(OOC) New Bedford by Night II

[Bennosuke]

Welcome to the OOC thread for "New Bedford by Night". Yes, I am not very creative with the naming

As it is developed, I will use this post to start describing the basic setting of New Bedford. I will go into detail regarding the major districts, and will describe specific important locations, unique to these areas.

1st IC thread linked here

2nd IC thread is linked here

3rd IC thread is linked here

1st OOC thread linked here

Spoiler: Important Locations

Show

#The Winfield Cannary: The warehouse inherited by The Anchor Wolves as their base of operations. The building is a tall brick factory, that was used for canning sardines and anchovies. The building was originally the Melville Porthouse, the largest and most prestigious dock for storing whaling vessels. the original porthouse was built in 1836, and existed for about 100 years. In 1924, the old ship house burned down, and was replaced by the Winfield Cannary within a year. The warehouse packed and shipped sardines till the 60's when the company went out of business. Due to the old building’s importance, in the Shadow, the building still appears partly as an old ship building, and even houses an advanced spirit (See NPC list).


#Fort Taber Park: A fort established during the civil war that has been turned into a community park and war memorial. The fort was built directly on the water, of old hewn stone, built upon during both WWI and WWI. Many paths wind around various barracks and military buildings, and along the water’s edge. The Clark Point Lighthouse stands out towering over and lighting the bay.

#The Whaling Museum: An educational tourist attraction built around New Bedford’s history in the whaling industry, now focused on helping to preserve the Cape’s slowly dwindling whale populations. Many prominent and wealthy members of the New Bedford and Dartmouth communities sit on the museum’s Board of Directors.

#Ash Street Jail: The only local jail in the community. Built in 1829, it is one of the oldest standing Jails in America, and in many ways is relatively primotive from a technologic and security standpoint. The Jail is well known for having housed Lizzy Borden while she awaited trial.

#Merill’s Wharf: The historic Wharf district in New Bedford. It’s streets are still cobblestone, lined with low brick buildings and old wooden structures in great disrepair. A number of more modern bars and nightclubs have opened up in the Wharf District, and most of the live music in the area is played here.

#Saint Luke’s Hospital: Originally built by Episcopal Protestans in 1880, the Hospital is the only standalone medical center in the community. Saint Luke’s has long been criticized for it’s poor standard of care, and it’s not uncommon to hear comments such as, “It’s better to stay at home and die than go to Saint Luke’s”.

#U-Mass Dartmouth: One of the major State Colleges in the U-Mass system. The sprawling campus is sprawling and relatively removed from the rest of Dartmouth. The large student body significantly lowers the average age of the otherwise old-money Dartmouth community.

#The Poor Hut: A local bar on Union street that has live music most every night of the week. The bar is frequented by locals and college students alike and is the location of the band’s first performance in New Bedford.

Spoiler: Themes and Setting

Show

#Duality of nature in all its forms. Finding a balance between man and beast and implicitly in this, the struggle of man vs. beast and man vs. nature.

#Paradise Lost: New Bedford was once a crown jewl in New England, first for it’s involvement in the Whaling industry, and later for it’s industrial boom. Sadly, both eras are gone, and now New Bedford is an economically depressed city looking for a new identity.

#What has lied in the Darkness for centuries: This has two meanings. As previously discussed, there will be an aspect of Lovecraftian horror, with elements of the City tied deeply to unspeakable horrors from forgotten eons. The second meaning however, is that New Bedford (along with Massachusetts, New England... and oh wait, all of America), was originally the land of the Native Americans. Their presence greatly colored the area for the settlers with pretty much every location in Massachusetts (including the state itself) being named after the Native Americans. These individuals unsurprisingly had a very different homeostasis with their environment and with The Spirits, and The Shadow does not forget this.

Spoiler: Solomon

Show

His sheet

Spoiler: Background Info on Solomon

Show

(Please bear in mind the character concept evolved over time so may not scan as perfectly as I'd like)
Always a loner, only fitted in in his local church group, intended/studied to become a Priest. After the first change lost his faith and humanity, lived a long time as a wolf. Brought back to Harmony by music he heard at the Loci, joined the band to rediscover his humanity.
Issac was a lonely boy who turned into a lonely young man. His isolation was not the product of traumabut rather a profound and overwhelming shyness. Issac hated his birthday more than any other day of the year, it was a special kind of torture to stand up in front of everyone he knew and have they stare at and sing for him. Even now hearing the tones of 'happy birthday' can send a shiver down his spine like no Host ever could.
This attitude was not helped by his parents. They were not malicious, indeed by the standard of the times they were excellent parents, their fault was in being overly attentive, overly protective and (most importantly) overly religious.
The environment of the Church is perfect for a man like Issac. The conversation is always hushed, passions are rarely raised. Everyone is overly kind but overly reserved compared to their normal selves and they are anxious that their kindness and reserve are well noted. He felt most at home in the Church, from the many elderly parishioners there he adopted a general scorn for the sinful ways of his own generation, scorn that naturally turned into a false sense of superiority. It was that superiority, his supposed purity in the face of temptation (The cunning disguise he had thrown over his glaring weaknesses and major character fault) that lead to his decision to become a Priest.

He had almost completed his studies and was ready to be ordained when he had his First Change. His parents had flown thousands of miles to see the ceremony, to watch him begin a new life. In a way, they did watch him begin a new life, a pity that beginning meant the lose of their own lives, as well as all others in the Chapel. It was a bloodbath, entrails and gore covered the pews, blood splashed half way up the wall, dozens dead and the few survivors lost to Lunacy. It was if the chapel had been attacked by a host of demons. He quit the Collage after that and none could blame the poor lad for his loss of faith, no one knew what happened that night but plenty had seen the athermath.

After that he wandered. Issac was very good at hiding himself, at being alone. Any number of tell tale spirits reported him to the tribes, yet none could catch him in either world. He lived in Urhan form and fled anyone that was not his prey. He lived as a beast, immersing himself in the now, in simply being. In having no other concern other then a full belly and somewhere to shelter and hunt. He achieved a sweet oblivion in an animal's pure pursuits that sometimes caused his parents mangled bodies to drift from his mind, to free him from the chains of guilt.

Spoiler: Solomon's connections

Show

Kara Solomon, like most Iraka, has stalked each member of his pack at one point or another. They find it difficult to switch off the hunting instincts, particularly those who revere Hikaon-Ur. This is not done with any intent of malice or harm, quite the opposite. Solomon wants to detect any weakness in his pack, so he might protect them from themselves. He has occasional guilty thoughts about killing all of them, and everything else. He tells himself this is part of the gift and curse of Mother Moon for the Iraka. He tells himself he can use this knowledge to prevent anyone else who had divined the most effective way to stalk his friends.
Of these protective stalkings it was Kara who left the greatest impression, in that she was the cause for greatest concern. She is a dreamer, rooted in practicalities and far too human. All admirable traits, but ones making her easy prey. So occasionally, when Kara is away from the city streets, she has a shadowy protector. From this vantage he has come to admire Kara greatly, for she is beautiful in all the ways that he is not.
Kara lives firmly in the now - her interest in history extending only to the world of Music. Her head is usually in the clouds, or her nose buried in her phone (or a notebook with furiously scribbled lyrics and musical notes). She gushes over the latest technological toys, and how many twitter followers she has (her handle is @KaraStClair). She's always trying to snap candid pics of her 'family' to show the Interwebs and show off the band she is fiercely proud of.
Sometimes the dreams that are common to Cahalith are quite traumatic, and she's developed a tendency to sleep in little cat naps wherever and whenever she has the time. Suffice it to say, the obligatory 'just-waking-up' selfies are some of her most common.
Since she's always got a tune in her head distracting her, she's not always the most perceptive of the Pack. As such, it's not likely she's really aware when Solomon stalks her - even if she may be aware that he does. She certainly doesn't mind if she does know - she's got a remarkably lax concept of personal boundaries when it comes to her Packmates (She's not above creeping into the bathroom and snapping surprise photos with a gleeful cackle), or just flopping down and sprawling across them if they're lounging around.
In the case of Solomon specifically, she feels a strange kinship to him as far as the spark of music goes. She's no where sneaky enough to not have the Irraka not notice, but sometimes she likes to just sit and listen to him practice his instrument.....and sometimes, if she thinks he's having a rough day, she likes to sing to him. If asked, she just flashes a lopsided grin and says "Music soothes the Savage Beast."
Solomon feels strangely vulnerable when he is practising and looks up and catches Kara's eyes on him. He sometimes feels a giddy panic when she sings to him. He is fully aware of what these feelings might mean and is very determined not to explore them.

Juno: As suggested above Solomon is a good enough Irraka to have smelt out Juno's weakness, the troubled past she is fleeing. However he mistakenly believes she is literally fleeing something. He is content that Juno can handle herself but he checks her back trial once in a while, just in case.

Bear: Solo feels Bear is the only one taking his duties as seriously as himself. They have an understanding where, if Bear wants to hunt something the pack may not agree to, he comes to Solo first. Bear knows that if Solo agrees he will move heaven and earth to get the rest behind Bear, if he disagrees he will remain silent when Bear pitches the idea to the others. If Solo wants to hunt something the pack may not agree to he goes to Bear first and gets the same treatment, although he usually tries to convince Bear it was his own idea first.
Bear respects and likes Solo. His Irraka brother has endured a great deal, and persevered. He particularly likes hunting with Solo, the two will often set traps together, one harrying the prey to where the other awaits. Which does the harrying depends on the nature of the prey of course.

As much as he encourages Kara to embrace the wolf, he knows Solomon has problems in the other direction. If he seems to be slipping, he'll offer to be the man's anchor. It is important to Bear that everyone in the pack stands on stable ground, there is no way for them to grow otherwise.

Iago: I'd like to hear your idea. Solo would have been pretty open about his past. He would have skirted over the murdered parents 'I hurt people I loved' although that's not to say he wouldn't have confided at a later date. The religious background he'd be open about, as well as the loss of faith. His time as a wolf and his return to harmony via music was probably known before Iago met him.

Blaze: Solomon is uneasy around Spirits, or at least powerful ones. He also only has a rough idea of what an Ithaeur does. This can occasionally cause friction as he expects Blaze to have all the answers instantly or to allay his fears with but a wave of his hand. He only tolerates the weed because he thinks it's a shamanic thing (It's worth repeating Solomon had a very sheltered life before the Change).

Spoiler: Solomon on...

Show

Juno T. Alexei
She flees from something. I've seen her checking her backtrail when she thinks no-one's looking far too often. She doesn't need to do that anymore, I'm checking it for her, I'll find trouble before it finds her.
I have not discussed this with her of course, that would rob her of her power and her privacy, I get the sense that both are very important to her. She won't know until her past catches up to her, when she finds whatever is pursuing her with my fangs in it's neck.

John "Bear" Vanders
It's impossible not to love Bear, it is even more impossible to rationalise with him when his blood is up. His moods can be very mercurial, sometimes it pays to know when to stay out of his way. We are as different as chalk and cheese, as unalike as two Forsaken can be. He is Fire, I am Ice. He is strong in all the ways I am not and vice versa. Strange as it sounds, that makes us ideal hunting partners. I disliked him at first, after our first jam I loved him. I got him wrong, you see, I thought he was an affable thug, but he's a really lovely guy with a nasty streak a mile long. Big difference.

Kara St.Claire
Stunningly beautiful, stunningly talented, I'm sure you noticed. The Heart of Our Pack, the soul of the band, the one to pick off if you wanted to destroy the Anchor Fangs. We're lucky to have her, but she's also a chink in our armour, far too human, far too distracted with song and fame. I know her dreams are often troubled, one does not awake in a cold sweat with a pounding heart in a room full of werewolves unnoticed. I wish I could help her with that. I wonder if Luna punishes her for being too human, maybe Bear's right and she's not taking this Forsaken thing as seriously as she should. Although more likely the fickle bi... Excuse me. More likely our changeable mother does it on a whim.

Blaze
The kid's got a lot to live up to, I don't envy him that. His Auspice seems a lot more demanding than mine, the worst I get is kinda hurting when I'm with the pack and when I'm alone, usually it's just one or the other. It didn't take much to teach me my role, mainly I was taught what we are not. I imagine a Crescent Moon has a lot more homework to do. Plus he's got a family to worry about. I... don't. I sometimes struggle to keep myself whole in this one world. Blaze lives in four worlds, at least.

Iago
If ever a man was inaptly named. What? It's Shakespeare, it doesn't matter. His namesake is one of the most interesting villains you'll come across... In a play anyway... An arch manipulator and liar. Nothing like Iago at all. There are some similarities I suppose. Both are deep and don't share the majority of their thoughts, both are highly intelligent, charismatic and understand well the rules of society.
If Kara's our heart then Iago's our centre. She drew us together, he provides the counter balance to keep us together. He reins in Kara's and Bear's excesses so naturally they are unaware of it. Maybe he does the same for me. I feel there is a lot I do not know about him, yet he seems the one most alike to myself

Solomon on the road
On the way to the gig Solomon will usually have his nose in a book. The pack have learnt not to ask him what he's reading or why, as his answer is always a very long one.
When not reading he'll usually have headphones in, he is very conscience his musical education only started a couple of years ago and he's determined to catch up.

Solomon before the gig
Solomon hates waiting around, this is the only time he could be described as a diva. The roadies have learnt not to tune or sound check his instruments, not so much because he doesn't trust them, it just keeps him out of their hair for a bit.

Solomon during the gig
He'll generally hide at the back behind Bear or Kara. He comes out for his solos though, approaching centre stage with relish. He doesn't bounce about much, leaving that to the charismatic youngsters

Soloman after the gig
Solomon never looks more uncomfortable then when the groupies, weed and booze flood the backstage. However Kara has made it perfectly clear she considers the after party part of band duties. Therefore after the gig Solomon typically plays his violin into the wee hours of the night. This will typically attract a small crowd of hangers on which will dissipate throughout the night. Although he appears lost to the music he'll watch everything like a hawk and is usually the last to leave

Solo having a jam
Solo loves to experiment but doesn't have the confidence to lead the way. If Bear or Iago want to try something different he's right behind them.

Solomon writing music
Solomon has made numerous attempts at writing. Most of them were dismissed out of hand and only two of which have been adopted by the band. That doesn't stop him though, Kara can expect at least one submission on a weekly basis, he can be quite argumentative if he's particularly pleased with the effort.


Solomon on being Forsaken

Solomon on the Hunt
'I live for it, but it hunts me as much as I hunt. I can't ever quite switch it off, I've got plans for killing pretty much everyone I've ever met. I didn't think of any of it, it just comes to me and won't go away. Sometimes I feel like I'll lose myself to the wolf again.'

Solomon on Luna
Solomon doesn't want to ruffle any feathers but he has his suspicions about Luna and the creation myth. He's already been gulled by one religion and isn't looking to be fooled by another. He's noted the striking similarities between Pangea and Eden, and between Abel and Father Wolf. That last comparison has him rattled; If Father Wolf is Abel then the Forsaken are Caine and Luna, most worryingly of all, is the Serpent. He's been wanting to discuss this for a long time but finding a werewolf well versed in both Forsaken myth and Catholic dogma, without being invested in either, is not easy.

Solomon on the Oaths
Solomon observes the Oaths for three reasons.
One, they are the rules of his new family
Two, they just make sense
Three, he has seen the positive change the Forsaken can make in the Hisil, it seems an excellent thing to dedicate his life too.

Solomon on the pack
'Luna made us to be part of a pack. We need it. I need it. Of course she also afflicted me with wanderlust and a need to be alone. She's funny like that.

Solomon on the Pure
He hasn't told anyone but he's had a couple of run-ins with the Firetouched. He found their rhetoric and zeal impressive, but their theological theory is centuries behind the Church's. He asked too many difficult questions and ended up being chased away

Spoiler: Character Box

Show

Harmony: 7
Willpower: 4/4
Essence: 10/10
Health: 7/7
Beats/EXP: 0/0
Tilts/Conditions: none
Aspirations: Short Make our Den secure
Short Claim a locus
Long Achieve something of lasting good in the Hisil

Spoiler: Michael O’Malley

Show

Spoiler: Background

Show

Michael O’Malley wanted to feel something different tonight. He was glad he had tickets to the show tonight, and he was glad he had his fake ID and at least some cash leftover, the last he could take out before the card got cancelled. His mother and her boyfriend...fiance...whatever the **** she was calling him this week had made sure they’d told him all about that when they were laying into him earlier. No more of our money, no more of our concern, blah blah blah. That was a laugh, most of all. “Our” money. It was all Alan’s money. His mother just wanted that so badly she imagined it as hers before they’d even tied the knot. It might have been Alan’s most redeeming feature.

Once upon a time, she had seemed to love his father. They’d not had alot of money, but they got by. Michael remembered most their camping trips. Being outside in the woods, his father teaching him everything he knew...he couldn’t have been happier. It struck Michael later that it was odd, his happiness at those times because it was during one of those trips that he first experienced what he had to believe it was to lose your mind.

He was maybe 7 or 8, and in the Maine woods. He had walked some away from the camp, but could still see the smoke. Bored and curious, he walked through the woods until he suddenly heard in his mind the word “Stop,” and from the corner of his eye could swear he saw a flicker of fur and eyes - always eyes. The eyes of a dog. He stopped, his heart beginning race and he looked down. Sure enough, his foot was lodged in a root. One more step and he would have plunged headlong. He shook his head and returned to the camp.

There were recessions, and job losses and the stress was just too much for his parents. They started fighting, fighting more, until eventually the fighting never stopped. They had eventually split up a year ago. One of their biggest arguments was over the...well, they never spoke of it directly, but they always talked of the animals. There were bodies found occasionally outside Michael’s windows. Squirrels. Rabbits. All dismembered and left. The last straw had come when a squirrel had been found at the foot of Michael’s bed and he could give no explanation as to why. His mother threatened him with commitment. Of course, Michael knew the time frame. The “gifts” always appeared just after he overheard one of his parents bitter fights. When the flashes of fur and eyes increased. They were for him, he knew. Of course, this was all insane logic. He wouldn’t tell anyone his thoughts because they’d think he was even crazier. He took to getting up at the crack of dawn to walk around his house, checking for bodies. The yards too.

A month after their split, his mother had hooked up with Alan. Such a long time of mourning. He hated Alan. His “friends” had hated Alan too. Occasionally they would do that. He would meet someone new and the fur and eyes would whisper whether he should trust them or not. Or tell him something about them. Alan was every capitalist fantasy embodied in one human form. His mother loved the new world she got to inhabit and tried to forget everything about her old life, himself included. The last straw for his behaviour, they told him, was not going to classes for a whole semester. He’d been kicked out of his house earlier that morning, and had driven straight for hours, eventually winding back to the show he had the tickets for. He had brought the speed up dangerously in his car, drifting occasionally into thoughts of...running. It happened sometimes when he was alone and not in fear of anyone seeing or being a party to his thoughts. He let the insanity of his “pack” bleed in, and imagined them running with him alongside the car.

Before he got out of his car, he stopped to look at his knuckles. They were healing decently but still looked rough. The wall next to his mother’s door had taken a punch as he had left. He didn’t want to make anyone nervous in the bar. He took a few deep breaths. He was feeling a little...unusual tonight, but he attributed it to the events of the morning. He kept hearing sounds just in his periphery, seeing things at the limits of his vision. The wolves were close tonight. More than just fur and eyes...whole forms, now, seen fleetingly. He also felt the anger of earlier as fresh as a new wound, threatening to overcome him. He consciously tried to push it down and went into the bar.

He looked around once he was inside. He seemed kind of young for the place, but otherwise he was attired appropriately. He had on black jeans and a leather jacket. Quite a few Metallica fans, he thought as he glanced down at his own Rise Against t-shirt. He used his fake ID to get a drink and then looked around. ****. He would need to find somewhere to stay tonight. Or, sleep in his car. He frowned, turning his attention to other things.

Like the opening act. They caught him like a silver bullet. Most of their songs weren’t really his cup of tea but there was something...attenuating...about their performance. The noises and visions he had been seeing all night seemed to be pulled towards them, into them. Every one of them seemed to shine in his vision. He heard the voices in his head agree. “Keep an eye on them,” they said. “Follow them.” When they were done, he realized it felt like no time at all had passed. He’d been in a fugue the whole set.

He shook his head, which felt like is was swimming. Get it together...you just thought the singer was hot. He moved over to a table and slipped in, staggering just a little. Could he have had too much? He pulled out his phone and checked his different social media accounts. Cry Wolf. That’s what they said their name was. He quickly followed them. It was after all his friends’ suggestion.

A few more drinks later and he’d paged through the backlog of some of Kara’s tweets. They mostly seemed to be hers. He left the bar. It was too late to call any friends. It’d be the car tonight. He drove towards the nearest 24 hour mega mart, so at least he could park overnight. The whole ride was filled with Cry Wolf playing on his phone.

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Show

Michael O’Malley
Elodath, formerly Wolf-Blooded

Renown: Honour 1
Primal Urge 1
Blood: Destroyer
Bone: Cub
Harmony: 8
Auspice Benefit: Darkness Into Light p. 22 (push or cure Death Rage)
Hunter’s Aspect: Isolating
Accessible Gifts: Half Moon, Insight, Warding
Gifts: Scent Beneath The Surface, All Doors Locked
Rites:
Taking the Pack triggers from p. 104

Intelligence - 3
Wits - 2
Resolve - 2

Strength - 3
Dexterity - 3
Stamina - 2

Presence - 2
Manipulation - 2
Composure - 2

Acadmics - 1
Investigation - 1
Politics - 2

Athletics - 2 (totem bonus included)
Brawl - 1
Drive - 2
Stealth - 2 (crowds)
Survival - 1

Empathy - 4
Expression - 2 (guitar)(totem bonus included)
Persuasion - 2
Socialize - 2
Streetwise - 3 (rumors)

Barfly - 1
Common Sense - 4
Pack Dynamics - 4
Contacts 2 (activists, rock fans)
Fame- 1 (Totem bonus)

Allies 2 (college radio)
- several of his college friends are DJs at the radio station. He’s even been on the air with them once or twice.

Allies 1 (bars/venues)
- the local bars and music venues know him for coming too early and staying too late. Probably enough to “forget” to card sometimes. This may seem redundant with barfly, but I wanted to keep it in case he needs it for a venue outside his usual circle.

Allies 1 (law enforcement from a “beat cop” level)
- a friend of his from High School who was several years ahead of him got a job on the local police force and they stayed in touch. He’s only a beat cop so not highly influential.


Aspiration 1: Join the Iron Masters Tribe
Aspiration 2: Find somewhere to live that is a “home”
Aspiration 3: Track down and reconnect with his father

Touchstone: Izidakh, one of the spirit wolves. Izidakh is the spirit wolf who has that most “substance,” to the point where Michael has seen more than just flashes. He does not know the wolf’s name, only that it appears to have a streak of auburn along it’s pelt, almost appearing as though it had passed through “flame.” He knows Izidakh’s voice though. Gravelly, low, and a little unnerving, it is this voice that speaks nearly all the time when advice is being given.

Spoiler: Appearance & Miscellaneous

Show

Michael is 19’years old and of fairly tall height. He is of average weight, as well, though maybe skewing to a little heavier. He has brown hair and eyes, his hair worn somewhat longer. He usually dresses in mostly black - black jeans, boots, and an assortment of band t-shirts, usually covered by a leather jacket or hoodie. He’d prefer to think of himself as brooding, but he can crack a smile easily.

When he has reason to be in a place that might be called a rough area and he knows there’ll be lax security, he does carry a hunting knife either under his pant-leg or in the back of his jeans.

At the present moment, he lives out of his car: a grey Z-Roc Camaro, obviously the recipient of some careful attention.

Since music is of such importance to this campaign (and I love it), these are the three CD cases laying on his passenger seat:

1. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria
2. Wolves by Rise Against
3. October Rust by Type O Negative

There are several more in the backseat.

Spoiler: The Reveler in the Vineyard

Show

Rank 3 Ensih, Essence 15/15, Corpus 6, WP 8/8, Initiative 8, Defense 5, Speed 14
Power 7, Finesse 5, Resistance 3
Bans: Once a month, Reveler in the Vineyard must use its powers to enact pleasure/hedonistic tendencies in the world of flesh, even if it negatively effects those that Reveler is influencing
Bane: Bugs that eat plants, such as spider mites, and grapeleaf skeletonizers.
Influence: Pleasure 2 Vineyard 1
Numina (15/4=3+1=4): Drain (pg 191), Emotional Aura (192), Rapture (192), Entropic Decay (192)