Call of Colthulhu: Team One's Adventures

AleneShazam wrote:Skyline grimaces. "Yes... the arcane science division has seen some... devastating mishaps in recent years, all coming from newly hired researchers and teachers. No fatalities, thankfully, but one assistant almost had to have a leg amputated. After that the school board forbade Inked Quill from hiring new staff members until they could draft up stricter application processes. Of course, the most recent disappearance also factors heavily into this. Forgive him if he's a little paranoid right now."

"That's...quite disconcerting. Not just for my prospects, mind you, but that this campus has experienced such misfortune. Was the "crystal incident" a few weeks ago one of their mishaps? Were they all researching the same subject? Drank the same coffee? So many new hires causing such mayhem; there must be a common factor we can isolate-"

Torque shook his head. "No, no, NO! I'm already part of one investigation; I can't be distracted by tangents." He sighed. "I apologize, Skyline. It's tempting for me to try solving all the problems all at once, when it's more efficient to focus on the task at hand. Well, unless every single bad thing that's ever happened in Baltimare is actually part of a larger conspiracy, but that theory has its own slew of issues," he said with a smirk. "If nothing else, though, this highlights the need for our investigation to be done as professionally and discretely as possible. Inked Quill has asked us to solve his problem, not create more of them."

Lyntermas wrote:"If nothing else, though, this highlights the need for our investigation to be done as professionally and discretely as possible. Inked Quill has asked us to solve his problem, not create more of them."

 "I'd appreciate that. Inked Quill really works his flank off for the sake of the institute... too bad the school board doesn't recognise that." Skyline says, sighing. "But that's neither here nor there."

"And yes, the crystal incident is the latest in the string of misfortunes that this school was befallen upon Hiring new blood is exactly what this school needs, new discoveries is what we need to stop ponies from pointing out every single flaw in our institute. Once we get this over with, I'm sure you'll be a welcome addition to the faculty."

AleneShazam wrote:"And yes, the crystal incident is the latest in the string of misfortunes that this school was befallen upon. Hiring new blood is exactly what this school needs, new discoveries is what we need to stop ponies from pointing out every single flaw in our institute. Once we get this over with, I'm sure you'll be a welcome addition to the faculty."

Torque smiled. "I'm glad to hear your optimism. I hope that I'll be able to make this university proud, or at least break the "new hire" curse it seems to be suffering. I have so many ideas that I want to try out and share."

"How much further to the security office, by the way?" Torque took a glance at the campus map to see if he could determine where they were (and if there were any landmarks to look out for in the future.)

Rolling Perception...15 (1d20) + 8 = 23

Lyntermas wrote:

AleneShazam wrote:"And yes, the crystal incident is the latest in the string of misfortunes that this school was befallen upon. Hiring new blood is exactly what this school needs, new discoveries is what we need to stop ponies from pointing out every single flaw in our institute. Once we get this over with, I'm sure you'll be a welcome addition to the faculty."

Torque smiled. "I'm glad to hear your optimism. I hope that I'll be able to make this university proud, or at least break the "new hire" curse it seems to be suffering. I have so many ideas that I want to try out and share."

"How much further to the security office, by the way?" Torque took a glance at the campus map to see if he could determine where they were (and if there were any landmarks to look out for in the future.)

Rolling Perception...15 (1d20) + 8 = 23

A cursory glance at the map informs you that you are fairly close. In fact, the next door that the group comes across should be the office.

Skyline gestures for the group to stop in front of a set of fairly unimpressive doors. He knocks, goes in, and comes back out a few minutes later bearing lanyards that have each of the group member's names and the title 'Temporary Security Officer' emblazoned under. He hands them out to the group, and nods. "That gives you about as much authority as regular security officers have, including the right to search through rooms and request compliance from staff and students in an official capacity. Within reason, of course."

Then he gestures at the map. "Well then, to the dorms I guess? We can take the stairs on the left and be there in a couple of minutes."

"Wow, regular security here gets to raid rooms on a whim? Must be a lot of dangerous stuff going on around here if that's allowed to go on by the school." Flashpoint's tone wasn't accusatory, simply observational. "Like I said, I'll leave the searching to you two."

"Ooooh, authority!" Aurora grinned like a kid in a candy store as she donned her lanyard, but her expression went back to a more neutral one as she cleared her throat, heading towards the dorms. "That is actually kind of worrisome. Of course, if this is the kind of place where new things are discovered, maybe it's because jerks try to steal research to get credit for it themselves? I dunno. Hopefully we don't have to be bullies about it."

AleneShazam wrote: Skyline gestures for the group to stop in front of a set of fairly unimpressive doors. He knocks, goes in, and comes back out a few minutes later bearing lanyards that have each of the group member's names and the title 'Temporary Security Officer' emblazoned under. He hands them out to the group, and nods. "That gives you about as much authority as regular security officers have, including the right to search through rooms and request compliance from staff and students in an official capacity. Within reason, of course."

Torque looked over the lanyard before putting it on. "Interesting. You must have a printer of sorts to custom make these so quickly. Although, that does bring up the question of how often "temporary security officers" are brought in to assist in school affairs."

A1C Bronymous wrote:"Wow, regular security here gets to raid rooms on a whim? Must be a lot of dangerous stuff going on around here if that's allowed to go on by the school." Flashpoint's tone wasn't accusatory, simply observational. "Like I said, I'll leave the searching to you two."

"Hmm, that is something to consider. I suppose it may imply either a great deal of good faith in the security guards not to abuse their power, or, as you suggested, there is a great deal of risk that necessitates quick action. Granted, as Aurora mentioned, this is a institute where magic and science are intended to be pushed to their limits for new discoveries. However, I would suspect that foul play may be less of a factor than the possibility of students performing dangerous experiments in their rooms without following proper protocols. A powerful miscast spell in a crowded dorm could have disastrous consequences, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

AleneShazam wrote:"Well then, to the dorms I guess? We can take the stairs on the left and be there in a couple of minutes."

"Oh, certainly, lead the way. Torque tried to think of a topic to pass the time as they traveled. "Aurora, you mentioned that you were looking for Inked Quill to discuss the mass coma event. Tell me, what are your theories?"

A1C Bronymous wrote:"Wow, regular security here gets to raid rooms on a whim? Must be a lot of dangerous stuff going on around here if that's allowed to go on by the school." Flashpoint's tone wasn't accusatory, simply observational. "Like I said, I'll leave the searching to you two."

"Heh, not normally, but since I'm in charge I can give you three special permission. Most of the time we need to go through a long process, but this is a bit of an emergency, so I'm cutting you some slack."

"Well, aside from the obvious, that there was some kind of psychic backlash? Well, the thing is, most can't tell any significant differences between those who were affected and those who weren't, aside from...You know, those afflicted being comatose. Currently, my working theory is that, aside from outliers, the majority of them were more psionically capable than most prior to the incident, and that whatever happened essentially completely overloaded them. I'm assuming for now that other species aside from just ponies were affected, but most are rare enough in Equestria that I haven't been able to actually get any names or numbers to corroborate that part of the theory. I wouldn't consider it so strongly, except that...Well, everypony who was affected seemed to get hit all at once, so there has to be some thread linking all of them. Psychic ability, a particular magical frequency they all happened to resonate close to...If it's true, then there should be a way to start bringing them around, which I think everypony could get behind, right? Sadly, for any of this to advance past the theory stage, I'd need more data, and it's hard to come by with everypony scrambling for even the most basic answers." Aurora paused for a moment, taking a breath. After that brief reprieve from her rambling, she continued.
"I considered trying to contact changelings who might still be among us, their natural psychic abilities might be able to give us some insight into this, you see, but there's so many problems with that, it's likely doomed to failure. Even ignoring they'd be more likely to attack whoever contacted them or the comatose victims than be helpful, there's the fact that any who weren't run off wouldn't wish to risk revealing themselves, and that considering the whole 'eating love' thing, they may well be some of the victims. That said, if one came forward and was helpful, that would be great, but...Well, you can't have everything." She took a moment to collect her thoughts now, eyes darting about as if following invisible bugs or something as she focused on the problem.

---
Aurora cast wall of text! It's super-effective!

Caden2112 wrote:
Aurora cast wall of text! It's super-effective!

Skyline blinks. "Right... sounds like you got that under control. Right this way then."
He leads the group, with little fanfare, towards the stairs leading to the dorms.

Flashpoint doesn't say anything, his thoughts very succinctly echoed by Skyline. Instead he just follows along to the dorms. After a moment, "Are the dorms co-ed?"

A1C Bronymous wrote:Flashpoint doesn't say anything, his thoughts very succinctly echoed by Skyline. Instead he just follows along to the dorms. After a moment, "Are the dorms co-ed?"

"There are both coed dorms and single sex dorms at the institute. Meadowbrook's wing is a coed dorm." Skyline paused. "You're not thinking one of the students did this, are you? They're good kids, if a little careless. They couldn't hurt a fly if they tried."

Caden2112 wrote:Aurora cast wall of text! It's super-effective!

Torque took Aurora's rambling in stride. He himself was no stranger to getting carried away with scientific inquiry. Taking note of Skyline's and Flashpoint's...reactions, he tried to respond as calmly and professionally as possible.

"Interesting ideas. However, due to the current animosity between our species, I don't think it's likely that a changeling would step forward to volunteer assistance to ponies. And that's assuming that their psychic sensitivity hasn't had them take the worst of the backlash. While I'm admittedly less proficient in arcane knowledge, my thoughts have focused more on the possible causes, rather than the victim's similarities. Part of me doubts that whatever caused it was intentional. If an enemy kingdom or terrorist group had deployed some foul magic to render a fourth of our population comatose, I would think they would have taken advantage of the chaos and invaded, but such has not occurred in these past months. Other possibilities are that it was a massive spell meant for some other purpose that went horribly wrong, or that it was some part of some long-forgotten natural cycle of the world. Another possibility is that it was the result of some strange magic unfamiliar to Equestria. I would think that chaotic draconequus Discord might be an interesting resource, but if the Princesses haven't said anything, he either hasn't said anything to them or doesn't know anything about it (honestly, why do they let that menace wander around?)."

"But, as you've said, speculation without data is rarely rewarding. I'm willing to leave further analysis to the experts."

The group pushes past a large set of gilded double doors, and immediately the scenery changes. Instead of the well kept corridors between class rooms and lecture halls, the hallway past the doors are incredibly chaotic. The walls and doors must be enchanted with soundproofing spells, because the volume jumps up significantly the moment the doors open, the shouts of excited students and general buzz of youthful activity contrasting strongly with the quiet of the empty corridors.

Skyline gestures at the hallway. "Welcome to the Meadowbrook Dormitories. The room you're looking for is right this way."

He trots off, waving away students who stuck their heads out of their rooms to observe.

"I hadn't ruled out 'spell gone horribly, horribly wrong,' but I suppose if that's true, the caster is either unconscious or too terrified of retribution to come forward. Not that I could blame them, I can only imagine how much trouble they'd be in if-" Aurora paused as they entered the dorms, glancing around. That was...A bit of a switch. Still, she took it more or less in stride, following Skyline. "Wow. They're certainly energetic, heh. It's a little contagious, really."

Caden2112 wrote:"I hadn't ruled out 'spell gone horribly, horribly wrong,' but I suppose if that's true, the caster is either unconscious or too terrified of retribution to come forward. Not that I could blame them, I can only imagine how much trouble they'd be in if-" Aurora paused as they entered the dorms, glancing around. That was...A bit of a switch. Still, she took it more or less in stride, following Skyline. "Wow. They're certainly energetic, heh. It's a little contagious, really."

"Kids, you know?" Skyline shrugs. "If they're being noisy it means they're too busy to be up to no good. Makes my job much easier."

"Well, seems like the students are in good spirits. Speaking of students, do you know if any of Mirrored Clear's friends room here?" Torque pulled out the photo of Mirrored and her friends. "Inked Quill said they'd most likely be found in the dorms... and that they have "monitoring safeguards in case anything goes wrong." What safeguards was he referring to, exactly?"

As they continued towards Mirrored's room, Torque tried taking a glance to see if any of the "peeking" students matched the ones in the picture, or were otherwise suspicious.

Rolling Perception... + 8 = 28 (Proof)

---

Alt-script!
DM: You notice a pony glaring at you as she passes you in the hallway. Glancing at her bookbag, you see a copy of Moonbeam's Guide to Runes, a book wrapped in skin that seems to emanate an aura of sheer and utter wrongness, an ornate dagger, and a Stargazer's Almanac: Planetary Alignment Edition.
Torque: ...Rather suspicious.
Aurora: I know, right? I mean, a college student using MOONBEAM'S Guide as a reference? That book is part of magic elementary curriculum. She must be taking Runes 101 as an elective to need such a basic guide.

Lyntermas wrote:"Well, seems like the students are in good spirits. Speaking of students, do you know if any of Mirrored Clear's friends room here?" Torque pulled out the photo of Mirrored and her friends. "Inked Quill said they'd most likely be found in the dorms... and that they have "monitoring safeguards in case anything goes wrong." What safeguards was he referring to, exactly?"

As they continued towards Mirrored's room, Torque tried taking a glance to see if any of the "peeking" students matched the ones in the picture, or were otherwise suspicious.

Rolling Perception... + 8 = 28 (Proof)

The peeking students are almost definitely just curious: none of them look particularly worried or shady, and Torque can safely conclude that if the perpetrator was a student, they were not in this crowd. 
However, Torque's eye for detail immediately homes in on a closed room at the end of the hallway with a message board labeled "Mirrored Clear/ Pinstripe/Verily/Big Daddy's room" hanging next to the door.
Unlike the rest of the rooms and students, that particular room is deathly silent.

Flashpoint casually strides through the hall, not making eye contact with anypony and offhandedly considering going full Drill Instructor and screaming everyone into order. It'd be fun. He shrugs to himself and keeps going, shooting a serious look at one random pony peeking out of their room at him as he passes. "How does anyone get any studying done in here? This noise is almost painful."

A1C Bronymous wrote:Flashpoint casually strides through the hall, not making eye contact with anypony and offhandedly considering going full Drill Instructor and screaming everyone into order. It'd be fun. He shrugs to himself and keeps going, shooting a serious look at one random pony peeking out of their room at him as he passes. "How does anyone get any studying done in here? This noise is almost painful."

Skyline cracks a smile at that. "If they were seriously considering studying, they'd go to the library. Plus rooms have soundproof enchantments that can be activated if they really wanted to study in the dorms."

He winces as a shriek of surprise, coupled with bunch of loud laughter, comes from out of one of the rooms. "And they've been kind of extra rowdy since classes are put on hold because of the conference... hey, HEY! GET OFF THAT BED!" He suddenly shouts at a bunch of ponies in a room who appear to be poorly attempting gymnastics on the dorm beds. "As I said. They're teenagers, it happens. Not everypony has the privilege of possessing guard discipline, Flashpoint."

AleneShazam wrote:The peeking students are almost definitely just curious: none of them look particularly worried or shady, and Torque can safely conclude that if the perpetrator was a student, they were not in this crowd. 
However, Torque's eye for detail immediately homes in on a closed room at the end of the hallway with a message board labeled "Mirrored Clear/ Pinstripe/Verily/Big Daddy's room" hanging next to the door.
Unlike the rest of the rooms and students, that particular room is deathly silent.

"Ah, I think I see our destination up ahead. ....It may just be the soundproofing, but I'm definitely not hearing any good cheer behind that door." Torque headed over to Mirrored Clear's door and knocked. "Hello? Anypony in?"

For a few seconds, there is no response from the room.

"...Who's there?" A female voice sounds from within.

Skyline steps forward. "Is this Pinstripe?"

"Yes?"

"It's Skyline." Skyline says. "Can I come in?"

"...Alright."

The door slowly opens, and a zebra mare with a braided mane sticks her head out. "Who are these ponies?"

"They're here to help figure out exactly what happened here. Mind if they come in too?"

"I guess not." The zebra's head disappeared back into the room. Moments later the door swings open fully, and the group can go in. 

The room itself is a fairly large dorm room. Four single pony beds, each with a nightstand, are put against one side of the room. Shelves line the opposite side, and a large desk sits in the center of the room. Two beds appear to be occupied, one by a massive earth pony mare and the other by a slender unicorn stallion. Both have their eyes closed, and their breathing is slow but steady. They don't look like they're sleeping, instead they seem to be meditating or something similar. A relatively petite zebra stands in the doorway, looking over the group apprehensively.

"Hey. How're you holding up?" Aurora asked as she entered the room, looking around for a bit. She really wasn't sure what she was looking for off-the-hoof, but she figured she'd notice if anything was amiss. Still, she couldn't tell immediately if the zebra was nervous, or...Well, they were probably under a lot of stress, all things considered.

---
Rolling perception...
1d20+8 = 13+8 = 21

"Are we interrupting?" Flashpoint asks, stepping into the room. "My name's Flashpoint, we were hoping we could talk with the three of you."