Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2E Belfast by Night

[Haval]

The man (Patrick) continues to look at Michael with the air of someone who is at least near sighted if not entirely blind. He may have been a little younger in the vision but this is definately the same man. Patrick considers Michael's offer for a moment before replying, 'Well I haven't noticed anything, but it would have to be really messy for that. I've been mostly blind for years you see. How bad does it look?' The wall adjoining Lisa's kitchen would likely be further inside the house, but behind Patrick is a staircase leading to the upper floor. There are visible patches of plasm all the way along the wall. At the top of the stairs another patch of plasm is visible on the ceiling of the upper floor.

[Bennosuke]

Michael's eyes go wide for a long moment as he notices all the patches of plasm. Allowing his surprise to creep into his voice, he replies, "Really, you never noticed anything? Uh, I don't know if you want me coming in, but even from here I can see some evidence of damage. You haven't smelled anything? Haven't noticed anything strange at all?"

[Haval]

Patrick looks concerned. 'Damage? I could smell something was off, but I thought it was the milk I had that went bad the other week. It never seems to last as long as it should. There's normally a girl who comes round to help me out but she's away at the moment. I've been making do.' Michael might recognise that if there's any problem in Patrick's house, there's not alot he can do about it. 'What sort of damage?' Patrick has not yet agreed to let you into his house. Michael has lived in Belfast for long enough to have heard the news stories about older people living alone who houses are robbed sometimes while they're still at home.

Spoiler: ooc

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Sorry for the delay. Probably should roll something social here if you want to look around inside the house.

[Bennosuke]

Michael sighs, taking a moment as if he were straining to see and then replies, "Well it looks like water damage, I guess. I'll be honest, I'm not the greatest handyman or anything, but that's what it looks like." He waits another moment, allowing the information to sink in, and then he adds, "Not to intrude, really, but I'd be happy to help in some way, if I can. Do you want me to take a look, or something?"

Spoiler: OOC/Roll

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So Michael's Presence is 3 and Manipulation is 2. His persuasion is 3 and his subterfuge is 2. So i'll roll 6d10, but you can knock it down to as much as 4d10 if you feel that is more appropriate.

(6d10)[1][3][7][6][1][4](22) and 10 again just in case (6d10)[3][4][5][5][8][10](35)
EDIT: Yikes. Terrible luck. That should tell me not to waste a WP, but who am I to listen to fate. Rolling WP in the OOC thread.

[Haval]

Patrick's face hardens with suspicion. 'No I don't think so. Whatever it is has kept so far. I'll ask my friend to take a look the next time she's here. Now please leave.' Unless Michael wants to try and prevent him Patrick will close the door in his face.

Spoiler: ooc

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Made a note of a beat for dramatic failure

[Bennosuke]

Michael watches as the door slams in his face. A wild idea crosses his mind right before it does, but then reason gets the better of him. Arson was probably a bad idea. Once the door is slammed, Michael allows himself a quick sigh, and then curses under his breath. Shaking his head, he will turn around and head back to Lisa's apartment.

Assuming he finds her back inside, he will sigh and raising his arms up in defeat will say, "Patrick's definitely having the same trouble, but he was pretty wary of me." Michael will smirk and jokingly add, "You know how threatening I am. Anyways, you should definitely get it checked out. And I mean, if there's anything I can do to help..."

(OOC: Not sure if there is much more I can accomplish here. Though let me know if I'm missing something)

[Haval]

Lisa has finished getting dressed and meets Michael in her hallway. 'Aww, poor guy. You think someone's looking after him?' On the damage to both buildings, 'It's not going to fall down though is it. You remember that girl in first year who had the big hole in her roof? I'd like to think the houses are better out this way.' Lisa refers to a mutual acquaintance whose bedroom roof had once collapsed through water damage. This sort of thing tended to happen in the cheap student housing of the Holylands district.

Michael has a brief flash from the perspective of the Burned Man. The Geist stands on the upstairs landing of Patrick's house. There are more patches of plasma visible here and there on the walls and ceiling. At the end of the corridor there is a closed door that's almost coated in the substance. The room doesn't seem to be in use because there is a waist high bookcase set in front of the door. The Burned Man seems notably reluctant to try to enter the room.

[Bennosuke]

Michael can feel the tension leaving his shoulders when he comes back to find Lisa dressed. He still can't keep just a little bit of color from entering his cheeks. To Lisa's question about the house collapsing, he answers with a shrug, "I don't think so... but I'm not really an engineer. Nor a carpenter." He smirks and adds playfully, "But I'll tell you this; if it does collapse, I don't think you can come stay with me. I mean, I thought I lived like a pig." He allows himself to grin mischievously, hoping the ribbing was well received.

But Michael can feel his heart sink when he gets the visions shared by The Burning Man. It was what he thought, maybe worse. The grin fades from his face, leaving him with an ashen countenance. He would probably have to find a way into that house! Thinking quickly, Michael will take a deep breath in and out. Keeping a serious tone, he will say to Lisa, "That said, it may not be a bad idea for you to talk to him... now that you're dressed." He'll try his best not to look like he was adding Lisa on. "He didn't seem to trust me, but I'll tell you, his place looked worse."

(OOC: Let me know if you want a roll here)

[Haval]

'You're not so bad. You just got to hoover more.' Lisa grins but is non-comittal about the idea of staying at Michael's house. 'And if it's like that I'll take what I can get. Long as the rent's cheap enough.' She doesn't even consider the idea that she wouldn't be paying something towards the rent in that situation.

Lisa will nod at the second point, 'Ok, sure. If he needs help. Maybe when the man comes round to look at our kitchen he can go over to Patrick's afterwards.' She'll go retrieve her coat from the cupboard under the stairs.

Assuming Michael follows the pair will head back to Patrick's frontdoor. Lisa will do the shave and a haircut knock and call to see if she can get Patrick's attention. 'It's Lisa. You know, one of the girls from next door. Sorry about my scary friend. Can we have a chat?' When Michael had been round earlier a radio had been playing from someone inside the house. Now it's been switched off and the house is, perhaps ominously given what Patrick knows, quiet.

Spoiler: ooc

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No rolls needed. She trusts Michael

[Bennosuke]

Michael will follow Lisa next door. When there is no reply immediately, he'll say, "I'm pretty sure a radio had been playing." He'll wait a moment longer, listening for any movement inside the house. If he hears nothing, he'll add with genuine concern, "I doubt he would have left the house that quickly. Do you think he is okay?"

If Michael has any ability to, he'll try to see what The Burned Man sees, and if not, he'll just sit there wishing he could.

[Haval]

Since there doesn't seem to be a response Lisa shrugged, 'Maybe he's asleep? If he left we would have seen him on the road.' Lisa will step over onto the lawn to see if she could see anything through the bay window that likely led to the living room, but the blinds are still closed.

Upstairs the Burned Man has entered the closed off room. It appears to have once been in use as a bedroom with a single bed and an uncovered mattress taking up most of the floor space. At some point it has been given over to use as a storage space with numerous boxes, stacks of books and furniture are arrayed around the bed. A pair of very old curtains are closed to keep the room out of the light and it is incredbly dusty. It looks like no one has actually been in here in a long time.

While Lisa is distracted Michael can hear the handle of the front door click as it unlocks itself. The door swings open a crack. From upstairs the Burned Man seems to be aware of the door opening but appears confused. He didn't open it.

[Bennosuke]

Michael will take a step back and call after his friend, "Uh... Lisa!"

(OOC: To clarify, the front door where Michael is standing is clicking open?)

[Haval]

Lisa is trying to look into Patrick's living room through a crack in the blinds. 'It's really dark in there.' She'll turn back to Michael, 'What's that?' The front door is open.

Spoiler

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As always, let me know if I've forgotten anything.

[Bennosuke]

Michael will point at the door, a gesture meant for Lisa. Stupidly he will add, "The front door just opened." The moment he is sure she has heard him, Michael will turn his attention back to the door and try to see what the hell opened the door. He will also make sure to use his "other" senses to figure out if a ghost or similar supernatural entity opened the door, instead of the apartment's more... natural inhabitant.

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me know if Physical Medium (pg 96) helps in any way here, or if I need to roll anything.

[Haval]

'Huh?' Lisa will come back over to join Michael. 'It's not on a chain or anything. Maybe the lock's stuck.' The door looks old and badly maintained enough that that might be true, but it's not as if it's windy enough at the moment for a gust of wind to blow the door open.

As Michael really pays attention to the door he can see that it looks damp in the same way as a log that's been left out in the rain. The wall in Lisa's kitchen looks like that after the plasm has run down and pooled on the countertop. The door seems to be riddled with plasm.

Lisa eases the door open as if to step. 'Should we go in? Maybe he's had an accident or something.'

[Bennosuke]

Michael grins as Lisa opens the door, tamping down the concern he has about the state of the door, and instead giving into his curiosity. Acting as if she had invited him in, Michael casually grabs Lisa's arm as he pulls her through the threshold and says, "I hope not... but he'll at least forgive us for this if we can save him." Deep down, Michael knew the door hadn't been opened by Lisa's neighbor, but regardless, he also knew he had to figure out what was going on, and hopefully this would help Patrick out as well.

Once inside, Michael will look around, searching both for any more clues, and for his Geist.

[Haval]

Lisa assents to being grabbed until both of them are inside. 'He'd better. I've never broken into a house before.' She sounds not entirely serious. 'If he get's mad I'm telling him it's your idea right?' Lisa will move forward into the living room which in layout is a mirror image of Lisa's house next door, although the decor and furniture seems a little more old fashioned and rundown, as if no one has bothered to replace anything in years. A flatscreen TV sits on a stand in one corner of the room and a dining room table is set up at the back next to a closed door that likely leads through into the kitchen. It's still only the afternoon, so there is some light coming through cracks in the curtains at the front and rear of the house, but it's fairly dark in here. There are no obvious signs of life, but there is light coming through from under the kitchen door.

The Burned Man is suddenly sitting in one of the armchairs, which seems undamaged by the Geist's presence.Lisa as ever seems unaware of it's existence. If Michael is looking towards the Geist for a second opinion, it will shrug, it's confusion evident. It will point over it's shoulder towards the kitchen though.

Spoiler: ooc

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Roll Wits + Composure or anything along those lines

[Bennosuke]

Michael can feel a cold sweat breaking out as he eyes the Geist, cursing inwardly at its presence and inability to help. He will do his best to study the area.

Spoiler: OOC: Rolling

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Wits + Composure will be 5d10. Knowing my luck lately this could be interesting. (5d10)[5][9][4][5][10](33) and 10 again (5d10)[2][3][10][4][3](22)

[Haval]

Lisa will move towards the back of the room. 'Looks like someone's in the kitchen.' She'll speak quietly as she leans over and switches on a lamp that stands behind the chair that the Geist is sitting in. Lisa is close enough to have touched the Burned Man in the process but doesn't seem to register the Geist's presence. 'Patrick, it's Lisa from nextdoor. Are you ok?'

As Michael investigates the room, he notices something in the reflection of the TV screen as soon as the light goes on. There is a woman sitting at the dining room who is not otherwise visible outside of her reflection in the TV. The woman wears a black dress and is extremely elderly looking. She has no visible eyes but will turn to watch Lisa as she approaches the kitchen.

Spoiler: ooc

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Relying on the Innocuous ability here p.194

[Bennosuke]

For a moment Michael listens for a reply from Patrick, until he notices the reflection of the ghost woman with a startle. He does his best to decide on whether to look at the TV screen or the place the ghost woman should be, creeping over and saying under his breath so that hopefully Lisa does not hear, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

He'll also motion to The Burned Man, hoping to enlist the Geist in interacting with the ghost. Studying the elderly woman, Michael will also try to discern if there is any relationship between her corpus and the wet spots that are all over the apartment.

[Haval]

The woman in the reflection's head snaps around to look in Michael's direction. At least the ghost was no longer paying attention to Lisa. A visible crack appears in the middle of the screen where the woman's image sits. Lisa flinches at the sound and turns around, 'Michael, what the **** was that?' The TV screen now looks like something had hit it with a hammer. Michael might remember the Professor's advice that not every ghost was neccessarily safe to be around. Lisa will come back to look at the TV, 'Did it look like that when we came in?'

The woman is no longer visible in the tv screen, which doesn't of course mean that she's no longer here. Michael might remember from meeting Mary that if ghosts leave plasm behind them as they manifest, then it's likely that this one has lived here a long time.

[Bennosuke]

Michael can feel the goose flesh break out across the skin of his neck and forearms. This was not good! He moves quickly towards Lisa and says, "No, it just happened out of nowhere!" allowing his concern to be heard in his voice. He'll put a hand on her shoulder and say, "Unless you found Patrick, I think we should get out of here. We came in to look for him and are technically trespassing." This of course ignored the fact that he had instigate the break in. He'll pause for a moment to scan the area, and to give The Burned Man a look that hopefully says "Do something". Even if he sees nothing, Michael will add, "Not to be superstitious, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Spoiler: OOC

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Thanks for the added context. Not sure if you want some sort of a persuasion roll or if another perception/investigation roll would be helpful. To speed things along, I'm just gonna roll a bunch of dice and give you some pools in case useful. Presence + Persuasion=6. Perception= 5. Wits + Investigation= 4

(10d10)[8][5][4][1][8][5][7][1][8][4](51)
10 again: (10d10)[1][7][6][5][6][9][7][7][2][6](56)

[Haval]

While this was going on the Burned Man has started to look agitated. It has stood up and moved closer to Michael and Lisa and gives every impression of being prepared to fight if neccessary. From it's body smaller flames flare up as if someone has added fuel to a campfire. The Geist seems confused but at least it is focused.

Lisa of course is unaware of the Geist's actions. 'Bad feeling? Like what?' She looks a little more uneasy then before but as far as she knows she has less reason to worry. She'll point towards the kitchen at the back of the house. 'We should check in the back if we've come this far. I don't want to leave and find out he's had a heart attack.'

Michael's attention goes to a picture hanging from the wall. It's the sort of generic painting of a landscape that some people use to decorate their house. In the glass over the picture there's a lot more shadow visible then there ought to be. It's as if there's a shadow being cast by something that isn't otherwise visible. The shadow isn't moving so perhaps it's content to watch for the moment? Michael can see the Burned Man notice the picture at the same time as he does. It will approach the picture as Lisa heads towards the kitchen.

Spoiler: ooc

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I should remember to use narrator voice more. Anyway, delayed on account of sickness.

Lisa's going to the kitchen unless Michael can talk her out of it. Counting that last roll for investigation.

[Bennosuke]

Watching The Burned Man prepare for a fight, Michael realized he would have to act fast. For a moment he ignores Lisa's question and turns his attention to the shadowed figure (OOC: I think unless the ghost is trying to hide itself, Michael should be able to truly perceive the ghost in it's true form... physical medium???). He will do what he can to keep his voice low hushed low enough for his companion not to hear, "I am not here to hurt you. We mean you no harm. If you tell me what you need, I... we will try to help. I know you can see I am bound!"

Then he will call to Lisa, "Sorry! Go on ahead. I don't want to leave him here if he's injured. I'm gonna check one thing and will be right with you!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Let me know if you want any social roll for Lisa, but I'm gonna roll here to try to make some sort of friendly/persuasive roll against the Ghost. I'm sure there will be some sort of negative modifier, but hoping my Reconciler Merit might help. Going to assume Presence + Persuasion makes sense here, which will be 6 dice. (6d10)[4][3][5][2][2][6](22) and 10 again (6d10)[9][1][3][10][7][3](33)

[Haval]

As Lisa goes into the kitchen, Michael feels a breath in his ear as if someone was standing very close to him. A hesitant voice whispers in a way that sounds like they are unused to talking, 'What ... are you?' The ghost appears confused as to what a Bound might be.

From the kitchen Lisa calls out, 'I think he's asleep...and he's left the oven on.'

Spoiler: ooc

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This did not go as I was expecting.

I imagined this as the weaker kind of ghost (p.187). It's less self aware than Mary.

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: Would probably help if I could pass a single roll )

Michael does his best not to show his fear, and to instead express a trustworthy confidence. "I am a friend," he will reply, again in a hushed whisper, "I mean you no harm."

To Lisa, he will call out, "Well turn it off I guess. Is he in the kitchen?" He'll wait to finish speaking with this ghost before heading over to the kitchen.

[Haval]

The whispering voice continues, 'It is easier to see you. Why?'

There is a murmering sound from the kitchen as Lisa talks to someone that Michael can't see. 'Asleep or unconscious maybe. At least he's sitting down.'

Spoiler: ooc

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If we were using dice at least we could throw them away and get new ones

[Bennosuke]

To the ghost woman, Michael replies, "I am Bound, like I already said." He points at The Burned Man, the Geist that he was bound to, the ghost-thing that made him a Sin Eater, though this term was still a little less comfortable. He takes a step towards the ghost, trying to keep his steps silent and his voice low. Michael keeps his hands up at shoulder level in the universal symbol of "I mean no harm."

To Laura he will call, "Asleep sitting down?" It was a stupid question and he knew it, but Michael was trying to buy a little more time to talk with this ghost. "Do you need my help?" he'll add.

Spoiler: OOC

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Lol. Well since that isn't an option, I'll have to avoid needing a roll anytime soon.