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Message no. 1
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 22:47:42 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[You're pretty good on esoteric magical stuff, right? (You might
remember me, I'm the PI with the sideline in B&E). Want to earn some
consultancy money? Tell me what this means.

+++++include symbol.jpg

Seems to be something to do with fire, as far as I can tell. It's worth
>>sum<< to me to get an answer about it.

Interested? If not, sorry to bother you.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <22:43:34/05-22-59>
Message no. 2
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 22:41:16 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Personal File
>>>>>[+++++begin video
Marlowe sits down at his desk, regarding his terminal with some
suspicion. Hart, in jeans and a Seahawks T-shirt, chuckles.

"Why don't you like doing this, Andy?"

"Because it makes me feel like a klutz." Marlowe sighs. slotting a chip
into the terminal, and after a few moments it comes up with the footage
of the blaze in the park. "Look, could you not watch me do this?"

"No. I want to see how this works." Hart laughs again.

"Oh, damn. This is _embarrasing." Marlowe sighs. "Forward times five."
The recording advances rapidly, until he says "Whoa!" and it pauses.

"Grid. Centre on 4B. Zoom one. Zoom one. Despeckle and reduce smoke.
Stop laughing at me, Juli!"

"Command not understood." the terminal says politely.

"Fuck you too."

"Command not understood." the terminal repeats. Hart is almost falling
out of her chair by now, she's sniggering so much.

"Centre on 3C. Zoom. Sharpen. Sharpen. Correct for thermal distortion."

"I don't _believe_ you do this. This is _so_ twentieth-century."

Marlowe sounds defensive. "Look, it's the best image analysis software I
can afford, and it _is_ good -"

"Except the interface is so utterly retro?"

"Well, yeah, but it works. Zoom in times four. Pause. Look at that!" The
three figures are wearing some sort of hood, and one is clearly visible
in the enhanced view; a fireball surrounded by three concentric circles.

"Like the one we found in the Wilmonts' place." Hart says, suddenly
fascinated. "What are they wearing?"

"Clothes?"

"Back it up. Can I drive?"

"Resume. Recognise user Hart." Marlowe says at once.

"Recognised."

"Thanks. Okay..." Hart looks a little embarrased herself as she realises
she's going to have to drive the voice interface. "Um... zoom out.
Repeat? Repeat. Pan down two. Zoom in. Zoom in. Textual enhance?
Recognise writing? Show me what's written on his bloody jacket!"

"Whoa..." Marlowe says soothingly. "The software is great, but the
interface does suck. One step at a time. Restore original." The image
goes back to the heat-hazed blurry mess that the PI recorded.

"Okay. Correct for thermal distortion. Andy, those are Franklin
uniforms!"

"Yeah." Marlowe is suddenly tense, too. "Zoom in on C4. Enhance and
sharpen. Optical character recognition."

Across the back of one figure can clearly be read the name WATSON.

"Okay. A Franklin firefighter who's some sort of firebug?" Hart asks.

"Where better to hide? Zoom out. Advance film, half speed. Pause. Zoom
in." Another name, Hart picking out O'CONNOR. "Zoom out. Advance, half
speed." And the last name. HARDEMAN.

"Either he stole the jacket or he's in on it." Hart says softly.

"Right. Well, I know someone who might help." Marlowe responds. "Fuck.
Arsonist firemen?"

"Didn't you read any Bradbury in school in Cincinnati? Fahrenheit 451?
Where better for a pyromaniac to hide than as a fireman?"

"And the hoods and the ritual?"

"You're gonna find out, right, Andy? And don't ask me how come they
didn't burn in the fire. I'm Homicide, not arson."

"Ditto. Fuck."

"Yeah, let's." Hart grins at him. "Mail your source and let's get to
bed. After we get some, we can get some sleep. I'm probably going to get
hit with a double shift tomorrow, I need the relaxation..."
+++++end trideo]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <22:41:34/05-22-59>
Message no. 3
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 16:53:58 -0700
*****Private: Marlowe

>>>>>[Yeah, I remember you, the one that was going to rat on us if the
police were working you over. Just kidding, that's old news now. Well, if
you want esoterica, then I guess I am your man. I'll look into it. I've
been doing a lot of work for charity lately, and well, getting paid for
once seems to be a good idea. Having a magical habit like mine can make
making ends meet a little difficult.

Besides, that symbol looks vaguely familiar. You mentioned fire, and
well, it has some characteristics that are similar in some vague ways to
some Kabbalistic sigils used in ritual magic involving fire, so that is a
start. Although I can't quite place it yet, maybe something from one of
the thaumaturgical history classes I took, because nobody has described
something like it in current literature. Although, it could be some sort
of symbolic title for a current group or project that just doesn't like to
publish (most of them, especially the corp types).

The research may take a while, but I'll get back to you when I find
something. Anything else you can tell be about the symbol besides having
something to do with fire? I don't want to open it for discussion on
MagicNet if there is some nastyness surrounding it, since I don't normally
like to run around getting murderous magicians, corp MRT's, and cultists
mad at me on general principle.]<<<<<
-- Michael <16:45:29/05-22-59 PDT>
Message no. 4
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 00:35:17 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[Hey, you telling me you'd never rat on relative strangers? If so,
you've never seen the bodies CPDI pulled out of the river when the local
Mob wanted information out of someone. It's _scary_ how much pain the
human body can soak up before it dies.

Now, you think Lone Star won't put you through that? Yeah, right. I used
to _be_ a cop. They want information, they'll get it. And that assumes
that the Law is your only worry.

Look, if it makes you happier, sure, fine, I'll never rat on anyone, oh
no, I'll die in screaming agony first. Happy now? Does knowing I'm a bad
liar make you more comfortable than knowing I'll break under serious
interrogation?


Anyway, this is entirely legitimate consultancy. You're an expert, I
need information, I pay you for that information. Not the same as B&E,
let alone any other magical stuff, the worst anyone offical can do to us
for this is bust you to the IRS for undeclared income.

Okay, the symbol appears on some sort of ritual mask or hood, which is
worn by some people at the scene of serious fires. I don't know if
they're there because of the fire, or the fire's there because of them.
But, there's definite bad juju involved, nine deaths that I know of
already, so widebanding this might not be a good idea.

I can get to MagicNet easily, if I wanted this public there it would be
already (hey, give us dumb mundanes _some_ credit...) but I found some
serious history on this symbol: looks Persian, old, at a glance. And
people are getting killed, so I'd rather this was kept quiet as long as
possible.

If any drek comes back... well, if I die in an inexplicable house fire
caused by badly-stored cleaning products, then you know to take cover.

+++++include notes_so_far.dat

See what I mean?]<<<<<
--Marlowe <00:35:43/05-24-59>
Message no. 5
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:38:55 -0700
*****Private: Marlowe
>>>>>[Jezu...I figured you'd take that as a joke. You already explained
yourself last time. I was just needling you for it. First impressions
and all. Just wanted to make sure we remembered each other correctly.

Anyway, back to the case at hand. I spent most of yesterday and the day
before doing research. And yes, I did it somewhat quietly, at least,
those people I did talk to, I have no reason to suspect that they are part
of the thing. Involved quite a bit of digging in Seattle U.'s Dusty Old
Books (tm) Collection. Then I had to wait on a little confirmation from
some associates.

As for MagicNet, well, I give you credit to be able to post a wideband
message, but since you aren't "known" there, I don't know how much of a
response you'd get (it does get somewhat clubby) and it helps even more if
you know who to ask about what, and I don't just mean not asking
BigBadWolf how to do a summoning circle.

Nine deaths and the rest of that, though...can't say this is making me
feel very happy, but if I can help bring it to a stop, I suppose that will
be some conciliation.

The symbol, since you found it on a hood, that made me think it was more a
title or symbol rather than some sort of sigil or talisman. Too bad you
couldn't get me one of those hoods to study. That could have been a big
help. Hmmmm. Could you find out if the Police have already tried a
tracking ritual? Someone relatively legit like yourself might have a
better chance, well that and I suppose you have your "sources" at least if
the trid detectives aren't all complete bunk. If they did run the ritual,
how'd it turn out? If not, and you could get a hold of something of
theirs, like a hood, or some such, I suppose I could get some of the
Shifters to help out. Although, that might let them know that someone was
on to them.

But, I'm betting ahead of myself. The symbol is old, yes, Persian, good
guess. Actually, it is Zoroastrian (the "other" desert religion that never
quite gained the popularity of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam), that was
most popular in ancient Persia. In particular, that symbol is associated
with a renegade sect (read: cult) that followed a fundamentalist named
Nestar Mobedan Mobed ("Nestar the priest of priests" a.k.a. The Chief
Priest Nestar). Anyway, Nestar, called himself a prophet, called himself
a chief priest, and gained quite a following for denouncing the
materialism of the priestly class and their "Tower of Gold" (the main
temple at Eshafan). This was around AD550. (And no...I don't use Common
Era or Before Common Era, it's anno Domini.)

So, here's your tie-in: The cult worshiped "The Cleansing Flame." Now,
Zoroastrians, in general, were big on fire, like keeping the temple fires
lit, etc. but these guys were into Fire with a capital "F." Nestar led
his people into the wilderness for a few years, got himself a riled up
group of zealots and then he led them storming down out of the mountains
to burn down the city and raze the temple with their "cleansing flame."
Well, a bunch of zealots are pretty dangerous, but a bunch of well-trained
zealots with swords and armor, the temple guard, were more so, and they
ended up mostly getting wiped out. Including, it is believed, Nestar
himself.

Here's where it really gets sketchy. Not much is known about the cult
after that, but it is reported that the survivors wandered off into the
Iranian mountains for a few hundred years. After that, word is that they
later escaped to India where the Parsees (ne Zoroastrians) were not only
more tolerated than in the increasingly Muslim-dominated Middle-East, but
in fact were pretty affluent as a people. Eventually, with the
solidification of British rule, rumor has it they first went to China, and
then to the former United States in the late 1800s. Guess being a
"melting pot" can have its disadvantages.

Now to the bizarre part: According to sources known only to a Zoroastrian
Hermetic that I know, and well, as far as I know, this guy also subscribes
to the Oliver Stone Memorial Foundation Newsletter, these guys were
responsible for the 1906 San Francisco Fire, and maybe a few other lesser
known ones. It was based on some sort of astrological foundation that
connected that to the year AD556. When I joked that San Francisco used to
be called "Bagdad by the Bay," he didn't think it was all that funny.
Anyway, I had him send me a copy of what he had on that.

So then I ran this past another person I know who knows a thing or two
about astrology (swears by it for her ritual magic) and asked her about
it. She says the thing plays out with the same sort of conjunction
happening in both years, but it is a more common occurrence than every 1350
years. In fact, she said with that eerie voice of hers, there was just
such a conjunction happening this year.

Now, it could be a load of bunk, but if your group of homicidal pyros
believes it, I guess that's all that matters, isn't it? Hopefully these
guys will see their stars fall out of alignment and pack it in for a few
hundred years, but if they don't and they torch some other place, let me
know, I'd like to take a look at it and see if there is some other way I
can help. Personally, I like fire. Heck, some of my best associates are
from that Elemental Plane. But I really would rather not see Seattle
torched like the Nestarians tried to do for Eshafan.]<<<<<
-- Michael <17:20:45/05-26-59 PDT>
Message no. 6
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 02:15:47 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[Sorry. Kind of a sore point, though. I've _seen_ what determined
men will do to get someone to talk. That trideo crap, where they say
"I'll ask you ten times" and take a finger off each time? Oh, boy, is
that short of the truth. By the time they amputate the damn finger,
you're glad it's gone. After it's been broken in four or five places,
then either burned half off with a blowtorch or dissolved with nitric
acid, I guess you hardly feel amputation. Having to eat the finger must
suck, though.

They ask you _lots_ more than ten times. And a few days in the river or
in a gravel pit doesn't help.

Like I said, kind of a personal sore spot. Never been on the wrong end
of it, but I knew one guy who was, and believe me he didn't look pretty
when we found him. So I don't pretend about the 'no, I will never talk'
crap.


Anyway. You want one of the hoods? I've got most of one, if it'll help.
(Should have mentioned it first off, I know...) Drop by the office at
>>address<<, or call me on >>phone number<< to set up a more
discreet
meet if you're feeling antsy. Found it at the first fire scene (two
dead).

The cops haven't tried any magic. No noticeable astral signature of
magic, nor of rogue fire elementals, nor any sign of other magical
involvement, so they didn't try any flashy stuff. The apartment fire was
"cleaning products", the park fire was arson by the Children of Thunda
or some other wacko group that'll get round to claiming credit some day,
so no urgency to chase weird magical stuff. Of course, the first fire
was reported as "cleaning products" by the guy who seemed to be at the
heart of the second fire...


The history stuff... will need a while for me to assimilate. Me dumb
gumshoe, me not good with this stuff right away, but many thanks for
finding it. Owe you more than just this.

+++++include credit transfer >>consultancy fee<<

And... I hate to admit... I'd appreciate it if you picked up that hood
and checked it out. It sounds like these guys haven't finished burning
stuff yet.

This gives me the creeps.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <02:01:42/05-27-59>
Message no. 7
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 21:41:03 -0700
*****Private: Marlowe
>>>>>[Well, it seems that something in my group has come up...I don't know
how long it will take to sort out, but it hopefully shouldn't take too
long. After that, I'll give you a call and come by your office and take a
look at that hood. Come to think of it, I might just meet you somewhere
other than your office, just in case you do have some "interested parties"
keeping an eye on you. Have any particular place in mind?

The hood might be useful, or it might not. If it's too "stale" there
might not be much I can pick up from it and the usefulness of a
"sympathetic link" like an article of clothing for a tracking ritual
degrades pretty rapidly with time. Any idea of how old the cloth is?
That might tell you if this is an old and well established cult (possibly
from the original group of Nestarians, which would not be good) or a
recent group of fire-worshiping cultists or wanna-bees.

If there was no astral signature at any of the crime scenes, and by that I
assume you saw a report or some-such, that means one of two things: a)
there wasn't any magic used or b) the mage(s) involved were powerful
enough to mask their work, or "clean up" after themselves to make it
harder to track. Of course, you can guess that I am more hoping for a)
than b). From what I've seen of forensic magic, it is usually considered
too expensive to run a tracking ritual, because usual legwork and
matrix-work will do the job much more cheaply, and by the time that those
methods fail and you want to try using magic, there aren't any samples
good enough or fresh enough to make the ritual worth your while. Go
figure. Besides, last time I heard the UCAS doesn't consider magic
reliable enough to allow a tracking ritual alone to be cause for a
warrant, either. You don't happen to need a warrant do you? =)

If it happens again, and we can get to the scene quickly, _and_ you can
get us past the police line, then maybe we can pick up something they
missed. Somehow I doubt there are too many Forensic Mages with my kind of
background. Although, when you say that one of the guys who reported on
the first fire was involved in the second, it sounds like you already have
a suspect. Is he a mundane or a mage?

Shoot, I just realized that my last message didn't contain the background
info. Well, if you wanted to be sure I didn't pull all of that out of
thin air, here are the references:

+++++Include: Nestorian.data

If it looks like it was scanned from a age-eaten page, it's because it
was. When you get really bored, you can thumb through that. The gist of
it, distilling further from the previous message:

The symbol you found was that used by a guy named Nestar and his followers
who were a bunch of fundamentalist Zoroastrian zealots who wanted to clean
house witht the "Cleansing Fire" that they worshipped about 1500 years
ago. They tried to toast what they saw as a decadent materialistic city
and its temple and were slaughtered. Rumor was the survivors wandered
about for a while and may have settled in the old USA, and may have
started the SanFrancisco fire of 1906. Now the same conjunction is
happening again that was around the last two (known) times so there is a
possibility you either have a new group of wackos who want to keep
up/blame it on the old tradition, or you have an ancient group of zealots
with a 1500 year old mad-on. Either way, it isn't a pretty picture. I'm
hoping for the wackos myself, since they are usually easier to stop.

By the way, you seemed pretty cool with it last time, but how well do you
usually get along with magical weirdness. I ask to be polite, because I
have a new friend, an "ally" spirit really, that is usually with me
wherever I go. So if I were to show up with a girl in tow, that's her. I
could have her stay invisible if it would bug you, but I prefer to have
her around. It's just she is still getting used to hanging around humans,
so I sometimes have to remind her of little things like obeying gravity
and corporeality.]<<<<<
-- Michael <21:10:50/05-26-59 PDT>
Message no. 8
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 21:25:35 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[I know the feeling about steering clear of the office. Yeah, I
know a place, if you feel up for a trip to Tarislar then the Easy
Eight's a great place for an unobserved conversation. Good beer and good
music, too. How does >>encrypted<< sound?

As to how old the cloth is... well, it's synthetic, it melted rather
than charring, and the design looks like it was done (carefully) with a
Magic Marker. Modern, at a guess.

Oh, yeah, I don't need a warrant, I'm a PI, I can take my suspicions to
the cops and they use that to get a warrant. I'm also an ex-cop and I'm
dating a Seattle homicide detective, so we've got a pretty sympathetic
police department for once too, especially if you know stuff they don't.
Regarding the suspect... as far as I know, Hardeman's a mundane. He's a
firefighter, nothing about any magical abilities in his record.


Magic... long as nothing grows antennae and chitin and tries to eat me
(hasn't happened to me yet, I devoutly hope to keep it that way), tries
to take over my brain with eldritch powers, or tries to char-broil me
with raw mana, then I'm fairly cool around magic and such. If your girl-
ally-whatever (does she have a name?) starts floating or walking through
walls, it's fine with me.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <21:25:32/05-27-59>
Message no. 9
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:20:56 -0700
*****Private: Marlowe
>>>>>[Ah...to avoid prying eyes, you walk into a warzone. Lovely. Well,
at least anybody trying to follow you in there is going to have a tough
time watching you and watching out for themselves. I take it this is the
infamous Easy's bar? I've heard a little about her from an associate who
worked with her before. Says she's professional, but I can't say either
of us like her style.

Can't say I like it, but I'll see you there, for lack of a better place.
I'd probably stand out as bad there as you would at any of the places I
frequent. Just it's a bit more likely someone like me will attract
unwanted attention on the way there.

Not sure how much I can really help at this point, but it might help to
discuss it, just in case you forgot something. About the hood though, it
being as "stale" as it is, and made of synthetics to boot, means it isn't
worth much magically. But I'd like to take a look at it anyway. It will
take something a lot "fresher" and closer to the people involved to give
us a chance to use it for tracking.

If it is any consiliation, nobody I know is a bug spirit, and I can't take
over anybody's brain. No comment regarding char-broils, but I am far more
likely to KO someone threatening me than try to kill them. If we are
meeting at the Easy Eight, then I think I'll have Seraphina (that's her
name, by the way) stay astral (invisible/intangible). I might attract
attention by my lonesome, but I'm much less a target alone than walking
around with a young, and might I say attractive, young human woman at my
side. Oh, she does have another form she sometimes takes when she is
physical, but I think walking around with my personal interpretation of
what a seraph should look like would probably attract even more unwanted
attention.]<<<<<
-- Michael <15:19:22/05-27-59 PDT>
Message no. 10
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Inferno Aftermath
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 00:08:58 +0100
******PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[Warzone? Hell, no, it's downright placid. People have to work too
hard to stay alive to be interested in starting stupid fights. It ain't
Redmond... that's a _zoo_, not a warzone, Crazies-R-Us have a non-stop
buy-one-get-ten-free on chiphead psychos in Redmond.

Wouldn't recommend sight-seeing, though, I admit that...


Yeah, it's Easy's place. Haven't had many dealings with her, to be
honest I'd like to keep it that way, but she keeps her place clean.
Nobody starts trouble, nobody eavesdrops. It's a good place to talk
business. And you get so many oddballs, from local gangers to mercs from
that big base nearby to uptown thrill junkies, that hardly _anyone_
stands out too much. Give me _some_ credit for picking a good meeting
spot...


Magicians do kind of freak me, but only because I need my Max-Power to
rearrange someone's grey matter from a distance, magicians just wave a
hand and mutter some weirdness and blam, instant cerebral aneurysm.
Scares you when you're a beat cop. Scares you when you're a PI, to be
honest. But all that CoT shit... well, you got to choose a side, and
most of the magicians I know behave themselves with spells as well as I
do with my Browning.

Seraph, huh? Sometime you'll have to explain your flavour of magic to
me. Elemental stuff, seraphs, I don't promise to understand but I
guarantee to keep your glass topped up and to nod politely while I
listen.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <00:08:16/05-28-59>

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Inferno Aftermath, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

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