Luke tagged along, and showed some small amount of animal empathy by moving to fill that water trough before Moon had finished feeding her beast.

Then, invited into the house, Luke joined Alex, and helped himself to a juice with a "Thank You".  He also seemed intrigued by the cabins structure, and went looking around, giving himself a self-guided tour of the more public area's (not entering any bedrooms etc just yet).


- rolled 5 using 1d100. Perception roll.

   Ben trots slightly ahead of Moon Child as she walks to the stables, and Moon  notices a nervousness in him, a flick of his eyes, a toss of his head and a shy whinny, tell her he senses something amiss.

   Everything in the old cabin seems just as Moon Child left it, though its oddly silent.  As she places her keys into the door she sees the old iron horse shoe above the door, one of Ben's old ones, and notes the faint scratches, like odd letters, written all around it.  Likewise the windows all have hobnails at the corners, hammered half way into the sills and bent over.

   No sign of the cat anywhere, as the group steps inside, though perhaps that's not surprising since Luke and Alex are also here.  The place is welcoming, with a large fireplace, bookshelves crammed with all manner of books, interesting knick knacks, book ends, and curios.  Along the walls are hung unusual paintings, strange statues, and exotic masks and weapons from some of the many places the old professor visited.

  Luke, peering out one of the windows, momentarily catches a flicker of light (most likely a lense from binoculars, camera, scope etc) that leaves him almost certain, that someone (or something) is outside watching the cabin!

Luke wandered away from the window, casually.  He started looking around ... and when he came to some notepaper and pen, he wrote a little note:
Spies in the woods outside.  Some way off with viewing tools. Place may be bugged too. Maybe we should all do this casual like, and not mention the item.   But let's keep chatting, eh

"So, how long have your family been living here, Moon?" he casually asked, as he showed her the note, and then Alex.

He certainly didn't seem to be panicking, or showing any real concern ... and was chatting away like nothing was wrong.
"Do you get TV up here?"

 "Professor Houk lived here for a few decades. I only have lived here 20 years. Dr. Houk took me in when he found me wandering in the woods, and no one knew who I was."
 She frowned at that memory. Not knowing who she was was a big worry for her when she was younger, but Jim had made her feel welcome and loved. He seemed to enjoy having someone around with a hungry curious mind. She was a bit surprised and disappointed though that he had a secret life she hadn't known of, if Rowan was to be believed.
"It's a bit dusty right now. I haven't been home much lately, what with traveling to those nursing homes with my animals to perform for them. I guess I should dust and clean some in a bit."
 "As for television, there's one in the basement and a sat dish in a clearing near the cliff face overlooking the river. It's actually hidden from the river below, as are the wind generators, the solar panels and the hydro generator."
 She slowly poked around the room as if checking for dust, not being obvious about seeking a hidden area. The cabin was very modern inside, though they'd still used old fashion techniques for many things. There were wood fueled fireplaces, and a built in bbq grill, an old farm sink in the kitchen with hand pumps at all the sinks in the house, though there was a switch on a solar water heater and a cold tap in the bathtub as well.
 "There's warm water in the bathroom, but use it sparingly. It's heated by a solar hot water system, with a reservoir, but it's not limitless hot water. There is a wood fired hot tub outside though if you need it. There's a toll for that though, you have to replace the wood used for the fires."

   Alex looks down at what Luke has written on the paper and gasps.  His eyes grow very wide and his bottom lip quivers.  He nods as he reads Luke's suggestion, even though he's still looking at the paper.  He begins to wander around the room as well, then thinks and asks:

   "Is there, by any chance, a computer?  There's something I'd like to look up...on my Face book, I mean..."  he laughs a little nervously.  He writes on the paper pad:

   Perhaps the professor had notes online about the mask?  I can see if I can find any relevant files?

   He tries not to look as concerned as he is, but unfortunately he's not a particularly good actor.

   Moon Child does not see anything out of the ordinary as she scans the living room for clues to any hidden place or area.  She does, however, find the cat, hiding under the professor's favourite chair.  The poor animal seems nervous, but pokes a whiskered nose out to see what is going on and to sniff the air suspiciously!

 She directed him toward an old desktop computer sitting in an alcove in the hallway. After turning it on for him, she went to coax Tabitha out from under the chair. Once the cat came out, she popped open a can of cat food for her, checked the dry food dispenser and autowaterer to be sure everything was fresh and clean. She also attended to the other undesirable cat related chore before coming back to the room where the others were.
 She opened a hidden dorm sized refrigerator and took out a diet soda, offering the others their choice of drinks in the frig.
 "Is anybody hungry? I'm sure there's some tv dinners and some shelf stable foods in the kitchen. And frozen food in the freezer."

As Moonchild didn't seem at all concerned about her spies, nor in looking for the mask until her pets had been attended to (something he couldn't fault her on), Luke decided to take matters into his own hands.

He wandered around the cabin, looking out the windows at the near terrain for a while, and considering.
When he'd figured out a plan, he slipped quietly from the cabin (by window or door) as sneakily as he could, and tried his best to stealth off through the local landscape towards where he judged the spies to be.

He hoped to catch them unawares.  'With their proverbial pants down' if he could ... although he hoped to avoid catching them this way in fact, as it would be highly embarrassing to all present.

 Since no one answered her, and some had wandered off, she pulled out the journals and started looking through them, then sat down to read them while the others were off doing whatever they wanted to do. When the cat came up and wanted attention, she made room for her on her lap and idly petted her as she read.

   Alexander called from his seat at the PC.  Now that he was in his element, he barely registered anyone or anything around him.  No matter how new or strange a place might seem to Alex, once you let him sit at the computer, he was in his own world.

   "No thanks Moon Child, I'm not hungry right now but...hey, Google news says there was an explosion of unknown origin in the Badlands, and that the army evacuated everyone from the area...wasn't that where we freed Luke, Malcolm, and Rhic from those weird Puppet Master creatures?"

   He continued to type away, opening window after window on the desktop, until he found what he was looking for...a hidden, password protected folder with an unassuming name.  He folded his fingers together and cracked them, then bit his lip, his eyes alight.  A computer challenge was something he could understand...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Sun 15 July 2012.

   Slipping out of the cabin, Luke makes his way and quietly through the shadows and into the trees surrounding the place.  With as much care as he can possibly manage he traverses the thick vegetation in the direction he believes he last saw evidence of surveillance.  The gibbous moon, playing hide and seek amid the sea of clouds, gives very little light...

OOC:  Roll me D100 please Luke.  You want forty or less :D




   Leafing through the Professor's Journals do not immediately seem of much use...at first.  About half way through the daily notations of random thoughts and theories, snippets of poetry, drawings of various indigenous inhabitants whom Jim had met in his travels, Moon Child comes across some passages of interest:

   July 18th, 2000

   Found something very unusual at the Shawnee Burial Site today. It appears to be a ritual mask of the kind traditionally used by the Shawnee medicine men to speak with the spirit world on behalf of the tribe.  I won't be able to discern too much about its origins until I have it dated, back at N.I.U. (Northern Illinois University).  From what I can tell, however, this fits the description of Tecumseh's Mask, given to him by his brother, Tenskwatawa the leader of the Ghost Dance faction of his people.  That would place the origin of this artifact somewhere around the early nineteenth century, I suspect.  Not bad for a day's worth of digging in the dirt I'd say.  I may be able to have a larger section of the Forest Reserve declared a historical site and protected from future development.  We'll just have to wait and see if its genuine, but I do admit to being quite excited at the prospect.

  July 19th, 2000

   I know its strange to say this, but I have the oddest feeling I'm being watched.  Can't say I have any evidence to support it, just a sudden chill up and down my spine whenever I leave my tent.  Its probably just my nerves, or my old body rebelling against too much manual labour.  I guess I'm not getting any younger, a fact that my Moon Child reminds me of on an almost daily basis.  I called her today, just to see how she is doing; I get so anxious when she's alone by herself, even though I know she's an independent and resourceful child.  I should hopefully, be finished up here and back to her before the week is out though.  I think she would prefer I simply come home at night, but it just makes more sense for me to be here, with the work crew.  They expect and need my guidance.  I asked Leslie to look in on her, make sure she didn't need anything while I'm away this week.  I really am getting too old for this sort of adventure though.  Archaelogy is a younger person's game I'm afraid.

July 21th, 2000

   I was right in my assumptions, I have been under surveillance!  I came home tonight to find my tent had been ransacked, and not by a hungry animal, as one of the Park Rangers tried unconvincingly to tell me.  This was a methodical search by an intelligent person, not some haphazard invasion by some desperate bear or raccoon.  Fortunately I have already had the mask sent off for testing, and I carry my journals in my satchel.  The sooner we get away from this Shawnee sacred site the happier I will be.  I'm a man of science, and I certainly don't believe in superstitions or curses, but if I was a more ignorant man I might jump to those conclusions.  I can't sleep, my eyes are playing tricks on me, and I keep having nightmares about drums whenever I do manage to catch a brief nap.  Even awake I swear I can still hear them, a primitive staccato that never seems to cease.  I've contacted the authorities concerning my damaged property, and they claim to be investigating, but I have my doubts.  Everything will be worth it though, if the Spirit Mask, as I am now calling it, proves to belong to Chief Tecumseh!  It will be a major find that will definitely force the review board to approve my continued tenure at N.I.U. until I am ready to retire.  I miss my Moon Child and I'm ready to go home.

MORE TO FOLLOW.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:25, Sun 08 July 2012.

The gibbous moon, playing hide and seek amid the sea of clouds, gave very little light.  Which allowed Luke to slip out of the cabin, and make his way quietly through the shadows and into the trees surrounding the place.
With as much care as he could possibly manage he traversed the thick vegetation in the direction he believed he last saw evidence of surveillance.

You rolled 19 using 1d100 ((19)).

The Lady seemed intrigued by his antics again, and favored him with grace and guile as he made his way.
In a silent prayer, he thanked her, and hoped to make the scene entertaining for her as reward for her faith in his actions.

   Peeking through the slender pine trunks, Luke can barely make out a group of, perhaps four shapes, perhaps twenty feet from him.  They are wearing some sort of dark cloaks with hoods, that blend in well in the dark shadows of the trees.  Beside one person's knee is a Coleman electric lantern, glowing very faintly on the dimmest possible setting.  Another figure seems to be watching the cabin with a high powered monocular, probably with night vision attachment.  Two of the cloaked individuals are visibly armed with Barnett cross-bows with hunting scope attachments.

   So far it doesn't appear they have detected Luke.  It is VERY dark, but if Luke gets much closer he definitely risks being noticed.

Luke had no intention of getting any closer.  Not to four armed men.

Instead, he reasoned, these men probably had a vehicle.  Probably somewhere close, but not immediate.

Carefully, he slunk away into the darkened, and went looking for it.  He looked for tracks away from the men's location, and followed those.

   Creeping away as quietly as possible, Luke hopes he remained unseen.  Tracks prove VERY difficult to find.  Not only is it pitch dark, but apparently these men were wise enough to hide most of the obvious signs of their passage.  Luke does, however, manage to find enough evidence of their route to give him a general direction to follow.  Not more than five minutes walk into the trees, Luke comes across two well camouflaged ATVs, along with helmets on the seats.
   Luke is momentarily startled by the hoot of a great horned owl in the trees above.  Its eyes flash in the darkness, like spotlights, and then it flies silently away.

 She kept reading the journals trying to puzzle out what it all meant. Then she'd try to figure out the hiding places. And she'd get the others to help.

ooc: so I had to go find out what an ATV was :-p

Luke smiled to himself.   Creeping under the net, he examined the vehicles for any signia or sign of ownership.   This included noting the Rego plate numbers.  He figured between Alex (the computer geek) and the FBI guy, the two might be able to identify the ownership.

Then, he quickly went about significantly disabling each by Remington or permenantly damaging something that these men wouldn't have a spare part for.

If radio equipment was attached, Luke checks the channels that the equipment is tuned to also.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:59, Mon 23 July 2012.

   After the last entry, Moon Child notes that several pages are torn out of the journal.  It then continues almost two months later...

September 18th, 2000

  They want the mask, why do so many desire this antique?  I've brought it home with me, since it is clearly not safe at the University.  It would seem there is some Native group desperate to acquire it, and after my visit from that peculiar young lady, Ms Rowan O'Shae, I know who they are, though I wouldn't have believed her two months ago.  Nunnehi, a name right out of Shawnee legends, absolutely extraordinary!  I have done research into methods of keeping the Fae from entering this house, and various protections, charms, and folklore associated with the same.  Much of it is contradictory and nonsensical, but evidently iron is effective in deterring them.  I am fascinated by the existence of these creatures though, its a scientific find of immense significance!  Another species of intelligent beings co-existing with Humankind throughout history.  The implications are staggering, if I can only research this more.  I have to prove this to the world, in spite of Ms Rowan's misgivings.  They need to know.  I will keep my promise to her, not to tell Moon Child what she suspects, at least for now.  If Ms O'Shae is correct, my dear MC will find out for herself in time.

September 25th, 2000

   I have hidden Tecumseh's Mask where it will be safe from now on.  I locked it up securely in 'old grey' and wove a charm around it I think will be effective.  Thanks to Rowan, I've learned to fashion chimerae, an application of the mind with incredible possibilities.

   "Seal this Mask, within old grey, where men cannot go, nor Faerie stay."

   I'm becoming disturbingly good at this magical stuff.  There is, in fact a science to it, patterns that make me believe it is merely another form of energy that Humankind has not fully explored yet.  Who could have believed that the imagination was capable of shaping a new kind of energy; could create such powerful and useful items?  And that they would have substance to those whose mind was attuned to them?  No one but the Changelings, they have kept their secret like an Old Dragon guarding his trove, but that will change of course, when I reveal Fae kind to the world.  My colleagues may think I've gone off the deep end, but I will be vindicated in the end!

    October 29th, 2000

   Moon Child is off to the circus for a bit, and I had to slip into my Secret Room to check on the Mask.  Its odd, but I swear it whispers at times.  I know that's impossible, or perhaps not.  After all, I am dealing with an entirely new realm of energy and I cannot be certain yet what is and is not possible, since I have not yet established the parameters of magickal physics, as it were.  The Mask seems safe enough, and yet I cannot keep from feeling it is still not safe, even here.  I suppose I am still disturbed from my visit by the Monsignor, who seemed, somehow to have learned I might know where Tecumseh's Treasure can be found.  Of course I told him nothing, I didn't trust him anymore than I trust anyone with it.  It belongs to me and they cannot take it from me until I have finished my research!  They are all determined to be the first to exult in this WORLD ALTERING scientific revelation, but they won't, because I shall get there first and then they can all do with it what they will.  I am nearly finished with my thesis, its going to be controversial, of course but I will not be dissuaded.
   I am going to tell Moon Child about this tonight. We'll have one of our long talks (has it really been that long since we last had one?) and hopefully she won't be too angry with me.  I never meant to keep this from her for so long, I simply needed to be able to prove the existence of the Fae and their Glamour before I could go public.  I believe that she will underst.....

   It appears the Professor was interrupted at this point in the journal.  Moon Child sees blank pages beyond this entry, but nothing further appears to be written in them.

 She reread them several times, then sat thinking for a long time. Finally she got up and went to go through Jim's study to see if there were any hints in there. She looked for the others on her way, to invite them to help her hunt, but upon not seeing any of the others, she frowned and went to the study to hunt anyway.
 "Hello? Anybody here?"

   OOC: Glad you found the info.  They are one of the best choices for a vehicle in this sort of forest terrain.  Of course I had anticipated that I might end up having a chase with you and the mysterious watchers on the ATVs, but that was only one possibility, and sabotaging them totally makes sense, nicely done.  I love clever players :D

   Although not a mechanic, Luke is quite certain, once he is finished, that these ATVs aren't going anywhere now.  He finds no sign of communications equipment, and the plates on the rear of the ATVs simply say MAJCON 1 and MAJCON 2 respectively.
   A quick movement, a shadow in the pale moonlight, catches Luke's attention.  Peering around he sees the trees and bushes around him alive with eyes.  Owls, perhaps one hundred or more, are sitting on every available branch and bough around him, large eyes gleaming in the darkness.  Luke smells the scent of something burning, a sort of sweet smoky scent, and from all around him he begins to hear drums...drums and voices chanting.
   Swiftly five of the owls fly down from their lofty perches and transform as they touch the earth.  Silently the avians assume a more human form, sleek, sinewy, well muscled bodies, skin almost copper tinged in the dim light.  Each wears a long feathered cloak and a carved wooden mask, decorated with feathers and paint, and none seems to be more than five feet tall.  Long raven black hair falls around their shoulders, and they stare at Luke with accusing eyes.

  "Taku WAY neeyah eh COHN lay?" says one of the owl-men, in a husky voice?  His tone is brusque and demanding.

OOC: ROLL me a Luck Roll please, Luke?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Sun 05 Aug 2012.

   The Professor's study looks much the same as Moon Child remembers, everything exactly as he left it.  His dark hardwood desk neat, his computer on the left as he preferred it.  Pictures of himself, Moon Child and Ben sitting on the right.  Painted coffee mug he'd picked up from a dig in Vancouver, Canada beside the computer.  His favourite high backed chair, covered in smooth burgundy leather, was a few feet from the desk, as if the Professor had just gotten up and pushed it there, to return at any minute.

   Bookshelves lay behind the desk and to the left, filled with volumes of all kinds, along with various knick knacks, bookends, and statues that James had gathered over the years; all slowly gathering dust from lack of use.  The walls above, between, and opposite the bookshelves are nearly invisible behind the array of pictures, exotic ornaments, wood carvings, weapons, shields, certificates, framed articles, and masks hung like portraits of beloved family members.  In fact there are numerous masks upon the walls and over the mantle, but none resembles the raven mask attributed to Tecumseh.

   He was always an organized man, even when overwhelmed by material, he always kept his study neat, having frequently complained that a messy workplace was far too distracting.  And so all is quiet, and ordered, perhaps a tad cluttered, but neat.  All the memories of a man who had seen and experienced life, and clearly loved it well.

   And all is just as silent as it has been since he'd left.  Not a soul answered Moon Child, except the cat curling around her ankles.

   Alex however, comes up behind her, his footfalls echoing down the hall as he follows her.

   "WOW, what an interesting room..." he says, peeking over her shoulder.

'Majestic Constructions'  Luke thought to himself.  'So why are you buggers watching the Professor's place?'

He was about to leave, when he noticed the owls.  So many owls. What a Hoot.


Then, and this shouldn't have been a surprise, they turned person-like and began squawking ... only, Luke didn't know the same squawk they did.  He wanted to squawk with them, because they looked kinda angry about something.
But then, that was owls, wasn't It.  Have you ever seen an owl that DIDN'T look like it was scowling at you, disapprovingly?

Luke smiled, shrugged and raised his hands, in the time honoured body language of 'me no speaka owlish'.
"I don't suppose any of you gent's speak Los Angelese, eh?"



- rolled 26 using 1d100. Luck roll, as requested.

   PM

   Luke actually recognizes, not this particular dialect, but the family of languages to which it belongs: its definitely Northern Amerindian.  Studying these Owl men more carefully, he can discern there similarity to Native American youths.  The masks they wear resemble ceremonial animal masks Luke has seen used in various tribal rituals, and the smokey scent in the air is burning sage and sweet grass, herbs you've seen Medicine Men offer to the spirits.  Even the drumming has a distinctly Native rhythm!

   The Owl Man who spoke first beckons with one long coppery arm, and another, thinner Owl Man steps up beside him and answers Luke in a young boy's voice, tinged with anger.

   "I know your speech, 'Walks in Shadows'.  This is Heart of Fire (he indicates the other Owl Man) and he asks why you destroy the White Demons' machines?"

Luke was starting to see a picture forming here, but he needed time to make the pieces come together.

"Greetings, Heart of Fire," he said, bowing his head in respect, then "I destroy the white demon's machines because they smell, and make me sick.
They make the air sick, and the plants sick, and the animals sick. And that's just these machines; other machines rip at the earth, make great nasty gashes.
Let these white demons walk home, I say. Let them get some exercise for once".

Of course.  The MajCon guys want the Mask also.  It's a powerful bargaining chip with these guys ... maybe more.
They can't find it themselves, so they'll let someone else (namely us) find it, then try to take it from us.

"Besides, I beleive that they want Tecumseh's Mask. Not to return it to its people, but to use it as a focus for their magics ... to manipulate and control.

They are no friend of mine.  Even if for no other reason, I destroy their machinery because I oppose them" he said.
It was a risk; if the owls were in league with MajCon, he was just digging himself deeper.  But if their was any tension between the two, maybe he could be seen by these owns as, at least, a resource against the corporation.

   Spying the Professor's computer, Alex smirks like a child who has just found where his Mother hides the cookies.  He turns to Moon Child and asks:

   "Would you mind, terribly, if I peeked at the Professor's computer?  I'm sure there are all kinds of interesting things on there."