Case 2: Withered Old Man

A week goes by and the team manages to heal up from their last case. Each member goes about their week with less excitement. Eventually, the time comes and Sidney calls Seth to the operations room like lasts time. The table comes to life with a hologram of a small mansion while the wall monitors show a dead body covered except for the chest area. The chest looks black, like it was burnt, but looking closer reveals that it looks like the skin is simply dead, like the life was drained out and is now rotting.

"What have we got, boss? What am I looking at?" Seth says as he eases himself into the chair opposite Sidney. His wounds have healed up nicely but he was still being a little easy on himself out of habit. He was perplexed by the hologram and wasn't sure what it was that he should be surmising from what he has been shown.

"Thank you squad leader, I will take that under advisement." Seth says and gives him a nod of respect before walking away to his van.

In the intervening time, Seth had been healing and resting, doing exercise to make sure he stayed sharp, and keeping an eye out on the news to see if there are any other possible missions that he might be put on. He had not seen the murder of the old man on the news, so the Agency must have kept it quiet.

Ajay had been busy restocking medical supplies and buying more obscure, esoteric books. His last encounter with the Spider shepherd has made it more evident that he won't be able to use scientific technologies alone in order to combat the 'Supernatural'. He was seriously lacking enough resources, and had it not been for the other agents like Seth and Meg, assigned with him, he would have to struggle in hunting down the Spider shepherd.

He started a biomolecular docking test model on his computer in the Infirmary before picking up a mug of coffee and going through the recent patient prescriptions and test reports of the people who came to treat them. Once satisfied with them, he went back to the library in order to casually browse his book collection. He recently ordered several old texts and books about esoteric knowledge, many of which had incoherent and outright false information. But, it is through this that he will be able to find the breadcrumbs that will lead him to actual records.

His phone buzzed with a notification from PESD. He half-heartedly sighed and then smiled. Another case already?

Maggie has been living her life. Going to parties, hanging out with friends, seeing some new films, binge-watching a few shows—all on someone else dime, due to her lovely powers of persuasion. Life has been relaxing, peaceful, and all around great.
Knowing about Ajay's secret hideaway, Mags has stopped by a few times, not really to help him in any way. She is just hanging out and reading some of his harder-to-come-by occult books. She has been studying anything she can find on magic and trying to figure out what she is capable of.

She got the call from Seth, but didn't answer the phone. She quickly texts him back, "OMW," and starts heading to dinner.

Ajay walked inside the diner, knowing well that Seth would arrive first and if he was not late, Meg would come next. When he met Zoe and got her code, it was evident that Seth had arrived already. He smiled back at Zoe, "Hello Zoe, how are you doing? Everything fine at work? (He eyed the Golden Diner and it's current customers) Don't overexert yourself, and thanks as always."

Once he reached their usual secluded place in Golden Diner, he sat on the other side of the table opposite to Seth and smiled at him. "Hello Seth, how is your health? Our past assignment was quite physically taxing, and you took the worst brunt of it. Everything alright?"

He then paused and looked at the files offered, "So, we have a new case? A man dead in his own house? Interesting. Let me browse the information until Meg arrives."

When Margaret arrived to the table, Ajay looked up and smiled, saying "Hello Miss Lefay" knowing that this will irk her up but who can give up an opportunity like this.

Meggie walks right over to Zoe and gives her a quick hug. "Hey Zoe. Doing good, You? Thinking Breakfast. Pancakes and Bacon. A good Stack of each and some Coffee."

Ignoring the other patrons she heads right to the table. Grabbing another chair she props her feet up. "How is it Hanging boys? How was your week? Do anything interesting?"

Seth looks up at Ajay and Margaret as they arrive, studying them. Since their last mission he had begun to feel...differently about them both. Like they had bonded somehow, at least from Seth's perspective, and were beginning to become a more cohesive unit. Seth was thinking this as he listened to Ajay's greeting and subsequent question, returning Ajay's smile. He thinks over his response for a beat, and answered "I am fit as a fiddle and twice as highly strung. Thank you for asking, and for working quickly to get the antivenom into me."

He watched as Margaret as she greets Zoe, and thinks about having to cover for her loss of control with the Agency, wondering if he would need to do the same thing this mission, and also wondering if it would happen anytime a situation became particularly stressful. He would have to ask her about it when they got a moment alone.

Seth watched her for a moment before replying with, "Mostly convalescing, so no nothing terribly interesting. I did some binge watching while I was laid up, but that was the extent of my wild time."

Ajay continued to riffle through the reports and then looked up, "This is very interesting and mysterious. Do we have access to the corpse of Mr. Pennington? I would like to see it and probably talk with the coroner to have a detailed report. The chest tissue that rotted away can also give us some more information. I don't know how we can approach the wife though. I am not that great at social skills, so convincing the wife to give us an invitation would be problematic. Can you to come up with something to get access to the crime scene?"

"Leave the wife to me. I just need to spend some time with her and get into her head. Maybe we can find out if she has a favorite restaurant or spa or something. We can get to her when she is out and about."
She takes a look at the images of the dead body, laughing a little "Gnarly. You should warn us before we order food. That is nasty..." She pushes the files back to Ajay. "Was there anything left or taken from that area?' Heart or Liver?"

"I should be able to get us access to the crime scene. I will have the Agency come up with a cover for us to investigate, perhaps as a CSI oversight team. We do not have access to the body as far as I know, but I can make inquiries."He says, facing Ajay. He turns to Margaret and says, "Excellent idea. You and I will go to the house together under the cover that the Agency gives us and see if we can get access to the house. Ajay can interface with the Coroner."

He then gets his phone out and dials a single number to get to his Agency contact.

Seth gets an answer and is told to wait a few minutes. When they get back to him, the agent on the other end says they managed to falsify some documents so it looks like one last minute test is needed on the body. They also say they talked with widow's security. The best they could negotiate was a guided visit while the widow is out. She believes the police is incompetent compared to her private security, and since she doesn't believe in the supernatural the PESD has to pretend to be police.

Seth relays the news that he has received to Ajay and Margaret, returning to the conversation. "So are we good with splitting up?"

Ajay nodded and stood up to leave. "We can meet back here and discuss what we found out."

"Can I at least finish my breakfast first? She looks for Zoey and calls out, "Need it to go dear. These boys never let me relax..."

Yes, Ajay is going solo.

Seth, Ajay, and Margaret finish their meal (getty any to go they need) and head out.

Seth arrives at the funeral home and presents the papers sent to him by Seth from PESD. They seem official enough, and thus Seth is able to get a look.As Ajay performs his investigation on the body. Seth and Margaret arrive at the Pennington house. There is a tall, metal, black, barred gate with the road leading to a gate that swings open from the middle hinged on two stone pillars. A PA system is on the left stone pillar. Seth uses it to inform the security that they have arrived, and the gate swings open. They drive about 1/10th of a mile before seeing a moderately sized mansion and are motions where to park on the stone driveway. Two security guards, both men that are at least 6 feet tall and intimidating, approach the car. One say, "Right this way. We were told the police had everything they needed. At the mistress's request, we will be with you while you are in the house until you leave. You wished to see the library, right this way."

You are lead into a house that is quite impressive. It seems to have an old-fashioned look, yet seems to be in quite good shape. You are led into a room off to the left with double doors, likely saying that the owner of the house is proud of this room. When you enter, you see a window on far side with plastic over it, likely a temporary measure until a new window can be installed. You might ask why it has not been replaced yet, until you see the other windows are very elegant and thus probably not quick to replace. The walls are lined with 10 bookshelves, each with 5 shelves and probably around 15 to 20 books per shelf. The books are organized so that the spine is always facing out.

"You may look around, but please do not touch the books. The late Mr. Pennington was very proud of his collection and Mrs. Pennington wishes to keep this room as a memorial to him. We will be at the door here watching until you are done," the security guard says.

Ajay moved out to reach the morgue and after some casual and friendly banter with the coroner, he showed his fake police batch provided by the PESD to ask permission to check the body. Once he was suited up with a proper apron and the coroner brought out the body, Ajay started to work on it.

OOC: Great! So, my two questions will be 'What sort of creature is it?' and 'What can it do?'

Ajay examines the body for about half an hour, careful not to do anything that would be seen later such as cutting the skin. He makes two discoveries:
First, the creature shows signs of being magical, not just supernatural, as the wound left behind seems less like an unexplainable version of natural events and more like the damage of a magical curse.
Second, the creature seems to have the ability to disintegrate living material. The picture from the body at the crime scene showed the clothing wasn't harmed much at all, which means this ability may be able to bypass armor.

Mags tries to silently distract the guard so Seth can take a better look around this room, unhindered by the guard's eyes. She approaches a book shelf and begins looking at all of the different titles. She bends over in just the right way to give the guard an interesting view...

Seth remembers where the body was found, on the ground by the big chair in the corner near the broken window, laying on his back. This was already known from the files, as the picture the group saw was from when they first found the body. However, trying to learn more seems unfruitful at this time for Seth. He spends 10 minutes and can't seem to piece anything new together, despite anything Margaret is trying.

OOC: I guess I am done with my investigation. But, without more concrete clues, will I be able to pinpoint what kind of creature it is? If I have time, I will probably go back to Infirmary and study on which creatures can cause this kind of injury, and then return to Golden Diner.

OOC: Rolling Investigate a Mystery.

Ajay spends an hour coming over books and is convinced it is one of three monsters.

The first is a nothic, a creature of odd origins that can wither a creature with its vision.

The second is a mummy, a creature created with religious origins that can curse people with its touch to make their flesh rot.

The third is less a monster and more a theory. It is possible there is a mage involved and this is the result of a spell they casted. It can't be ruled out at this time, as new magic can be invented at any time and magic is clearly possible, as Margaret is proof of.

Ooc: Do you guys need Ajay's help?

Seth and Margaret look around for about 10 to 20 minutes. They seem convinced that this room will not reveal anything they did not already know. They consider trying something with the guards, be elect not to for now. They are escorted out, get back in their car, drive off the property, and start heading back to meet Ajay. However, as they start driving, they near the sound of magic going off. It seems close, not on the property but not far from the wall that determines its boundaries. Do Seth and Margaret go investigate or focus on joining up with Ajay?

At this time, Ajay has the news on in the background and sees a story come up. It seems a woman was attacked by someone at the Vault of Learning, a museum not far away. The woman who was attacked is being interviewed, and she described the attacker as being in a large cloak and she swears the attacker had only one eye that she could see. She has cut wounds that seem to be from multiple knives, but the fact that they are so parallel makes them look like they belong to a single claw rather than multiple knives. A quick google search quickly reveals that Colton Pennington, the original victim to the case, is mentioned as a donor to the museum there. Could be a coincidence, or could not be.

Ajay checked the news feed on his phone and stood up. There was no call from either Seth or Meg. They must be busy with their investigation. It would be better for me to look into this new incident. He searched the profile of the woman who was attacked, and once he had a general address, he exited the diner, planning to meet up with the woman and talk with her regarding the incident. It seemed like the creature is targeting individuals who were someway related to Colton.

OOC: Seth and Meg, you check the magic. I will check on the woman.

As they were driving away, Meg's hand was out the window. Hearing something strange. "Seth Stop! Did you hear that?"
She sticks her head out the window and tries to figure out what she just heard.

Seth sees the situation unfolding before them, and gets a bad feeling that this will end up in a chase or confrontation. He tries to read what is happening here. He pulls his pistol and yells, "Freeze!" and gets into a stance from a few dozen yards away.

The mysterious men with the hat covering his face leans up everso slightly, revealing a green light coming from his face. The light seems to pierce your vision, as it he was looking into your mind instead of at your face.The other man who's face you can see turns to you. "I have this handled. Leave!" for a brief moment, you think you see a wand in the man's coat as it swings open slightly as he says this to you.

Seth falters for a moment as he feels whatever it is trying to scan him, but firms his grip on his pistol. He sights on the individual with the hat and prepares to squeeze the trigger.

Meg is standing a little ways behind Seth. "Get down on the ground both of you! Drop the weapon."

As the light pierces your mind, you feel something crawling through your head, like a person pulling files out of a cabinet, looking at them throwing them on the floor, and then looking at the next but with your memories.

Somehow you see a conflicted look on the half of the mysterious man's face, as if got something interesting but not what he wanted. He then turns to charge at Seth and Margaret with multiple knives suddenly in each hand.


"Hey stop!" the other man tried to pull his wand out but is slower than the other man and Seth and Margaret.

Maggie summons a bit of magic to stop man.

Seth shakes his head as if to clear it out, and sights again at the now charging person. He squeezes of a couple of rounds, hoping to hit his target and slow it down.

Ooc: Ajay planned to look for the woman who got attacked and was now interviewed. He was to question her regarding the assailant.

As this is happening, Ajay arrives at the Vault of Learning and comes to a front desk. The receptionist may be able to help locate Ms. Nichols, the curator that was harmed and who seems to be back to work already.

Ajay entered the Vault of Learning with a confident pace and went up to talk to the receptionist. "Greetings Mam, may I see where Ms. Nichols is? I would like to talk to her about the incident." He flashed the ID card that Seth gave him. The fake ID of the police would surely give him access to Ms. Nichole for an interview.

The receptionist looks up. "What business do you have with the curator?"

Maggy runs out of the protection dome.

Ajay looked at the receptionist with a quizzical look, as if an idotic question were asked and valuable time was wasted. "I believe these are sensitive matters that need to be handled privately. I know you are doing your job, but I hope you won't hamper my investigation, will you?" He looked into the receptionist's eye with a blank, hollow expression.




OOC: Rolling manipulate someone. Oh damn! Now, I am afraid that I will roll bad when I need them most.

Ignoring the fact that she didn't really get an answer and in another circumstance she might have pushed for one, she picks up a phone that Ajay can't see below the upper portion of the receptionist desk and mentions an officer is here to see Ms. Nichols. She puts down the phone and says, "She will come meet you here to decide where to talk. Please stay in the lobby for a little bit as she finishes something."

Summoning a tendrils of magic to help strengthen the barrier Meg yells at the man with the wand. "What the Fuck is going on? Who are you? What is that?"

Ajay nodded at the receptionist, giving a curt smile, and then moved to the lobby, where he waited for the lady to come.

Seth is knocked flat by the blast from the creature, the wind knocked out of him and his gun skitters away. He sits up as his head swims and tries to focus. Seeing that the monster is contained for right now, he quickly gets his gun and trains it on the creature again. He is breathing heavily from that exertion but tries to calm his breathing enough to keep the gun steady.

Ajay stood up and extended his hand for a shake with a smile on his face, "Greetings, Ms. Nichols. You are right, you talked with the police but I am a detective. We are taking a closer look at this case. We are aware of the mysterious case that happened to Mr. Pennington. I believe he is a well-known contributor to the Vault of Learning. You see, his demise and then an attack here so soon are rather worrying. I just want to ask you some questions to cross-check something. The more we know, the more we can arrest this attacker and bring whoever it is to custody. So, it will just take some time. I know you are tired, but maybe we can sit down and have a nice chat somewhere?"

Seth sees that the monster is charging up for another blast at him and shouts, "Drop the barrier so that I can fire! I can hit it!"

He had a momentary thought that shooting it might not take down the monster, but it would make it leave potentially, and for now that is all they really needed.

Maggie does as Seth asks and stops focusing on the barrier. Magic still in her hands waiting in case the being attacks again. She stands to face both of the strange men. "When it drops take the shot. Stop this green eyed fool now..."

OOC: Can I use Investigate a mystery on this, Ms Nichols?

Ajay knew that his cover was not strong enough, so he kept his questions specific and tried not to probe for more information than necessary. His questions included what the person who attacked her was like, whether she was alright, and what wound she received, along with specific details of how the person behaved and what the objective was.

OOC: Okay, so for my question, I would like to know 'what was it going to do?' Basically, I am looking for what it was searching for here in the Vault of Learning.

Ajay stood up and nodded. "Thank you for all the information, Ms. Nichols, I will take my leave." He stood up and left the Vault of Learning with the new found knowledge. Could this be the monster that attacked Pennigton? What happened with Seth and Meg. They are taking a long time in their investigation. It should have been done by now. He decided to give Seth a call.

Seth answers his cell, gun still in hand pointing at where the creature was. He takes a shaky breath and then says, "Hello?...Ahem I mean, Roland speaking. Ajay, what is it?" after glancing quickly at his phone to see who it is. "We are in the middle of an encounter with a suspect. We also seem to have met another hunter. I am sending coordinates for you to follow and meet up with us here."

Ajay wasn't expecting this when he called Seth, "Hey Seth, are you done with the inves......What? What do you mean? Hello! Hello?" The phone cut with a message showing their location, and Ajay rushed to his car to turn on the GPS and start the engine to drive to the designated location.

Seth puts his phone away and shouts, "Hey! Thanks for your help!" to the wizard who helped them. He closes the distance with the guy quickly and extends a hand. "Seth Roland. And you are?"

Mags stays behind/beside Seth but within view of Harrison.
"Umm...name's Megs. How did you do that shield thing? What was that thing? "

Ajay followed the GPS which lead into a street. Was this really the right direction? It was so confusing. Were they in danger? So many thoughts raced behind Ajay's mind, but he drove on until he reached the location.

Ajay is taken out of the city and into an urban development, which later becomes a long road with no buildings in site. After about 1 more minutes Ajay will arrive. You are all in a field surrounded by a few trees fairly spread out.

She looks unsure if or how to answer. "Umm. I...Umm was never trained. Besides learning how to sort of control them. I..Um I don't feel comfortable telling you any more."

Seth says, "Please wait, we could really use your help in our investigation. We have resources that you do not, and can help each other out. Can you tell us more about the creature we just faced?"

Rubbing the back of her neck Mags nods in agreement. She notices Seth's wounds from the creature. She rubs her hands together and the start to vibrate with a dark aura. She places them on his wound hoping to heal them...

Harrison turns and seems hesitant to stay. With a partial success, he might do as you ask but not with words alone. You'll need to provide something you think he would value more than leaving to do what he has planned somewhere else. What would you propose?

As Margaret touches Seth's wound, the decay seems to reverse in real time. As she finishes, though, Margaret reals with sudden pain as she sees her shoulder start to decay. Seth heals 2 harm. Margaret takes 2 harm.

Dropping to her knees Meg's groans in pain. "Mother fuck..." She stays there for a bit getting used to the pain before gritting her teeth and standing.
"Please. Stay help us. I.. I do not know what I am doing." groaning and muttering swears under her breath. "Help us. I...Need training... this shit isn't working..."

Harrison seems torn, but not quite convinced with words alone.

Seeing the man wanting to leave Meg asks "Could we get your number? In case we have questions or need help. "

Ajay huffed and panted, "Uff....ohff.....ah....What....happened to you two? I came running and driving as fast as I could. Were you attacked? Seth told me on the call that you were in the middle of an encounter with a suspect? What happened here?"

Seth turns to Ajay, his attention away from Harrison and Margaret as they exchange information. [b]"We ran into the suspect of the knife attack, and this gentleman here was already in combat with it when we arrived. We trapped it briefly but we ultimately let it go. It is apparently looking for some book, it would seem."[/b] Seth says, recounting some of the details for him.

Ajay turned to Seth with his brows raised, "Wait, a suspect with knife that attacked you? Have checked the news? There is one who attacked the curator of the museum, the Vault of Learning. The curator said that the suspect attacked with sharp knife and was looking for something. Chances are that it is the same person. Also, interesting is the fact that the late Mr. Pennington is related to Vault of Learning. Apparently, he donated to the museum. Wait, are you perhaps injured? Let's go back to the infirmary and share each other's findings."

Meg's holding a few of her wounds in pain looks at Ajay..."I tried.. a spell I found in one of your books to heal Seth. It didn't go very well..." Handing Seth the business card he walks to the car. "Might need to take a look at both of us..."

Seth and Ajay help Margaret get to the car. It takes about 15 or 20 minutes to get to the haven.

In the Infirmary, Ajay tended both Seth and Meg, "Wow, you two sure took some heavy injury from our unknown suspect. Meg, you need to take things slow for a while. Your wounds are fresh, and they need sometime to heal properly. So, what did you two find in the crime scene? I have seen the body and from the type of wound he received, it is definitely a wound caused by supernatural magic. From the information I have gathered, I can narrow it down to a few supernatural creatures, but from what I heard about our suspect who can manipulate supernatural phenomena, I think it is probably someone who can control magic. What do you two think? What about this new person whom you interacted? Is he also a magician?"

OOC: Sorry guys, I have been neck deep in workload. I will post slowly for the next week. I might skip a day or two.

Meg looks more upset with herself then with the injures. "I was not injured. I tired some spell I got from one of your books. It was supposed to Heal Seth. It sort of worked but it transferred his wounds to me.."
She sits and rest while they speak. "We didn't learn much from the house. Couldn't get farther into the house. Guard was noisy. " She hands Ajay the business card. "This magic man was dealing with the creature thing. He was able to trap it a magic dome thing. It still got away." Leaning back into the chair. "Maybe he can help?"

Ajay looked both Meg and Seth wondering whether their wounds are properly taken care of before they hit the field again. But, it seemed like the problem of an aggressive supernatural wielder of magic prowling out loose was greater threat. He nodded at them and said, "Maybe we should talk to this wizard of yours. Will you two be alright going out?"

"We should be, thank you Ajay. And thank you for showing up so quickly. We didn't learn much unfortunately, but I agree we need to find the practitioner who helped us out, or that we helped out, that still isn't clear, and ask him what he knows. Margaret, perhaps you could take the lead on that? You two seemed to have...bonded a bit." Seth says, holding his side, as it still ached from the blow he took.

Seth runs a quick background check on Harrison. He doesn't appear to have any criminal record. The background check that normal police runs shows his profession as a librarian, but the one you get from your PESD shows his profession as a sorcerer for hire. He does not appear to be linked to any known cults or shadow organizations.

If you reach out to him and do more than want to just talk, you may need to roll Manipulate Someone. If you do talk to him, depending on who is there might be investigate a mystery or manipulate someone, depending on the desired topic.

OOC: Who has the best Charm? Mine is +1.

Ajay took the card and read the details. "I will give this enigmatic Wizard a call and maybe we can arrange a meeting on the Golden Diner?"

He dialled the number and spoke, "Greetings, Mr. Harrison. My name is Ajay Bisnoi and I would like to recruit your service. I think, given the not-so-natural request of mine, we could maybe discuss this face-to-face. Are you familiar with the Golden Diner restaurant? Maybe we can meet there?"

Seth gives a surprised but approving look to Ajay. He looks at Margaret to see if she is as surprised by Ajay as he is.

Harrison answers. He seems willing to meet but seems to insist on more information before agreeing to meet.

Ajay mentions the encounter of Seth and Meg, elaborating that they are all working together in trying to understand what is going on. He described them as intrepid problem solvers of supernatural problems and that they are aware that the supernatural exist. Ajay however doesn't mention PESD at all.

Harrison agrees to meet. He asks if it will be just you and him, or if Seth and Meg will be there.

Is there anything anyone would want to do before the meeting? As far as I can read, most of the party's conversation has been about Harrison, not much else. Is there anything else the party discusses?

Ajay will tell him that three of them is going.

OOC: The only research that Ajay has done is on the body, which gave the information that it is either a magician, a mummy or a nothic. We haven't done any research in the Infirmary.

OOC: I feel like Ajay will want to talk to this wizard first. He needs a little bit more information before he starts researching them in the Infirmary.

You all go to the golden dinner and wait for Harrison. A couple minute late, he comes in, figures out which table to sit at when he sees Margaret, and sits down.

"I'm surprised you called me so soon. I figured you would call when you had a problem or something bad happened. It's been only a few hours. I can't spare much time, so what is this meeting about?"

Ajay smiled and started the conversation, "Greetings Mr. Harrison, My friend here, Margaret, will definitely need your help in mastering and learning her skills of supernatural but we need to discuss something else. We are trying to do our job in protecting the average person who are unaware of the supernatural. You see, we have stumbled upon things that normal people ignore in order to keep their sanity intact. Each of us has past experience and we are doing the good fight here. My colleagues here tell me that you were defending them against the man/creature who attacked them? We have been on the lookout for that supernatural creature since it had started to attack people. What I have uncovered is that it is searching for something. Can I ask for your help regarding understanding this matter? Who or what is it, and what is it looking for?"

OOC: Okay, so that's a success. My 2 questions are what sort of creature is it and what was it going to do (mainly what is it searching for).

Ajay raised his eyebrows at the mention of the name nothic. His mind was hovering over that when he investigated the body. He smiled and added, "I would love that, but won't it be alright if perhaps we team up? We have specific skills we can offer if you are planning to take it down. I suggest, for our mutual benefit, why not tackle this creature together?"

"What if we just hang out in the background? Somewhere close but not too close. Seth here is great with a sniper. We will be your backup in case something happens..

Margaret gets a sinking suspicion that Harrison is hiding his motives. He seems to keep thinking that he needs to convince you guys to stop going after the nothic, but he doesn't think about why. She gets the sense it isn't malicious but he is keeping it a secret.

Harrison slides out of the booth, stands up, and says, "Thank you for the coffee. I can't make you do anything but I hope you leave this to me. If Ms. Magic without Training over there needs some training, I should be available in a day or two. If the nothic attacks you I might be able to rush over. As your guest I am assuming the coffee is on you. Have a pleasant day." he then leaves, one hand in his coat pocket and the other holding his to-go coffee, using his shoulder to open the door.

Ajay nodded cordially at the mention of the coffee expense. He then politely added, "I understand what you mean and I will request you to reconsider our offer, but it is totally up to you and we understand the dangers that you mentioned." As he watched Harrison leave, he looked back at Seth and Meg and said, "Well, now that we know it's a nothic, lets do in-depth research in Infirmary to find out about it's weakness. Harrison might want to take it alone but that should not stop us, if we beat him to it first. What do you think?"

As you start your discussions, Margaret starts to look pale. Ajay starts to notice this after a minute and asks if she is ok. She then passes out. Seth and Ajay rush her back to Ajay's haven, where he diagnoses her with Amature Mage Sickness, which is not fatal but often occurs in the body of those who are new to magic and do not take the proper training to get their body used to the flow of magic within them. They agree to take Margaret to PESD, both so doctors who are very used to this can help without PESD asking where Margaret is and thus find out about Ajay's haven, but also to see if anyone can help in the meantime. Ms. Callahan assigns Elizabeth Jacobs to the team, initially as a temporary replacement but potentially as a new addition.

Paranormal Entities Surveillance Division
Name: Elizabeth Jacobs
Date of Birth: 04/30/03
Citizen: United States of America
Language: English
Marital Status: Single
Listed As: Trial Operative
Code Name: Necromancer
Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Red
Height: 5'4''
Body Type: Lithe

BIO: Though initially unknown, Elizabeth Jacobs descended from a long bloodline known for a predilection towards sorcery. Research has uncovered family ties dating back to the witch trials in Salem at the least, if not further back into history. Unsurprisingly, this led to her initially appearing on PESD's radar as an antagonistic force. Elizabeth had a mostly normal childhood, unaware of her legacy. However, that all changed when she was in high school with the death of her older sister Samantha. Equally unaware of their family legacy, Samatha acted as something of the glue that bound the Jacobs family together. She was a star athlete and had been scouted by a prominent college. But it was that first year away for college that would bring about tragedy to the Jacobs family.

No one could be too sure of the exact details, but the accident got chalked up to the all too often excuse of drunk driving and college kids being college kids. Cruely, as fate would have it, Samantha died during the crash leaving the drunken frat members as the survivors. Unable to reconcile what had happened, the Jacobs family slowly began tearing itself apart as Elizabeth's parents went through the slow breakdown of their married life. Elizabeth herself retreated inwards, isolating herself from friends and family and desperately seeking some kind of truth that could give her comfort over what had occurred. But there was no answer that seemed to satisfy the sense of loss she felt. To her, the truth was that the entire situation had been unfair. Despair turned to obsession as Elizabeth Jacobs studied into the occult, ultimately learning of their family heritage and starting down the road of practicing magic.

In four short years, she had become an accomplished sorceress. But this time spent training had been at the cost of her education. The normally bright student had neglected her normal life, scraping by to graduation more from the teachers wishing to be rid of her gloomy presence rather than keeping her around any longer. Elizabeth delved deep into the art of necromancy, entropic forces, and other magical topics more commonly associated with the dark arts. After conjuring and consulting with several spirits, she had been set down the path to try to revive Samantha by any means necessary. But like all black magic it required a heavy cost. Under the pretense of departing to college, Elizabeth stalked the survivors of the car crash intent on tormenting each one through magical means. The goal, if it was to be believed, was to shred down the sanity of each individual until ultimately sacrificing the group in a ritual that would trade their souls for Samantha's.

It was this endeavor that put several PESD agents on her trail. Ultimately, the squad fell into conflict with Elizabeth, but working together, the group uncovered the truth. Like so many greedy spirits, those she had channeled to learn of this profane rite were simply manipulating her. Completing the ritual would do little to bring Samantha back and instead give these foul spirits a way to manifest into the world of the living. On the night of the ritual, PESD agents intervened, stopping the act and apprehending Jacobs. For the next few years, Elizabeth remained in the custody of PESD. While initially classified as a threat that would need to be contained, the intervening years have led to something of a rehabilitation for the young woman.

In the end, Elizabeth Jacobs was offered the opportunity to join the ranks of the PESD operating as an agent to use her magical talents to help others like her who had been exploited by malevolent forces. She is currently being moved into active duty on a trial basis. Pending a review of her performance in the field, final status as a full fledged agent will be determined accordingly.

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It was odd. The light of the sun beaming down on her porcelain-like pale skin. The feel of the wind breezing past her long white hair. How long she resided under the lock and key of the PESD and their watchful eye? She couldn't be sure, but today was the day that would all change. Her fierce red eyes darted about taking in all the sights they could as if they starved for seeing anything other than the same four walls they had gazed upon the last few years. It was only on a trial basis, but Elizabeth Jacobs now found herself freed from confinement with the opportunity to earn a place once more within the world.

Her briefing had been rather rushed and lacked a lot of the relevant details. It seemed some incident had occurred that predicated the need for her particular talents in the field. But this unexpected crisis had led to opportunity. Elizabeth wasn't about to protest. This was finally the chance she had been waiting for. A chance to atone for all she had done. She was decked out in full goth style wearing a long flowing black dress that clung tightly to her lithe frame accentuated by a large silver cross necklace about her neck; her black platform boots making her appear slightly taller than she actually was.

"Greetings," Elizabeth called out to her new comrades with a hint of awkwardness in her soft voice, "Elizabeth Jacobs, at your service." She gave a nod of acknowledgement to Seth and Ajay.

"I understand you've got some kind of magical problem," she continued twisting her lips into a weak smile.

She wanted to seem professional, but at the same time it was hard to hide her own excitement. After the incident and her confinement by PESD, initially she never even considered what it might mean to have any measure of freedom again. She had done terrible things, hurt people, taken lives. It was funny to her how given some time even a wretch such as herself still desired a sense of freedom. She understood this chance had come at the cost of someone else. They hadn't given Elizabeth all the details, but it sounded like whoever she was replacing would be just fine after a little mandatory R&R. Another chance like this might not come around so easily, so regardless Elizabeth knew she had to make the best of it.

Ajay was thinking about what happened to Meg and wondering whether she will be alright. It seems magic is a fickle thing indeed. It has it's own price and exerts its own toll on the user. It would have been nice to research more about it. However, his deep thought was broken by the new voice that came. He turned to Elizabeth as she greeted them.

Ajay looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Greetings, Miss Jacobs. We indeed have a magical problem. I am told that you are a practitioner of the supernatural and arcane. Are you familiar with a creature named nothic?"

OOC: Where is this meeting taking place? PESD HQ or the Diner?

OOC: I am waiting for Kharis's response.

Seth looks at Ms. Jacobs, trying to assess her skills by observing her closely. Has she been trained? Will she be a valuable addition to the team? He was unable to tell. He would need more information to make his initial assessment. "Hello, Ms. Jacobs. Thank you for joining us on such short notice. Please do feel free to provide some input on our next steps." Seth says, still watching her closely.

"Nice to meet you both," Elizabeth answered politely, "This is my first time working in the field so I'm in your debt." Truth be told, this chance meant much more than just an opportunity to find a place as a full-fledged PESD agent. This was not only freedom but also a chance to find a purpose again. For Elizabeth, everything in her life had gone so wrong. It was only the mercy of the team that had handled her case that even spared her to one day have this opportunity. Thus, it seemed significant somehow that a rogue wizard was in the mix on her first case. While she had reviewed all the info that was provided to her, Elizabeth wasn't personally too familiar with either of her new teammates. Seth, at the least, she had heard of before. He was virtually an ace among PESD's agents based on the casual talk she had overhead since being incarcerated within the agency's care.

"I've reviewed the report on your investigation so far," she added crossing her arms and bowing her head for a moment in deep thought before continuing, "And while you can trust I've seen more than my fair share of supernatural beings already, I'm not particularly familiar with a Nothic. I'm happy to defer to your leadership, but it might be worthwhile consulting whatever libraries of information PESD has to see if we can turn up more information than you've already obtained before heading back out." That was the obvious step forward, perhaps. But something else was hanging in the back of her mind. Could it really be such a coincidence that she was brought in with this other mage in the picture?

"Though one other thing is bothering me," Elizabeth concluded, raising her head and meeting her comrades with an intense gaze, "This Harrison fellow... there's definitely more to his story you haven't uncovered. Maybe it's just a hunch, but something tells me whatever his deal is may be the linchpin to this entire case."

OOC: Who has the best Sharp? I have it at +2. Also, will the HQ give a bonus for the roll? If not, I think we should just go back to the Infirmary, because I can get a +1 there.

Ajay nodded, listening to Elizabeth as she shared her opinion. "To be frank, I really don't fully trust the wizard myself. He helped us confirm that it's a nothic but he said he would handle it and didn't need anyone's help. This I find strange and interesting. Also, to note, if you are looking forward to doing some research on nothic, I can recommend a better place. Would you like to come?"

"By all means," Elizabeth agreed to Ajay's suggestion, "We should reach for every advantage that we have. Lead the way and I'll provide what assistance that I can." Truth be told, despite her training Elizabeth really didn't have a strong grasp on what resources PESD had available. If the team already had access to better means then it only made sense to make use of that instead. It was best to have all the information that they could before resuming the hunt. The wizard was a wildcard to the situation. Was he somehow in league or behind the Nothic? Or was his stubborn persistence to work alone simply coming from some stubborn determination not unlike the situation Elizabeth was once in.

If she could stop someone from making the same mistakes she had, then all the more reason to give it her all with this first case.

Ajay took Seth and Elizabeth in his car and drove all the way to his apartment in the suburbs. While driving, he spoke to Elizabeth and said, "I guess we have access to each other's files, so you know who I am and what I did. I got caught and was under PESD watchlist just like you. However, there are things that I do for PESD and there are things that I don't want them know. I am taking you to my secret workplace, which PESD doesn't know about. I will request that you keep this secret from PESD and anyone else at all costs. Seth here has also promised that."

He brought them inside his secret compartment door, which led to a totally different workplace full of medical instruments, sickbay, research laboratory, workstation and modular kitchen. "Welcome to the Infirmary. I do research here on supernatural and often help create drugs to help the common people. This is where I work, and sometimes, I also provide free clinic downstairs for the homeless and needy." He took them into the first-floor extension, where there was a massive room full of archaic tomes and books, along with a computer to study. "And this is the place I was talking about. Throughout my work, I have been upgrading the Infirmary and buying esoteric tomes to help me know and research about the supernatural. Now that we are here, we can look into this matter with your expertise. If you feel hungry, the refrigerator, microwave and kitchen are downstairs."

He filled a mug of coffee and started bringing out books to begin the investigation again.

OOC:I forgot to add the +1. So, it will be 13. Will there be a penalty for the help roll?

OOC: So, lets start with what can hurt it?

We know what it is and what it can do already. The next question can be too meta so its upto you whether Ajay can really speculate on it. I wanted to ask what is being concealed here?

Actually, we know that Harrison is trying to hide something and wants to go after the nothic alone. But, we don't know why. Can this question be asked regarding that? If not, I will rather ask Where did it go?

Ajay reads up on the nothic. It appears nothics have 2 main weaknesses. The first is a ritual that can bind the nothic, but it is bigger than simply binding it with Use Magic, as you saw earlier. Some sort of magical trap, but the books don't appear to go into how to make the trap. Further investigation is needed. The second is the nothic hearing its name from before it became a nothic. You aren't sure how you could find that out, but it is just as potent.

As far as using the move on Harrison, I'll let you make a choice. You can learn some stuff about Harrison, it just won't be much. It won't be nothing, but people of his kind avoid being on the news much, so the internet might give you a crumb but just a crumb. If that sounds too little, I'll answer the other question, where did it go?

OOC: @zatatmando,@Kharis What do you think the second question should be?

So far I see 1 vote for each. If I don't see a 3rd vote by monday, I'll roll a d6. 1-3 is option 1, 4-6 is option 2. If i see a vote, that will be a tie breaker.

You all debate for a while, but eventually decide to flip a coin and focus your limited time on figuring out where the Nothic would have gone next. You learn that the monster seems to be obsessed with some kind of knowledge, and somehow Colton Pennington is involved. The fact that it is still searching means it probably hasn't found whatever it is looking for yet. As such, it will either to go some other place Colton is involved in, or back to a place it already checked in case it didn't have time to search thoroughly enough. You know Colton's old house had a partially ransacked library, and it seems he donated some books to a museum called the vault of learning, which Ajay went to briefly by himself before. In your research, there is also one other place that could be possible, a place called the Lexington Library that came up when googling Colton Pennington. Without a way to track the monster, any of these locations are valid placed it could go next.

"Well, I think I vote for the Lexington Library. We don't know that it will backtrack, but I will ask PESD to put a team on the other two locations that it has been to just in case. What do you think?" Seth says, already pulling out his phone to call HQ and ask for a couple of teams to act as guards.

Ajay nodded at Seth. "Based on it's recent behavior, it is probably going to the Lexington library. I would suggest putting your team in one place. It already caused a ruckus on the museum and I think it didn't find it there. It is what I heard by talking to the victim of the museum. I think it will try to come back to Mr. Pennington's house, if its not on the Lexington library."

OOC: Can the team be split and kept as look out only. They will not engage but only report that the monster is there and we can rush back to the location?

"I agree as well," Elizabeth added after pondering the situation for a moment, "If the Nothic is still seeking for something it has yet to obtain, then the Lexington Library seems likely since it hasn't been sighted there yet and we don't have any reports of the location being disturbed." The Vault of Learning did seem promising as well, but with no other way to discern between the options further she knew the situation called for a leap of faith. Her own instincts seemed to lead her to pick the Lexington Library and the fact it seemed to align with her fellow agents' hunch as well sealed the deal.

They still lacked a lot of info, but at this point it was going to take some action to clos the gap. She remained silent on the matter of guards Seth commanded. Such a matter seemed well above her station to worry about and it seemed between the other two they could easily handle the matter.

Ajay listened to the girl and then said, "What's your name? You come here always? Who runs the library?" He looked around the sombre ambiance of the library wondering where the nothic might be right now. Was it a mistake to come to Lexington library? This library seems so desolated and lonely that if something was to happen, no one would ever know. Which also makes this a very good target for attack.

Ajay smiled and said, "I am new to here; just want to know how it works here."

Elizabeth laughed softly as the college-aged girl became startled at Ajay's line of questioning. She was right to jump to the police, it sounded like a line of investigation off the jump. Still, he had played off the remark well so she thought better than inserting herself into the situation. Questioning people was one source of information, but there were other means of finding out what they wanted to know as well. Feigning interest, Elizabeth glanced from wall to wall as if in marvel of the book collection.

"Amazing," she mumbled to herself and then casually drifted from the group to begin browsing through the various shelves. On the surface, it would seem like the simple enthusiasm of a scholar. In truth, Elizabeth was merely searching through the library for anything of note pertaining to the Nothic. If not the next target, it was possible the creature had already been there. If there was anything to learn from the girl, she was certain Ajay could work out the info from her.

Ajay looked around and said, "So Sofia, what interests you? Can you tell me about the collection of books here? I don't want to sound insulting but given the condition where you handle most of the stuff, does the collection get updated frequently or is it like run mostly by donation. I don't mean to demean, I am merely interested."

Seth also leaves Ajay to talk to the girl, as he knew that his own demeanor could be intimidating. He would listen in just in case the situation required him to show a badge, but he would join Elizabeth in feigning interest in the shelves while keeping an eye out for the Nothic.

Ajay started to walk with Sofia, "You know quite a lot about this place. Do you perhaps have any books on occult practices throughout the ages? I mean some kind of archival records perhaps. The news of Mr. Pennington's death is very sad. I didn't know he was related with this library. Also, have you seen any other person coming to library today?"

Ajay raised his eyebrows at the sudden nervousness of Sofia. He looked directly at her eyes, "May be, May be not. But, when you are the only person here, I guess he hasn't arrived yet. Can you tell me where exactly is the occult's book section?"

Having finished with a walk around the library, Elizabeth made a path back to regroup with Seth. It appeared nothing out of the ordinary had occurred so far. Of course, that didn't specifically mean they were in the wrong place. Something about the basement being locked off had piqued her interest.

"Sure you saw it, but the basement is card locked," Elizabeth whispered to Seth in a low voice to try and avoid being overheard in the silence of the library, "Anything of occult importance is probably so old or rare that they'd want to keep access restricted. Not sure how far you want to push things here though..."

Elizabeth didn't want to overstep her bounds. A bit of magic could accomplish many things. Still, she knew both Seth and Ajay were quite accomplished themselves. Breaking into the basement, stealthily or not, would be an escalation of things and as the newest member to the team she didn't feel right making that choice for them.

OOC: @zatatmando,@Kharis Ajay can try to manipulate Sofia in trying to coax more information out of her. You can try to infiltrate to the restricted access.

ok, for Ajay, what exactly is he asking her to do? what is the request he makes? And go ahead and roll Manipulate Someone, which is Charm by default.

As for Elizabeth and Seth, what method do you use to try to get past a locked door? Reminder that the door appears to need an electronic card, not a metal key. If you can think of a way to use magic, you can either roll Use Magic (though anything not on the default list would be big magic instead and might have requirements first), or if you have some way to hack the card reader you can roll Act Under Pressure.

Ajay will look at what books Sofia is reading. He will then try to comment about it's subject and then lure to the conversation towards occult again. "You know this place is big and I would rather not get lost and misplace books. As someone who is expert, can you suggest an archive of supernatural creatures? Perhaps, some book of records on magical creatures, real or imagined? You said that Mr. Pennington donated books here? He was also interested in occult? Perhaps you are interested in it, as well? Can you show me the books he donated most recently?"

OOC: We have conclusive evidence now that the nothic would surely be coming here. Do you think we should just tell Sofia about the upcoming danger and get access to the restricted section? @zatatmando,@Kharis