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

[Zero]

Atauchi silently puffed on his pipe as the others discussed aspects of the first leg of the expedition. They all seemed confident that the group would be able to secure university funds to back their activities through the Professor. He hoped for the sake of their undertaking that they were correct. When the topic had shifted to the yatiri, the Quechua man's interest was instantly piqued.

"Si, it important we speak to her, de Mendoza must die." he said.

[Anatomist]

OOC,[ooc][b]Anatomist: [/b]The parasite has a normal success, so Dr. Sánchez needed to get a normal success on a dodge roll to avoid the parasite wrapping around his wrist. If you avoid it, you're no longer prone if you wish. [b]If you fail[/b], then please wait before taking your next action. :o If your dodge is successful, then it's your action. Your knife is now hard to reach. The revolver can be grabbed (or your own gun drawn) and you'll actually go first next round with a readied firearm, so you'd get to shoot as well.[/ooc]

failed Dodge 32%,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC:   then im waiting for others action

[HelplessBystander]

John nodded, "I agree with the others, I see no further options beyond speaking with her."

[Raiko]

Chávez Brothers' Haulage - Chorrillos, Peru
6:55pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

The parasite wraps itself around Dr Sánchez's left wrist and then begins to slither quickly up his arm and towards his face. The skin of Sánchez's hand and wrist is burnt by the creatures slimy secretions.

OOC:   Dr. Sánchez takes 1 point of damage from the slime. You are still free to act. Dislodging the parasite requires either beating it in a fighting(brawl) content to pull it off, or inflicting a major wound on in. Anyone shooting at the parasite now has a penalty die, unless they aim first. In it's next action, the parasite will be able to try and push into Sánchez's mouth.

[Anatomist]

Dr Sánchez fights back trying to pull the parasite of him

failed Brawl 30%,[dice]0[/dice]

and yelps in pain as the acid burns him making him lose his grip.

[Silver Priest]

Marcus throws caution to the wind and fires once again!

OOC:   Sorry, would aim but then the thing has a chance to slither inside Sanchez.

Handgun 75%,[dice]0[/dice] Penalty [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice] possible damage

OOC:   Think it's safe to say the thing has a major wound now.

[Raiko]

Marcus' gunshot almost obliterates the parasite's vile body. A few of the largest chunks flap around on the floor for a second, but after that they move no more.

Dr. Sanchez has quite a nasty burn on his left wrist, and the back of hand, while the finger tips of his other hand are tender where he touched the horrific thing.

[Silver Priest]

Marcus puts his gun away and moves towards Sanchez. "You alright, doc? I saw that thing was going to your throat. Glad my aim proved true."

He inspects the professor's wound.

First Aid 50%,[dice]0[/dice]

"Can't do anything for it. Nasty burn though."

Then he leans down and briefly inspects the man, confirming his suspicions.

"Unfortunately our friend here did not survive the surgery. And with him gone, we may have lost our only lead as to De Mendoza and Larkin. Damn it. I don't see any alternative but to head back and regroup with the others."

just in case, the detective tries a quick search of the office for anything unusual.

Spot Hidden 50%,[dice]1[/dice]

[Raiko]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru

"Atauchi, you were asking about vehicles and supplies?" says Jackson, "Larkin hired trucks to drive only as far as Puno, and was planning to hire pack animals in the town for the expedition into the highlands.

"I can pay to get us all to Puno by train and streamer, if Dr. Sánchez can secure funding from the university, then we can purchase supplies and pack animals in Puno, and also hire transport vehicles there when we return, should the need arise

"To my mind, Larkin hiring everything that he needed in Lima, rather than locally probably had more to do with the locals' suspicions of de Mendoza than anything else.

Nayra was right all along!" The author ruefully shakes his head and laughs.

"My own contact in Puno, the yatiri Nayra will be of great help I think. She warned me about the dangers of the kharisiri, but I thought it was just superstitious nonsense. I think she has a good idea of exactly where the ruins are located, and will help us so long as we intend to stop the kharisiris' activities."

[Raiko]

Chávez Brothers' Haulage - Chorrillos, Peru
6:55pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

In the office is a diary / ledger for the brothers' haulage firm. Augustus Larkin had booked all three of the company's trucks for Monday onwards, hauling people and supplies to Puno. The supplies included trail rations, tents, spades, pick axes, ropes, block & tackle pulley rigs, and various other sundry items.

Outside in the yard, much of this equipment has been loaded onto one of the two trucks, while most of the rest is still sat in the yard. It looks as though Larkin and de Mendoza have taken the third truck, but left behind the supplies.

Behind the loaded truck, in a small pool of blood, is the shrivelled, desiccated corpse of a second man. A ragged circular hole has been ripped into his chest, from which it appears that all the fat and fluids have been sucked out of his body. Today was a very bad day for the Chávez brothers.

SANITY CHECK,[ooc]Anyone who checks out the trucks and witnesses the corpse of the second [b]Chávez [/b]brother must make a sanity check. On a fail you lose 1d6 sanity, unless you have the "war veteran" type immunity, in which case the loss is 1d3. [b]Marcus [/b]already witnessed [b]Trinidad's [/b]corpse, and so expected this and doesn't need to roll again.[/ooc]

LEDGER,[ooc]There is no hand-out for the ledger, but checking through you can find no other entries to do with de Mendoza or Larkin, and nothing about the gear list is suspicious.[/ooc]

[kabukiman]

"I think it's best that we leave this place quick; if someone would appear, it would't be easy to prove our innocence". -says Anderson. He just want to leave the place and avoid any other nasty surprise.

[jp1885]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru

"Atauchi, you were asking about vehicles and supplies?" says Jackson, "Larkin hired trucks to drive only as far as Puno, and was planning to hire pack animals in the town for the expedition into the highlands.

"I can pay to get us all to Puno by train and streamer, if Dr. Sánchez can secure funding from the university, then we can purchase supplies and pack animals in Puno, and also hire transport vehicles there when we return, should the need arise

"To my mind, Larkin hiring everything that he needed in Lima, rather than locally probably had more to do with the locals' suspicions of de Mendoza than anything else.

Nayra was right all along!" The author ruefully shakes his head and laughs.

"My own contact in Puno, the yatiri Nayra will be of great help I think. She warned me about the dangers of the kharisiri, but I thought it was just superstitious nonsense. I think she has a good idea of exactly where the ruins are located, and will help us so long as we intend to stop the kharisiris' activities."

"You're not the only one who thought this was all mumbo-jumbo," Cynthia sighs.
"Let's rest up and prepare for our journey while we wait for the others to get back. Amy, when you've got your gun, I'll show you the ropes."

[Silver Priest]

"Looks like they were tying up loose ends." Marcus shakes his head in disgust. "That's at least three deaths on De Mendoza's head. Still, at least we got them to leave their supplies behind. I say we take them back with us to the hotel and brief the others. The Chavez brothers won't be needing them anyway."

[Raiko]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru
8:40pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

Marcus, Anderson and Dr. Sánchez collect as much of Larkin's expedition gear as they can manage to drag back to the tram terminus - this includes enough backpacks for everyone, trail rations to last a week, two spades, a pick axe, 30 yards of rope, a block & tackle, a kettle, a couple of pans and two large electric flash-lights.

The tram driver looks puzzled, but there's plenty of room on the tram at this hour and the investigators are soon dragging their gear into the Hotel Maury.

[Mr. Handy]

"Oh, good, you've got some equipment for the expedition," says Amy brightly when the others return.

[kabukiman]

Anderson says in a somber way "yes, we have", but prefer don't enter in the details of what just happened...
"We should leave as soon as possible to find Mendoza and Larkin".

[jp1885]

Cynthia, noting the sombre expression of the three men, not to mention the way Dr. Sanchez held his arm, decides that now is not the time for wisecracks.
"You guys okay? Larkin and De Mendoza got away huh? I guess we'd better catch the earliest boat outta here..."

[Mallet]

Redacted by Raiko,Antoine D'Estaing states that he is ready to make a move as soon as necessary.

Antoine D'Estaing says, "I have been giving this some thought, and regretfully I shall not be continuing onto Puno. This isn't the academic expedition that I hoped for. I wish you all safe travels and good hunting, and I look forward to reading of your adventures in Jackson's next book."

He shakes everyone's hands, "If you ever find yourselves in Paris, please look me up."

OOC:   As Mallet dropped out very early in the Puno part of the adventure, I have edited posts so that Antoine leaves the group here.

[Raiko]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru

"Yes, we'll leave first thing in the morning and take the morning steamer to Mollendo," says Jackson, he looks concerned about the three investigators who have just returned.

"We'll be ready for de Mendoza next time, he won't escape justice twice."

OOC:   THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES HERE: Arrival in Puno