Not Quite Lovecraft

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I'd read it here for expediency purposes.. but the plague. We might also need to make specific preparations. I'm fine with reading it here as well to spring into action right away.

If we want to stack our investigation rolls, I have an idea.. this investigation goose chase ends now.

[X] Read it at the hotel
-[X] Read it with Emily opening a portal in your room
-[X] Phone Jackson and use his folklorist expertise
 
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Thing I am worried about is that if we caught the plague then going back to our hotel will spread it more.

Plus if we are on a timer then less time spent traveling will also help. If we need to make any more preparations we can travel then.

[X]Read it there
 
We really should have involved Jackson from the beginning. He'd be able to unearth more details about the cave thing in India. The folklorist part of his background completely slipped my mind. With his help we might be able to narrow down our investigation past the red herrings from the professor's other trips that are not related to the current predicament.
 
[X] Read it at the hotel
-[X] Read it with Emily opening a portal in your room
-[X] Phone Jackson and use his folklorist expertise
 
Vote closed
Between the Lines
You sat down and began to read through the manuscript to the best of your ability. The messy style of notes mixed with occasional questions and expansions did not make it particularly easy to read. You could at least tell that the stories were based around his initial trip to India that lead to Professor Herbert's recovery of the necronomicon copy. It spoke of speaking with the locals, the traditions, and trips that were made through less hospitable environments. Occasional notes broke in about expanding on one particular story or another, and the crafts that were available.

There were several questions about what happened with the professor's last trip to India, and whether or not it would be appropriate to be included considering what had happened. An entire debate on the subject covered several pages, written in the margins and edges of the manuscript. The professor had clearly tried to shut this down several times only to be engaged again in debate.

It was an interesting read, and you found yourself being drawn in by the description of local crafts. It sounded like something you may wish to learn more about, and perhaps even paint. Overall however, the manuscript was...lacking. There was a clear lead up to the Royal Vault, before the manuscript cut off to speaking about his trip home.

[ ]Visit the professor's home
[ ]Search the neighborhood for possible plague sources
[ ]Write-in
 
[x]Visit the professor's home

Depsite the risk to sanity, I think this is the best way of separating out the possibility of the plague being unrelated, or the source of it having left the house. I don't think that's at all likely, but wasting time kills and I think identifying something about the underlying source or effect has reached the point of risks being worth it.
 
[X]Visit the professor's home
-[X] Put on earplugs before you enter
-[X] Have Water of Forgiveness in your hand ready to be used at a moment's notice

[x]Visit the professor's home

Depsite the risk to sanity, I think this is the best way of separating out the possibility of the plague being unrelated, or the source of it having left the house. I don't think that's at all likely, but wasting time kills and I think identifying something about the underlying source or effect has reached the point of risks being worth it.

The investigation really went nowhere at all. I don't think we've ever had this much trouble ever before when delving into something.

The timeline so far.. Goes to India. Uncovers ancient Royal Vault. There was a cave-in and multiple students died. Professor brought back something and among them was a Chinese doll? The Necronomicon papers indirectly involved that set him off. Our glimpse gave us the eldritch animal shifting spell and many limbed monstrosity summoning.. We don't know what the professor saw. There is a chant involved. The entity holds him in place for months.
 
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That's not ominous at all haha.

Well I think we might be dealing with a potential guardian spirit. Brahma-Raksash/Brahmadayito.. They function as temple guardians and sometimes took resident in artifacts. Wish granting like a genie in the tales, but other times casually violent and wringing necks and hanging bodies on trees.. Doesn't explain the plague though. Perhaps a temple curse. Perhaps Jokkho instead who are associated with underground treasures and have overlap with Brahmadayito?

Could this be the entity in Peru manifesting? We only sealed one aspect of them and didn't deal with them conclusively..
 
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[X]Visit the professor's home

Perhaps it will be either something entirely mundane, a complete red herring, or something utterly unrelated to everything else we investigated?

I admit I am not really putting together the pieces here. Everything seems too disjointed to form a full picture.
 
[X]Visit the professor's home
-[X] Put on earplugs before you enter
-[X] Have Water of Forgiveness in your hand ready to be used at a moment's notice
 
The investigation really went nowhere at all. I don't think we've ever had this much trouble ever before when delving into something.

The timeline so far.. Goes to India. Uncovers ancient Royal Vault. There was a cave-in and multiple students died. Professor brought back something and among them was a Chinese doll? The Necronomicon papers indirectly involved that set him off. Our glimpse gave us the eldritch animal shifting spell and many limbed monstrosity summoning.. We don't know what the professor saw. There is a chant involved. The entity holds him in place for months.

Well I think we might be dealing with a potential guardian spirit. Brahma-Raksash/Brahmadayito.. They function as temple guardians and sometimes took resident in artifacts. Wish granting like a genie in the tales, but other times casually violent and wringing necks and hanging bodies on trees.. Doesn't explain the plague though. Perhaps a temple curse. Perhaps Jokkho instead who are associated with underground treasures and have overlap with Brahmadayito?

Could this be the entity in Peru manifesting? We only sealed one aspect of them and didn't deal with them conclusively..
Good summary and hypothesizing.
I'd suggest one other layer of assessment, now that you've got me thinking.

"How do you sort out the liars?" - Mad Eye Moody

If the evidence is contradictory or inconclusive, perhaps a piece of evidence is misleading by intent or happenstance. On the assumption that the vote options themselves cannot lie, the necronomicon is a source of knowledge/power. Everything else is in story, and therefore could be a lie.

For example, the professor is actively causing the plague and faking insanity. He stayed home for months, attempting some long term ritual that failed. The backlash of that failure messed him up publicly and he was institutionalized. Now he's starting again from the asylum, while his acolytes send us on merry chases into his trapped home.

Alternatively, the professor's colleague used the professor as a guinea pig, tricking the professor in serving as a filter and note-taker for getting a particular ritual out of the necronomicon.

Or the neighbor is the cause of the plague, after discovering hidden notes on a ritual within the chinadoll, and used the professor as a test subject.


We only have to flunk one "Sense Motive" check to fail to note suspicious behavior from among our suspects. I don't have a theory I like yet, but I figured I could share.
 
[X]Visit the professor's home
-[X] Put on earplugs before you enter
-[X] Have Water of Forgiveness in your hand ready to be used at a moment's notice
 
Good summary and hypothesizing.
I'd suggest one other layer of assessment, now that you've got me thinking.

"How do you sort out the liars?" - Mad Eye Moody

If the evidence is contradictory or inconclusive, perhaps a piece of evidence is misleading by intent or happenstance. On the assumption that the vote options themselves cannot lie, the necronomicon is a source of knowledge/power. Everything else is in story, and therefore could be a lie.

For example, the professor is actively causing the plague and faking insanity. He stayed home for months, attempting some long term ritual that failed. The backlash of that failure messed him up publicly and he was institutionalized. Now he's starting again from the asylum, while his acolytes send us on merry chases into his trapped home.

Alternatively, the professor's colleague used the professor as a guinea pig, tricking the professor in serving as a filter and note-taker for getting a particular ritual out of the necronomicon.

Or the neighbor is the cause of the plague, after discovering hidden notes on a ritual within the chinadoll, and used the professor as a test subject.


We only have to flunk one "Sense Motive" check to fail to note suspicious behavior from among our suspects. I don't have a theory I like yet, but I figured I could share.
This actually does make a lot of sense. We definitely shouldn't take things at face value.. We have no reason completely trust the Professor who might be potentially the culprit. Death of the students isn't seating well with me. There's a public record of the other professor getting into a fight with him so we can probably rule him out as an accomplice. The neighbour could be a thrall, but really feels more like a bystander who got caught seeing he's visibly sick. You know, for maximum safety in case we do fail a Roll and get trapped we should let Emily and Jackson know just in case. So they can attempt to disrupt bindings? Presumably Emily knows all about this already and she has already have a metting with Jackson. If she figures out telephones she can call Jackson to look for Oliver.
 
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[X]Visit the professor's home
-[X] Put on earplugs before you enter
-[X] Have Water of Forgiveness in your hand ready to be used at a moment's notice
 
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