[Maddoux1]

>>>>>[Well that's the thing, there were no bodies, either.  So, flying over, you'd see the remains of the crash.  There is no paper trail regarding a crash, PCC nor CFS has record of a plane going down there.  Running the numbers comes up with a plane that had been scrapped.  To make someone disappear, you people to know that there was a crash.  Its not even that they buried the crash, Carat would have found that.  No, it was retired, sold to a scrap yard, and placed here.  We're digging around for intel on the scrap yard, maybe that will clue us in on something, but everything that I can think of that they'd fake a crash for, a ten minute walk around clued me that it was not the case.]<<<<<

     --C.E. (12:54:17/08-23-2075)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Maybe it was "scrapped" but they  needed the parts up on that mountain for something so they moved the whole thing there. Or maybe they saw a blood spirit and decided to see if it could survive having a plane land on it. Moving away from how insulted I am that you never called on my back up when dealing with spirits, kid, do you have a better description of the twisted spirit? I don't expect you to have run in to assense it after getting your drone scrapped and everything Ice said is true but... Well i saw some Toxic Shamans over in England once. The Pestilence variety are pretty keen on their bugs. I suggest running a Geiger over anyone and anything that went in physically, disinfecting and getting everyone a wide-band medical test for abnormalities an infections, just in case. Better safe then dead man walking]<<<<<

     --Chrona (20:09:17/08-23-2075)

[Maddoux1]

>>>>>[Yeah, I don't know if you saw the flare up of my Signature, but I was blinded by it when I went Astral.  Everything was wonky there, I felt myself getting pulled towards the mine.  The plane was showing up, the mine shaft was showing up, the control tower even.  I couldn't concentrate on much but trying to get into my body again, I didn't mean to leave ya out.

     When I turned around to get back, it was between me and... me.  Right.  He had no eyes, but teeth like daggers, and a wicked smile.  His arms turned into swords instead of hands.  I couldn't act fast enough, and those swords hurt.  I was coughing up blood when I got to my body, and it materialized.  My team shot it, before I could let Timber know she needed to use killing hands instead of her crossbow.  Still, they hurt it enough that I was able to free it from this world.]<<<<<

     --C.E. (14:44:44/08-23-2075)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[That sounds unnervingly like a Reaper. Are you healing up okay? Get your mentor (The mage in the desert or your Spirit variety) to check out your aura asap. Ice, any other ideas? Bloods are usually more... Gooey.]<<<<<

     --Chrona (20:52:17/08-23-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Agreed, blood spirits typically take on the form of the creature killed in their summoning, albeit oozing blood everywhere. This sounds toxic to me, though I've heard of mages summoning some freaky looking spirits just to instill terror in the people they face. I'm more worried about the fact that the thing nearly blinded you on the astral, and you found yourself getting drawn to the mine. The glowing buildings and plane crash can be described a number of ways, but having your astral form drawn to a place where there are bugs crawling on the walls and signs of human sacrifices is never a good sign. It sounds almost like being on the outer edges of a rift's influence. Thing is, it would have to be a powerful rift, to still affect you through all that material from down in the mine. Let's call that the 'good' option. If it isn't that, and it isn't a new mage overreacting to the emotional content of the astral, then the options get progressively worse from there.

A rift connected to one of the darker metaplanes would also explain the presence of the spirit, if it wasn't summoned and bound to guard the mine. If there are toxic metaplanes (don't ask me, I'm not stupid enough to go looking to find out), this could be a rift to one of those realms. Have your entire team checked out, as Chrona said. And also, did you find any people in the area? People who, say, might have displayed the power to instill fear in those around them, and were able to get up after being shot point blank with a rifle on full auto? The lack of bodies suggests Shedim. And while word is that the path they used to get here is shut, there's still many of them around. I've never seen a shedim's astral form, and I have no desire to. One of those 'worse options' I mentioned before? A honeypot designed to draw in astral travelers, and distract them long enough for a shedim to get their body. In which case, you'd be damn lucky to still be you.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (22:10:34/08-23-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[That would gel with the spirit trying to make it to his meat before his astral form did... Most spirits don't think about our meat enough to differentiate and go after it unless ordered specifically too.I found an old tome, it wasn't easy to get. Think of it like my own segment of the dead sea scrolls. It's taught me a decent amount about the fear that exists beyond the metaplanes. Enough to know we'd all be screwed one on one with anything like that. Glad i made sure you took your whole team now.
The scroll is one of those tomes that you hear about when a twisted mage's biography starts with "He was nice until he started reading", so I have never read the whole thing. The only mage I'd trust trying to go through it with is you, Ice, if you find yourself in Redmond and feel like dropping by the Mord-Haus.]<<<<<

     --Chrona (03:20:17/08-23-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Interesting. Did this tome have a name? I still have some connections in the Tir, and they might be able to track its provenance. Or at least give us a clue of what kind of drek we'd be getting into before we start reading. I have a feeling knowing as much as possible about the book before we start investigating would be a good start, if it is like you say. Incidentally, what language is the tome written in?]<<<<<

--Iceblade (22:34:23/08-23-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Though it is on an early form of paper it's really like Cuneiform languages. It has a few words and phrases analogous to ancient sperethial, which is how i got it translated to the point it is at. It talks about a spirit variety that seems far removed from the metaplanes and much worse than Shadows. I traveled a lot after SK kicked me out of Germany, I found it while teaching myself sorcery in the middle east. It is only a few large pages though. They may not eveen be in the right order. They seem to be from the same tome though based on look, texture, etc. I've had it with me for the longest time, so at-least unlike some ancient blood tomes it doesn't corrupt over time.]<<<<<

     --Chrona (03:51:17/08-23-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Ancient Sperethiel, huh. Hmm. My contacts don't go THAT high, but I'll see if I can get my hands on some translation guides for the Cuneiform languages, as well as ancient Sperethiel. Laying them out side by side, we might be able to piece together the symbols. But worse spirits than Shadows. That reminds me of something I saw when I was with a DIMR expedition to the Lacuna... Well, I can't say more than that on an open channel. But the Lacuna is a very dangerous place, and I've heard rumors of similar places in other parts of the world, as well. Ancient sites brought back as alchera...

Let me get to work on that, Chrona. I'll contact you when I've got the materials together.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (23:01:33/08-23-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Sounds good Ice, this should be a big help, there is only so far I can go with translations when blind and using spirits and logical enhancement spells to make up for the downsides of being a ghoul..]<<<<<

     --Chrona (04:02:17/08-23-2075)

[Silence]

>>>>>[Wolfgar, thanks for the 'link.  Also, do you have a way to get ahold of your contact.  Made some money with a sucker bet involving her, so I figure she should get half.]<<<<<
     --Siouxsie(04:02:15/08-4-75)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Chrona, got the guides. But my friend at the DIMR said the chairman would like a copy of the translation if it turns out to be authentic. Apparently he had a switch set up to notify him when someone pulled this combination of translation guides. My contact knew better than to ask, and I didn't press the issue. That Prince was always well known to be a man of letters, afterall.

I'm on my way to you now. Just passed back into Seattle. Also, if you're feeling hungry, I have a member of the Spikes here who tried to block the road with some of his buddies on my way back. I've got a spirit riding him so he's quiet, for now. His buddies are in much worse shape. If you don't want him, I'll send him off to the Ancients as a 'gift'.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (08:20:22/08-24-75)

[Longshot23]

>>>>> [ . . . . be warned . . . . Azzie spooks more active in Sea-Tac . . . am pursue&%@#] <<<<<

-- Longshot (10:01:31/08-24-2013)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Ah that sounds great Ice, it was almost dinner time. Who is the DIMR chairman now, i don't know many Tir princes by name? I suppose there are worse groups to get their hands on this.]<<<<<

     --Chrona (17:32:17/08-24-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[The DIMR chairman is still Ehran the Scribe, former Prince of Tir Tairngir. Those who roamed the old Shadowland would know him as Wordsmyth. I grew up hearing all sorts of rumors about him, and some of the other princes. People in the highest circles called them Elders with respect, but I think only a handful of them even they knew why. But they are all incredibly powerful mages. As a note, the former deputy chair of the Draco Foundation, Aina Dupree, and one of the main actors in that recent chaos in Denver, Harlequin, were also considered Elders by those same people. My sister knew more, being a servant of Prince Hestaby, but she kept her mistress's secrets well, even to her death.

This translation is difficult. Even the Sperethiel parts are very different from what is in use today. I believe this is called 'drift' by linguists. Anyways, by comparing the symbols used in the different languages, we're starting to piece together the words. Right now, we're just getting the basic translation done, and then we'll try adjusting for sentence structure and context. Too difficult (and potentially dangerous) to do all that at once.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (10:34:12/08-25-75)