Geist: the Sin-Eaters IC-thread

[Ichneumon]

Geist: the Sin-Eaters- IC thread

Link to original recruitment thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162797).
Link to OOC-thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163579).

List of players, their characters, their geists, keys and manifestations:


{table=head]Player:|Character:| Geist:|Keys:|Manifestations
Parasol | Daniel Blackburn (http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/6667?message=true) | The Circling Hawk | Passion, Cold Wind | Boneyard (2), Oracle (1)
SurlySeraph | Clyde Mackelroy (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=202203) | The Reproachful Officer | Cold Wind, Stigmata | Caul (1), Oracle (2)
Merrow| Mark Twick (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=229522) | Pooled Filth | Grave-Dirt, Tear-Stained | Caul (1), Marionnete (2)
Kythorian| David Wolfe (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=229481) | | Passion, Stigmata | Marionette (3)
Mugabe| Henri Dubois (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=229764) | Wendigo | Primeval, Tear-Stained | Rage, Shroud
[/table]

As of the moment I'm writing this, Malfunctioned hasn't submitted a sheet yet. I hope he's still joining. Also, I think I've found a mistake with Henri's sheet. He has rage 1 and Shroud 3, shouldn't this be Shroud 2?

-------

It's a relatively cold August night. It's perfectly silent on the streets of Queens, except for the shouting of one old drunk man. Even though his voice is rather hard, not many can hear him... He died 2 years ago from a sudden illness and now his ghost runs through the streets of New York at night, complaining about how stupid life really is. When he starts singing, one of you has enough of it and walks to the window to close it. Then you sit down again and it begins.

Five men are sitting in the small apartment home of Daniel Blackburn. (Parasol may provide more information on how the house looks, if he wants to). It's a bit of an awkward meeting as none of you know each other that well, but you've found each other through the Twilight Network and Daniel organized this meeting as you've all been plagued by the very same dream that has been haunting you for weeks. You've gathered to join forces and find a way to stop this.

Each night the dream starts as follows, although the dream is always the same and you seem to be knowing it's a dream, you can't control your actions, it's not exactly a lucid dream: It's dark, night, and you walk alone on the deserted streets. You recognize the street. It's somewhere in the Bronx. You come to a crossing and you see a car standing still. The driver lies unconscious over the steering wheel. Under the car you see a small pink bicycle, the frame twisted and bent under the weight of the car. Next to it, you see the dead and bloodied body of a young girl. The girl can't have been older than 12 years old. Fingers of mist curl around the car, the lampposts, you. As the mist becomes thicker, you hear a terrifying scream and a girl crying louder and louder. You see the ghost of girl, her little pink dress torn and bloodied, standing on the car and angry waving her fists in the air. Cursing, she stamps her feet and kicks against the car. "I want him to pay! It is not fair! He ruined my bicycle! I want him to pay! He will pay for what he did to me! And my bicycle! She cries louder and louder. Your ears start to hurt. Angry she telekinetically pulls on of the lampposts out of the ground and throws it like a big javelin into a car that's parke a few yards away.

She notices you and a vile grin appears on her small face: "I want you to help me. I want revenge and if I won't get it, I'll tear this street apart! He should die!" She points her little fingers at the black man inside the car, who has a head wound, but will likely recover. "I want you to kill him. Terrify him and kill him. Then I want you to somehow find a way for me to ride over his dead body, like he did over mine!" She starts laughing and laughing." You wake up with the maniacal laughter still in your ears for a few seconds.

A sixth Sin-Eater was supposed to come (Malfunctioned), but it's becoming late and you decide to start the meeting, as each guest is becoming a bit nervous.

Some of you might want to help this girl, and in what way? Fulfill her wishes or find some other way to make her find peace. Other of you might only be interested in letting her shut up and stop her disturbing your night's sleep.

(Malfunctioned may come in any time he wishes, with a knock on the door, and start play any time)

[Parasol]

At the agreed upon time of 8pm, the others started trickling into Daniel's spacious apartment -- spacious, not in the sense of luxurious, but in the sense of it being very spartan, very empty. Daniel welcomed the other Bound quietly, offering them a seat amongst one of the many metal folding chairs circled around a cheap coffee table.

"Hello, thank you for coming. There are drinks at the table over there. We'll begin once everyone arrives."

A pitcher of water and a teapot adorn the scuffed table along with cups and glasses enough for each.

Time passes, and the sixth Sin Eater never shows. With the tension growing in the room of strangers, Daniel speaks up.

"I suppose we should start."

[Mugabe]

Henri was punctual, arrive precisely at the agreed time, dressed simply as he was always was: in a plaid button-up shirt, and worn jeans. His heavy boots hitting the floor with a dull thud as he walked over to the offered seat. He kept quiet, watching the others arrive. Instinctively he sized them all up.

"Oui, I think we should be starting." Henri said in his halting, yet understandable English.

[SurlySeraph]

Clyde arrives a few minutes late, shuffling in quietly. Initially slouching in his chair, he straightens up suddenly as if someone had shouted at him. Finishing his glass of water, Clyde speaks up in a scratchy voice.

"Alright. Well, I don't think we ought to kill the guy, though I might change my mind when we find out more. But we ought to find him, find out exactly what happened, and go from there. That girl's not going to take it well if we don't do anything, and I don't want her running around smashing cars if I can do anything about it. We'll probably want to know more about her life, too, little girls don't just start out that vicious. Anyone have thoughts about where to start?"

[Parasol]

Daniel Blackburn

Daniel sipped from his teacup as he listened to the others speak.

"The girl appears very upset, which is understandable, as we all could attest. Death, especially coming so abrupt to one so young, can change a person. We need to help her as there's no one else that can do so. There must be a reason as to why we have all dreamed of her."

Setting the cup down on the table, he leans back in the chair and tilts his head to the ceiling, eyes closed.

"Well, in the dream, the street looked familiar, somewhere in the Bronx I think. I haven't been here for very long so I could be wrong. We could head out there and see what we could find."

Daniel opens his eyes suddenly and nods to Clyde.

"We should definitely figure out what's going on before passing a verdict. I'm sure we can find a peaceful resolution to this problem if we work hard enough."

[Mugabe]

Henri just listened intently, nodding along. His limited English, although sufficient in many places, was hindering him a bit here. He understood the gist of it though.

"We should find out about this girl, I believe the local library and other places might have.... records of her death. Unless no one knows she's dead..." He said gruffly.

[Gull]

Leonard looked up through his glasses at this, not having said anything until this point, just listening. He was hunched over, elbows on knees and hands clasped together. He straightened up and then leaned back, the folding chair and the leather jacker hung on the back of it both creaking in protest.

"Yeah, something's going to have to be done about that kid, one way or 'nother," he says, a voice raw with thousands of cigarettes and the the clouds of burning insulation that killed him. "I dunno if she's actually powerful enough to go tossing lampposts like matchsticks in real life, or what passes for it or whatever, but getting in our heads is bad enough."

He was suddenly uncomfortable. He wasn't good at talking to people like this. Much easier to make a dead snake and mongoose look like they were fighting.

"I know a couple weirdos in the Coroner's office I could talk to...problem is that we don't know when the kid died. Did her clothes look...uh...modern to any of you guys? Or, I don't know, the car?" He realized that he was asking a room full of former dead men about children's fashion. He suddenly drank some tea and thought about a cigarette. The Priestess started whispering in his ear at the thought of the suffocating smoke, urging him on.

[Parasol]

Daniel Blackburn

Details...any details about the dream... Daniel scrunched up his face, eyes closed again as he tried to summon forth the dream's intricacies.


Memory roll to remember details as far as concerning the little girl (her clothes, the style) and the vehicle. Also trying to remember if there were any clues as to how long ago this accident, if indeed it was, happened.

I'll assume we're using the rolls here, I can always edit it if we need a dice thread for the game or some other variant.

Memory Roll = Int+Comp = 2+2 = 4 dice pool

[roll0]

And here's 4 more d10's in case any 10's are rolled. Use them as needed from the left to the right.

[roll1]

[Ichneumon]

[OOC: Yes, I'd you to just roll in the IC-thread. I trust you enough not to cheat. You did it perfectly. Also, I like everybody to roll, just like you did, 4-6 dice in advance, in case any 10's are rolled.]

You dig into your memory and seem to remember the dress to be pink, really really bright pink. There is nothing much to say about it, except that it was a neat pink dress. It would be difficult to pinpoint a time period to it, however, combined with the particular model of the car, a brown Chrysler Cordoba, gives the impression that it must have happened somewhere in the early 80's.

[Parasol]

Daniel Blackburn

Both hands support Daniel's head as he hunches over, trying to remember the foggy remnants of the scene.

"The dream...the girl wore a pink dress...it was a very bright pink dress," he mutters. "And the car, it was an older model...brown...a Chrysler? I think Cordoba?"

Daniel gathers the fleeting images of the dream, feeling a cool, dry wind blow over him, pushing the pieces into their places.

"Yes, I see it now."

His voice comes out in a hushed tone, barely perceptible but brimming with emotion.

"This must be an older ghost, it feels like this death may have occurred sometime in the '80's. It makes sense now, with the way she was acting, that she would be older now. No wonder she's angry."

"The poor girl has been stuck here, unable to move on, for so long...We must find a way to help her..."

[Mugabe]

"Strange. I would think... New York would have lots of Sineaters that could do the job. Why now and why us?" Henri said, mirroring the hushed tone in his accented English. He crossed his arms and thought deeply and philosophically for a second.

"She has existed.... for atleast two decades and only now.... does she call out for help." He finished with a crack of his neck as he stretched to keep himself limber.

[Malfunctioned]

A woman is sitting in the room. She hasn't just appeared, more that you simply didn't notice. She isn't tall but she is striking. Jet black hair cascading down her face clashes with the deathly paleness of her skin. She is attractive, though not extremely so, with an air of exoticness about her.
"I can perform a reading of sorts but that would only work if I we had something of her body. Even then we could only locate her corpse, not her ghost." He voice has a small Mediterranean lilt to it. She thinks for a moment, her brow furrowing.
"If I can find a mirror that once held her reflection I can find her spirit. The car wing-mirror that will do. If we can track down the car then we can find her."

[Gull]

Leonard took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was really tired, what with a ghost child who was probably odler than him screwing up his dreams. "Aright, so our ghost is 20 plus years old at the best guess and is going to go nuts if we don't take care of business. It's a longer timeframe than I was hoping. I can see if anyone I know knows anything about it, but it's kind of a long shot."He began texting idly with one hand while looking around the table. "Hopefully I can get a name or something, but I wouldn't count on it. Failing that, I don't suppose anyone got the plate on the Cordoba, or has some cute way of tracking it down?"

SMS from Leonard Ward to Alexa Adoyo

Yo got a situation. A client was talking about some hit and run in the 80s he wanted to find out about (rich people am i right) and told me he'd give me 300 bux and this rad polar bear he was going to get restored if I could give him the info. If that's something you can track down, the money's yours, all I want's the bear. Easy money?
Details: In the 80s, blond kid about 10 years old (victim), was riding on a trike, somewhere in the Bronx, green Chrysler Cordoba?
Let me know if you can find anything. Oh and I got done stuffing your dog, you can pick him up whenever.


Rolling for contacts: coroner's office

Manipulation 2, Persuasion 2: [roll0]

Extra rolls in case of 10s

[roll1]

Not sure the exact modifiers, as the info's might be pretty obscure, but a bribe was offered as well, so yeah. I wrote this post about three times yesterday and it didn't save, so here's hoping.

Edit: I'm having trouble figuring out the dice roller, all I'm getting for results is VB code. I'm trying to post again to get it to work, but in the interests of fairness I would be fine with calling the info-gathering attempt a failure, as i guesediting your rolls is pretty bad form around here.

[Ichneumon]

Half an hour later you get an sms back: Thanks! You can have the bear, I'll search into it. I've already found the name of the owner of the Cordoba, Jonathan Chamber. Accident happened on October 3, 1983. Can't find the name of the girl strangely enough. I'll continue searching.

[Parasol]

Daniel Blackburn

Smooth white and khaki colors flutter as Daniel stands and summons a long, charred walking stick. He stretches, the clothing's looseness hiding the hard lines of his body.

With the feathered stick now behind his head propping his arms up, he says,

"So, what should we do, friends? We have many avenues to search out what happened these twenty years ago and who these people were. With every night this goes unsolved, comes every night with a dream and one night closer where the girl may make good her promises. Her spirit cries out for resolution and I believe we can make that happen."

The feather light tone of his voice hardens as he speaks.

"I think we should split up and explore these individual paths of discovery, starting now. Though it is late now, we could still make some progress."

Daniel stays standing, looking around at his fellow Bound.

[Gull]

Leonard pitched the butt he was smoking into the street and pulled himself back in the window. That was better, he was feeling much better. The symbolic act of suffocation had appeased the Priestess and the nicotine satisfied his crippling chemical addiction, so for a brief moment man and ghost were at peace. Leonard checked his phone, surprised to get a response so quickly.

"We got a lead, name of the owner of the Cordoba, Jonathan Chamber. Apparently the accident happened October 3rd, 1983. With that info, we should be able to find out where it happened and who the kid was." He pocketed his phone and pulled on his leather jacket. "Don't anyone be getting any ideas about any reaper action just yet," he grated. "My contact knows I was looking into the accident, this guy magically shows up stabbed and I'm connected. I ain't going to jail for some ghost kid."

He tapped out the last Lucky from it's battered pack and stuck it behind his ear, crumpling the pack and then, at a loss where to throw it, stuck it into his jacket pocket, kind of sheepishly.

"If we're splitting up, I'll take a look into our Mr. Chambers, see if maybe he still has that car. Old car like that, sometimes the mirrors just fall right off. Anyone wants to come with me, I'm parked outside. Everybody else, uh, give me your phone numbers and we can keep in touch. Not like any of us are sleeping tonight anyways."

He looked around the room. An old man, a crazy looking dude who was French or something, a chick and giant weird hippy guy. And him.

We're the A Team, he realized. We're doomed.

[Merrow]

Mark quickly gets to the door and stops, pooled filth streaming around him a strange laugh and comment on being late, Mark glares his geist as he straightens his clothes again and brushes off any dirt, then knocks the door.

"Hello?"

[SurlySeraph]

Clyde answers him first. "Nice of you to join us. Don't sit down, we were just about to get up." Turning back to Leonard, he adds "October three nineteen-eighty-three, you said?", drawing out the words. "Well, the man got hurt and the girl got killed. At least one of them would have been to a hospital. In the Bronx there's what, Calvary, Bronx Lebanon, I think a couple others. I could try to look for medical records from that day to figure out her name."

[Mugabe]

Henri nodded and stood up. He figured since his English wasn't the best he'd head with the guy checking out the car. He pointed to Leonard, and nodded as he spoke in his halting English.

"I'll go with you. I know cars, a leetle." Henri said simply as he got read to follow him. "Maybe we'll find some other Ghosts along the way. Maybe they know about Girl." He added gruffly with a shrug.

[Merrow]

Mark shrugs at the man who opened the door.

"Sorry to be so late and if your just going, were are we going too, since I gather you think finding a car and going to the hospital, are we going as one group or splitting up?"

[Malfunctioned]

"I will go to the car. Perhaps we will have some luck with the mirror."
Isadora straightens out her outfit and stands up with an almost supernatural grace. She felt the presence of the Clown inside her head. His power was hers to tap if it was so needed, and for that she was grateful.

[SurlySeraph]

Clyde explains to Mark
"Mr. Blackburn - he's the one with the walking stick - suggested we split up to see what we can find out. As we're in his house, I'm inclined to oblige. Leonard - he's the one with glasses - the Canadian, and the lady were planning to get in Leonard's car and drive out to find Jonathan Chamber, the driver from that dream. I'm planning to check the hospitals in the Bronx to see if I can find records from the accident. I'd be happy if you and Mr. Blackburn would like to go with me."

Chuckling, he adds
"Especially since the last time I went looking for a ghost's medical records, I got a bit confused and ended up being mistaken for a missing patient. It's nice to have someone vouching for you when you get to be my age."
And in a somewhat darker tone: "And the Reproachful Officer is none too pleased when things get mixed up like that. It's best to keep him happy."

[Parasol]

Pleased with the turn-out for the meeting and the quickness in deciding what to do, Daniel lowered the walking stick and walked calmly to the kitchen, pulling dried plants and herbs from a web of clotheslines that ran overhead, wrapping them up carefully, and placing them in a satchel on the counter.

"Excellent, I do believe I'll go along with you, Clyde, to check the hospitals. I don't carry a cellphone since they send out disharmonious signals through the body so this group plan works wonderfully," he says as he prepares his medicine.

Once finished, he slings the satchel over his shoulder and chest, sliding it so the pouch is situated towards the small of his back. His bare feet slap the creaking hardwood floor lightly as he walks over and puts on a pair of leather sandals. Satisfied with the preparations, he joins the others.

"I wonder if it would be possible to swing by Central Park?" he asks Clyde. "During one of my walks there, I happened across a ghost called the Pigeon Lady. From what I've heard of her, she knows a great many things that happen in New York so perhaps she might have some information as to the ghost child? It's a long shot, but perhaps we'll be lucky."

[SurlySeraph]

Clyde pulls a tattered and faded subway map (http://www.vagabondjourney.com/travelogue/uploaded_images/new-york-city-subway-map-779603.GIF) out of his wallet and pores over it. "Sure, we could take the orange or the yellow line up to the park and then take the green up to the Bronx afterwards. I don't have a car, so it'd probably be faster than going as the crow flies anyway."

Smiling impishly, Clyde adds "The subway doesn't send out disharwhatsit signals, does it? If it does, we could probably find for a cenote along the tracks if you need to spend some plasm."

[Gull]

Leonard dug the crumpled pack of Luckies out his pocket again as BA, Hannibal and the new guy gathered their stuff. Snatching a pencil that looked like it had been sharpened with a pocket knife out of a glass on the counter, he scribbled his phone number on the packet, thought about it, and slipped a pair of quarters inside to be safe.

"Here," he said, holding it out to Clyde. Old guys were good at keeping track of stuff, he reasoned. He was afraid Daniel would recycle it in a moment of weakness. "There's my number so we can get in touch." He turned to the others, and pointed at the door. "Whoever's coming with me, let's roll." He stuck the cigarette in his mouth and was lighting as he went down the stairs, then turned to push the door open with his shoulder as he looked at Isadora and Henri. "Hope you guys like Black Flag."

***

Jealous Again.
Thirsty and Miserable.
Revenge.
You Bet We Got Something Against You.

This was music about ghosts. Forget the chamber music, the goth bull****. You want to know about ghosts, hardcore was where it was at. Music made of rage, sweat, blood and passion. For every ghost that Leonard had seen that moped around, he had seen a dozen that were so angry they couldn't even talk.

Flying down the streets in the '65 Continental, black as the pit and shiny as a crow's feather, the three were hunting for Chambers, Chambers and more importantly, Chryslers. Back Flag tracks grinding out laboriously from the antiquated tape deck, half a dozen animal paws of various taxonomic classifications hanging off the rear view mirror and a phone book ripped off after a brief side trip to one of the dwindling payphones in New York were their talismans of passage.

Leonard transferred the current cigarette, almost burned down to the filter to his driving hand, scrabbled a fresh pack off the dashboard and opened it one handed, biting the cellophane pull tab and twisting the pack, skinning it in one movement. He lit the fresh one off the butt of the old and turned to his companions. "Alright, let's see. What's the phone book say is our best option?"

[Merrow]

Mark watches and listens carfeully to what is said, then looks at Clyde.

"So were going to.....the park, right?"

Pooled swirled around Marks back the eye looking down at him and a sound of a giggle came from the filthy water.

[Parasol]

Daniel gives a smile of his own, replying to Clyde, "Ah no, the subway system are the veins of the city, and the people the lifeblood. It would be a most auspicious way to travel, well in tune with the ways of life."

He nods to the other group as they pass and leave the shabby apartment, wishing them luck in their endeavors.

Looking to Mark, Daniel nods his head again. "Yes, first the park, and then to the Bronx to check the hospitals. We should probably be on our way." He turns to Clyde. "Since it seems you know where you're going, could you lead the way Clyde? I'm not entirely familiar with the city yet."

[SurlySeraph]

Clyde nods and sticks Leonard's number in his pocket, then turns back to Mark and Daniel. In a strict tone, he proclaims "Alright, we're gonna walk a few blocks down, hop a train to get to Manhattan, find the Pigeon Lady in Central Park and see if she knows anything, then take another train up to the Bronx and start checking the hospitals for records from the accident. Let's get started."

Clyde marches out with the others in tow. The subway isn't too far away, and the train thunders along into the station before long - though a few specters arrive to nag the group almost as they arrive. Clyde mutters a promise to return to the disembodied torso of a suicide, pointedly ignores a mugger whose victim got lucky, and waves them away as the group boards the train. The ride to Central Park is uneventful, and the few other passengers that step on and off the train - while as varied and eccentric as anyone else who rides the subway late at night - pay the group little attention.

Finally they arrive, and in a couple minutes of walking are near the south end of Central Park. The trees rustle quietly in the breeze, visible only as darker shadows against the starless sky. Clyde advances slowly into the park, glancing around cautiously. While he's mostly concerned about irate ghosts and living muggers - hey, there'll always be someone crazy enough to try to attack three grown men - he's alert for any activity at all. Something about the park at night always made him uneasy, something beyond its tangible dangers.

Looking back at Daniel, he asks "Is the Pigeon Lady usually near here? It's not that I mind walking, I just want to make sure we're heading the right way."

[Parasol]

Daniel walks along with the group, his stick tapping the ground once for every two times he stepped. He felt bad for turning away the ghosts he encountered at the subway station but the more immediate threat of the ghost girl took precedence.

He kept a wary eye out once they approached Central Park. Though he was the one who suggested it, he was a little worried about possible muggings. He had only encountered one since arriving here in New York City but still the lingering threat was strong enough to stay on the periphery of his thought. He had to stay alert so that he didn't automatically injure another confused person trying to prey on the weak.

"The last time I saw the Pigeon Lady, she was by the Reservoir towards the center of the park, though I don't know if that's the place she's always in. Wherever pigeons might congregate would be a good place to check."

Daniel ran a hand through his shortly cropped blond hair, hoping he hadn't led his group on a wild goose chase.

[Merrow]

Mark follwoed in toe with the others thinking about what to do once they get to the hospital or what the others were planning to do once they got there it wasn't like they could walk in and start looking through records.
Arriving at the park Mark loocked around listening to Daniel.

"So were looking for any places with alot of pigeons, well perhapas if we start at the reservoir and then work out."

Mark looks around trying to spot the reservoir trying to ignore the feeling of moving through thick water and the feel of his words bubble out his mouth rather than flow.

"Also if either of you have an abilitie to find things in large areas, possibly....ummm whats it called.....boneyard, that could help."

[Mugabe]

Henri reached into his pocket as he rode in this other Sineater's car listening to some blasphemous music or something. He kept his mouth closed, as he toyed with a furry rabbit's paw in his pocket. It brought him clarity and focus. His mind raced with thoughts, trying to work something out through the music.

"Mmmmm, I don't know.... It is your Momento, I think" Was all Henri said on the matter trying work it out all in his head.