Investigation #5: Joker, Roy, & Mac: The Haunting of 601 North E Street

[GreyWolfVT]

Roy goes upstairs to investigate further.

[Taaz]

Jason twists one side of his face in concentration, Uhh lets seem, the moons waxing gibbous so.... he scans the book, At least it looks like that a positive phase. I swear it seems like someone was already protecting this site from something.

[Scott308]

Lionel "Freight Train" Williams

After taking a moment to get some fresh air and clear his head, if everything seems normal outside, Lionel will head back inside.

Cool: [2d6] = 9; Ghost Die: [1d6] = 1
Cool: [2d6] = 9; Ghost Die: [1d6] = 4

[Bluehorse]

The Haunting of 601 North E Street
You've got that eerie feeling.September 10, 2018, 1:00 pm
Unnaturally Cold Inside - Windy outside - Rolling thunder

Mac follows Lionel out to the patio where they get a good look at the back yard.  There are a lot of overgrown plants and the entire property, though lovely, needs some TLC.  Even a quick run of a lawnmower would be good for it.  There are gardens that you can see were once immaculate but have fallen deeply into neglect.  There are metal and stone seats here and there where you can easily picture people visiting outside in the beauty that was once here.  There are a few small statues here and there decorating the area which also seems to be deteriorating to rain and moss.

Mac is the first to notice that there are voices on the wind... it is impossible to make out what is being said, but you can tell they are out there.

Lionel gets a good look around the gardens from their vantage point but something is just too unnerving about the statues and rolling thunder.  It is about the time he is getting his nerve back in the right mindset that he hears a screech and before he can see what it is there is an orange cat latched onto his calf!

Damage: [1d6] = 4

Luckily? As Lionel reflexively leaned down to grab at his leg, he is able to spot the phantom arms that reach out to grab at him from behind.  When the arms miss, Mac and Lionel see the phantom figure receding into the wall with a hiss.

Joker checks his readings and sees there has indeed been a large shift in the energy in and around the house.  The energy coming from the book seems to have become dormant, or at least now self-contained.  The field traveling through the house is very weakened and seems to have lost its potency.  

Joker will also notice that there is a fresher energy field now blanketing the house and property.  It is not as strong as the original, but so far nothing negative charged seems to be leaking through but just barely.  This new energy field is just managing to hold things in place.
Speaking of the negative energies... They seem to be moving about within the house much more easily now.  In the same moment, he realizes this, the house itself seems to shutter with a short tremor and there is a distinct echo of whispered laughter from the floors above as well as the sounds of footsteps and something dropping to the floor.

Jason continues looking at the page in the book he turned to and speculate what might be going on.  Connecting what it says to what the current moon phase is; however, with the sudden shift in energy within the house it becomes clear he has broken some kind of binding on the book, likely from the string itself.

Roy Heads upstairs to the 2nd floor.  He finds himself on a landing in the hallways and can clearly see the stairs turn and head up to yet another floor of the house.  From this point, he can see that he is in a section of the house with what are likely bedrooms.  All the doors are shut and he can see nothing else other than the hall area between them.  He does hear what sounds like an echo of laughter around him but it doesn't seem to come from a particular direction.  There is a crash from behind the door to the north that is closest to you.

Map

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Inventory:   

Ecto: 1 Proton Packs, 1 PKE Extention for Phones, 1 Slime Blower, 1 Sniffer
======================================================================
Jason: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap
Lionel: Ecto Keys, Phone, Proton Pack, Trap.
Roy: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap, Ecto Goggles - M
Joker: Phone, PKE Extention, Proton Pack, PKE - A, 2 Traps, Ecto Goggles - M
Mac: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap, Ecto Goggle - A.

Brownie Point Spending:
Mac: -6 Rolls
Joker: -1 Roll
Lionel: -4 Damage

Actions?
Brownie Point Pool:
Dr. Jason O'Roarke: 214/214 @@
Lionel 'Freight Train' Williams: 178/188 @
Roy O'Dowd: 157/157 @@
Dzjokar "Joker" Jelal 256/260 @
David "Mac" McAuslan 169/191 @

@ = One free re-roll without ghost die.  Merry Christmas 2019 & 2020!

[Urson]

Joker
Joker frowns at his data. I wish you had not opened the book, Jason. You appear to have unplugged something. We need to get it restarted. Now
Joker raises his voice to shout to the rest of the team. Please check the outside! Is containment holding?

[GreyWolfVT]

Roy heads back downstairs and goes outside to see if anything has changed.

[Rex]

Mac

"We should probably rejoin the others."

[Bluehorse]

Roy heads back downstairs and goes outside to see if anything has changed.

heading through which door?

[GreyWolfVT]

Roy heads back downstairs and goes outside to see if anything has changed.

heading through which door?

front door.

[Taaz]

Craaaaap, Jason closes the book and looks around for anything he can use to bind it back up.

Just let me know what to roll, Id think ...cool?

[Bluehorse]

Roy heads back downstairs and goes outside to see if anything has changed.

heading through which door?

front door.

Roy rushes down the stairs and out the front door. There is cloudy skies, high winds, thunder...

Chanting witches in a line holding hands around the sidewalk surrounding two sides of the house...

Most all of them are younger women though there are some older ones here and there. You see all types, not really fitting into a particular cliche, any of them could pass as a normal woman if alone but all together, there is no doubt as to what they are. Though you do see most of them wear black or darker colors, and though most wear hats, you only see a couple of the conical ones, and there are a couple that wear mostly or purely white. One of them is the redhead you remember from earlier. Roy sees that the line starts in the northeast corner of the property and circles around the corner, he can see 12 to 13 of them from the front porch but you can be sure there are more wrapped around the other side. They are all staring at the house and chanting, though you cannot make it out.

Craaaaap, Jason closes the book and looks around for anything he can use to bind it back up.

Just let me know what to roll, Id think ...cool?

I can make that easy. No string. This apartment is pretty clean. No present tenants. Jason will also remember the idea of a binding of an object requiring a ritual, not just string.

[GreyWolfVT]

Roy turns about around and goes to the front door and yells a warning to the others. "Guys we best get out of the house there are a bunch of people out here chanting and doing something casting a spell i guess!"

[Urson]

Joker
Joker takes a knee, starting to remove a shoelace. He stops when the warning comes about the civilians chanting, and goes back to his instrument readings. Are the readings changing?

Brains roll +1 BP: [5d6] = 14 ghost [1d6] = 5

[Bluehorse]

Joker
Joker takes a knee, starting to remove a shoelace. He stops when the warning comes about the civilians chanting, and goes back to his instrument readings. Are the readings changing?

Brains roll +1 BP: [5d6] = 14 ghost [1d6] = 5

Nothing different from the previous reading.

[Taaz]

Id suggest we study this somewhere a bit less dangerous at the moment Joker, Jason says standing up and heading towards Roy.

[Bluehorse]

Giving Lionel until tomorrow night to post before I move us forward

[Scott308]

Lionel "Freight Train" Williams

Feeling the sharp claws in his leg, Lionel looks down to see the cat attached to it. Kitty! It's dangerous to be here right now; I don't blame you for being scared. He reaches down to pick up and protect the cat from the ghost that has clearly terrified the poor animal. He will comfort his ward whether the cat wants it or not.

The combination of Lionel not being very bright and having cats as a weakness...

[Urson]

Joker
Joker nods, roughly re-tying his boot. Rather than leaving the room, he studies his readings, attempting to find the exact frequency of the containing energies.

Brains roll [8d6] = 25 ghost [1d6] = 3 brains +3 BP

[Bluehorse]

The Haunting of 601 North E Street
You've got that eerie feeling.September 10, 2018, 1:05 pm
Unnaturally Cold Inside - Windy outside - Rolling thunder

Joker quickly realizes that opening the book was a mistake as the containment field on and around the house is severely weakened.  Though, seemingly just in time, something seems to be feeding it.  An external force of fresh energy that shores up the field but not as effectively as before.  

When he realizes this, he calls for the other three teammates to have a look outside and tell him if the containment field appears to be holding,  Roy rushes down the stairs to have a look outside, stepping out the front door and sees there are women out front, clasping hands and chanting.  They start at the northeast corner of the property and wrap around the house along the sidewalk.  They all chant in unison and unmoving despite the wind and thunder outside.  He cannot understand whatever it is that he hears but the air feels... heavy.  Oppressive.

Roy, Please roll for cool

Jason looks for a piece of string out of desperation and Joker offers his bootlaces but the idea is quickly discarded when Jason remembers that a binding for an object requires a full ritual they haven't the means to do at the moment.

Joker tries to take a reading and what he sees is that though the frequency of whatever is shoring up the containment is very close to the same, it is also distinctly different.  It is like two radio frequencies playing over one another and there is feedback from both.  There are also forces from without as well as from within that are working in opposition to the containment.  In short, this is a PKE mess right now, and Joker has to wonder if the house can take it for long.

As if on queue, everyone in and around the house can hear it groaning as old wood becomes strained before flexing back.  That might not all be the wind at work.

To answer Joker's inquiry on the readings:  The main frequency is 42.  The new frequency is 44.  The opposing frequencies within and without of the house are -24.

Mac suggests that they rejoin the others as the wind rustles loudly through the leaves of the trees and Lionel yelps in pain only to turn around. Kitty! to the orange cat latched onto his calf.  Both men will see that the green eyes have no pupils just before Mac sees Lionel narrowly moved out of the way as a pair of arms swiped for him before dissolving back into the wall of the house.

There is another loud rumble of thunder and the ground shakes for about 2 seconds.

The wind, as well as the chanting outside, pick up, growing louder.

M & L:  Along with whatever else you want to do, please roll me a cool each.

Everyone:  I need to know who is actively using their goggles and not at a given time.  I am assuming not unless told differently.  And it can make a difference like when the guys were in the dining room.  If everyone could make a note in their actions for when they are in use or not, it would be a big help since I am having to try to track battery power as well as what you can perceive and what you can't.

Map

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I am adding the Spellbook to Jason's Inventory since he is holding it and tentatively putting the HexBag in Joker's if there is no objection or if he wants to leave it in the panel.

Inventory:   

Ecto: 1 Proton Packs, 1 PKE Extention for Phones, 1 Slime Blower, 1 Sniffer
======================================================================
Jason: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap, Old Spellbook
Lionel: Ecto Keys, Phone, Proton Pack, Trap.
Roy: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap, Ecto Goggles - M
Joker: Phone, PKE Extention, Proton Pack, PKE - A, 2 Traps, Ecto Goggles - M, Hex Bag
Mac: Phone, Proton Pack, Trap, Ecto Goggle - A.

Brownie Point Spending:
Joker: -4 to Rolls

Actions?
Brownie Point Pool:
Dr. Jason O'Roarke: 214/214 @@
Lionel 'Freight Train' Williams: 178/188 @
Roy O'Dowd: 157/157 @@
Dzjokar "Joker" Jelal 252/260 @
David "Mac" McAuslan 169/191 @

@ = One free re-roll without ghost die.  Merry Christmas 2019 & 2020!

[GreyWolfVT]

Cool: [4d6] = 16 G:[1d6] = 5