[IC]Prologue 0.2: Arrival in Puno

[Mr. Handy]

"We have to rescue the baby," says Amy, her heart going out to this farmer woman. "We'll have to meet with her and come up with a plan to help her."

[Raiko]

My friend Nayra is an old woman," says Jackson, "we should be able to travel out to the islands in the morning to see her. I hope shes hiding out there in safety."

He nods his head, "We definitely need to find this farmer lady and try to help her. Perhaps if we split up? Some of you join me meeting Nayra and some go with Husiy and try to speak to the lady without being seen. Cynthia's idea sounds good."

[Silver Priest]

"I'll go with Husiy," Marcus says. "Seems like I'd be more useful there."

[Zero]

Atauchi checked over his gear while the others spoke with their former tail. Husiy seemed to be compliant enough, but nevertheless, he periodically shot a glance in young man's direction to ensure that he remained that way. Finally, when the plan for the next day had been outlined and expedition members were choosing which team to accompany, the tracker turned to face Jackson.

"Si, I go with you Jackson. Meet the friend." the Quechua man said.

Once his choice had been announced to the others, Atauchi advanced on Husiy, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Sayay kusa."

OOC:   "Suyay kusa" translates roughly as "Behave well."

[kabukiman]

"Ask him if he knows how many bad men are, and if he can describe them..."

[Mr. Handy]

"I'll go with you to meet Nayra," says Amy to Jackson. While she might be useful in either group, she is not the best at avoiding attention, and she would prefer to be with Jackson anyway.

[Raiko]

Husiy simply nods in response to Atauchi's words.

Previously Anderson said:   "Ask him if he knows how many bad men are, and if he can describe them..."

"No, no, no," Husiy shakes his head, "I only meet the lady, not the bad men. I no want to meet the bad men, the lady say that they are kharisiri.

She did not say how many"

[Mallet]

Redacted by Raiko,[b]Antoine D'Estaing:[/b] Having remained silent up till now, Antoine D'Estaing interjects: [color=#FF0000]"I am willing and eager to join the party of those who want to rescue the baby."[/color]

[HelplessBystander]

"I'd be willing too, after all, I have a body guard with me." John said, an idiotic smile floated over his face.

OOC:   Sorry, had to revise for an exam last week and couldn't check my emails.

[jp1885]

"I want to find out more about these 'kharisiri' - one of them murdered my friend and I want to get even. I reckon your pal Nayra will know a thing or two about them Jackson, so I'll tag along with you."
Her decision made, Cynthia nods and then walks over to their hosts.
"Hi. I know you're busy but can I ask you some questions for my research? I'm interested in the legends in of the kharisiri." She tilts her head towards Husiy. "He certainly seems to believe in them. What do the old folk say about these creatures? Are there stories about how they're kept at bay and such? Oh, and do you have anything for headaches?"

[Anatomist]

"I want to find out more about these 'kharisiri' - one of them murdered my friend and I want to get even. I reckon your pal Nayra will know a thing or two about them Jackson, so I'll tag along with you."
Her decision made, Cynthia nods and then walks over to their hosts.
"Hi. I know you're busy but can I ask you some questions for my research? I'm interested in the legends in of the kharisiri." She tilts her head towards Husiy. "He certainly seems to believe in them. What do the old folk say about these creatures? Are there stories about how they're kept at bay and such? Oh, and do you have anything for headaches?"

Dr.Sánchez walk over with Cyntia "seems we share interests Cynthia" "I dont buy this vampire story at all" "im sure we can gather som important information about them"

Dr.Sánchez will help out rescuing this baby and hopefully learn a thing or two about the kharisiri

[jp1885]

Cynthia nods in agreement with Dr. Sanchez. Despite her headache, she tries to remember if, during her studies into the psychology of indigenous South Americans, the subject of such creatures ever cropped up.

KNOW 65 Anthropology 21,[dice]0[/dice]

[kabukiman]

"I'l follow the group to rescue the baby, it seems you need all the help you can get".

[Raiko]

OOC,[ooc]I've reconsidered the difficultly of the roll for "outsiders", as you all probably read a little about Peru's history before departing and because anthropology and occult are quite niche skills anyway. The EDU / History sections are now "Hard", while the anthropology & occult elements are now "standard" for everyone. It remains a [b]single roll[/b], ie roll once and see what you succeed on. Everyone except Atauchi, Dr. Sánchez and Cynthia counts as an outsider (and so can be banished by a high level Peruvian cleric! ;)[/ooc]

[Raiko]

OOC:   Single roll for knowledge of the legend of the kharisiri

EDU / Knowledge (Hard for outsiders),A kharisiri is a mythological bogeyman figure in the Andes region of South America, particularly in Peru and Bolivia. Some parts of the Andes refer to the kharisiri as pishtaco, or ñakaq, or lik'ichiri in the Aymara language. The word kharisiri comes from the term for carving something up with a knife The archetypal kharisiri is a tall white man wearing a wide-brimmed hat. He carries a long knife that he uses to butcher people and steal their body fat. Alternatively, he may drug people and extract their fat using magic or strange tools, leaving them to die slow, lingering deaths. Or it is often said a kharisiri attacks when a person is intoxicated. It will cut a small hole near a person's liver and enter into his body. Once inside, it eats away at the fatty tissue. What it does not eat, the kharisiri gathers together and sells to bishops and hospitals.

HISTORY (Hard for outsiders),The indigenous peoples of the Andes did not have a vampire monster in their mythology until the arrival of the Spanish. From the start of the Spanish occupation, the natives suddenly had vampiric attacks upon their people, and the vampiric monster they called the kharisiri suddenly became woven into their culture and mythology. Andean Aboriginals feared Spanish missionaries as kharisiri, believing the missionaries were killing people for fat, thereafter oiling church bells to make them especially sonorous. If you managed to succeed at this section without passing the EDU section, you get that for free as well!

ANTHROPOLOGY (Standard for everyone),The preoccupation with body fat has a long tradition in the Andes region. Pre-Hispanic natives prized fat so much that a deity, Viracocha (meaning sea of fat), existed for it. It is also natural for the peasant rural poor to view fleshiness and excess body fat as the very sign of life, good health, strength and beauty. Many illnesses are thought to have their roots in the loss of body fats, and skeletal thinness is abhorred. With this, the conquistadores' practice of treating their wounds with their enemies' corpse fats horrified the Indians. Spaniards are also said to have killed Indians and boiled their corpses to produce fat to grease their metal muskets and cannons, which rusted quickly in the humid Amazon.

OCCULT (Standard for everyone),Chewing on coca leaves has the magical ability to ward off a wide variety of evil beings, including the kharisiri. If you managed to succeed at this section without passing the EDU or History sections, you get those for free as well!

[jp1885]

OOC:   I passed the KNOW as a non-outsider, but not anthropology/history, so the first spoiler is relevant yeah?

Cynthia snaps her fingers. "Ah! I remember hearing about these 'vampires'! Guys in wide-brimmed hats supposedly?" She looks to Dr. Sanchez for confirmation. "They steal people's body fat by chopping them up with long knives, weird tools or magic through a hole in the liver - often when the victim is drunk or out of it somehow. Don't they sell whatever excess they have to clergymen or hospitals?" She grimaces. "Well if nothing else we can check out those in the locality later."

[Zero]

As the topic of discussion had shifted to the kharisiri once again, Atauchi wracked his mind for any pieces of relevant information he may have accumulated in his years. However, he was certain that the yatiri would be a truly invaluable resource on the matter. It occurred to him that they would need to include a stockpile of coca leaves with their expedition supplies.

Knowledge (75),[dice]0[/dice]

History (05%),[dice]1[/dice]

Anthropology (01%),[dice]2[/dice]

Occult (31%),[dice]3[/dice]

OOC:   Wow! So I nearly had an extreme success on the Know roll, actually succeeded at History, lol... and made a hard success on Occult. Maybe my die rolling curse has gone on hiatus.

[Raiko]

OOC:   You're only meant to make a single roll and check against everything But I'll let you off. Your roll would have passed occult which gives you everything except anthropology anyway.

[Zero]

OOC:   Oh, my bad. I didn't read your post clearly enough apparently. Anyway, what do I check then?

[Raiko]

OOC:   I'm okay with you ticking history and occult (I'd feel guilty if I discarded your 04% roll after all your bad rolls)