Offensive Magic Building Investigations Summary
Just wanted to let you all know, I've sent a summary of what I've discovered on campus to my parole officer. I'm hoping the cavalry shows up soon, or at least that some of the restrictions get taken off my parole so I can investigate further or intervene, but one never knows with bureaucracy. To save typing, I'm just pasting it here so you all know what's going on.
To: Parole Officer Aaron Richardson.
From: Subject #14822, Codename Ash, real name Aiko Kimura (American name order)
Subj: Polymagic University and Mary Parker Academy-- preliminary investigation report.
Executive Summary:
Several members of the faculty are clearly in collusion with an unknown, possibly governmental force leading experiments on the unsuspecting student body. The contents of these experiments are unknown, but the facility involved is on the main campus and involves a relatively un-guarded permanent transfiguration trap that changes students into squirrels. Given the life-expectancy of squirrels, I believe this trap constitutes what is known as a "Lethal hazard" on my parole agreement. As such, I request permission to unseal level two magical abilities, especially the ability to control greater undead, whom I believe would be instrumental to dismantling this lethal hazard. Alternatively, intervention by yourselves to break up this criminally negligent activity would suffice, though obviously I'd enjoy smiting the bad guys myself more.
Details:
Problem Statement:
Though I come to every campus suspicious, my suspicion first was piqued in a specific direction with the announcement that the school's offensive magic building was closed due to a "broken water main". While this was not suspicious in and of itself, the faculty's response to my offer to help explore/clear the building through the use of autonomous undead was-- they said "The workers are very skilled and can handle the situation." However, I never saw construction workers enter or leave the building at normal union hours, nor take numerous smoke- and lunch-breaks as would be expected. But maybe that just meant they were using golems or underpaid Mexicans (which behave very similarly to golems). In addition, they warned that the building was "very dangerous" to students. However, beyond that warning, no significant steps were taken to visibly shore it up, or to keep students from approaching. Almost as if they wanted the students to come in and investigate.
Sure enough, within two days I was finding reports in the school's live-journal community that students had gone in to explore and not come out. Two days later, one student did come out-- he had been transformed, permanently (i.e. a similar amount of transformational magic was required to undo the change rather than simple dispelling) into a squirrel. Needless to say, with the number of cat familiars (and girls who think that squirrels are tastey? Must be an American thing) on campus, I was very concerned, and immediately began framing plans for my own investigation, and discouraging students from investigating on their own. I was not entirely successful-- your own Charles Carroll, whom you're considering for service with the FBI, was changed into a squirrel while attempting to keep his younger sister out of danger on site.
That very week, however, a portion of my lecture class went missing. I believe it was about 10%. It's unclear to me whether this was a representative sample. My lectures always seem to bring out the more inquisitive, protagonist-like students on a campus. Also, one of the faculty-- Professor Jones-- has been missing for a week and a half now.
First Investigation:
In any case, by the end of the week I'd found students with the appropriate talents, and as a group, we launched a remote-operated probe into the affected facility. The probe was changed into a squirrel and kept going further inside, at which point it was teleported into a cage, most likely further inside the offensive magics building. There were hundreds of other cages inside, many of which were occupied by squirrels. I can only assume that the missing portion of the student body (and the missing professor) was trapped in this facility. There were both magical and non-magical laboratory equipment present in large quantities, and both technicians and mages present. As a technician noticed our plant among their test subjects, we were forced to detonate it to hide the evidence. However, stationed in a nearby tree, I did notice Professor Melissa Janke exit the building, looking quite upset. No doubt looking for who had just infiltrated the facility. She is one of the three primary suspects so far, though as I have earlier stated, it is unclear to me just how much of the faculty is complicit in this fraud.
The investigative unit consisted of one digital camera, one wireless computer, one Analogue-to-USB transceiver, one ragdoll (which was later turned into a squirrel), one very-delayed-blast fireball, and a custom spell known as "puppet strings" used to animate the ragdoll. Oh, and some duct tape. My co-conspirators were fellow students Jake Savage jake_savage and Maria Smitty mariamurgatroyd . Jake donated the camera, as my current tutoring activities and meager stipend are insufficient to afford electronic equipment, while Maria developed the puppet strings spell. The laptop is my own, recovered from a stash from before my arrest-- if you want to look it over, you are of course welcome to, as mandated by terms of the parole. But I will know by the sounds of horrified shrieking if you've looked at my fanfic.
Second Investigation:
As a result of the first investigation, I believed a large portion of the student body to be in roach-motel like danger. It was critical that I gain irrefutable proof that the students were indeed being transformed into squirrels and either captured or left to fend for themselves. As such, I sought out a copy of Libris Mortis (one of the premier tomes on the application of necromantic magic), since my limitation to Seal Level 1 forbids me from accessing the powers granted to me by my dark and nameless god. I eventually was able to (with help left anonymous to protect the innocent) obtain a copy of this book and teach myself the soul detection spell, which I believe will be sufficient to identify transformed students from ordinary squirrels. I am in the process of teaching my students this spell now, and hope to have a large number of formerly-human squirrels to present to the headmaster as evidence before the end of the week. And also transform back to themselves before they forget what being human was like. I think their families would be relieved to know that at least someone on campus is making an organized search after their children.
Sorry, was I getting righteous ire all over your investigative report? My bad.
In any case, to teach this spell to my class, I solicited the services of a ghost. However, in the process of doing so, I came across three students who had just defeated a hungry spirit-demon that they believed has consumed a small town nearby within the past two weeks. I am not so certain. The residents of the town were all missing, and there was no sign of panic, which meant they all departed simultaneously. They left their clothes, however. The simultaneity implies a vastly powerful spirit, which strikes me as being beyond the means of those students to defeat. My suspicion is that the town populace was squirrel-fied and teleported, just as the students have been. Since clothes are vastly too large for squirrels, they would've been left in place, while the squirrels were teleported without them.
The evidence isn't conclusive, and a proper forensic wizard will have to make the final determination, but it's worth checking out. I have attached GPS coordinates of the village in question to this letter. Bring weapons-- the forest is haunted by not-entirely-friendly creatures.
On my return trip, I was able to befriend and enlist the services of one of the less dangerous spirits, who, in return for the promise of pitching in to help protect the students, and for the attention (this spirit was something of a ham) agreed to help participate in my lecture and also check out the interior of the offensive magics building. Being incorporeal, the spirit was able to easily pass through solid objects and thus bypass (from below) the wards on the building. She discovered that the interior is filled with magical and non-magical equipment. She was not able to penetrate all the way to the squirrel room, but the layout was similar, indicating that they are likely part of the same building. She also found storage crates marked "U.S. Army", which I find deeply troubling. Could this be stolen military equipment? If so, expect considerable resistance penetrating the area. Though I was thinking, if we could somehow trigger the squirrel ward on the entire building while disarming, rounding up the occupants might be trivial.
Finally, she was able to identify two more professors inside the building. Myron Jakovic (already under suspicion for other suspicious behavior) and James Wayne.
That's right, the entire school's transformation department. If one of them were safe, I would be having a much easier time of this, but as it is, in the process of rescuing students, I just know I'm going to come under their suspicion. Do you have any anti-transformative artifacts or enchantments you could place on me to protect me from them? Heck, they could just have me shot if they have military equipment. You know I don't hold my life in that high regard, but without my guidance, I fear the students who have been helping me may do something rash rather than calling on proper authorities. It's what people do when the proper chain of command is disrupted.
Future Efforts:
Once my class knows how to detect souls in squirrels, I expect to flood the nurse's office with transformed students. I'll then make a formal plea for help to the headmaster. His reaction will tell me how much of the school is involved in this plot, I'm hoping. I'm bringing Sebastian Claves smashingrequiem (yes, that Claves family) to the office with me, in hopes that his important family connections will make eliminating us not-an-option for the headmaster. He is fully aware of the situation and willing to take the risk with me.
Pending that investigation, I have no further plans at the moment, and require direction by your office. I will of course continue my cover of teaching a forensic necromancy class. I must note that, unlike the death-eater-survivors case from last year, the student body as of yet shows no signs of collusion with the enemy. It seems like a crime by adults upon students, rather than or more general infection of black magic. As such, other investigators may be better suited towards following up on this case.
There is presently no evidence that my former employers are involved yet, though as always, I'm keeping my eyes open.
Yours, (not necessarily by choice)
Ash, the ex-Instigator.
To: Parole Officer Aaron Richardson.
From: Subject #14822, Codename Ash, real name Aiko Kimura (American name order)
Subj: Polymagic University and Mary Parker Academy-- preliminary investigation report.
Executive Summary:
Several members of the faculty are clearly in collusion with an unknown, possibly governmental force leading experiments on the unsuspecting student body. The contents of these experiments are unknown, but the facility involved is on the main campus and involves a relatively un-guarded permanent transfiguration trap that changes students into squirrels. Given the life-expectancy of squirrels, I believe this trap constitutes what is known as a "Lethal hazard" on my parole agreement. As such, I request permission to unseal level two magical abilities, especially the ability to control greater undead, whom I believe would be instrumental to dismantling this lethal hazard. Alternatively, intervention by yourselves to break up this criminally negligent activity would suffice, though obviously I'd enjoy smiting the bad guys myself more.
Details:
Problem Statement:
Though I come to every campus suspicious, my suspicion first was piqued in a specific direction with the announcement that the school's offensive magic building was closed due to a "broken water main". While this was not suspicious in and of itself, the faculty's response to my offer to help explore/clear the building through the use of autonomous undead was-- they said "The workers are very skilled and can handle the situation." However, I never saw construction workers enter or leave the building at normal union hours, nor take numerous smoke- and lunch-breaks as would be expected. But maybe that just meant they were using golems or underpaid Mexicans (which behave very similarly to golems). In addition, they warned that the building was "very dangerous" to students. However, beyond that warning, no significant steps were taken to visibly shore it up, or to keep students from approaching. Almost as if they wanted the students to come in and investigate.
Sure enough, within two days I was finding reports in the school's live-journal community that students had gone in to explore and not come out. Two days later, one student did come out-- he had been transformed, permanently (i.e. a similar amount of transformational magic was required to undo the change rather than simple dispelling) into a squirrel. Needless to say, with the number of cat familiars (and girls who think that squirrels are tastey? Must be an American thing) on campus, I was very concerned, and immediately began framing plans for my own investigation, and discouraging students from investigating on their own. I was not entirely successful-- your own Charles Carroll, whom you're considering for service with the FBI, was changed into a squirrel while attempting to keep his younger sister out of danger on site.
That very week, however, a portion of my lecture class went missing. I believe it was about 10%. It's unclear to me whether this was a representative sample. My lectures always seem to bring out the more inquisitive, protagonist-like students on a campus. Also, one of the faculty-- Professor Jones-- has been missing for a week and a half now.
First Investigation:
In any case, by the end of the week I'd found students with the appropriate talents, and as a group, we launched a remote-operated probe into the affected facility. The probe was changed into a squirrel and kept going further inside, at which point it was teleported into a cage, most likely further inside the offensive magics building. There were hundreds of other cages inside, many of which were occupied by squirrels. I can only assume that the missing portion of the student body (and the missing professor) was trapped in this facility. There were both magical and non-magical laboratory equipment present in large quantities, and both technicians and mages present. As a technician noticed our plant among their test subjects, we were forced to detonate it to hide the evidence. However, stationed in a nearby tree, I did notice Professor Melissa Janke exit the building, looking quite upset. No doubt looking for who had just infiltrated the facility. She is one of the three primary suspects so far, though as I have earlier stated, it is unclear to me just how much of the faculty is complicit in this fraud.
The investigative unit consisted of one digital camera, one wireless computer, one Analogue-to-USB transceiver, one ragdoll (which was later turned into a squirrel), one very-delayed-blast fireball, and a custom spell known as "puppet strings" used to animate the ragdoll. Oh, and some duct tape. My co-conspirators were fellow students Jake Savage jake_savage and Maria Smitty mariamurgatroyd . Jake donated the camera, as my current tutoring activities and meager stipend are insufficient to afford electronic equipment, while Maria developed the puppet strings spell. The laptop is my own, recovered from a stash from before my arrest-- if you want to look it over, you are of course welcome to, as mandated by terms of the parole. But I will know by the sounds of horrified shrieking if you've looked at my fanfic.
Second Investigation:
As a result of the first investigation, I believed a large portion of the student body to be in roach-motel like danger. It was critical that I gain irrefutable proof that the students were indeed being transformed into squirrels and either captured or left to fend for themselves. As such, I sought out a copy of Libris Mortis (one of the premier tomes on the application of necromantic magic), since my limitation to Seal Level 1 forbids me from accessing the powers granted to me by my dark and nameless god. I eventually was able to (with help left anonymous to protect the innocent) obtain a copy of this book and teach myself the soul detection spell, which I believe will be sufficient to identify transformed students from ordinary squirrels. I am in the process of teaching my students this spell now, and hope to have a large number of formerly-human squirrels to present to the headmaster as evidence before the end of the week. And also transform back to themselves before they forget what being human was like. I think their families would be relieved to know that at least someone on campus is making an organized search after their children.
Sorry, was I getting righteous ire all over your investigative report? My bad.
In any case, to teach this spell to my class, I solicited the services of a ghost. However, in the process of doing so, I came across three students who had just defeated a hungry spirit-demon that they believed has consumed a small town nearby within the past two weeks. I am not so certain. The residents of the town were all missing, and there was no sign of panic, which meant they all departed simultaneously. They left their clothes, however. The simultaneity implies a vastly powerful spirit, which strikes me as being beyond the means of those students to defeat. My suspicion is that the town populace was squirrel-fied and teleported, just as the students have been. Since clothes are vastly too large for squirrels, they would've been left in place, while the squirrels were teleported without them.
The evidence isn't conclusive, and a proper forensic wizard will have to make the final determination, but it's worth checking out. I have attached GPS coordinates of the village in question to this letter. Bring weapons-- the forest is haunted by not-entirely-friendly creatures.
On my return trip, I was able to befriend and enlist the services of one of the less dangerous spirits, who, in return for the promise of pitching in to help protect the students, and for the attention (this spirit was something of a ham) agreed to help participate in my lecture and also check out the interior of the offensive magics building. Being incorporeal, the spirit was able to easily pass through solid objects and thus bypass (from below) the wards on the building. She discovered that the interior is filled with magical and non-magical equipment. She was not able to penetrate all the way to the squirrel room, but the layout was similar, indicating that they are likely part of the same building. She also found storage crates marked "U.S. Army", which I find deeply troubling. Could this be stolen military equipment? If so, expect considerable resistance penetrating the area. Though I was thinking, if we could somehow trigger the squirrel ward on the entire building while disarming, rounding up the occupants might be trivial.
Finally, she was able to identify two more professors inside the building. Myron Jakovic (already under suspicion for other suspicious behavior) and James Wayne.
That's right, the entire school's transformation department. If one of them were safe, I would be having a much easier time of this, but as it is, in the process of rescuing students, I just know I'm going to come under their suspicion. Do you have any anti-transformative artifacts or enchantments you could place on me to protect me from them? Heck, they could just have me shot if they have military equipment. You know I don't hold my life in that high regard, but without my guidance, I fear the students who have been helping me may do something rash rather than calling on proper authorities. It's what people do when the proper chain of command is disrupted.
Future Efforts:
Once my class knows how to detect souls in squirrels, I expect to flood the nurse's office with transformed students. I'll then make a formal plea for help to the headmaster. His reaction will tell me how much of the school is involved in this plot, I'm hoping. I'm bringing Sebastian Claves smashingrequiem (yes, that Claves family) to the office with me, in hopes that his important family connections will make eliminating us not-an-option for the headmaster. He is fully aware of the situation and willing to take the risk with me.
Pending that investigation, I have no further plans at the moment, and require direction by your office. I will of course continue my cover of teaching a forensic necromancy class. I must note that, unlike the death-eater-survivors case from last year, the student body as of yet shows no signs of collusion with the enemy. It seems like a crime by adults upon students, rather than or more general infection of black magic. As such, other investigators may be better suited towards following up on this case.
There is presently no evidence that my former employers are involved yet, though as always, I'm keeping my eyes open.
Yours, (not necessarily by choice)
Ash, the ex-Instigator.