Scene #3922: Typical Haunted House(?)

Owner	Pose
Raylene Dunwich	The arranged meeting place proves to be another rural town, but this one isn't nearly so remote. Instead of a backwoods place, this is simply a place away from the city, a small town full of pleasant people, relatively near a larger city but not quite so close as to be called a suburb. It has cell phone reception, streetlights, and all the expected amenities of a modern town, though lacking in variety and selection. Those who look especially nonhuman or strange will be asked to come semi-discreetly, for while this world knows about the Multiverse now, it's pretty new to them, and they're still adjusting. The actual meeting place itself should make this easier, because it's at the end of a long quaint road that is slightly overgrown, set in the forest. The mansion has a large gate, which is somewhat rusted but not locked despite the reputation. The meeting spot is just outside of the gate, well away from the town proper. The mansion REALLY IS a mansion, with a large(empty) pool and fountain within the gates, making for an overgrown courtyard and a sprawling setup with three wings. An unusual configuration, actually, but roomy. Raylene looks to have just arrived as well, though she refrains from pushing open the gate, since she wants to wait for the people she hired. The young teenage girl doesn't have any visible means of transport... meaning she probably walked here.
Raine Arland	Something something haunted mansion. Something somethingg ghost hunters. Something something getting paid. Raine didn't sweat the details. A job was a job, and so he came! ...Fragarach was of course incorporeal. Wouldn't want to freak out the locals. He also wore an eyepatch to cover his left eye as a further precaution. Made him feel like such an edgelord, honestly, but what the hell, it was just for today. And so here Raine was, coming to a stop in front of the gates. "Yo." He greeted Raylene, a hand raised in casual greeting. His other was stuffed into his jacket pocket. He had no visible weapons on his person. Was he really going to be useful at all? Maybe. Probably. ...Perhaps. "You're that Raylene chick, right? I'm not lost in Albuquerque, yeah?" Because it'd be a problem if he /was/ lost in Albuquerque. Really.
Riva Banari	This time, Riva's here! That makes a huge difference! OH GOD STOP LAUGHING. The Templaress, looking aggressively normal and human, wears a red leather jacket with the Templar logo on the breast. It's not like anyone's going to know what it is, right? Other than that, she's casual. Super casual, wearing a black T-shirt with the Steam logo, some worn blue jeans, and sneakers. At the meeting place, she looks over the mansion and purses her lips. "Wow. You could kill someone on the other end of this place and no one would ever find out." She comments offhandedly to the others present... And then smiles. "I'm sure that hasn't happened though! We should be all good."
Kyra Hyral	"You know, when you put it like that, someone probably /has/, Riva." Kyra speaks up, adjusting her adorable moogle backpack. Since dusk is settling, she has her hood down, no longer in need to keep herself protected by the harsh sunlight. Those that are astute may notice that Kyra seems slightly leaner these days and a bit more tired than usual. She stares directly at Raine, whom she recognizes as a Dude That Was Helping Out HK-47, in particular, during attempted Twilight murder. "....sooooooo. You, what's your name again? Are you in the Syndicate?" she flat out asks Raine. At first glance, Kyra doesn't look armed. Those that know her well would realize she probably has three different guns hidden under her hoodie (spoiler: she does).
Guest Psyber	Psyber was told ghosts, with a possibility of not ghosts. That means that the primary equipment he's brought is actually explicitly anti-ghost, with low-level anti-demon and monster properties. Right now, though, he's pulled up to the end of the road in a 1974 Cadillac 60 Special and is rooting around in a trunk carved with runes and symbols on the interior. Mostly, he's unloading a couple book-sized pouches and shoving them in his jacket, along with a few handguns and a shotgun with some white-tipped shells. He looks pretty bored, professional, and methodical about the entire event. He flips over the shotgun and boredly slides shells into it, eventually racking one and then putting one more in to squeeze an extra shot out of the weapon. The last thing he pulls looks like a dark-bladed machete out of the trunk and affixes it to his belt, letting it hang there. "Hey. Here to hunt ghosts." He says to Raylene boredly, resting the shotgun against a shoulder.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga is also here. It is a situation she might actually be fairly useful in. Plus, Inga /really/ needed to get out more. And, Inga wants to buy some chicken. This requires money. So, ghost hunting. Why not? The witch shows up not long after Riva, leaning on the carved wooden staff as she limps over toward the Templar and Kyra, looking past her to the mansion, dark hazel eyes widening. "By the gods, you could house an entire village in there," she comments, reaching down with her free hand to smooth the fabric of her dress. She's wearing a long, all black ensemble that looks like it was bought at a thrift store after being worn by an old lady, who then decided it was a bit too old fashioned even for her. She also wears a woven belt hung with various beads, bones and other small charms and a hammer pendant around her neck. A symbol on forhead is smeared with what might be paint but it far more likely to be blood. She looks to Raylene, tilting her head slightly before bowing a greeting. "Good evening," she says, nodding to Psyber in greeting as well as he arrives. She raises a questioning brow at the shotgun.
Nathan Hall	Sorry, Ray Parker Jr., but unfortunately, bustin' doesn't make Nathan Hall feel good. Regardless: Heading out to the semi-rural zone, he's probably arrived with Psyber, and linked up with him immediately on arrival. His posture seems cautious; he's dealt with a LOT of hauntings, but rather than make him casual and confident about this, it makes him fully aware of the sheer scale of potential hidden risks and dangers. "Salutations." His standard greeting is given to Raylene. "I hope our work can be productive once again. Is there any further information available at this time, beyond the sparse details we were provided? I would like to know if there were any patterns in resident stress, such as potentially targeting specific identity factors, or if there were any patterns in the observed phenomena, such as being centered in any particular wing of the structure itself." Half of hunting a ghost is finding the ghost and determining the rules and boundaries of its movement, so he's focused on getting the info they have on-hand, and then soon, on entering the area and examining it himself.
Amalthea	Cellphone reception means that Amalthea can play games on her tablet on the way here. See, discreet to the armored mechanical knight is evading the town entirely, and making her way through the forest. Her lone eye is on the tablet screen entirely as she deftly sidesteps trees and roots, before quietly breaking from the treeline and casually approaching the gathering group. "Uhn." It's as warm a greeting she gives as ever, before sliding the tablet into her surcoat.
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi Houken, as it happens, looks perfectly human. If perhaps a bit foreign. The Technology-Integrated Gensou Engine Rampart, on the other hand prrrobably does not qualify. It is for that reason that the robo-tiger is here undercover. Quite literally, in fact. Going rooftop to rooftop and staying unseen is a little more difficult in a place like this, so instead he is here via the back seat of Psyber's car, hidden under a blanket, with Nozomi squeezed into a seat as well. It probably looks more than a little awkward, but at least there isn't a robotiger on display. She's complying with Raylene's request! Naturally, they disembark as soon as Psyber stops the car, with Nozomi hopping out first, and turning to watch... only to start giggling quietly. The sight of Taiga burrowing his way out from under a blanket is rather comical in its own way. He doesn't seem to mind, though, and quickly falls into step with his User, who walks the road with seeming calm. Looking up at the gate, though, the quiet noise somewhere deep in Nozomi's chest makes it clear that she's a tiny bit nervous. Just a smidge. Li'l bit. Taiga, however, takes to the fore almost immediately, close enough to her to serve as protection. "Remain close to me at all times," he says, his tone soft. It's his only words for the moment, however, as that big ominous mansion is their destination, and if they're here for ghost, step 1 is 'in-depth supernatural sensor scan'. So of course that's exactly what the TIGER does. His ears quirk forward, he lifts his head as if scenting the air, and he begins intensively sweeping the premises with his sensor suite for all the information he can obtain.
Raine Arland	Raine glanced at Kyra and arched a brow. ...Oh her. The healer chick that was...around. Yeah, he knew her. "Oh it's you. ....What was your name again? Hyra Kyral? Jira Macklaw? Phyrra Maxclaws?" He tilted his hand a bit, hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner. And then he shrugged carelessly. "Eh." Nice. "Anyway, don't worry about me. I'm just a guy. No one important here." And then he smirked, chuckling after.
Raylene Dunwich	"Mister Arland," Raylene greets with a curtsy. She doesn't insist on him calling her 'Miss Dunwich' either, as that kind of formality just isn't in her. She's polite, not formal. The others get a similar greeting as they arrive, some of whom are new to her. Riva, Kyra, Inga, Nozomi and TIGER... all of them are those she hasn't really known either. "Thank you all for coming. Probably more than I need, but I like to be careful, this isn't really my profession. And it is very curious, as you'll see." First, answering Nathan while she pushes open the gate to walk inside. "Some of you are from opposing factions. Try to keep any personal rivalries aside for this job at least. Ah... specifics of 'where' are a little muddled. We don't have a lot of reports to work on. Several months back, three of the local boys snuck in on a dare one night, but they made up some wild stories about terrible howling and stuff. Except they couldn't get their stories straight and it came out they were just making it up. But then people started reporting strange noises and lights coming from various places in the house. Could just be a squatter though." She straightens the backpack she's wearing with her night gear and flashlights and things. "It /is/ a pretty strange place though. This isn't on any particular ley line nexus or anything, but... well, just step through the gate." Anyone stepping into the gate will feel it, supernatural sense or no. A strange oppressiveness, a sensation of malevolence. Actual supernatural senses will only pick up on a vague 'aura' rather than anything focused right now, but sharper ones can put together that it's less of an intent and more like a supernatural background radiation, like a static left behind from an explosion of power. A stronger aura comes from the house itself, but it's fairly easy to sense that the main gallery past the front door is some kind of nexus... but each of the three wings is 'leaking' some form of energy as well.
Anna Renfield	Walking through the gate gets someone else's attention! "HEY! DUNWICH!" It's a youthful call of a teenage girl, dressed in a light jacket for the closing chill of the night and carrying her own backpack, along with another bag. The second bag looks to belong to the fancy camera hanging around her neck, one hand holding onto it. She's over by the fountain, probably taking pictures. The bespectacled, dark-haired girl waves, just in case she wasn't seen, and doesn't look put out at all by all the strange people - and creatures - arriving here.
Riva Banari	"Yeah, I admit I was lampshading that pretty hard, Kyra." Riva shrugs and heads over to give 'Little Sis' a big hug. She looks like she desperately needs it. And maybe a couple more milkshakes. "Let's check this out and get to the bottom of it, right?" She says, giving Kyra a big noogie for a second as is her right. Still, she doesn't LOOK like she's equipped to fight ghosts... Or other things. Or anything, really. Inga arrives and is the next recipent of a Riva hug, the Templar a little more gentle about her sweeping in and giving the witch a big snug. "Probably did at one time, Inga." She smiles. "Good to see you again." She breaks away from Inga, and gives Psyber some casual knux as she walks by, Nathan and Nozomi getting a nod of greeting. Raine... She doesn't know! So she gives Raine a wave. Amalethea, however, is a robot unicorn and gets a big hug too. NO ESCAPE. Finally, people get down to business. "Right. So, maybe ghosts. Let's check this place out." She replies to Raylene, giving her a bow in response to her curtsey.... And as she walks in, she has a very distinct look of 'do not want' on her face along with a certain resignation that she knows it doesn't matter if she do not want. "Ugh. I feel like I just stuck my head into a swimming pool that hasn't been cleaned in months." She mutters. "We're going to have to give this place the room by room, aren't we?" She says to Psyber, resigning herself to what's probably going to be a bad day.
Guest Psyber	"Oh I recognize you. You were there when Elliana died," Psyber says at Raine point blank. It's not a blaming tone, just an observation and the only time he really met the guy. The half-angel then steps through the gate when prompted, feeling the aura set in. He takes a few moments to respond to Riva's knux. "Hm. Could be the house is possessed, like back in Amityville, but I dunno," He muses, scratching the side of the head as he thinks it over. Then he starts to walk towards the house at an easy pace, "Could also be a boogeyman, like I thought earlier. Too early to tell, too many things to narrow down. Plus I wasn't quite right about that last thing you had us hunt." After his remark to Raylene, he lets eyes fall upon the bespectacled girl and tilt his head, "Your friend?" He asks her, giving Anna more of a nod than a wave in return. As he elects to approach the house, he switches the shotgun into a more traditional holding position. "Room by room, probably. I brought plenty of salt, at least, so I won't have to make multiple trips to the car."
Nozomi Houken	Taiga rumbles as his scans finish. "Ambient supernatural imprinting. Suggests a large event in the recent to middling past. The house appears to have multiple paranormal energy sources. The most potent is centered just inside the front door, but I am detecting others in each wing as well. This is a very haunted place," he summarizes, before turning his head to Nozomi. "...If anyone intends to remain by the front gate, I would recommend that Nozomi remain behind as well. However, if everyone is entering, it would be better for my user to remain by my side." Nozomi gives him somewhat of a nervous nod, before shooting Riva a look that says 'I'm okay, really I am, I swear I'll be fine, I'm not halfway to bolting, honest.'
Raylene Dunwich	Hearing her name called, the small girl freezes... until she sees who it is. Raylene doesn't smile, but she relaxes so obviously that it's impossible to miss. Calmly and with a very, very slight lightening of her tone, she calls out, "Renfield! I should have known you'd show up here sometime." She waves the other girl over, and then turns to the group to explain. "If Heaven or Hell were an after school club, Anna would be the vice president. I've run into her a few times before, she's... not harmless, but probably here for the same reason we are."
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga returns Riva's embrace with a smile. "Likewise, it is always good to see you. And you as well Kyra. It has been some time hasn't it?" she replies before looking back to Raylene, getting the run down of the situation. "Mmm, I see," she says before turning her full attention to the mansion and its oppressive negative energy. Inga frowns, brow furrowing as she takes it in. "Some kind of...lingering energy. It reminds me of something..." she says, wondering if she should take a quick peek into the spirit world to see what it looks like from the Other Side. "Yes, I see--" Inga cuts off as someone else jumps in, explaining precisely what she saw. She looks over to take stock of this person only to find she's looking at a /TIGER/. Inga's eyes go wide once more. "Yes, ah, well, what the ah...large cat said," she mutters. Want...to...pet...big kitty... Inga clears her throat and sticks with Riva and Psyber. "I have salt as well, as well as many cleansing herbs. We'll get this taken care of I'm sure," she says. Inga looks back to Raylene, blinking. "If she solves the problem before we do, do we not get paid?" she inquires. Because Inga would like to know that from the get go. She needs chickens and maybe a new goat, okay?
Amalthea	"Someone you know?" Amalthea idly asks Raylene, though the question is ansered in short order as Dunwich called Anna by name. "There's a club for this kind of thing?" The unicorn mutters dryly to herself, before rolling shoulders in a shrug. She really shouldn't be surprised. Stepping through the gate, though, instantly makes loppy ears prick right up. Her eye narrows, and though she rubs at the scar on her face with one hand, Amalthea's other hand balls into a loose fist. "This place feels as welcoming as a tomb."
Raine Arland	Heh, looks like he was the odd man out here. Nonetheless, Raine gave up nothing, and merely waved lazily to people. Psyber got a casual two fingered salute. "Yep. I'm that guy. Sup." That was rhetorical. One they stepped past the gates of the mansion proper, Raine's senses immediately spiked. Well, whatever little he had in the first place. (Damn, one step into this place, and already, I feel like something crazy just went down here. You feel that, Fragarach?) Raine glanced aside at the empty air as he thought to himself and her. A second person's thoughts entered his mind then. (Of course I feel it. Feels like we walked into the land of the dead. Try not to get killed, okay? That would be a problem.) (Ch'yeah. Like you actually give half a shit.) Rolling his eyes, Raine cut off his little telepathic call then, and looked forward as someone called out to them. "Hunh. Someone here already. How about that." Friend of the client? Apparently so as Raylene greeted her back. Anna, huh? Well sure, okay. Well either way, he was going to be sticking with Taiga for now. No reason to stay outside, probably. And so he stuck by the tiger's general vicinity.
Nathan Hall	"...Bounded wide-area effect." Nathan mutters, upon entry, giving his nodding greeting to Riva. The feeling is intense, and he's visibly affected by it, but not emotionally. "Effect is bounded at the border." He... Actually takes a moment to step back away from the gate, then back through. "High-contrast border." He gives a half-tilted look to TIGER, tapping his chin. "High-definition boundary and a major previous event. Likely the phenomena are the residual result of a manmade event. Please remain on the lookout for records that may have survived in secluded areas, or signs of previous occult actions taken in the vicinity." Then he gives a proper response to Raylene. "I am no stranger to collaboration with the Confederate Elite. It will be no trouble." With a quick snap, he activates a low-level Miracle, generating a white sphere of soft light to keep things lit up as he heads in, flitting around him. "All Elites, remain alert. It is likely that all of the grounds of this residence are potentially equally dangerous, if there is any risk." Nathan is ALWAYS worried about hauntings, given his volume of experience. For now... He tries to focus on coordinating the group and giving a few leads to start on. "There are several matters to examine. I need someone to examine lower foundation sections of the house; seek out uninterred remains, residual occult structure or carving, or similar elements. I need others to examine the interior room-by-room. Test airflow, structural response, or similar elements for signs of hidden elements. I also need interior regions scanned with supernatural senses to attempt to trace the sources of the detected paranormal energy emissions. Locate, identify, and determine the nature of any located artifacts associated with the emissions. If there are other areas and elements that you believe will be productive to examine, move to analyze immediately. Remember, several mysterious deaths were reported; you may experience a hostile reaction. Remain alert and safe." Anna is greeted as well. "Salutations. You are obviously not beholden to my coordination, and may pursue your efforts freely. My ally can provide a radio if you wish to coordinate with us and remain alert of any gathered information or potential dangers." He gestures to Amalthea, and also keeps a healthy distance from her. For now, he's going to go ahead and approach the front door, hopefully prompting someone else to get it open and see what the detected nexus is.
Anna Renfield	"LOOK AT YOU!" Anna gasps, hurrying over and... ruffling Raylene's hair. "I swear you grow an inch every time we run into one another. Terry has the flu, so Alice isn't here, but I'm sure he'd love to hear from you." Her smirk says it all. She's teasing. Amalthea and Taiga are the weirdest, so they get a long look from Anna. "Well. You've fallen into some weird company. Almost military." She shrugs. "I'll take a radio. Anna Renfield, Spirit Chaser. I've just been taking some pictures, but the background contamination here is probably going to make them all blurry for now. I haven't cracked the door yet, but the energy levels have been climbing as night approaches. We're likely to encounter a Threshold Event sometime after... I'd say another hour, maybe two." She certainly doesn't have a problem walking up toward the door. "So, how did you all meet Little Sis Ray? Are you some kind of cleanup company, or Multiversals?"
Nozomi Houken	Not just a talking tiger - a talking /robot/ tiger. Mostly black, with panels of clear yellow material here and there. The TIGER unit turns his head around to regard Raine with a simple, lingering stare, before swinging around to look at Inga with a rather less... uncomfortable gaze. "Hello," he greets simply. Next is Anna, to whom he replies without looking, "There is no 'almost', in my particular case. I am military hardware under the auspices of the Union, operating here at the request of Psyber." But that's all the spare attention he has, because there is a task to focus on. "I will sweep the wing in this direction," he declares, heading left of the entranceway; there is a large nexus of supernatural power in the gallery, but he'll investigate one of the side wings - the first one counterclockwise he can find - before he brings Nozomi back to the high-risk area. His sensors are already going into narrow-focus, high-fidelity mode for the job ahead. Nozomi is keeping on the other side of Taiga from Raine. She's a skittish one.
Amalthea	So much as gesturing at Amalthea gets Nathan a frigid stare. The unicorn's face is a steel mask, unmoving and blank of expression that wordlessly expresses that, perhaps, keeping his distance is the best plan. But nevertheless, she reaches into her surcoat again, gauntlet fumbling around until she finds a spare ear-piece. "Catch." It's an easy underhanded toss that sends it Anna's way, before she unslings her shield off her back. It will probably do little against ghosts, but if there's anything else more physical to contend with, it should be of use. Old mansions tend to crumble on their own, after all. Time rots everything, except unicorns. "Nice meeting you." She mutters somewhat gruffly, that lone eye turning on the bespectacled girl, before jerking a thumb at Psyber. "He runs the company thing, I just show up and batter my head against stuff. Threshold event?" Short of Anna or someone else doing it, she'll be proactive and give the door a push.
Kyra Hyral	"Kyra Hyral." she eventually answers Raine with a small huff. Her annoyance is promptly swept away by HUGS FROM RIVA! She hugs her 'big sis' back, letting out an ACK as she gets a noogie as a follow-up, "Hey there Inga, long time no see! Been busy doing seer stuff?" The small talk continues until they near the house. Then Kyra gets really quiet, the small hairs on her skin standing on end. She doesn't go ahead announcing the obvious because she's absolutely positive a good portion of the people here can sense that, nevermind the fact that the likes of Nathan is voicing detection. She will say: "This is a big group, maybe we should split up?"
Guest Psyber	Psyber looks over towards Raylene as she explains the identity of Anna Renfield, "Ah, I see," He nods to Raylene as she elucidates him and then Anna begins heading towards the door. The half-angel reaches into his pocket and then takes out a card, holding it out to Anna. It reads, front and back: Psyber Prof. Of Occult Studies at Miskatonic University Owner - Heaven or Hell Paranormal Investigation Firm 666 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108 (Corner of Beacon and Joy) (617) 555-8782 Dissolve Me In Water! In small text on the back: This card is pressed blessed salt and inked in holy oil. Dissolve in 1 cup or more water to create holy water. To Inga, Psyber says, "Yeah, I'm not an herbologist. I have Hunter Basicss, I only brought salt. Good to have a shaman along for this kind of thing, welcome to the team," Psyber greets her with a thumbs up. He reaches into one of those bags he brought and takes out a hand full of rock salt, starting to throw it around the yard to try to at least break up the oppressive aura the location has.
Raylene Dunwich	Sigh. Hair ruffled. Raylene tolerates this with... is that a blush? But mentioning Terry makes her scoff a little. "Is he still on about that?" Grumbling noises. She keeps to herself behind the front-runners. "Multiversals. Raine Arland is a mercenary I hired to help me out. The rest belong to Heaven or Hell, except Inga over there, and all of them are interested in the supernatural. Think of it like a company that does your after school thing." She'll let the various individuals introduce themselves. The door opens to a wide open area... with a carpet that isn't rotting, oddly enough. The LAST people who were in here were only a few years ago, so the place isn't that shabby yet. Inside, it's easier to see that the residual energy is climbing, as well as the reason for the weird background static. The three wings of the house with different power sources are slowly, painstakingly trickling energy in toward the middle. It's extremely infinitesimal though... far less than the level of power sensed would indicate should happen. Kyra's statement just gets a LOOK, but Raylene doesn't object to it. This IS a big group. Surely the curse of splitting up can't affect them if they're still in decent-sized groups?
Raine Arland	Nathan's overall analysis of the situation earns him a nod from the black clad youth. "Simple enough for me, Alright dudes, I'm takin' the basement." Without any further ado, he turned and strode off in that direction. But not first without giving TIGER a smirk. And then he strode off towards the front door of the manor, setting inside, and then IMMEDIATELY striding off by himself to go find the basement. What? None of these people cared about him, so going off by himself to do a little SLEUTHING would be totally fine.
Riva Banari	Nozomi's look causes Riva to look back, and nod, giving her the 'everything's fine, I /totally got this/ look. It's obligation now, even if the last time she tried this she ended up getting her arm vaporized. Man, /that sucked/. Riva, in the meanwhile, chooses to mostly go along wit hte flow for the moment, looking to Inga and Nathan. She nods, the latter giving proper guidance. "Let's go." she says... And they enter the hub area. Riva sniffles at the air, grimacing. "If we're splitting up, I'll head with. Can't let you guys have all the 'fun'." She says, totally missing Raine bailing to poke at all the awesome stuff.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga's gaze turns to Nathan, blinking. She frowns slightly, then nods. "I will search for the sources of the energy and see what I can find. If I open myself to the lingering threads of fate in this place... well, I shall see what I can find," she says, then adds, "I will try not to go mad." Legitimate concern in a place like this. With a quiet sigh, Inga looks to Anna Renfield, then leans over to ask Riva, "Threshold Event?" Inga is quite experienced with spirits, ghosts and generaly Weird Shit now, but the terminology used by some people? Not as much. "I am Inga Freyjasdottir, wisewoman," she replies to Anna with a nod. "Multiversals," she adds. What world even is this? She hadn't even bothered to ask! Inga nods to ROBOT TIGER! "Ah...a pleasure," she says. A robot tiger with a steady flow of magical energy. That's interesting. Such wonders in this multiverse... The Seer's gaze is drawn back to Psyber, a small smile appearing. A shaman? She supposes that's not a bad word for it. "Thank you," she replies, reaching into her pack to pull out a tight bundle of dried herbs. A quick word and the end of the stick begins to burn. She blows out the flame until it merely smolders the dried herbs, fragrant smoke beginning to fill the air. May as well follow Psyber's lead and do a little preemptive purification. "I presume we will have to find the sources of the energy and...aggressively cleanse it," she offers. Upon entering the first area, Inga takes a deep breath and loosens the reign on her sight a bit, opening herself, searching for any dangling threads of fate that might provide them a clue as to what happened here and how to fix it.
Kyra Hyral	"Yeah, I know, right? I should be the last person to suggest splitting up." Kyra says, responding to that LOOK. "But I think we have enough people here that even the split groups would be pretty big. Like...four people in each group, there's enough for that, right? Or close to it? No group should be lower than three people, that's just asking for trouble."
Nathan Hall	"The latter." Nathan says, following along. As per normal, stand BEHIND the girls who know what they're doing. "Though I hope we are as un-disruptive as the former. Perhaps sometime you might want to turn your hobby into a living. Ah, I forgot my introductions. Nathan Hall, librarian and scholar. 'Threshold event'? I assume a buildup of some kind, one that triggers a severe event. Are these common in the supernatural systems of your reality?" Then he puts a hand to his chin... "Three. Three sources of energy moving in towards the central nexus." His glasses shine, briefly, as he examines datafeeds from TIGER and from other of the group, with their more astute senses. Auspicious number, given the three boys who were part of that incident. Look for disturbances that appear as recent as four to twelve months old." Nathan says, gesturing in the direction of the three signatures. "One is currently being addressed by the TIGER unit. Another by Inga, after this room is examined. That leaves the third. Any of you with relevant abilities, please assist." Having structured and coordinated some of the business here, Nathan then takes a bit of a backseat. "Psyber, I will stay with you, if you like." He adjusts his glasses. "Are there any preferred routes of investigation you would like? The room by room analysis you suggested will likely be productive."
Anna Renfield	It looks like people will split up regardless. Anna at least gets a look of relief when Kyra corrects herself. "Right. I didn't think we had the technology to do what I'm seeing with you two, but I've been wrong before." Amalthea and Taiga are indicated. "A Threshold Event is just what it sounds like. The energy builds up until... well, it's enough for something to happen. In the case of a haunting, the spirit has enough power to manifest." She flicks her ponytail back, and adds to the light with her hand up in the air, summoning up a small flickering globe of daylight. This lets her read the card casually. "Huh. Professor of Occult Studies. Ms. Catonic would love to talk to you sometime, I'll have to introduce you." She tucks the card away. "We'll talk. I don't do herbology and stuff either... that's actually Raylene's field, come to think of it." She glances at the younger girl. "I'll go with the... TIGER unit I suppose. I admit I only intended to take a quick look though. I don't think my exorcism skills are up to something this big. I'd rather wait until Alice is with me." Anna follows after Taiga and Nozomi. She actually mumbles a greeting in Japanese, but though she got the 'Anna Renfield desu, dozo yoroshiku' right, her accent is terrible enough to tell Nozomi that Anna doesn't actually KNOW Japanese.
Amalthea	"That is the most Scooby Doo fucking suggestion I have ever heard." Amalthea grunts at Kyra's suggestion to split the group. "Before anyone even thinks of saying a damn thing, I am a unicorn, not a Great Dane." Then she gets her explanation. "Joy." Nathan's going with Psyber. That means Amalthea is going in a different diection. ... Actually she just kind of starts wandering in the direction of the first door available, sticking to the ground floor. "I'll start wandering rooms on this floor, I guess. Maybe find airflow and artifacts or some shit." She explains her reasoning. Hopefully there will be no zombies nor terrible voice acting for this mansion adventure.
Nozomi Houken	"It helps that I am from another world in the Multiverse," Taiga replies, his paws clunking along the floor steadily. "I cannot divulge details, but I am built on one of the only successful lines of 'magitech' my world has thus far produced. I am also a supernatural weapon, so you need not be overly concerned for your safety should the entities present turn hostile." Nozomi doesn't seem to realize what she's heard at first, but then her face lights up with realization and she turns to look at Anna with wide eyes. "A-ah, thank you...!" There is a sudden and formal bow. Poor thing is glad just to hear some Japanese, in such an unfamiliar and oppressive place.
Raylene Dunwich	Raine heads into the basement! The door is actually locked, but the key is in the lock so uh... not exactly a challenge. Going down the stairs into the basement though... it's actually only partly-furnished, oddly enough. Furnace, hot water heater, all that stuff is down here, though not currently running of course. There's a definite 'tightness' here of collected mystical power, but it feels like it's draining away into the ground. Otherwise, it's largely empty but for the support columns! Looks like a game room or something could be put down here, but the floor is largely an ugly tiling out of place with the elegance of the manor above.
Guest Psyber	Psyber's pretty much just scattering salt on someone's lawn to the uneducated observer. He looks towards Nathan, "Right now, I'm trying to set up a saturation of purification using the salt. That way, if whatever it is tries to bolt, it's like trying to get past caltrops or barbed wire. It's a trick we used in the late 18th century when dealing with demons, actually," Psyber informs the librarian. "Sure, I'm always down to meet a peer," Psyber replies to Anna with a smile as she tucks the card away and splitting-up happens. Inga is dispersing smoke into the air, which is something that's easier for her than it is for Psyber, since he'd have to actually look up and research the proper blends. "That's mostly my plan, though, Nate," He explains to the librarian, and by proxy people hanging out near him, "Saturate the surrounding area to prevent it from escaping and coming back after we've left. Whatever it might be. Admittedly, I'm pretty open to suggestions on alternate courses of action."
Raine Arland	Now definitely alone, Raine stepped down into the basement and had a look around. ...Standard basement fixtures, even in Miltiades, it was pretty standard. Nothing special here, other than the fact that it looked like this stuff hadn't been run in quite a while. He takes several steps deeper in, looking left and right. He can definitely feel 'something' here. But he can't place it. A look down is spared, and he arched a brow. "...Who the fuck tiled this place? What an ugly ass design. Seriously! Fragarach, look at this shit!" There is a shimmer of white light, and his usual partner in crime appeared, sitting in midair, one leg over the other and arms crossed. "....I can feel something here. It's draining into the ground in fact." She observed casually, blue and black gaze sweeping across the floor. Raine huh'd at that, and looked down at the floor tiles again. "....Let's see here..." Kneeling down low, Raine began to tap at the tiles with his knuckles, looking for any sort of area that might have been hollow. With designs of this kind of disparity, it was just kind of suspicious! Not that this whole place wasn't suspicious already.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga stops near the entrance, reaching out to leans against the wall for a moment, gasping. Her pupils rapidly dialate, eyes darting around the room until settling in the distance, watching... A vision. After a moment, Inga closes her eyes, shaking her head. The smoke from the bundle in her hand continues to drift. "I saw a man of middle age. He walked in and...punched something. It looked a bit like your cell phone, Riva. Then he looks up...whatever he saw I do not know, but he ran up the stairs in terror," she explains. Then, a sigh. "I think that is where we should go. Of course its the bloody stairs. Does nothing ever happen on the ground floor?" Inga complains, then moves over to Riva for The Usual.
Raylene Dunwich	Nozomi and Anna and also Raylene. That's one group! Raylene hurries to follow the TIGER unit and the others, sighing. "Split up. Of course. Where did the mercenary go?" Raylene mutters, but she hangs back with Anna to let Taiga do their thing. "For all the energy here, it's a little boring really. The Horror's getting a snack but that's it." Down this hall, it looks... less well-travelled even than the main hallway. It looks like it's cluttered and full of storage, old furniture covered up with sheets, all that. But walking toward the end of the wing is where things are getting more interesting, along with the energies therein. This opens up into what looks to have been a greenhouse, after walking through a hallway full of what appears to be Civil War-era paintings, most of them of a moustached, dashing young man. Sometimes with his horse. He appears to have been a Union soldier. The Civil War Union, not the Multiversal one.
Raylene Dunwich	Raine taps on the floor a few times. It is not hollow, but the tiling is actually pretty... cheap. Looks like someone just plastered it on there without thinking. He raps a few times, gets nothing, raps again, gets nothing... Then there's a rap rap rapping noise, the exact same, repeated just as many times. Along with the noise comes a distorted sound, like someone trying to talk underwater after passing through one of those robot voice harmonizers.
Raylene Dunwich	Psyber salts the yard! This doesn't seem to affect the spiritual residue at all, but then again it would be pretty easy to salt a little pathway to make any expeditious retreat happen easier! The growing power, though, also feels a lot more 'off' if he's hanging around the front.
Riva Banari	Riva shakes her head and picks up Inga, holding her close as she looks upstairs. "This is going to be a thing, I guess." The Templar says, going to hike up the stairs while Kyra (and likely Nathan) fall in with. "Let's move." She heads upstairs, holding Inga with. "Just point where we need to go, Inga."
Raine Arland	"JESUS CHRIST ON A GOD DAMN CRACKER!" Raine immediately jumped twelve feet in the air(not really), and then pointed frantically at the floor. "Fragarach! Yo, Fragarach! You hear that shit! There's something down there!" Fragarach covered her mouth with a sleeve, suppressing the urge to die laughing at Raine. "Yes...Yes I heard." She smirked cruelly at him. "I think it went something like 'Jesus Christ on a god damn cracker'?" Raine glared. "Not THAT, you ass! The other thing! -Look, just opened up the damn floor, okay?" Grumbling to himself, Raine swung an arm out, materializing a black blade into his grasp and standing ready. "Yes, yes~" She rolled her eyes and directed both arms at the floor. Generally the center. And then with a bit of focus, she spread her arms, attempting to literally bend a hole into the floor via earth manipulation.
Kyra Hyral	"Hehehehe." Kyra giggles as Riva takes to carrying around Inga. True to Riva's assumption, she follows after the pair, motioning for the Nathan to come along with them, "C'mon you, unless you're sticking around outside we should stick together. Nobody goes wandering off into the house alone. Unless you're that shady Syndicate guy."
Nathan Hall	"Hmmm. There is very little I can do to be of use in that regard." Nathan says, nodding to Psyber. "I will accompany Riva and Kyra, to assist." It is as Kyra's asking, after all! "I try to avoid being any kind of shady guy." He says, in his usual flat tones. "So, that is certainly something I ought to do." He heads up the stairs, keeping to the rear of the group for obvious reasons, peering around constantly.
Raylene Dunwich	As Inga, Kyra, Riva, and Nathan walk up the stairs, the entire staiwell echoes with a loud, rumbling moan. Faintly amongst the moan can be heard the stereotypical noise can be heard the quiet words of 'Get... out....' But more of an interesting thing is the smell. Such experienced adventurers as these can clearly smell that something dead is nearby, and probably been that way for a few weeks.
Amalthea	Nozomi, Anna, Raylene, and Amalthea. The unicorn takes a place at the front alongside Taiga. "Yo." She chuffs to the other intelligent mechanical member of the group, steam venting from a seam in her armor. She navigates the covered furniture a bit- though curiosity nags at her to lift a sheet and peer under. Beyond that, her eye is trained and on the look out with her usual levels of intense vigil and more-than-a-little-healthy paranoia when in potentially dangerous environments. She eyes the paintings. Actually she pauses to eye them. She kind of only has one eye to eye them with, anyway.
Guest Psyber	Psyber somewhat was incorrect. He can create as much smoke as Inga is, just for different reasons. He stops to take a pack of Lucky Strikes out of his jacket and stick one in his mouth, lighting it as he takes a slow drag from the filterless cigarette and exhale slowly, "Salt doesn't seem to be helping too much, Nate." "Ah." Nate's getting taken off along with Riva and Kyra, "Alright. You stay safe and call if you need me. I'll head in if you get in a rough spot," Psyber says blandly, exhaling another plume of smoke on his break. He seems to be staring at the house blankly, red eyes occasionally flashing as he watches the house from the outside. "You're up to something. But what?" He scowls a bit. He remembers when he used to be good at these mysteries. He takes another slow drag of the cigarette, opting to just take the few moments of distance to look at the house and watch what goes on as people start encountering their various phenomena.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga grumbles, poking Riva to put her down once they are up the stairs. "Ah, thank you Riva, per usual. Tch, why do not all places with stairs have lifts? Ridiculous..." Inga trails off in her grumbling, tapping her staff on the floor briefly as she takes a deep breath and again relaxes her control over her Sight, in case another clue would like to present itself. Apparently this is unneeded, for what occcurs next is far more obvious. Inga's nose wrinkles. "Decay," she comments quietly. The rumbling moan commands attention, of course. Inga shivers slightly, then shakes her head. "No, I think not," she replies, moving forward now, following the smell, using her staff to push open doors and peer inside. If ample light becomes a problem, Inga mumbles a word and the pendant around her neck begins to glow softly. One guess who she learned that one from. At this point, she is fairly sure they are going to find the body of the man from her vision.
Riva Banari	If Riva were back in time to before she swallowed a bug and gained superpowers, this would be the time that she noped the hell out of this place. However, she did that thing. And now she's probably killed like two dozen million zombies (numbers slightly exaggerated, Kingsmouth has bad neighbors), so the smell or dead flesh just causes her nose to wrinkle. "Welp. That's a thing." She says, setting Inga aside on the top of the steps. She reaches under her coat and pulls out a fine rapier, the handbasket wrought in a Celtic pattern. She flicks the tip a bit in the air as small traceries like circuit lines begin to dully gleam along the blade, the woman channeling her Anima into the weapon. "Yeah, I more or less agree, Inga. Hold back, I'm going to face-check." And then Riva does just that, heading for the source of the stank.
Anna Renfield	Anna looks along the walls at the paintings, the pattern pretty plainly evident. "Gonna guess this is one of the previous... no wait, that can't be right..." She pauses to glance at Raylene, then back at the paintings. "This place was built DECADES after the Civil War. Why are all these paintings here? Some ancestor maybe?" Anna adjusts her glasses, taking a better look along the paintings and down toward the greenhouse. "I say we look for the source..."
Raylene Dunwich	Tearing a hole in the floor is... actually hard! It's reinforced concrete! But tearing the /tile/ up happens in an instant, to reveal a very intricate pattern on the floor, carved in relief. Or poured from a mold? It's certainly prettier than the tile, but it also forms an obvious inward spiral toward the middle, with the support columns forming special 'points' on each part of the pattern. It's also very obvious that the center of this pattern is where the energy is flowing. It isn't glowing or anything though. In fact, it seems like it's suppressing the local buildup of energy in some way.
Raylene Dunwich	MEANWHILE, Riva and Inga and Kyra and Nathan are exploring the upper floor! Opening the door to the nearest room - which is slightly ajar - gets an 'interesting' sight though. This is the source of the smell all right. The man looks like he's been dead a while, but it's much more interesting to see how he's been mutilated. That being... Well there's no easy way to put this. It looks like he's been scalped.
Nozomi Houken	"It is entirely possible the paintings are some sort of locus for the entity or entities." They're a common focus for a supernatural being trying to affect or observe the living world, after all. Taiga's scans are mostly on analyzing the energy itself still, but he's now dedicating at least a little bit of sensor time to sweeping the paintings, watching for the supernatural power present to try and use them in some way. Amalthea gets a short-lived look from the robot tiger. "Hello." All three not-Nozomi girls will probably notice very subtle twitches in Taiga's shoulder cannons, a degree here, half a degree there. He's keeping them at the ready, briefly tracking this or that sensor contact before moving on.
Kyra Hyral	"...face check? What on plates is that?" Kyra lifts an eyebrow, "Are you gonna run ahead alone to potentially get killed? Is that what it is?" She herself decides to get some white magic ready in case Riva does get plowed through by a zombie, which suddenly gets up in her, Nathan, and Inga's faces. Inga, Kyra knew, also respawned like Riva but she herself and Nathan certainly didn't. But as they get into the room... That dead body smell intensifies. Kyra's stomach turns but she holds herself in spite of the smell. It's a familiar smell, sure, but never one she really became accustomed to. Every dead body had their own foul odor to it, centered around the health and diet of the deceased. When it becomes clear that there are no attacks, she peers around Riva. "...eeew, scalping. I hope that happened after he died."
Raine Arland	"Ah ha... Okay, okay..." Raine watched as the floor...did NOT open. That was solid concrete. But the tile itself came up. That was a good enough for him. He peered down at the pattern that was below the tile. "So this is what was hiding under there..." It was terribly obvious that the pillars were some kind of support. "Huh...Okay, Fragarach, bring up all the tiles. What's the worst that could happen, eh?" He smirked and glanced at her. Fragarach rolled her eyes and did just that. Expending much less effort, she raised one arm and lifted it, aiming to geomance the other tiles up out of the floor to reveal everything below it. She spoke as she did so. "It seems like this pattern is keeping something in, rather than letting it out. If you want my advice; don't undo the actual formation." Raine hrmed, bringing a hand to his chin. And then he spoke into the radio.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Riva would discover it first, as Inga lets her take the lead, being the more fighter type. But once she knows there's nothing waiting specifically to pounce on them, Inga moves in to examine the body. She frowns, glad the fragrant smoke from her smudge stick is drowning out at least some of the stench of death. "Difficult, at this stage...but the clothes are the same..scalp removed...how strange," she comments, resisting the urge to hold her nose. Instead, she looks around the room further, searching for photographs or anything that might tell him if the man lived here. Inga looks to the others, frowning. "Could be others. Someone or something has taken a trophy," she says, referring to the missing scalp. If no further evidence presents itself to her, Inga will check the next room, probing outward with her magical senses to try to get a better read on what was lurking up here. A boogeyman, as Psyber suggests? Or something of the more...human monster variety?
Nathan Hall	"A 'face check' is like a 'shoulder check', but with a face instead of a shoulder." Nathan explains this in as boring a tone as possible to Kyra. This is what he's muttering as he looks around in slow, methodical, and EXTREMELY worried glances. They have the attention of something, at least it spoke to them. If they have the attention of a spectral being, that means they might be targeted. He takes only one moment to look through the door, and immediately regrets that, retreating. For all his military leadership, Nathan really still just can't handle seeing a body with much grace, so despite his completely rock-solid composure, he pulls back and away. "One of you, please determine the connection this corpse has with the ongoing power emission."
Raylene Dunwich	Analyzing the paintings will show that they are... old. Amalthea can tell that. Also, there's some lingering 'evil' about them, is the only way to say it. Anna and Taiga's analysis can tell a little more on top of that, that the paintings are 'chained' together by some kind of energy, and it all flows... underneath the greenhouse. Specifically under a large, gnarled tree that's grown up, which looks far too old for the mansion itself. As the hour grows old though, there's a feedback FROM the underground of the tree, pulsing back along the paintings in a feeble feeding, but there's definitely a swelling of energy here.
Raylene Dunwich	Inga starts poking about along with the others. Her nosing around will trigger another, longer 'Get Ouuuuut' and... the hallway will start oozing blood from the crown moulding, seeping dark red in places and running in rivulets down the walls. Outside, Psyber will be able to sense the flows of energy, but no particular spikes when this happens.
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi, by this point, is clasping her hands in front of herself, taking her cues mostly from Taiga. The robotic tiger has slowed in his movements, padding forward. Like a stalking cat, he slowly moves forward, before stopping entirely, stock still. Both cannons train on the tree. "The tree in the greenhouse appears to be a source of power. Or a conduit at the very least. It is connected to the paintings, as if to nourish them. Recommended course of action is destruction of the tree, followed by destruction of the paintings. Attacking either will likely incur the ire of the other, so cutting off the flow of energies first seems the tactically viable choice."
Amalthea	"Huh." Amalthea grunts at Anna's observation on the paintings. "Was this place built over anything else?" An idle pondering as she narrows her eye on the paintings. "They're old. And they reek like misery and badness." She doesn't get much further in her basic cane-flailing assessment when that feedback slams her like a wall. She blinks. There's a moment of disorientation and discomfort from the sheer wave that pours out from the tree, her gaze turning in that direction when Taiga brings it up. She's already drawing her sword before the suggestion-- and heaves a swing at the nearest portrait- and then the next. And the next. She just grunts and starts going completely to town on the paintings.
Kyra Hyral	"Oh. That seems...why with the /face/..." Kyra trails off, looking perplexed at Nathan and his deadpan explanation. She slowly shakes her head, certainly catching Nathan's hasty retreat from the dead body. She herself doesn't move away, instead taking his suggestion to heart as she casts a Scan spell on the corpse. If the body was, in any way, linked to the malevolent energy in the house, this would catch it, showing the energy flow patterns around it. She holds steady, shaking a little as the power in the house suddenly makes the walls bleed following a louder demand to leave. "Uhhh...this is pretty unsettling. Watch my back, Riva, I need to focus on this spell for a few moments."
Inga Freyjasdottir	The wisewoman turns when the voice sounds once more and blood begins to seep from the moulding along the ceiling. Inga blinks. The blood doesn't bother her so much as the creeping, nasty feeling of the uncanny. "Well, that's interesting," she breathes. Inga used blood magic, the blood isn't so unnerving in itself...but where it is coming from is more troubling. "Hmm," she says, then walks out of the room, heading back into the hallway. "Find the source...I'm going to take a Look from the Other Side," she says, reaching for the knife at her belt. She pricks her finger and brings it up to draw a fresh sigil upon her brow as she speaks the spell to allow her to see into the Spirit world. Things usually look rather different there. Riva knows what it is like. How things can be found there that are not readily apparently in the material world.
Anna Renfield	"I guess it's a bit late for that," Anna notes. Amalthea starts to tear apart the paintings, but Anna just examines one and quietly places a paper talisman, similar to an ofuda, on one of them, attempting to do a simple sealing upon the single painting rather than the tree. It's less violent, but she hopes it will be just as effective.
Nathan Hall	Walls are bleeding walls are bleeding WALLS ARE BLEEDING. As far as Nathan's experience goes, 'bleeding walls' usually heralds a very negative bit of attention coming, supernaturally-speaking. So, he'd better get this done QUICK. With a snap, a pendant around his neck lights up with a soft yellow glow, and he channels magic into the shape of a translucent rough yellow prying tool, attempting to quickly jam it into the wall and tear out a portion of drywall, as per Psyber's request. He does so with surprising swiftness, because he wants to solve this FAST before this escalates beyond stress-inducing shenanigans.
Raylene Dunwich	Amalthea and Anna start to deal with the paintings in their own unique ways. Raylene winces a little, but she rapidly looks toward the tree. Taiga and her are the ones watching that when the eruption happens. Eruption of energy, that is, as a reaction to the lines of power being sliced and the rising power. Even non-supernatural senses can see what manifests though. The... man from the paintings, riding his horse, but he looks haggard and bloodied, with glowing red eyes. Obviously a revenant of some kind, a vengeful spirit. Drawing his saber, he levels it at Amalthea and lets loose an incoherent, almost silent scream of anger.
Guest Psyber	Psyber is staring at the house and trying to figure out what's going on at this place. There's a lot for him to start piecing together and everyone else is acting in their own and expected autonomous fashion. He takes a long moment to reach into his jacket, pausing in his smoking, to pull out a flask and take a slow drink. His eyes flick over the house, moving to where he thinks spikes of paranormal activity should be and instead finding no actual increase in activity. He slowly turns around and starts heading back to the gate, the border where the actual feeling of ominousness manifested at first. He wants to go investigate that as another piece of his puzzle. See why it starts and stops there, or if it still does. The machete that he took out of his car in the first pose will be used to draw a line at the precise point that the boundary for the abnormal feeling starts.
Raylene Dunwich	Raine sees more of the floor! The tiles tear away to show that the ENTIRE BASEMENT is covered in these elaborate swirls and lines. This only excludes the furnace room. The trickle of power from the wing of the house the others are messing with starts to fade a little, though.
Raylene Dunwich	Inga glimpses into the spirit world to see... well, other than the growing 'background static' of before, there's uh... absolutely nothing in the walls. Actually, the upper floor of the house seems relatively tame, compared to the growing mass of power coming from the ground floors. How very odd, given the corpse here. But Nathan tearing open the walls will find... wiring. Also a few cockroaches skittering away. Oh, and a thermal sensor or three. Plus a resevoir of a deep red chemical that appears to be fairly new, a few years old maybe, that is about half-drained and connected to a pump leading up to the crown moulding.
Nozomi Houken	Taiga is a cat. Taiga is a cat who has been ready to pounce for a good minute or two now. Taiga is a cat the size of a tiger, with shoulder cannons that produce energy shots capable of harming the supernatural, and claws enchanted to pierce magical defenses and harm the intangible. Taiga is now a cat lunging towards a threat-slash-prey with lethal intent.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga frowns, closing her eyes and reaching up to smear the symbol on her brow. "Nothing," she says, turning to see what Nathan is doing. She peeks inside the wall. "It isn't real, is it?" she asks. "There still...something, but it is originating from the ground floor. I think perhaps we should head back down. As for the body..." Inga shakes her head. Something killed that man and stole his scalp. "I don't know. There was talk of a ritual circle. I'd like to take a look at it. Riva and I have some experience with dismantling those."
Raine Arland	Raine peered down at the entire floor. "...Uh huh." He looked towards Fragarach. She looked towards him. She shrugged. He shrugged. He decided to try something. he turned his blade upside down and stabbed it right into the circle, attempting to cancel the spell entirely, if there actually was one. Just for good measure. If nothing happened, then they'd both turn and begin to leave the basement. "Well, we still get paid for this, right?" Fragarach rolled her eyes. She didn't respond. They headed up. "Now where was this greenhousewhatsitcalled..." Raine mumbled as he plodded back into the main foyer. "...Ah fuckit. They got it handled." And like an irresponsible employee, Raine just walke right out of the mansion, into the front yard, and then turned around to peer up at the premesis overall.
Amalthea	Amalthea is just about done trashing whatever paintings she sees. She leaves the ones Anna slaps ofuda on, and assumes them handled. Steam and coolant vent from a joint in her shoulder as she rolls her arm out after putting the joint to repeated chopping work. She turns at the sound of the phantom scream, gaze locking on the angered phantom. Taiga goes right for it, and she considers her own options, before the word is given to back down. One boot scuffs the floor, almost agitated, but the unicorn snorts. There's a light tap to Anna on the shoulder, before Amalthea jerks a thumb back for the way they came.
Anna Renfield	Oh. Huh. An actual enemy. Everyone might be calling to retreat for now, but Anna has someone right in front of her to take care of, bellowing trouble. "Right." She lifts both arms, mystical energies gathering around her hands, and sends a quick series of witchbolts toward the ghost, phantsasmal power screaming toward the ghost. Then Amalthea taps her on the shoulder, and she has to consider things. "Right. That should hold it for now anyway... let me just..." She'll toss down a talisman, something to slow it down. "Taiga! We'll take care of it later! We've weakened it, right? Let's get out of here and regroup." She can't help but stare fascinated for longer than she should, though... the TIGER is a real piece of work, and very much in her interests, so she'll wait for the battle robot to pull back before doing the same.
Raylene Dunwich	The ghost is mostly an apparition to terrify... so far. Not yet manifested at full strength, the witch bolts and Taiga will hit him hard, causing a howling shriek to echo through the halls. Some of that power bleeds off, but he is weakened enough that he doesn't even TRY to pursue. The paintings are sparking as the group in the greenhouse wing retreat, Raylene hurrying along with them. "Hmm... that's an odd look... still, I wouldn't have suspected a decoy."
Nozomi Houken	After the retreat order is given, Taiga's entire manner changes; he lands and immediately springs to one side, then back towards the hallway, stopping only long enough for Nozomi to climb onto his back. She does it with such a practiced ease that Anna and Raylene can both tell it's something they've done countless times already. She's certainly steady enough riding on his back as he makes for the front door.
Raylene Dunwich	Raine stabs his sword into the floor! It's... a pretty hard floor. It does disrupt the symbols some, and the flow of energies is altered! Nothing immediately leaps out from the ground, either... but there's /something/ weird still going on there. Crackling energies flow along the pattern briefly, then fade away. And yes, Raine will still get paid, no worries about that.
Raylene Dunwich	KYRA HYRAL examined the body. This is an important thing to know! He was, fortunately, dead when the scalping occurred. Head wounds bleed, including that, and there's not enough real blood here to account for that happening when he was alive. What's odd is that he appears to have died due to a sudden shock(as in a system shock, not electrical) that seems to match being shot in a vital area. There's no other visible wound on him aside from the scalping, though. And... either he had no magical potential, or his energy's been drained.
Nathan Hall	Nathan makes a variety of tense, stressed noises when he sees the blood extruders. Nothing about this situation is good, but this is an entirely different kind of awful. The kind that doesn't make any real sense. "Right, I think we need to get out." Nathan says, clapping his hands together and rubbing them in a stoic gesture of "let's do a thing", where that thing is "leave". It seems like everyone else is ready to go along with this, for now. "We appear to have gathered all the information necessary to formulate a proper, full response that is appropriately equipped, once we return." Yep, let's just... Head right back downstairs and outside, that seems like the way to go.