You decide first things first. Your arbitrator needs to know about your findings. You dial in her number on your com and wait for her to pick up.

“Primus Weston? I didn’t expect you to call me so soon. Is there a problem?” The voice on the other side of the line asks.

“Not so much a problem ma’am, as a finding. The house we’re in has a hidden cellar in which we made some interesting discoveries.” You say.

“Define ‘interesting’…”

“Well, it has the most complex magical circle in it that I’ve ever heard of, and a huge stash of tomes on magic. Raphael informed me that many of them were exceptionally rare.” You tell her.

“That… Sounds interesting indeed. What have you done with them?” She asks.

“For now, we just scouted the place and made sure there weren’t any traps. Milly and Raphael have catalogued some of the tomes already, but they’re not finished yet.” You say.

“Very well. I’ll confer with some of my colleagues on what to do. For now, just continue with what you’re doing keep it all safe. I’ll let you know something in a day or two.” Lilliana says before she lays in the call.

With that done, you ask Raphael and order Milly to continue working on the tomes while you see what to do next.

>1. Try to contact the spirit of the mansion.
>2. Explore the gardens and forest.
>3. Set up some team-based training scenarios for later.
>4. Write in.

>>38932259
>Explore the gardens and forest
How big was it again? I wonder what else we've inherited from whatever wizard used to own the place..

>>38932253
>2. Explore the gardens and forest.

>>38932259
>1. Try to contact the spirit of the mansion

>>38932349
The gardens themselves are about five times the mansion in surface. The forest around it stretches out for a few miles.

>>38932349
>>38932382
Garden and forest it is. Writing.

You decide to check out the gardens and forest around the mansion. Get familiar with the terrain and all that. Liam, Blake and Nathan join you, with Katherine offering to stay behind with Raphael and Milly and help them where needed.

The garden is a wilderness. The grass reaches up to your hips and the hedges have grown out of control. You think it used to have a hedge maze of some description, but it’s grown completely shut. At the edges, you wouldn’t have been able to tell for sure where the garden ends and the forest begins if it wasn’t for the walls. It seems the Order didn’t bother to get it sorted out when they put the mansion in order, but you suppose having a well-kept garden isn’t exactly on their priority list.

Liam immediately notes a few spots that could be used for a rifle range, and also suggests restoring the hedge maze for training. He sure has a one-track mind. Then again, you can’t exactly disagree with him that they’d be helpful.

The forest itself seems to have some traces of being artificial, having been planted long ago, but enough time has passed that only the oldest trees still upright are in neat rows, and those are few and far between.

This time it’s Nathan pointing out some interesting spots. Here and there are some more rugged and hilly areas that he’d think make for good spots for outdoor training, and the undergrowth and natural paths seem to channel people going through the forest into one of a few paths towards the mansion that can easily be trapped and have great ambush locations.

Blake is the one that finds something older than the forest. On closer inspection it seems to be a part of a dolmen slightly protruding from the ground. Perhaps some grave-digging might be in order later on.

It’s evening when you return, and Milly and Raphael have done most of the cataloguing. Raphael approaches you as you arrive.

“Excuse me sir, but there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” He looks around a bit uncomfortably, looking around to see if anyone else is there.

>1. Well, let’s hear it.
>2. Let’s talk about it in private?
>3. It can wait, I smell dinner!
>4. Write in.


>mfw I just barely go over the 2000 character limit and have to spread it over 2 posts...

>>38932842
>2. Let’s talk about it in private?

>>38932842
>>2. Let’s talk about it in private?
We have some sort office/study right?

>>38932842
>2. Let’s talk about it in private?

>>38932842
>2. Let’s talk about it in private?

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>>38932933
You do now.

>Why yes, I am rewatching Deep Space 9. Why do you ask?

>>38932888
>>38932933
>>38932937
>>38932946
Also, writing.

>>38932842
>>1. Well, let’s hear it.

“Let’s talk about it in private?” You say. Raphael nods and you take him to the area you designated your office. It doesn’t have more than a desk and a few chairs in it for now, but like the rest of the house, you’ll get to decorating later.

“So, what is it you wanted to say?” You ask him.

“Well, as I was taking a short break, I found myself wondering about the circles, because, well… They’re a marvel. I still don’t understand- “He cuts himself short. “Anyway, I started studying the circle again, and I realised something that scares the hell out of me, if you pardon my vocabulary.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Oh? And what is that?”

“When I said the circle wasn’t powered? I was wrong.” He stays quiet for a moment while you process what he’s saying. From everything you know, someone or something very obvious should be powering a magic circle, usually an entity or device inside or next to it. Not to mention that interrupting the flow of magic by going over an active magical circle tends to be highly dangerous, as it lets out the energies kept in line by the circle itself. If something or someone was powering a circle that big and complex, and you interrupted it, the whole mansion should have exploded or something.

“I only realised when I tried to push some magical power into it myself. It’s harmless if not done with the specific purpose of the circle in mind, and is a reasonably easy way to gauge what the general purpose of a circle is as long as it’s not boobytrapped, and we already established it wasn’t. For instance if I did it on a circle meant to create a visual image of someone far away, I’d be able to know that it was meant for scrying purposes, but not what, how and how powerful. So when I tried it, my energy was pushed away, as if there was already something there. I did some more tests, and I’m now confirmed that the circle is somehow connected to at least two ‘things’ that are not in this area. I have no idea how far, but I do know the general direction. One is heading south, back to London, and the other one north directly opposite to the other one.”

>1. Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more.
>2. Keep trying to study it. Get Milly’s help if you need it.
>3. Don’t do anything just yet. I’ll need to contact HQ. Again.
>4. Write in.

>>38933241
>>1. Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more.
>Contact HQ

>>38933241
>1. Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more.
>Have wards/locks put on the door and surrounding walls

Crap, I missed a thread. Need to catch up.

>>38933241

Do you think our activity there had any impact on the circle? Otherwise it was in place for a long time, presumably.
Once we get settled in, we'll investigate these sources, in the meantime you and Milly keep studying it. Maybe the wizard kept an instruction manual? I suppose that's too much to hope for...

>>38933241
>>1. Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more.
Could they be used to teleport to these two said location?

>>38933367
>>38933330
>>38933304
>>38933292
Lockdown on cellar it is. All questions will be asked.

>>38933241
>1. Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more.
>4. Write in.
"I'll call HQ again."

>>38933224
>>38933462
This
" What are the chances they just happened to give us this, of all bases, eh?"

>>38933462
>>38933692
Are you unable to see >>38933457 ?

>>38933716
I posted mine when my auto-update still hadn't refreshed, because it was 26 seconds after his post.
So no, I was unable to see it, because it wasn't there while I was typing.

“Do you think our activity there had any impact on the circle? If it hadn’t, that thing must have been active for a looooong time…” You say.

“From what I could tell it was already active when we arrived. I can’t be certain of course, but I didn’t find any trigger or anything, and my instinct is telling me it’s been going on for a long time already.” Raphael replies.

“Do you think the circle could be used to teleport to these two said location?” You ask.

Raphael sighs and shakes his head. “I have no idea. It’s possible. Then again I’m not even sure if it’s other locations it’s linked to. It could just as easily be attached to living things, or magical artefacts. At this point, it’s all up in the air as to what it’s meant for. It’s too complex for me to decipher anything about it.”

“Very well.” You say, and pause to think for a moment. “Get those tomes out of there. After that, no one enters the Cellar any more until we know more. Put wards and locks on there if you must. I’ll contact HQ.”

You try to call Lilliana again, and after a minute she picks up. “Weston? Again?” Is all she says. She sounds a bit out of breath.

“Yes ma’am. We’ve made a new discovery about the magic circle.” You fill her in on what Raphael just told you. “And now I’ve just given the order to get the tomes out of there and shut off the cellar.”

“Good, good. Well… This is a bit of a bad time really. “ You could swear you hear another voice through the line, but you can’t make out much. “ I’ll get it sorted out tomorrow. I’ll call when I know more from my end.”

With that done you head back to the dining room. The others have finished already, though Blake is telling a story about an investigation into what seemed like deadly magical pranks that turned out to be a lost and ill fae they helped back to its own world.

“I take it Raphael has filled you in?” Everyone in the room nods, though Milly is absent as you expected. So is Raphael, he probably went to tell her and get those tomes out.

You eat in silence, listening to those around you. A lot more happened than you expected in just the one day you’ve been here. And that’s only in and around the house. You haven’t even begun to do anything in the area you’re responsible for.

It’s getting late. You could probably still do one more thing before it’s bedtime.
>1. Try to commune with the spirit.
>2. Go down to the circle and try to study it along with Raphael.
>3. Write in.

>>38933785
>1. Try to commune with the spirit.

>>38933785
>2. Go down to the circle and try to study it along with Raphael.

>>38933785
>1. Try to commune with the spirit.

>>38933785
>>1. Try to commune with the spirit.

>>38933785
>>2. Go down to the circle and try to study it along with Raphael.

>>38933785
Tomorrow, we should see of there is anything significant north or south of the manor/the circle. Google earth should help nicely.

>>38933921
Ask Milly though. Maybe Oculus already knows disturbance in those areas?

>yeah, fat chance after this find escaped them... don't say that though

>>38933921
You mean Microsoft googlebook office world viewer?

Just kidding

Commune it is. Writing.

Also, roll me Mind. 1d100, best of first 3.

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>38934024

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>38934024

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>38934024

>>38934058
>>38934052
>>38934036
Success.

Also, that reminds me, the only reason raphael found that about the circle was that he also rolled really high on his mind. Your allies have been doing good so far.

>>38934036
good
>>38934052
better
>>38934058
not best but close
well something good should happen, or at least we wont get possesed

With all the commotion about the circle you almost forgot what you originally wanted to do after your garden walk. You head to your office and sit in the middle of the empty room. You slowly expand your consciousness. Try to fill the area with it. Telepathy isn’t your strongest point, so it’s harder than it would be for some, but manage. After about 20 minutes of meditating (you guess), you feel something brush against your mind. A consciousness that feels as if it had always been there. Unobtrusive. In the background. Yet always ready to help.

It feels friendly. It’s still weak, but it does what it can. You think. Wait, do you? You realise that it’s projecting its thoughts onto you, and for a moment you’re confused as to which ones are your own, but after a while of untangling them, you manage.

It’s strange to talk like this. You immediately find that it doesn’t even notice verbal questions yet, and that you have to send emotions, images, impressions, to actually be able to communicate with it.

It will improve once it grows stronger, you, no it, thinks.

>Any questions? Due to the nature of communication it’s a bit limited what you can do, but if you’re imaginative enough you can probably manage to get the essentials over with.
>1. Write in.

>Captcha: willpp.
>Yes, willpower is important for a psychic. Seems even captcha is joining the quest discussion.

>>38934196
>Who/what made/bound you?

>>38934196
No questions.

Just name it Cuddles.

>>38934196
How old are you? What is you purpose

>>38934196
Send the image and impressions of the dolem in the forest, with a sense of curiosity.

>>38934245
>>38934296
>>38934327
>>38934343
Gonna hold out on the cuddles, also because you have no real way of conveying that, but I'll ask the questions. At least, I'll try to.

>>38934196
No naming, just express gratitude for delicious snacks and that we're looking forward to communicating with it on more sophisticated level. So, anticipation.

>>38934441
The house will always be Cuddles to me.

>>38934566
That's fine but if it already has a name we should respect it.

>>38934566
I prefer "Jeeves" or "Simon". A suitably English butler name for an archetypical English manor.

>>38934673
Jeeves works as well.

>>38934673
"Alfred" we batman now

You try to send an image, an impression of the being itself, and then the mansion and the surround lands. You try to make them wither over time, and pump a bit of a question in there.

It reacts by sending you images of its own. You see a man. A valet of some kind, serving the master of the house, though the face of the master is never visible. The valet arrives there, and from the look of things, you’d say it wasn’t long after the mansion was built, somewhere around 17-1800. You might have to look into that.

The images follow him applying as a young man, not even an adult by today’s standards. He gets accepted, grows older and older, though the master never seems to change, his lack of face is odd, and something’s uncomfortably off about it. You see the Valet grow old, at which point, the master brings him to a laboratory underneath the mansion, which to his shock he had never known of before. There, the master does… something, but with the man’s consent, and he… becomes the house. At least, that’s the only way you can interpret what the spirit sends you. He stays much longer, taking care of the master long past his own death, but eventually, the master departs towards the north, and the man, the mansion, the spirit decays. Fades away. Until now.

Next, you send it, him? You’re fairly sure it’s a him now. You send him the image of the piece of dolmen you found in the wood. He sends back a different image. The entire dolmen surfaced. The master and him planting a forest around it. The master going off into the forest towards the dolmen every now and then, though from the images you can’t tell if the interval is a matter of weeks, months or even years. Eventually, the valet comes along, and together with the master, he buries the dolmen. After that, the master barely leaves the house anymore.

You feel the spirit’s presence waning, and it retreats, sending the feeling of exhaustion to you, but also of happiness for a new cause. A new life.

When you open your eyes, you see that it’s almost midnight. Most others are already in bed, though Nathan and Blake are drinking a beer in the living room and wish you good night.

—

The next morning, you wake up early again, get out of bed and head down to eat. Liam is there already, and Nathan arrives not long after you do.

>Plans for now?
>1. Get the training room in order. The list for stuff to buy for it is complete now.
>2. Get the garden and hedge maze in order.
>3. Go out and excavate the dolemn.
>4. Take the entire team to the forest to let them get to know the terrain and escape routes for emergencies etc.

>>38934736
>4. Take the entire team to the forest to let them get to know the terrain and escape routes for emergencies etc.
>Then training room.

>>38934736
Of course, there's also
>5. Write in.

>>38934736
>>38934760
This, Also:
>send a feeling of gratitude toward Jeeves for breakfast.

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>>38934736
>1. Get the training room in order. The list for stuff to buy for it is complete now.
Shopping? Shopping.

>>38934836
For now, communicating with the spirit takes up quite some time. Just doing that might take you an entire hour.

>>38934736
>4. Take the entire team to the forest to let them get to know the terrain and escape routes for emergencies etc.
5. Use the opportunity to map out the area for ambush sites and automated defenses.

This is 2085. We should be getting wireless and wired (shielded) cameras and motion detectors, solar-powered network repeaters, hidden drones with jury-rigged lethal payloads.
All stuff that can be easily acquired on the open civilian market. Sure, it's not as robust as the military stuff, but it's cheaper, which is a major plus considering our budget.

>>38934884
Not the anon that you responded to, but lets save the thanks for later.

>>38934760
This.

>>38934914
seconding going Home Alone Lethal Edition on this mansion.

>>38934953
>>38934946
>>38934914
>>38934864
>>38934760
Home Alone Lethal Edition preliminary work it is. You can then add the stuff you'll need to the shopping list.
Nathan can probably help you best with the mapping while the rest of the team gets to know the terrain.

Writing. I'll try to keep an eye on the thread if any more suggestions that fit with the chosen path pop up

>>38934953
>Home Alone Lethal Edition
>not Michael Westen's Loft Edition
We can do better than just a kid and some contrived traps.

>>38934914
Already voted, but seconding full crazy defence of the house.

>>38934914
Calling it now, we'll encounter a rogue AI and will end up having to lay siege to our own mansion after it takes over.

>>38935079
Jeeves will save us!

>>38935003
>outdoor motion sensor lights with solar charger
We can break these down for their motion sensors and solar panels.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-48-Light-Outdoor-White-Solar-LED-Motion-Light-84045/205081814?N=5yc1vZc7qf

>cheap burner phones
For tying into the motion detectors to call us.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/tracfone-lg-440g-no-contract-mobile-phone-black/6775586.p?id=1218806579876&skuId=6775586&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=6775586&extensionType=pla_multichannel:g&s_kwcid=PTC!pla!!!112840462335!g!!56936163735&kpid=6775586&k_clickid=2c58d166-5493-44b8-9744-eca043ea5a90&kpid=6775586&lsft=ref:212,loc:1&ksid=2c58d166-5493-44b8-9744-eca043ea5a90&ksprof_id=10&ksaffcode=pg10325&ksdevice=c

>wireless extenders to expand the wireless network
http://www.newegg.com/Wireless-Range-Extender-Media-Bridge/SubCategory/ID-2948

And of course, lots of wiring, outdoor electrical cabling, shovels, hammers, nails, pliers, soldering irons, solder, wire cutters, and a roto-tiller to help dig a shallow trench to lay electrical and network cabling.

>>38935179
Oh, and the RC drones. Don't forget those.
Both the ones that come with camera's, and RC planes with cameras attached for aerial flybys.

And cheap RC drones(and RC cars) with grenades tied in to a remote switch for remote detonation.

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>>38935010
>>38935179
I'm beginning to think it's becoming a lot less home alone and a lot more McGuyver: Lethal and Besieged.

>>38935010
well while we're going all out on the Tech traps, let's not forget the supernatural. Maybe we can task the more mundane members of our squad with handling non-supernatural defenses, while we team up with Raphael and handle the spooky side of home defense.

You gather up the entire team to take them to the forest to get them to know the terrain, and to map it out to place some automated defences, traps and the like. You might be a little paranoid to go that far, but so far a healthy dose of it has kept you alive.

You run into a little problem as Milly refuses to join you though. After a while of arguing your patience cracks. “Agent Hackland, do I have to make that an order?”

She responds in a very neutral tone, from behind the closed door of her observatory. “May I remind you, sir, that I am lent to you by the Oculus, and have both my own supervisors and my own standing orders. You do not have the authority to override those even in cases of emergency, and neither does your arbitrator. I will remain here.”

You don’t really have anything to go against that. Heck, you didn’t even know that. The Oculus likes to remain a bit more separate than the rest, but you didn’t know it actually got to this. Whatever, you have a job to do.

You take the rest of your group into the forest, tell them roughly about what you found last time and tell them to explore it for themselves. You’ll probably end up doing a lot of drills out here. You keep Nathan with you though, and with him you map out the approaches to the mansion.

Once you fully map it out you’re beginning to think that they’re not exactly natural, and perhaps not even mundane. The only four paths to the mansion, aside of the front drive, have a long and winding approach with both little cover and lots of places to place cameras, traps and automated defences. You might have to be careful for wildlife tripping the alerts though, and adjust their settings accordingly. The last parts of the paths end up very close to each other, and you notice the second floor balcony has a perfect view over the last 50 meters of the approach. At least, if you cut the grass and trim some trees, that is. You might even be able to install some automated sniper-guns there, though that might be a bit above your budget for this month.

At around noon, you gather the team and head back to the mansion. At dinner you collect more ideas for traps and defences from the rest of the crew. Katherine seems to think it’s all a bit exaggerated, but is then reminded by Liam that there’s many kinds of horrors lurking out there that would prefer not to have you around in this area.

Milly is silent all the way through and avoids looking at anyone else. You suppose this morning’s episode put her in a bit of a bad mood. You still wonder what the hell is up with that girl.


>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)
>2. Mcguyver away and get as much as you can from civvy shops. (will be able to get a lot more stuff, but it won’t be as good as from the Order, and will take a lot more time to set up properly)

>In the mean time, Raphael will see about placing wards around the area and research spells to be able to hide and protect your surveillance from both mundane and mystical threats.

>>38935488
>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)
We can do the DIY stuff later. Not like we have to worry about a food or cleaning budget any more.

>>38935488
>>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)

>>38935488
Let's start with detection system and not go overboard with defences, at least until next paycheck...
That said
>1. See what you can get from Order
also make mental note to ask our supervisor whether Milly's secretiveness is usual for her. But as long as Oculus greenlights her I'd let her be the way she is. Maybe she'll warm up in time.

>>38935488
>>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)

>>38935488
>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)
Let's get the basics up and running. We can buy up stuff from the civvy shops later when our budget has expanded, and we have the safety of a basic perimeter to do our work in.

>>38935179
> wireless
Best to wire what we can

> solar panels
Internet or the order itself will have what we need.

>>38935668
>wireless
>Best to wire what we can
Why not both? Wires with a redundant wireless system for maximum paranoia.

Anyway, order is clear winner. Writing.

>>38935488
>1. See what you can get from the Order and fill in the blancs with civvy stuff. (quality over quantity, also much less work to get everything installed and in working condition)
>3. Talk with everyone, see what might be createable on the cheap that we don't know about. Maybe figure out what to do for a peace offering with Milly.

>>38935730
Wireless means additional complexity and an additional point of failure. The simpler we make this, the less of a headache it is to keep track of, and the less obvious it will be.

Back in your office, you boot up the computer there and manage to find the “Vindex Budget Spending” program, and you find a long, long list of things you can get from them. Like an online shop in magical and lethal toys. And that’s only for your clearance level. From the briefing you were led to understand that as you worked more and performed better you’d have access to higher tech and more powerful magic items.

You go over your by now very long list of things for the training room and surveillance and then over your actual budget. You figure that since you have a magical butler now, you can repurpose a lot of the household budget, and you manage to put together a list of core items for what you’re planning. For the front approach you decide on some more conventional surveillance that mundanes won’t think out of place on a mansion of an eccentric of come kind.

You’ll still need a bunch of things from a mundane shop to get your training room in order, but you’ll have camera drones, motion sensors and even some nice piece of software to steer the drones and identify threat levels and react accordingly. Of course, true AI is far, far above your pay grade, but you’ll take what you can get.

After posting the order and being told it will be delivered by next morning, you take Blake and Katherine with you to shop while placing Nathan in command of clearing up the approach to have a clear view on it from the mansion. Even without sniper drones, then Liam will be able to take down most of the threats before they ever get to the mansion.

Thanks to some quick looking up on the internet you quickly identify the stores you need to go and purchase what you need. All in all you spent most of the budget already, but you don’t really have anything else to spend it on this month. You think it might be safe just to put some aside in case anything happens.

When you come back to the mansion, Nathan and the rest are still busy. You start unloading your stuff from the minivan when suddenly your com beeps. It’s Milly.

>1. Pick it up.
>2. Go into the house and talk to her directly.
>3. Write in.

>>38936049
>>1. Pick it up.

>>38936049
>1. Pick it up.
If it's not urgent tell her you'll come speak to her directly

>>38936049
>1. Pick it up.

>>38936049
>>1. Pick it up.

>>38936099
This.

>>38936099
this.
we need to clear this up and just fucking ask if there is something wrong and if she could explain any way we can accomodate her.

>>38936083
>>38936099
>>38936120
>>38936143
>>38936170
Writing.

You pick up your com. “Yes Milly, what-“

“Sir, I’ve detected an awakening roughly five miles northwest of our location. I think it’s psionic, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll be able to tell in approximately six minutes, along with an estimate of the power level. I’ll be able to tell it’s precise location in approximately twelve. I should have an address and a file for you by the time you arrive there, considering standard team deployment time.”

You’re about to tell her she did a good job when she lays in the call. Still not really over it yet it seems. You activate the deployment command in your com and the entire team is notified. Ten minutes later everyone is assembled and geared up, and Milly sent you a short text with nothing in it buy “Psionic, at least level 2”. Not much below your own psionic level then. That could be a heavy awakening.

“Right team, we got ourselves an awakening. Psionic, at least level 2, possibly more. We should have the rest of the intel by the time we get there. Move out!”

Since it’s your first actual deployment, and slightly unexpected, there’s some initial confusion how to pair off, since the minivan can’t hold all six of you plus potentially a child. You settle on…

>choose to distribute: Katherine, Liam, Blake, Nathan, Raphael and yourself. Each of you can drive.

>Minivan (5 places excl driver):
>Driver?

>Car (3 places excl driver):
>Driver?

>If you get the child along, the purpose is to drop it off at a base at the edge of london, about an hour drive. If you do, it is expected for the entire team to come along, but it’s not a necessity. You can choose either the car or the minivan for the child, and maybe have the other vehicle return to the mansion.

Milly Is a cyborg, calling it now.

>>38936434
Go fish.

>>38936428
Car:
>Katherine, Raphel. Katherine drives

Van:
>Liam, Blake, Nathan, and us. Nathan drives.

Katherine and Raphael will drive the kid home in the car, assuming all goes well.

>>38936428
>Minivan (5 places excl driver):
Nathan drives

>>38936428
Blake drives with Katherine and yourself in the car - going to the house directly
The rest take the minivan and and set up the perimeter Nathan drives and Liam should be where he can get out quickly in case he sees a good sniping position away from the rest of the team

>>38936500
This

>>38936500
this but blake and raphel switch places.
this is a high level outburst which might need a nullifier.

>>38936491
An alien?

>>38936664
ooh I hope it's a "what is love?" femdroid.
waifu ahoy!

File: 1387285045668.jpg (281 KB, 842x632)

281 KB JPG

>>38936693
>waifu ahoy!

>>38936500
This, and put 'Don't stop me now' on the stereo

>>38936693
Strangely enough, this guess is the closest one yet. Still not it though.

Anyway, writing. I'm going to indulge myself a little bit and combine a little bit as I see best from the IC standpoint. (both >>38936549 and >>38936647 make decent points)

>>38936754
Holograph or magic created image, while her real body is in a coma?

Katherine, Blake and Raphael are team A and take the car with Katherine driving, and will be headed straight to the house. Raphael will be a bit uncomfortable with Blake there, but Katherine and Blake have to enter the house together anyway, and Blake’s gift might be able to calm the awakening a bit. Raphael is on stand-by to heal and ward in case anything goes wrong.

The rest of you are team B and take the minivan, with Nathan driving. You’ll scout around a bit and drop Liam off on a location he deems fit to set up. Nathan then gets into position while you can stay in the minivan to provide tactical coverage and remain in contact with Milly in case there’s new intel. Not to mention that if anything goes wrong you can give chase in the minivan or just head out by yourself.

Once properly divided, you go on your way and not long after you’ve departed you get a file sent to all of you from Milly, detailing the situation. She managed to narrow it down to an isolated farm where a family of 6 lives. It’s unclear which of the 4 children is awakening, since they’re all within the most likely age bracket. The oldest daughter is 16, the second oldest is 15. The son is 13 and the youngest daughter is 11. Any one of them could be the target. Names and photos are attached, though some photographs are a bit outdated.

Another slight problem is that the farm is big. There’s no way the van will be able to drive around it undetected, and there will be very limited sniping positions available to Liam.

“Don’t worry, I can fulfil a general combat role in that case and cover one of the exits.” He says. “Done it before.”

You arrive at farm at roughly 3pm, and when you get there you can obviously tell there’s something wrong. Roof tiles are soaring though the sky as if they were birds. A few of them shatter against the side of the van, but you’re lucky it’s slightly armoured. The paint might be scratched though.

“No way that that’s just a level 2 awakening.” You say in your com. “That’s more around three or four if you ask me. Watch out, this is dangerous.”

You don’t really see anyone of the family, and there’s three main buildings. One seems to be the stables and animal housing, another is a large garage for farming equipment and vehicles, and then there is the family home. There’s no clear indication of where the chaos is originating from.

>Team A: Katherine, Blake, Raphael.
>Team B: Nathan, Liam, you.
>Buildings: animal housing, garage, house.

>Approach?
>1. You shield team B while Raphael shields team A. You each search a building (which one for which team?).
>2. Join up, search the buildings one at a time (specify order)
>3. Wait until the worst is over.
>4. Write in.

>>38937083
>4. Write in.
Have Liam wait in the protection of the van doing overwatch The rest of you join up and seach 1.house 2. animal housing 3. garage

>>38937083
>1. You shield team B while Raphael shields team A. You each
>4. Try to find the center of the psychic disturbance.

>>38937083
>4. try to locate the source of the outburst via psychic sensing. Raphael shielding Katherine will then be sent to the source. Liam will stay inside minivan and take the shot should anyone look like they might get away

>>38937083
Changing >>38937179 to >>38937148, with my custom entry. Liam should take the shot only if we order it.

>>38937148
>>38937179
>>38937232
3 fairly different responses. They all have some overlapping points, but not enough for me to properly combine them. Gonna wait a bit longer.

Did we just lose a lot of players or did people switch to lurk-mode? Is it the dreaded "American Dinner Time"?

>>38937353
>>38937317
Ah, never mind. And Liam taking the shot only on your orders is a given.

Writing.

How about trying to sense the source of disturbance and then move towards it in composition: team A + ourselves while Nathan stays with Liam who provides overwatch?

>>38937083
>1. You shield team B while Raphael shields team A. You each search a building (which one for which team?).
Team A searches the house. Team B searches the stables and animal housing.

Rolled 32, 14, 15 = 61 (3d100)

>>38937424
And roll me a Mind check to see how well you fare in the shielding. 1d100, best of 3.

>Rolling for Raphael myself.

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>38937489
god damn it Ralph.

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>38937489

>>38937489

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>38937489
well...

>>38937559
oh thank god.

>>38937559
>>38937546
>>38937541
You lucky bastards.

Success. Not so much luck for Raphael.

File: 3239ab0dc95a9c3ebe95fb886(...).jpg (158 KB, 1200x699)

158 KB JPG

Rolled 53, 68, 29, 82, 63, 50, 32, 84, 22, 6 = 489 (10d100)

>>38937581
>5 shit rolls in a row
more like last second save imho

>>38937581
>>38937597
To be honest, had Blake not been there, Raphael's special flavour of divine magic would have been enough, but Blake negates that bonus. Raphael's still probably the best choice of any mystic to put together with Blake because of this. He merely functions as well as a normal mage of his power instead of worse.

>>38937677
figured something like this was going to happen so I didn't include Blake in my plan the moment shielding for others was required.

>>38937761
In the future, I think Katherine+Blake+Liam is probably the best combo for Team A.

>>38937952
Liam has no business in being in team A unless his sniper skills are ruled out for whatever reason.

>>38937952
I think Katherine+Blake+Nathan is a better fit

“Liam, stay in the van and do overwatch. The rest of us, group up. We’ll search the house first.” You say.

You use your telekinetic powers to shield yourself and Nathan as you exit the minivan. The first piece of stone that hits your barrier stuns you for a moment, but once you adjust a few things, the next one doesn’t even faze you. You and Nathan make your way to team A.

It seems Raphael is having more trouble shielding Katherine and Blake. Blake is probably causing enough interference to take away the edge Raphael’s divine magic normally gives him, and you see him pushed to the side as a brick impacts the yellow shimmering shield. Blake triest to stay as far away from him as possible, but he doesn’t dare to exit the bubble himself. Katherine is helping him push further, and it takes longer to group up than you’d have liked. Once you group up, you link up with Raphael, taking some of the burden away from him. Blake takes the center between the two of you, and you manage to stretch the shield out far enough so he affects it as little as possible.

“Sorry about that!” He yells, as the wind starts picking up.

You reach the house without further incident, though you do have to bash down the front door as the wind and flying stoneworks start picking up the pace and you don’t get a reaction from knocking on the door. Of course these people couldn’t invest in a doorbell…

Inside the building, things are much calmer, but the clattering of stone against stone is still loud. You hope no one is on the second floor. You order everyone to fan out and look for people, and to at least seem non-threatening if they encounter anyone. Liam reports that it’s only getting worse outside, and the cars are taking a pelting.

At that moment you find Milly sent you another message, which you quickly skim through.

“I was wrong, it’s not one awakening. It’s four awakenings at once, with an average of 2.5 each.”

That explains how things could be this bad. The first of the kids awakening was probably the catalyst for the others, and with minds so close to each other as siblings, their awakenings are amplifying each other to create one heck of a phenomena. So far it’s only been telekinesis though. You hope you can calm them down before the telepathy and pyrokinesis begin.

“I got people over here!” Nathan says over his com. You quickly head to his location and find the youngest girl of 11 huddled against her mother. Katherine is already there trying to calm them down.

“It’s ok, we’re here to help. Your children are going through something very special, but also very dangerous. We can help them get through it ok though, if you’d just…” It takes a moment, but she manages to convince the mother to let you and your team check on the child. Her eyes are rolling around in their sockets and she is shaking uncontrollably. You immediately notice that the shaking gets less violent when Blake approaches her.

“Do you know where your other children are?” Katherine asks the mother. She shakes her head, tears flowing from her eyes, but after a moment she seems to gather her mind for a moment. “Yes. Sammy and Bobby were going with their father to the field. If they’re not out there… “ she pauses as she takes a deep breath. “They should be in the shed. Tiffany, our eldest, she was tending the animals.”

Katherine thanks the woman, and keeps reassuring her that you’ll do everything you can to help. She seems to calm down to the point where she can actually look after her child for now.

>>38937952
It depends, if blake completely suppresses the target's magic while Raphael can still use his to a lesser degree... Its not optimized, but that doesn't mean not effective. Then again the point stands that someone else who would be unaffected could take the slot. Its situational I suppose.

>>38938020
If there is no need for magical support I guess. Otherwise team A is fine as it is, they just got shitty rolls this time.

>Course of action?
>1. Blake, stay here with the child, we’ll look for the others and bring them here.
>2. Leave them be, Raphael puts a quick protection spell around them. If you neutralise the middle 2 children that should take half of the power out of the storm.
>3. Take everyone with you. It’ll slow you down, but Blake should be able to neutralise all of them together eventually.
>4. Write in.

>Also, whom will you pick up first?
>A. Garage, get father and 2 middle kids.
>B. Animal housing, get the eldest daughter.
>Thanks to random.org, Katherine rolled a 93 in soul.

>>38938074
>3. Take everyone with you. It’ll slow you down, but Blake should be able to neutralise all of them together eventually.
We're walking through the storm, not sprinting. Leaving blake or another will complicate a deadly situation.
>A. Garage, get father and 2 middle kids.
If the anomaly is powered by all 4 then taking in more of them faster is best. Also more worried about the father than farm animals.

>>38938074
>>4. Write in.
sense for the locations of the remaining 3 to ensure they're where the woman guesses them to be. Blake stays with the mother and kid. Katherine, us and raphael go find the 2 clumped together and bring them to Blake.

>>38938074
Based team mom.

>3. Take everyone with you
>A. Let's leave the teen girl for the last I guess, she'll probably take more persuasion too.

I guess Nathan's personal story will help too.

>>38938141
Through the current thrashing of psionic energy, you can't really feel much. Once maybe one or two more of the children are neutralised you might be able to.

>>38938194
damn. well the rest of the plan should still work.

Rolled 26, 71, 55 = 152 (3d100)

>>38938126
>>38938177
>>38938141

2 middle kids first, all together then.
Roll me another mind check. You know the drill.

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>38938332
rollan

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>38938332
Here's hoping for no perils of the warp

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>38938332

>>38938375
>>38938393
Damn, what did you anons sacrifice to the dice gods for this glory?

>>38938418
My right testicle.

>>38938375
>>38938382
>>38938393
Quite the comeback from last time.
Success for both you and Raphael.

>>38938418
Flowers and maize to the great Quetzalcoatl

“Ma’am, are you hurt?” You ask. She shakes her head. “Do you think you can you walk? We’re going to go to the rest of your family and help them. I want you and your daughter to come along. It’ll be the safest.”

“But… The wind? The stones?” She hesitantly asks.

“Leave those to us ma’am. Once we find your other children it should start calming down.”

She gets on her feet, unsteadily at first, but after a moment you feel determination start to radiate from her. She grabs hold of her daughter and you head for the door closest to the garage. “Ma’am, if you could stay close to Mr Bryson here, he’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

This time, the shield is as solid as a rock. Bricks and roof tiles smash against the shield, but they don’t even break. They simply drop to the floor, as if suddenly coming to a stop and realising gravity still existed.You also notice the storm stopped growing. If you gather up the next two it should start dying down.

As you’re halfway to the garage, your com blares to life. “I see movement in the animal housing. I don’t have a clear view, but I think there’s two people there. One male and one female I believe.” An extra man? You wonder what that’s about, but you press on to the garage.

Once there, the mother grabs her keys and opens a side-door for you. The moment you enter you hear sobbing. You follow the sound to a panicking man holding two kids, aged 13 and 15, seemingly having an epileptic attack. He looks scared as he notices you, but notably relaxes as he sees his wife and youngest daughter. Well, not so much relaxes as that he sobs slightly less. You don’t even have to tell Blake anything, he follows the mother at a respectful distance as she falls in her husbands arms, but close enough to affect the children. A very short explanation follows, and from then on Blake is sticking close to the parents and their children.

You notice the storm is losing a lot of its punch. The children are slowly coming to, and you stopped the worst of the awakening before pyrokinesis and telepathy started flying around.

“Sir, there’s… Pink… Hippogryphs. And balloons.” Liam says over comm. He keeps babbling about a happy shiny world of love and joy. Well, so much for no telepathy.

Now though, you have to decide how to do this. There’s an unknown person inside the building together with the eldest daughter, and you have no clue who. No matter what, Blake should stay with the 3 kids for now and the parents out of harms way.

Keeping up the shields shouldn’t be much of a hassle now, but hallucinations seem to have entered the playing field.

>1. Surround the building, enter all at once and get the girl to Blake asap while neutralising the man according to his threat level.
>2. Enter as a group along with the parents and children. Talk before any action is taken.
>3. Write in.

>12, 11, 1 is what Liam rolled to resist the hallucinations. Poor him.

>>38938760
>Surround the building, enter all at once and get the girl to Blake asap while neutralising the man according to his threat level.

>>38938760
Damn I was hoping he'd be out of range of such shenanigans I say enter as a group but that's only because I'm not sure how much defense Raph can provide against telepathic effects

>>38938760
>3. Write in.
Ask the parents if they know who the man is, if they don't then do
>1. Surround the building, enter all at once and get the girl to Blake asap while neutralising the man according to his threat level.

>>38938760
>1. Surround the building, enter all at once and get the girl to Blake asap while neutralizing the man according to his threat level.
Four awakenings in one location, this guy isn't playing. Nonlethal takedown preferably, but leave that to Blake's discretion. If its the teenager''s boyfriend or something she'll be obstinate regardless, if not, well talking is for when we're not being assaulted with storms an hallucinations.

>>38938760
>>38938896
Also is this Liam's hallucination? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I
HAHAHA

>>38938834
You ask Katherine to ask the parents about the man with their daughter, and she quickly comes back to you.

"They don't know about any boyfriend. They strictly forbid any boys before she was 18. They think it might be some stalker or serial killer, but I personally believe the boyfriend theory a lot more." She says.

>>38938896
actually this seems mostly random so talking has a good chance of working. nothing indicates a malicious intent in this.

>>38938760
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wR8FL_2gwI

>>38938959
alright then in that case I'll modify my vote in >>38938834 to be
>3. Surround and enter all at once but see if we can't talk him down

>>38938952
That was actually one of the things that came to mind, yes.

>>38938969
It may be random, the big thing is that there's a possibility of it not being. If everything goes not absolutely terrible it should still be a happy ending though

the children have telekinetic powers so that dude is probably doing the hallucination.

>>38939019
Makes sense, desensitized soldier fighting since his teens. Still funny as hell though, hope he lives down the descriptions he gave over the radio someday. Y'know, assuming we don't TPK when we go in the barn.

>>38939054
During awakenings, subjects can exhibit all types of psionics, but once stabilised they'll drop down to one or two types.

Well, surround and enter seems to have won, but still a large diplomatic part.

Is surrounding and letting Katherine do diplomancy good for everyone? At the first sign of trouble you'll burst in and do a lethal or non-lethal takedown as the situation requires.
When you get the girl, you'll take her to blake asap.

>>38939142
Sounds good, go for it mang.

>>38939142
sounds good to me

>>38939206
>>38939251
Very well, roll me some mind then to resist the hallucinations. These are your team's results:

Nathan had 23 as highest.
Katherine and Raphael both had in the 90’s
Blake had in the 40’s but thanks to his resistance that was still enough to resist.
Liam still only had 36 as highest.

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>38939331
1d100?

>>38939331
noko+dice+1d100

>>38939368
As always, yes.

>>38939394
what the fuck are you doing anon...

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>38939394
fuuck wrong field

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>38939331
You buried the roll info into a sentence.

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>38939331

>>38939331
Wait, I shouldn't have rolled for blake to begin with. he was too far away. Oh well.

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>38939331

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>38939368
>>38939411
>>38939413
>>38939418
damnit dice gods...

>>38939368
>>38939411
>>38939413
Ooh, now this is interesting. Failure. Writing.

>>38939453
dude I think I'm trippin' balls.

>>38939442
These dice are retarded well below average for some reason.

>>38939474
For some reason 4chan dice are tied to the server clock, or something, so they tend to clump

You decide that even if it might just be the boyfriend, the unknown factor of the man there is still a potential risk. You’ll have to brave the hallucinations and split up a bit more than you’d have liked, but you deem it to be less of a risk than simply going in there while a potentially malevolent entity is there.

You leave Blake in the garage with the family, and the mother gives you her key to open the door and nearly begs you to bring her daughter back safe to her. You tell her you’ll do everything you can and leave the building. You and Raphael shield the group from what little flying debris there still is, but the storm seems to have almost died down.

You go around the furthest, though if what Liam said was still accurate back then, probably the part closest to where they were inside, and unlock all the doors you come across on the way there. When you’re all in place and Katherine opens the door, suddenly Nathan joins Liam in babbling about rainbows and pink dancing elephants. Oh joy.

As Katherine enters, you immediately hear shouting inside. You get ready to burst in, but then you realise that it’s actually a frightened teenage boy you hear shouting.

“Help me! I was… She was… We were, you know. And now… HELP!”

Once you’re sure the boy is with Katherine, you enter the building. You see is a naked 16 year old girl floating above a haystack. Her crumpled clothes are lying in a pile to the side, along with the shirt and belt of probably the guy who is standing scared next to Katherine right now, and… Is that a pony?

YES! IT IS! YOU’RE SO HAPPY NOW! YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO RIDE THE RAINBOWS TO LOLLIPOP LAND! MOMMA AND POPPA NEVER ALLOWED YOU TO LEAVE, BUT IT’S SO MUCH FUN HERE! THERE’S MR ELEPHANT AND GRANDMA COW HAVING TEA. LIAM AND NATHAN ARE FROLICKING IN THE MEADOW. YOU JUST CAN’T BELIEVE THIS FEELING OF-

-

When you come to, you’re sitting in the hay. Nathan is sitting next to you, and a very worried Katherine is standing next to you. “Oh, you’re back! Good.” She gives you a warm smile and fills you in on what you missed. Raphael managed to contain the girl’s outbursts, put a cloak over her and only just left to get her to Blake while Katherine put you and Nathan safe in the hay where you couldn’t accidentally hurt yourselves. Your psychic powers made you snap out of it a lot sooner than Nathan will it seems.

The boyfriend more or less got dressed by now. He’s huddled in a corner, scared shitless. “Oh, him?” Katherine says when asked about it. “He tried to run for it. Had to stop him. I think I twisted his arm a bit funny or something, and he stopped protesting.”

The last bits of the storm seemed to have died off while Katherine was doing her explanation. Nathan falls silent and just lies back in the hay, knocked out. A few things are clear. The boy can’t just leave and will have to be delivered to the order. He’d babble about it if you don’t. The parents will probably be ok with getting order help, and while handing off their children might be a bridge too far, you can still try.

>What do?
>1. Get everyone together and talk it out.
>2. Get the boy to the van under Raphael’s surveillance, he can’t leave. For the rest, talk it out.
>3. Take the boy and the children and leave. This doesn’t entirely violate the Order’s rules, but isn’t a behaviour endorsed by them.
>4. Write in.

>>38939737
And that was the last post for today. Do vote for next thread’s start. Probably should have stopped a bit earlier for my own sake but I was having fun.
I’ll archive in a second.
Next thread is probably on Friday, the usual hour.

As always, feel free to ask questions and give criticism. I won’t be sticking around this time but I’ll address any questions at the start of next thread.

>>38939737
>1. Get everyone together and talk it out.
let's allow our Face to diplo the shit out of these parents.

And archived! Cya later people. I enjoyed myself.

>>38939778
She hasn't rolled below 90 in this thread.

>>38939778
seconding

>>38939737
>1. Get everyone together and talk it out.

>>38939737
>1. Get everyone together and talk it out.

>>38939760
thanks for the thread Sup

>>38939852
Thanks for the thread, supervisor.

Great thread, mostly had to lurk but really enjoyed it. The story and premiseares really coming along and are very interesting.

>>38939737
>2. Get the boy to the van under Raphael’s surveillance, he can’t leave. For the rest, talk it out.
The boy is just going to mess up the negotiations with the parents with his panicking and inability to keep his wits about him.
You heard Katherine; he tried to run away at the first chance he got.

No, he needs to be neutralized first before we talk with the parents. Tell them that we're going to talk with his parents after talking with them, to allay their suspicions and fears.
We probably won't, but first and foremost, we need the cooperation of the parents.

Besides, getting caught in the hay, naked, with the farmer's daughter?
We should probably keep the boy away from the girl's daughter just for that.

>>38939737
>>2. Get the boy to the van under Raphael’s surveillance, he can’t leave. For the rest, talk it out.

>>38939737
>2. Get the boy to the van under Raphael’s surveillance, he can’t leave. For the rest, talk it out.
We can decide what to do with him with the girl, but I expect he'll get a brainjob and the girl will have to wait with romantic advances until she masters her gifts. Hell, maybe she even finds some gifted youngster herself.
Although I suppose it could be possible to take him along or give him a choice between signing up and being made to forget, he'll probably choose to bolt anyway.
Also Nathan's testimony might be helpful in convincing.

>>38939852
based team mom. Why did the husband leave her anyway?