Report on Authorized Sniper Rifle Use
At 700 hours on Saturday, I received a call from the Venatori Umbrorum. A VU SWAT team had been chasing down a group of ghouls. The ghouls lead the team to a cave in the Blast Zone, and holed up behind an improvised barrier at the entrance. The team needed additional firepower, and I was asked to provide support.
At 715 hours, I requested and received one of our Mark 5 sniper rifles and the high-powered ammunition.
At 733, I was walking through a hole in the Blast Zone fence, and arrived at the cave's coordinates shortly thereafter.
As a note, both the VU and the University should be aware that the blast zone fence has holes easily large enough to accommodate the average adult male. I did not need my grappling hook to ascend the fence. Repairs should be made.
I fired six rounds from the rifle and the rounds from my pistol. Four rounds went wild. I will be upping my time at the firing range as a result. This summer I have been going to the range every other day, from now on I will be there every day.
I was able to shoot through their wooden barricade. Shooting the ghouls was made easier by an unknown ally, who somehow made them light up - one ghoul was surrounded with a nimbus of light for a brief time. I have not yet determined who this unknown ally was.
An acquaintance of mine also appeared - he apparently choose a very bad location for a hike. He is, fortunately something of a scholar on Ancient Sumeria and magical circles. He acquitted himself fairly well for someone with no combat training, particularly when faced by ghouls.
Inside the cave, I found two things. The SWAT team had cut the power to the cave. It appears that the ghouls, or more likely, someone that the ghouls were woking for, hacked into the power grid and ran a cable into the cave. The only two things in the cave were one refrigerator, filled with what one would expect, and a computer in the center of a magic circle.
This last item was rather alarming. The circle was clearly write-in blood, and warded to severely injure or kill other creatures with the same type of blood. Given that these are ghouls, it was likely made with human blood, and by someone who does not practice the same kind of magic as most wizards, as the computer was still functioning.
I was able to call in a local expert who was able to retrieve the computer from the circle. It seems the ghouls had satellite internet, and an instruction sheet in Ancient Sumerian.
The clean-up crew determined that the circle would degrade on its own, once they poured lots of salt water on it. GIven that it would still be a hazard for anyone misguided enough to be in the blast zone, we put up a sign about wild bears and a biohazard. We then spread ghoul excrement near the entrance to the cave, which should deter anyone from entering until the circle breaks down.
I have no idea what was going on, but I feel it is rather alarming.
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