*sighs* Alright. Guys, I just got an email from one of my contacts back in the Amarillo area. She's a fellow hunter I met around a year ago. I gave her the board's address but she hasn't been up to registering yet.

The last few weeks she's been out of contact since her job is kind of slow, and her significant other's store was robbed a few weeks ago. The store is a new age style store, catering to of course new-agers, closet magic users and psychics in the area. It's in the bible-belt so it masquerades as an alternative remedy store. Anyway, a large number and selection of crystals were stolen, both attuned and unattuned. Also several items were taken from the back, a few old pieces of work that have magic to them, and a couple of new projects her significant other was putting together. The robbers also attempted to steal her blades, but were unable to. She's good at securing them.

I saw a wave of stuff come up missing a few months back, so I have to wonder if it's related, but I doubt it. Keep an eye on your gear, and also if there's anyone in the Amarillo area, think they could stop in and snoop around a little bit? Maybe an outsider might see something she doesn't?

P.S. Forgot they also stole a couple of potions, as she refers to.

Potions? Like Holister's grammy's "vegetables"?

Obviously I cannot help.

Good luck though.

I dont know anything about that, Koyla. However, I get the impression these were healing potions of some sort. After all, her boyfriend is a Mystic, who also works as a healer.

Definitely not grandma's veggies then.

Ya know what...that was damn good Apple Jack and Shine that gramps made. So don't knock it. I miss gramps..

A shot of vodka and mouth wash in the morning...

Any clues from the robbery?

Yea... it has been a few days; anything yet?

It's been a few weeks actually. The best that Sakura can give me is that her boyfriend and owner of the store did some psychometry. The store alarms never went off, because they were spelled. He didn't recognize it, but I think it might have been a spell designed to disrupt electrical energy. The power to the entire shop had shut off that night, but no wires were cut, and no other area reported an outage, according to her. She acts as a psychic investigator and private investigator, so she was able to play off the latter part and ask around the neighborhood and get a little better information from the PD.

The boyfriend did some further psychometry, and found that they pulled up in a white van. They entered through the back door, using a lockpick gun to get in. Three went in, leaving a fourth outside in the alley because he was the driver. They left no substantial physical evidence either. They were good. No fingerprints, no shoe prints, no signs of forced entry. They also had no physical description as they completely concealed their features. However two were big guys, probably about 6' 4" weighing close to 260, with plenty of muscle to go with it.

The third that went inside was smaller, almost skinny, and seemed to be skittish. He did leave a trace of energy present in the room, but it wasn't enough to trace, at least by Sakura's significant other.

Any thoughts?

License plates, stolen white vans, anything like that?

No. I think it might have been someone's work van, by the way Sakura relayed it to me. The work van probably had magnetic decals, kinda like delivery cars do sometimes.

She's currently investigating to see if anybody spotted a white van leaving that area, but we're not expecting much right now. Any other avenues we might look at?

Nothing has happened since then?

Should seriously ponder the value and content of the items that were nabbed, too. That might give an idea of who would want to do this.

Sounds to me like a group of mages or psychics wanting to boost the amount of equipment they have without paying for it. Could be a couple tinkerers of the paranormally gifted kind too. All told the total comes up to 10 grand, give or take. Nothing that isn't replaceable. The business wasn't mortally wounded, but ... well he's still kind of irritated about it.

When I get back to that area, I'm going to go over there and assess their security and get it upgraded through some of my buddies at LoneWolf Security over there.

Definitely upgrade security.

I was just wondering if there was anything particularly special about the stolen items that only a few people actually are aware of, stuff like that.

Well the crystals and stuff were all the normal kinds. Quartz, rose quartz, obsidian, onyx, saphire, garnet, amber, malachite, a few pieces of jade, etc. They made a grab for Sakura's blades. One is an ancestral grade katana, and will cut through a car door without dulling or even scratching. (Wish I had that sword). The other is a bastard sword that she put together herself, made from some of the stuff in the shop. It's pretty damn sharp too, but the crystals she put into it and tuned to herself means that only she can wield it against the supernatural for its full potential.

There was also a small hammer that the owner had, made out of silver. However when it struck it caused quite a bit of percussive force and could cave in the side of a car, and if thrown would return to whoever threw it after it hit. He also had a book with a number of writtings in them which had to do with the arcane and quite possibly a few good spells he was working on decyphering. I think that he also had a mind/spirit prison, but one that is meant for the purpose of entrapping and sealing away, rather than just making one on the fly, or just comprising one purely of energy.

Most people wouldn't know what it's for, and it is a gorgeous piece of work, but .. I pray nobody opens the door on it without knowing exactly what they are doing, or everything/one in that prison can get out.

Have they checked local boards or asked around local mystic communities? If they were local practitioners, they is a chance that they will be boosting about their gain or will show up with some of the missing goods. Especially if they are young and stupid. Even if they are just looking for profit, there is a chance the stuff will end up on Craigslist or ebay type sites.

Given the amount of summoner dickheads I have come across lately, I really start to wonder if someone is trying to release.

Summoners and channelers...

Craig's List is a good idea, but I don't think I can look at the forums there without circumventing the security. I'll relay the message to my girl though.

I wonder about something. It might be the "backyard nuke" theory applied to the arcane.

Fawk.. i didn't even think of that. ... How would they do it though.. hmmm.. *strokes chin*

It might also be set up to help someone with their arsenal. I mean, think of how powerful and perfect a modified PSG-1 would be for assasination if instead of firing bullets, it fired TK bullets instead. No sound, no ballistics, no chemical traces, no muzzle flash. Nothing to trace back. And if done right, it doesn't even look like a PSG-1 or that it could be a weapon that works, but instead an expensive toy, or something.

Or soundless TK machine-gun... think about it.

Well, in theory if a backyard terrorist wanted to make a nuke, and didn't want to get caught, he wouldn't go out a buy plutonium. He would have to get what he could by the means he would have avaialble.
In 1978 some smuck came close and in 1994 it was simulate and proven it could work.

You want a nuke all you need is a radioactive core of substantail mass and a proper charge to detenate it. They used fire alarms, cell phones,
microwave ovens, and CO2 detectors, with a few pace makers thrown in for good measure. They found the 1978 suspect had stockpiled not only his workshed, but a warehouse full of the items with about half a ton of TNT

The 1994 Cal-Tech simulation showed that if he was successful, he would have erradiated the city up to ten city blocks for the next 30 years.

Nopw lets take that same principal and apply it to the arcane.

Why take one large mystical artifact seathing with energy whne it is propbably well protected, when all you need to do is substitute it with lesser magical items. Then if you plan on releasing that energy, instant PPE explosion with items nobody would ever think to be that dangerous.

Were talkin' ritual magic here at very high scale. These type of thefts have probably been goin' on for months and who is really gonna notice?

Yeah, that is possible. It's similar to a Retributive Strike, as I've heard it called. It involves breaking a magic or arcane item in such a way as to release all its pent up power, creating a large and highly destructive explosion.

Sounds a little like our summoner friends trying to destroy the world this weekend. I hope there is no connection for all of our sakes.

I'm sending two of my guardians to Sakura to help her and her boyfriend out. I know on an eclipse the amarillo area gets rather lively.

I think I'll be sending ... my pheonix, and I think I'll send my fox. I have the fortune of having a fox kami as a guardian. It's only recently I realized what it was, partially thanks to Shang Li, but I've had that fox since I was 10. I've never had a chance to talk to him or her though, and he doesn't show nearly as often anymore, since I don't need much help anymore. That and I think its time that I take the time to honor him properly. Maybe you can help me out with that Shang?

I recall seeing similar posts about stolen stuff. Some guy I used to know had some arcane stuff stolen back in September and I know of another shop that was "cleaned out" in Arkham. They may be related.

I would hate to think what could be done with that much unleashed PPE. Probably something big. Raz, maybe you can see if any other "thefts" of similar items have happened over the past couple of months

We might want to compare notes, too, Razor.

I hope there is no connection, however...

Just remember that in the face of the ordinary most of our talents don't have much power to them. If they are going to do something with this, it is going to have to be a time or place when/where energies are naturally high. The next big day for that is going to be the 3rd of March.

I don't know about those you are dealing with, but on the average day I am lucky if I can get four bullets from a gun you describe without spending some time in meditation. However, it did sound like the short one was not quite normal.

Yeah, well... any sniper who's worth anything only needs one shot.

However, I doubt that it's as simple as that. The nuke thing might be plausible still.

There is also the unpleaset idea that someone could use the energy stored in these Items to fuel a Summoning, as someone already said. The Crystals could be used as part of a spell. Of several types I am told.