Finding the Chapter

[Aaron van Valen]

'Ugh,' it was not like Aaron expected anything good, but this was definitely bad. 'Male. Human. Disgusting. Tastes like vagrant.'

He looks up at Lina, 'Careful going up. Someone or something seems to have flung the owner of this blood downstairs.' As the eerie atmosphere grows stronger, the Lord nervously tightens his jacket even more. He still has the flashlight he got loosely in his left hand, but he's not really using it.

Then he follows his fellow Dragon upstairs. On the upper floor, he's still looking for something that points towards the supernatural. All aside of that one room with the flickering light... if it's just one room.

And where is this fucking sink.

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-22 05:02:35		Aaron van Valen rolls 5 to Investigation forever! (Wits 3 + Inv 2) (10 Again)		10, 8, 10, 9, 7, 6, 4		4 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

Floor boards creak. Dust and plaster slips from the ceiling as they pass.

The upper floor is in the same disarray as the ground floor: empty rooms with cracked and stained walls; crumbling plaster; odd pieces of furniture or mouldering signs of squatting. Here and there, large holes pock-mark the walls; fittings have been torn out, trailing electrical conduit like writhing serpents - some still spark and sputter in the turgid air.

Smell of dust and ozone.

The upper floor is quite a labyrinth and turns out to be difficult to navigate. Fortunately, the two Kindred are working together and thanks to Lina's methodical approach, they don't quite get turned about.

They find one room near the back with peculiar burn stains on the floor and walls. There is more of the curious hybrid gang tag / hobo trail sign here. A single line of symbols, repeated feverishly by multiple hands (different writing styles).

At length, they find themselves back on the landing and make for that front room. Once it must have been a library because of the number of shelves and abused book cases. Not many books now - so many tomes have been reduced to yellowing paper on the floor. This room has been habited.

A camp fire sits messily in the middle of the room. Fortunately it is not lit and is little more than a large pile of wood and ash. Two sleeping bags are arranged around it. Surrounding the camp is a pile of food remains (wrappers, cans, bags, etc). A pile of wood (wood fall, mostly). Then there are the mannikins - and parts of mannikins. One wares in a formal dress and is positioned by the window. Another, sans arm and leg and with its head around the wrong way, is positioned in one of the sleeping bags. A stained pile of Mills and Boon sit next to the other sleeping bag. There is a line of barbie dolls taking up space on one of the ruined shelves.

[Aaron van Valen]

As it seems the place is abandoned after all - at this moment - eeriness makes place for a growing interest. That is, someone might be hiding. But the Lord is quite focused on other things.

'Hmmm, let me think...' for some reason, he does not expect these signs to be related to anything he ever studied. But perhaps the people here were not their everyday vagrants. Probably not. And the burn patterns worry him too. Was some kind of ritual done here? Or are they signs of a fight? A stake had been found here - had other vampires been attacked with fire?

While Lina investigates the other room, Aaron keeps thinking about what they've seen previously. How does this all add up?

And where is a Mekhet when you need one?

I'm a bit confused about the light. Is it still there? Like a flickering electric light. Or does it seem like the fire has just been put out?

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-23 06:59:16		Aaron van Valen rolls 9 to recognize possible occult symbols (Int + Occ) (10 Again)		5, 1, 9, 5, 1, 10, 8, 4, 6, 5		3 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

CLARIFICATION: The light was coming from the library and it is still on. An annoying flickering light that refuses to either go dark, short out, or turn fully on.

The camp fire is out and cool; the plentiful ash indicates that it has been in use recently. The sleeping bags are cool. Nothing appears to connect the mannikins. The barbie dolls are relatively new and have been cleaned, washed, dressed, and well looked after. The books are bent and yellowed: there are a mix of names of their inside covers - mostly from book banks and other places where such things are recycled.

Lina tries to find the source of the ozone stench, only to come to the conclusion it has permeated the air of the entire floor (maybe the full house). She cannot find a source, though she does find a room where the ceiling has been thoroughly smashed and electrical conduit hangs down like vines - still sparking. Yet the only "active" light is in the library.

The burning stain poses other problems. While the walls, ceiling, and floor are stained there are no immediate signs of fire damage.

While Lina examines the upper floor (finding no secret passages and figuring that either there is nothing to find or someone stripped anything of value - both mundane and possibly of Supernatural interest) Aaron tries to piece together the paucity of evidence.

There is something going on here. Floating through his mind are vague reports of similar finds: burn marks in wastelands far from human habitation just like what he finds in that room; a perfectly preserved room in a burned out shell with similar stains seared into it; rumours of a recording from an East European academy taken from a burning bush and then lost in a catastrophic fire...

[Aaron van Valen]

The Dragon Lord is immensely intrigued about the whole situation. How to solve this mystery? And more specifically, how to solve it without the clear guidance of his mentor.

He crosses his arms, pacing around the room. 'There is something about this place…' First of all, he decides to take a closer look at the books. To see if there is even any hidden occult books, or perhaps just a common cultural theme in the small collection. 'But I really hope it will not stop us from leaving somehow. I think, I remember rumors of a lost academy somewhere in Eastern Europe that showed similar signs. Could this have been an academy? There were most likely vampires here, if the stake stories are true. It could clarify why there are no bodies... but then there would also not necessarily be blood.'

Though, could some mystical energy be keeping this light on? And… defend the whole place against intruders? Then again, something mysterious like that has no need for sleeping bags and a campfire. Whatever is going on, it seems powerful and the Dragon Lord should be able to sense it.

'Good thinking, I'll need a moment in this room.' First Aaron studies the interior, specifically how things are organized: perhaps there are ways he would similarly arrange the space - would he want to enhance the mystical energy or use a certain resonance. Or perhaps it seems like it had been this way.

Then, as Lina attempts to see if there are other footsteps around, Aaron stays to focus on the room itself. He closes his eyes to focus on his inner self, hoping his Dragon senses would start tingling if he'd be standing on some sort of Wyrm's Nest.

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-25 20:27:05		Aaron van Valen rolls 6 to Sense some sort of Wyrm's Nest (Int 4 + Occult 5 + Specialty - 4 working conditions/lack of equipment) (10 Again)		3, 5, 10, 9, 6, 7, 6		2 successes
2018-06-25 20:25:05		Aaron van Valen rolls 10 to Recognize geomantic nexus - Int + Occ + specialty (10 Again)		3, 3, 10, 8, 7, 1, 8, 6, 8, 3, 3		4 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

There are tracks!

The floor is very dusty, now that Lina takes the time to carefully examine it. Not just general rubbish and furniture fragments; not just from crumbling plaster; there is also a thick later of grit, sand, humous, and heavy grained dirt particles. If the building had been abandoned in a desert landscape this would have made more sense, but not on the outskirts of a city.

The tracks take a while to decipher. Lina has to work out their tracks before she can make an assessment of the others. It would appear that over time, a number of... persons... have passed through the building. Nearly all of them have visited the room with the burn marks. Only two sets of prints head to the library like they have done - and quite recently by the look of it.

Of those prints: one is unshod (a small, dainty, foot); the other print is of a huge boot (a giant by the same and shape of the boot).

While Lina demonstrates her tracking skills, Aaron demonstrates why he is probably one of the highest skilled Geomancers that the Ordo can call upon in the American continents. Despite a complete lack of tools, equipment, or even maps, the Lord can still deduce that the site is a Wyrm Nest. A fontal nest - but given the negative vibes suddenly shivering through his Beast, perhaps a perilous nest would be the better term.