479/The Kingsmouth Code

The Kingsmouth Code
Date of Scene:	23 August 2014
Location:	The Secret World <TSW>
Synopsis:	An investigation into the nature of the Illuminati influence on Kingsmouth brings people to the church, whereupon questions are asked, clues followed, and church floors are smashed.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 151, Riva Banari, 513, Inga, 543, 553

---

Riva Banari has posed:
Kingsmouth, for all of its fog without, has its own fog within. Mysteries abound on the streets of the city, rumors and unusual incidents, but over time they have faded away. Away, into the fog.

But now what is gone is coming back. The dead that have risen, the invasion of the aquatic draug. There is something terrible here on Solomon Island, and there are a staunch few working to unravel the mystery.



One of those mysteries happens to be the nature of the church, and the ancient Illuminati wards that protect it against the undead. Standing tall next to Priest House along Arkham Avenue, the white church exudes an aura of old-style construction. Small red circle-and-triangle wards are placed around the base of the building. The zombies come as far as the fenced yard around the building but go no further.

Henry Hawthorne, the pastor, stands within the church. The iconography of the church is simple and does not seem to be dedicated to any specific saint, though it is clearly a Christian place of worship. The iconography seems to feature the All-Seeing Eye prominently in many places, perhaps as a metaphor. Henry himself is an aging man, probably in his late 30s, who dresses conservatively in a blue sweater with white diamond patterns upon it, and a pair of black slacks and dress shoes.

Clearly, the perfect representation of a normal neighborhood clergyman.

Regardless, if you want to get some answers about the nature of the church, he might be your best place to start.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    A church. If there were any place where she might explode like a box of fireworks the moment she arrived, it would be a church. Ainsley had grown leery of any place that had sanctified ground or even had the possibility of being antithetical to her, in case she picked up a case of the fake demon again without realizing it.

    So when she walks in through the main doorway, she shuffles her feet and looks around with extra care to avoid holy symbols and other such things. That is, until she began to truly take in the architecture of the old church and the depths of the effort that must've gone into it. While she dropped into daydreams about the lives of the builders, she stopped before Henry Hawthorne as if she were prepared to speak to him, but she was momentarily distracted by a window.

    She murmured a few words describing the structure of a window, obscure words in various languages...

    And then looked over at Henry, clasping her hands in front of her. "Hello! It seems this church carries very heavy Illuminati symbology," she says to him, immediately, and then gestures to the All-Seeing Eye symbols everywhere, something that seemed ubiquitous with that organization from her perspective. "My name is Ainsley and I am investigating the island with some friends. Could you give me some backstory about this church and the town?"

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy hasn't been to Kingsmouth before. But, she read about the mission on the Syndicate mission board, and decided to check things out. A plague, even if it be one of zombies? Well. That is something worth stopping. Nurses can't let a plague, let alone a zombie plague, go unchecked for long.

     Nurse Joy, along with the others, walks through the front door of the chuch, smiling. Her arms are in front of her, her hands clasped. With the smile on her face, she looks incredibly non-threatening.

     "Hello," she says aloud, to the pastor, "I'm Nurse Joy. I'm here to help out with the situation in this town. But... This church doesnt' seem all that affected, does it?"

     She looks around, puzzled. It's a bit odd. Most Churches have symbols relating to Pokemon in her world, with most of them focusing on Arceus. It's odd to see a Christian church, though she at least knows of it.

     She smiles at the pastor, though. "Oh, may I ask your name as well?"

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight is inside the church, but he hasn't said anything yet. He stands just a few feet away from Ainsley, and is currently occupying himself with a hymnal. He looks at the day's selected hymns, observing each one in turn for any significance or hidden symbolism.

KITT, meanwhile, is parked outside, in surveillance mode--naturally. The car is currently scanning local radio frequencies, wireless, etc., etc. for anything of interest.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone has just taken to helping here and she takes a moment as she enters into the Church she does find it interesting and she notices the all seeing eye. That gets an eyebrow raise from her but she has to wonder. She doesn't voice this as she enters she's known for a while church grounds seem to be able to annhlate any undead that might attempt to enter.

"...ya I was just thinking that myself Ainsley. Oh I'm Kotone Yamakawa..."

Kotone meanwhile is looking about the church taking in and recording everything she sees. Nurse Joy gets a small smile from her a she loojks the woman over she seems pretty nice and very much not threating at all.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Iiiiiiilluuuuuminati?" Finna chimes from nearby? She's speaking a foreign language never heard on Earth - though it does seem to have some germanic tendencies and every now and then a word sounds EERILY like a viking might've said it at some point.

    But by now, she's started adopting dozens of loan words from over a dozen worlds and easily talks in a mishmash. That's what happens when the translation effect is in full tilt!

    But despite the foreign language, she's dressed casually for the area. blue jeans, a white blouse to match her strangely white hair. Chances are, Ainsley and the others here won't be seeing the fox tail and ears that adorn her form unless they're looking really hard for it, so, in the same vein, the white hair doesn't seem odd at all no matter how one glances at it.

    But she has no fear of holy symbols, no knowledge of the deity this Church is dedicated to... so for the moment, she's chosen to curb some of her wildness and behave herself. Not offending a god by bouncing off the walls in their temple is just common sense!

    "Kinda fun to pronounce, but I still don't get what it means. Well, we're looking for old occult things, right? I don't know what's normal for a building like this, but I bet I can find other things... what books are REALLY old... maybe hidden passages...? What should I focus on? You're the occultists here." She makes a somewhat regretful, sheepish face.

    Even though this was her proposal, she doesn't have the skill to follow through on it.

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry looks surprised, and then pleased to see a nurse walk right in the front door and claim she's here to help. "Bless you, my child. I appreciate your desire to help. Kingsmouth Congregational is always these days, even my flock is... considerably reduced. I am Henry Hawthorne, the..." His voice trails off suddenly, as it moves towards...

Ainsley feels a tightening of the skin as she crosses the threshold. This building is warded, all right. Just... Apparently not against her. She steps forward and asks about the Illuminati straight away, which causes a mixture of surprise, fear, and panic in the pastor's eyes. His demeanor changes completely as he puts up his hands, putting them in a shushing motion. "Not so loud, please." He says in a low tone. "I know of a great deal of unusual things, but who and... what are you? I haven't heard of anything like you. The wards didn't trigger on you, but..."

He sighs. "You never know who might be listening. But yes... The Illuminati. I'm with the Illuminati." He begins pacing, gesturing with his hands. "Oh, I don't have a badge or anything like that. I'm what you might call a, uh.... Hobbyist member."

He looks back to the group. "But I earned it. I did extensive research on the net. The code words I followed led me to forums - secret forums, forums that don't show up on Google." There is a nod as he leans in at that. "And I'm an avid poster. A valued poster."

The hymnals appear to be a collection of standard material. Michael's probably seen the same thing in a dozen other churches.

Or maybe not. He doesn't seem like a church kind of guy.

KITT continues to scan theradio waves. They're heavily garbled here. Something's messing with transmissions, and it's /not/ just inclement weather. KITT does locate a half-completed radio camera setup on a nearby gas station, however. Unfortunately, it's closed. Zombies aren't the best paying customers.

Finna's words catch him and distract him from the Ainsley situation, though it, perhaps, might seem difficult. "You're seeking out knowldge of the Founding Fathers? I know there are paths in Kingsmouth not on any map. The work of the Illuminati is everywhere. A secret gospel, chapter and verse, throughout the town. Signs and formulae. Of course that's why you would be here..."

He sighs. "Now, my work is not... exhaustive. There are elements of their-- of OUR grand plan I may have overlooked. Tiny, tiny details still left unexplored. I trust we have each other's disclosure." He taps the side of his nose at that.

He looks over at Ainsley again. "The past of this town is extensive, since the Founding Fathers established the location in the 1600s. Do you have anything in specific you are... wondering about?"

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     The Illuminati is /not/ something Nurse Joy is familiar with. She blinks a little bit, confused. "...What's the Illuminati, sir? Also, I'm wondering... If the crisis here is so bad, why are the zombies not reaching here? Do you know?"

     She looks around the building. "...Also, how old is this church? It's quite fancy. Does it date back to close to the beginning of the town? Or is it newer than that?" Obviously, architecture is not her strong suit.

     "Oh... and I wonder. If this place is somewhat safe and warded... Could we set up a shelter here for those in need?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone looks at Finna for a momne she looks really hard for a moment, she tilts her head for a moment.

"In a town like this I'd not be stunned if there actually was something like that here."

She is however still keeping a bit of distance from Finna however she asked some interesting quetions and got some useful answers. She had spotted something strange however.

"There's something about the grounds here that protects it speaking of I saw something out front I'll be right back."

Kotone deeks otu to the front to go get a look at that strange faintly glowing symbol she saw on the way in. She goes to kneel down and get a good look at it...

"What is this...?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Not so loud? Finna almost seems to shrink, slumping forward a bit and frowning. her ears droop along with her shoulders - a child, reprimanded. That's what the expression s reminiscent of. But she recovers quickly, tapping her index fingers together!

    But she does introduce herself, tail wagging and sudden smile shining. "Finna Snowdancer." An odd name, but not entirely so.

    She takes a few moments to look about the place. At the pews, the books, the altar, as if she's never seen anything of the sort before.

    Well, she hasn't!

    "We're looking for answers.... that disaster outside... the cursed creatures avoid this place like the plague." She's much quieter now. "So I figured... wards that powerful, they were almost made with them just in mind. Which meeeeaaaaaans this mess might've happened before, right? Sooo what better place to look for an explanation on what it is... and where to stop it? This temple's builders knew what they were doing. Was it spiritual guidance, then...?"

    Pondering Kotone's words, Finna watches as she exits, then rubs at her chin. Kotone wouldn't doubt secret passages here, huh? She'll have to ask her why later...

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks at Henry with a smiling patience that is the face of someone who has encountered a similar reaction a few times before and grown used to it. Being a lizard person was never weird in her world, so she doesn't act like it is. But she does not judge others for their surprise.

    Though this man seems to be, well... the kind of man that would be considered a fanboy in most other respects. He seems to be aware of some things, but not the entire puzzle. That's a problem which gets a thoughtful crease of her brow.

    Ahh, there it is. Upon being asked to clarify, she motions around at the rest of the building with one of her slender hands, her brows perking at him. "I want to know about the town, mostly, but..." She nods at the man once, motioning to him, gesturing for him to stay where he is so she could pace a bit and look around.

    "As for what I am, that's a question I have as well. We'll go with 'it's complicated,'" she tells him, "I'm a member of a group called the Union. It is a large faction, with an extensive presence ... ah... outside of this world." She shows a brief smile.

    She looks up at the windows once. She holds up her hand at Henry before he would even be able to begin speaking about the history of the town, and then she pulls out a small recording device, putting it on a railing near him. "Pertinent info about the reason they built a colony here, and any major conflicts that may have occurred while occupying the place, if you could? You could explain it to the others, if it would feel less awkward to do so." She nods at him once.

    The recorder has a piece of white tape as a label that says 'THOUGHTS' in big black letters. Seems Ainsley is one of those people who make voice notes sometimes. As if a creature with memory like hers ever needed that.

    She turns to leave the church soon after, walking at a brisk pace. She glances at Kotone once, distracted by the symbol she was looking at. Instead she goes to find the sewer covers, the nearest one on the outside, and crouches near it. "Huh," she sounds out, tracing the symbol on top of it. She then tries to magnetize her hand with some magic and pull the cover up with a grunt of effort, setting it aside to look down into what's below, briefly. And then she tries to set the cover back, and discovers it can only rest in a certain way, requiring her to spin it about.

    She squints at the cover for a moment... And then gets up to a stand, staring down at the symbol as if trying to puzzle out the meaning in it.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight isn't the type to go to church all that often, no. That's the life of a traveler--precluding easy integration into stationary societies like church congregations.

"Michael," says a voice from the loner's wrist watch. "It seems some resourceful citizen made a makeshift surveillance device. It's near the gas station, but it seems unfinished."

"Good eye, KITT. We should check that out, later. Right now, I'm gonna see what the local man of the cloth has to say." Michael closes the hymnal, but rather than replace it, he approaches Finna and offers the book to her. "Hymnal for your thoughts," he says to the curious Lunar.

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry looks taken aback by Joy's question. "Did you..." He pauses. "She is with you all, right? Did you not tell her?" He sighs. "Well, the cat is, as they say, out of the bag. The Illuminati is an organization dedicated to the protection and advancement of humankind, made up of some of the wisest, most intelligent, and powerful people in the world. Through their placement within the world, they use that wisdom to guide us all to a greater, more Illuminated future."

If there were an actual member of the Illuminati in the room right now they would probably have a hard time keeping a straight face.

"I would like to say it is the protection of God that keeps this place safe, but I have seen the insignias at the doorway when the zombies try to enter. Insignias of the eye and pyramid. The Illuminati protect this place. This church is an old building, but it had to be partially rebuilt after a fire in 1712 heavily damaged it. I believe it had stood since the town's founding."

Henry nods. "This is a place of shelter and comfort for any who desire it, although, um... I admit that our capacity to /sustain/ those people are rather limited at the moment. A church does not usually carry a great deal of emergency supplies, you understand."

Henry doesn't seem to see anything unusual about Finna's ears. They're just normal people ears, whatever! "Who am I to question the wisdom of the Founding Fathers? Solomon Priest was a visionary. Perhaps they foresaw this possibility at some point, but I don't believe this has happened before."

Kotone sees, just as Henry said, a glyph of a circle with a triangle and circle upon the doorjamb, inlaid in some red material. This seems like a magic thing.

Henry might be saying more but at the moment Ainsley seems to have struck him dumb. He just takes the recorder and looks down at it. "Out of this..." He says quietly. "World?" He looks over to Nurse Joy, who seems the most normal person in the room, and says, "Is that an alien?" He whispers.

Ainsley begins examining the sewer covers. One is right outside the shurch. There are a couple groups of zombies feeding on things nearby, but Ainsley doesn't seem to be getting their attention.

Given the nature of the cover, the quesion is: Why would someone design a sewer cover to only accept one orientation, especially in light of the iconography?

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy simply smiles at Henry, "I'm not actually with these people, in the Union. And yes, I think one or two of them might be aliens. I'm with the Syndicate, myself. It's a mercenary group, kind of. We like to help out where needed, though. And a zombie plague is something that needs fixing."

     She ponders, though. "If this church is connected to the Illuminati, though... A group that likes secrets... Well."

     She finds a large, heavy object of some kind or other. She is hitting it against various parts of the church's floor, and some bits of the wall. Not enough to do /damage/, but just enough to make a sound. Trying to figure out if there are any hollow spots anywhere.

     She smiles, "I saw this in a movie once!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley's gaze follows the manhole cover's symbology, and then she begins walking in a direction, guided by what she saw. She murmurs 'Lux Omnia Vincit' to herself, as she walks. She thinks while she walks, and begins talking to herself in a gentle tone of voice.

    She hypothesizes out loud about the purpose of the island, mostly.
    "They could have formed this outpost as a means to get closer to the supernatural beings that populate the world. If it were just an ordinary base, perhaps this event is a direct strike upon them. But by who? Is this a battle against one of their rivals, or perhaps a dark entity or collective that they had antagonized? Maybe they are the victims of a more proactive threat... maybe this is a breeding ground for supernatural activity and that is why they set up the town here."

    She's mostly throwing ideas at the metaphorical wall, with no one to really talk to about them. She stops to look down at the next manhole cover, and turns to follow it to the next, and the next. She begins to hum to herself, but remains mindful of the local undead threats. She isn't exactly built for fighting. Wherever she's being led to, she'll reach it without much delay.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "oh? You spend so much time researching things like the Illuminati, but not the decisions?" Finna teases, showing a lopsided smile that bores into the soul with playful pokes.

    But then she's handed a hymnal and this stupefies her. For a few moments she peers at it, then at Michael... the moments pass, as though she'd never seen Michael before.

    Or, maybe, this is the first time she's really looked at him. Snickering, she leans forward, tail wagging and hands folding around the hymnal. "Weeeeell, I'm no architect, but you wouldn't put wards this strong around a building just to protect people here to pray, would you? If this is the first time, then those wards are more general against foul creatures, and not the draug and undead. ... which means they're even MORE powerful, probably! .... So that means something here's worth protecting. Or was. It was rebuilt after a fire... saaaay, Henrrrrrry!~" Finna swirls about.

    "If you HAVe any info, now's a good time to talk about it. There might be something to stop the Draug and undead."

    Though there's a bit of mischief in her eyes that suggests if he doesn't, she's just gonna go on the hunt...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has heard other things about the NWO but she's got to look into things here she has no idea of the truth that right now? In the Illuminati's HQ it's likely got a rave going on right now. Either wah she's looking over the magical glyphc she doesn't know magic but she's able to get a good deal of images of it she wishes she could take energy readings of it...

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight puts his hands in his pockets as Finna addresses him. For a moment, he almost feels like he can see...something. But then, she's talking to the pastor and the moment is over. Huh.

Shaking it off, he moves to stand by the doorway. He's heard all he needs to hear from Henry, so he decides to just stand by the door and wait to accompany anyone who's on their way out. Safety in numbers!

Riva Banari has posed:
Finna's playful prodding causes Henry to puff up not unlike an owl. She might find it adorable. "I would think that protecting the people we are trying to guide into a better future would be something quite important!" He says, indignant. "There was a fire in the year 1712. It was a terrible thing caused by a couple of drunken dockworkers. It ruined so much! I would have loved to have had to chance to study everything... But then, at this point if I was able to I would hardly be here to talk with you about it, would I? If you simply want a history lesson, you can check the archives in City Hall. If you want to know how and why these designs work? I..." He

The entire church is a single room, so that makes it hard to hide secret passages in the walls. There's some question about the floor, however! Joy begins thumping around the room, and Henry holds out his hands. "Stop! You're going to break something!" Joy continues to clonk around. Clonk. Clonk. Clonk.

Ainsley continues walking down Main Street, a few clusters of zombies here and there. If she's careful she can weave around them without drawing their attention from what they're doing. You probably don't want to know.

As Ainsley passes Susie's Diner on the corner, the street opens up onto Fletcher Bay. It's at this point the manhole points to the left, directing Ainsley...

Clonk, CLonk, Clonk...

Onto the pier. The pier, unlike the street, is populated by draug, but they seem sluggish. Ainsley can probably slip around them as well.

Just past the boathouse, more manholes point to the back of the house, but something draws Ainsley's attention as well.

There is a ship docked at the pier, abandoned and half-sunken. It is corroded and rusted, with streamers of red seaweed hanging off of it.

The lettering on the bow of the ship is still visible, however: The Lady Margaret.

Clonk, Clonk, Clonk...

Looking in the direction of the manhole, as well, there is something odd behind the boathouse. Amidst a pile of Cobb and Chambers seafood boxes (Fresh from the depths to your door!) is an aged plaque. It is triangular, with a lighthouse in a circle in the center. Above is a quill, to the lower left, a globe, and the lower right, a telescope.

Below it reads the following:

IN THE SEAT OF POWER, THE NAVIGATOR IMMORTALIZED
ILLUMINATING THE PATH
TO THE SLEEPING PRIEST AND FLETCHER

IN MEMORY OF FRANS HALS, WHO PERISHED IN LIGHT (1580-1666)

Clonk, clonk, cloooonk...

Clooonk?

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has finished up checking out the ward, she's no magic user but she's got enough detailed images that those who are might be able to make heads or tails out of it. She smiels t that sh's not entirely useless right? She now returns to enter the church and says "Wait ... Where's Ainsley!? I thought she' be back insid....."

Oh hell Ainsley has gone off on her own here.

"... We might want to see where she's gone off too."

Being alone here is something that scares the hell out of her and while she's picking up on their converstions, but right now she's concerned for Ainsley.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's left stunned at Joy's actions. Even more stunned than by Henry getting all puffy. "Weeeell... protecting people's a lovely idea... but in that case, why isn't every old building warded? Let's see... assuming this IS the first time the living dead showed up here, I'd have to guess the wards are meant to ward off anything with a dangerous nature, not just the things out there. So the builders were worried about enemies breaking in. Well, it doesn't seem to see ME as one." She cracks a smile. A brilliant and pure, specially crafted to strike the hearts of men - and maybe some women - and tosses some stray hairs over a shoulder.

    "She has the right idea - hey, be careful, we don't want to anger the priest or the god that's worshipped here!"

    ... yeah, she doesn't know ANYTHING about Christianity, she just knows what things are BAD to do at temples!

    But her eyes fix on Joy's efforts... and a wicked smile brimming with insight shines on her face.

    "Pardon meeee!" She turns her back on Henry, zips over to Nurse Joy, and bends forward, derriere aimed right at Henry... and tail wagging.

    A tail she's chosen to show him, by dropping the protection on her Tell.

    What better way to fluster an honest man than reveal how he's been tricked a little?

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Suddenly, there is a sound. A different sound. This causes the Pokemon Nurse to blink a bit. This is honestly a little bit of a surprise. She half thought it wouldn't work.

     "...Is there something under here?"

     She puts her ear down to the floor, and taps onto it a bit. Huuuuuuuh.

     Nurse Joy is, surprisingly, a bit more powerful than her relatives. She spends most of her spare time kayaking island to island, helping wild Pokemon out. She's actually pretty powerful! She keeps trying to slam, for a moment, before stopping.

     She pulls out a Pokeball from a pocket on her apron. She lightly tosses it into the air, smiling.

     "Go, Chansey!"

     A roundish pink Pokemon appears, smiling happily. It speaks, rather cheerfully, "Chansey!" <Alright! Time to pull out the big muscles!>

     "Chansey, use Double Edge!"

     And Chansey, full force, slams itself into the ground of the church, where the noise was different.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley pauses to stare at the boat for a few moments. Her eyes remain affixed on it... and then she turns to follow the covers until-- she stops, and shuffles over to push the boxes out of the way. Brushing her fingers over the plaque, she stares down at the words. "Frans Hals..." she murmurs to herself, a sad frown on her face as she does.

    She stands, and then lifts into the air, a few sparks of electrical energy dancing along her body. She lands as gracefully as a feather atop the building that the plaque was sitting nearby. Staring out in the three directions of the triangles, she thinks about what it might symbolize. She looks for buildings that might fit what the symbols on the plaque are, or perhaps just buildings set in the direct path of each of the objects.

    In the absence of that, she looks for the lighthouse again, squinting off toward it, a soft frown on her face. "A quill, a globe, a telescope. A study, perhaps?" A moment. "Seat of power. Where is the seat of power...? A town hall?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Joy's decision to just start PUMMELING a wall with a creature from nowhere gets Finna LEAPING back with a yelp. Who pulls HUGE PINK CREATURES out of tiny balls?

    She takes a flying backwards somersault and lands like a cat atop a pew, in a crouch. "whatwhatwhatthe--!?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    And once Ainsley gets some input over the radio, she nods to herself, and floats away directly toward where the Town Hall is supposed to be. She hums a gentle English sea shanty to herself as she goes. She may be on a wild goose chase, looking for specific objects in that place, if there's not anything else immediately available to distract her.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight blinks. "KITT," he says. "Can you search for life forms in the church?"

The car replies as Chansey makes its eponymous call. "Unknown life form detected." He pauses as the Pokémon does its somewhat destructive work. "It's not... threatening you, is it?"

"Not... that I'm aware of. I'll, uh, I'll keep you posted."

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry continues to flail at Joy hitting things. However, Finna makes an argument for her view that the wards are proof that there's something important hidden here... And more importantly, flashes that smile. The view of those pearly whites causes Henry to redden and cough. "Well, Miss Snowdancer, maybe you might have a point..."

And then he chokes as he sees the woman bound away with a tail. It takes him several seconds to begin recovering...

The strange location appears to be a part ofthe floor behind the altar. Joy begins tapping, rummaging around, and then...

The floor gets hit with Double-Edge! It's super effective! The floor cracks and breaks with a loud crash, revealing...

Ducting and foundationwork.

Henry looks aghast. "You... How could you do this to a House of God! All of you! Get-"

And then there's a click, and something begins to slowly creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak open, as part of the marble portion of the altar swings open on unseen hinges.

Henry is struck silent for the third time this pose. Michael gets to watch the proceedings with classic 80's Cool Guy aplomb.

Within it are two golden objects: An object shaped like a bird's talon, and a small golden pyramid. Both are wrought with exquisite detail. Though they do not bear magic of their own, those who have the ability to sense it can tell that they seem to be able to act as a conduit... of some kind. But for what? And how?

Ainsley ponders the meaning of the words of the plaque. What is the most important phrase in that plaque for her needs? If she's looking for the town hall, she passed it while she travelled down Main Street. For a moment, she can almost feel she hears a faint buzzing in the distance, but could that be getting drowned out by the draug and the hulk of rust and red seaweed that is the Lady Margaret?

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy, on the other hand, has absolutely no magical training. It's lucky that neither of these things are magical in and of themselves, because Joy picks up both of them, one in each hand, and considers them.

     A talon and a pyramid?

     "...Well. It could of been just paranoia about keeping this treasure out of other people's hands? But does anyone recognize these things?"

     She holds them up for all to see.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna observes the chaos and ancient machinations unfold from her perch atop a pew. Blink blink. "..... victory?" She was going to cheer, but Henry's fury and the broken flooring sort of knocked the cheer out of her. There's no more wagging and her shoulders have drooped a little.

    "..." her eyes follow the athletic nurse... and then she vaults over the rest of the pews, over Henry's head, and near the opening. "... hm... not at all. And I don't feel any power in them... but my senses for that aren't too good. But before that..." She taps Nurse Joy on the shoulder, then points over her own at henry. "You might want to a-po-lo-gize...." There is URGENCY in her voice.

    She seems genuinely SPOOKED right now, in fact.

    After all, if this happened in the Pantheon at Icehome, the entire Ennead would be FURIOUS and possibly even appear instantly...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa takes a moment just stare at Nurse Joy, wait did she just? She kinds stares for a moment and looks at the Alter she looks at the response ot that.

"Wait did you just defile the ..."

She stares again something was hidden there.

"There was something hidden there..."

Given how this world is she half wonders if things are going to get biblical in a moment.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     With the comments of 'defile' and 'blasphomy', Nurse Joy blushes a little bit, before turning to Henry.

     "I'm sorry, Father Henry. I just had a hunch... Plus we at least found /something/. Do you know what these two items are?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley's flight is interrupted. She pauses, landing on the edge of a rooftop. Her brow scrunches, as she realizes she's hearing a buzzing. Something odd. She turns to look for the buzzing, and tries to pinpoint it. Her eyes scan everywhere, her flight slowed down considerably. She starts by going back over toward the plaque to see if it gets louder in that direction.

    She hopes that it's something worth finding, and not just a malfunctioning street lamp. That would be embarrassing, she thinks, as a mirthful smirk shows on her face. A smirt that forms as she silently floats over the heads of the undead, leaving only a faint distortion in the air behind her as she travels.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight ... isn't so keen on hanging around angry priests. It's almost sad, seeing father Henry so upset--like someone kicked a puppy! He shakes his head and quietly leaves, getting into the black Trans-Am outside.

"What happened?" asks KITT.

"A nurse used a taking egg to desecrate a church. That's what happened."

"I.. see."

Michael turns the ignition and pulls out, heading for the gas station. Might as well get something done today, anyway!

Riva Banari has posed:
Thankfully, there's no divine wrath triggered at the moment. Perhaps someone didn't have enough white mana.

Henry finally finds his voice again as they look over the finds. "By God, there was something hidden here after all! Imagine the historical value in these artifacts! And the... other potential!" Henry looks over at the pair. "While I can't approve of your method of... locating these items, I can't argue with your results." He holds out a hand. "Thank you for restoring them to the light of day. I didn't even know about that compartment and I checked four times."

He gestures. "The pyramid is a common part of Illuminati symbolism. It is both a metaphor for the process by which one gains enlightenment. It is a three-dimensional version of thr triangle, which is a powerful symbol in its own right. The bird's talon could be a reference to any number of legendary birds, from the Phoenix to eagles..." He trails off, but then he looks up. "You /are/ going to leave them here for safekeeping, correct?"

Elsewhere, Ainsley drops off of the building behind some boxes near the boathouse where the plaque was, and suddenly the buzzing noise gets much, much louder...

Michel Knight, meanwhile, drives up to the Sycoil Gas Station. There's zombies milling around the pumps and out front. He can see more zombies inside the building, Ominously undead. Knight's good friend KITT might have some things to say now that he's closer and can examine the camera system in more detail. He can see one of them up on the edge of the roof over the pumps, but where's the rest?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley has some theories on how to locate the next piece in this obscure trail of cryptic Illuminati riddles. This is a thing that comes later. For now, she is assaulted in all of her senses by a horrific BUZZ and then her mind is filled with more words. She's prepared this time with a notebook that she pulls from her robes, flips open, and scribbles in with a clickable pen. Once she has the words down, she squints at them somewhat. "Dhows. Longboats. Very specific boats." She taps the pen against her cheek...

    And then deposits her writing material again. She turns and begins to fly off toward where she saw the Town Hall at, hoping that maybe that's the place she should be going. After all, she can't think of anything that fits the riddle better.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy looks at father Henry, considering. Though they have began to get clues that he isn't as deeply entrenched in the Illuminati as he acts, and that in reality he is a bit more of a fanboy? Well, she still isn't one hundred percent certain whether or not that she should be /trusting/ him. So, she ponders, looking at both of the objects within her hand, considering. Should she really leave these with this person?

     She ponders.

     "...In my opinion, these probably would be safer in either the care of the Union or the Syndicate. So you're going to have to make a /really good point/ to me about leaving these things here. A /really/ good point. Like, while yes, you have minimal reason to trust me, seeing as I'm the woman who just came in, and started pounding on the floor and broke a hole in the church, well... I've got no reason to trust you, either. Cause you're suspicious."

     She ponders some more. PONDER PONDER PONDER.

     "So give me your case. If you can convince me I'll leave it. Otherwise... I shall use a special power to put your soul under trial."

     She honestly doesn't have that power. She just assumes this is the kind of guy who would fall for /almost anything/.

Riva Banari has posed:
Ainsley has seen the Town Hall. It was in fact just up the street she traveled down in order to locate the pier on Fletcher Bay, as well as the decrepit Lady Margaret.

The doora are open. They apparently were not locked when everything happened here in Kingsmouth. The bottom floor is a gathering hall used for town meetings as well as general office work. Trash and folding chairs lie strewn across the floor, lit by pale flourescent lights. There are a series of paintings along the walls, possibly in an attempt to lend a more cultured atmosphere. Several pastoral works are seen, as well as one which features a rennaisance era explorer, surrounded by the trappings of his time: A globe, quill, and telescope. The place seem almost frozen in time, a feeling of abandonment and desertion runs deep in this place: Even the clock above the stairwell to the second floor seems frozen in time, stuck at 10:10. There are a couple cheap desk clocks lying amongst the trash, apparently this is one of those things that never gets fixed.

Henry, meanwhile, frowns at the allegations. With all of the dignity he can muster, he replies, "I am suspicious? I am the legally ordained minister of this congregation, miss. I appreciate your work in finding these artifacts, and am willing to forgive the damage you did to the building in the process, but you have to understand that does not give you a claim to the objects. Do not attempt to behave like a common thief. These objects were placed here in Kingsmouth for a reason, and here they should stay. It is you who should be giving the case to me as to why I should allow your Union or Syndicate to take them from here."

He pauses, then. "Can you actually do that? Put someone's soul on trial?"

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Joy just very casually smiles.

     "Yes. I totally can put your soul on trial. If your heart is not one hundred percent pure, your entire body will burst into flames."

     Once again, there is a reason this Joy isn't quite in the Union. She's a lot more willing to do things that are a bit morally grey for the good of everyone.

     She tilts her head, smiling a bit. She is looking far too innocent and cheerful for her own good.

     "So... Are you willing to go through that trial?"

Inga has posed:
The sound of feathered wings beating against the air fills the church with echoes. What appears to be a falcon flies in through the doors and straight toward the priest, veering upward at the last possible moment before coming to rest nearby. "Tch. Of course you cannot trust him. He's a Christian priest," comes Inga's voice from the doorway, four dead zombies falling as they are zapped by the ward there. The woman moves in further, only her smile visible from the shadow of her cloaked hood. She holds a long staff in hand, carved with norse runes. She leans on it as she moves up the aisle, hissing slightly at the sight of the cross. She reaches to her belt to tough the iron knife as a symbol of warding. Her walks with a limp, her back a bit bent, two long white braids hang out the front of her cloak. The whole picture gives the impression of a wizened crone, though when the light finally hits her face this is far from the case.

"What objects are we speaking of?" she asks Nurse Joy before looking back to the priest, reaching up to pull back the hood of her cloak.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "You're not doing our cause any gooooOOOooood!" Finna resists the urge to WHAP Nurse Joy over the head, but she does hop over. Her tail's wagging slowly but her ears are a little lowered. Still, her stance is tense and she's planted a hand on her hip.

    "Henry! These things might be useful. We don't know yet. The rest of us are trying to stop the zombies and monsters! And maybe these hold clues."

    She FROWNS at Nurse Joy. "come on! I'M the reckless and short-tempered one and even I know not to be this disrespectful in a god's temple!"

    Okay so Finna has no idea about the DETAILS of this religion, but at least she has that much.

    "Henryyyy.... what can you tell us about these things?" Is she giving him the puppy dog eye treatment? Yes, yes she is!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is seeming more to side with the pastor than the Union operatives, ya past experiance has got Kotone to have certain views about the union's recuitment standards. She's not helping the damage Staren's done and she looks right at her.

"I would suggest letitng us take them given you are a man of the cloth and not a someone trained for combat? There may be complications there are many enemies of the Illumantied ones and they are likely active here they may also be put to use to aid in solving this disaster."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight pulls up at the gas station. "All right, KITT. What do you see?"

"A few hostiles around the station. The camera I detected is mounted on the roof."

"Well, looks like that's where I need to be. I'm sure Sycoil won't miss its gadgets." Michael moves his hand to open the door, taking a brief survey of the station. Looks like if he sneaks around the back he might be able to scramble up the dumpster and...

"Michael? If I may? Adjusting the pressure of the ejector seat to about six hundred pounds should land you comfortably atop the roof."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Michael turns a discretely sized knob, then opens the T-Top. "Okay, KITT. Let 'er rip."

Whoosh. Michael lands gently on the roof. Now to get that little beauty...

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry looks taken aback at the premise of this Test of the Soul. "But... But all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..." He says, nervous. "I can't claim to be entirely sinless. No one can!"

The interjection from Inga causes Henry to turn and look over at the person who made the claim, before he gapes for a moment, the very image of an wise woman just walking right into the center of a house of God, bold as brass. "Now see here! I have been trusted by the people of this town to provide guidance and care for them in any way I can. Just because you clearly want no part of it doesn't give you the right to say such things!"

He looks back to Finna and Kotone, and relaxes slightly as they give their opinions on the subject. "Lord protect me. Today has been the strangest day... Okay, okay, we can find out more things. I have my laptop. All we need is a reliable connection to the Internet and maybe I can find something out? I was going to do this later anyway, but... If it helps, right?"

Michael finds himself launched up to the roof of the gas station. The camera in question appears to be a cheap CCTV-style camera. The wiring on it shows that it was probably anchored there, but it doeesn't look like it's connected to anything. There's a small tag on it that says, 'Property of Kingsmouth Mining Museum'."

At least the zombies don't seem interested in trying to ruin KITT's paint job, and they can't reach Michael up there...

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy, honestly, is trying to consider whether it would be best to just dash out of here with the artifacts. But honestly, from the view of the others, they are trusting this guy enough to not want to just get out of dodge. So she sighs.

     "...Well. We could always have a vote, of where these artifacts should be kept. But for now... Well. Just do the internet search."

     She walks over to Inga, holding up the two artifacts. Since Inga just arrived, Joy figures she should see what they are talking about. She's not sure whether to trust Inga entirely either, but seeing that she seems to be in on the investigation as well makes her less nervous about her.

     Joy holds up the two artifacts. One shaped like the Illuminati Pyramid, the other shaped like a talon.

     "These things. No clue what they are. ...Though for some reason I doubt we'll find info about them on the internet."

     She glances at Henry.

     As if info on ancient artifacts would be online.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "I'd say it would be more use to look for legends and stories about the island sir, it would be the most useful."

She knows there's a lot of bad blood for Inga there. She's from a time a very darker time in some ways for the world. Will fully admit the things that were done back that at least she was aware of. Things get lost in history after all, she knows that much.

"Anything that remotely sounds like the monsters or even what's happened, there may be tales of such and it would be great use as I said."

She's trying to drive the yes you can help just let use handle the worst things.

"I think we can all agree on is we want this nightmare to be ended, right?"

Inga has posed:
Inga raises a brow. "Guidance and care? Tch, leading people away from the gods for your lily hearted Christ," she comments.

"The wards on the door and outside--you didn't make them I assume? They are fairly well done," she states, somewhat grudgingly it would seem. Is that a compliment or an insult? Probably the second.

The internet. This has been explained to her, but she still doesn't /quite/ grasp it. Something like all the knowledge of man--but certainly not /all/ the kowledge. There must still be secrets in the world.

Inga leans her staff against a nearby pew to reach for the two artifacts. She holds them in her hands for a moment, closing her eyes. Her lips to utter a prayer or incantation. For several moment she is quiet--the bird that flew in before her sits watching, silent and still. "I see a door in darkness, indentations...." she says quietly.

Here eyes open, and she holds they objects out once more to be taken by whoever cares to take them. "They are keys," she announces with confidence. "Here, Brisingamen," she then calls, and the falcon swoops down to rest on her shoulder, talons tightly gripping the wool of her cloak. She smiles and reaches into a pouch to pull out a scrap of meat she offers to the bird of prey, who snaps it up and swallows it down.

Inga looks toward Kotone, smiling softly and nodding to here. "Certainly do, this place needs a great deal of attention before it is made right again."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "You do not just take things from a TEMPLE." Finna blurts angrily at Nurse Joy. "Seriously, what did they teach you when you were younger...?" Finna seems glad to have Kotone coming in as backup, but INga's presence gets her staring. "... Take a seat and rest a bit. You're not in any shape to be out and about!"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley lands before the Town Hall. She does not like how ominous this town looks no matter what building she is looking at, thanks to that fog that blots out the sunlight and makes everything gloomy and evil-looking. She scowls at it particularly strongly, mostly because the Buzzing gives her a headache every time and she really wished that the Bees would find a better way to tell her something than beaming it directly into her skull.

    Alas, she steps inside the Town Hall. Her brows lift in vague interest, ruffling the tiny feathers found there. She walks around the empty room and lazily kicks at one of the folding chairs left on the floor. She looks at the paintings one at a time, knowing the usual pretentiousness of puzzle crafters in that they love expensive objects. And so she's right, much to her surprise, when she finds one with all the thematic elements that she's looking for.

    She pulls the painting of the Renaissance man off the wall, and turns it over, discovering a phrase on the back. She sounds it out to herself:
    "Time is the province of Kings and Gods. The hands of time point to truths written by kings in the words of God. The path is open to the enlightened."

    She blinks once, slowly, and puts the painting back. Then she steps over to look up at the clock up above the door to the stairwell. She froooowns at it for a while and thinks to herself. "A bible passage. Oh hoh," she smiles, pleased that she's getting this so quickly. She was always so rusty with old religious texts, so she starts to root around for a bible for her to reference. She would go upstairs. "Something about gold," she murmurs to herself, "And... King Solomon. Curious..." She shakes her head, amused by the naming conventions of the Illuminati.

    She pauses. "Sleeping Priest and Fletcher. King Solomon." She imagines the map in her head as she climbs the stairs, looking for anything else that might temporarily divert her. Mostly she's just looking for a copy of a christian bible so she can get the exact passage, or anything else that she might be able to get a look at. She's not in a rush right now.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Joy looks at Finna, "In my defense, this entire temple is sketchy. While the priest is pretty trustworthy, if these are keys, they're like. Entirely useless inside the walls of the church itself. Besides, at a guess... The church was probably originally made to protect those who built it from this plague. They probably knew it was coming, /somehow/, and so built it to protect themselves. And then its use got forgotten in the years."

     "Besides, like. Once we've used these items to open up whatever door, we can return them to the priest, right?"

Inga has posed:
Inga looks toward Finna, stunned. She blinks several times, them wrinkles her nose. "What do you mean I am not in any shape to be out and about!? I am in the same shape as I always am!" she protests, confused.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight crawls over to the camera. "Mining museum, huh?" Maybe there are more cameras there. These small towns are really good at picking one thing to be really proud of. Then again, those mountains in the distance might lend some credence to those claims. "Man, I wouldn't mind taking some of those mountain roads for a spin," he says quietly as he snags the camera. "Hey, KITT, catch." Michael drops it down, and the car accelerates. The camera lands gently in the passenger seat.

"Care to take a shortcut again, Michael?"

"You better not drop me, pal."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Of course, you can always take your chances sneaking back down... pal."

Michael sighs. One, two.. three. Thankfully, KITT's laser restraint system prevents any unsightly landing. The T-top closes quietly overhead, and Michael sighs, hands on the steering wheel. "Pull up a map, KITT. Let's see where this mining museum is..."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "...uhhh..." Suddenly with Inga turned on her, Finna blinks a few times. ".. Hrmngh.... this awful town's getting to me. For a moment I thought you looked injured, leaning on the staff so much..." Mutter. Fina shrugs, smiling. A bit of an apology, huh?

    "I'm not sure what this internet is, but if it's like the radio you're probably better off finding a book or scroll! ... The fog messes up messenger devices..." Well that's a weird way of putting it. "... Doesn't it?" Now she's looking at Kotone for verification!

Riva Banari has posed:
Ainsley begins deciphering the hints of ages past, laid down in various hidden places in the city. God help someone who stumbles into one of these things in the /middle/. Ainsley begins investigating the second floor, where the actual work seems to get done. There is a common room area with a couple vending machines, but Ainsley's book-tuned senses notice something amiss with the piles of papers strewn among the floor in the connecting hall. To the left and right are fairly large filing room areas, but it looks like someone's been rifling through the cabinets. Each drawer seems to be dedicated to 3 months of various newspaper clippings and other paperwork, but a good amount of it is lying in a jumble all over the place.

The room beyond appears to be where they Mayor and whatever assistants he has do their job. There is a nice sitting area with leather couches to one side, while two small office areas hold computers. The one by itself conveniently happens to hold a copy of the King James Bible, sitting there on the desk under a large, slightly gaudy key to the city. A folded map of Kingstown is easily procured from the filing room as well, allowing Ainsley to begin formulating her next step.

Meanwhile, things continue to be complicated back at the church. Henry folds his arms as Nurse Joy rolls to disbelive his claim of being able to research the objects on the Internet. "I'd like to look into these things for you, but as I said, my connection is poor ever since the fog rolled in. I'm going to need a stable connection if I am going to find anything for you in any reasonable time frame."

Inga continues to talk religious smack. "Look, I don't cast stones at whatever gods you care to worship, can you at least do me the same favor?" Henry notes with some frustration. "This is a very trying day. And no, I didn't make them. I have some idea on the theory, but I don't have any capability to make new ones. Otherwise I would have probably set them up all over town. Maybe make /more/ safe places for people." He shrugs, emitting a frustrated sigh. "All right, fine, they're keys. I don't know what magical seer powers you might have that told you that. But a key is useless if you don't know where the lock is."

Henry shrugs. "I would love to see whatever might require objects of import like this to access. However, if they /are/ keys, once they are used they probably won't be needed again, I am sure. Then they can rest where they belong." The way he speaks, he clearly means 'here'.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is going to keep with the group for a moment, "I can come back later and see what I can do about your connection but I had the same trouble with it." She ist just kinda hanging back now. It seems speech checks have worked and she's just going to fall in with the others for the moment.

Riva Banari has posed:
KITT pulls up a map. The mining museum isn't far at all. It is, in fact, just across the street from the gas station. Whoops. Mind the zombies.

The museum itself is open, much like the Town Hall. The main area is dominated by a mock warning sign with some rocks piled up and a large number of tourist-kitch signs proclaiming that one should visit the Blue Ridge Mines of Kingsmouth. The area is deserted but oddly clean. Perhaps this place is being kept up... or no one's come for some time. Regardless, the stairs to the second floor inside are choked with furniture. It'd probably take Michael some time to clear them out. Or there seems to be a basement access on the first floor that might also store things like this.

Inga has posed:
Inga blinks again, then slowly reaches up to place a hand over her face, rubbing her own temples. "I am not injured--the limp is permanent. The staff helps me walk. I have been this way since birth," she explains. By the gods, did she only just realize she's crippled?

Inga turns back to the priest, frowning. "You don't? The Christians brutally murdered the people trying to observe their native religion, forcing them to convert or die. That's throwing stones," she comments, chin rising . Ah, but a thousand or so years have passed, haven't they?

Inga sighs. These sorts of things are not so easily forgotten for someone who just lived them.

"What kind of seer powers? /Seer powers/. Granted visions from the gods," she replies.

Inga waves a hand then, done with this. "I will go find Ainsley. We should all get together to discuess the next step and she says she has a lead," Inga says, then begins walking out of the church. She'd best get a head start anyway.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy sighs, and just takes a seat in the pews. There isn't a /lot/ for her to do, right now. After all, they're all going to meet up back here, and they're working on the /slowest internet ever/.

     "...Would it be faster if we just went /somewhere else/ that has internet? Like. Hard wired internet? There has to be someplace nearby with decent internet..."

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael scratches his head. "Well... at least it was nearby, huh?" He takes a look around inside, the corny exhibits eliciting a chuckle here and there. Yep. Looks like any small town tourist trap, but hey, he can't fault these guys. Sales pitches notwithstanding, some of the tidbits are pretty interesting.

"Alright, KITT. I'm gonna head downstairs," says the loner into his watch. "Let me know if you spot anything out of the ordinary... for this place." Cough.

"Of course, Michael. I expect you'll do the same?"

"Yeah," he says, already on his way down the stairs.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    The pieces are beginning to fall together for Ainsley. The bible verse doesn't make a whole lot of sense so whatever it means in relation to where she should be looking is beyond her ken. She finds a place to sit in a comfortable chair, using a table to examine the unfolded map. She spends some time examining the papers strewn about everywhere, but if she doesn't find any rhyme or reason to them she doesn't spend much time trying to put them together. The hardly-known polyglot doesn't exercise her puzzle-solving skills here, instead deciding to go downstairs again, with the bible stuffed away in her pocket.

    And then she takes to the air, and flies northward, following the roads and trying to avoid the zombies along the way. She saw a suspicious formation of rock, and she's going to see if that is, in fact, where she needs to go. Whatever she figured out, it makes sense for her to go there. She slows a bit to pretend to hop from tree to tree, using her flight to amuse herself along the way.

    She keeps her eyes and ears peeled for anything weird, though.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Actually Nurse Joy changes her plan.

     While Henry is on the computer, she's going to follow Inga's advice, and follow her to Ainsley's location. She's okay dealing with undead, after all.

     Also the two items are on her and she's trying to get out of there as /stealthily as possible/ while Henry is fighting the internet.

     And hopefully no one else notices. Inga told her to bring the keys, after all.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just going to not add fuel to the fire, she sighs a bit and keeps with the group, she's got the idea they should get the keys to Ainsley and does think it's a good idea. She may have to talk to Staren later about getting Father a beter rig then again with the connection issues here It's a nightmare. She's just going to keep with the group for now and head out with them.

Riva Banari has posed:
Henry raises a hand to try to refute Inga's words, but then Inga leaves. The priest just slumps, his posture showing that this is clearly wearing on him. He slumps into a pew and gestures as Nurse Joy suggests a landline of some kind. "Maybe that would work, but my house is surrounded by zombies. Or maybe there's zombies /inside/. I can't go back there." Maybe someone else has some ideas.

Ainsley, meanwhile, takes flight. No one is really around to look up and marvel at the Quetzal's flight. Zombies aren't really of the demeanor to enjoy it, and the hippies in the Morninglight Camp have other things to look at than the foggy, bleak sky. She lands near the strange rock formation on the map, landing nearby the tunnel through the Blue Ridge mountain range. Things are quiet here, but the abandoned cars and blood stains on the pavement and rocks tell a different story.

Nevertheless, it only takes a cursory examination of the rocky area to locate a smaller, /different/ tunnel tucked into the mountains. A short distance inside leads to a steel security door and... a digital keypad, one of the types that expect you to enter a PIN of some kind. Odd. Who'd run power all the way out here?

Meanwhile, Nurse Joy has a bit of a hike. There's no tall grass involved, but lots, and lots of zombies. Chansey can deal with them just fine, however. Henry is despondently trying to get his wi-fi to work in the meantime, poking at his computer. He hasn't seemed to have noticed Nurse Joy bailed on them while he wasn't looking. Maybe he's just that tired.

Michael, meanwhile, enters the basement. KITT sends him some urgent information when he gets down there. The halls are dingy and somewhat bleak. Something is... off, down here. It's in the air.

In the distance, Kichael can see a man standing at the corner before it turns away, but there's something off about him. There is a low, muttered noise, and suddenly the man turns away and quickly stumbles out of sight.

Something seems very, very odd about what's going on down here.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     It's a fair bit of a hike.

     Which is why Nurse Joy is going to run it.

     Being one of the /most/ physically fit Nurse Joys, who spends most of her days physically active to an insane level, her running speed is fairly decent. Plus, since she is regularly lifting heavy things, its no problem for her to just pick up Inga, and set her on her shoulders.

     And then Nurse Joy /books it/ to where Ainsley is supposed to be. Chansey is actually keeping up a fairly decent pace as well, being similarly physically fit to Joy.

     Though Chansey has decided to use Rollout instead, to make plowing through the hordes of zombies significantly easier.

     This is very silly.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
"Michael, please be careful. My sensors have picked up a large amount of plastic explosives in the basement. They're wired to infrared lasers."

"Great. Got any more good news for me?"

"Actually, yes. There is, in fact, a spare camera... not counting the numerous active ones just around the corner."

"Uh huh. I think I just saw the guy who set it up... good grief, this place gives me the creeps." Michael rounds the corner and sees a familiar sight. "All right, buddy," he mutters under his breath. "Let's see how you handle a Green Beret." He puts his counter-intelligence training to use, nimbly, patiently navigating the laser detectors. Once in a safe place to stand, he pauses to consult the locals on his radio.

Inga has posed:
Inga holds onto Nurse Joy, tucking her staff into the back of her belt so that her hands can be free to hold on.

This is totally not dignified.

The falcon takes wing and flies on its way, obviously moving much quicker. Seems Inga may have acquired a familiar!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Considering the sheer headache that would come from trying to unlock the door by trying every permutation of weight measurement found in the actual verse, Ainsley instead chooses to do something else when she finds the steel door. She gives the others a heads-up over the radio, and steps over to the door to splay her fingers on it. She can feel the electricity in the structure, so she knows it's still active. /This/ is an Illuminati structure, she decides.

    She reaches to input four numbers into the keypad. 1 0 1 0

    "It /looks/ like a vault," she murmurs to herself, probably her reasoning for using those numbers.

Riva Banari has posed:
The zombies prove to be little threat to the pink egg-bearing Pokemon. These are not the ones you have to worry about. These are the kind who die to normal gunfire or whatever. They're much like the classic movie zombie everyone is familiar with. But there are others...

Those are elsewhere. They'll catch up with Ainsley in short order.

Ainsley, meanwhile, tries a number sequence. There is a buzz, and the number input clears. It looks like it was not expecting 1010. But what number might it be considering what she's found so far?

Michael turns the corner and is confronted with a number of cheap infrared laser beam detectors. These are more intended to scare people off than actually catch someone unawares, as the light beam is visible. And the devices are cheap.

It might take some acrobatics, but Michael can vault over the beams with little trouble. The problem is that the man withdraws again. "Stay away... StaY AWaY..." He says, his voice warbling in a strange, unsteady manner as he suddenly mutters, pulling away. "You shoulD GO AWAY... I am not fEElIng veRY STAble RiGHT nOW..." More lasers flicker on as he pulls back farther, cutting Michael off from following directly. He can see that the box that the custodian huddles next to, however, is clearly labeled CAMERA EQUIPMENT. Huh. Well, everything in one place. Convenient.

The problem is he needs to take a detour now, through a mazelike storage area of shelving. Motion detecting cameras sweep the area, the pale lights splashing onto the floor and giving more warning to potential intruders. But they are slow and poorly placed, leaving large gaps in their detection patterns. Maybe he can find a way through there.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is saving her ammo for the moment as Joy's pokemon are quite poiwerful thankfully and seem to have more ammo as it were than she does. She's going to keep with Inga and Nurse joy she's also running at a very much non normal speed ot keep up with them.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Joy just keeps running, leaping over fallen logs, rocks, whatever else is in the way. She's barely even breaking a sweat.

     Yeah, she's one of the odd ones in her family.

Inga has posed:
Just clings on.

She can't believe she's doing this.

"Are we..there...yet?" she asks. Maybe she should walk from here... this woman moves like a horse! More awkward to sit on however, in many ways.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight sighs--he's followed the squirrely little guy as advised by the others, but it's just ended up putting more lasers in his face. Not stable? "I can see that," he responds. 'Stable' people don't barricade themselves in basements full of C4 and security cameras. So, this guy wants to do it the hard way, huh. That's fine.

Michael makes a detour, standing for a moment in the hallway. Out of curiosity, he sticks a single boot in the field of vision of the camera. BEEP. BEEP. Okay, that's not a good noise. He quickly steps out of the camera's line of sight, then watches it, waiting for it to reset. This kind of stuff is his bread and butter. Running a hand through his perm, it comes to him with a quiet chuckle that it's /really/ a shame no one can see him doing this! Well... no one mentally stable, anyways.

The cameras, slow and clunky as they are, offer Michael only as much challenge as his occasional misstep affords them. His path through the various side rooms is careful, quick, and for the most part graceful, though there are a few close calls, which only serve to annoy him--that beeping is damned insistent, and he's not /overly/ fond of the way the lights turn yellow upon spotting him.

Luckily, there are plenty of obstacles around to fool the cameras--old paintings, forklifts, drums probably scavenged from the mine only to languish in the darkness down here. Once through the budget gauntlet the paranoid man has set up, Michael is in no mood for games. He unholsters his M1911 and assumes a trained, military stance. "Okay, buddy. Face the wall. On your knees, hands behind your head."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    The lizard girl lets out a soft sigh, almost of relief. Like she's happy the challenge is increasing! Not that it was easy before, just that she enjoys running into a roadblock every now and then. The intellectual Ainsley considers the keypad for a few minutes longer.

    And then she reaches to gently touch the keys in the next sequence that comes to mind, pressing them with a thoughtful, languid pa<span style="color:e:

    ccyan">1 5 8 0 1 6 6 6</span>

    Then she straightens her posture and waits for confirmation or denial on whether it worked. One hand rests on her hip as she takes a rare (for her) feminine, relaxed posture while she looks at it, her tail twitching behind her with a lazy energy.

Riva Banari has posed:
Ainsley continues to try numbers. Unfortunately, the date combination does not seem to be what it wants either. It emits another buzz. Joy, Inga, and the others should probably be approaching any time now. But what possible number could they want? What Illuminatidickery is this?

Meanwhile, Michael easily navigates the boobytraps and corners the man. He cringes there, and this close Michael can see that the man is stained with something. Something pitch black, soaked into him like oil, or worse.

"EveryTHIng is kiND Of DaNGeRous arouND HEre..."

It covers his hands and head, his head and shoulder misshapen as grasping tendrils of... something. He looks up, the eyes burning with some unnatural light, with black where the whites should be, and a white hole where the pupils should be, a terrible thing shining through.

With a barrage of uninterrupted shrieks and misplaced syllables, he hurls himself at Michael, attempting to tear at him with his hands. "YeSIPaidThatLaSTTHUrsDayComeOnwhydOYOUlOOKatMELIKETHATgivemeTHELAtteWithEXTRAYESLIKEthatONLYdontKILLmeWeLCOMeToDIE"

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     As they get close to the tunnel, Nurse Joy makes a small leap, and a slide to a stop, skidding her feet along the ground, her knees bending to brace for impact. It is only at this point that she reaches up, and casually sets Inga back upon the ground. Chansey gets back, and rights herself up, smiling and casually wiping the dirt/zombie guts off of herself.

     She proceeds inside, and looks at Ainsley messing with a door and a keycode. And Joy ponders this situation.

     "...Is there a reason we aren't just busting the door down?"

Inga has posed:
Upon arrival, Inga is finally set down. She spends a bit of time rearranging her dress, straightening her cloak, then pulling out her staff again. "You have not yet found the correct way to open it? Perhaps I should try to divine the answer?" she asks, reaching for her pouch of runes.

Inga looks to Nurse Joy, blinking. "It is made of iron..." she says. Then again Nurse joy just carried at least 100lbs of viking witch at a running speed for probably a mile...

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
The janitor's screams come while Michael's still asking about the weird... tentacle things.

"Sir? ...Sir!" Michael can't count on stopping power. That comes from fragmentation, and his pistol rounds aren't going to travel fast enough to fragment. However, he can easily capitalize on the feral way in which his opponent charges him. Something tells him skin contact is a no-no.

He jukes left, allowing the charging, filth-infected man to rush past him. Not leaving anything to chance, Michael fires a round into the man's kneecap from behind, then unloads into his back. It's not what his military training tells him to do, nor his police training--but neither of those jobs pitted him against beings corrupted by cosmic entropy.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley is perfectly content with her companions until Nurse Joy shows up and just asks why they aren't trying to bust the door down. The lizard girl turns to look at her with something resembling intense consternation. Hard to really read lizard features, perhaps, though Nurse Joy may have experience with that with some pokemon species.

    "Because I would rather not break things that do not belong to me, on the notion that we are somehow more important than the reason they put the door up. There's also security measures and other unknowns. We don't know if the whole facility won't explode or burst into flames the moment a security breach is detected. Secret societies are /super paranoid/." She makes an animated motion with her hands at Joy to emphasize how serious she is.

    Then she turns, frowns at the keypad as if it's insulting her by proxy, and then punches in only three numbers. 1 2 0 "And she gave the king 120 talents of gold," she murmurs to herself, to remember the verse she's familiar with.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa follows Joy mucvh like she does she jumps, landing with a crunch as she hits the ground leaving the ground slightly cracked in her wake. She comes upon Ainsley with the others and humms thinks for a moment as Ainsley brings up a passage from the bible she nods.

"That might be a very good idea."

Riva Banari has posed:
Michael reacts fast. The thing looks dangerous, but it seems like he is not immune to BULLETS. The first one blows out his kneecap, staggering him. Black material leaks out, starting to mass around the joint impossibly as he starts getting back to his feet... But Knight is not letting up. Several more bullets punch into the man and his incoherent ranting is punctuated by a gurgle. He reaches up to his head, the black material seemingly drawing into him.

"IsAWtheMtheothERDayTheywErEPlayingJuSTFineWhyDOYOUaSKTheREISNoCREAMleFTtHEendISHERENoPurCHASeNeCeSSARYISeeYoUOutTherEWhyDOeSItHUrTThEIsNoEsCAPInGThEEndOfDAYS-"

And then there is a detonation as the black material tears out of his body in an explosion, coating the immediate ground around him in the black nastiness before it begins to evaporate. If he's not fast he might get a bunch of it in the face.

But hey, at least he has cameras, right?

Meanwhile, Ainsley puts in a final number. This time, the keypad beeps, and there is the KER-CHUNK of a lock opening on the metal door.

Inside is a short stairway down into a dimly-lit room. Ainsley can feel a change in the air. Moisture seals. The reason why becomes obvious as they turn a corner and are confronted with shelves and shelves of books. In the back of the room is a computer, humming with power. Once poked, the computer comes to life at a login prompt.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Joy, for her part, is just going to start reading through random books, curiously. She's not sure about toying with the computer. Someone else can do that. She's just curious about the books.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa eyes almot seem to light up as she sees the computer she now knows this andf pauses for a moment as sh reaches to the back of her neck and pulls at something a cable comes out, and she holds on to it, she reaches into a pocket and pulls out an adptor.

"Let's see what I can do here shall we?"

She's going to look for a jack that sne can plug her own into, she as plug on the end that has a USB adaptort for this time period it's slow but it will do, right?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley steps down into the Illuminati bunker. They are not immediately beset by the undead or draugr or whatever other horrible beasty is making itself home here on the island, so she goes into the dark room. She steps up to the computer, grabbing the nearby swivel chair and sitting on it -- wincing and then adjusting her tail so she's seated a little more comfortably. She taps a key on the screen once, and furrows her brow. Then, with the mild neutrality of a typist, she types 'hint' and receives the password hint.

    She chuckles to herself, and inputs three words of latin for the password.

    LUX OMNIA VINCIT

    "Light conquers all." She hits enter, crosses her arms and waits for it to load the next screen, her brows lifted.

Inga has posed:
Inga steps back a moment as the door opens. Her falcon has moved off into the forest, but Inga seems unconcerned.

She moves in with the others, Joy going to the books while Kotone makes for the computer.

Inga looks around for anything else--like something she can actually understand. If she finds nothing of interest, she sits and takes out her runes, casting the carved bones to see what they tell her. "Hm...interesting...the dreams of ravens..." she says to herself.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Oh, no.

"Michael, unknown energy build--"

Knight kicks the janitor in the ribs and dashes past him. He can practically feel the... unclean-ness trying to get him in one last, spiteful grasp as he makes a desperate dive. Landing against the opposite wall, he slumps to the floor, patting himself down to make sure there's none of that stuff on him. Doesn't look like it, but he schedules an appointment with himself and a shower in the very near future.

"Michael, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, KITT. But I want you to run a medical analysis once I get back, just to be sure--and then you and I both are gonna pay Inga a visit. Just to be /extra/ sure."

"There are significant fluctuations in your voice--fluctuations congruent with stress."

"I'll talk about it later, just... warm your engines up."

"Will do."

Michael looks around--that guy set up this whole place... is there perhaps a switch to turn all of these Dollar Store booby traps off?

Riva Banari has posed:
Kotone sets to work on the computer, trying to do her thing. She works on getting access, but the problem is the root password. Maybe she can brute force it but that might take some time...

But Ainsley happens to already know the answer. LUX OMNIA VINCIT is entered, and root access is tranted. Kotone begins immediately working her way through the computer systems. She quickly finds a set of records on the computer, but they are small and fragmentary. It looks like the system is meant to call back to a central server somewhere but the lack of Internet connectivity seems to affect even this area. There is, however, a command entry to 'open secure archive'. When triggered, one of the bookcases swings open,, revaling...

Two more golden objects, mounted to the wall. One of them is an ornate circular All-Seeing Eye insignia, while the other is what looks like some kind of a multifaceted obelisk of some kind. They bear all the marks of being similar in nature to the two other artifacts that they found already.

But the question remains... If they are keys... Where is the door?

Meanwhile, Michael gets a box of CCTV equipment. Enough to set up a nice size surveillance area around wherever he'd like. There's a switch on the wall that turns all the traps off, allowing him to leave as he likes.

No problem, right?

QUEST COMPLETE: KINGSMOUTH CODE
QUEST COMPLETE: HORROR SHOW

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is going to go after this password there's no fear of it being able to hurt her however Ainsley is one step ahead of her. She does so getting the whole thing open and she pauses for a moment to copy what files are left 0on the machine it may be useful for later. She takes a moment then jacks out her eyes becoming focused again.

Nurse Joy (553) has posed:
     Nurse Joy loots the two other artifacts, for reference.

     She's gonna put them into the possession of the Syndicate in general. Next time someone in the Syndicate, be it her or someone else, can bring them. Or lend it to those who respond otherwise.

     This is unless someone stops her of course.

Michael Knight (543) has posed:
Michael Knight gets the CCTV cameras outside and into KITT without much difficulty. As discussed on the radio, he and KITT head to the fire station and wait there. Now that his nerves have cooled down, he doesn't /feel/ so dirty, but it never hurts to be safe.