<Brett> [Day: Thursday, May 12.  Time: 1:00 p.m.]
<Brett> [You're outside the dorm, having investigated all you're going to
investigate there.  Hopefully. What next?]
<Brett> [Start!]
<Michel> (So let's see. An address and a name (Brody). The kid still being gone.
The unanswered question of the dad cutting off contact and why.)
<Brett> ( Why, Brody? Why? )
* Eric steps down from the dorm building steps and examines the scrap of paper
with the address on it.
* Eric looks at Michel, 'Hmm...what do you think? Pay a visit to this place
first?'
<Brett> [The paper looks like it was torn from the top half of a page of a
notebook, though the blue lines are further apart than the one you found.  It
was written in print rather than cursive.  Nothing else special about it,
apparently.]
* Michel has his hands in his pockets, and comments, "Probably best. Weird that
he left his bag here... especially if he was involved in this one."
* Michel takes a deep breath, then chuckles. "A real case. Who'dve thunk it."
* Eric nods, 'Hmm...yes, it doesn't all quite add up does it?'
* Michel shakes his head. "Nah, it don't. If the kid did it, he's in a panic. If
not..." he trails off, then, "We better get goin'. This might get to be a real
different case in six hours."
* Eric sets off towards the car, 'Hmm...indeed.
<Michel> (Zoom zoom!)
<Brett> [Eric is interrupted on the way, by a man in a tweed suit.  He's a
thirty something man with glasses and a tweed suit.  He's got a thick beard.
"Well, well.  If it isn't Doctor Spracklin, ghost hunter extraordinaire."]
* Eric smiles forcedly, 'Why, Dr Verner. I'd say it was a surprise to meet you,
if we weren't at the university right now.'
* Michel glances between the two of them. ACADEMIC TENSION.
<Brett> ["Indeed." He pauses in a mock moment of insight. "That's a good point,
Doctor.  What are you doing here? After all, you're no longer affiliated with
the University."]
* Eric maintains the smile as he responds, 'I'm here on business, which is none
of yours I'm afraid.'
<Brett> [Dr. Verner smirks. "Business." Then he casts a glance at the dorm. "Oh
yes, I have heard of the ghost of Montgomery Hall.  The one that throws toilet
paper over the trees every Halloween."]
* Eric rolls his eyes, 'No, that would be a ritual practiced by the members of
Delta Zeta house.'
* Michel clears his throat and says, "Hey, Doc, I don't mean to interrupt your
reunion, but we do have to get going, remember?"
<Brett> ["Why, Doctor Spracklin! I didn't think you were a realist."]
<Brett> [Dr. Verner chuckles. "Well, then, I won't keep you from your 'important
business'.  Tell Casper I said hi."  He walks off, laughing to himself.]
* Eric shakes his head as the man walks off, and heads off towards the car.
* Michel frowns slightly as the guy walks off, then walks off. "That's the kinda
guy that really makes ya wanna serve up a knuckle sandwich to go with his side
of smug. I wonder how anyone lives here and don't believe in spirits."
<Brett> [You get in the car! Woo.]
* Eric sighs, 'I just wonder how the man can call himself a scientist.'
* Eric gets in the car.
<Brett> [You get stuck in lunch hour traffic whilst the GM afks!]
<Brett> ( afk! )
* Michel gets in the car. Drive time! Sweet. "I could call myself a scientist,
Doc. Don't make it so."
* Eric frowns, 'No...no, I suppose not.'
* Eric scratches his chin, 'So, Richard went on some kind of trip. Where, we
don't know...but when he came back he was acting strangely. Says there's
something he has to do, then disappears for a week. Now, a week later his
roommate is killed in what appears to be vampire attack.''
* Michel nods slightly. "And his dad heard about it all, and it worried his
sister, which is why we're here. And there were no signs of a break-in."
<Brett> ( Back )
<Wingdance> (For all you people who weren't tuning in last episode?)
<Michel> (A little!)
<Eric> (also just to get all the facts straight and put a picture together)
<Michel> (Also, it's really a puzzler.)
<Michel> (We need more clues.)
<Eric> (yup)
<Brett> ( Where ya going? )
<Eric> (the address on the scrap of paper)
<Eric> (right Michel?)
<Michel> (Right.)
<Brett> ( I figured, but I thought I'd ask )
<Michel> (Brody's supposed address.)
<Brett> [You head to Brody's.  Though thanks to traffic, it takes a while.  It's
2:15 p.m. by the time you get there.  He lives in a brick apartment building
that's seen better days, though fortunately not in a particularly bad part of
town.]
<Brett> [The building is one of three on a block.  They form three parts of a
square, with a playground in between them.]
<Michel> (Is there an apartment number on the paper too?)
<Brett> [Nope!]
<Eric> (guess we'll just have to go door-to-door then, huh?)
<Michel> (Yeah. Boo.)
* Michel steps out of the car with a frown. "Damn, an apartment building.
This'll be fun."
* Eric scratches his head and frowns, 'Hmm...yes, quite.'
* Eric gets out of the car and follows Michel's lead.
* Michel heads into the building! That's a lead.
<Michel> (Hopefully the super or such obviously lives in the building.)
<Brett> [The building has a narrow staircase with a narrow entrence.  Makes it
awkward when someone's coming in and someone's going out.  As is happening now,
when a woman tries to exit the same time Michel tries to enter.  She's in her
late 20s, with long black hair, and is doubly unusual in that she's A) Asian and
B) wearing pants.]
* Michel stops with the momentary awkward, then steps back from her attempt to
exit, saying, "'scuse me, miss."
<Brett> [She smiles at Michel as she goes past.]
* Eric makes way for the lady. ^_^
<Michel> (Man, I'm totally sure she's relevant.)
<Michel> (... but I have no reason to believe she's relevant.)
* Michel looks at her face, then, as they pass! Smiling is cool. Then he'll
probably get back to going in unless she's got blood in her teeth.
<Wingdance> (om nom nom)
<Brett> [She's pretty hot!]
<Brett> [So are you, in this weather.]
<Eric> (-_-)
<Brett> [You enter the apartment building. No minimap pops up.]
<Brett> [The building is little more than a hallway with appartments on either
side, and a staircase in the front.  There's also mailboxes when you enter.]
* Michel chuckles and says, as he looks over the mailboxes, "College girls, huh,
Doc?"
* Eric nods and chuckles.
<Michel> (Names would be helpful!)
<Brett> [The mailboxes, annoyingly, onlt have labels with the appartment numbers
on them.  There's six on each floor, three floors.]
* Eric frowns, 'Hmm...this will take a while.'
* Michel tilts his head a moment, as if listening to something else, then
shrugs. "Eh, it ain't so bad. You take the south side of the hall, I'll take the
north. Just in case either one of us ends up face first with somethin' ugly."
* Eric looks at Michel and nods, 'Divide and conquer, right.'
* Michel nods and heads to the first floor hallway, knocking on the first door
on the north side. It's Questioning Time!
* Eric meanwhile heads to the south side of the first floor hallway and knocks
on the first door there.
<Brett> [Michel gets a response! An angry voice shouts "Nobody's home, dammit!"]
* Michel blinks, then replies through the door, "M'lookin' for a kid named
Brody!"
<Brett> [Eric also gets a response.  Sort of.  The door opens itself at his
knock, but only a crack.]
* Eric looks through the crack, 'Hello?'
<Brett> [Michel hears some angry grumbling, and stomping, then the door opens,
and an angry balding 40-something man with no shirt on stares him in the face.
"Brody? That goddamn bastard? You buyin'?"
<Brett> [Eric spots nothing inside! Literally, nothing.  The apartment is
empty.]
* Eric tries pushing the door open further.
<Brett> [Eric opens the door to an empty apartment.]
* Michel looks confused a moment, then says, "No, I'm tryin' to track down a
different kid."
<Michel> Had a note mentioning the guy.
<Brett> ["Probably another dumb fucker.  Listen.  He's on the third floor.  I
don't care if you're buyin', but tell that fucker I'm going to kick his ass if
he doesn't do something about the smell.]
* Michel nods. "I'll give him the message. Which number?"
* Eric steps inside cautiously to make sure there's nothing he can't see from
the doorway.
<Brett> ["3-D.  Trust me, you can't miss it."]
* Michel nods. "Thanks. Sorry for botherin' ya."
<Brett> [He slams the door in Michel's face.  Michel can hear him muttering
about the heat from within.]
<Brett> [Meanwhile, Eric finds a dust bunny.]
* Michel frowns at the slam, then exhales noisily and glances over to where Eric
should be. He heads that way and says, "Doc?"
* Eric steps out of the apartment, frowning.
* Eric sees Michel and waves, 'I'm here.'
* Michel steps up to him and points up. "Brody's on the third floor, that guy
said." He glances past him into the other apartment.
<Brett> [It's still empty.]
* Eric nods, 'Hmm...alright then, we'd best go there then.'
* Michel thumbs towards Eric's. "What's going on in there?"
<Michel> Just abandoned?
* Eric looks behind him, 'Hmm? Oh...yeah, I guess someone forgot to shut the
door properly after they moved out.'
* Eric frowns, 'It does seem a little strange...'
* Michel nods slightly and turns towards the stairs. "Yeah, maybe. Sounds like
Brody's maybe sellin' some goofballs. C'mon."
* Eric nods, 'Yes, let's go.''
* Eric heads up the stairs after Michel.
<Brett> [As you approach the third floor, Michel discovers what the man was
talking about. It stinks up there.  Gimme biology rolls!]
<Eric> 2d6+6
* Dicesuke throws the bones for Eric (2d6+6) and gets a natural 7 for a result
of 13.
<Michel> 2d6+4
* Dicesuke throws the bones for Michel (2d6+4) and gets a natural 11 for a
result of 15.
<Michel> (Michael apparently knows his grass.)
<Brett> [Both of you figure out it's marajuana.]
* Michel wrinkles his nose slightly. "Yeah, that guy wasn't kiddin'."
* Michel heads to 3-D and knocks on the door.
<Michel> (But how will he see it without his special glasses.)
<Brett> ( I shoulda set this game in the 70s :x )
<Brett> [The door opens at Michel's touch.  The lock is apparently broken. 
Someone's in there, too. You know it because he screams "Oh God, please don't
hit me again!"]
* Eric draws his hand cannon.
* Michel pushes the door open and says, annoyed, "I ain't here to hit you."
<Eric> (^misunderstood, forget that)
<Brett> [Inside is a guy, maybe 25, with long, curly brown hair.  The apartment
has a bunch of avante-garde (read: crappy) artwork around, and there's plenty of
art supplies, too.  It's pretty messy.  There's weed strewn about the floor, and
the guy was apparently trying to clean it up.  He's got a black eye and a cut on
his lip.]]
<Brett> [He sighs. "Whew.  I thought for a minute you were..." He pauses, then
glares. "Wait a minute.... Who are you?"]
* Michel replies, with a frown, "Who'd you think we were? And we're lookin' for
Richard."
<Brett> [Gimme mind rolls]
<Eric> 2d6+6
* Dicesuke throws the bones for Eric (2d6+6) and gets a natural 9 for a result
of 15.
<Michel> 2d6+4
* Dicesuke throws the bones for Michel (2d6+4) and gets a natural 6 for a result
of 10.
<Brett> [He blinks. "Richard? Who's that?"]
* Eric clears his throat, 'I wouldn't bother trying to hide that, we're not
police.'
<Brett> [He brightens. "Oh.  Ok, then. How much are you buying?"]
* Michel frowns and says, "We're not here for buying. We're here to track down
Richard. He disappeared. Ringin' any bells?"
* Eric continues, 'His name's Richard LeBlanc. You're sure you don't know him?'
<Brett> [He frowns. "Hmmmmm.... Well, there was this guy in here before. 
College-age?"]
<Michel> Yeah.
<Brett> [He nods. "Ok, yeah. This guy came to me before, like maybe a week ago. 
He wasn't buying.  He just wanted to know about the secret ingredient."]
* Eric frowns, 'Secret ingredient?'
* Michel glances to Eric, then back to the guy.
<Brett> [He grins. "My stuff is the best, man.  Others got nothin' on me.  Check
it out." He offers a sample to Eric. "First one's free, man, but after that, you
gotta pay.  No, you'll want to pay. Trust me."]
<Brett> ["Yeah, I charge a bit more than most of the others, but try it and
you'll agree the price is worth it."]
* Eric looks at Michel and nods meaningfully.
<Michel> (Eric should take it!)
<Brett> ( And so Michel and Eric become a bunch of stoners. BAD END )
<Michel> (For chemical analysis!)
<Eric> (precisely)
* Michel nods slightly back, then, "So you didn't tell him, and then what?"
* Eric takes the sample off the man's hands and pockets it, 'Ah...most kind of
you, sir.'
<Brett> [He blinks at Michel. "I didn't say that.  Sure I told him!"]
<Brett> [He pauses, then says. "Well, sort of.  I told him he should ask my
supplier."]
* Eric frowns, 'How long ago was he here?'
<Brett> ["About a week, like I said."]
* Michel frowns. "So tell us, then. Who's your supplier?"
<Brett> [He chuckles. "Sure.  But you know.... He doesn't supply to just
anyone."]
<Michel> That's fine, we're not competin'.
<Michel> (... are all the guy's windows blocked?)
<Brett> ( Yep! )
<Brett> [He shrugs. "If you're not competition, I have no problem giving you his
name. Actually even if you are, I don't. Others have tried.  He won't supply to
anyone but me."]
<Eric> So what's his name then?
<Brett> ["Dunno his real name, but he goes by Madrax.  He hangs out at the Black
Dawn"  He scribbles an address onto a scrap of paper and holds it out. "You can
find him here. Tell him Brody sent you, maybe he'll cut you a deal.  If not,
though, you know where to find me."]
* Michel takes it, then asks, "So, who roughed you up?"
<Brett> ["Uh... Don't worry about it."]
<Eric> Well then...unless my friend has any other questions for you, thank you
for your time. ^_^
* Michel frowns a little, then says, "Yeah. Alright."
* Eric steps outside.
* Michel turns away and lets the guy close his lockless door, then side-says to
Eric as they head out, "I know that guy's suspicious, but that's what happens
when you sell drugs. Still, don't like it."
* Eric frowns, 'There wasn't much more to be done there, I think. Not at present
anyway.'
* Michel nods slightly, then says, "Not unless we wanted to drag him into thte
sunlight." After a moment he adds, "You wanna run that what he gave you through
some of your gizmos?"
<Eric> Indeed. I'd like to see if I can't figure out what this 'secret
ingredient' is that Michael was so interested in...
<Michel> (You mean Richard?)
<Eric> (Yeah, Richard ><)
<Eric> (sorry, wee bit tired)
* Michel coughs lightly and replies, "Yeah. We'll do that... then this 'Black
Dawn' place. What kinda name for a club is that, anyway?"
<Brett> ( An obvious one! )
<Eric> It does sound rather a contradictory name...
<Michel> (It's more that it's dumb.)
<Michel> (Michael likes club names like 'The Rec Room' and 'House of Blues' and
things that relate to real people, not abstract stupid concepts!)
<Eric> (And Eric likes to analyse things :P)
* Michel finishes, "And while you're doing that, I'll make sure I've got what we
need in case we really run into... what we think we will."
<Eric> Good idea. Let's get going then, shall we?
<Brett> ( End? )
<Michel> (Sounds like a good time!)
<Michel> (Next session: likely confrontation!)
<Eric> (yup, sounds like the right point.)
<Brett> [End!]