He nods. "I think so. Not many people need maps here, with GPS taking over, but I think I have a few." He digs through the back room, coming out with a dusty mapbook of the local area. "Well, places to visit and avoid depend on your tastes, right?" He smirks, as the researcher pays. "If you're a tourist, I'm sure you'll love the old churches and castles, plus, there's a vineyard if you like wine." He leans in. "Of course, there's also another 'attraction' that might be worth visiting or avoiding. How do you feel about ghosts?" He grins.
"O-Oh... R-Right, like this." Thinking that he hasn't realised, Helga presses herself against the benchtop to try and keep away from the 'garbage man's' cock. After an awkward moment, the doorbell rings, and she moves to get out from in front of Mori. "O-Oh, that must be my friend. I'll go get the door."
Miriam took a quick look to make sure the map was what she needed, then paid for it and listened to what the young man was saying. “Hmm, the vineyard sounds interesting... as for ghosts, I've never seen a real one, only fakes used by locals to scare naive tourists, so I really can't say. Why, is there some supposedly-haunted place nearby?” She inquired, curious if this had something to do with the elder man's reaction.
Her voice echoes in the darkness, as she moves forwards blindly. Natasha suddenly hears something, a voice, a whisper, as a small draft picks up. "Leave this place..." Straining her ears, she struggles to make out the words.
"At least enough to cover travel and expenses, of course," Dylan replied as he began to reach into his bag, rooting around for something and pulling out what looked to be a golden choker with ancient runes along it and a large blue sapphire on the front, "And maybe try this on for me, would you? I've been trying to find someone who deserves this and I'm curious to see if it'll be a good fit for someone like you." The choker was an occult experiment of his. Worked out from notes here and there of similar rituals and similar designs across the world, it was said the person who put this kind of choker on would be "bound in submissiveness" to the one who gave it to them. If it did not work, he was just out a pretty looking bauble. If it did... well... there was something to be said for the opportunity to put rich bitches like this in their place.
Natasha tried to locate where coming from these voice. "I would like to do it, but I don't where is exite." She said checking her pants for lighting or fire maker.
Noticing her trying to move away, Mori gently thrusts forward, letting her feel his fat belly, and the outline of his equally fat cock on her back, and her ass. But, as the door rang, "Ah, yes, I'll make dinner. I'll call for you two when it's ready." Mori said as he moves away, giving her an innocent smile as if he hasn't done anything weird. Once Helga goes to greet her friend, he starts preparing the curry, adding the aphrodisiac as a special flavoring.
"Heh." The shopkeeper chuckles, as Miriam finds that the map is satisfactory. "There's an old Roman ruin near the coast." Deciding that he's got a listener, the young man leans in to tell the story. "This goes back to Mussolini's time. You know how Benito and his boys considered themselves the heirs to the Romans, right? Well, back in the 30's, they were sending team after the team of archaeologists here to dig up Roman sites all over Sicily. A team of scientists and soldiers came to this town, and began rounding people up to go dig up the ruins. One by one, people would be taken away in trucks, only they'd never return. People here thought that the fascists were killing them, and it wasn't a bad guess, but not long after, the archaeological team started going missing, too. Soon they were all gone, as if they'd never existed in the first place. Mussolini sent a few more teams in, and like the first, they all went missing. Soon enough, people got the message, and stopped going to that place."
“I see...” Miriam nodded, thoughtful. “Thank you for sharing, it is quite an interesting story. If I am near the ruin in question I will be sure to take a look... from a safe distance – no need to tempt fate, even if I don't believe in ghosts.” She smiled at the young man. “Thank you for the map. That is all I need right now, but I will come back if there's anything else I need to buy. Have a nice day.” She finished with a polite smile and, unless the young man had more to say, headed back to where her boss was waiting for her while holding tightly the newly-purchased map.
“Um, I see. I don’t want to waste your time. I think I got it.” Grabbing the supplies, “Clarrise” would wait until she was alone before cleaning the bedrooms, checking out the windows to see which room looked like there was enough ledges to climb. She could prop a window open for when she comes back later without much trouble and it was likely to go unnoticed. Plus, very few people ever put security cameras in their bedrooms. After that, she could wash the hallway walls, running along them until she came across a fuse box. She had to reason that these security measures would be on a independent backup generator instead of tied to the main power.
Spoiler: Speech Roll D100: 86-10 (Antisocial)=76 (Pass) "Hmph, I suppose. It's a little nice, I guess." The rich woman shrugs. "I mean, not as nice as what's already in my collection, but I suppose it's worth seein' how it fits." She takes the necklace and fits it around her neck. Spoiler: Occult Roll D100: 42+10=52 (Minor Success) "Mmh..." She touches the necklace, looking in a mirror. "You know... This is actually really pretty. Thanks." She smiles. "Sorry if I was a bit rude earlier. I guess my pa didn't raise me right." Dylan wonders what went wrong. Clearly the jewellery has some power, it's noticeably softened the heiress' opinion of him, but it hasn't made her the wanton submissive slave he wanted either. Maybe he read the runes wrong? Was there another step involved?
The voices don't seem to have heard her, or don't seem to care, repeating the words over and over. Turning on her lighter, she sees that she's in a hall filled with pillars, a massive hall. The light isn't strong enough for her to see how high the ceiling is above her.
Natasha slowly walk by the hall, what remains her Moria from lord of the rings. She walk to closest pillar and made arrow by her combat knife, to awoid walking in circles. Next she walk forward, numbering pillars in her head, to get any idea how far she go.
Mori hears a small "Eep!" from the blonde as she feels his cock, but she doesn't mention it, seemingly taking the 'pretend it never happened' strategy. With no one in the kitchen, he's able to spike the food at his leisure, though given that it's all being cooked in the same pot, Mori realises that he'll be affected too, if he eats. After a few moments, Helga returns, a girl of similar age by her side, in a cheerleader uniform. Though she's very similar to Helga in proportions, Mori notes that the new girl seems a bit more worldly in her demeanor than the innocent Swede. Maybe less sheltered? Either way, Mori soon imagines her being fucked. "Laura, this is Suzuki-san. Suzuki-san, this is my best friend, Laura." Helga smiles a she introduces the two. "Er, yeah..." Laura looks at Mori with furrowed brows. "Helga, could we talk for a moment? In private?" The brunette pulls away the blonde. Eavesdropping, Mori gets snippets of the conversation. "Helga, what the hell? You can't just let creepy guys into your home!" "He's not creepy! He's nice, and helpful." "Yeah, I wonder why a fatso like him would be helping out a beautiful blonde like you? Jesus, you're naive." "And you're prejudiced! Just because he's old doesn't mean he's a creep!"
"Heh, let me know if you make it out...alive." He grins, before watching her leave. Melinda is still at the car, ineffectually trying to reboot the GPS. "Damn thing... Oh, you got a map! Good, we'll jut use that instead. Back in the day, maps and compasses were the only tools we had, so it shouldn't be a problem to find the ruin."
Mori grins as his plan slowly comes to fruition, and knowing he'll be sharing the same food. He already figured out a way of letting the two women eat first. That was, until he saw Laura. Taking note of her demeanor, the smuggler smiles, bowing low. "Greetings, I am Suzuki Rentaro. I hope you'll enjoy the dinner I have prepared with the Ojou-chan." He said in a subservient tone, just as she drags the blond away. Mori of course takes it upon himself to eavesdrop, Oho? It seems Laura-chan's a bit more careful. Hehe. This should be fun. He thinks to himself, his cock throbbing within his pants. But, still acting like a kind old man, Suzuki calls for them. "Ojou-chan, the meal will be ready in twenty minutes. Might I trouble you to show me where the plates... and the dining room is?" He said with a smile.
Helene shrugs, not stopping Katherine. The 'maid' has ample time to survey some of the rooms, and notes that many of the windows have ledges outside, and the upper floor bedrooms have balconies. She'll be at risk going on the ledges, but she has training and experience, so it probably won't be a huge problem. Spoiler: Awareness Roll D100: 65 (Pass) Washing the walls, the thief realises that someone has clearly anticipated what she's planning to do. The wire is carefully hidden, even for her, and it leads back to a room beyond a closed door, where she assumes the fuse box is located. The lock is nothing, she can pick it easily, but that's not the problem. She can hear the crackle of a guard's radio on the other side.
Using the clever method, she manages to keep herself going in a single direction. Luckily, there don't seem to be any illusions or strange happenings making her go in circles or losing her place. Unfortunately, she doesn't find an exit any time soon - she lost count by pillar 266. Suddenly, she sees something, a flicker of movement at the edge of the firelight. As the faint sight of a woman's head disappears into the darkness, she hears the person's footsteps echoing as they run. Natasha can follow, of course, but if she did, she'd be abandoning the straight path she was on and risking getting lost.
“No luck with the GPS, I see. Well, let's give 'navigating by map' a try, then.” Miriam smiled as she handed the map to her boss and got in, then waited for her boss to examine the map and choose their route. Once they were in the car and – hopefully - on the way to the ruin Miriam shared her conversation with the shop clerk. “So it seems my earlier guess was on point. The locals are superstitious because of what happened, believing the place to be haunted. While I don't believe in ghosts I do think we should be careful – something caused all these people to disappear, after all... but as long as we stay together and do not split up we will be fine.” She finished with a confident smile.
"Of course!" Helga smiles. "Come with me." She leads the older man to the plate drawer, as well as the dining room in the next room. "Um, I'm not really hungry, so I'll skip dinner, thanks." Laura says wryly, as Helga leads Mori off.
