Session 15: A Strange Conspiracy Part 2

 October 13th, 2013 

The group stopped by Goatskin's desk on their way out to let him know about the exorcism's results, and asked about their neck markings and the missing hobos. Goatskin couldn't really help with either, but he did direct them to Three-Stitch Sam, one of the more reliable changeling medics in the freehold, and said he'd let them know if he found out any information that might help the group.

On their way to Sam's clinic, the motley asked other vagrants about the missing hobos, and found a handful of rumors.

At his clinic, Three-Stitch Sam inspected the motley's marks. He couldn't help much, suggesting that the group might be punching each other in the neck or had gotten drunk and gone to get motley tattoos, like other motleys have done (and if you're drinking fairy wine when you make that decision, of course you aren't going to remember it the morning after). At the group's request (and protests), Sam at least started files on their bruises just in case, including photos to track advancement if they get worse. The motley also learned that Sam doesn't like gunshot wounds, and thinks dismemberment is easier to deal with.

Eric went to his job, and the rest of the group went to the Cranston Library half an hour to close to question the librarian about the hobos that regularly met there. Kenning didn't pick up anything untoward, and there was notable fire damage that slagged a computer. The librarian explained that something had gotten spilled and caused the fire, and additional water damage is to the fire suppression system. The librarian ended up looking up the hobos browser history for the motley, printing out the Google Map locations they'd researched after verifying that none of them were residential locations.

It was dinnertime at that point, so the group met with Eric at Hathi's Garden. They decided to head down to Little Compton by way of Newport that night. They stopped in at Ted Sprague's computer shop in Portsmouth and the medical study clinic in Newport, but both were closed for the night.

They continued on to Little Compton to a warehouse that had been on the hobos' list of Google Maps locations as well in the job listings. Francois argued with the security guard about getting a job and hobos going missing, before being told in no uncertain terms to beat it. The motley scouted the perimeter, and then where there seemed to be nothing further to do for the night, Tia rented hotel rooms courtesy of her newfound financial abundance.

The Irregulars spent a night filled with dreams of lapping water, the sound of a creaky wooden boat, the smell of fish, and a lurking shadow.

 October 14th, 2013 

The group helped themselves to the meager continental breakfast Monday morning, then decided to visit the warehouse again in the hopes that the daytime employees would be more accommodating. Francois confronted the receptionist about jobs, pressing for info that she refused to give on the grounds that it was a privacy concern. She asked them if they had an appointment for a job interview, and finally asked them to leave. On the way out, Francois called her up and pestered her again until she grudgingly set up an appointment for him for later.

The motley headed back to Newport to the medical facility, where Francois badgered the clinic staff and was subsequently mistaken for a drug-seeker by the receptionist. He managed to convince one of the doctors otherwise, and filled out the paperwork for the medical study. He spoke with Dr. Miller, who determined that Francois was suitable for the control group but not the group receiving supplements for testing, to Francois' disappointment. Dr. Miller claimed that every study participant who was supposed to check in had done so, denying that any participating hobos had gone missing on his watch.

On the way out, Francois tried to “wander” to the back of the clinic and was forced out by a nurse.

The motley moved on to Ted's shop, once it opened, and found Ted himself at the counter. They immediately noticed that he reacted to them with some surprise and suspicion, staring, and guessed that he could see through the Mask to their true changeling appearances. They asked him about the viral code, and he turned out to be a very poor liar as he tried to evade the question and claim ignorance. While Chiara investigated the shop and found the server hosting the code, Francois intimidated Ted into answering the group's questions. Ted told the group about a woman in Little Compton, and a “voice on the phone.”

The motley felt the Wyrd tense up like a rubber band being stretched to its limit, then snap and lash out at Ted as he broke a Pledge. He started screaming in terror at the sight of the motley and tried to get away, going so far as to try to claw through the wall. Francois knocked him out with two blows to the head followed by first aid to keep him from suffering permanent damage.

Meanwhile Chiara cleaned the code from the server, Eric found a notebook with information on “Ms. Greene – Little Compton - $8,000,” and Tia and Simon noticed the shop's security system. Chiara located the system's hard drive and took it while Eric and Francois trashed the cameras themselves, then the group wrote a note for inside (“Apologies from the 'scary ogre guy'”) and one for the outer door (“Sorry, closed today,”) and took Ted with them in a hasty retreat.

The session ended with vandalism, theft, assault, and kidnapping. As one does.

NPCs Met
Three-Stitch Sam, Wizened chirurgeon and medic for the Freehold of Four Rivers

Dr. Miller, one of the doctors working on a medical study about supplements

Ted Sprague, computer store owner and freelance coder who wrote the lolcat virus

Enemies
Unhelpful security guards and receptionists

Other Stuff
Session 14: A Strange Conspiracy (Part 1)

Session 16: A Strange Conspiracy (Part 3)