You arrive at the strangely shaped building early. The Pierce Botanical Conservatory, a large glass building in the shape of a common cut for emeralds. There were a few other cars in the parking lot and a large moving truck.

Nathan stepped out of his car and snapped a picture of the building, figuring it might be good for the introduction of the article on the glasswork. "Now that is a weird-looking building," he muttered to himself as he began to walk towards the entrance.

As you reach the entrance, you see a small group of people. An Asian woman in her 40s with what must be her teenage daughter and a white man and woman who look to be college aged.

"Good Morning," Nathan said as he joined the group "I take it that you are also here to see the exhibit?" he asked with a slight accent.

"Actually, I'm the collection curator for the conservatory," the older woman said. "This is my daughter and the other two are additional help for Mr. Tissley."

"Ah my apologies. I am Nathan Blanchet, I work for the Art in America magazine. We are going to be doing an article on the exhibit and this rather fine building."

"It is, it was a good bit of press for our town," the woman said. "I'm Hiyumi Ono and this is my daughter, Hana."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Nathan said "Can you tell me anything about what we are going to see? Or about this building? As background for the article."

"You haven't seen Galen's work before? It's quite amazing, impressive creations that seem alien, but have a strange beauty to them," Hiyumi said. "He's also quite interested in ancient glass working techniques and says he's found this strange powder they used in ancient times that gives off black light. I'm not sure how real that is, but I'm excited to see it."

Nathan had taken a small leather bound notepad out and was writing notes as Hiyumi spoke "That does sound fascinating. Will Galen be at the viewing?" Nathan asked.

"He's in there working now," Hiyumi said. "This is just a sneak peak, but he will be there later."

"Ah, that is good to hear. A last question then if you don't mind. To help set the article, Did you reach out to Galen for this exhibit, or did he come to you?" Nathan asked.

"We went to him, he was looking for a smaller venue to try out those new techniques he had discovered," Hiyumi said.

Nathan nodded as he made some more notes.

Hiyumi fished some keys out of her purse, opened the front doors with them, let everyone inside before closing and locking them behind everyone.

"I'll admit there's a slight design problem," Hiyumi said, as you can see a large amount of light through some thick glass in the front area of the building. "We'll have  to cut through one of the biomes to get to Galen's set up. The mountain one is easier."

"Biomes?" Nathan asked.

"The conservatory has three different areas that simulate different nature biomes. One is mountain, the others being jungle and desert," Hiyumi said as she looked down at her phone. "I se Galen isn't answering. I'm going ahead to let him know we're coming. See you later."

Hiyumi headed in.

Nathan adds that to his notes, and follows the signs towards the mountain biome.

As you enter the mountain biome, you find yourself in a rather rocky place that has a slight angle heading up at about twenty degrees. You see a path and several bushes. There are some colourful glass rods in the ground further in.

"So, what's your deal?" Hana asked, following you.

Nathan takes a shot of the Biome, trying to catch the way the rods catch the light. "I am a journalist for an arts magazine," he explained "I do both writing and camera work for some of the articles," he explained.

The rods began to give off a strange light.

Nathan's eyebrows rose "Well that is something," he said "I wonder how Mr. Galen got them to do that."

"He said something about ultraviolet light. That's like a black light, right?" Hana asked.

"That's right," Nathan said "Fascinating," he murmured. "Do you often attend these events?" he asked Hana.

"No, but mom didn't want me staying home alone on a day off," Hana said.

"Ah, well I hope you'll not be too bored," he said as they walked through the biome.

The tubes began to slowly wave back and forth.

Nathan blinked and took some more photos "That is incredible. I look forward to hearing Mr Galen explanation. To allow glass to move like that must be hard."

"Oh my god," a male voice behind you said.

"This can't be happening," a woman said, also behind you.

Nathan turned to see what they were talking about.

They were looking at the walls of the conservatory, which were now glowing like the rods.

"What the..."  Nathan said shocked "What's going on?" as he started at the glass. "That doesn't look right, maybe we should get out of here," he suggested looking for the nearest exit.

The doors you came in through were all made of glass and were glowing as well. Squinting, you can see the doors are sealed.

"My mom! What about my mom?" Hana asked. "She's not answering her phone!"

"Damn what is going on around here," Nathan said "Your Mom said she was going to see Mr Galen right? Do you know where his workshop is?"

"It's further in," Hana said. A sudden blob of glowing material whizzed by your head.

"What the hell? Quick run," Nathan yelled looking to see what had thrown the thing at him.

There was a crack and sizzle as a pool of hot melted glass cooled on the ground.

"Glass?" Nathan said uselessly, as he headed for the door to leave the biome and head deeper into the building.

The tubes all seemed to turn towards you.

Nathan pushed Hana towards the door, as he tried to draw any shots away from the young women.

Several more globs of burning glass manage to just barely miss you as you get into the desert biome. The first thing that catches your eye is a large metal ladder on it's side and the unmoving body of a man in a jumpsuit.

Nathan heads towards the body "Hey you okay?" he said as he approached.

The body didn't move.

Cursing softly Nathan knelt by the body and checked for a pulse.

There was no pulse.

(OOC: Sanity check)

(OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 89 using 1d100.  San Check)

(OOC: Lose one sanity)

"Shit he's dead," Nathan said shocked he looked at the fallen ladder and then up to try and work out where the man had been trying to get to.

There was a light flickering above the ladder. You notice something odd when you look around. There are a pair of strange four legged creatures that appear to be made of the glowing glass walking around.

(OOC: Second sanity check)

(OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 98 using 1d100.  San Check.)

(OOC: Lose 4 sanity)

"I guess whatever is up there killed him," Nathan said shuddering "Let's try to sneak past those things and get inside properly." he said to Hana.

"Uh. are you sure?" Hana asked. "You go first."

Nathan shrugged "Not really, but I think being out here with the is a really bad plan," he said unhappily.

((OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 32 using 1d100 ((32)))

You manage to get to the next door, with Hana not far behind.

(OOC: Give me a notice roll)

((OOC:Nathan Blanchet rolled 91 using 1d100.  Notice check.))

((OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 27 using 1d100 ((27)). Push Notice))

You see one of the creatures bump into a bucket of water and the quickly back away from it.

"Did you see that?" Nathan said softly "They don't seem to like water," he said looking about to see if there was any hoses for watering the Biome.

(OOC: another notice check please)

(ooc: Nathan Blanchet rolled 83 using 1d100.  Notice check.)

You notice the sprinkler for the fire suppression system, but it is out of reach on the ceiling.

"The sprinklers.." Nathan murmured "If we can set them off maybe that will drive those things away"

"How?" Hana asked quietly.

"We need to get a fire under a sprinkler.." Nathan said, "Maybe, if we use the ladder earlier, we'd only need something small to do it?"

"It wouldn't work. It only starts like one near what set off the sprinkler," Hana whispered.

Nathan looked embarrassed "Ah..I didn't realise. Maybe we should just get out of the biomes for the moment then"

"Well, it could work if you lured everything over," Hana said.

Nathan looked about trying to count how many creatures were in the Biome.

There were two in the desert bio.

"Well, I guess we don't have much choice do we?" Nathan said "You stay here kid, I'll see if I can get these two," he said looking for something he could make into a torch.

There were some dry grass around the biome.

Nathan collected some grass and wrapped it around stake, "Right. Keep your head down," he said to Hana. Then began to carefully move back towards the ladder.

You make it back to the ladder before the things have noticed you.

Nathan sets the ladder up, and then climbs up. He gets ready to light the torch and starts to yell at the creatures.

The creatures are already coming, having heard you set up the ladder.

(OOC: Initiative time)

((Nathan Blanchet rolled 45 using 1d100.  Init Roll.))

The things are charging in at you.

(OOC: Go)

Nathan lit his hastily constructed torch and shoved it towards the sprinkler system.

The creatures emit a loud, whistling screech as the oily water hits them and then freeze in place.

Nathan warily approaches the nearest creature.

It didn't move.

Nathan reaches out to the unmoving creature.

It felt like solid glass.

"Weird," Nathan said as he stepped back and took a photo of it. Then returned to Hana "Right, lets see if we can find your mom." he said and headed for the door to leave the Biome.

"Okay, but what happened to the others?" Hana asked.

"I'm not sure," Nathan admitted "Once stuff went weird everyone started running," he said.

"Do-do you think that they're dead?" Hana asked.

"I don't think so," Nathan said reassuringly "Let's get moving. I'm sure we'll find them."

"Right," Hana said as the two of you approached the door to the jungle biome.

Nathan carefully opened the door and looked in.

"Help! Please!" a hoarse woman's voice shouted.

Inside there was thick jungle-like levels of vegetation with piped in sounds of the jungle.

Nathan moves in looking for the source of the voice.

There was a pool near the door of the biome. It was decently large, about half the size of a swimming pool. You can see Hiyumi there, some of the strange glass creatures around the edge of it.

Nathan looks for something to use as a weapon.

(OOC: Some perception roll, please)

(OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 17 using 1d100.  Spot Hidden.)

You spot a fire extinguisher and a bucket with water in it.

Nathan grabs the extinguisher, and readies it.

The things shoot some hot glass at Hiyumi who throws herself into the water.

Nathan steps forward and fires the extinguisher on the nearest creature.

The creature shrieks and stops moving. The other one turns to you and shoots a blast of hot glass at you that misses.

Nathan flinches and ducks away from the attack and then fires the extinguisher at the other creature.

The other one stops moving as well. Hiyumi stumbles out of the pond and hugs her daughter.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asks after giving them a moment to reunite.

"What in the hell is going on?" Hiyumi asked, quietly.

Nathan shrugged "I've got no idea, those things just started appearing and attacking everyone," he said "I think we need to get out of here, or at least out of the Biomes."

"He's in here too...and his assistant...," Hiyumi said.

"He? You mean Galen?" Nathan asked "Do you think he's got something to do with this?"

"He has to, right?" Hiyumi said. "Who else would?"

"Right," Nathan said "This whole thing is crazy.." he sighed "Which way then?"

"This way," Hiyuki said, leading you down the trail a bit, before you could see a door. The strange black light seemed to be even stronger in the walls surrounding it.

Nathan headed towards the door.

The door took some effort, but you were able to open it.

Nathan moved deeper into the building, keeping his eyes and ears open for any more creatures.

You see a series of large electrical equipment set up and a series of odd suonds coming from it.

"He's there," Harumi said.

Nathan headed carefully towards the equipment.

As you get closer, you can certainly hear someone working.

Nathan tried to peer round the equipment to see who was working and what they were doing.

You can see Galen Tisselly working with a manic energy. He had shaded eye protection on, but despite that, black light was streaming out of his eyes.

"The fuck.." Nathan breathed and then moved to grab Galen.

"Hey, man, stay back!" Galen said as you reached for him.

"What are you doing? What is all this?" Nathan asked him.

"I'm making art! The most perfect art ever!" Galen said, as a you notice a burning smell.

Nathan looked to see where the burning was coming from.

The smell seems to be coming from the machine you remember is called an annealer.

(OOC: make a perception check)

((OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled <red>91 using 1d100 ((91))))</Red>

"W-Where's your assistant?" Hiyumi asked, Galen didn't answer.

Nathan decided to try and get Galen talking "Did you create those creatures?" he asked.

"Creatures? No, no, no. My perfect art," Galen said.

"You have to stop this," Nathan said pointing in the direction of the biomes "People are being hurt."

"No one's being hurt!" Galen said as a Hiyumi screamed. It came from the direction of the annealer.

Nathan looked at the Annealer.

Hiyumi is staggering back and it appears there is a very burned body stuffed inside.

Nathan blanches and grabs at Galen, "Then how do you explain that?" he demanded.

Galen looks away.

"I-I don't know, I have to work on my art..."

"come on are you telling me, that man just happened to crawl inside the Annelar?" Nathan demanded.

"Man, no, no man, assistant," Galen said. "She tried to stop my art, it-it, I didn't like that."

(OOC: Another perception check)

(OOC: Nathan Blanchet rolled 10 using 1d100.  Perception Check)

The machine he's at is what is belching out the black light powder.

"What are you dong?" Nathan demanded as he grabbed Galen and tried to pull him away from the machine.

"No! Don't stop me!" Galen said struggling.

(OOC: Strength roll, please)

((ooc: Nathan Blanchet rolled 62 using 1d100.  Str Check))

You try to pull him away and he struggles, but falls flat on his face.

Nathan moves to pin Galen, and asks him "How do we stop this?", he looks towards Hiyumi "Can you find something so we can tie him up?"

Hiyumi's daughter comes forward with some strips of plastic you could use to tie him up.

"I hate to ask this, but can you tie him, while I hold him down?" Nathan asked.

Hayumi came over and the two began to tie Galen up, who was letting out animalistic screams.

Once Galen was tied up Nathan stood and moved to examine what Galen had been working on.

It was more glass, but the machine had the strange ultraviolet glow emanating from it. You see a bag with a strange powder in it.

Nathan shies away from the strange glow but examines the powder.

The powder was a deep and dark purple, it seemed to shimmer unnaturally.

Nathan looked at Galen "What is this?" he asked him indicating the powder.

"It's how I make my art! It shows me the truth!" Galen said.

Nathan sighs "This is nuts," he says "Okay," he turns to Hiyumi. "Was Galen using any other work spaces?" he asked.

"No, this was the only one," Hiyumi said.

Nathan nodded and looked to see if there was any notes.

There were just various sketches and the like for the various glass creations.

"OKay, so we know that somehow Galen has created.. well monsters," Nathan said, "We know the monsters are weak to water," he continued "It looks like maybe this powder is related, and that he's likely killed his assistant."

He sighed "I think we need to try and get out of here, where is the nearest exit?"

"Back through the jungle or mountain biome," Hiyumi said.

"Right," Nathan said "Do you and Hana want to wait here or try for the door?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," Hiyumi said. "This has been so crazy."

"It has, everything has happened so fast, and makes no sense," Nathan said as he pulled his phone out to see if there was any signal.

There was no signal.

"Damn it no signal," Nathan said "Okay, look I'll try to get to the door, if it's safe I'll come back for you two."

(OOC: Give me an idea or notice roll.)

Idea roll, Nathan Blanchet rolled 22 using 1d100 ((22)).

You notice the power outlets for the glassblowing equipment that is currently belching that horrible smoke out.

"Damn," Nathan moved towards the outlet "We need to disconnect these," he said as he tried to disconnect one.

It takes a bit of effort, but you manage to pull it out. The machine shuts off and the smoke stops spewing out.

"Right, that was close," Nathan said.

The strange black light was slowly fading.

Nathan looked around "Okay, I'm going to head for the biome," he said "Let's see if turning this thing off has changed anything."

You can start to actually see through the glass walls.

"The glass.." Nathan said, "It's changing."

"It's going back to normal, thank god," Hana said.

"so.. How exactly are we going to explain all this?" Nathan asked "I don't think people are going to believe glass monsters murdered everyone."

"They probably will believe that he did it," Hiyumi said.

"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to say he went crazy and started killing people," Nathan said "I don't know about you two, but I think I'd like to get outside... I'm suddenly yearning for some fresh air."

"Sounds good to me," Hiyumi said, with Hana nodding in agreement.

Nathan headed for the nearest exit.

You pass a few dead bodies along the way, with the glass beasts having frozen.

Nathan tries to not look at the bodies too closely and hurries the other two past them.

You soon arrive outside.

"Oh thank God," Nathan said as he took some deep breaths.

It was still quiet. Maybe only a couple of hours have passed.

"I guess no one had noticed what happened," Nathan said glancing around "I guess we should call the police," he added as he pulled out his phone.

"Hello 911, where is your emergency?" the voice on the phone asked.

"Hello, there was an attack, at the Pierce Botanical Conservitory. He went crazy, I think some people are badly hurt." Nathan said.

"Who went crazy? Who's hurt?" the man on the other end asked.

"The sculpture Galen. He attacked the guests there for the unveiling of his new exhibit. Some of them are really hurt, they need help," Nathan said.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:54, Sun 07 May 2023.

"Do you know where this Galen is right now?" the man asked.

"We managed to subdue him, and tie him up," Nathan said.

"How many people are hurt?" the man asked.

"I'm not sure, several," Nathan said "People paniced, it was hard to see."

"Alright, we have several emergency vehicles being sent to your location," the man said.

"Understood," Nathan said and ended the call "We have people on the way, hopefully they can help the injured."

"Good, good," Hiyumi said. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Nathan said "This is all so crazy, Did Galen have a studio somewhere in the city?" he asked "I wonder if something there might explain all this"

"He does, but I have no idea," Hiyumi said. "What did that stuff do to him?"

"It seemed to have driven him mad," Nathan said.

"What do you think did it? That dust he was using was pretty crazy," Hiyumi said.

"That might of been it, maybe if we can work out where that dust came from," Nathan suggested.

"We're going to have to wait for the police," Hiyumi said.

Nathan nodded "Yeah, I just hope they can help some of those people," he said.

"I don't know," Hiyumi said as the sounds of many sirens were getting closer.

Nathan sighed "I gotta hope that, after all that," he said softly mostly to himself.

Several police and ambulances arrived, a couple of the police came towards you and Hiyumi.

Nathan makes sure to not make any sudden moves.

"Can you tell us what happened?" the cop asked.

"I was here for the opening," Nathan explained "We were beginning the walk through the biomes in the building when people began screaming, someone was attacking them. But we couldn't tell from which way. We ran into the main area of the building and found Galen he'd just finished putting someone inside the annealing machine." he explained.

"I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound good," the cop said, writing it down.

"We managed to over power him, tie him up. But it was too late for the person in the machine," Nathan explained.

"Okay. We'll need you to stay here and once we determine you're not a perpetrator, we'll get you to sign a statement and leave," the cop said.

"Understood," Nathan said.

Time passes and other cops come over and speak with the one staying by you.

"Okay, I need your names and a contact number, as well as your IDs," he said.

Nathan complied giving his name, phone number and showing his ID.

"You all are free to go, but we'd prefer you don't leave town for a while," the cop said.

Nathan nodded and then breathed a sigh of relief when the police officer left "I'm planning to head back to the hotel I'm staying at. Are you two going to be able to get home okay?" he asked.

"Yes, we'll be fine," Hiyumi said.

"Okay then," Nathan said and headed for his car.

Traffic was pretty light, it was still rather early still. You arrive back at your hotel room with no issue.

Nathan headed up to his room and after locking the door connected his camera up to his laptop and downloaded the photos from it.

You have downloaded all of the pictures successfully. You do have pictures of several of the strange things that were roaming the conservatory.

Nathan starts writing notes on the strange things he saw, and the tried googling glass creatures and similar terms.

Your results was entirely non-animate creatures and monsters made of glass.

After some thought Nathan started to google Galen and see what extra information he could learn about the artist.

You find out that he was very fond of making absolutely bizarre creations. Strange, alien beings were a common subject of his art.

Nathan made some notes, "This is weird," he said to himself as he searched "he must of drew his inspiration from somewhere."

You spend some more time looking and the only mention of his inspirations was in his dreams.

Nathan ordered some room service as he considers what to do next.

About half an hour later there was a knock at your door.

Nathan got up and answered the door.

Your food was there.

Nathan collected his food and headed back into his room.

The rest of the night passed without incident.

The next morning Nathan got up, washed and dressed and then checked his messages.