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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zubkavich" data-source="post: 707247" data-attributes="member: 8810">Session Eleven: Under The WatchArriving back at Dog-Earred Pages, Karen lies down and thinks of ways that the group can disrupt the Viperous drug trade before sleep finally overtakes her. Even though she escaped the rave without any wounds, she’s still sore from earlier encounters and the stress she’s been under.The next morning she awakes, feeling a bit better. As she stretches and prepares to head downstairs, her eye catches something odd out the window. Across the street she sees the morning sunlight glinting heavily off of some sort of reflective surface from a second story window. It wouldn’t normally have gotten her attention, but she gets a weird feeling in her gut about it and decides that it’s not just a coincidence. Heading to the main floor, she sees Tupilak offering prayer to his fellow spirits. Waiting until he’s finished, she makes him a proposition.“Do you want to do some hunting?” she says.“Of course.” He answers with a smile.She explains that “hunting” in the city is different from hunting animals. He must be stealthy, but until she knows what their “prey” is, he’s not to strike out. She figures it’ll give him a chance to get out of the bookstore and a give her some strong back up in case her gut instinct is right about danger.They head out the back door and around the block so that they can approach the building across the road from behind. It’s a two-story building with shops underneath and bachelor apartments up top. Maneuvering into the apartment entrance, Karen picks the lock while Tupilak stands guard and blocks anyone seeing her activity from the street level. Within a few minutes, the lock gives a satisfying click and they gain access to the apartment hallway.Leaning in towards each of the three apartment doors, Karen listens for anything strange. The second door which corresponded to the reflection of light she saw has strange machine whirring noises behind it, as if there are several computers or appliances running at once. Not sure if there’s anyone inside, she decides to leave and come back later for a closer peek. Just as she’s leaving, she hears someone open the first apartment door. Slipping outside with Tupilak, they casually walk down the street. When Karen takes a quick glance back, she sees a man with short red hair looking out the door, obviously wondering where the noise he had heard came from. He looks up and down the street and stares across the road at the bookstore.Heading around the block and back into the bookstore through the back door, the rest of the crew are just waking up. Karen gathers them together to relate her troubles from the previous night and explain that there may be someone spying on them from across the road. Onan wonders if it’s agents of the evil forces they’ve been fighting with while Setakawa suggests possible assault strategies they could use. Karen tells them to stay calm and not to jump to any conclusions.Waiting and watching, she checks the Snapdragon Box and finds a new message from Millar:Greetings,I hope this letter finds you well. Hizerath is indeed a dangerous individual who is one of the Shadow-Borne. He has many agents and soldiers at his disposal, but has not been heard from here in a long time. If he is still alive, it will make the situation in Coral far more difficult. Battles are raging here and we are doing our best to keep pressure upon the Shadow. They are gathering momentum and we will be hard pressed to keep them contained within the borders of Stamad’s Vale.This use of faith would be a horrifying way for them to escape. Their Gods have corruptive powers that would cripple your world. Ensure that this does not come to pass. I will try to strengthen you from here as best I can.The silver from the construct has their taint and a piece of it can be used to detect them as they have detected you in the past. Check the tome, prepare it and use it against them.MillarTrying not to let things distract her, Karen attempts several times to read her book and understand how to prepare the silver. Each time she does, Onan or Setakawa interrupts her, wanting to know what they should do about the potential spies across the road. Finally, she seeks refuge in the attic and reads the book while sitting amongst the old trunks of clothes and antiques Sedrick has stored up there. Although the book has details for readying the silver, she realizes that she doesn’t have the magical ability to do it yet, and asks Sedrick if he can prepare it. He tells her that he will try, but offers no guarantees. Over the course of the rest of the day, Karen tries to subtly check and see if the man from the apartment building will leave so she can get a closer look. While waiting and watching, she sees a pair of construction workers set up a survey tripod down the street and start to take measurements. The red-haired man leaves his apartment soon after. She’s not sure if it’s just a coincidence, but she doesn’t want to take any chances. She asks Setakawa to unleash some of his ancestor birds to spy on the construction crew as well as to turn into mist and check out the apartments across the road. If any of the people can actually see the birds, she’ll see the commotion and they can strike out at them; if not, at least they’ll know what’s going on.The birds fly forth and soon bring back some interesting information. No one seemed to react to them, so whoever the people are, they’re not attuned to the supernatural. However, there are a variety of machines in the second apartment and it’s definitely not being used as living quarters. There’s obviously some kind of surveillance going on.Losing her patience, she decides to get confront the problem and see things for herself. Grabbing Tupilak, she heads across the road again. While picking the lock this time, the red-haired man returns. Karen quickly hides her lockpicks and lets the man go by, feigning that she’s interested in possibly renting an apartment in the neighborhood. As she asks him about the building and how he likes living there, she can sense that he’s growing nervous and making excuses to get out of the conversation. When she brings up his interest in the bookstore, he quickly heads towards his apartment. Tupilak vaults up over the banister, lands in front of him and slams him up against the wall. Karen tells him to hold the man while she asks him a few questions.“Okay pal, why’s your curiosity so piqued by the bookstore across the road?”“Th-there’s no bookstore, it’s just a vacant lot!” he stammers, trying to squirm free of Tupilak’s grip.“If that’s so, why are you spying on it then?” she asks with a smirk.Just as she finishes her question, the man bursts into action, kicking Tupilak in the shin and ripping free of his grasp. Tupilak hammers him in the head with a punch like a jackhammer, but he’s able to stumble into his apartment and pulls a gun on them.Tupilak prepares to attack him again, but Karen is able to keep the spirit warrior calm and raises her hands in surrender. Tupilak’s muscles are tensed, but he stays still. Karen explains that she works at the bookstore across the road and wants to know who he is and why he’s spying on them.“You work at that store?” he gasps.He explains to them that he’s been photographing the vacant lot for a few weeks, trying to understand why he’s gotten glimpses of a store at dawn and dusk each day. His name is Evan Ansel and he’s a scientific investigator working for an organization dedicated to detailing the unexplainable.“Are you guys working for the government?” Karen asks.“Some of our crew used to, but the program was shut down after a lack of any conclusive evidence and federal funding cuts. We’re continuing the work on our own though, without any outside help.” He explains.Karen explains to Tupilak that Evan isn’t a threat and lets the investigator get an ice pack for his bruised head. Evan is stunned that Karen is interacting with the building he’s seen glimpses of and wants to know everything about it. Karen can’t tell him all that he wants until she knows more about him and the people he’s working with, but invites him to head back to the bookstore and see it for himself. Evan is shocked and unsure.“I- I- I don’t know if that’s proper protocol for this sort of situation...”“Look, protocol went right out the window the minute we found you out. Do you want to interact with something amazing or just sit back and try to watch it?” she asks him.After a few moments of indecision, he walks with them across to the store. As they get within a few feet of it, Evan is amazed to see the bookstore appear before him. Karen assumes that their presence with him has helped him to see it and she opens the door for him to enter. Nervously, he steps inside.Once Onan, Sedrick and Setakawa are brought up to speed, they try their best to feed Evan’s curiosity without revealing too much of their purpose. The investigator is in awe at the magical nature of the building, not understanding how it could have been invisible before.“How come no one can see this place?” he asks.“It is hard to explain. However, I think that most people are merely foolish in their eyeballs, Mr. Evan.” Seatakawa says with assurance. Karen laughs at Setakawa’s broken explanation, but doesn’t really have a better answer. After letting Evan see more of the bookstore, Karen begins to ask him more about the organization he is a part of. Evan in turn explains that his group only has four members left at this point. Their leader is a psychic woman named Sandra who has seen the bookstore more than anyone else amongst them.“Is this Sandra person a dark-haired oriental girl?” asks Setakawa.“Yeah. How did you know?”“She’s heading across the road towards us with a gun.”Evan quickly heads out the front door to calm Sandra down as she is overcome with shock at seeing the store appear in front of her. She explains that she felt Evan’s aura was erratic and came over to investigate. She can’t contain the surprise on her face as she looks around the bookstore, trying to understand how it appeared.“Is this a transdimensional fixed anomaly or some kind of bio-rhythmic psychic shell space?”“A what or a what?” exclaims Onan.Sandra spouts all sorts of pseudo-scientific terminology for what she’s encountering while Karen tries to hide her amusement at the two investigators. Sandra tries to bully the group by explaining that Evan and her “work for the government”, but Karen tells her that they already know that they are no longer government-affiliated. Sandra sighs and loses some of her pushiness, realizing that intimidation won’t get her far here.Karen explains that the two groups may be able to find some common ground and help each other. Sandra quickly agrees and apologizes for her confrontational attitude.“You’re right, we got off on the wrong foot. My name’s Sandra Honet. I’m the leader of Department-7.”</blockquote>

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