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It was easier to just start this thread over again. Sorry, Hans, to retread the beginning.

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The Twilight Network had been quite the interesting find for both of the new New York Sin-eaters; the hidden webpage forum for their kind contained loads of information and a sense of an international community. Important commodities for those new to a city as well as being in a state of un-life.

Simultaneously, Linda and Hans both got a message from Kristoph-Ryan with a link to a very peculiar post. One that seemed to be coming from someone outside of the forum's intended audience.

"This seems like it may be of interest to you two," The older Sin-eater wrote, "Perhaps a good test of mettle, eh? The poster is certainly not one of ours." One could almost hear his accent in the way he typed-- as well as the smell of rum and cigar smoke.

The post itself reads simply:

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I assume you all exchanged numbers. Feel free to roleplay your interaction, what (if anything) you do to prepare, and then how/when you get to the park/ try to meet with the original poster. I will wait until you take action furthering plot to move the story forward so take your time and enjoy roleplaying! :)

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Hans stared at the simple black smartphone in his hand resignedly, briefly thinking about just sending a text.  No, better not; Linda's response might arrive when he was in public.

The middle-aged confectioner screwed his courage to the sticking place and pressed the button to call the woman he vaguely remembered from the flesh fair.  Had it only been a week?  The gathering where they'd swapped numbers felt like it was years ago.  He must be getting old.

The sound of gears ripping-- not grinding, ripping-- through flesh assaulted his ears.  "Just for that, I'm not sharing any of the new batch of caramel with you."  Hans endured until Linda answered.

After the usual pleasantries, "You saw the post about the bear, right?  I reached out to the man who wrote it, Rob.  He's on graveyard shift at the park tonight and offered to show us to the trails in person if we meet him at," he methodically spelled the name of the trailhead parking lot, "any time after he comes on duty.  What do you think?"

Hans paused.  "On a somewhat related note, he did admit that no one had seen any increased bear activity in the park as a whole, and bear patrols didn't sight any bears at all in the region where the carvings are.  No vandals ever interrupted in the act, either.  All they actually have to go on are mutilated corpses found near symbols carved on trees."  With a sigh, "And the only description of those that Rob could give was that they 'looked like Mar-vel,' so I can't think of a way to make progress without going out there in person to look around."
His tone made it clear that bears and forests were decidedly NOT his area of expertise, but he wasn't about to ignore a request for help from the NPS, especially if people were dying.

OOC: Unless you have prep you want us to RP through together, feel free to fast-forward to the parking lot at night in your post!

Linda was practicing movements with her chain and watching her reflection in the Central Park Turtle Pond when the phone vibrated in her pocket. She saw a pale waif in an oversized leather jacket staring back at her defiantly, as if she wanted to challenge an onlooker to comment on her flat chest and on the black hair that didn't bounce glossily and luxuriously like in the commercials, but hung limp and matted over her ears. She wasn't ugly, she was simply unremarkable. The mummy looking over her shoulder seemed to mock her vanity.

She snarled at her reflection and answered the phone. She listened to the caller without interrupting. He turned out to be a sin-eater that wanted her help investigating the bear attacks she had read about. The idea seemed almost funny. She was a city kid and Bear Mountain State Park was an environment almost as alien to her as the moon. But she knew she needed contacts, so she asked Hans for a ride up north.

She sat silently during the car ride, making no attempt at small talk. In the parking lot, though, she asked: "What's our cover story? Are we journalists? Officers? Friends and family?"

ooc: Not sure that Hans has a car. Linda doesn't. Maybe it's a cab?

Hans did indeed have a car.  Not a particularly nice-looking one, but it ran smoothly and had good air conditioning.  It also gave an impression of hard-to-describe solidity, much like the confectioner himself.  Hans made a few attempts at conversation-- "It is funny we were the two who decided to drive out into the middle of the woods to look for murderous bears, right?  Not any of the people with guns in their pickup trucks?"  But after those gambits failed, he remained silent, seeming somewhat relived.  He did offer a bag of handmade licorice.

At the lot, "Why would we need a cover story?  Rob invited us here.  I told him that I was with the NPS, which is true, and that I would bring some friends who have experience in this area."  He held a piece of licorice up to his eye, inspected it, then started chewing slowly.

After he and Linda finished talking, Hans dialed Rob's number and let the ranger know they were at the parking lot.

The parking lot was... pretty much just grass. It was empty other than the car Hans and Linda came in on and one other vehicle (Dodge Ram) on the other side of the "lot" next to a stone house with an "Information" sign posted out front.


Almost before Hans hung up, the pair see a middle-aged man in a park ranger uniform hurrying towards them.
"Thank you so much for coming," Rob said, offering the two sin-eaters each a hand shake.

After any other pleasantries, Rob will jump right into it. It is very obvious he is both anxious about the situation and uncomfortable with the two of you.

"As you can see, we've shut down the trails until the situation has been resolved. Cops were here earlier today but they still think it's nothing serious..." He said, leading the two past some police tape and down the trail.

"Here's the first... spot," he indicates a tree with some strange symbols carved into it. "You can see what I meant by it looking marvel. Like those movies my son is obsessed with. With the blonde guy."

You see the following image carved into the tree: https://mythologian.net/wp-con...an-Viking-Symbol.jpg



"There are three more spots further down the trail where the attacks have happened. Each with the same symbol. What's interesting is that the attacks have been happening 'in order'. So this was the first attack, the second spot on the trail was the second attack, and so on."


Rob will stand by awkwardly to answer any questions but his body language and fidgeting will make it very obvious he wants to leave you two alone to work this out.

Linda, still chewing licorice, introduced herself, first name only, and stared at the tree while Rob was talking. When he had finished, she snapped a photo with her phone and carefully ran her pale fingers over the carving.

Something about it seems familiar, and she bit her lip as she tried to remember where she had seen something like this before.


23:15, Today: Linda May rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+3),2,2,7.  int + occ read symbol.

Hans studied the symbol closely.  They looked so familiar...  He didn't touch the symbol, but he did study the grass around the tree as well.  Perhaps the blood spatter wasn't as random as the injuries made it seem?

Turning to Rob, Hans pulled out a park map and a ballpoint pen.  "Please mark the remaining spots here, for simplicity's sake."  After Rob finished, "How frequently do the attacks happen?  Is there any pattern?  And how recent was the last attack?"


Int+Occult roll: 01:49, Today: Hans Becker rolled 4 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((2,8,10(+10,3),7,10(+6))).

Linda, who felt the needs to establish her 'expert' credentials, muttered something about Norse symbols.

She didn't try to follow it up though: Smartphone research was a clumsy mess, and back in the city, she could go to a library to learn more.

She wondered if the police might have overlooked a clue, but she was determined to check out the ground and the neighboring trees later. Maybe the traces would be of the kind overlooked by mundanes, and those were best found without mundane witnesses.

Hans' question about a pattern was a good one. Maybe there was some way to predict the site of the next attack, and keeping an eye on it? Something told her there would be another one.

Rob very quickly marks a few X's on Hans' map, "The latest one was just a few days ago. Media haven't been informed yet but I'm sure you'll hear more about it soon."


He glances at Linda, then back to Hans pondering something. Finally, it seems he makes a decision. "So... Are you all private investigators or something? Some covert branch of NPS? That forum was pretty... weird. No offense, of course."

He glances back down the way the three of you came nervously.

Linda laughs: "I am not with the NPS, just a consultant hired by Hans. You can't imagine how many people want old writings or arcane symbols decoded. It's enough to make a living on, at least in the city. I guess people out here have other things to worry about.

It's not that I speak Egyptian, Sumerian, and Aramaic, but I usually know where I can look up stuff I don't understand, like this Old Norse writing here. It's very rare that I run into stuff I can't decipher myself, but then I it's usually interesting enough to show to a professor anyway.

There are more people dealing with with dead languages than you might think, although quite a few are esoteric charlatans that mix fact and superstition to create an unnecessary air of metaphysics."

She rolls her eyes, waves her hands around theatrically and declaims:

"This letter here is the letter ash, beloved by Odin. Wear it around your neck on an organic leather string, and it will sharpen your senses and bring you wisdom. That's 200 dollar, please."

She reverts to her normal self:

"What I do is far less spectacular and doesn't pay half as well, but at least I get to keep my dignity."

She smiles her pale smile.