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

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm glad to see you're doing better," says Amy with a smile.

[HelplessBystander]

OOC:   Sorry, didn't have time to post last week. Where would John be right now?

[Raiko]

OOC,[ooc]I assumed John is probably back at the Hotel Maury with Amy and Jackson, as he wasn't keen to fight de Mendoza earlier. He can be with Marcus and Dr. Sánchez if you prefer, but if you are then I need you to post something before I post an update in a couple of hours. I'm waiting a little longer to see what kabukiman wanted Anderson to do. After that I'm just saying that everyone else is at the Hotel Maury.[/ooc]

[jp1885]

"I'm glad to see you're doing better," says Amy with a smile.

"Thanks. A good night's sleep before heading to Callao and I'll be right as rain. I suppose we'd better stay together, or at least in groups, overnight. If there really is a death cult after us, we don't want to make it easy for them by being picked off one-by-one."

[kabukiman]

Anderson who followed Marcus and Sanchez, nods to them and prepares to a confrontation with Mendonza.

[Raiko]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru

Jackson spends a while carefully explaining past events to Cynthia, beginning with his account of how he came to be in Peru in the first place, and how his investigation into recent disappearances put him onto the trail of Larkin, de Mendoza and a death cult that might have operated near Lake Titicaca since the sixteenth century.

Although such stories would be easy to dismiss as crackpot, Elias sounds convincing, sincere, intelligent and sane. Despite what has been uncovered so far he is also fearless and determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of the cult and the ancient ruins above Puno.

OOC,[ooc]Make a psychology roll for Cynthia if you like. Jackson absolutely believes everything that he says, although the existence of an actual monster has shaken his own beliefs. Cynthia has no reason to doubt that Jackson believes what he is saying even if she fails roll. On a botch, she thinks he's insane. :lol:[/ooc]

[Raiko]

Chávez Brothers' haulage - Chorrillos, Peru
6:50pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

The trio of investigators make their way cautiously across the haulage yard to the wooden hut, cringing each time they hear the gravel crunch under their feet. As they get closer to the hut they can all now see that the door frame has been splintered around the lock-area when someone - presumably de Mendoza - burst into the office.

Peeping in around the edge of the nearest window they can see a scene of carnage inside the small office. A man writhes on the floor and cries in agony - he is on his side, curled into a foetal ball clutching his stomach and appears to be fitting as his body jerks in time with his cries and he is foaming at the mouth. There is blood on the man's clothes, and smudged around the floor beneath him. Paperwork from the upturned desk is scattered everywhere, and a desk lamp is smashed on the floor nearby.

Between the man and the damaged door, one of the office's two desks is tipped on its side as a makeshift, but unsuccessful barrier, an electric desk light on a second desk by the wall leaves much of the office in shadow.

STANDARD LISTEN PASSED,Between his agonised cries the man repeats "Get it out, get it out, get it out." in a hoarse whisper. You cannot hear anyone else inside the office.

EXTREME LISTEN PASSED,You cannot hear anyone else inside the office.

STANDARD SPOT HIDDEN PASSED,There is a revolver on the floor near to the man, dropped behind the overturned desk. The man has been stabbed through the left leg, but he seems more bothered about his stomach. You cannot see anyone else inside the office.

HARD SPOT HIDDEN PASSED,The "foam" around the man's mouth appears more like a thick waxy secretion. You cannot see anyone else inside the office.

EXTREME SPOT HIDDEN PASSED,Something living is moving inside the poor man's abdomen, you saw it beneath his untucked shirt - it is bigger than your fist! - make a SAN roll and lose 1d2 sanity if you fail. You cannot see anyone else inside the office.

[Anatomist]

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

Listen success (40%),[dice]1[/dice]

"He is saying that he gots something inside, or attached or something like that"
"be careful if de Menoza was here and did this, we can only guess what this hes done with this poor man".
Dr. Sánchez moves inside and takes a closer look at the mans chest area without touching

OOC,if Nemesio Sánchez got the opportunity he will try to find out what kind of establishment this is

[jp1885]

Psychology 65%,[dice]0[/dice]

Cynthia's jaw drops, having no reason to disbelieve Jackson, especially as the others, including Professor Sanchez, have corroborated his story.. "You mean this is all real? I mean, really real?" She shivers at the thought of an unnatural creature like De Mendoza attacking her and killing her friend. "Damn... Still, don't think it's gonna scare me off - I'm still coming to Puno!"

[Raiko]

OOC:   Anatomist, those listen / spot hidden rolls are for looking through the window. If you want to risk going inside, you'll need to say so.

[Anatomist]

OOC:   Anatomist, those listen / spot hidden rolls are for looking through the window. If you want to risk going inside, you'll need to say so.

OOC:   ic post adjusted for going inside

[Raiko]

John's room - Hotel Maury - Lima, Peru

"Excellent," smiles Jackson, "I expect we will all benefit from a day on the steamer, to calm our nerves. Hopefully the others can stop de Mendoza tonight and we can enjoy the trip, safe until we reach Puno at least.

"The cult is more active around Puno, and so we'll have to take care there even if we've already stopped de Mendoza."

OOC,[ooc]I've attached the "investigators route map" handout for the expedition below. I had meant to include this earlier when Jackson first discussed the route, but I had problems getting a good enough copy of the map from the pdf just using my phone. The red dotted "likely investigator route" is the coastal road route that Larkin's expedition would have followed, which takes over three days in a truck to reach Puno. Jackson's steamer plus train route takes one and a half days.[/ooc]

[Silver Priest]

Spot Hidden50%,[dice]0[/dice]

Listen 50%,[dice]1[/dice]

"Look, there's a revolver next to him, behind the desk! He looks like he's been stabbed in the left leg as well, though he seems to be focused more on his stomach." He looks towards Sanchez. "Did De Mendoza poison him?'

He too enters the office, gun out and alert.

[Zero]

From his position near the window, Atauchi quietly observed the others as they returned to the hotel room and reported on their findings. Unfortunately, the lead had turned up very little of value to their group. However, one thing was for certain, the supposition that Larkin had intended them harm from the outset was no longer of relevance. The man was now on the run and would prove to be an unpredictable and possibly dangerous adversary should he be encountered again in the future. Furthermore, while it was exceedingly unlikely that de Mendoza could have survived such grievous wounds, the Quechua man vowed that if they met again, he would take the Spaniard's head as a trophy.

[Mr. Handy]

"I can stay with you tonight," says Amy to Cynthia, "though I suspect you'll be better at protecting me than I will at protecting you. I didn't want to believe in monsters either, and I still haven't seen one in action, but I did get a good look at what he did to your friend. I'm sorry we were too late to help her. Even before this, though, I've studied enough history to know that death cults are real. All of the great Mesoamerican civilizations had them: the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Incas...The Spanish, who conquered much of the New World, had their own version. The Inquisition had a nasty habit of burning people alive. There are death cults in modern times, too. The Great War is proof of that. Millions of young men sent to slaughter and to be slaughtered. Nobody has ever before practiced human sacrifice on such a grand scale, and I hope it never happens again."

[kabukiman]

DICE ROLLS,Listen: 20% [dice]0[/dice] Spot Hidden: 65% [dice]1[/dice]

[kabukiman]

"Do we help?"-Anderson whispers.

[jp1885]

Cynthia nods. "Amen to that. Some of the older guys from the orphanage went to France; one to Siberia. None of them were the same ever again."
She sighs. "As a phsycology student I should find this kind of bloodlust fascinating, but in truth it abhors me. That being said, if I get a chance to put a bullet through De Mendoza, I'll take it."
"Oh, and you better not snore!" She grins at Amy.

[Raiko]

Chávez Brothers' Haulage - Chorrillos, Peru
6:50pm - Saturday 19th March, 1921

Marcus checks the room for de Mendoza while Dr. Sánchez dashes to the wounded man, there is no one else there, it looks like Larkin and de Mendoza must have taken the third truck. Anderson follows them into the office.

Crouching by the man and cautiously inspecting him as he continues to writhe and scream in pain, Dr. Sánchez can see now that what appeared to be rabid foam around the victim's mouth is in fact a thick waxy white slime or secretion. There is no injury to the man's chest, but his lips and mouth look burnt, perhaps by the secretion.

"¡fuera..de..ARGH..mi!..¡fuera..de..mi!..ARGH.."
<<Get it out of me!>>

Through his delirium the poor man suddenly notices Sánchez bent over him, he sits up suddenly, eyes wide with abject terror, and grabs the doctor, "¡me besó!"
<<He kissed me!>>

The last of his energy spent, the man loses consciousness and collapses onto the wooden floor, still twitching due to the pain. His shirt is untucked and leaves his stomach uncovered; Dr. Sánchez can see that something living is moving inside the man, some parasite at least as big as a man's fist.

OOC:   Make a Sanity check, lose 1d2 if you fail. Marcus and Anderson will need to make the same check if they notice the parasite inside the man - automatic if Dr. Sánchez points it out. Also: This just appears to be a general haulage / transportation company, perhaps the one that Larkin was hiring the trucks from for Monday. The office hut is the office for the haulage yard, in case that wasn't clear.

[Raiko]

OOC,[ooc]Sorry I keep forgetting that this man is speaking Spanish. Fixed I think. The first Spanish translation changed when I added an exclamation mark, so hopefully this is the most urgent form. Apologies to Spain for my butchery of your language, my players posts have shamed me into being more authentic.[/ooc]