The Adventures of the Coalblack Wolves

[Ladorak]

Episode One

Forest-Hunter
New-Moon

Forest-Hunter was far from the forest, nor was she on the hunt in the truest sense. She was deep in the suburbs following a rail-line, surrounded by the stink of car exhaust and too many humans living too closely packed together. It is well after dark and she stalks under neon lights. It is quiet aside the occasionally rising and falling note of a car passing by. The only true nature left is the river Tawe nearby, Seren can hear the gentle sound of the water in the distance, though thankfully no scent of Felicity Green in the hisil.
Here the tracks moved away from the ground on an old stone viaduct, to follow the tracks further Forest-Hunter must break into a scrap yard. Not that it was hard, she had done it a hundred times. The fence at the back was in disrepair, ravaged by an overgrowth of weeds. There was no guard, no dog and no camera. Soon she was high above the rooftops, walking the rails hidden from the world below.
She can only stay up so long, there was nowhere to hide when a train came, but she knew she had time to sniff and scratch in search of Beshilu. She found nothing and was long gone by the time the 110 to London Paddington came thundering by.
It had been a successful patrol in the sense there was no sign or scent of Beshilu. On the way back she had also passed by the houses of the wolfblooded living near the tracks. Using scent and Spirit-Sight she made sure each home was safe from anything supernatural. She was the ghostly protector they knew nothing about but these people meant nothing to her, she knew them by scent alone. Hills Warden would ask after each and every one, probably when she was least expecting it, reminding her she was the one least kissed by Luna, the one whose duty was to guard the Flesh. As a result she did not return to the den until the early morning, tired but satisfied in her night's work, the pack's territory was secure. As she passed the news agent on the corner the morning's papers were being delivered. She noticed the cover of the Evening Post (the local tabloid) and her feeling of fulfilment evaporated in an instant.


Monstrous Attack!
Three murdered by notorious gang, police blame dog!
What followed below was a photo of a horrific scene, the paper had censored the worst of the violence, pixelating it almost beyond understanding. Forest-Hunter understood it just fine though, she knew what to look for. Two bodies, both with bite wounds even the largest dog wasn't capable of.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter had dressed for the night in her dark green military jacket, made of a light canvas and linen, and a pair of jeans. The benefit to these clothes was the quiet, no squeak like with leather, or swoosh like with some man-made polyesters. Her long dark curls were pulled back into tail that trailed over the back of her jackets hood. Her boots were functional, the entire look would make her easy to miss.

Despite the sense of peace that Forest Hunter had cultivated during her night's work, there was an empty ache in the pit of her stomach and a dull throb in her temple and behind her eyes that reminded her of her lack of rest. These sensations, so pathetically human became increasingly amplified as she read through the paper and skimmed the photographs.

There would be no chance for rest this morning, no chance to relieve herself of her discomfort... though she barely mourned this fact.

Forest Hunter made sure she was far enough away from the news stand to review things in peace. Of course there was little threat from the young lad who had sold her the paper, but it was the way she operated; always more comfortable when she knew she was unobserved, when the world was only hers and she was free to stalk and conquer it on her own.

She removed her cellphone, the cold plastic device an almost alien object to her touch. Within a few minutes she had compiled a text message recommending that the pack take a look at the newspaper article, and promising that she was already looking into things. She would report back to Hill Warden and the pack after further investigation.

The next step would be to try to identify just where the murder had occurred and get there as quickly and as silently as possible.

[Ladorak]

Under the grisly photo is a caption 'The scene of the carnage in Penlan.' That alone was telling, Penlan was the heart of Scar Brand territory.

The article is written by a Ceri Williams, his or her style is pure tabloid but they clearly have more talent then would be expected from the local rag.

The article begins with quotes from the police and the police report, both of which attribute the deaths to dog attack, the third paragraph ends quoting a PC Evans who says he couldn't imagine the dog capable of doing that, that it looked more like a bear had mauled them.

Ceri expands on that, claiming a secret source that linked the deaths to a notorious gang called the Scars who had killed the men for moving in on their turf. After that it descends into the emotional padding, interviews with the woman who discovered the bodies and the families of the deceased. It does however end on the sensationalist note that Ceri's secret source had more information that would be released throughout the week.

Hills Warden's answer is almost immediate. It simply reads 'Dog attack?'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter sighs at her Alpha's text. Her fingers punch out her response as quickly as possible, slamming down like pistons on the digital screen, saying, "Bites too big. My gut says something bad. Heading to Penlan. Will sniff around." She pockets the names and locations listed by the article into the recesses of her mind.

Then she makes her way to a nearby alley for some cover. Thankful for the shadows created by the rising dawn, Forest Hunter waits till she is sure there is no one to watch, then transforms to Urhan; relishing the the anger spiked by the pain of bones and flesh rearranging themselves till she is a sleek black wolf. Then she trots back out into the street, moving swiftly and keeping to the shadows till she has reached the area known as Penlan. Forest Hunter will smell out the scent of the murder scene, and once there will search for any evidence of just what may have attacked the two bodies.

Going to give a few rolls based on what I assume would be required.

So likely Tracking to find the scene of the murder in Penlan. Add modifiers as you will. In Urhan, FH's Resolve + Streetwise is Resolve 2 + Streetwise 3= 5d10.

Alternatively a perception roll in Urhan would be 9d10.

Regardless for this roll I'll roll 10d10 to give room for modifiers as you see fit. [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

Lastly what I assume would be a wits + investigation (4d10) roll or a perception (again 9d10) roll at the scene to pick up the scent of the attacker and maybe identify what kind of a source it is. Will again roll a large dice pool for as you see fit [roll2] and 10 again [roll3]

[Ladorak]

Let me know when you're done

You would think it would be hard to travel in Urhan in suburbia, particularly as the sun was beginning to rise. However to those in the know there are always hidden paths, she follows the river up stream for roughly half a mile, hidden by overgrown brambles and bushes. There was a busy road to her left and a footpath less then 10 feet away on her right, despite that she is entirely invisible, only the tiny songbirds taking refuge in the tangle marked her passage. From there she cuts across to the left, passing under the viaduct she had scaled earlier and beginning the ascent of the long gentle slope of Mt Penlan. She has to risk sprinting across a football field, trusting in speed to deceive the eye and disguise her as a large dog. She is across the field in under a minute and plunges gratefully into the small woodland, the field reeked of adolescent boy and she was glad to leave it behind. Here she passes into Scar Brand territory and it is not long before she scents their urine markers, warning the unwary away. From here she makes excellent time with no risk of discovery until she reaches Penlan itself.

Moving through Penlan was impossible in Urhan, with reluctance she had to once again disguise herself in human form.* The whole mountain is one long, narrow, winding, poorly maintained road after another, all with ugly and dilapidated terrace houses running all the way along both sides of the road. The endless walls of houses block all sight of the outside world, limiting Forest-Hunter's awareness to only the very immediate and a narrow window of sky, although easy to ignore at first this quickly became oppressive. The usual scent of car pollution and human is supplemented by the smell of rot, decay both dry and wet and a multitude of mundane vermin.

The hisil here is a mess, she'd heard the Scar Brands didn't tend to their territory well but it hadn't prepared her. Harmony is almost a distant memory, every street revealing a new festering sore or terrible emptiness on the spiritscape beyond the Gauntlet. It gave her fresh pride in her territory to compare it to this ruined place.

Finding the scene doesn't take long, the murders were over a day ago but the smell of death lingers long. The topography of the streets is a mess and she had to double back twice but once she had found the scent of fear, blood and s*** she doesn't lose it. The bodies are gone but the bloodstains remain, as does the scent of those who had murdered these three men. Two Uratha, she knows both of them, had scented their urine markers when she came into their territory. Scar Brands. She didn't know their names but their scent told her more than a name ever could. They were male, young and, briefly, enraged. One of them had pissed on or near one of the bodies.
Forest-Hunter looks up at the area around her, a hundred windows look back at her. Any one of them could have seen this happen.

*Sorry for autoing your PC here, really I should give you this choice. I mine defence you're rolled really well there and it won't count if i stop now ;)

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter scowled, she had gone deep into Scar brand territory to weed out any possible threat to her pack, only to find that it looked like some stupid hot-headed pup posturing bull****. The reasonable part of her brain (call it Seren) was screaming at Forest Hunter to mind her own business. None of Luna's Oaths had clearly been broken, and Forest Hunter was likely to just find trouble if she kept this hunt up.

... but then again a little more sniffing around couldn't hurt. Forest Hunter moved into the shadows, then quickly removed her phone. First was a text message to Hill Warden, "Looks like a murder by the Scar Brands... nothing special. Will be back soon." (OOC: This last part is assuming she shares a common living and/or work space with the rest of the pack). Then she was using her phone's web browser to see if she couldn't find the residence or office of this Ceri Williams. A quick conversation with this man might serve her well.

I'm not sure if this merits a roll, or what exactly to roll. If you feel it's neccesary please feel free to roll for me and if my dice pool is less than 3d10, lets add a WP

[Ladorak]

A quick search on Ceri Williams brings back almost nothing of note, the name is listed on the Evening Post website but without a photo or contact details. Hunter also finds a few other articles written by Ceri, fluff pieces about local charities and club events, decisions of the City Council or unimportant feelgood stories, nothing of substance or relating to today's front page. The oldest article she can find is dated only a few months ago. Once gain Hunter notes that Ceri writes rather well compared to the Post's low standards.

From the shadows Forest-Hunter can still see the kill site, so she sees a woman in her mid-30s stop to bend down and leave a bunch of flowers on the pavement. She is unusually well-dressed for the area and would be beautiful if her face was not riven by grief. As Hunter notes this her phone goes off again Meet me outside the Oxford Arms Warden had selected a meetup point not far away, just outside the edge of Scar Brand territory, Juno had passed it roughly half an hour ago.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter scans the message as a flag on her phone, not activating it to respond. "If the meet up was thirty minutes away, what would another couple of minutes matter?" she asked herself as she approached the grieving woman, allowing herself to be seen for once. "I apologize for bothering you," Seren says, doing her best to sound sincere, "did you know one of the men killed? Thomas was a friend of mine," she says, recalling the name of one of the three men killed. Perhaps she would be able to gather something useful. She adds pleasantly, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to disturb you, mam."

[Ladorak]

'That's ok, she said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks 'I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know Tom but Max thought the world of him.' Her accent was pure London cockney, a incongruously cheerful sound given how her voice was breaking. Sniffling she continued 'Max, I knew Max. He was my world. I can't believe what happened.'

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: sorry I guess I hallucinated that I had already responded)

Seren nods her head in solemn understanding. “They were both good men,” she says quietly, “it’s hard to believe they are gone.”

She takes a step closer to the woman, allowing a flash of anger to cross her face, and in a whisper says, “you don’t believe what they said in the paper, that it was just a dog attack?”

[Ladorak]

Her face hardens in an instant. If Hunter had thought grief had made a beautiful face ugly she now saw anger made it far worse 'No I don't! she says vehemently 'What sort of dog could even do that to three strong men? And then just disappear into thin air! No, this was those bloody...' He caught herself just in time, lowering her voice to a near-whisper she repeated herself and finished the accusation 'Those bloody Scars. Did Tom tell you about them?'

[Bennosuke]

“No,” she says, trying to sound surprised rather than just angry, “are they a gang?”

[Ladorak]

The mourner paused awkwardly for a few seconds 'Sorry, maybe I shouldn't tell you this, if Tom didn't tell you... But maybe you deserve to know... Yeah, the Scars are a gang, this is their turf. Max and Tom used to be tight with them, but they wanted out... Then this happened.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter allows her shock to be evident. Her mind turns the woman's statement over, "Were they wolf blooded? Did the Scars kill wolf blooded? The people must not murder the people."

Seren nods her head as if in disbelief and says, "Oh no! Are you sure both Tom and Max were part of that gang? The Scars are supposed to be vicious killers!"

(OOC: So Forest Hunter will allow this conversation to dwindle, and will part from the lady, only to double back to the murder scene. She will try to use her sense of smell to identify if the dead were wolf blooded, per page 94 Wits + Primal Urge = 4d10 [roll0] though something tells me I am going to botch this one.

EDIT: and I did. :smalltongue:)

[Ladorak]

'They weren't involved in anything like that. Tom and Max just... They dealt for the Scars and did what they were told. They-' The woman's face changed in a instant, she had seen something over Hunter's shoulder that caused fear and anger to flood her features. As she muttered 'I'm sorry, I have to go' a powerful smell hit Hunter. The smell of Uratha.

Turning she sees a young man climbing up the hill toward her, the smell is unmistakable, indeed she had been smelling it since she entered his territory. He is not one of the two murderers, but he is one of the Scar Brands. She is downwind of him and it is clear he has not yet scented her, but he would very soon if he continued his ascent.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter stifles her curse as she lets the woman go. She had lingered too long and not gathered enough. Forest Hunter could feel the anger bubbling up insider her, sending a tingling shock from the tips of her fingers and up her spine. She resisted the urge to shift into a more powerful form and stalk up behind the Scar Brand, maybe sink her fangs into the soft spots of his neck... instead deciding it was time to return to her territory and report to her Alpha.

Forest Hunter called on her gifts of evasion, allowing herself to disappear untraceable into the shadows.

Forest Hunter spends 1 Essence to activate Feet of Mist (no roll needed). She becomes virtually untraceable for those trying to find her, though if she still needs to use stealth let me know and I'll roll. No roll is needed, see pages 123-124. She will meet with Hill's Warden now.

[Ladorak]

Hills Warden was waiting outside the pub, just as he said he would be. From a distance he was nothing remarkable, even unremarkable, a short dark man dressed in drab ill fitted clothing. It is only when one gets close one sees the intensity in those small dark eyes and smell the beast just beneath the surface.
He looked ill at ease, but Hunter knew that was to be expected, her Alpha did not like to remain in any one place for long. When he saw her he started walking to meet her almost gratefully, a surging stride glad to be on the move once more. She could tell by the way he sniffed the air he had notice her Spiritual evasion of an Uratha's most vital hunting tool, her lack of smell, but he said nothing of it when they came together.
'Good to see you pup.' He sounded both sincere and slightly awkward, intimacy did not come easily to Warden, even among his packmates. He had meant good to see her safe of course, Hunter would have been foolish not to know know that. He wasted no time, stopping only to glance around before he speaks 'What did you find out?'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter snarls, her eyes kept low in frustration, arms crossed tightly across her body. "The attack was The Scar Brands; that's certain." She pauses for a second trying to cautiously find the right words, not letting her frustration and anger lead her to jumping to conclusions, "It also sounds like the three bodies they left were their own. Don't know if they were Wolfblooded, or just humans peripherally connected to the pack, but they were definitely strongly associated. I have their scent, and am happy to sniff around a little more." Forest Hunter slams a gloved fist into an open palm for punctuation. "I just couldn't stick around longer to do any more digging, because the Scars started showing up," she says confidently adding, "I wasn't scented, that's for damn certain though."

Finishing, Forest Hunter finally looks up to evaluate her Alpha's expression, hoping to find approval, or at least hoping there was no disappointment.

[Ladorak]

Reading Warden's face is not easy, even to those who call him pack. His features were stern and unmoving, as if carved from a marble bust. To those who knew how to read him even the subtlest of changes screamed a wealth of meaning. When Hunter mentioned the victims might be wolfblooded his eyebrows raise slightly and his eyes narrow for a moment. A wealth of meaning passes between them in an instant. Warden was shocked and appalled at the suggestion.

'Good Hunting Forest-Hunter.' High praise indeed from her taciturn Alpha 'I knew it was the Scar Brands, or at least I was sure it was them. That lot... Sometimes I think they'd be less trouble if they just f***ed off and joined the Pure.' He sighed and ran his fingers through his slightly greasy hair 'I'll follow this up, have a quiet word with Blitzclaw.'
Hunter had met the Alpha of the Scar Brands several times, he had seemed far too shrewd to allow his territory to fall into such disrepair or to allow his pack to behave in such a way 'I'm the one who killed the story so he'll have to listen. I spent last night leaning on my police friends to label it a dog attack. It'll take a few hours at least to arrange a meeting, I want you with me when it happens. Until then you can do as you like.'

OOC: Assuming she has a few hours to kill where would Hunter go?

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter resisted the urge to smile at the praise from her Alpha. She thanked Hill's Warden for the honor, and assured him that she would be ready to accompany him when needed.

As she departed, the elation of her success began to bleed away, swallowed by utter exhaustion brought on by a night and a morning of patrolling and hunting. She needed to rest up if she would be any good. Thoughts of curling up on her cot filled Forest Hunter's head and she was partway home when another thought clawed its way into her mind. the girl at the station, Forest Hunter had forgotten to check in on her; a daily ritual which had slipped the Irraka's mind when she had read the newspaper!

Hating herself for eschewing her bed, Forest Hunter moved back towards the train station. She would stop off at a local pub to pick up some much needed coffee for herself, and something hearty (maybe some cooked meat?) for the girl. Once stocked, Forest Hunter would hunt down the girl, watch her from afar, and once assured that she was safe, leave the little orphan her gift. The plan seemed strong enough, and hopefully there wouldn't be any hitches that kept Forest Hunter from then finding herself in bed.

[Ladorak]

The plan went off without a hitch, no doubt to the relief of the tiring Uratha. The pub Warden waited to meet in front of, the Oxford Arms, served both coffee and food. The place stank of stale sweat and alcohol and the floor stuck to her shoes, but at least the coffee was good. She gulped it down gratefully as soon as it was cool enough, over the brim of her mug she surveys the room, but it was almost empty, absent any danger or prying eyes. Hunter gets a curious look when she requests her meal boxed up but the barman obliged without comment.

She finds the girl with little effort. The urchin had strayed from the station, no doubt in search of better places to beg, but Hunter could follow that scent trail in a hurricane. The girl had walked into the city centre, spending an hour or two beside an ATM, before moving down to the beach. Hunter found her amid the sand dunes near the harbour. These dunes are not entirely natural, for decades the harbour dredgers have dumped countless tons of sand here and as a result the dunes are massive. For longer than Hunter knew the teenagers of Swansea came here to escape from prying eyes. Underage drinking, drugs and sex were common, although Hunter is relieved to discover the girl wasn't doing anything like that.Hunter discovers her alone staring out to the sea, her eyes radiating a nameless sorrow.

[Bennosuke]

The site of the girl standing out on the beach alone made Forest Hunter's heart do jumping jacks. Though the Uratha was a lone hunter, her brain screamed out how there was safety in numbers, how the little girl needed a pack of her own. But there was something else too; curiosity. Forest Hunter could not fathom what the girl thought, why she did the things she did, but something deep inside made Forest Hunter want to believe she was an innocent, made her want to protect that young innocence. And worst of all, something made her want to go up to the girl, break her cover and just introduce herself. But what good would that do? Forest Hunter's mind raced round and round, ultimately going nowhere, and once again the Uratha struggled to stifle a frustrated growl.

(OOC: According to the book, Feet of Mist is active for 1 hour. Would you say the gift is still active, or is Forest Hunter going to have to get clever about dropping off the present?)

[Ladorak]

OOC: IN RL you couldn't get from point A to point B in an hour, but for narrative purposes I'm fine with it still being 'on'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter will get as close to the girl as she trusts she can so that she can drop off the wrapped package of food without being noticed by the girl. Once the package is placed in a location that the girl will find it, Forest Hunter will linger just long enough to make sure the girl is fed, then she will get on with her day, going to take a nap before meeting Hill Warden as requested.

[Ladorak]

Leaving the food was a trick of stealth worthy of a pup, let along a consummate stalker such as Forest-Hunter. It is impossible to stop the sand shifting beneath her every step, but the wind is whipping around the dunes, carrying waves of sand in it's wake and perfectly disguising any noise her footfalls might make. She gets so close she could almost reach out and touch the waif, attracting no more attention then the sand mites.

Hunter retreated to watch from hiding, eager with anticipation, but whatever she was expecting she is disappointed. The Hisil is quiet here, Hunter can see many emotional and conceptual spirits, but they are still, merely awaiting their next meal. Most have taken a vague or distorted human shape and they lay about like the teenagers that feed them, greedy for essence created by childhood rebellion and bad decisions and disinterested in all else. The pure, deep and genuine grief of the Urchin, devoid of childish melodrama or slavish devotion to sordid pleasure, is anathema to them. However one Spirit had taken an unusual interest in her.

Gazing across the Gauntlet Hunter sees Swansea Jack emerge from the ocean. In life he had been a Black Retriever, in death his name made many believe he was a Jack Russell. Still others pictured him as his memorial, small, wolf-like and rendered in bronze. Swansea Jack reflects all three , feeding on essence uncaring of any confusion or misrepresenting of history. As he moved his body shifted, transforming from one dog to another and then a third, all the while threads of bronze washed up and down his body. Hunter can tell by the way the Spirits stares she has been seen, but it is not her that Swansea Jack approaches. Instead the ghost dog trotted up to the Urchin and laid it's head done by her feet. Almost immediately the girl seems to brighten, and mere seconds later she is laughing and crying hysterically. The joyous and choked sound seems absurdly loud in the suddenly-broken silence. Soon she quiets, wiping the tears from her face and muttering someone about her own stupidity that even's Hunter's sharp ears can't pick up, but it is clear the girl feels better for her emotional purge. She stands suddenly, brushing herself off, and turns to discover her gift. With a squeak of delight she falls upon the food ravenously. This warms Hunter's heart, although she can't help but note that while Swansea Jack has moved away, he still remains and is watching the girl carefully

[Bennosuke]

It was moments like these that Forest Hunter cursed her naivete regarding the Spirit World. She racked her brain, trying to remember snippets of conversations with Fisher, and repressed the growing urge to call him. This was why it was sometimes better to hunt with the pack! What was the meaning of this spirit's presence? He seemed to be guarding the girl, but who could say when it came to the fickle nature of spirits!

Not wanting to expose herself, nor put the girl in danger, Forest Hunter maintains her eye contact with Swansea Jack, well aware of its gaze. Jack was not a bad spirit, as far as Forest Hunter knew, but she could not afford as an Uratha to let it see her as weak. She neither advanced, nor backed down, doing her best to appear dominant, but not threatening, and waited till the girl finished feeding. If she sensed no malice from Swansea Jack, she would depart once the girl had finished eating.

[Ladorak]

Despite the Gauntlet between them neither the Spirit nor the Uratha acted as if there were any barrier between them at all, both smart enough to know they would likely cross paths in the hisil one day. They treated each other with distant respect but no show of weakness or submission, sat far apart but united in their regard for the girl.

The girl of course is oblivious to all this, all too soon her meal is gone and she stands to leave. She seems stronger now, more confident and able, nourished in body and soul she was once more prepared for the realities of her life. As the girl walks away so does Swansea Jack, disappearing back into the ocean spray, leaving Hunter to wonder what it had been about.

With a weary relief she turned and walked away herself, ready for home and bed. Home was, as most everything in Wales is, up a hill, but Hunter had past the point of fatigue where one more slope made no difference. The pack maintained a few safehouses and minor Loci but had only the one Den, located in the appropriately, abide unimaginatively, named Uplands.

The pack had a large Faux-Georgian house, separated into two flats. Warden and Kingsguard shared the ground the floor, the rest lived above them. She opened the slightly rusted black gate and as always it issued a metallic creak that sounded like something alien dying. Such a sound might hurt human ears or sensibilities but Hunter found it strangely comforting. She passes a poorly maintained hedge whose overgrowth blocked sight into the ground floor window and lets herself in.

The hallway is heavy with the smell of her pack, she feels herself relaxing almost immediately amide the familiar scents. The smell is so thick she cannot even tell if they were in. She passes two piles of old-looking leather bound books that reach almost to her shoulder and let's herself into the upstairs flat. She is both disappointed and relieved to find nobody home.

OOC: Give me a description of Hunter's room and I'll move us onto the next scene when she wakes up

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter pulls out a small key ring and turns the bolt to her bed room; the bolt she had personally installed. The room was the smallest in the house, and Forest Hunter had offered up to take it. It was sparsely decorated, designed for utility rather than comfort. An impressively adorned single bed was pushed into the far corner, out of reach of the door and facing the room's only window, which also sported a newly installed bolt. Under the window was a knee high bookshelf, and next to this was a small desk with an unimpressive laptop. The bookshelf held a few worn books, mostly on hunting, survival and farming, though there was a single book on Celtic mythology and spirits, which Fisher had recommended.

Forest Hunter closed the door, then turned the bolt back in place. The daylight had already infested the room. Forest Hunter threw her jacket off, draping it over the back of the the desk chair, then pulled the "blackout" blinds over the window, throwing the room into relative darkness. She plugged her phone into the charger on her desk, then set an alarm. Kicking her boots off, Forest Hunter collapsed into bed with a sigh. Laying on the mattress, Forest Hunter could smell her own stench, though she was uncertain if it came from the clothes she was too tired to remove, or if the bed sheets needed a wash again; when had she last taken care of that? Before allowing herself to be taken, Forest Hunter made a reflexive check for the knife hidden under her pillow. The thing was small, but plate with pure silver... just in case.

Despite, or maybe because of the odor, Forest Hunter was asleep within less than a minute, her previously broken nose creating a whistling as she snored through the morning.

[Ladorak]

Wolves sleep both lightly and deeply compared to the slumber of man. Such animals are always, even in sleep, aware of their surroundings. Such hyper-awareness is common in any intelligent wild beast, any unexpected sound could be the approach of a bear or a man or another pack. However wolves are also spared the burdens that disturb man's sleep, the psycho-drama and self-created problems that warp the Dreamscape of what should be their rest. Wolves have no need of dreams because they never forgot how to live in the moment and never learnt how to lie to themselves.

Thus, when Hunter awakes, she does so well rested and yet dimly aware of what has transpired since she closed her eyes. Anything important she would have awakened for, but she knows several members of her pack and come and gone, one of them had knocked on her door but without urgency. The house is now still, quiet aside from the sound of her breath.

A quick glance at here phone confirms that Warden had not called for her while she slept, nor had anyone else. It was nearly seven o'clock, meaning she had only slept for around five hours, although it felt far longer, she was full of energy but her joints were stiff and her eyelids still heavy. She put the phone down and got out of bed, stretching languidly and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Typically, as soon as she set aside her phone it went off. Hills Warden with a simple text Meeting set for midnight, theatrical bastard.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter sighed, pulling the phone up to quickly reply, "Will be there. Anything I should bring?"

Then without waiting for a reply, she placed the phone back down and quickly went to take a shower and change her clothes. She was never too worried about being presentable, especially when it came to other Uratha, but it was still a priority that lingered from her mortal days, and hopefully enough time under the hot water would sooth her tight muscles and stiff joints.

[Ladorak]

OOC: Just to check, you ok skipping to the midnight scene?

[Bennosuke]

OOC: Sure. My only other thoughts were to either check up on the Trainstation Locus and make sure it's looking healthy, and then maybe to reach over and see if Forest Hunter can't find and maybe interact with Swansea Jack.

[Ladorak]

Midnight, the moon hides her face behind the wall of cloud that stretches from one horizon to the other. Denied her pure light, the area is bathed in the sickly orange glow of Street light.
Hunter and Warden have already thoroughly scouted the area and are satisfied no hidden surprises await. She suspects Kingsguard lurks nearby although she has not caught his scent, it was often his way to stalk the distant perimeter of such meetings.
The two sit patiently in the car park of yet another pub between the boundary of the two packs. It's cold but they have the windows down, alert to the ever shifting sounds and smells of urban life. They smell Blitzclaw before they see him.
He looks like a stereotype of a Blood Talon Alpha. The one man in any group of a hundred that the average person would look to avoid. Big, imposing and perpetually scowling.
Warden stops to take a deep breath before he gets out of the car with a painfully false smile plastered across his face. 'Always good to see you Blitzclaw.'
Blitzclaw made a show of sniffing the air 'I smell bull****'
Warden growled in irritation 'Have it's your way. Last night I cleaned up your mess, again. You know that, but you don't know how much I know. Tell him what you saw today Forest Hunter.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunters eyes narrow, the small hairs on her arms prickling as she meets Blitzclaw's gaze. It was a bold move to behave so, but it would not do to appear weak at this moment. "The dead men," Forest Hunter starts, her voice stern, "they were Wolf Blooded, weren't they?" She scowls, stifling the urge to growl as she finishes this sentence. Then in a low voice, her human tongue struggling with the First Tongue she says, "Imru Nu Fir Imru (The People do not Murder The People."

[Ladorak]

Blitzclaw locks eyes with Hunter, a deadly silence passes between them,a few seconds that seemed like an eternity and felt as if it would break out into violence at any time. Finally he grinds out a question between gritted teeth'Don't you preach to me whelp, what were you doing in my territory?'
Before Hunter can answer Warden interrupts, swiftly shifting to stand between the two 'What I asked her to do. I spent most of last night covering your tracks, and as I've been telling you since the 90s getting favours out of the police hasn't been easy since the that woman Chief Constable cleaned house. You think it was easy convincing a dozen professional investigators to... It doesn't matter. I didn't decide this was Protectorate business, you made it Protectorate business when you let this happen.'
Despite Warden's long speech Blitzclaw's eyes never leave Hunter's 'You don't get to go poking around my turf because we upset your friends in blue. I catch her, or any of yours, on my turf it'll be bloody. And don't you give me that Protectorate ****, the only reason you're still Alpha of the Swansea branch is no one has the heart to take it from you. The Coalblack Wolves haven't been the Alpha pack since you broke them in the 90s.'
Warden snarls, clearly struggling to control himself 'The Protectorate is a collective. What do you think the other packs will say if Hunter tells them what she told me? I'm hardly the only Alpha you've pissed off over the years. You owe me some answers.'
Blitzclaw finally looks away from Hunter to fix Hills Warden with the same steely gaze 'One of them was wolfblooded, Max. I told them to stop him leaving any way they could, we couldn't have him running off to London with his fancy lady with all that he knew. They... misunderstood what I meant. They are being dealt with. You stay out of it.' That last part sounded more threat then command or request.
The silence stretches out again. This time Warden breaks it 'Without the Oaths we Forsaken are no better than the Pure. I trust you will be harsh.' Blitzclaw answers with a wordless nod 'Then I think we are done here.' Warden finishes, but the way he turned his back on the Scar-Brand Alpha to regard Hunter made her think there was something he wanted her to say.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter knew her place; she knew better than to get between these two Alphas, or even better than to get to aggressive with Blitzclaw. In some respect, he was right about her snooping on their territory, though it was nothing she felt guilty about.

That said, Forest Hunter would not back down. She maintained eye contact with the powerful Uratha to the best of her ability, keeping her expression a placid mask of tranquility. Only when the the exchange was all over, and Hill Warden turned to her did Forest Hunter allow a small half-smile. "I apologize for sneaking through your territory," Forest Hunter said impassionately, "though I was only doing what was asked.... however, you may want to consider training your pups for better surveillance, it was a little too easy." Without waiting for a response, Forest Hunter turned to join Hill Warden in their departure.

Not sure if Hill Warden was looking for her to apologize, but there we go.

[Ladorak]

Warden said only one thing on the ride back 'you did good kid, didn't give the bastard an inch. Didn't need to apologize but that's on me.
'I can't wait for my bed tonight.' After that he lapses into his customary silence, turning on the radio mask the quiet.



********

Hunter too sleeps well, when she wakes she can hear Ignatius and Fisher talking in the kitchen. The voices are quiet and friendly, the comfortable sounds of home. It seems all is at ease, now might be a good time to ask about Jack before the next crisis.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter quickly changed her shirt, switching from a black T to a light grey tank that hopefully didn't smell quiet as bad. Then she slinked down the stairs, avoiding the spots where the stairs were most creaky and moving noiselessly into the kitchen (though her scent still likely gave her away).

Forest Hunter grinned, giving her pack mates a silent 'good morning', and helping herself to a cup of coffee that Iggy had reliably managed to burn. Then the Irraka settled herself in a folding chair that was parked at the round table the two were sitting at, and took a long loud slurp of coffee. Placing the now half empty mug down, Forest Hunter's eyes darted from Black Ice to Fisher and said, "Sorry to interrupt... and thank you for the coffee. "

She gave each Uratha a moment to speak before saying, "I have a question about a Spirit I ran into recently... a big dog-thing, I think it's the one you called Swansea Jack? I ran into it yesterday... on our territory... and it was acting a little strange. It seemed to be following and guarding a human."

[Ladorak]

Iggy snorted when Hunter apologised for disturbing them but he said nothing. Instead he went about making Hunter breakfast with a small secretive grin on his face. Fisher answered with a small nod 'Morning Hunter, you look like you slept well. Must have earnt it, Warden was raving about you yesterday. He said like three nice things about you, and you know how high praise that is coming from him.'

He didn't stop wolfing down his food as Hunter asked for question, but at least he refrained for his answer 'You don't need to worry about that. Guarding isn't quite what he does but you're close. Jack's one of the good Spirits, not in a harmony way, good the way a human would see it. He saves the drowning, sometimes literally but mostly that means people in anguish who go out by the sea. I don't really know how he does it, he doesn't Reach as a Spirit normally would, I've seen it, he doesn't disturb the Gauntlet at all. But he sits down next to them and after a while they just... feel better.' He shrugged and went back to his meal, apparently unable to think of anything to add.

A few moments later Iggy set down Hunter's breakfast and presented her with knife and fork. He waited for her to start eating with a pointed look before he asked a question, speaking softly as he usually did 'How did it go last night? We've not heard from Warden. I mean we know it didn't go terribly because we haven't heard from Warden, but we'd like to know a bit more than that.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter nodded with deep interest in Fisher's remarks about the guardian spirit. Honestly, she struggled to understand everything he was saying, or at least how all this knowledge came so easily for him, but she was thankful it did. "Thank you Fisher," she said, still shaking her head furiously in feigned comprehension.

When Iggy placed the plate of food in front of her, Forest Hunter took her first bite then wrinkled her nose and said, "How much salt did you put in these eggs?" She resisted the urge to spit out the ocean flavored eggs. Instead, she satisfied herself with tearing into the sausage on the plate, wolfing the food down lustily.


'How did it go last night? We've not heard from Warden. I mean we know it didn't go terribly because we haven't heard from Warden, but we'd like to know a bit more than that.'

Forest Hunter grins, a sly coy look playing in her narrowed brown eyes. "My, aren't we nosy," she says playfully. She swallows down another bite of sausage, wipes her mouth with a paper napkin, and says, "It was fine I guess. That Blitzclaw is a bit of an ******* though. You know what's going on, right?" She asks this last part as a probe. Forest Hunter wasn't sure how much the others knew about what she had discovered, and if Warden hadn't told them, she probably shouldn't.

[Ladorak]

Black Ice opened his mouth to answer, but Fisher beat him to it 'Not really. Idiot Blood Talons killed someone they shouldn't have... again. You had a meeting with Blitzclaw last night, we only know that because Warden had us on call if you guys didn't report back.'
'Yes,' Interrupted Black Ice drily 'We were going to paint the town red if you two didn't come back.' Wordlessly he took Fisher's plate and took it to the sink, with his back to them he added 'It's frustrating, to know people you care about are risking their lives, but not knowing why.'
Fisher shot a helpless look at his packmate's back 'We all have our secrets Iggy, sometimes we stumble over our friend's secrets, when we do the... right thing to do... is to trust your friend is keeping secrets for a reason, not to dig into things that were hidden from you for good reason.' His eyes turned from Iggy's back to bore into Hunter's skull 'That said... We do care about you Hunter, and it is frustrating to know you're in danger without knowing why.'

[Bennosuke]

Hunter shrugs, but gives her friends a wry smile (even if Iggy still had his back turned). "That's very kind of you," she says sincerely, "but I'm just a small fry. I only figure that if the boss wanted you to know, he would have told you himself... and if he didn't..." She lets the implication hang in the room for a moment before adding, "That's fair, isn't it?", speaking loud enough so that Black Ice can't mope his way through pretending not to hear.

She looks down at her half eaten plate, the over-salted eggs already turning cold and hard. Plate in hand, Forest Hunter rises and empties the rest of the food in the stained black plastic trashcan by the counter. She then approaches Iggy, handing him the empty plate and dirty silverware. She places a calculated hand on the swell of his upper arm and says, "Thank you for your concern though."

She breaks contact, and turning back towards Fisher says, "But I think we all better be a little more careful now. I really didn't like the way Blitzclaw was. He strikes me as the vengeful sort. I'll be sure to pull a few extra hours of patrolling from now on. By the way, anything I missed while I was gone?"

[Ladorak]

'Not really. Until we got called in we were patrolling the Slaglands with Breaker.' He let out a sigh 'Still a lot of work to be done there, but nothing remarkable. Hunter knew exactly what he meant, these days the Slaglands were stable but bringing them back to true harmony would be the work of several lifetimes.
'You're right about Blitzclaw,' added Iggy 'We should double up on patrols the next few days, and I'll help you keep an eye on the wolfbloods.' From there the conversation turned to something like gossip, each Uratha telling the others what they knew of the wolfblood's lives, sharing stories of their extended family's successes and achievements. Little Alan was no longer being bullied after Breaker put in a surprisingly diplomatic word, Alice was going to Law School come September, James was in love although the pack doubted Warden would give his permission to wed the human girl. The relaxed atmosphere is shattered around half an hour later, broken by a blood-chilling roar the pack knew all too well. Hills Warden didn't make that kind of sound unless he was furious, the three Uratha share a look like naughty children dreading their parent's return.

The front door cracked open, Warden had a copy of the key of course, in even but strained tones he said 'Forest-Hunter, I've got another job for you.'

[Bennosuke]

The Irraka rises quickly from her place at the table, practically helpless against the instinctive obedience that she owes her Alpha. "Of course," she says snappily, "just tell me what you need."

[Ladorak]

He came up the stairs slowly, his movements were very deliberate. Hunter recognises this habit instantly, this exaggerated carefulness meant her Alpha was fighting off the Black Beast. The others back up slightly as he comes into the room and slightly bow their heads. Warden says nothing, he throws the morning paper onto the table.


Grisly Murders are tip of the iceberg, our secret source reveals

A new picture of the murder features prominently, again with distorted images to soften the worst of the carnage. Once again the article is authored by Ceri Williams, who reports the Scars, notorious gang known in Penlan, accused of many drug and violence offences, are no mere criminal syndicate. They are in fact some bizarre cult, worshipping the Great Father Wolf. The victims of the murders reported yesterday were killed by some sort of captive wild animals for wanting to leave this cult. Even Hunter, who knows this to be dangerously close to the truth, thinks the whole thing sounds ridiculous, surely no one would believe it? Worryingly however Ceri lists over a dozen known affiliates or members of the cult. The article is fairly short, but again it closed promising further details tomorrow.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter picks the paper up and quickly skims it, noting down all key details that she can. Then she drops it back on the table, so that her packmates can read it, even if it was now like the scraps left for the weakest pups.

She sighs and says sternly, "This Ceri need to be quieted or just investigated?"

[Ladorak]

Black-Ice and Fisher pounce on the paper very much like pups pouncing on scraps. He had waited patiently, but now Hunter had asked a question Warden was back in action once more, pacing the kitchen as if he expected enemies to come pouring out of the cupboards. The Alpha ground out a curt answer between clenched teeth 'Up to you. It'll give her story a lot more credibility if she goes missing, but she can't be allowed to reveal anything else. I have to speak to all the other packs about this and that's not going to leave much time in the day. I trust you Forest-Hunter, you decide what needs to be done.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter stifles her from. She can feel her muscles tensing as if rejecting the words that are about to come out of her mouth. So she rushes through the words as she says, "Are you sure you don't want Silver Gut to go instead? He's the Cahalith with the silk tongue. I can try to dig some dirt up on her, but I've never been one for quick talking or persuasion."

As if to head of the admonishment before her Alpha can strike a blow, Forest Hunter quickly says, "But if you have any possible leads, I will do my best to find something that can be used to blackmail this Ceri Williams."

[Ladorak]

The side of Warden's mouth twitched, to a human it would have seemed little more than a nervous tick, to an Uratha it spoke louder than a shout 'If I wanted a charmer I'd have asked a charmer. I want a hunter, Forest-Hunter.' He stared her down, an uncomfortable silence stretched out before he modified the harshness of his statement, slightly 'I need Guts with me. You too Fisher, I need you to reach out to the Seven Sisters.'

Iggy cleared his throat 'May I assist, at least? Kingguard can stand my place in any meetings you have, he is the senior Half-moon after all.'

Warden's eyes narrow, he looks from Hunter to Black Ice, seeking some invisible connection or trying to confirm some secret suspicion. There is none of that in his voice though 'Yes, I can spare you Black-Ice, for now. One last thing, I want to be clear before I send you on your merry way; It would be better if Ceri is silenced without being murdered, however if that is the only way I will not be disappointed if she disappears.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter does her best to hide the sudden rush of adrenaline pushed into her veins by the Alpha's displeasure. There would likely be no straight way to salvage the damage, so instead she simply says, "I understand Warden, and will do my best."

She offers a quick thank you to Iggy, for his offering to help. Then she adds, only loud enough for the Elodath to hear, "If you think you can keep up." She lets only the slightest of grins spread across her lips.

Then before Iggy can respond, Forest Hunter turns her attention back to the pack alpha. "Is there anything else I can do?" she asks dutifully.

[Ladorak]

'No.' Another lingering look 'Be about your business, that goes for all of you.' He leaves without saying anything further.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter revels in the moment after Hill Warden's exit. She feels her muscles immediately relaxing, but suppresses the urge to sigh. After the moment has passed, she turns to Iggy and says, "Well then, are you about ready to go? I'm just gonna wash down that sad excuse for a breakfast with a little more coffee and I'll be ready to head out."

[Ladorak]

A simple Google search revealed two locations for the Evening Post, for want of any concrete leads the two Uratha start their search there.

The nearer location is on High Street in the Pack's territory, but when they arrive they find the lobby almost crawling with police, despite Warden's connections the two wordlessly agree it looks more trouble than it's worth. They move on to the second location.

The first office was obviously the front facing part of the organisation, while it was small it was clean, tastefully decorated, well-lit and in very good repair compared to it's surroundings. The second office, in stark contrast, looks deserted and unloved. The building is huge, three stories high and roughly 100 meters long. The front door is locked and through it they can see a heavy layer of dust on the lobby's carpet. The exterior of the building is no better, in poor repair and with dozens of patches of peeling or chipped paint. It certainly doesn't look like a place of business, or at least not one that had been in business recently.

However a quick glance into the Hisil suggests otherwise, there is far too much Spirit activity here for the building to be abandoned. Several dozen Conceptual and Artificial Spirits lurk seemingly sure of their next meal.

Black Ice frowned 'I need to make a few phone calls. Have a quick scout around, see if you can find us a way in without breaking anything.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter rolls her eyes at Black Ice as he goes, and calls after him, "What happened to your cellphone?"

Once he is gone, Hunter sighs and begins to make her way round the side of the building Best bet would be to find a fire escape, and hope it was well maintained enough to not make too much noise on the climb up. If it looked safe and quiet enough, her best bet would likely be to find an unlocked window on the way up, or to make her way to the roof.

She would just have to get more inventive if the fire escape wasn't in adequate repair, or looked to rusted to safely and quietly ascend.

[Ladorak]

'Cheeky,' Iggy called back to her, fishing around in his pocket 'Confidentiality. I do you the same courtesy, of course.'

The fire escape is indeed too dilapidated to use, dark brown rust covers all three stores of the iron steps and several pieces have already fallen away. However Hunter has more luck at the other side of the building, a single metal fire door in good repair. The pavement outside is littered with discarded cigarette butts, from inside she can hear the low thrumming of machinery.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter moves as quietly as she can to the door. She places her ear to the door to see if she can hear voices or movement on the other side. A single hand goes to the handle or latch and just barely tests the latch to see if it's unlocked. She makes no attempt to open the door if it is unlocked, but she tests it to make sure she won't have to try to pick the lock, a skill she unfortunately lacks.

[Ladorak]

The firedoor is of the type that can only be opened from one side, there is no latch or handle for Hunter to try. When she presses her ear to the cool steel she can hear the hum of the machine more clearly. There are two sounds, one subtly underlying the other. Beneath the familiar roar of an engine there is a rhythmic sound she cannot identify, a very rapid slapping or scuffing sound. She can hear two men talking, yelling to each other over the racket, but even her keen ears cannot make out any individual word.

[Bennosuke]

Judging by the field of discarded cigarettes, Forest Hunter supposed she could camp out here and wait for someone to take their smoke break. But she wasn't sure she wanted to wait forever, so she was going to have to keep looking.

Forest Hunter will look for anything that may allow her access into the building.

(OOC: Not sure if you would prefer a Perception roll (5d10 pool for Forest), or something like Wits + Investigation (4d10). Will roll 5d10 and let you decide what is more appropriate. [roll0] and 10 again [roll1])

[Ladorak]

On completing a second circuit of the building Hunter came no closer to another quiet entrance, she could break a window at the back of the building as it was very much quieter than the front, or risk the fire escape to a broken window on the second floor.
Then, just as she gave up hope of a better solution, she spotted one. She had been so focused on the building she had missed what was under her feet. At the back of the building she finds a large set of stainless steel cellar doors built into the pavement, far larger then the type used by pubs. Inspecting them further she finds that, although heavy, these doors are not fixed in place.
Black Ice comes trotting up as she finishes her investigation 'This might be a dead end. Apparently they only use this place for printing now, everything else is done from the other office. I'm told the company that installed the printing machinery went bankrupt, and now no company will take the thing apart, so they had to kept this building, probably explains why it's falling apart.' He adds the last frowning in disapproval at the building 'Anyway it doesn't sound like a journalist would ever come down here
Strength+ Athletics please if you want to try the cellar doors

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter shrugs, and instead of responding to Iggy, shifts into Dalu form. A fine layer of thin lacy black fur sprouts from her flesh as she grows nearly a foot and a half in size. She then moves over to the cellar door, and puts her back into trying to pry it open.

In dalu form that's 5d10 I believe: [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

EDIT: I count on shiny success with that.

[Ladorak]

There was a reason no one had locked these doors, only an exceptional human would be able to even budge them from the outside.

While Iggy stands watch for passersby something rather more than an exceptional human bent sheet metal like it was cardboard. Once she had secured a handhold she was able to lever it open without further damage.

There are no steps down, only a concrete slope. The slope is not steep however, it may be difficult to climb but it should be easy to descent safely and quietly. The whole area is covered with dust and spider webs, it would be impossible to pass without becoming covered.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter grins at Iggy as the door comes open. Once she has released the handles, she says in hushed voice, "Give me a little bit of room but follow. We're going in quietly." She shifts into Urhan, taking the form of a lithe black wolf. She sticks to the shadows as she pads silently down the dusty hallway, her nose and eyes focused on the Hunt.

So Forest Hunter is going to be stealthy, so in case she needs it, here's Dex (4+2 Urhan) + Stealth (4) [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

In case you need perception, here it is [roll2] and 10 again [roll3]

EDIT: Now THOSE are some rolls! :smallcool:

[Ladorak]

I mean I was gonna pad this out... But two exceptional successes

Hunter in fact does not touch so much as a single spider web on her way down, which is more than can be said for Iggy, who emerges at the bottom shortly after her absolutely covered in the stuff. He distaste could not be more obvious but her soldiers on without complaint.

The two wolves scout the lower floor in record speed. They had emerged in a massive storage room, although most of the space is unused. Near the door there are stacks of boxes and huge piles of paper.

The two work as a team seamlessly. Iggy briefly transformed into human form to open the door, Hunter immediately through the door ready for anything, him following up in Urhan seconds later. Like this room by room they cleared the floor.

Most of the rooms are is obvious disuse or disrepair. They find a break room, toilets and a couple of offices which are empty but look recently used.

Once they get near the stairs they hear the same noise Hunter had heard behind the fire door. Ascending the stairs she finds the other side of that firedoor. There are stairs that go further up and one door from which the noise is coming.

Sneaking a peak through a crack in the door she can see a handful of men working a giant machine, almost certainly a printing press of some kind from what little she can see.

Ascending the stairs they find something significant. The two upper floors look the same as the basement, abandoned and left to rot. However on the top floor, in a back room as far from the stairs as possible, they find several blankets and pillows, some toiletries and a battery powered heater.

Hunter recognises the scent that hangs in the air. The woman who came to lay the flowers, this is her place.

[Bennosuke]

Before knocking, Forest Hunter crosses her senses into the Shadow, looking across the veil to study the factory space, as well as the space in which the woman from before is staying.

[Ladorak]

The woman's room is unremarkable, she has not been here long enough to leave any impression in the Shadow. The spirits you see are the same as you found in most of the building, spirits of decay and fallen grandeur. Poor half-starved blind stupid things wandering aimlessly, soon then would fade away entirely, too starved to hold their forms together. Losing the basic will to survive they would simply drift apart, the essence they left behind would keep their fellows going for a little longer, a process that would repeat until there were no left.
The printing room floor is different. The spirits there are Conceptuals and Artificials, all are in good health. There is also far more of them. It is clear that the printing presses themselves provide most of the essence for the local Spirit ecology. The hisil is chaotic but in harmony, everything is as it should be.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter motions to Iggy to stay back, out of eyesight from the doorframe, before she raises a hand and knocks on the woman's apartment door. She casts her eyes down if/when the door starts to open, trying to don a somber appearance.

[Ladorak]

OOC: Sorry I've obviously explained something badly. There is no woman's apartment. Hunter found evidence of someone sleeping rough in an abandoned office and recognised the woman's smell. She is obviously living rather basically, there's only some thin blankets, a few pillows, a heater and a toiletry bag. This office she chose is as far away as possible from the ground floor, from the scent Hunter would guess she's only been sleeping here for a few nights and was last here anywhere between 5 and 10 hours ago.

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: My bad :smalleek:)

Forest Hunter presses her long dark muzzle into the blankets, snuffling through the sheets to fill her senses with the spores of the woman. She licks tentatively at some of the more personal belongings, and makes sure to investigate for anything that may educate Forest Hunter further on the young woman. Then panting and satisfied with her work, she turns back to Iggy. This form makes The First Tongue easier to work, and she says/barks to her companion, "I met the woman who is staying here yesterday. She was too well dressed to be living like this; early thirties. She said she was dating one of the Scars Wolf Blooded who was killed. It's funny that she's staying at one of the location's of the Evening Post... and funnier still how abandoned this place is."

So just in case it can yield anything, I'll make an investigation roll of Max's girflriend's living quarters, to see if there's anything else Forest Hunter can gather on the woman Wits (3) + Investigation (1) for 4d10. If you prefer intelligence (2) the dicepool would then be 3d10, but I'll roll the larger just in case. [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

'Not so funny, it makes sense.' said Iggy, looking back at the way they had come 'She chose the place as far from the front door as possible. Someone searching this pace top to bottom, as we did, would find this room dead last. Gives her time to get away. Smart if you're ratting on the Scar-Brands' He sniffs deeply, memorising the scent 'This place was abandoned because they couldn't afford the upkeep and couldn't get the printing presses out. And couldn't afford new ones, I guess. I'd say we've found where Ceri lays her head down, or where her secret source does. She could easily get the keys, and who would look for a hot-shot London-journalist in a place like this.'

[Bennosuke]

"I've got her scent if you're game for a little tracking," Forest Hunter says with a playful grin, adding, "just try not to slow me down Iggy." She bounds off on padded feet after her quarry.

So I'm assuming this will be Wits + streetwise+primal urge given the urban environment. That's a base 7d10. I don't know if you want to add positive modifiers given how much Forest Hunter has her scent, or negative modifiers given how old the trail is, but will roll 10d10, just in case :smallwink: . [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

Man your rolls are on fire right now

The two Uratha leave via the firedoor on the ground floor, a far easier exit and one that followed the woman's scent. The journey is a short one, and brings you back where you had started. The Evening Post's other office on the High Street. Hunter and Ice briefly split up to scout the environment around the building, but when they meet up they agree, whoever this woman is she's inside that building.
The police presence has died down considerable, only 2 uniformed officers remain, seemingly on guard. There's a receptionist inside behind a desk and a half dozen people who must be waiting for appointments or something similar.

[Bennosuke]

Before trying to enter through the main door, Forest Hunter is going to quickly and discretely case the outside of the building, trying to see if there is perhaps a way in that doesn't require interacting with guards and secretaries.

[Ladorak]

The sides of the building are too overlooked, there was no chance there of entering via one of the windows without being spotted. At the back there are no windows, there is a 3 story fire escape, this one in far better condition. There are three metal doors, the two Uratha likely could make short work of them, but it would be loud.

[Bennosuke]

In Hishu form, Forest Hunter quickly tests the fire escape, trying to get a sense for how loud it would be to climb it, and to make sure it can support her weight.

(OOC: Not sure if you need a roll for this, or what it would be).

[Ladorak]

OOC: No roll required. The fire escape looks relatively new, it would likely support her even in Garou so long as she didn't throw her weight about. Likewise it can be climbed silently so long as one is careful (No roll required). As well as the metal doors on each floor (Str+brawl/melee to break, but will be very loud) it may be possible to gain access to the roof from the top floor (Dex+Athletics) although from her she can see no advantage to doing so.

[Bennosuke]

If the other option is to make noise through trying to open the doors along the fire escape, Forest Hunter will climb to the roof and see what her options are in regards to sky lights, stairwell access ect.

[Ladorak]

Ooc: Dex+athletes to get up there and a wits+investigation once up please

[Ladorak]

Three stores does not seem very high, until one has to take a leap of faith from that height. From a human such a fall would be ruinous, even lethal. Even an Uratha might perish from such a fall if they were unlucky.
She does not fall though, her feet barely touch the handrail before she is vaunting from it to the roof, fingers splayed fingers out ready to pull herself up. It only takes a few seconds, but when Hunter is safe atop the roof she stops to steady her suddenly racing heart.
The roof is entirely flat and easily traversed, there doesn't appear to be a way down into the building but there are a number of skylight windows. Hunter checks almost all of them before she finds what she's looking for.
The woman who was mourning sits behind a desk, dressed just as she was that day. Beside her stands a formidable looking woman, she was petite but radiated confidence. Expensive business suit, glasses, tightly pinned up hair. She looked like the master of her domain, likely she was right in believing that until the Uratha arrived. She has to be the Editor of the paper.
In front of the desk are a uniformed police officer and another man who was clearly CID (Plains clothes detectives), both look stressed and unhappy.
The mourning woman is saying nothing and looks although she has been closed mouthed for a while, the Editor on the other hand is wildly animated, emphatically gesticulating and speaking with force. They all look like they have been arguing for hours.
On the desk Hunter can make out a small bronzed nameplate, it's incredibly difficult to read from that distance, even with her superior eyes she likely wouldn't be able to make it out if she didn't already know what she was looking for. The plate reads 'Ceri Williams'.

[Bennosuke]

From the roof, Forest Hunter will first stealthily check the skylight for a latch that would allow her to pull the glass or plastic window back. If identified, she does not yet open it. She also does her best to try to rule out the fact that this editor is an Uratha or Wolfblooded. It was highly unlikely, but absolutely worth identifying. Forest Hunter even goes so far as to press her face and nose up against the glass to try to get any whiff she can, and also makes sure to peer across the gauntlet. She otherwise watches, and waits to see if this Ceri Williams is left alone.

[Ladorak]

Hunter settles down on her haunches and prepares for a long wait. An hour later the argument shows no sign of quieting, she may have been prepared to wait for longer, if so she was denied that chance.
Her phone rings silently, Iggy calling from the road below 'I think we've got a big problem. Take a look sideways, towards the city centre.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter keeps her voice low when she responds, "Thanks for the patience Iggy, uh, things ain't exactly moving to quickly up here." Hearing about the problem, Forest Hunter does as was recommended, turning her head to look out towards the city center, and letting her vision blur and her senses carry over into The Hisil.

[Ladorak]

The Spirits of High Street are a hoary lot, for them the constant clash of resonance and battle for essence is less an ecosystem and more a war. They are cynical opportunists without compare in a world filled with sharp teeth and looming betrayal.

So to see them scatter like deer before the call of the pack was disconcerting to say the least. And scatter they did, a chaotic riot of differing meanings and resonances briefly united in one common action, fleeing.

Driving all before it is Phoenix, a huge bird made of fire and smoke that slowly glides down the street with consummate arrogance, almost inviting challenge. It's hungry eyes, framed by ever flickering flame, remain firmly fixed on the Evening Post building.

'It gets better.' Iggy's tinny phone voice seems impossibly far away 'I can smell two Scar-Brands coming from the same way. Twitch and one I only know by smell.'

[Bennosuke]

"****," Forest Hunter curses, her mind racing as she appraises the situation. She takes one more moment to look back at the sky light, where the mourning woman, the Editor and the police officers were still arguing. Turning her attention back to the conversation, she half asks, half orders, "Can you make a scene down there? I need you to draw the cops up here downstairs so that I can get to Ceri Williams without their interference."

[Ladorak]

Iggy sounds rushed, almost panicked. Hunter had rarely seen him lose his easy detached air. I'll do what I can but you won't have long.' The line goes quiet for a few moments then she hears Iggy's voice again, muffled and distant 'Hello Twitch, Twitch's friend, you're on Coalblack Wolf territory.' There's an answer she can't make out, and then the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh. Even from the roof she can hear the pedestrian cries of alarm from the street. For a tense minute it looks as if the two police below her won't shift, but eventually the call comes through and they both leave. The editor shares a brief word before she to leaves the office, leaving the mourning woman alone at her desk.

The phoenix has pulled up before the building now. Spreading it's wings out it hovers, almost regal, and regards those below it with baleful disdain.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter groans. She was going to have less time than she hoped. She hadn't realized the Scars were already so close. IF possible, she manually opens the skylight, but if this is not possibly, she will shift into Dalu just long enough to either pry the window open, or smash through the glass, depending on which looks easier based on the closing mechanism of the window and the thickness and material of the glass window.

(OOC: Let me know if I need to roll something here)

[Ladorak]

OOC: No roll required for breaking the glass. It can't be opened manually, at least not from the outside, but the glass is single glazed. Hunter could break it with a rock, let alone with Dalu form

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter steps back from the sky light so that she can't be seen and shifts into Dalu, steps forward to shatter the glass with a downward hammerfist of both hands, then steps back to shift back to Hishu, before finally jumping down into the room feet first, gritting her teeth with the impact of her landing.

Assuming she isn't too incapacitated, she turns immediately to the widow and says, "I'm so sorry to barge in on you like this, but I believe you and Ms. Williams are in grave danger. The commotion downstairs are a group of the gangsters you called the Scars, who I think have come after you." She does her best to give a confident and trustworthy smile before saying, "Help me get Ceri Williams, and we will get the two of you out of here as safely as we can."

I probably need a roll here, and in my brain this would make most sense as a Presence + Persuasion roll. However, Forest has no points in Persuasion, so gonna burn a WP here, for 4d10 [roll0] and just in case, adding a 10 again pool [roll1]

EDIT: Well that's no good. Dropped my Character box WP down to 2/4.

[Ladorak]

I suppose you should make some damage roll for the fall but forget that, rule of cool

Hunter lands before the woman in a shower of glass amid a cacophony of shattering. The widow reacts instantly, impressive for a human. Perhaps she was so hollowed out by grief there was no room for surprise or fear. She produces a can of mace from her breast pocket and waves it threateningly 'Why should I believe... You?' The hard lines of her face break up as she recognizes Hunter 'I know you, you were...

OOC: You'll need some sort of social roll to convince her to go with you. I leave the choice of which up to you

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter crosses her arms confidently, her demeanor becoming slightly harder, slightly impatient. "Listen," she says with a glare, "I know you're familiar with gangs like the Scars. I assume you know what they are capable of. You know what they did to Max, and that wasn't even that bad. Women like you or me; they'll take turns with us, if you know what I mean, and make sure we suffer. Trust me, I've seen gangs like them, and I know what they will do to us. You should too." Forest Hunter reaches back in her memory to recall the terror she experienced fleeing for her life from the Pure, and her knowledge of street gang culture in South Wales to bring a hard experienced tone to her voice.

(OOC: Don't know if this makes sense, but using Forest Hunter's Streetwise social skill to manipulate the widow, knowing that she believes the Scars to be a dangerous street gang, so Manipulation + Streetwise for 5d10 [roll0] and 10 again [roll1] )

[Ladorak]

'I know what they can do.' She says it quietly, staring down at the floor. 'I knew they were coming for me, after what I wrote. After what I threatened to write. I just didn't think they'd come here.' A bitter smile twists her lips 'I didn't think they were brazen or stupid enough, if you can believe it.' She opens her mouth to say more, but she doesn't get the chance.

Fire alarms suddenly blare, deafeningly loud. The widow shouts to be heard 'I'm Ceri, get me out of here.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter gives her a wry grin, and firmly says, "Let's go, follow me!" She grabs Ceri's hand, then draws on her Renown in Cunning, burning Essence to activate Feet of Mist to leave no trace as they navigate through the building. As they move, Forest Hunter asks, "Any idea for the best way out?"

[Ladorak]

As soon as she's out the door Hunter can tell the fire alarm was no mere distraction. The arid tang of smoke is strong on the air and the mindless panic of office workers is beyond that inspired by any fire drill.
The two hurried to the fire exit, followed by a milling herd that threatened to crush them underfoot should they slow down. As the group reach the exit flames suddenly spring up blocking the path, flames that spread impossibly quickly, flames that radiate heat far beyond what a fire of that scale should be capable of. As the supernatural fire spreads Hunter and Ceri find themselves fighting back through the crowd to escape the approaching wall of heat. Hunter is far stronger than the average office worker, but the press of bodies make progress difficult 'The main staircase is the only other way down!' Ceri shouts, leaning over to yell in Hunter's ear.

strength+athletics to fight through the crowd please

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter grabs Ceri's hand, whether she likes it or not and shouts out over the crowd, "Okay, then keep hold of my hand, and follow me!"

Hoping that keeping Ceri's hand helps her follow with Feet of Mist activated. Feet of Mist makes it harder to track Forest Down, but would it be beneficial to also activate Slip Away. Per the text it would make Forest Hunter a face in the crowd, unnoticeable unless she takes a significant action.

Strength + Athletics = 4d10 [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

Together they fight their way through the press. The other workers, finding their escape blocked, revert to blind animal panic. Most of them hadn't dealt with anything more stressful than an overdue bill in years, psychologically they were not equipped to deal with the kind of life-and-death struggle that wild animals face everyday. On top of that many of them were in poor physical condition, the cramped air was already filling up with the sickly smell of sweat emitted through too many layers of fat and too many layers of cheap fabric, it reminded Hunter of the smell of rancid bacon.
If she were unable to push her way through such a crowd she would be unworthy of calling herself a descendant of Father Wolf and Mother Luna. Likewise Ceri, who had lived every second of the last few days in expectation of being murdered, fought her way through with a grim determination her co-workers could not match nor resist.

Yet for all their success fighting their way through it was all for naught. Ceri leads Hunter round a corner and together they discover the main staircase already engulfed in flame. 'How...' Asked Ceri, but the question died unformed on her lips. Hunter knew what she was going to ask though; The staircase was uncarpeted stainless steel, to a human's narrow perspective it should be impossible to burn.

[Bennosuke]

Before moving any further, Forest Hunter will first gaze sideways, sending her vision into The Hisil to confirm her suspicions.

She will also pull out her cellphone and text Iggy, asking where he is.

[Ladorak]

Hunter's message does not illicit a reply, at least not yet. Gazing sideways she sees the Phoenix grappling with the building's spirit, an obviously uneven contest. The building's spirit howls in agony each time it takes hold of the Phoenix, it's glass and concrete limbs melting away under such intense heat.
And then, as Hunter watches, it lets go. Then the Phoenix, in flagrant disregard for Father Wolf's most sacred law, reaches across the Gauntlet. In the Flesh Hunter hears explosions nearby and a second later is hit by a wall of heat. In desperation the building Spirit once again reaches for the Phoenix.

[Bennosuke]

Like the fires now burning in the building, Forest Hunter's anger flares inside her and she has to stifle a growl to resist her rage and the growing heat in the building. "We have to get out of here," she snarls, as much to herself as to Ceri, before pulling the woman back to begin looking for a window with the nearest fire escape, such as the one she previously used to reach the top of the building.

(OOC: What floor are we on now btw?)

[Ladorak]

The smoke is getting thicker now, filling the vast enclosed space with alarming speed, the air is filled with the crackle of flames and the wails and moans of those who have already given up hope. Nearby someone has employed a fire extinguisher but it is like spitting into a hurricane.

The press of bodies near the fire escape is gone when they return to it, beaten back by the flames. Nearby Hunter finds a small office whose window opens near to the fire escape, with her head out the window assesses the distance, the fire escape stairwell is roughly 8-9 foot away. She takes a brief second to relish the sensation of clean air in the lungs, hearing as she does so the rising call of sirens in the distance.

You are on the third floor

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter opens the window, relishing the fresh air, gulping down good oxygen and making sure Ceri gets to clear her lungs as well. After a few moments, she points Ceri towards the fire-escape. "Do you think you could make it to that from this window?" she asks, though deep down she isn't very optimistic.

However, if this window didn't exit directly to the fire escape, it meant another window very nearby must. If Ceri wasn't confident she could jump to the escape, it would have to be an easy navigation to the correct window, even if it meant fighting through the crowd.

[Ladorak]

Ceri had performed admirably so for, but it in clear looking at her now shock is setting in. With slightly glazed eyes and slightly slurred speech she shakes her head 'No, I don't think so. And that drop...' She leaves the rest unsaid, a failed jump would likely be lethal 'But there's no other way. We'll have to-'

She suddenly leaps back from the window with a cry of astonishment. A monstrously large osprey had landed on the window sill, swooping down as if from nowhere. Hunter instantly recognizes her Totem. One-Fell-Swoop's beak opens and it's reedy high-pitched voice all but shrieks 'Jump Hunter, trust me.' It immediately jumps back into the air,vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
OOC: Stamina+Athletics roll as the smoke and heat is now approaching lethal levels.
Also please roll strength+athletics if you intend to make the jump

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter tried to stifle her frustration with the situation, but could not hold back a "Well sorry Ceri, but I don't think we have any choice anymore, now do we. I'll jump overthere then you will. I'll try to catch you."

With that, Forest Hunter steps up onto the windowsill. With her hair covering the back of her neck, and her jacket on, she hopes it won't be too clear to Ceri as Forest Hunter switches into Dalu, before jumping for the fire-escape.

Stamina (2) + Athletics (2) + Dalu (1) [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]
Str (2)+Athletics (2)+ Dalu (1) [roll2] and 10 again [roll3]

EDIT: Once she is across, Forest Hunter will switch back to Hishu before turning around to face Ceri and try to catch her.

[Ladorak]

Ceri doesn't look confident as she hauls herself through the window, and as she jumps she loses her footing. She falls more than leaps, crying out in mortal fear.

Suddenly the air is howling. A moment ago the wind had been still, now Hunter is buffeted against a powerful updraft that almost forces her off her feet. Ceri is caught by the supernatural hurricane, lifting her up, spinning wildly, into Hunter's outstretched arms.

The two hit the metal walkway together hard, for a moment Hunter sees stars, tiny blank dots of nothingness drifting across her vision. Still she notices the silence, deafening in it's suddenness. The howling wind is gone as quickly as it arrived.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter sighs, glad the two made it across. She turns to Ceri and quickly asks, "You okay?" making sure she is between the woman and the walkway down.

(OOC: So I want to double check with you about Forest Hunter's goal here. Her goal is to "silence" Ceri from further reports, right. This can be anything from convincing her to be quiet, to actually offing the woman, though this would be less desirable right? Because a push here would kinda be an easy though unethical way to fix things...)

[Ladorak]

'Yes' comes a meek voice, then a second later 'And no. What the hell is going on? What was that wind? And that bird? I swear it... And how were the stairs burning?' We each new question she grows more and more frantic. She hauls herself to her feet and takes a deep breath. Then two more. 'Yes, I'm ok, physically. I hurt but I can move. My car's nearby.' Ceri's back is to the railing, inches away, she is distracted, looking away from Hunter. The Irraka in her comes instantly awake, her senses are flooded with a hyper awareness of how easy the kill would be, so clean, so quick, so perfect.

My intention is to leave you a free hand in deciding how to deal with the problem. Yes killing her is an option, and as long as Hunter is discrete it's an option her pack would accept. It is only less desirable because of the suspicion a death or disappearance would cause. It would cause of lot of attention to focus on the Scar Brands who as you've seen are not very subtle at all.

And the ethics are a bit hazy, which I like, it's about how Hunter interprets them. It is natural for an Uratha to kill. Mechanically it can represent the Uratha becoming closer to Harmony (The ideal state) and I think that's deliberate, killing people does profoundly affect them, but not in a human way at all and not to the same extent. Not that they can't mourn, or regret after the fact, and killing someone they're emotionally attached to is a whole other thing, but the act itself doesn't bother them as much. They are, after all, a remnant of the physical/spiritual embodiment of hunting and killing.
There's also potentially a lot on the line. you don't know how much she knows, I mean maybe she thinks the Scars are just a weird gang with a major wolf fetish but potentially she's been working up to spilling the beans about everything. Really the fact that werewolves exist is just the tip of the iceberg. She has promised three more articles on the subject after all
On the other hand no other options have been explored yet, and on a human level Ceri's plight is sympathetic. She's willing to die to expose the monsters who killed her love.
On the other other hand you don't know what steps she took to ensure the story comes out even if the Scars did kill her.


I'll move us on to the next scene if you decide to leave with her.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter gives Ceri a stern, almost angry look with her cold blue eyes; meant to give pause and silence the woman's line of questioning. "Let's just say you are way in over your head here, and in a lot of danger. There are some some bad people want to do some bad things to you, and I want to prevent that if I can, but you have to trust me and keep your mouth shut. Perhaps, if you are lucky, we can find a way to get revenge for your lost man."

With that Forest Hunter turns, and makes her way down the fire escape, using her phone to reach out to Ice and set up a meeting point.

[Ladorak]

Hunter's answer leaves Ceri sputtering in sudden anger, but she bites back a reply. There is still no answer from Black Ice, as it goes to voicemail Ceri brushes past Hunter to reach the bottom of the stairs, she turns to look at Hunter but doesn't stop on her way to her car 'We don't have time to wait. I hope your friend's ok but I've got to go. Are you coming or not?' No mock bravado this, her jaw is set, mouth narrowed to nothing, determination and defiance burn in her eyes.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter scowled, unable to fully stifle growl that was escaping her throat. But what she lacked in social graces, Hunter made up for in bubbling anger and feet that moved like the wind. She makes sure to keep pace with Ceri Williams, saying, "Ya, I'm sure my friend will be alright. It's best we get out of here, but let's be smart. I don't know if you have a safe place to go, but I do." She makes sure to put herself between Ceri and her car, trying to make sure she has her say before Ceri drives them away somewhere "not useful".

[Ladorak]

'Why stop at one safe place?' Ceri asked sardonically 'I've had nothing to do for days but sit and stew. I've been designing bolt holes just to... you know, not think about it. Improving my chances of survival was just a bonus.' She casts a glance back at the burning building and adds 'Probably better to pick one I didn't tell the police about.'

******

After an initial burst of speed to get away Ceri drives with almost exaggerated care and over the course of the journey calms down somewhat as the adrenaline trickled away, not that her eyes ever stopped darting around seeking danger at every turn.

Ceri's bolthole is, conveniently, on the pack's territory. Near the Liberty Stadium, on the outskirts of the Slaglands. Even through the Gauntlet Hunter can smell the sickly sulfur odor of the countless sickness and decay spirits festering in the Hisil of Saint Thomas.

Ceri lets herself into a deserted house that had been left to ruin, even without a wolf's senses Hunter could tell the place is overrun with vermin. It was covered with crude graffiti and the windows were all boarded over.

Ceri waits for her in the darkness, there's a strange shine to her eyes when she asks 'You're one of them, aren't you?'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter scowls, raising an eyebrow in frustration, "You mean a Scar? Wouldn't it be pretty dangerous for you if that's what I am?" She takes a step towards Ceri, daring the woman to speak up, daring her to be cautious.

Rolling Forest's abysmal Manipulation + Intimidation here for a total of 3 dice [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

'No,' shes Ceri quietly, 'Not a Scar.' Hunter's lie had rocked her confidence, she sounds less sure of herself but presses on regardless, refusing to back away when Hunter steps toward her 'You're a werewolf aren't you?'

[Bennosuke]

"That seems like a strange accusation to make of someone who just saved your ass," Forest Hunter says, crossing her arms and allowing her frustration and anger to rise to the fore in her voice. Doing her best not to tip her hand, Forest Hunter ***** her head and says with accusation, "I think you have A LOt of explaining to do."

[Ladorak]

'There's nothing about this that isn't strange.'
Ceri speaks with venom, her eyes narrowed and her jaw set. Absently she is clenching her fists, probably unaware she is doing it.
Hunter's primal senses notice all of this and far more, determining that Ceri is the easiest prey of all, one that is resigned to death. One that would kick out in it's death throes not for desperation or love of life, but simply for spite, simply to wound the animal that killed her
'I've got to admit, I didn't believe everything they told me at first. But now I've seen that fire, felt that wind. It's all true. You can transform into wolfmen and that's the least of your secrets isn't it? Holy ****.' Ceri backs away slightly, putting some distance between her and Hunter, clearly resenting the necessity 'It seems cheeky saying this, because you did save my life, but I've already taken measures. If I die or disappear, the story comes out anyway.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter does not step forward. The predator knows when it's prey is trapped. A predator knows when to wait, and when to strike. Instead she raises her arms in frustration and says, "You know how crazy you sound, right? You are spouting some mighty paranoid conspiracy ****." As she speaks, she does her best to study her surroundings, looking for any information, any traps, any video cameras filming the room.

Using my second to last WP for a subterfuge roll Persuasion/manipulation (2) + subterfuge (1) +WP (3) to convince Ceri that Forest Hunter is ignorant of what she is being accused and that Ceri is talking crazy. 1 WP left. [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

And also rolling perception to study the surrounding [roll2] and 10 again [roll3]

[Ladorak]

Ceri seems to deflate before Hunter's eyes. When next she speaks her voice is quiet and guilty and her gaze is averted to the floor 'I'm sorry. I guess you're right, living on the run has made me paranoid...' After a few seconds she looks back and there's a journalistic spark to her gaze, even amid utter chaos with death looming above still her instincts cause her to sniff after a story 'So when you said I was over my head, there were bad people after me, who were you talking about? And how are you, my Guardian Angel?'

There are no obvious traps or cameras.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter nods and offers Ceri a meek smile. "I think your writing has put you in great danger," The Uratha starts, speaking slowly and purposefully, "It's the Scars you were talking about... obviously. They are a gang like you said, but they are more than that, and they clearly don't like the press you are giving. Let's just say the Scars are my enemy, and you know the saying, my enemy's enemy is my friend." Hunter goes no farther from that, instead trying to push her lead, "I don't know how secure we are hear, but I think it's best if you lay low just for a little while. I know you are doing good work, but you saw what they did to that building, just to get to you. They are bad, and they are dangerous, and if you want to survive, it may be best if you just stay low and stay quiet, just till the heat blows over."

[Ladorak]

Ceri is silent for a few moments, obviously weighing up how much to confide in her rescuer. 'If the Scars are your enemy there's a lot you need to know about them. Because they are werwolves. And I don't care if you don't believe me, because I have proof.'

[Bennosuke]

"I think I will have to see the proof," Forest Hunter says, bile rising quickly in her throat.

[Ladorak]

Ceri studies Hunter carefully 'I don't have it with me, but I can go get it. But here's a taster.' From her breast pocket she produces a photograph. Hunter has seen it before, on the front page. But now she gets to see it without the pixellation, the gory scene of the murders, bodies ripped apart and sundered with massive bites marks.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter keeps her arms folded across her chest as she studies the photograph, doing her best to maintain the mask of skepticism. She hands the photo back to Ceri, and says, "I agree that no dog could do that sort of damage," and lets the thought hang there for a long moment as if she were deep in thought before adding, "but no offense, but it's pretty hard for me to jump to the conclusion of Werewolf."

Quickly, as if to avoid further discussion, Forest Hunter asks, "How secure are we? We can't stay here forever... but I'm afraid the Scars may find us again."

[Ladorak]

'Oh that's just the start!' says Ceri triumphantly 'I have recordings and witness statements from the deceased. And this isn't the first murder that's been covered up. There's one werewolf that has some control over the local police. They've covered up dozens of incidents like this, that's going to be my headline tomorrow.' Hunter's sick feeling gets worse, Ceri is most likely describing her Alpha 'I've got some police reports I really shouldn't have. I can show you it all tonight, if you can't wait until tomorrow.' The last had been said with a note of levity, but she is deadly serious as she continues 'If the Scars are your enemy too you need to know all of this.'

[Bennosuke]

Deep down, Forest Hunter was starting to realize there might now be a way to salvage this, but now she knew she needed to know everything this woman knew, needed to know every contingency she had planned.

Nodding her head solemnly, Forest Hunter steps forward and says, "I'm still not sure I believe in Werewolves, but go ahead, tell me everything."

[Ladorak]

'The trick was to water it down.' She seems to be talking mostly to herself, repeating something she has said many times 'No one would believe the truth, not all in one go. Had to let it out bit by bit, why I decided to do it the way I did. I was daring the Scars to kill me, wanted it as the final proof, but when the moment came... I just wanted to live.'
Although reluctant at first soon it is all pouring out of Ceri as if Hunter had just uncorked her. This human woman had kept it all inside, confiding in no one, and now it all rushed forth in emotional tones and hurriedly spoken words.
Tomorrow she would be publishing four leaked police reports, all of which were similar murders, all contained errors Ceri claimed she could disprove, evidence of a continued coverup. On top of that there's a statement from a noted zoologist in London claiming nothing native would be remotely capable of such damage.
The day after that she would be releasing recordings, only audio to Hunter's great relief, sounds of a werewolf howling, snarling. Attached to this would be a list of all the Scar's known members and activities. As Ceri describes the Scar's life Hunter is impressed by the woman's depth of knowledge, but it soon becomes apparent she knows nothing of the hisil or the mystic side of the Uratha
On the last day she would reveal the final truth, with no more evidence to show or cards to play. Nothing to make her case but the sworn statements of three dead men. At this point, she confides in Hunter, she expected to be ridiculed by the whole world, particularly by her so-called friends back in London, the tabloids would likely have a field day with her 'But,' she says with a shrug 'What else can I do?'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter nods her head empatheticaly, doing her best to maintain an air of skepticism and surprise. She waits patiently, allowing Ceri to tell her everything... or nearly everything that Forest needed to know. There was one more domino to top over, but it would have to be kicked gently. When Ceri had finally finished, Forest Hunter lifted her arms in concern and said, "That's a lot... that's a lot of information. I don't know what to say. But," she takes a moment to put the words together in her mouth and finishes, "but even if what you say is true, every bit of information you release is going to put a bigger target on your head with the Scars. Christ, I mean even if what you say is as whacko as it sounds, it will still bring the Scars down on you. Are you sure you have a big enough backup plan? I mean, they could crash this place any moment!"

[Ladorak]

Ceri shakes her head 'No, we're safe here. There's literally nothing connecting me to this place and this would only be my second time here.' She looks around, as if noticing the place for the first time. Everywhere the smell of rot and mold, everywhere the swirl of dust and the stain of dirt. Almost nowhere was the light, which came through filtered by the bordered up windows, leaving the whole building shrouded in deep shadow despite the time of day. 'I told you.' she says after a silence 'Dying was the plan, I've only just discovered I don't want to go through with it anymore. I don't want to live like this anymore either, I've had enough of it. So now.... I guess I need a new plan, one that involves getting far far away.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter again swallows her frustration, she wasn't getting everything she needed, and perhaps would have to shift gears. "So are you going to shut down your contingency plans then?" she asks, nodding her head casually, hoping the woman would spill something about what these plans were. She places a hand on Cer's shoulder before proposing, "You remember the friend I was trying to reach? Maybe we can help you find a safer place to stay. Would you like me to call him?"

[Ladorak]

Ceri looks at Hunter with big wide eyes for a moment 'Shut them down? Why would I do that?' Her jaw sets 'I may not want to die, but that doesn't change the fact I'm going to turn the Scar's world upside down and to hell with what they do to me. So I'm just...' He voice cracks a bit 'Scared now, like I wasn't before. So what? They did what they did and this is all I have in answer to it.' She pauses a few seconds, letting the silence linger 'And no, I don't want you to call your nameless friend. The fewer that know the better as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to hole up here until dawn and just drive out of town and keep driving. That's what I'm going to do, how about you?'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter steps forward, concern spreading across her face, "So you don't have a contingency plan if the Scars were to take you out? They could be on their way right now, and everything you worked for would be ruined." She needed the woman to give up her supposed contingency plan, so that Forest Hunter could later undo it if necessary.

To Ceri's question, Hunter simply says, "My job is to stay in this city and resist the Scars."

[Ladorak]

'You seem very concerned with my contingencies,' Ceri's voice has a flatness to it that it didn't possess before, and a suspicious edge. But beneath it there was something else, something like a hunger or desire she was trying to hide. She says nothing more, letting the silence stretch out. Eventually, just as Hunter was opening her mouth to fill the hush, she continued 'Look, obviously I've stumbled onto something bigger than just one pack of werewolves here. And obviously there's a lot more to you then what you're saying.'

Ceri reached into her breast pocket, a human might have been alarmed by this, might have pinned her arm or at least readied themselves to dodge and run. But Hunter is no human, she is a sophisticated predator able to read her Prey's intentions from the subtlest of signs. From the tilt of her head, the set of her jaw, her steady breath, the distracted look in her eye, the way she crossed her arms across her chest, Hunter could tell Ceri was making no hostile move. And could tell as easily as reading the intentions of a puppy at play. Those eyes bothered her though... Normally such a look in her Prey's eyes was a death sentence, a moment of vulnerability that was all she needed to reach out and pluck their thread. But Ceri was different, the danger of this Prey was not in it's body but in it's mind, and the last thing Hunter wanted was to give that mind free rein to wander and, maybe, start connecting dots.

From her pocket Ceri produced an old fashioned tape recorder 'So how about this, a simple exchange. You answer my questions, I'll answer yours.'

[Bennosuke]

"So what, you think I'm a shapeshifter now?" Hunter asks flatly, allowing the absurdity of the question hang in the air. She studies Ceri, studies the tape recorder, trying to figure out the woman's angle, trying to gauge her prey's move so that she remains one step ahead.

So I'm going to take some sort of Empathy roll to figure out what Ceri's move is. If she thinks she's with a werewolf, then she has to assume her life is in danger, and tape recording won't save her, and will be destroyed if Forest were to kill her. So this is to try to figure out what Ceri's plan is. Not sure if this should be a social attribute (all of Forest's are 2 dots) or wits, which is 3 dots for Forest. I will roll the extra dot, and you can ignore it if you think a social attribute is more appropriate. Wits 3 + Empathy 1=4d10

[roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

Still not making a move, Forest Hunter shrugs and adds, "If you want, I'll tell you what I know. Forgive me for looking out for your best interests."

[Ladorak]

OK so dice wise it works like this. For each answer you can lie or tell the truth. I will accept partial truths or lies of omission as broadly speaking telling the truth.A lie is Sub+Man+1
A truth is pres+empathy+3
If Ceri is lying it would be a Wits+empathy+1 roll to spot it, but I'll be rolling it backstage and only notifying you on a successful roll

She thumbed the record button with finality and utter certainty akin to cocking a gun's trigger. She holds it out between them like a fetish, holding it as if it had a weight beyond the physical. She seems less hopeless now, confidence flowing back as she slipped into a familiar role. 'You'd be surprised how often conversations like this happen in my profession, or maybe you wouldn't I guess. You answer one of my questions, then I answer one of yours. We go back and forth until at least one of us is satisfied.
'And no, I do not think you are a shapeshifter, but I've seen what you can do, I know you're not working alone, you've told me yourself you're fighting a werewolf pack, even if you claim you didn't know that. So, first question, who are you and your friend on the phone, how and why are you fighting the Scars?'

[Bennosuke]

Sounds like a good plan. But, can I use my previous success (the first dice rolled was a 10 so even with negative modifiers it should still be a single success) to figure out what Ceri's game is here? Is it just to find out what Hunter knows, is this a digital recorder transmitting the interview somewhere, is she trying to sway Hunter ect?

[Ladorak]

You can totally use your existing roll. You can tell ceri wants something from Hunter but not what, the recorder certainly doesn't look sophisticated enough to broadcast anything tho.
Please furnish me with a lie :smallsmile:

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter sighs, relenting for just a moment. "We call ourselves the Coalback, and we oppose the Scars because we know they are dangerous. My friend's name is Ignatious, though we normally just call him Iggy. Okay, my turn? So, what are your contingency plans? How do we make sure your message is safe, even if the Scars get you?"

(OOC: Forest Hunter isn't really lying here, she's gonna use the truth to get the information she needs.)

[Ladorak]

Ceri seems unsurprised and resigned by Hunter's question 'Two fold. I have an email account set up to send out each article to the Post at the same time each day. I also have a... friend in London with a hardcopy of each article, ready to publish the whole thing in a far bigger paper when something happens to me.' Hunter's ears perk up at the utter certainty in her voice when she said 'when'. She pauses a few seconds, mulling over a question. when she finally selects one she flings it at Hunter with venom, like it was a weapon 'Why save me if you're fighting the Scars? I can do a whole lot more damage to them dead than I can alive.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter shrugs. Her brow furrowing slightly, and in retort Forest Hunter says, "Hmm... it seems to me like you could do a lot more damage just revealing everything you have stored up, rather than waiting till you die. Why hold back?"

[Ladorak]

A bitter smile twists her features 'Because it's unbelievable. I needed to make it believable, water it down. If I let it all out in one go I'd look like a lunatic. But let it trickle out, let them find my torn up body, it starts to look credible.
Now, how have you and Ignatious managed to survive if you've been fighting the Scars? I was told it would take a whole team of soldiers just to slow one of them down.'

[Bennosuke]

"Your right," Forest Hunter says grimly, "no one will believe you." She begins to allow herself to change, savoring the ecstasy and pain as her body begins to shift itself out of its human costume and into the form of the Dire Wolf. As her bones begin to break and elongate, Forest Hunter focuses on the pain to find the will to say, "I'm sorry Ceri."

Once transformed, Forest Hunter shows no mercy. She will use the speed of her form to stop Ceri from fleeing, assuming the woman is not crippled by Lunacy, and she will use the strength of her form to end her life as quickly as possible. If need be, Forest Hunter will use Auspice Benefit Closer than you Thought (pg 26), to remove the distance between her and Ceri. Please let me know if you want me to roll initiative or attack, as my assumption is this will be a beat down.

[Ladorak]

No need to roll, this is about as down and dirty as down and dirty gets.

As Hunter begins to transform, her face elongating, her body impossibly bending and growing, Ceri lets out an unexpected cry 'I knew it!' But any joy she might have felt at such vindication is cut wickedly short as the Lunacy comes over her. The light goes out behind her eyes and her features go slack, running on dumb animal instincts she turns and makes to flee. She makes all of three feet before Hunter is on her. A blow to the hip sends her tumbling and before she can regain her feet almost a ton of muscle crashed down on her, Hunter's massive jaws closed around the back of her prey's neck. A normal wolf would never attempt such a kill, preferring instead the throat or an artery, they lack the jaw strength required to sever the spine. Hunter bit down and Ceri's struggles suddenly stop with the cracking of bone. She goes limp and the sad, confused and formidable woman is no more.

I can tie up chapter one now unless there's anything you want to do first. Next chapter will be Fisher's story.

[Ladorak]

With Ceri dead there remained a number of loose ends and soon Hunter is joined by the rest of the pack, aside Iggy, in attending to them. Iggy was fine, but currently in a jail cell next door to a Scar Brand.
The body would never be found, the pack had much experience in disappearing all manner of corpses. The pack contact everyone they know even remotely close to London in a desperate attempt to find Ceri's partner, meanwhile Warden received reassurances from the Iron Masters of the Shades-of-Wisdom pack that the recording Ceri spoke of would be dealt with. There remained much to be said between the two packs regarding the mutual thorn in their side and their outrageous actions today, but there was no time for that now. The Scar Brands would spend the night tensed for retribution that would not come, and come the morning they take it as a victory that they had not been attacked, encouraging them to further boldness.
After that there is nothing the pack can do and they get little sleep that night, all of them wondering if the world would change forever tomorrow. As soon as the paper is off the press the whole pack cluster around the run down building in which the Post's printing presses are trapped. The tension is palatable as they wait, and the relief incredible as they read the headline on the front page. The great secret had been preserved not by the actions of any Uratha, but by a human flaw as old as the species itself, the sin of self-importance.

Evening Post Offices burn down!
Read the harrowing stories of our brave reporters
Ceri's article had been bumped all the way back to page 7, it was the beginning of the end of her story. As promised Ceri's recording was uploaded to the internet, and then re-uploaded dozens of times, each each time it would corrupt and become unusable before anyone could see or download it. For those with nothing better to do it proved welcome fresh meat, talking heads and media influencers lined up to savage her reputation and question her sanity, vultures picking over a body no one had found, free to say what they like in the absence of Ceri or her rebuttal.
On Friday, the day that was to be the final reveal, the paper quietly dropped her story. The Editor no doubt questioning her former employee's sanity, Ceri no longer there to fight for her voice, the promised action from London never materialized, the story died there and then. Soon she would become little more than a half forgotten joke, her life's work and tragedy rendered down to little more than a punchline. After that she would be forgotten entirely, only a very privileged few knew how close Ceri had come to exposing the truth and they, of course, would never tell.

[Ladorak]

Episode 2


Fisher

Full moon

Fisher is in his old family home, surrounded by familiar smells and warm nostalgia. The hour is late, there is silence outside aside the occasional car and the interminable screeching of sea gulls, but inside is loud with the sounds of friends sharing merriment and alcohol.
Fisher's father and two of his deckhands have been swapping gossip for what seems like hours and although he enjoyed listening to their enthusiasm the individual details largely disappeared into a haze, the scandals and triumphs of people he hadn't seen for years. He was idly thinking of the upcoming sacrifice to Felicity Green when something his father said caught his attention
'Aye, a snake bite. It's the strangest thing. Didn't know the fella but it's still a real shame, heartbreaking seeing anyone getting pulled out of the water.
'We'd thought he'd drowned of course, makes sense, new guy didn't know the undercurrents, goes in the water for some reason and gets dragged away. But today I heard he died from a snake bite right to the chest, and a big snake at that.'

Sorry this took so long, work has been crazy recently

[Bennosuke]

Fisher does his best not to look too surprised or interested, as he draws his attention to his father. Waiting for the man to finish, Fisher asks, "He was bit by a snake on the chest? Must have been a big one for sure! Where'd it happen?"

He didn't bother asking who yet, hopefully the more he got Dad talking, the more information he'd slowly glean.

[Ladorak]

Fisher's dad shakes his head and says, in a mockingly chilling voice 'Nobody knows.' Then the earnest expression disappears under the well worn smile lines of his face 'Musta happened out to sea, cos his boat never turned up. Probably half way to France by now. I saw him get pulled out the water down by the pier, didn't see no bite marks but his clothes were all torn up.
And the other strangest thing is this. You know how normally the drowned bloat up, get all puffy and waterlogged? This was exactly different, poor guy looked like he was shriveling up to nothing.'

You may already know this but there are no dangerous snakes in the UK. We have one venomous one, the Adder, but it is endangered, shy of humans and small

[Bennosuke]

Fisher leans in, and grins just a little. Trying not to sound too snyde, he says, "So a giant, seafaring snake bit this guy and pulled him into the water... and he didn't bloat? Sounds about as likely as mermaids." He leans back then, trying not to look nearly as interested or concerned as he was in this subject.

[Ladorak]

He spreads his hands wide, showing well worn calluses 'Can only tell ya what I seen and what I got told. Saw him get fished out, saw him wrinkled up. Heard from Limmy, his son works in the coroners, although don't ask me why. He told his dad, he told me.'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher nods his head, showing his understanding of the man's words. "These continue to be strange times," he says, flashing a cold smile. Inside, Fisher's mind was already racing, the Wolf wanting to turn back to shore now, race to the coroner, or to straight to this Limmy, and tear out all the information he could. But the man knew that this would be unacceptable, and so Fisher simply shrugged, and said with an attempt at disinterest, "Probably, just another fisherman's yarn, a story knotted within itself. But is there anything else about the story that you heard?"

[Ladorak]

'Na, nothing else. Strange times though, ain't that right?' The huddle of men nod sagely into their cups.
Jonesy, a bear of a man who had worked for Fisher's father for decades offered a theory 'Congor Eel maybe?' But that notion is quickly shut down with withering looks. Fisher knows why, the Congor has almost a mythic status among fisherfolk, it is by far the largest and the most dangerous native fish, one you definitely do not want to land accidentally, but the worst you could expect would be to lose a finger or two. Picturing the oddly shaped monstrous jaws in his mind Fisher is not even sure a Concor would be capable of piercing the heart.
The theory is given the contemptible silence it deserves, and all men drink from their glasses to fill it. Conversation moves on to other more mundane matters and soon the men retire one by one until Fisher is left with his father, smiling at him in a haze 'I miss you on the boat. They're good boys but they're conversation gets stale. How's landlubber life treating you?'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher grins and shakes his head. "To be honest, I've missed going on with you," he says, and despite who he was now, Fisher meant it, "but my new life isn't bad either; though it is a strange one." He looks out over the old town road, perhaps waiting for another passing car, or something stranger. The First Change had brought with it a new hyper-vigilance, along with an appreciation for all of the dangers that lurked in the dark, and on the other side of The Gauntlet.

After a moment, Fisher says, "Perhaps I can go out with you again soon, like old times." He pauses for a moment, a grin spreading across his face in preparation for the half joke he was about to make, "perhaps we can even catch that mystical man drowning water snake. Wouldn't that be an outing?"

[Ladorak]

The older man grinned, creasing the smile lines of his face into a well familiar visage. There was almost something fierce about his father's smile, almost elemental 'I'd like that... The boat bit, not the Water Snake bit. It was just me and your grand da when I got started, renting a rustbucket so full of leaks...' He drifts off into memory, his eyes distant, starring into a childhood long past 'I'm probably the last one alive who remembers the Tiger Bay.' And then he is back in the room, he gives his son a embarrassed half smile and jokingly shook himself 'Sorry. Tell me about your strange life, found yourself a nice girl yet?'

[Bennosuke]

"Oh, it's nothing too interesting," Fisher says feigning disinterest, "mostly just odd jobs. I am sometimes able to use my knowledge of fishing to help, but that's just because of where we live. I'm afraid at this hour I'd put you to sleep if I went into details." Fisher shrugs, hoping that was enough to put the conversation to bed.

(OOC: I'm not sure if there is another beat you want to hit for this scene, but I think Fisher has gotten all the information he can)

[Ladorak]

The following evening Fisher returns to the den after a long day. The recent chaos on High Street has turned a problem area into an outright warzone and he had spent much of the day in the hisil, negotiating, reassuring, binding or threatening.

When he reaches the top of the stairs he can see a note has been left for him on the kitchen table. Written in Hunter's distinctive hand in black marker on a yellow post-it note it simply reads Sloppy vampire on our turf? Can't pick up any trail, maybe Spirits can help?

Attached to the Post-it note is a page from the Evening Post:


Cause of Local Couple’s Death “Uncertain,” Authorities Say
Police are still investigating the deaths of Adam and Sarah Limerick today, after an initial crime scene examination was unable to reveal a cause of death. The Limericks were found in their home Tuesday morning by a neighbor, who had entered the residence to return a borrowed lawn mower.
“They were just lying there in bed, like they were still asleep,” neighbor Simon Coleman told the Evening Post after he discovered the bodies. “Then I noticed how pale they were, and how Sarah’s eyes were wide open. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.”
South Wales police have not released the results of their investigation, but unconfirmed reports from the coroner’s office indicate that the Limericks died of acute exsanguination, or near-total blood loss. Sources close to the investigation have indicated that no blood was found at the crime scene. When asked if Satanic or some other cult activity might be to blame, police had no comment.
Adam Limerick is the grandson of Reverend Joseph Limerick, age 73, recently admitted to Singledon Hospital after being discovered having suffered a stroke while hiking in the Black Mountains.
Sarah Limericks , formerly Davis, is survived by her parents Michael and Andrea and her sisters Catherine and Louise. Funeral services will be held at St. David's Parish Church this Sunday at 4 p.m

OOC: It is currently Monday, the bodies were discovered 6 days ago. The man Fisher's father mentioned was pulled out of the water 2 days ago.

[Bennosuke]

The note gave Fisher pause. "Vampires" had not been the first thought when he had heard his father's story the other night. He chewed over the idea, trying to weigh what he knew about these leeches, with the information he had

Sorry, I have Fisher's sheet completed, and will post it in the OOC thread this weekend. I'm thinking this will be an Int + Occult roll to see what Fisher knows about Vampires. That will be 5d10 [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

Fisher knows a little of the vampires. They are a big problem for the Forsaken in the big cities in England, but most believe no more than a handful could exist in the far smaller welsh cities without being discovered by mortals. If there are any in Swansea they are in Pure territory, or are remarkably well hidden. If any were discovered in Swansea every Forsaken pack would be told about it. As a result everything he does know comes second or third hand.
The undead do not need to breath and have been known to swim, therefore one could indeed have attacked the man while he was fishing (assuming he was fishing at night). It would also explain the withered look of the body, although vampires do not generally drain their victim dry. However Fisher has never heard of a vampire feeding in this way before and could not guess why any would.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher sighs to himself. A vampire attack explained it to some extent, but this would be both bold and strange behavior for a blood sucker, and they weren't so common in these parts!

It looked like it was time to go fishing. He knew that as the Ithauer in the group, Fisher's job was to explore the possibility that this was some malignant spirit, rather than an abomination like a vampire, and so Fisher would start by calling on the pack totem, One Fell Swoop, first by going hunting for a Fish Spirit.

(OOC: Please let me know how you wish to proceed! I can roll something for hunting, or you can set a scene, or whatever you think is most appropriate here.)

[Ladorak]

The Hisil
The Beach

The Hisil here is quiet and in harmony, a close reflection of it's mirror in the Flesh. Nature spirits of varies ranks abound, although all give the Uratha a wide berth or outright flee. Sandworms and crabs scatter while the older spirits of ocean and land keep a wary eye. Gull song fills the air overhead, all but drowning out the steady low rumble of the waves. Helios blazes overhead, his brilliance reflected by the waters into Fisher's eyes, turning the whole roiling sea into shining silver.

Fisher is here to catch a fish, a fitting Ban in many ways. It sounds simple of course, but even the apex predator of the world suffers outside it's natural environment. One-Fell-Swoop could sight a fish from hundreds of yards away and be striking at it a handful of seconds later. For him it was beyond easy, it was as natural as putting one foot before the other, and it gave him no end of amusement to watch his packmates struggle through water. While perhaps irritating this does mean the totem put particular emphasis on offerings of fish spirits, valuing the effort taken rather than the meager essence gained.

OOC: To catch a fish spirit Fisher must either think of a way to catch it from land, or bargain with a water spirit allowing him swift passage from the water. Or something else you think of.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher stood calmly at the edge of the water, a placid peace spread across his face. He was a thing of two worlds, and it felt good to be back in the Hisil, it felt like coming home. He spread his hands out in front of him, beckoning to the churning waters before him, grinning slightly.

"Spirits of the water," Fisher said in the First Tongue, an air of authority to his voice, "I am Fisher, Uratha of the Storm Lords. I come offering a Gathra in exchange for a small favor." Ruins of Honor and Wisdom ripple across the Uratha's spirit form. As his name implied, catching a fish was a task that he had been built for, it was what made the young Ithauer so compatible with the Pack's Totem, and made him such an integral part of the Coal Back Wolves.

After making his call, he waited for a water spirit to awaken, and take the bait.

[Ladorak]

A vaguely humanoid spirit rises up from the waves, a Spirit made up of dirty water and howling wind 'Greetings Uratha.' As it speaks Fisher suddenly hears the sound of raindrops 'I am Skims-the-Surface. What do you offer, and what do you ask?'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher smiles, his arms still splayed out as if in supplication, and he replies, "Greetings Skims the Surface. I humbly request your assistance in bringing forth a fish spirit, a task that must be no more than a trifle for the likes of you. In exchange, I offer you this." Fisher reaches into his pocket and removes a small moonstone, the black pocked surface rolling comfortably in his hand. "This comes from the moon," he says, still smiling, "from Mother Luna herself, and therefore carries the same mercurial powers that govern the tides. However, if this offering is not to your liking, I am also a shaper of water, and can offer my powers as assistance."

Fisher had a whole pile of these moonstones at home, and generally kept a few small stones in his pocket. They were easy enough to obtain on Amazon, and generally did the trick.

(OOC: Hopefully, the above is acceptable. Will also make a Presence + Persuasion roll here, which you may modify as you see fit. The last part of Fisher's claim is in regards to his Heart of Water Gift, which gives him Influence (Water) 2. [roll0] and 10 again [roll1])

[Ladorak]

'Your words are pretty Uratha, unlike you.' Fisher hears the sound of a babbling brook, the Spirit's version of laughter 'So dry! No wonder you desire our wonderful fluidity.' As if to emphasis this Skims-the-Surface reaches forth an appendage whose vague shape shifts between arm and flipper. As the shape of an arm hovers over the moonstone Fisher can sense more clearly the dirt flowing through Skims-the-Surface's body; grit, sand and dust that smelt of heat from far, far away.
'It has no power over water,' the Spirit sounds disappointed 'But it is pretty, unlike you Uratha.' The laughter that follows is, if anything, more riotous than before, the Spirit practically howls with laughter at having repeated it's own joke It reminds me of clear skies and better days, free from predation, free to feed, free to soar.
'It is a suitable offering.'

The hand/fin hovering over the stone begins to drip, dropping water onto the moonstone. Each droplet of water hovers and begins to orbit the stone until it is surrounded by a liquid shell

'This will give you passage, leave it on the ocean bed when you are finished with it.'

[Bennosuke]

"Thank you Skims the Surface," Fisher says while giving a rather theatrical bow, before grabbing hold of the enchanted stone. This interaction resolved, Fisher shifts into Urhan and begins wading into the water.

[Ladorak]

wits+survival+1 please. The +1 is for the ease by which you can now move through the water

[Bennosuke]

The dark massive wolf slowly waded into the water, letting the icy chill sharpen his focus and heighten his already supernatural senses. Despite himself, Fisher's tongue darted out to lap once at the salty waters.

Wits 3 + Survival 3 +1 [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

Also, incase you missed this in the OOC thread:
Finally updated Fisher's character sheet and character box into this thread, take a look and tell me if anything needs to be changed.

Also, did Forest Hunter get any beats or anything???

[Ladorak]

Sorry saw that but it slipped my mind. I'd say Hunter completed 2 of her aspirations, she didn't 'save' the kid from Swansea Jack but she learn about the connection. On top of that she gets 3 beats for completing the chapter. So 5 beats/1exp total. I haven't the time to look at fisher's sheet right now but I trust you.'

Being underwater in the hisil is a strange experience, even to one well used to the strangeness of the world of Spirit. It feels wet but does not leave you wet, chills and yet raises no fur in response. It obstructs vision just as it would in the Flesh but leaves Fisher's other senses unhindered. He can still smell the salt, still hear the murmur of waves all around as they part before him, still sense the resonance of Spirits nearby.

Water Spirits would be entirely invisible to him here, so perfectly in resonance with their surroundings even a Uratha would not detect them brushing by him. But Spirits of Fish, Squid and Eel, while still in perfect harmony, possess similar but different resonances, those Fisher could pick out from amid the water like candles through dark and mist. Vague shapes in the murk, some small some large, some swift some slow, some near some far. They seem unaware of Fisher's presence, continuing on just as they would otherwise, a reflection of their Flesh counterpart's lives; A constant chaos of survival of the fittest, the only difference being in the hisil the hierarchy of the food chain was far more fluid.

The hunt is simple, but time consuming. More than one attempt is foiled in the approach until Fisher wisely chose prey that was itself hunting. When a far dogfish Hursihim lunges at a nascent crab Muthra it leaves itself open, and as it cracks the shell and feeds on the essence it leaves itself distracted. That is all the opening Fisher needed, with one swift lunge he had the dogfish in his jaws.

Then something powerful appears on the furthest horizon of his Spiritual 'radar.' It stops and Fisher somehow knows it is assessing him just as he is it. After a moment it disappears, giving him only the vaguest impression of it's 'taste.' A Water Spirit for sure, but not one that belonged here.

[Bennosuke]

Prize still locked in his jaws, Fisher growls, performing the behavior as if the trespassing water spirit could somehow still hear his threat. Then suddenly, Fisher lifts a rear leg to urinate and mark his territory, finishing the act of dominance with a series of swiping kicks at the silty sea floor with his rear legs.

With the fish spirit caught, would Fisher now be able to call his Totem to him? If so, he will do so and consult with the spirit about the trespassing water spirit.

[Ladorak]

I don't think the books make this clear, the totem is the spiritual link that unites the pack and can be considered to have either 'resonance' or 'influence' with the pack, but no 'calling' is ever mentioned. For me houseruling it, I'd say you can call the totem to you, but not with a message or a sense of urgency, however the totem is not obligated to respond and cannot respond in kind.
Sounds a lot like a spiritual pager I guess :P

I'll progress the scene shortly, but to quickly clarify, are you leaving the sea bed to make the call/await Swoop's arrival? If so does fisher remember to leave the moonstone?

[Bennosuke]

If Swoops cannot meet Fisher in the water, then yes, Fisher will return to the shore with the captured fish, leaving the moonstone, and call the Totem.

[Ladorak]

In the flesh the Osprey is a bird without peer, only the stoniest of hearts could watch it swoop and feel nothing. In the hisil such things are intensified, as Fisher watches Swoops approach elegance and lethality is evident in every flutter of a feather, every turn of the beak.
With breathtaking speed Fisher's totem dives out of the sky, alighting before him in a precise landing. Eyeing the fish greedily One-Fell-Swoop ducks it's head in greeting 'Fisher.'

[Bennosuke]

The Uratha bows his head slightly in deference to the great Osprey spirit. When he returns to eye level with the bird, Fisher says, "My Totem, I have caught this in your honor, and present it for you as a gift." He tosses the fish spirit at Swoop's feet. "I have heard concerning words from the humans," Fisher says once the spirit has done what it will with its Gathra, "of a thing that bites Man and drains his blood. There have been at least two attacks so far in the last week or so, and there are rumors that this thing is possibly a long snake or eel. I am considering the possibility of the leech-things known as vampires, but that doesn't smell right to me. I was hoping you might have some knowledge of something out of place in the Hisil, perhaps a water faring spirit that may be responsible."

[Ladorak]

The bird pounces on the fish eagerly and messily consumes it's essence. It answers only once it's 'meal' is complete 'I know not. Some spirits are capable of crossing the gauntlet and physically sucking blood, others can 'burn' blood from across the Gauntlet. But I have not seen or heard of this in many moons.' Swoops begins to preen it's feathers 'If this happened in our territory I would know of it, I am certain. I can see a water spirit on land or near the surface, my eyes are keen and see much under the waves, but not all, not that which is sunk deepest.
'Where were these attacks?'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher details everything he knows about the attacks, including the story he heard from his father, as well as the note left for him and the newspaper clippings.

[Ladorak]

Swoops continues to preen it's feathers, seemingly indifferent to Fisher's words, but with a sharp look in it's eye. Fisher knew his totem well enough to know what it was merely affecting disinterest. Once he is done explaining the Osprey spreads it's wings, a gaudy display that was it's habit when uncertain 'Fish do not talk to me, not willingly. I will begin to interrogate my kills, but there is a lot of ocean out there.' Swoops 'points' with a sudden gust of wind, it's sound undercut by the ruffle of feathers and distant bird calls 'Swansea Jack speaks for the spirits of the Ocean, you might ask him.
'The other kills took place on land, more likely something was seen, more likely there is some truth to be wrung from some neck. Find where the couple died.'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher fought down frustration and the urge to dominate the Totem Spirit, an act he often had to do in Swoop's presence. He was Uratha, he was Storm Lord, and Ithauer at that. He was the great hunter, the lord and protector of The Gauntlet and that on the other side. It was only through the pact that The Coalback Wolves had made with the Osprey Spirit that it had gained such power, that Swoops was able to transgress the "natural order" of The Hisil in the service of the Uratha. But this was Swoop's demeanor, and Fisher was used to the thing's pride and attempted dominance.

"Your assistance in this hunt is appreciated One-Fell-Swoop. As you suggested I shall continue my hunt on land, while you comb these waters, and you speak to Swansea Jack. Let me know what your searches bring." Fisher speaks sternly and authoritatively. He was not the pack alpha, but he knew what his role was in this relationship and he too could assert a dominant posture. With this said, and before the Osprey Spirit can challenge him, Fisher gives a courteous and curt bow before saying, "May Mother Luna's light shine brightly on your hunt One-Fell-Swoop."

Unless the Osprey Spirit has anything more to say, Fisher quickly turns, and returns back towards the his entering Locus on silent padded feet.

[Ladorak]

The Totem stares Fisher down for a full minute, radiating vexation the whole time. But in the face of Fisher's unyielding will and stiff courtesy it soon wilts 'Fine,' It suddenly snapped 'I will speak with that which speaks for my prey.' Equally suddenly the Spirit is airborne, so fast it is not even a blur, it is the suggestion of a blur, an image half glimpsed in the corner of the eye 'I will be waiting at my nest at the Hoe Garden Locus, meet me there when you are done in the Flesh'

[Bennosuke]

Offering a reply farewell, Fisher moves back to the locus, to shift back across the Gauntlet. He will do as the Osprey Spirit had recommended, and will head in human form to the home of the deceased couple.

[Ladorak]

The paper had not mentioned an exact address, merely which borough of the suburbs the couple had lived. For most investigators this would be a stumbling block, even some Uratha would have to resort to scent trails and the like. For Fisher it was as simple as walking a few blocks while running an expert's eye over everything he saw. He located the couple's murder site by tracking the death spirits they had attracted.
When he finds a house with a small cluster of death, murder and grief spirits around the entrance he knows he has likely found the right place. The house itself is fairly new and identical to all the houses around it, with a garden too small to anything with beside mow grass. The street is quiet, no foot traffic and only the occasional car, in this area most people would be out working at this time.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher sighs to himself. It seemed like the coast was clear in terms of investigating the house, but first he would have to make sure there was no one watching him as he broke in and entered, specifically on both sides of the Gauntlet. He would be looking to enter when no mortal was watching, and to make sure that there were no significantly powerful spirits tracking him.

Perception [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

Fisher sees nothing out of the ordinary in the hisil around him.

[Bennosuke]

With the coast clear, Fisher walks up the flagstone steps of the house to the front door. He rings the doorbell several times, and if no one responds, tries the lock.

[Ladorak]

There is no response from the doorbell, when he tries the handle he finds it locked. A quick inspection shows nothing blocking his passage to the back garden. The back garden is even smaller but is far more ornamental; small fountains, water features and statues are strewn about with no apparent order given the place a cramped feel. There is a sliding patio door and a proper wooden backdoor, he tries the patio door first as it is closer and finds it open

OOC:
Please make int+occult AND int+academics rolls please.

[Bennosuke]

Still double checking that he is not being followed, Fisher makes his way around back.


int+occult [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

int+academics [roll2] chance dice

EDIT: Can I take the academics roll as a Dramatic failure, just for fun and a beat?

[Ladorak]

OOC:
You totally can. 1 beat for you

As he takes one more look around to make sure he is unobserved Fisher's eyes once more pass over the statuary. To his surprise he recognizes a Celtic cross made up of 4 statues with a cross shaped fountain at the center. The Celtic Cross is the most commonly known and used array for the use of tarot cards, one at the center to present the Present, one to either side to represent negative and positive influences, one above and below to represent the passage from past to future. He looks to the statues at each point of the cross, but cannot fathom what they might mean.

Through the patio door he can see a dining room, complete with a small stereo, six fashionable uncomfortable-looking chairs and a huge wooden table

[Bennosuke]

Fisher checks the patio door, to see if he can gain access.

[Ladorak]

The door opens easily. Aside from the aforementioned table, chairs and stereo there is a side door which, looking through the other window, Fisher can see opens to the kitchen. There is also a set of double doors directly opposite the patio.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher begins investigating the house. With each room he enters he first uses his mundane senses to search, before throwing his senses across the Gauntlet to assess things from the otherside, perhaps looking for a spirit he could interact with, or a site of strong emotional resonance.

(OOC: Let me know what you want me to roll here)

[Ladorak]

Fisher sweeps the house quickly, his heightened senses letting him now well in advance that he was alone in here. It's a typical middle class suburb house, no doubt identical in structure to half the houses on the block and similarly uniform in terms of decoration.
It's a big house, with two living rooms, large kitchen and three bedrooms (Although only one shows any signs of use).


Please roll:
Int+occult
AND
wits+investigation

[Bennosuke]

Fisher sighs as he goes about his work. Hopefully this would be productive.


Int + Occult: [roll0] and 10 again [roll1]
Wits + Investigation + WP: [roll2] and 10 again [roll3]
WP now 4/5

EDIT: Unbelievable... so I guess I will have to reroll to keep this story moving forward???

[Ladorak]

No there are other leads, but I'm afraid this location apparently has none to offer

Fisher is careful to leave no trace of his passage as he flips the house, despite a slow deliberate search at the end he has nothing to show for it. Perhaps the police had already removed all the physical evidence?
In the bedroom he finds two death spirits, sad things that thought themselves ghosts, quietly weeping in each other's arms.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher growled to himself. Perhaps it would be useful to question these confused Death Spirits, but of course, he was on the wrong side of the Gauntlet, able only to throw his senses across. Then an idea crossed Fisher's mind, an idea that made the young Uratha congratulate himself for his cunning.

Fisher is going to try to find a dormant spirit in the room, perhaps related to a mirror that looks out over the bed where the couple were killed. If he can locate this, he will activate Spirit Whisper (pg 115) to find out what it saw when the couple died.

[Ladorak]

OOC: Presence + Persuasion + Wisdom please

Fisher has a range of options. Two bedside tables, two doors (One leading an an en suite bathroom) a wardrobe, a PC, the desk it is on, a fairly barren bookcase and a handful of books

[Bennosuke]

Fisher's eyes scan the room, searching for the perfect twilight spirit.

Presence (2)+ Persuasion (3)+ Wisdom (2)=7d10
[roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

EDIT: I have had the worst luck on rolling in this game, but at least we got 1 success :smalltongue:

[Ladorak]

What do you awaken?

[Bennosuke]

I think unless the roll gives Fisher some sort of insight as to what would be best, perhaps the bookshelf, as it likely holds knowledge as important.

[Ladorak]

Casting his senses into the hisil Fisher can hear the cracking of wood and the flicking of pages as the Spirit slowly stirs itself. It is a young spirit, yet to form it's own connotations, so it still closely resembles a bookcase.
Greetings Uratha. Why have you awakened me?'

[Bennosuke]

Fisher offers the spirit a courteous bow, not so low or long to be supplicating, but proper enough to show respect. "Wise spirit," he begins, "I have spent my Essence and come humbly before you to seek the knowledge that you store within your shelves. I am sure you have much knowledge to share, but I seek what you know about the deaths of the mortals that occurred recently in this house. My question is, what killed them?"

So as per the rules for Spirit Whisper, Fisher asks a one sentence question, and with success on his roll gets a one sentence answer.

[Ladorak]

The bookcase turns away, showing it's side to Fisher 'No form known to the world of flesh and bone. No book holds descriptions of it's form, no pen or pencil has written or sketched it into prosperity.' It turns back to Fisher, one it's it's books is now open and a rough picture is drawn across both pages.

The drawing is not very good and it takes Fisher a few moments to work out what he's looking at. A snake or eel of some kind with two huge feathered wings and wickedly long fangs.

[Bennosuke]

Fisher did his best to hide his concern. "No form known to the world of flesh and bone"? So it was likely a spirit then! He studied the image provided by the bookshelf spirit, doing his best to burn the image into his memory. This was excellent information, and he thanked the bookshelf kindly, knowing that his Gift would not likely keep the spirit conversant for much longer.

Fisher turned the image over in his mind, trying his best to recall stories that may have described such a spirit.

Don't know if you'll allow this but here's an Int + Occult roll to see if Fisher can link his prior knowledge about the spirit world with the drawing he saw to draw any useful conclusions
[roll0] and 10 again [roll1]

[Ladorak]

The Spirit is fading, but it has one last offering. It speaks sleepily 'It said only this... The offering was not made, so it came to claim what was owed.'

[Bennosuke]

"Thank you kind spirit," Fisher says with a curt bow of his head. His mind turned the statement over, racing to try to catch some deeper meaning. With the spirit gone, he had little else he could do in the house, though Fisher promised himself he would return to deal with the confused Death spirits.

Unless there is something obvious to take care of, Fisher departs, making sure to cover his tracks as he leaves.

[Ladorak]

A short time later Fisher is back outside the house, more informed but none the wiser. He considered his next move; Maybe Swoop would know more of this Spirit? He could also try the coroner's office or see if the victim's family knew anything about this 'offering'

[Bennosuke]

Mulling it over, Fisher would try the coronor's office. It was unlikely he would be able to investigate his way out of a paper bag on this side of the Gauntlet, but a morgue would likely have a locus, and once on the other side, perhaps Fisher could start pressing spirits to tell him what he needed to know.