[CCrusaders] Bert says, "Log on."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Looks like we're only missing Zircon at the moment?"

Roger has arrived.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Yay."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Everyone ready?"

[CCrusaders] Roger says, "I think nothing else has shown up this afternoon, so sure"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm prepared"

GM says, "Welcome back to the Crownsford Crusaders! The last time we saw our heroes, they were in the middle of investigating a disturbance at Angela's Arcade! Here's where things stand right now:"

GM says, "Out in front of the arcade, there's a glowing ninja wearing yellow and black, standing in the shattered remains of a plate glass window. Inside, in the front part of the arcade, Jacob stands in front of an uncontrolled trash fire, looking at a Lethal Konflict game."

GM says, "In the back part of the arcade, blocky space ships patrol above a ball pit where several children are hiding, while other emotionally scarred children are being held by the terrifying Scarlet Spider. The basement door is now open, and Eben and Zircon are staring at the wall of colorful bricks behind it - minus one missing brick in the center."

GM says, "https://jamboard.google.com/d/1nYjP1sIT6gtRi6yTgMrZjxkJlNVZ6N0A22PwhcgjkXg/viewer?f=0"

GM rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: -1 +1 -1 0 | Poor (-1)

GM registers Kids at init -1.

GM exclaims, "The trash fire seems to be getting worse: it's spreading to cover the front counter!"

GM advances the initiative: WANDA(5) Jacob/Ninja(3) Spaceships/Eben(1) Zircon(0) Kids(-1)

GM exclaims, "And it's now Wanda's turn!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Oh it's my turn in the RPG, oops"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Wrong channel ;)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Do our fate points refresh? Not that I think I spent any."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Since we're still mid-scene, let's refresh them at the end of this scene."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Sounds good."

Wanda sets her current fate point total to 2.

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "Woo, free fate points!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(Now I have *four* to spend this session ;-)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Did I misspeak, or am I confused...?)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to Wanda), "Also, reset yours to 1."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Uh why? I have 2"

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to GM), "I just meant that since I didn't spend any last time, if I spend them now, they'll refresh immedately."

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to Wanda), "We're not refreshing fp until the *end* of this scene."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Oh, right! Yes, good point."

Wanda sets her current fate point total to 1.

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I realized my mistake, thanks Eben"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "sorry for being skeptical and confused"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "No worries."

GM exclaims, "And now it's your turn!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Right! So:"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm going to fight the spaceships"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Woo!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "No holding back, they're not redeemable"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "The metal from them might be."

Wanda rolls Great (4) + 4dF: +1 +1 -1 0 | Superb (5)

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "It's 10 cents more in Missouri and Oregon."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Fight! (and +2 stress from Harm)"

GM says, "Fortunately, they seem to be moving in a fairly predictable back-and-forth pattern."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Also ignores armor"

GM rolls Average (1) + 4dF: 0 0 -1 0 | Mediocre (0)

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "Are you using Harm, given that you have your arms full of kids?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Oh"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "You could drop 'em first."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I thought I'd scooped them then put them down"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "they'll land in a ball pit, they'll be fine"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Not yet, but if you'd like to put them down now, you can."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I will! Especially since that might help prove I'm not evil"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "In that case, you deal enough damage to take out the ships! RP it!"

Wanda telepathically TAKE SHELTER to kids before shoving them to the side. Standing between them and the spaceships, there is an aura of searing white heat around her like a halo, and in an anime-like movement (much like how spiders go from being perfectly still to skittering rapidly) she streaks through them in an arc, destroying them all in a flash before coming to a rest on the ceiling having continued her momentum.

Kids run screaming in terror from the giant flaming, toward the arcade's exit -- which is also in the direction of the raging fire and the shards of broken front window glass!

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "This is like the 1% version of her full power Meteor Strike"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Er, 'giant flaming *spider*', I meant to say."

GM advances the initiative: Wanda(5) JACOB/NINJA(3) Spaceships/Eben(1) Zircon(0) Kids(-1)

GM exclaims, "Jacob!"

Jacob looks at the arcade cabinet, assessing whether he can reach the plug and whether it's safe to touch it.

[CCrusaders] Jacob presumablyhas a handkerchief or something in his pocket he can use as a buffer

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "A rubber handkerchief. Hey, don't judge him."

GM says (to Jacob), "You think it's safe, but you'll need to move the cabinet away from the wall, making unplugging it quickly a +2 Physique Overcome."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Good thing I bumped up my physique last milestone :)"

Jacob rolls Fair (2) + 4dF: 0 -1 +1 +1 | Good (3)

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Success!"

GM exclaims, "Ninja!"

Jacob shoves the cabinet to the side and unplugs it, as the kids come rushing in.

GM exclaims, "The yellow ninja leaps toward Jacob -- then suddenly flicckers and vanishes in mid-air!"

Jacob says, "Oh, uh. Hey. Watch out for the fire."

GM advances the initiative: Wanda(5) Jacob/Ninja(3) SPACESHIPS/EBEN(1) Zircon(0) Kids(-1)

GM exclaims, "Eben!"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "There's no ninja nor spaceships?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Right. Just the kids, the fire, and the wall of blocks with a hole in the middle."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "OK! Can I use a Rapport Overcome to remove the 'Terrified' aspect from the kids? (Alt: create advantage to create 'calm' aspect, but the former seems more apropos)"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Yes!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Wanda's pretty terrifying, so it'll be vs. +4 opposition."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "I don't know whether to feel flattered or guilty :D"

Eben exclaims, "Hey, kids! You're OK; the videogame monsters are gone, and the spider is Wanda, my granddaughter!"

Eben rolls Great (4) + 4dF: -1 -1 -1 +1 | Fair (2)

[CCrusaders] Eben spends a fate point!

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, ""Scary grandpa who spawns spiders! Eeeeagh'"

Eben spends a fate point, leaving them with 1.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "What are you tagging? (I know, but I'll still let you say it.)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Hee hee he"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "'ADOPED OR NOT, YOU'RE ALL MY KIDS!'"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "And a tie is a success with a minor cost!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Hmm. What's a good cost here?"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "Sounds good!"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "Minor cost: they now have awkward questions about biology"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Ha."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "They are a little too calm, and aren't worried about the fire/glass?"

[Crows-Nest] GM exclaims, "OK!"

GM advances the initiative: Wanda(5) Jacob/Ninja(3) Spaceships/Eben(1) ZIRCON(0) Kids(-1)

GM exclaims, "Zircon!"

Zircon says, "Hmm"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "(hmm, 'init remove Ninja' doesn't seem to work.)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "I've still got this glowing skee-ball, I think?"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Yeah, it's a weird side effect of sharing an init slot with someone, IIRC."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "You have!"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Oh, it only works on the whole slot! OK."

Eben removes Jacob/Ninja from the initiative list.

Eben registers Jacob at init 3.

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "alright I guess I'd better throw/shoot/zap it through the portal at the brick-out wall"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Yeah, I could 'init remove Jacob/Nina'"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "There's no portal yet; it's just that the door is blocked by the glowing wall."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(My portal, at least.)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(my portal is in the room on the normal wall)"

Eben removes Spaceships/Eben from the initiative list.

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "oh yeah. Hopefully I've got some sort of line of sight to it, anyway."

Eben registers Eben at init 1.

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "OK! If you're trying a trick shot to hit enough bricks in one go to be able to climb through, that'll be a +3 Shoot overcome!"

Zircon puts a little extra zip on this shot.

Zircon rolls Fair (2) + 4dF: -1 0 -1 +1 | Average (1)

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Ooh. Are you tagging anything?"

Zircon exclaims, "Good thing... it's magic!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "yeah, time for that extremely generic aspect of mine, "It's Magic!""

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Hee. That'll cost a fate point and bring it up to a tie. (Success with a minor cost.)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "sure"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Are you going with that, or tagging anything else to make it a full success?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "no I think a minor cost is about right here"

GM exclaims, "You make a large but jagged hole in the wall!"

Zircon exclaims, "Kerblammo!"

GM says, "It has a lot of sharp corners, though, so anyone climbing through it will have to defend against +2 with Athletics or else take two physical stress."

GM says, "Inside the basement, you can see the circuit breaker box on the wall. Electricity is washing over it, much like at the Peresons' house."

GM asks, "Are you using your movement as well?"

Zircon says, "No I think I'll just look on in awe of myself"

GM advances the initiative: Wanda(5) Jacob(3) Eben(1) Zircon(0) KIDS(-1)

GM exclaims, "The kids have been convinced by Eben that they're no longer in any danger, and are now running around the fire and the broken glass!"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "noooo"

GM exclaims, "The fire is about to 'attack' them, and they're going to defend with their Athletics, unless someone else is able to step in with an active defense in their place!"

GM rolls Fair (2) + 4dF: +1 0 -1 0 | Fair (2)

[Crows-Nest] Wanda exclaims, "I want to activley defend!"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "Wait I can't"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "I'm in the wrong zone"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Aw."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda asks, "Did I have a movement I didn't use?"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "You did!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Do you want to retroactively say that after destroying the spaceships, you ran after the kids?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "You and I both have unused movement in theory."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "I want to do that! Especially since Eben saying 'that's my granddaughter' carries more weight if he can point at me"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "OK!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "How are you defending them?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "By bending the fire away from them (fire control)"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Nice! Go for it!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Provoke opposed by their +2 attack"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sound good."

Wanda rolls Superb (5) + 4dF: +1 +1 -1 +1 | Epic (7)

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Success with style!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "The flames form an archway, leading them out of the store and safely past the broken glass"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "And after you narrate that, it's your turn!"

GM advances the initiative: END OF ROUND

GM advances the initiative: WANDA(5) Jacob(3) Eben(1) Zircon(0) Kids(-1)

Wanda focuses, and plunges two of her limbs into the fire nearest to her! It becomes an extension of her will: the parts near the broken glass glow white hot for an instant to melt the jagged edges into something safer, before dissipating in such a way as to form a clear path out to safety!

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "And now it's my turn! Hmm"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "I'll put out the rest of the fire as they exit?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Or order the kids to leave?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Sounds good! +4 Overcome, with a boost from your success with style?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Sounds good!"

Wanda rolls Epic (7) + 4dF: -1 -1 0 -1 | Great (4)

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I think the kids are leaving on their own ;-)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Good thing I had that boost"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "because that was a terrible roll"

GM exclaims, "Success! And with the attackers and fire both gone, you're out of initiative time!"

Wanda's connection with the flames is such that it feels cruel to snuff them out, but she does so nonetheless.

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Just think of it like clipping your fingernails. If spiders had fingernails."

Eben goes out to corral the kids, call their parents, and find out what happened. (Then he wants to investigate the basement sparking thing.)

GM says, "Outside, the police have arrived and help you with taking care of the kids and reuniting them with their families."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "the warm glow of fate points refreshing envelopes us"

GM says, "A bit of a crowd has gathered outside to watch. One woman steps forward from the group."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "And your fate points refresh!"

Eben sets their current fate point total to 2.

Wanda sets her current fate point total to 2.

Angela says, "Hi, I'm the owner. What does it look like in there? Is everyone safe?"

Eben says, "Almost; there's still something wonky in the basement with the circuit breaker."

Eben asks, "Did you see what happened?"

Angela says, "I did! It was bizarre. There was a crackling noise, and then all the machines started showing strange messages on the screens."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Whoops, answered 'is everything safe' instead of 'is everyone safe'."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Well, if the circuit breaker is sparking, people are potentially not safe"

Eben asks, "Were they readable?"

Angela says, "Some of them! The text kept flickering in and out, but it looked like they were saying 'HELP ME' and 'I'M SCARED'."

Jacob huh.

Angela says, "And then all *this* happened."

Wanda says, "Oh no. Peter..."

Eben exclaims, "Hunh!"

Wanda says, "Petersen kid."

Eben shows Angela a picture of Peter and [uh, the missing girl]. Did you see either of these kids? Either in person or as an image in the static?

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Patrick was the Peterson kid's first name.)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Heh, got it."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "so that's who kept entering PPP into the game high score list"

Angela looks at the photos. "Huh! I hadn't noticed it before, but yeah, some of the static *did* look kinda like a face. Like that boy's face, even."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "Oh, Patrick Petersen, not Peter Patrickson."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Also, the missing girl's name is Melissa Humbert.)"

Eben says, "OK, thank you. We're going in to deal with the electrical surges still in the circuit breaker, and we'll let you know when it's safe to come back in."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Thanks."

GM says, "Given that the immediate threats are dealt with, you can take your time with the circuit breaker and the wall of bricks, so I'm going to say that you can take care of them without having to roll."

Eben, heading back in, asks Wanda if she happens to still have her skin suit around.

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to GM), "I was going to see if we could contact Patrick at the circuit breaker."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ooh. Neat."

[CCrusaders] Eben will continue with that plan, then ;-)

Wanda asks (of Eben), "I have no idea where that thing is tidied, I think I lent it to a friend for a Halloween prank?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "hey you kid get outta my LAN"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(AFK for a moment.)"

Eben asks, "Ha. I don't know if it'll work, but if we ever find Patrick, I thought a rubber suit might be a reasonable place to move him? If he's currently electricity?"

Eben asks, "Currently! Get it?"

Wanda says, "Good one Grandpa"

Eben whaps Wanda on the leg, "Don't patronize me, kid. Groan or get out." Then he grins.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Back.)"

Eben clears a safeer way past the bricks without getting rid of all of them, then stands in front of the sparking circuit board, thinking. Finally, he just asks, "Uh, Patrick? Are you there? We're here to try to help."

Wanda says, "If I can establish a mind link..."

Eben exclaims, "Good idea!"

Wanda focuses.

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "maybe there could be something with a little screen in here attached, like a security system panel or something"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Do I roll to try and find a mind in the electricity?"

GM says, "There's no response to Eben's question, but Wanda does sense something like a mind..."

GM says, "It's difficult to try to read the mind of a knot of electrical energy, but it might be possible with a +4 Overcome."

[Setting the zoned flag.]

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Alright! That's Notice (my telepathy skill)"

Wanda rolls Good (3) + 4dF: 0 0 +1 0 | Great (4)

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "Success with a minor cost?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Minor cost: the mind is frightened?"

GM says, "You detect thoughts, but they're scrambled and staticky."

GM says, "'**ere am I? It's s* ***d to hold o*. Is a***** **t there?'"

GM says, "It feels like whatever it is is slipping away from you."

Wanda tries to communicate, thoughts flickering like flames. HELLO PATRICK. I'M WANDA. I CAN HEAR YOU. DO YOU FEEL THAT WARMTH? FOLLOW THE FLAMES.

Eben asks (of Wanda), "Can you get them to, uh, enter my phone? Or something?"

Wanda says (to Eben), "I'll try! I'm trying to maintain focus"

Wanda tries to create a mental path lit by candle-like flames

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "If there's time, I try to build a consciousness-holding device out of his phone and other bits of things."

GM says, "'W****? *ho are y**? Whe** *** you? I ca*'* *ee anyth***!'"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "bits of string and sealing wax and other fancy things"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Hee"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "That seems like a thing you could theoretically do, but it would require more equipment, resources and time than you have in this moment. (I.e., it'd be an extended Challenge scene of its own.)"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Got it."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(except here)"

Wanda says (to Patrick), "YOU ARE KIND OF MADE OF ELECTRICITY RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU'RE GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. JUST FOCUS ON MY THOUGHTS FOR NOW. I'M ONE OF THE CROWNSFORD CRUSADERS, I HAVE MIND POWERS."

Eben looking over his stuff, is stymied.

GM says, "'I fee* **ke I'm ** * river. It's try*** ** *ull me under. I ***'t hold on mu** **nger!'"

Eben asks (of Wanda), "I'm going to have to build something back at my workshop. If you can't get them to, I dunno, emerge from here, maybe try to send them there?"

Eben asks, "Wait, maybe I could portal him there?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So this is tricky! I don't know how I can guide the kid to the right power outlet"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "If only we could convert electricity to another form of energy"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "One that I can control"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Then I could carry him"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "what like a toaster"

Eben opens a portal between here and his workshop, goes through, and pulls some wires from there to the circuit board to try to make a bridge.

GM says, "'Wand*... **nda... **n**...'"

GM says, "And just as Eben is about to hook up the wires, it's gone."

Eben exclaims, "Damn!"

Wanda says (to Patrick), "WAIT--"

GM says, "And the circuit breaker box is back to normal."

Wanda exclaims, "No! No!"

Wanda rages and the heat rolling off of her almost burns Eben.

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Can't have you ending an entire arc like two months early ;)"

[Crows-Nest] Eben exclaims, "arc!"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "no pun intended"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "'currently' wasn't intended originally either ;-)"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Hee."

Wanda exclaims, "I lost him! I lost the kid, he was right there and I lost him and I couldn't do anything!"

Eben says, "Wanda! Wanda, it's OK. We'll find him again. And next time we'll be ready."

Wanda says, "Okay. Okay..."

Wanda calms down a litte.

Eben says, "I know, it's hard. Just keep trying."

Zircon says, "In the meantime... were we on our way to see this 'Lydia' girl? Seems like so long ago now..."

Eben asks, "Melissa?"

Jacob says, "Melissa's friend Lydia."

Eben says, "Wait, no, right."

Wanda asks, "Didn't we also want to check out the cemetery?"

Wanda says, "Or any stretches of exposed earth between the Humberts' place and Lydia's home"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "I don't remember that bit at all. Was the book earth-based?"

Zircon says, "We're gonna stick Patrick into an empty dead body? Nothing wrong with the classics, I guess."

Eben says, "I was going to build him something."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "The Medusae!"

Zircon says, "That's probably a better idea."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "ie Gorgons, stone, etc"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "the passage that Melissa read about anyway"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Got it."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "in addition to the raising of the dead which was another"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So two things Melissa was interested in, not sure which one got her in trouble"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "If you want to review that bit, search for 'You find a few sections' in crownsford-4-2-1.html"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "So what do you want to do next?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "could be lab-work and research, or more interviewing, I think"

Eben tells out Amanda that her shop is clear again.

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "Angela?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Sigh, yes."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Angela."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "One of those A***a people."

GM says, "The woman wearing the 'Angela's Arcade' t-shirt thanks Eben. She goes inside and starts taking photos of the damages for her insurance."

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "Did Melissa's mom give us enough information to find Lydia?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "For convenience, let's say yes."

Eben says, "So, we know the issue with Patrick is urgent, if he's fighting to stay coherent. On the other hand, Melissa's situation may well be urgent, too."

Eben asks, "But the stuff with Patrick is going to take a while. I can start on that, and in the meantime, we can visit Lydia?"

Zircon says, "That sounds like an excellent plan."

Jacob says, "Good with me."

Jacob asks, "Does she also have a cat?"

Jacob says, with no sign of joking.

Zircon exclaims, "Let's find out!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Eben), "Are you splitting the party to work in the lab while they're interviewing Lydia, or are you doing one and then the other, or...?"

Eben also calls the power plant, and asks for a compilation of reports on electrical anomalies to see if Patrick can be traced from his house to the arcade, and then from the arcade to wherever he is now. He also sends off a text to Patrick's parents, asking if he used to frequent the arcade, and, if so, if there are other places he frequented.

Eben also orders a couple more esoteric components he thinks might work to store a conscious electrical person, and asks Wanda's parents if they can send over one of wanda's old skin suits to the workshop.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "And then goes with everyone to Lydia's, yeah."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Any other ideas for Stuff To Do?"

GM says (to Eben), "Once you explain who you are and what you're doing, the power plant is happy to oblige, and can even get you a live data feed that you can monitor if you have the software to analyze it."

Eben says (to GM), "I will write that software if I have to ;-)"

GM says, "And Lenore Peterson confirms that yes, Patrick did frequent the arcade. Other than hanging out at his friends' houses, he also liked sledding and ice skating, but the hill and the pond in question aren't really very electrical, so those might not be great leads."

GM asks, "And she asks, hopefully, if you've learned anything new?"

[Crows-Nest] Eben exclaims, "Leads!"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Hee."

GM says, "Writing data analysis software will be a Will Overcome, vs. +4."

Eben says (to Lenore), "We were able to make limited contact with him, and are hopeful we can track him down, and help him when we do."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Eben), "I'll give you an Assist, grandpa"

GM says (to Lenore), "The response is just a series of excited and grateful emojis."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Including several praying hands, I assume."

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Definitely."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "some peaches"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "I feel like I should Build A Thing as a create advantage for the tracking software; does that make sense?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "What kind of a Thing are you thinking of?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "ups?"

[CCrusaders] Alex says (to Zircon), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that UPS is Uninterruptable Power Supply."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Like, Eben seems more a mechanical engineer type person than a software engineer, but I do use my phone all the time with random things; I feel like I probably have a variety of digital-to-analogue translator type things in my Suite Of Things I Do. Though I'm not entirely sure about this thing in particular."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Oh, maybe something to display the information in a more analogue way while I'm writing the software, so it makes more intuitive sense for me?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Wanda'll help anyway"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Hmm, OK. Will you be able to describe this display device in a suitably arcan and mad scientisty way?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "+e"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Now I feel like I have to live up to that challenge ;-)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If so, that'll be a Create Advantage with Gadgeteering, vs. +4."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(If it's not sufficiently arcane and mad scientisty, then you don't get to use Gadgeteering ;) )"

Eben Hee

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "big oscilloscope screen, some jacob's ladders in there, the usual"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Is there time right now? Or should I describe things now to happen later?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "sounds like a theramin all the time"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You can describe it now, and we'll be vague about when you actually build it."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "OK, while that sounds like fun and I will defintely plan to do it, for now I'm just going to program something on my phone as we drive to Lydia's so as to not waste time."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Because Eben is anxious about Patrick, even though I know dramatically he's still OK ;-)"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "So: Will vs 4, plus one from Wanda!"

Eben rolls Good (3) + 4dF: +1 +1 +1 0 | Fantastic (6)

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Woo!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "There we go."

GM says, "Lydia's home and family seem pretty normal! Her parents let you in, and you sit down with Lydia in the living room. She's dressed in a slightly gothy fashion, but not extremely so, and she seems friendly enough and willing to talk."

Wanda is Wanda.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You have the software up and running! It'll alert you as soon as it detects something that looks significant."

Eben asks about the day Melissa disappeared in particular, and about the days leading up to it, if anything out of the ordinary happened; if she was talking about planning something...

Wanda does surface mindreading.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(unless we want an explicit conversation which is also fine)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(I am also mindful of being the focus character for more than usual in the last bit; if someone else wants to lead this, that's great.)"

Lydia says, "She used to tell me everything, but she's been a lot more distant lately. She's been spending so much more time with her new Internet friends than with her real friends."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah, interviewing people isn't my forte :)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Heh."

Jacob is mostly quiet, taking things in.

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "We got a forum name, didn't we?"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "If only you had another teenaged girl in the party, one who had been raising Rapport lately..."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You have a partially-remembered one."

Eben asks, "Any particular names she mentioned from the internet? Or private forums you know she was connected to?"

Lydia says, "Yeah, there's some 'Astrid' that she's been talking about a lot. It's like she wishes she were her or something. Ugh. I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning something together."

Eben says, "Oh, that's excellent; thank you."

Eben asks, "Her mom mentioned something about a forum named 'western past'? She thinks she probably got that wrong; does it ring any bells?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(note: I just made up 'western past'; the transcript just says 'half-remembered partial name')"

Lydia says, "Oh, do you mean 'Withered Path'?"

Eben exclaims, "I probably do!"

Eben pulls it up on his phone, if he can, and shows it to Lydia. "This one?"

Jacob pulls out his phone and not so surreptiously starts poking around about the forum and "Astrid" (TIMING)

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Ha"

Lydia says, "I saw that written in her notebook once. I don't know what it is, but it could be a web site."

Jacob is the sort to just not talk to anyone and play around on his phone, so...

GM says, "Some quick Googling does turn up a site with that name. It's a forum, but you need to create a login before you're allowed to see any of the posts."

Eben says, "OK, great. Astrid, Withered Path."

Eben asks, "Has she said anything about the weather, or about 'Medusae'?"

Jacob uses some throwaway email address to do so

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "thatbirdguy23@yahooligans.com"

[Crows-Nest] Eben exclaims, "Ha!"

Lydia says, "Not that I remember, but it's been a while since she's really told me about anything important."

Eben nods, and sighs.

Eben asks, "I don't suppose you or she knew a Patrick Peterson?"

GM asks (of Jacob), "And your username?"

Wanda goes east.

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "secretbirdass69"

Wanda has arrived.

[CCrusaders] Jacob thinks of something appropriately witty, hm.

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "Big Pecker"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "It's witchy/goth stuff, so Raven something."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "Attempted Murder"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Oh my god."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yes"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Unless it's taken ;)"

GM says (to AttemptedMurder), "Once you log in and start poking around, you can see that it's a forum about magic and the occult. And one of the major mods is a user called 'astrid'."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "People who type in all lowercase are intimidating"

Eben asks (of Lydia), "Did Melissa have a nickname she might have used on the forum?"

GM says, "Lydia shrugs. She can't think of anything."

Jacob looks at astrid's profile.

Eben asks, "And I assume she didn't actually contact you the night she said she was staying at your place?"

GM says (to Jacob), "In her profile, she describes herself as the 'Shadow Queen', and her avatar is a familiar-looking rune. It also lists her recent posts and what threads she's been active in."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "oh noooooo"

Lydia says, "Not at all. When she wasn't at school that day, I thought she was just skipping."

[Crows-Nest] (from Wanda) Cuddlepaws goes, 'Curses! A forum mod! We're d00med'

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "Melissa got... shadowbanned. yeeeeeaaaaaaa"

Jacob falls down an astrid-shaped rabbit hole, including trying to remember what the rune means and/or where he saw it before.

GM asks, "Do you remember back when Cuddlepaws got scanned by that machine that showed you a kind of astral projection of them? And then got almost kidnapped by a witch?"

Jacob oh yes.

Zircon asks, "When did she start getting into this sort of thing so seriously, if you happen to recall?"

Jacob oh shit.

GM says, "That rune was on CP's astral projection."

Jacob quietly hands the phone, zoomed in on the rune, to Eben.

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "my thinking is that we know when Melissa stopped posting (probably) so with a start date we can take a few guesses as to what her account was and what she was writing. In the public fora, anyway"

Lydia says, "It was earlier this year. Back when that big dragon attack happened. She thought that was really cool."

Zircon nods wisely.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I don't entirely remember the details, if anyone else saw the rune, but I probably drew it for them at some point."

[CCrusaders] Zircon has no idea what that is.

[Crows-Nest] Wanda exclaims, "Curse those supervillains and their appealing sense of style and theatre!"

Eben says (to Jacob), "Isn't this the one we saw on..."

Jacob just nods.

Eben says (to Lydia), "I don't suppose you recognize this, do you? [shows rune]"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "It's a rune that's associated with a local cult called the 'Disciples of Shadow' who are connected with magic and the shadow realm."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "sure, sure"

[CCrusaders] Jacob | A vertical line, with a triangle attached to one side -- you might recognize it as a 'thorn' rune.

Lydia says, "Oh, yeah, that. Melissa draws that on everything. Does it mean something?"

Jacob says, "I think she's involved in some, pardon the language, deep shit."

Lydia says, "Oh."

Wanda exclaims, "But we'll dig her out of it, don't worry!"

Eben asks, "OK. Let's say we find her and she doesn't think she wants to come back. How would you convince her otherwise? What good memories does she have? Her time with you, her time with other friends? A pet she loved?"

Wanda exclaims, "Hey, maybe I can use my mind powers to duplicate a memory!"

Wanda says, "And transfer it to Zircon for him to make an illusion"

Lydia says, "I don't know. I mean, if she cared that much about her friends, she wouldn't have shut us out, right? I guess there was the pet cat, but-- oh! Maybe Henry, I guess?"

Wanda asks, "Henry?"

Lydia says, "There was this crow who used to go to her bedroom window. She was trying to tame it with food and stuff. She called him 'Henry'."

Jacob oooohs audibly.

Wanda says, "Aww, cute"

Zircon nods abstractly.

Eben says, "That's great; thank you so much."

GM asks (of Jacob), "Is there anything else you're researching on the forum meanwhile?"

Jacob says, "I don't know. I was just fishing for general information with "rabbit hole""

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Like reading recent threads"

Eben says, "And know she didn't intentionally turn her back on you and her other friends. She was struggling, and found a new and exciting thing that distracted her for a while. Too much. But when she does come back, she'll need your support, and forgiveness."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "That Astrid was involved in"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks (of Jacob), "Do you want to do your Investigate stunt thing?"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Just to make things harder on the GM once more?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Does that work on the world wide web? :)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "On the web forum? Interesting. In this case, I'm up for it."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yay"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "I'm imagining him scrolling at high speed through the posts"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I was going to say a +3 Investigate Overcome to look for more info, so I'll keep that as the opposition for this."

Jacob rolls Legendary (8) + 4dF: -1 -1 0 +1 | Epic (7)

Jacob spends a fate point, leaving her with 2.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "So that's four items, and one free invoke to be used on any of them"

Lydia nods to Eben, wistfully.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "s/items/aspects"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "OK! Let's see..."

GM says (to Jacob), "You find that astrid has been talking a lot with a particular other user; it seems like she might be a Mentor to Melificent."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Oh man."

GM says (to Jacob), "And although astrid herself is apparently not an expert on the subject, there are some threads here that are Discussing the Quaesitores Perditarum."

GM says (to Jacob), "Her post history alsos suggests that she's part of some organization, and that Astrid Has Been Recruiting."

GM says, "And you also notice a recent minor kerfluffle. There was a new user who showed up and asked a bunch of annoying and awkward questions, but it wasn't long before Drnic729 Got Banned."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon asks, "I summoned a demon. Do you like this?"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "And that's your four!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Updated https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h88N6VTO6dtQ2RVzk1tqx4NdA5PNyShAjpXcoVjhU8M/edit#gid=1689105620"

Jacob asks, "Hey, does Drnic729 mean anything to you, Lydia?"

Jacob asks, "A friend of yours and Melissa's?"

Lydia shakes her head. "Sorry. How do you even pronounce that?"

Jacob says, "Your guess is as good as mine!"

Jacob says, "Dr. Nick...."

Jacob hm.

Wanda says, "Oh."

Zircon says, "'Hi, Doctor Nick!' Nothing? Kids these days..."

Jacob says, "Nichols, that's it."

Jacob not great with names he'd rather forget.

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Wait, like the actual Nichols from previous sessions? Is that right?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I mean, it's just a guess"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "That's my guess, both IC and out."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I forget what state he was when we last saw him."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "He was the animal experimenter?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "And cleared out his lab after sort of helping us?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "But with no other leads, Jacob would totally latch on to that."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "And had a cat person assistant?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "But first, Henry."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Right."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "And I knocked him out with mind powers by mistake?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The last time you saw him, he was unconscious. He had been helping you against the Quicksilver cyberzombie situation (which had was accidentally responsible for), and Wanda tried to mind-control him into giving you some of his equipment."

Eben stands up. "OK, Lydia, thank you; this was tremendously helpful. We'll be in touch if we find anything."

Lydia says, "Thank you. I hope she's OK. Even if she has been doing something bad."

Eben says, "Me, too, kid."

Wanda exclaims, "Redemption's always an option!"

Eben says, "Tell your parents you love 'em and that you're thankful. I don't think Melissa's parents... know how to love people very well."

Lydia says, "I will!"

Eben nods, touches his cap, and heads out.

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Where to next?"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "Henry!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, where's that?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ya"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Outside :)"

GM says, "You are now outside."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I think we should go closer to Melissa's house and I'll ask around"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I have certain doubts that Henry is what it appears, but it is worth trying."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "We ask Henry about Melissa."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Well, first we find Henry ,and if he's not a real bird ,the others might know that"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Which is still some information we didn't have before"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "quite so"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "And how are you going about this?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I literally just said :) We get closer to Melissa's neighborhood if this isn't it, and I reach out to some birds, ideally ravens or crows, in the vicinity"

Eben drives towards Melissa's house until Jacob sees/senses a flow of crows.

Crow says, "CAW! CAW!"

Crow says, "CAW?"

Jacob says, "Hey, buddy. I'll make it worth your while if you can tell me something about a raven who might be called "Henry" by a human?""

Jacob was typing!

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Kids these days. Always on their phones instead of talking to birds."

[CCrusaders] Jacob is ready to roll. Um. Literally, if given a TN.

Crow says, "Henry! That's a human name! I know a Crow who knew a human!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "If need be"

Jacob asks, "Hey, yeah. Thats probably them. Where can I find him?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "her cat might have opinions, now that I think of it"

Jacob probably just looks to the others like he's gazing out the window quietly.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "About Henry? yeah, good call"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, ""Ma'am, we have some more questions for your cat.""

Crow says, "Gone! With the human! On a loud ugly thing! Went south!"

Jacob asks, "Hm! Like a motorcycle? Big black thing with two wheels?"

Crow says, "Yes! That's it!"

Jacob says, "Great, thank you." To whoever is driving, "Hey, stop the car? I gotta deliver this." He holds out something shiny."

Jacob fails at quotation marks.

Eben pulls over obligingly.

Crow says, "Nice! Thanks! Good deal!"

Jacob says, "Enjoy!"

[Crows-Nest] GM asks, "But how will Jacob open his front door when he gets home?"

Eben asks (of Jacob), "(after the explanation) So, head south? And ask other birds about human-and-bird-on-motorcycle?"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Haha. I did almost type key, but its probably some earring he found on the street recently."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "That's some hardcore barroom brawl"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Based on my local city's Facebook group, people lose jewelry/keys constantly."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "And Jacob is why they never get them back."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "heehe"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Are you doing as Eben suggested?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Probably."

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "Was it worth trying to talk to the cat again again about Henry?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Per Zircon's comment"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Seems difficult to arrange"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Are you asking my opinion?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "they seem like the sort of people who let their cat outdoors without a care"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Probably true! I was asking the team."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Sure, let's do both. Outside Cat first, then south."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Assuming the cat deigns to go outside."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "GM is like "seriously?" right now :)"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, ""They want to talk to the CAT?""

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "It has a balcony seat"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "And opera glasses"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "correction: we want to talk the cat AGAIN"

GM says, "The cat is presently sitting on the sill of a screened window inside the house."

GM says, "(It's, uh... unseasonably warm today, so the window is open.)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Oh, right, it's December"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Nah, it's an animated show, it's always sunny except for the Christmas special or when people are sad"

Jacob just walks up to the window and starts up a conversation with the cat (in cat language).

Fluffy says, "You again?"

Jacob asks, "Yeah, quick question. Can you tell me about Melissa's crow friend Henry?"

Fluffy says, "Ugh. *That* thing."

Fluffy says, "I'm glad it's gone."

Jacob says, "Well, Melissa is gone with it, apparently."

Jacob asks, "When did it start showing up?"

Fluffy says, "Summer?"

Jacob nods, "Ok. Anything particularly memorable about it? Why didn't you like him?"

Fluffy says, "It's loud. And too big to kill."

Jacob laughs nervously.

Jacob asks, "How did they, uh, talk to each other?"

Jacob is trying to suss out whether it can talk.

Fluffy says, "She talked human at it. It just made stupid noises."

Jacob ah. "Thanks."

Jacob asks, "Did she say anything like.. making plans to leave?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "And if she did, why the hell didn't you tell me before. Self-absorbed cat."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Hee"

Fluffy says, "I don't know. That's human stuff. Why should I care?"

Jacob asks, "Do you want Melissa to come home?"

Jacob asks, "Smelling better than she did and not talking to crows?"

Fluffy looks away, feigning distraction. "I... don't *mind* if she comes back. I guess."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Fluffy: <grooms self awkwardly>"

Jacob rolls eyes, "Right. Of course. Well, we're trying to get her back, and this bird had something to do with her disappearance."

Fluffy says, "I haven't seen the bird since she left."

Jacob says, "Yeah. I figured as much."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Unless anyone else has a question they want answered by Fluffy, I'm going to cut it short"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I think I'm meowing up the wrong tree."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "I think we got what we need. May well be actual bird, probably still with Melissa."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(except here)"

Jacob says, "Anyway. Thank you for your time. Be seeing you."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Yeah I think that's enough"

Eben drives south slowly, so that Jacob can talk to birds along the way.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "OK! Finding enough birds with helpful directions to lead you to where the motorcycle went is a +3 Rapport Overcome for Jacob."

Jacob rolls Legendary (8) + 4dF: -1 -1 0 +1 | Epic (7)

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Success with style!"

GM says, "You find your way to an old, minor highway leading out of the city. You can see a gas station up ahead. There's a black speck in the sky in the distance -- no, *two* specks -- which Jacob's eyesight recognizes as a pair of crows, flying near each other."

Jacob hm!

GM says, "One of them flies off, and the other swoops down to the ground, where you see a motorcycle on the side of the road."

Jacob points.

Eben, now used to driving so as to not scare birds, pulls over to where Jacob can talk to it.

GM rolls Fantastic (6) + 4dF: 0 +1 -1 +1 | Epic (7)

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Uh oh."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "um..."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "The bazooka hits our car! We get Winter Soldier'd"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(or any other relevant action movie reference)"

GM says, "As you're about to pass the gas station, black clouds form in the sky above the bike. And it starts to rain. Not where *you* are, but over the bike and the area around it."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Hey, weather magic."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "hunh"

GM asks, "Are you pulling over here, or are you continuing to approach?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "oooh, it's the Weathering Path, not the Withering Path"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(I jest)"

[CCrusaders] GM adds Thunderstorm to the aspects list.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Wanda."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Punderstorm!"

Jacob was'nt ready to pull over, just wanted to see what happened.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "but also wasn't going to complain, b/c free will"

Eben pulls up to the edge of the thunderstorm.

Eben asks (of Jacob), "Uh, can you talk to that bird?"

Jacob says, "I can try!"

Eben says, "Weather magic was one of the things Melissa was studying..."

Jacob tries to feel a bird mind first.

Eben asks (of Zircon), "Any insights about the magic end of things here?"

GM says, "You stop right in front of the gas station! From here, you can easily see that next to the motorcycle is a teenaged gull in all-out goth mode. On her shoulder is a crow."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Teenaged gull. Haha."

Zircon says, "It certainly seems unnatural! But not really in my line of work."

GM asks (of Jacob), "How far does your bird-telepathy work, zone-wise?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Unknown!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Aren't gulls and crows about the same size? Crows are slightly smaller, I guess."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ha. Freudian typo."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(unless it... Ah, OK ;-)"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I figured :)"

Jacob rolls his eyes a little. Such stereotype.

[CCrusaders] GM starts drawing a map: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1IntaQdEhJ6tOI7-susTNxEqqh91g3RLXZMhxBYJEk5s/viewer

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Clash of the Goths!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "All it says is | You can communicate with birds telepathically. In addition, you are aware when birds are around you, even if you can't see or otherwise sense them."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Well, it says favored animal, I wrote birds"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "So Jacob can always tell if someone is flipping him the bird, even blindfolded"

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "It does say I can talk to animals as if they were human NPCs, so if I could shout at someone from here, maybe I could telepathically access it?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sounds reasonable."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "I'm giggling at the map shenanigans"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "you can put me in the car too"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Jacob), "So you definitely do feel a bird mind!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "what's the giant butt? the thunderstorm?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yes :D"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I thought it was more of a brain"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I was about to comment on the butt ;-)"

Jacob calls out telepathically, "Hello! Are you Henry?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Why does the thunder smell of beans?"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "Yeah, it's the zones where the thunderstorm is covering."

Henry says, "Yes! Are you Jacob?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I understand; and also, uh oh"

Jacob asks, "I am! How did you know?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Oh right, the birds told him."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ignore that question"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "No, I want to know!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Well, ok"

Henry says, "You've been talking to every bird between here and downtown Crownsford!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "congrats you're bird-famous"

Jacob asks, "Are you really a crow?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Ha."

Henry says, "Yes! Are you really a human?"

Jacob says, "You speak... quite well for a bird."

Jacob says, "Yes!"

Jacob says, "I think."

GM says, "Meanwhile, the girl is looking back at the group of you, waiting for someone to make a move."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Someone should wave at her :)"

Eben waves friendily.

[Crows-Nest] Eben exclaims, "Timing!"

Girl shouts, "Are you the Crownsford Crusaders?"

Eben exclaims, "That's us! You want a job? That thunderstorm is awesome!"

Jacob (to Henry) "Can Melissa talk to you?"

Girl shouts, "I need your help! Please, save me!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Uh uh."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "BRB, I need to find a missing "phone" and feed Lizzy. The dog. Not the sociopath."

Zircon says, "I'll take one for the team."

Eben looks at Jacbo in a 'Does Henry think she's stuck?' way.

Zircon gets out of the car, waves. "Hi! We're here to help!"

Zircon dodges traffic, walks towards motorcycle. "I've heard of isolated showers before, but really..."

Eben asks (of Melissa), "How, exactly, are you in trouble?"

Girl says, "Please, be careful! It's dangerous!"

GM says, "You hear a deep rumbling. The ground quakes underneath your feet."

Zircon says, "WooaaaOOOHHaaaaahh"

GM exclaims, "Suddenly, huge cracks open up in the earth under the thunderclouds!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "(back)"

GM exclaims, "And massive stone creatures -- huge, each with four arms and two heads -- erupt from the ground!"

Girl says (to Eben), "From them!"

GM says, "<TO BE CONTINUED>"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Oh my"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Does my Santa Clawed go away at the end of the session? ;)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Woo! great cliffhanger."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I agree ^^"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Also it's actually to my advantage if I go into this without a consequence"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "I don't remember. What kind of consequence was it?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Moderate, so one full session to heal?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "so these monsters crawled out of a great crack and you're still telling us this isn't a butt"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Wanda), "Sounds right!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yay"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "Ha ha."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Also the Medusae live!!!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "ANd everyone is good for March 25 (two weeks from now), right?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm good :)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon exclaims, "quite possibly!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Zircon), "If you're absent, a great devilish hand can just pull you into the crack and (temporarily) into hell"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "One hour earlier than normal."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Eben), "Right! Thanks for the reminder!"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yup"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I made a google calendar thing if anyone wants to be added that isn't already added."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Oh yeah. I haven't looked at that yet."

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Jacob), "Is April 8 still potentially up in the air?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(I also added May to http://slingergame.wikidot.com/schedule )"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Apr 8 is amidst Easter, which could complicate things"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Lex says the 8th is probably ok"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Jacob), "Yay."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "Let us know if it needs tweaking."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I am tentatively free all of May, but may update as needed."