[IC]Prologue 0.1: The Beginning - Lima, March 1921

[Raiko]

Inside Room 14 - Hotel España - Lima, Peru
4:25pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

Someone has packed in a hurry before leaving this room; the doors of the empty wardrobe are still open, a dozen coat hangers lay scattered all over the floor nearby, empty drawers have been left pulled out of the bedside cabinet, there is a well-worn sock and a crumpled shirt left forgotten on the carpeted floor.

The sheets of the unmade bed are soaked with sweat and the whole room reeks of stale sweat and vomit.

SUCCESSFUL SPOT HIDDEN IN ROOM 14,There is an empty glass vial in the waste basket. It is labelled "Heroina"

Jackson walks to the door and opens it to let Sánchez and the others into Room 14, it wasn't locked.

"Looks like nobody's home."

[Anatomist]

Inside Room 14 - Hotel España - Lima, Peru
4:25pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

"Looks like nobody's home."

"What a mess..." Dr.Sánchez looks around

Spot Hidden 60% - Hard success,[dice]0[/dice]

"There is an empty glass vial in the waste basket. It is labelled as Heroin. Seems Larkin has a drug problem that can explain the bed smell, that thing reeks..."

[kabukiman]

"What do we do now? Try to discover if he is in another hotel?"- says Anderson a bit discouraged.

[Raiko]

"The pyramid is at the core of this cult's activities, I'm convinced," says Jackson, "If we can locate the ruins, I hope we can gather enough information to end or disrupt their activities. Even if we cannot locate Larkin and de Mendoza, exposing the cult will save lives."

He winks and grins, "Plus locating the pyramid will be great for my book - and we could all still get rich."

[jp1885]

Meanwhile, back at the Hotel Maury

The Quechua man nodded. "Si. I watch you while others go talk with Larkin." he said.

Cynthia grins. "I guess you've drawn the short straw, huh?"
She stiffly eases herself off the bed, before espying her things. "Ah, the good professor has brought up my stuff - peachy!" She quickly picks up an bundle of clothes and disappears into the bathroom. "Be right back!"
A few minutes later Cynthia emerges, happy to be in her own clothes - a practical shirt, jacket and slacks ensemble, garnished with some sturdy boots. Suddenly a look of panic crosses her face. "Where is it!?"
She rifles through her satchel, pushing aside various items before sighing with relief. She fishes out a battered photograph and tucks it into a small purse, which in turn goes into an inside jacket pocket. "Can't leave ma and pa behind..."
She smiles apologetically as she slams a magazine into her pistol and flicks on the safety catch, before shoving it into another inside pocket. "Just in case eh?"
Cynthia sits down, fidgets for a few minutes and then stands back up. "So while the others are out playing sleuth, shall we do a bit of investigating ourselves?" She reaches for the phone. "I'm going to call up the manager and see if he can shed any light on this mysterious Larkin guy."

[jp1885]

OOC:   Are the book and golden artefact still in the hotel room? If so, Cynthia hides them under the mattress, just in case.

[Raiko]

Larkin's Room - Hotel España

OOC,[ooc][quote="Anatomist"] so maybe the balcony must be investigated?[/quote][/ooc]

Sánchez sees that although the French windows of Larkin's room are closed, they aren't latched and so they could easily have been closed from the balcony.

[Raiko]

John's Room- Hotel Maury

After placing the golden artefact and the notebook under the mattress Cynthia phones down to the reception to talk to the hotel manager.

She has to wait for a couple of minutes before she can speak to him, but eventually he comes to the phone.

<<Hello, how can I be of assistance today?>>

OOC,[ooc]The artefact is certainly still at the Hotel Maury. I'm not so sure about Trinidad's notebook, Amy might still be carrying that. EDIT: Jackson had it, so it's left here with the artefact.[/ooc]

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, that would explain why Larkin appeared to be ill," says Amy. "We still need to find de Mendoza's room. Which room was his? Could it be Room 13? It would make sense if they had a connecting door."

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (60% skill) in Room 14: [dice]0[/dice] I believe [b]Jackson[/b] took the notebook from [b]Amy[/b] back at our hotel. He would still have it unless he left it there.

[Anatomist]

Dr. Sánchez quickly investigates the balcony of room 14 and looks for a door to room 15.

failed Spot Hidden 60%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Raiko]

Larkin's Room - Hotel España

"Yes the adjoining door was wide open," says Jackson, "So surely de Mendoza had that room."

"Perhaps Larkin was observing the museum? That would explain de Mendoza's body vanishing. Subterfuge is more likely than immortality. Then knowing the game is up, he returned here, told the lady he did not want to be observed and left by the balcony?"

[Silver Priest]

"Why would Larkin have need for De Mendoza's body though? Loathe as I am to think the maniac's still alive, I don't see why Larkin would risk incriminating himself by retrieving him.

"In any event, seems we're too late to stop him. All we can do is try and beat them to the pyramid."

[Raiko]

Dr. Sánchez sees that the balconies of rooms 13 and 14 are over the flat roof of the adjacent building, it would be easy to escape over the side and down the other building's fire escape.

Room 15 is some distance away, paired with room 16. It is kind of like there's three small bungalows on the rooftop terrace, each made up of two rooms - 13&14; 15&16; 17&18.

[Raiko]

"I agree ,we must attempt to beat Larkin to the pyramid "

"As for the body, well we saw with our own eyes that de Mendoza was not human. So perhaps he is not dead. Removing hard evidence of the existance of the kharisiri and perpetuating the myth that they are unkillable would also serve the cult though."

"We shall see, I prefer to hope that these monsters are at least mortal beings"

[kabukiman]

"So we make our preparations to go to the pyramid as fast as we can?"

[Anatomist]

"I agree ,we must attempt to beat Larkin to the pyramid "

"As for the body, well we saw with our own eyes that de Mendoza was not human. So perhaps he is not dead. Removing hard evidence of the existance of the kharisiri and perpetuating the myth that they are unkillable would also serve the cult though."

"We shall see, I prefer to hope that these monsters are at least mortal beings"

Dr. Sánchez mumbles "Muertos vivientes, vampiros, cultos..." he unconsciously touches his gun in his shoulder holster "seems this is a dead end, im heading back to the Hotel and picking up my stuff.
Jackson did you ever got a plan for how to get to the pyramids?, Getting to Puno and Titicaca should not be that difficult, but south east from there towards Tiwanaku and into Bolivia and finding the actual pyramid will be a challenge"

[jp1885]

John's Room- Hotel Maury

<<Hello, how can I be of assistance today?>>

"Ah, hola senior. I just wanted to thank you for helping to save my life. It was a very kind gesture. I hear that Senior Larkin has paid for the room I am staying in, and I gather that the doctor's fee is being charged to his account." Cynthia grimaces at this outright lie. "So I'd also like to thank him. However I have no idea of his whereabouts. Did he leave any address or any means of contacting him? In fact, any information you have on the good gentleman would be useful."

[Raiko]

"I have a contact in Puno who should be able to help, and she certainly wouldn't help Larkin."

OOC,[ooc]The site isn't in Bolivia near Tiwanaku it's in Peru in the hills above Puno. The approximate location is actually marked on the Players map at the start of the OOC thread (because Larkin s freely gives a rough location).[/ooc]

[Raiko]

John's Room - Hotel Maury

Previously Cynthia said:   "Did he leave any address or any means of contacting him? In fact, any information you have on the good gentleman would be useful."

<<Si, Senior Larkin paid for all of the rooms until Monday. He can be contacted at the Hotel España - there is no telephone at that hotel though, so you must will need to contact Senior Larkin personally. I was disappointed that he did not wish to stay at my hotel himself, but the senior explained that he wished to have some time apart to finish his planning.>>

[Silver Priest]

Going out onto the balcony, Marcus attempts to track Larkin's likely path, inspecting the area around the other building's fire escape for any clues as to where their deceitful patron had gone.

Spoiler:

Track 50%,

[dice]0[/dice]