off her clothes. The knife catches on her clothing, ruining her black leather jacket. She turns around, trying to fight something off her that the others can't see. In a fit of panic, she expertly throws her knife at an unknown attacker. After she drops, she falls to the ground, shaking and crying in terror.

As this occurs, a man with a gun and his teenage son are walking through the forest. The man appears to change course to head toward a gunshot he heard (Seth). He motions his son to follow, but the son appears not to notice his silent signal and continues going in the original direction, leading him towards Ajay and Margaret. It is at this time that Margaret seems to act as if there is something that no one else sees and is trying her best to fight off with just a knife. She eventually throws the knife at one of these phantoms, but the knife actually lands in the leg of the son who wandered over. With a loud yell, the father looks around and sees his son is not really there. He stops walking towards Seth and sprints towards his son. Ajay is reeling from the pain of being bitten in Margaret's place, while Margaret comes back to reality and immediately realizes the same source that is giving her the powers she uses also caused her to see what wasn't there and even see what was there as something else. Her powers return, but with a dark weight to them, as if Margaret knows they happily gave them back after she gave into them. The father
The teenage son

Ajay held his wound while gritting his teeth as he saw that the situation had gone from bad to worse. He could see that the boy had a knife embedded in him, and Margaret was lying disoriented from her power overuse. He couldn't see Seth anywhere, and the monster still lurked in front of them. He took out his magnum and shot at the monster with gritted teeth. Such creature must not escape to hunt again.

OOC: Rolling Kick some Ass. Nice! I am choosing, I receive less harm.

Seth spots the situation through his scope and swears under his breath. He hides his rifle in the underbrush and walks towards the man, his hands up and his badge displayed in one hand. The Agency had made sure that his old badge from the FBI hadn't lapsed, so that is what he shows. He says to the man, "Sir, please holster your weapon. We are Federal agents pursuing a suspect in a disappearance. Your son was caught in the crossfire, and for that we apologize immensely. We will be sure he receives the best possible treatment immediately."

OOC: By narrative rule, I have the anatomical knowledge to give medical care. I can definitely assure the man that I will provide medical aid. Also, I can roll preparedness to see if I have medikit or surgical equipment to perform better medical care.

Ooc: What do you want do guys? We will definitely provide healing but I don't know what to roll? Will it be Help someone or act under pressure. I am at -1 ongoing because I got poisoned by the venom. Also, my cool is at -1. So, I am effectively at -2. But, if I act under pressure, I have the move: I have read about this sort of thing which lets me use Sharp instead of cool and sharp is my best attribute. Meg can provide magical healing or something else.

Ajay clutched his wound and slowly trudged towards the father and son while holstering the magnum. He approached with one hand up, "I am a medical professional. I can provide first aid to your son. If necessary, we will do more than that. I just wish you calm down, Sir." He moved closer to the boy and then crouched down to check on his injury. "It's okay; don't worry. You will be fine. Just let me see the wound. We will help you."

OOC: Rolling act under pressure to provide healing but I am using Sharp because of my move. Damn, I didn't want this to fail. I am burning luck to get 12.

OOC: Does the boy still have 1 wound after Seth heals him? Won't my 12 (luck spent) on act under pressure give any edge or stabilize the boy? I thought getting 12 in acting under pressure let's you get something extra. If the boy still have wound left, we will take him to the Infirmary to heal him.

While this occurs, the teen's leg gets patched up by Ajay while Margaret helps Ajay. The teen's leg is still unstable, but he has no harm anymore.

Ajay tried his best in taking out the knife while cleaning and bandaging the wound. But, it is evident that without stitch and sutures this wound will open again. The boy needed medical attention something he could provide but not in the open like this. He washed his hand and stood up, "Don't worry, Sir. Your boy is fine now; however, better medical care is necessary. Let's call an ambulance so that he can be taken to the hospital. For now, his wounds are treated." He turned to the boy and asked, "How are you feeling now? Can you stand?"

As he wiped out his hand with handkerchief, he noticed Margaret's eyes go dark. Moments later his pain in the injury was reduced and he felt a bit better. He looked at Meg and smiled, "Thanks Meg, but don't over exert yourself."

He then turned to Seth and whispered, lowering his voice, "Seth, you take the father and son while I harvest something from the corpse. Let's go back to the Infirmary. I think we need a better plan for handling this crime scene. Daytime is not helping us with all the people outside that are getting into the crossfire."

A quick reminder that there seems to be something else in this park. Are you going to leave?

Once the boy and father leave, Mags grabs the knife back from Ajay and wipes off the blood on the grass.
"I am sorry. I don't know what happened. She sighs but is still visibly shaken I saw spiders everywhere; they were falling off that thing and crawling all over me. I panicked."

Ajay smiled at Margaret and gently squeezed her shoulder, "I know, I understand. You don't have to apologise; just be careful Meg. Now, what should we do? Do we retreat and come back later or do we push on? What do you think Meg?"

OOC: What do Seth and Meg want to do now? I am leaning towards returning, but if the group wants to proceed, I can continue. I will use the antivenom then.

We need to finish this here. We need to stay together and take it down fast. Collect what we need and leave." Mags stores her knife.
Use me as bait. The last spider said, The mother wanted me."

Seth nods to them both and stands up. He pulls out his phone and dials, then says, "Sir, we have called an ambulance for your son. It will be arriving shortly. If the two of you could please head towards the parking lot you should be able to get into it as soon as you arrive. Don't worry about the cost of the ride, we will cover that. Get well soon, son." he then turns away as the call is answered and briefly speaks to someone on the other end. He closes his phone, conversation completed, and nods to the other two to have them follow him a bit away from the father and son. He says to both of them in a bit more than a whisper, "Let's get that venom sack once they get far enough away, then move on. There is more than one creature at this park, I saw movement in the treetops further that way. Our job isn't done yet. Ajay please tell me that you are carrying the antivenom with you."

Ajay could feel his hands getting stiff as he started massaging his hands. "I did bring the antivenoms, but unfortunately I got poisoned, and thus I will need to use one now. I can harvest more now that I know where to look. If we are planning to get the other one now, then be careful; I will have one more antivenom only." He brought out an injector and loaded the antivenom inside it, After placing it on the skin, he injected the serum with a grunt. It will take 10 to 15 minutes to completely neutralise the effects of the venom, but at least he is going to survive. Bringing out his surgical tools, he started to dissect the big corpse of the spider.

OOC: I am going to roll Investigate a mystery but do I need to roll separately for the venom glands or will it be automatic? Also, I believe, I am not taking the -1 ongoing penalty anymore as I used the antivenom? Damn! That's the highest possible roll!

Ajay expertly removes the venom gland due to experience with it before. He has another venom gland, but will need the lab's tools to synthesise more anti-venom.

OOC: Yeah, I will choose What sort of creature is it but I do want to find it's nest, so would "Where did it go?" give me any information on it's location, like a possible web trail that we can trace back to it's nest? If not, then I would choose "What was it going to do", because that will also give pertinent information.

Ajay examines the body and goes through any notes he can pull up on his phone, which is connected to his computer back at the haven. Hearing Margaret mention what it said through her telepathy, Ajay is able to narrow down that this spider is known as a "Child of the Spider Shepherd" and is known to infest forests and take excess back to the "shepherd" as the notes keep saying. As far as its location, Ajay uses the map app on his phone to say that the most likely location it would have come from before coming here is a forest about 10 miles north of the city people call "Weeping Woods", as ghost stories say that women used to go there to cry when their hearts were broken and spirits would comfort them (or deepen their sorrow until they died... depends on the story). This is because it is the deepest forest that is roughly equidistant from the 3 sites the missing people were last seen at.

About this time, something goes wrong with Ajay's phone and his connect is too poor to research further. He'll have ot wait to do more.

Ajay was feeling better as the minutes passed by. He reloaded his magnum, collecting the spent brass casings while putting in fresh rounds. He then wore latex gloves and started dissecting the different glands, thereby collecting the venom sacs, and continued further to understand the anatomy and mystery of the creature. He consulted his phone, sometime taking pictures and sometime taking notes.

Once the dissection was done and the glands collected, he took off his gloves and started searching on the phone about their current location. "Does Child of Spider Shepherd ring any bells to you two?" He questioned Seth and Margaret. "It seems these creatures match the description of some local occultic myth monster known as the Child of Spider Shepherd. Said to reside in the a forest called Weeping Woods. Based on our location and the three crime scene, I am triangulating the location of this Weeping Wood and it seems to be 10 miles north of here. You know, we can find the mother there. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves; we need to hunt the remaining one."

At this point, his phone his phone glitched and died down, "Damn! My phone is down. Maybe we can learn more back at my place. How is everyone doing? Are you all doing fine? Should we proceed?"

We need to find out more about this Spider Shepherd, but we need to deal with the other creep here first. I don't want it to attack someone else. We should hit it hard and fast." She does finger guns. "Pew Pew. Dead.

"I am a little banged up from falling out of that tree, but I will be fine for now. I agree that it is time to take out that other creature before it can take anyone else. Let's go. This time we will be a bit more strategic. I will stay closer with my rifle and make sure that I have a clear shot once it has descended from the trees." Seth says, hobbling a little bit as they walk towards the other area of the park. He heads back to the underbrush and retrieves his rifle. "Ajay, perhaps Margaret is the best bait since she can look like unassuming but can still take care of herself in a pinch. Perhaps you stay close by and offer support but stay out of sight and I do the same."

After a few minutes of Seth removing his flak vest and helping Margaret get it on, the group heads over to the trail on the opposite side of the park where Seth saw the movement. For a minute, you find nothing. Eventually, you all spot a camera lying on the ground. It seems damaged but functional. When someone picks it up, the screen shows the most recent picture. The picture shows a hand stretched out, likely the photographer, as if surprised to see a brown blur. the blur seems to be about the size of a large dog, but you can't make out what it is. You are all familiar with what some call the "Supernatural Effect" where technology can't seem to perceive supernatural things, only the naked eye. This is likely a monster, but it's too small to be the kind of spider you fought earlier. Perhaps the big spider had children of its own. The thought might send chills down your spine. Either way, the owner of the camera is nowhere to be found, but the camera seems to have plenty of power so it must have been dropped recently.

Ajay picked up the camera and went through the previous pictures. "This is bad news; is our photographer taken by the monster? This changes our approach, I guess. We need to be careful and find out exactly where it has taken our victim."

He gave the camera to Seth after checking all the pictures and tried to figure out a possible route the photographer or the monster might have taken.

OOC: Rolling investigate a mystery. Damn, that's a fail but atleast I am getting an xp.

While the boys are looking at the camera Megs searches the trees above and the ground around for any other clues.

You all search for the owner of the camera, but it takes half an hour to find any leads, plenty of time for bad things to happen to the victim. You do eventually find what looks to be small holes in the ground with a pair of scrape marks in the dirt between them. It appears there are multiple of these dog sized monsters, and they dragged the victim away.

Following the trail, you find a man in a hoodie most of the way up a tree. There is web over his chest keeping him in place, but not enough to make a cocoon. His face is pale and his breathing seems forced. He needs medical attention fast, which likely means he needs the last antiv
-venom Ajay has or he will die in the next few minutes.

As you see this, you hear sounds in the other trees. When you look up, you see four pairs of eye eyes glowing in the shadows of the branches. Margaret hears through her telepathy, "Mother dead... Man smell like mom... Avenge mom... Kill others..."

Ooc: Okay, so I want to bring this man down and use the antivenom. But, what move will it be? Read a bad situation? Protect someone or Act under pressure. Also, can I use I have read about this sort of thing to roll with sharp in this scenario?

"Good eye. Let's get them down from there fast. Ajay, do you want to get up there or would you like me to do it?" Seth asked, buttoning his shirt back up now that he is without armor.

Ajay cursed under his breath. This was bad, he needed to do something or else the man was as good as dead. He looked around trying to assess the situation in order to plan his move.

OOC: Let's go with read a bad situation. Nice so my 3 questions will be, What's the best way to protect the victim? What's the biggest threat? Are there any dangers we haven't noticed?

Best way to protect the victim is to use something sharp to cut the web and either carry him down or be ready to catch him and immediately give him anti-venom

The 4 spiders seem to be an equal threat. They seem to work in unison as a group, effectively making them like one monster.

You are confident that the threats you see are the only dangers. The biggest danger is that while the spiders are weaker they are dangerous while there are so many.

Ajay took a mental note of everything and then turned to others, "Seth, I can see four spider monsters and thought they are smaller than the big one, I think they are nimble enough to form a swarm and overwhelm us. Meg and you cover me; I will go up, tie him and lower him down."

OOC: Okay now I am using act under pressure. Will my directions help Seth and Meg?

OOC: Ah, I see. Let's say, the rope get's tangled in the web and as Ajay tries to bring him down it tears up in the last moment. Maybe the rope is lost?

OOC: I have a magical dagger as a weapon. It's in my gear so I am assuming that Ajay has those with him? I thought the price will the tearing of the rope. But, it's alright if the price is him falling down and taking 1 harm.

Ooc: Let's take a harm.

Seth, having readied his rifle when Ajay climbed up, draws a bead on the spider and fires.