PRP - A little bit of Hocus Pocus Part 1

**Corn** · Aug 18th, 2022 04:28 PM

"There are several threads to follow," Corn said looking at Puck , hoping the Acanthus saw more or was better able to tell what was more important, "not sure which is best. Also, I am bad with names, what is yours, if I may ask?" he said to both mages.
"As for skillset... " how can I say 'I can speak with ghosts?' Corn thought. "... I guess what you could expect of people like us. I am also not bad in noticing clues. There are a few other things in my toolkit but such a discussion could wait for the car, if we go to the bookstore or the restaurant.

On the other hand, we are here, now. Google can tell us much and if I need to, I have some clout around here; enough for security to buy a story of me accompanying students around, if I sell it well. I would prefer to avoid talking to security though. " how can I say, they would use my name? he thought and draw a blank. He pulled up his phone and typed something; a moment later a message appeared to both Witch 's and Puck 's phones, if they had them with them.

Security knows me by name

spells and effects

**Puck** · Aug 20th, 2022 01:38 PM

"One of the ladies I was eavesdropping might know someone who knew one of the victims."

He wasn't sure if that was relevant or not when Puck could see through time and space. He even got a rote recently to facilitate that.

"I think the big priority right now is finding the when and where of the murders. Once we know that I can peak pretty reliably to see what exactly is happening. I can talk to people if it's needed though."

From there they could even theoretically speak to the victims, although Puck wasn't able to do so personally.

"How comfortable are you guys with splitting up? I definitely want to focus on the when and where first. I know some papers have been reporting the incidents recently so we can probably try some google fu and get when the victims were found. That or the school library."

Also? Definitely not in carefree mode. That's just a facade to make people talk to him. Like how a grifter seems trustworthy when he's leaving with your money? That, but Puck prefers trades to fraud

Puck is listening as Corn spoke. His brow furrows in confusion when the Mystogogue says he has clout but doesn't want to use it, rolling his eyes when Corn texts instead of speaking. He pulls out his phone, and furrowed eyebrows bounce up in shock at what he was reading.

"Dude," His attention returns to Corn, mouth agape in surprise at what he just read. "Why are you using your real name at all?"

Seriously, it's pretty easy for Puck to get it now that he knows where to look.

"You can call me Connor Ellis, but that's a pen name I use for the Bee."

Never use your True Name in public. Period. That's Mage 101.

stats

**Witch** · Aug 21st, 2022 07:07 AM

"Wait wait wait..." Witch felt her phone buzz in her pocket but didn't jump to read it. One because she could figure out what it entailed from the way Corn sent it and Puck reacted.

But more importantly, two because- "Murders?" Her voice was pitched low, but it didn't lessen the wtf tone it came with.

"All I heard was missing students. All male, cards in bedrooms, no trace found and then the stuff we got today. Before we split up, and yeah- I'm fine with it, I want what other details you have on this situation."

Stats

Equipment

**Apollo** · Aug 23rd, 2022 05:44 AM

Response to Corn's Discord question

**Corn** · Aug 24th, 2022 06:23 AM

"I think we could cover more ground split up, but more pairs of eyes and ears may catch more. So... consider me neutral on the split up. I could try to get you entrance to the dorms, saying you are cousins of a friend of mine in college and you are checking the facilities and dorms, exploring your options for studying here. There we may find something, a personal possession from a missing student etc that would help. As for skillset, I can open locks."
Witch at least seemed young enough to pass for a student.

"I could also get us to the chess club's meeting room, if the rumors are true.
We could also take a look at the bookstore in question for ... " how do you say ghosts? "... lingering echoes from the event. Not that the bookstore would be happy if we tried to mention disappearances but we, I mean someone other than me, can try to do it diplomatically.
But in any case, I think we should check what is available through google, pictures of the students, facebook posts, friends etc. "

**Puck** · Aug 24th, 2022 07:57 PM

And this is what happens when you jump to conclusions...

"Sorry, assumption based on something unrelated. Just missing."

The Libertines from San Fran had planted a degree of paranoia regarding missing persons that apparently still haunted Puck's thinking. Most of them were definitely dead, and also not relevant to the current situation. You know what is related?

"I heard someone mention a girl in glasses that knew one of the victims. Antisocial type. Might be a lead, but that's all I got so far. Some stuff was reported by other papers though so google fu at the library might be the best place to start. Names and pictures would be best, but a last place and time they were seen would be a great plan b for my talents. It'd be a lot more concrete then following random gossip around campus."

Also? A lot less conspicuous for a thirty something. He already can't believe how young some of the people around him looked, and he doubted very much he would be comfortable inspecting a dormitory or club house. Sure, he was a reporter, but there was a potential ick factor he wasn't sure about.

stats

**Witch** · Aug 25th, 2022 10:08 AM

"Ok," comes the mollified but not fully believing yet response to the walk back.

Whistling she shakes her head, "Cops would kill for this many leads." Ticking the list of her fingers with pauses to allow for the others to correct/add details.

"Last seen location for one.
Chess club connection for all.
Bookstore hangout spot.
Details on a friend-slash-fellow student"

"So- hit up the internet, try to find some details. Then maybe a split up? I don't mind going to maybe talk to the Chess Club, I think I can swing a story. And if you two wanna head to either the restaurant or the bookstore? Then we can reconvene and compare notes." Glances between the two for approval/rejection.

Stats

Equipment

**Corn** · Aug 26th, 2022 03:18 PM

"Some google-fu seems a good place to start. The library can give us some privacy, and once we have names and something more solid, I could check the registry of the departments the students were members of or make some inquiries from my fellow assistants and graduate students, or go with Connor to the bookstore or restaurant. But I think I should check around the campus to see what the assistants and the secretariat are willing to share to a familiar face and there are some graduate students that spend a lot of time here; they would have some gossip."

Corn, after some library checks to see who is who, is willing to use his status and contacts in the uni (I have both status and contacts) to get access to not-so-public information. It would be a shame to not use this contacts.

spells and effects

**Witch** · Aug 30th, 2022 08:13 AM

A brief nose wrinkle. Privacy? At a library (a school one to boot) computer? Well, maybe this one was different.

"Lead the way," she said with a gesture to Corn . He was the one with the knowledge of the school after all.

At the library, she punched at the keys and scrolled through the sites. She knew what she was looking for and "missing" wasn't one of the keywords she used.

She wanted details on the Chess Club. A member list would be ideal of course. But baring that ... a recruitment post/flyer/etc would be almost as nice. It would have meet up times and more importantly, meet up locations.

Per Xander 's post I went ahead and pushed forward with Witch.

2 successes

Stats

Equipment

**Corn** · Aug 30th, 2022 03:17 PM

Corn, after a few nice words with the elderly librarian to direct students in need of a computer to different parts of the library, turned on the computer and familiarized himself with the missing people; he also checked their social media accounts to see if they had any common contacts or friends or if any patterns would emerge aside of the chess club (going to the same restaurant perhaps? made the same new friends?).
Afterwards, while the others were still looking, he used the connections he has built in the uni the past 2 years. It pays to be friendly with the janitors after all, or to know which of the faculty were into gossip or remembering the birthday of the grandkids of the head secretary.

As he crosses the corridors and offices, he puts up his speak with the dead sight, in case there was a ghost that seemed more out of place than usual.

For speak with the dead:

1 success

For the investigation:

1 success

spells and effects

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-08-30 08:07:48	Witch rolls 6 to HP Investigation (Int+Investigation) (10 Again)	9, 2, 6, 1, 8, 4	2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-08-30 15:13:16	Corn rolls 5 to Gnosis+Death (10 Again)	2, 4, 10, 3, 5, 6	1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-08-30 15:15:10	Corn rolls 6 to Wits+inv+1 (contacts - status) (10 Again)	7, 2, 5, 3, 9, 3	1 success

PRP - A little bit of Hocus Pocus Part 1

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