(Grey Hoods) What's a Cult

[Saber Sloth]

The Lost travel back down from the side street with the girl who firmly closed the door as soon as Titania's foot cleared the door, then from behind the door, after the lost heard the locks click, they hear her scream "Leave faster!"

Eventually their steps lead them towards that sharp turn into the alley proper, then passed where the Stag Effigy had been. Then the last few steps out from the alley, heading left to the mentioned shop.

It's a soft coral sand colour, with warm wood accents, matching the stairs leading up to the heavy wooden door, currently propped open with a cinder block. The large window facing the road is clear and obviously freshly cleaned. On the large window painted in a cursive is 'Little Ice Cream and Soda Shoppe'

Hung up near some hanging flower planters is a heart shaped sign, with more pretty cursive declaring to the world that the shop was 'Open'.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit let Titania's remark about bad publicity slide - he didn't know if she was taking it literally again and he didn't have the nerves to discuss secrecy with the Spring Courtier right now.

Once seeing the shop, he stopped and furrowed his brows. This wasn't what he had expected - then again, what cult hideout looked like a cult hideout? He turned to Titania. "Okay, so here's where I'm at. I think we definitely should go in and see what we can find out. Maybe - and that's a big maybe - find a way to get to the surveillance tapes and delete or destroy them." Clearly, technology's innovations for surveillance had gone right over the Ogre's head. "I also think you'd be a great help with this. Are you in?" Maybe it was the annoyance, maybe it was his Ogre blood boiling, but without fully realizing it Gerrit slipped into a more active role.

While talking to Titania he stole cursory glances to the shop every now and then, hoping that his half-assed attempt at scrutiny was enough.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-03-30 01:57:44	Gerrit rolls 5 to look for anything out of place (Int 3 + Invest 2) (10 Again)	4, 3, 1, 3, 2	failure

Equipment: Backpack - Hammer and screwdriver (wrapped in a piece of cloth/rag), first aid kit, notepad and pens. Yamiyo's Mace.



Contracts: Shadowpatch (+3 to stealth rolls)

[Titania]

"It's not the tapes we should be worrying about", she whispers following him, "after all we did nothing wrong this time around. It's the witnesses that are going to be a problem to handle".
"But of course I'll help"

[Gerrit]

Gerrit nodded. Titania was right, but he didn't want to leave anything to chance. Maybe he was being more of a Winter Courtier than he thought.

"I hope the others are on the witness' tail, I don't think we can track those down at the moment. What we do can is get in there and have a look around. We should stick to one story - maybe something as simple as wanting to buy some ice cream will do it. I'd let you do the talking if you don't mind. Any other ideas I should know about?"

Equipment: Backpack - Hammer and screwdriver (wrapped in a piece of cloth/rag), first aid kit, notepad and pens. Yamiyo's Mace.



Contracts: Shadowpatch (+3 to stealth rolls)

[Titania]

"Of course I can buy you gelato. No worries", she winks, taking the lead toward the parlor.

[Saber Sloth]

Titania more focused on her informing Rhodes of what they'd found, doesn't check out the parlor past the cursory inspection. Gerrit, of a more suspicious mind, looks and finds nothing but what is portrayed.

The Ice Cream Shoppe stand innocently, through the window they can see customers wondering from the pay till to the pick up counter. Others oohing over the flavours, bent over inspecting what's on offer.

Nothing seems out of place, not even the second story window where if he looks up, he can see the girl in the doorway glaring down at them.

The duo take the stairs, feeling solid and well crafted underfoot. Through the propped open door they hear soft music, from the top 100 chart. Customers are chatting, softly over their ice cream, or milkshakes.

On a wall, there is a sign proudly proclaiming the ice cream to be all made in house.

There seems to only be one guy working. Who's currently scooping mind green ice cream into a waffle cone for someone bouncing near the pick up counter.

[Titania]

She shuts down the conversation, then she joins Gerrit in his examination. The place seems so mundane... wait, the Gelato is made in house.
Organic!?
She stares at the display, her hands over the glass, with the expression of a child in a candy store.

[Gerrit]

With Titania being done on the phone and with nothing suspicious that he'd noticed, they could proceed. A small voice in the back of his head kept insisting that he wasn't really sure what he was doing, be he silenced it. Gain information, see where to go from there. The shop itself seemed normal - so normal that he couldn't help but wonder if they had been set up by.. a little girl? No, that's not possible.

He stayed near Titania, hoping to give off the impression of two good friends checking out a new place. If he was lucky, people wouldn't look too closely - someone as beautiful as her had little reason to hang out with him, so he was sure that that story had no way to pass closer scrutiny. While she drew the attention with her acting (and Gerrit had to applaud her for the enthusiasm in the face of the adversity) he looked around the store. Was there something out of place, an easily accessible door to the back or anything else they could work off of?

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-04-01 00:40:41	Gerrit rolls 5 to examine the shop (Int 3 + Invest 2) (10 Again)	3, 2, 2, 7, 8	1 success

After his first assessment he turned back to the Fairest. "Huh, everything here looks good. Have you decided yet?"

Equipment: Backpack - Hammer and screwdriver (wrapped in a piece of cloth/rag), first aid kit, notepad and pens. Yamiyo's Mace.



Contracts: Shadowpatch (+3 to stealth rolls)

[Saber Sloth]

With a closer look, nothing appears to be amiss. Not even the connecting wall where outside of the shop, the Effigy Tag had taken up residence, nor did the wall show the same signs of fire damage and glass shrapnel.

The Lost stepping up to the till when the worker behind the counter hands off the cone to excited customer waiting at the pick up window, and makes his own way to the till, with it's cheery Order & Pay Here sign, hanging from the ceiling, over the till.

"Hi, what can I get for you guys?" cheerfully asked, with an easy smile on his face.

[Titania]

"The house's best", she shouts excited, clapping her hands once.
"The largest cones you have. And don't be stingy", she says smiling, giving the guy a thumbs up.