Keepers and Hunters: Eric Fattig, Karen Twelves, Adrienne Mueller, Sean Nittner
System: Monster of the Week
Supplement: Tome of Mysteries
Campaign Overview
Overview of the entire campaign here: Agents of Cisra
Adventure Log
AKA UC Davis Blues
The team is reviewing files when some names jump out at them: Rose Marie Wenton is a former colleague of Mordecai’s at Caltech who is quoted in a piece on campus demonstration at UC Davis. Robin Harding—a former neighbor of Jessica from when she was married, as well as a member of the Animal Freedom Militia—is quoted in some pieces implying her group’s participation in some break-ins at the primate center. And Chris Lam, a former high school boyfriend of Stasia, pops up in the obituary section. Maliq also notes a string of strange deaths and other crimes, including chimps being stolen from the Primate center
Stasia has a vision of various locations around the UC Davis campus: Bainer hall, Haring Hall, and Shields Library as seen from the perspective of a security guard: P. Brooks, based on the namebadge. The guard is surprised by something out of the corner of her eye and set upon by figures that pummel her.
The party flies into Sacramento International Airport. Romeo has arranged for a rental car and lodgings—a little nicer than is actually within Cisra’s budget, but Romeo will figure that out eventually. The party goes over their leads over breakfast and decides to split up.
Mordecai drops in to visit his old colleague Rose Marie who’s gone up in the world. Four floors up, to be precise, just underneath the Chancellor’s office. Security is unusually heightened, but Mordecai looks respectable enough that he talks his way through to Rose Marie’s office. She’s delighted to see him, albeit a bit surprised.
Jessica, meanwhile, drops in on her old friend. A little digital detective work by Maliq points to a vegan cafe/speakeasy that’s frequented by the activist clique. Jessica stands out a bit, but she makes her way through. She approaches her old neighbor Robin, who’s changed quite a bit. She looks more haggard and is sporting a much more “hippy” style. The two exchange tense words; Robin clearly views Jessica as “the man”. She’s not wrong, either, but Jessica tries to defuse the situation by talking about their shared history. Robin opens up, admitting that they’re searching for the chimps too, although she’s clearly not being fully forthcoming. The AFM is worried that the chimps will wind up in a private collection instead, suggesting that they don’t know where they are. Jessica and Stasia push Robin, agitating her colleague Amy. Robin won’t budge, but Jessica is unwilling to arrest her to force the issue.
Rose Marie confides to Mordecai that there was a murder on campus; a security guard was beaten to death. Mordecai tries to get more information out of her, but she mistakes his intentions as romantic. Mordecai winds up leaving only realizing when it’s too late that he’s accidentally committed to a date that evening.
Stasia tries to talk her way into finding out who P. Brooks is at the security office. She learns that Pauline Brooks is a janitor, not a security guard, and her shift starts at 6 that night. The officer behind the desk is reluctant to give Pauline’s information even to an “FBI” agent. The ranking officer steps out from the offices and pulls Stasia aside to ask if this has anything to do with Chris Lam—also a janitor, it turns out— being murdered. Jessica steps in to provide the extra ounce of gravitas that’s required, and the officer gives them Pauline’s number.
Stasia gives Pauline a call and asks her to come in immediately. When she comes in, Stasia drills her on her work routine. Pauline’s regular path takes her near many of the recent break-ins and close to where Chris was murdered. She and Stasia eventually hone in on the spot where her vision will happen. It’s near Haring hall. Stasia asks her to stay home, which she agrees to do.
The party goes to Haring hall to scout out the future murder site. Mordecai tries to bluster his way in, but accidentally causes a scene during a chem lab and flees in shame. The party relies on plan B (for burglarly) and sneaks in instead. They find the lab of Dr. Karen Waithy, who is studying prosthetics that can be controlled directly with neural impulses. Mordecai puts on one of the control caps and notices a slight high pitched whine at the edge of his hearing (ominous). The party determines that something (apes?) has gained access to these prosthetics and is using them for ill…
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