(IC) New Bedford by Night: WtF II

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

Blaze snapped back to the flesh.

“Uh yeah. Weird stuff goin on here man,” he said, “looks like there’s something crazy in the water.
This should be a fun trip.”

[Daishain]

Bear nods to Chris, resigned to grunt his way through this conversation.

[Bennosuke]

Chris is already stepping through the chain gate entrance, stepping up the paved walkway to the entrance of the house. The now widowed Mrs. Taylor is dressed in an oversized pink wool sweater and pair of billowing white pants. Her hair is a grey sort of blond, a tangle of loose curls floating around her haggard face. It is clear she has been crying, her eyes red and glassy, but she steels herself as Bear and Chris approach.

Chris gives the woman a kind but reserved smile, before bowing his head in respect as he stops at the foot of her porch.

(OOC@Daishain: I'm happy to make some rolls and kind of summarize the interaction. Alternatively, if you'd like, you can RP Chris. You can find a description of his character in the NPC list on the OOC thread, which also contains a link to his character sheet. I leave it up to you as to what you would prefer to do)

************************************************** *************

James nods in response to Blaze's remark. He tries to give his best confident grin and says, "Ya, sounds like fun."

The two make their way out of the building onto the dock. Despite only being maybe 20 to 30 yards from the sidewalk they had just been on, the wind is much stronger this close to the water, dropping the temperature significantly. The beaten down ferry groans and sways in the water, as the deck hands continue their preparations. It seems like Blaze and James are the only two passengers boarding the ferry, and they can't help but notice the glances they get from the stout boat workers as they go about their chores.

One deck hand stands at the ramp onto the ferry to take Blaze and James' tickets. He is wearing a grey wool pea coat, his similarly grey face capped with a knit black beany. He scowls at Blaze and James with familiarly round eyes and flat face, and says, "Come on aboard, but just be aware, the last ferry off of Cuttyhunk will be leaving about an hour and a half after we land. You'll want to be on it, lest you have a place to stay for the night."

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Alright man, thanks for the warning,” Blaze said, “any other advice?”

Once the deck hand moves on after replying (or not), Blaze turned to James and mouthed ‘Lest?’

[Bennosuke]

The ticket taker simply only at Blaze, seeming to find the question a sign of impetuousness. But before Blaze can step away, he places a broad but stubby hand on the Uratha's shoulder and says with a voice like gravel, "The families that live on Cuttyhunk are mostly a private lot. You're getting in late in the day. Best be respectful." He says it as if it were a warning, rather than a kindness.

Once the deck hand moves on after replying (or not), Blaze turned to James and mouthed ‘Lest?’

James sniggers at the wisecrack.

[Daishain]

Bear nods with respect to the widow, letting Chris take the lead here.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Not exactly feeling creative at the moment, perhaps the former option

[Bennosuke]

Without a moment's hesitation, Chris makes his way up the walk, stopping at the foot of the porch and says, "My apologies for coming unannounced Mrs. Taylor, I can only imagine what you are going through," with his head bowed respectfully. He introduces himself and Bear as newer dock workers who had taken a liking to Richard, and who came as quickly as they could to offer their support and respects at his passing.

In her state, Mrs. Taylor, who says you can call her Elaine in a heavy New England accent, eats up Chris' lie. But, perhaps because of the man's kindness, the lady is in too much distress to talk, and tries to excuse herself, to retreat back inside her working-class home. But before she can escape, Chris stops her with an almost desperate plea, "Just one quick question Mrs. Taylor, in respect to your husband's wishes." She stops, one foot on either side of the threshold of her house. Chris turns to Bear, deferring by pack rank to the Uratha to get the one desperate question or request in.

(OOC: Rolled poorly for you, but will be nice and will give you a single question/request)

[Daishain]

Bear mutters to Chris, "We need to know if anything strange happened lately, like Juno disappearing for weeks."

[Bennosuke]

Chris frowns, but turns his attention to the widow, giving her an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry to do this," he says lowering his head and offering Mrs. Taylor polite smile, "but a lot of the men at the dock have been a little concerned. I can only imaging what you are going through, but after Captain Drips there's been a lot of anxiety about... well about things spreading. I'm so sorry to ask you this, but well, was anything happening to your husband in the last couple of days? Anything strange that we should look out for?"

The woman's face tightens into a grimace, which recedes into a polite smile. She nods her head and says, "No, of course. That is completely understandable." She chokes back a sob, her lined face pulling back in a pained expression. "Well, as you know, Richy disappeared for a few days last week. You know your boss, the foreman, Mr. Finn... well when he came to my door and said that he had been lost on a fishing trip around Cuttyhunk I thought I'd never see him again." She stops herself, again fighting back tears and shakes her head, "I was just so happy to have him back. But he was... well off. I honestly thought he might have caught a cold on the trip, or maybe even Captain Drips. But he refused to go to the hospital. Richy stopped eating, and he kept spiking fevers. He just looked ill." Mrs. Taylor breaks down into tears with that, and it's clear that she cannot go any further.

Chris immediately dives in to put a comforting arm around her shoulder and tell her it's okay.

************************************************** *******

Blaze and James find themselves a place in the boat, sitting among four rows of uncomfortable metal pews. After about fifteen minutes, there are a series of low croaking moans as the engine of the boat come to life. Perhaps to Blaze's surprise (or complete lack there of), it appears that he and James are the only passengers on the ferry. The groaning of the engine grows louder and louder, and then with a shudder, the boat pushes off, shuddering as it crawls out of New Bedford's bay.

Soon after the ferry has taken off, the same deck hand in the grey peacoat waddles on stubby legs into the passenger cabin. He scowls at Blaze and James, but still walks towards them. "If you don't mind me asking," he croaks, raising an almost hairless brow, "what brings you to Cuttyhunk Island?"

[Daishain]

Bear hangs back, letting Chris do his thing. So, Richard fell into the water and was missing for a good while. Sounds like it was basically the same story as Juno. Only she was gone much longer. Did it take longer to corrupt an Uratha? Or was the length of time meaningless?

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

"Well, we explored around town on land, figured we'd check out the nearby islands now," Blaze said, "what do people usually do out there?"

[Bennosuke]

Mrs. Taylor sobs in Chris' arm, and he waits a few moments longer comforting her. Then with the shoulder of his denim jacket now stained with tears, he leads the grieving woman into her home. Once the door is closed behind Mrs. Taylor, Chris turns to Bear and with a shrug says, "Well, I guess that could have gone worse," as he steps down off of the porch.

************************************************** *********************

The deck hand still eyes Blaze with suspicion but says, "Well the island is mostly residential, and made up of fishermen like myself. But there are a few beaches which are popular during summer. Otherwise, most of the tourists go to the Cuttyhunk Oyster House, or to the winery on the island." Hesitantly he adds, "There's also a small hiking trail that loops around Devil's Hill... but I don't think you'd have time for that given there'll only be one more ferry of the island." He gives Blaze an eye as if to say, no more questions, right?

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Thanks much,” Blaze replied. He didn’t really want to talk to the deck hand in the first place but he didn’t want to be rude.

Once they’re alone again Blaze stands next to James and speaks quietly over the ocean so they won’t be overheard.

“The trail is where we’re going to find the interesting stuff. We can try to check it out now or we can come back tomorrow morning so we don’t get left on the island. I say we take a quick look now and then we can come back tomorrow if we need more time. Just gotta make sure we get back to the ferry so we’re not stuck overnight,” Blaze said.

[Daishain]

Bear nods as they leave, "Good job. Maybe not quite as much as we hoped, but we did confirm he caught his... infection? from getting taken below the waves like Juno."

"We could probably learn more from police reports, look for similar cases. But I doubt it's a smart move to try snagging those. Maybe we ought to hit the web next? I bet there are local forums, if anyone else has noticed a string of weird deaths like that they'll be talking."

[Bennosuke]

James listens to Blaze dutifully, clearly respecting the senior Uratha and viewing him as some wise Ithauer. He nods along, making it clear that he defers to whatever Blaze thinks is best.

As the ferry draws closer to Cuttyhunk, the water becomes a choppy mess of waves as the sky darkens. Though the ferry is not tiny, it is whipped up and down, rocking hard as it makes its passage. Grey clouds loom over the waters, and it begins to look like it might rain.

Mercifully, the trip to the island is not too long. The ferry comes closer and closer to the island; what appears to be single long rocky prominence rising from above the waters, like some tiny volcanic land mass. The harbor is a castle like protrusion of docks, warehouses, and a handful of fishing vessels. As the ferry gets closer, Blaze can see that the largest of the buildings at the harbor is a large white building, with "Cuttyhunk Oyster House" written on the wooden paneling in red lettering.

By the time the ferry bulls into the harbor, it has begun to rain. The air is filled with the now all too familiar fishy smell, that seems to be intensified by the humidity of the chilling rain. The ferry pulls in, stopping against a rickety wooden dock. A ramp is rolled out to the ferry and Blaze and James are ushered off the boat. Perhaps it is the rain and the overcast sky, but Cuttyhunk island has the same uncannily abandoned feel to it that New Bedford has. Outside of the boat hands who are already returning to ferry, there is no one in sight, and the two Uratha are left simply standing on the dock.

James shivering under the rain and asks with new hesitancy asks, "You sure you want to start with the hike and don't want to get out of the rain." He eyes the oyster house with interest, but his eyes also can out over an empty paved road that clearly leads into "town".

************************************************** *********

Chris nods his head and says, "Not a bad idea I guess. Perhaps Blaze would be able to help with that. He's got that new computer spirit friend, right?"

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

"No," Blaze replied, "only because if there's anything to hide and we go running up that trail in the rain, they're going to know we're looking for something. Let's check out the oyster house and see if it stops anytime soon."

Blaze double checked the return ferry time and then led the way to the restaurant.

[Bennosuke]

"Sounds good," James says with another shiver, "let's get out of this rain."

The wooden slats of the deck are slick with water, and creak with the weight of the two Uratha as they walk towards the concrete paved harbor. They cross through the small ferry terminal, clicking through rusted turns dials, and then down a stretch of brick walled warehouse before coming to the oyster house.

James hurriedly pulls the old wooden door to the restaurant open, and practically rushes in. Inside James and Blaze find themselves in an open planned space, designed to perhaps appear like a fine French restaurant. White linen cloths cover each table, which is adorned with a full set of silverware and shiny white plates. A single candle burns in the middle of each table, adding to the pale yellow lights hanging from the high ceiling. Across the room sits a white marble bar with high stools where no one sits. Empty plates sit on beds of ice, perhaps awaiting to be festooned with shellfish.

However, the restaurant is nearly completely empty, and the only sound inside is the patter of rain on the roof. The only person in The Cuttyhunk Oyster House is the host, a short and rotund man with a bald head, round eyes, and almost no neck. He looks almost like a toad squeezed into the tailcoat of a butler.

(OOC: Please give me Wits+ Int + 3)

The host startles when James and Blaze enter, hopping up off his stool from behind his small lectern. He eyes the two for a moment with hesitation, then finally gets it together to say in a rehearsed and unenthusiastic tone, "Welcome to the Cuttyhunk Oyster House. Do you have a reservation?"

[Daishain]

Bear nods, "Yeah, that one will probably be a big help, let's go."

[Bennosuke]

The thought dawns on Blaze, that if he didn't know any better he would swear that the host of the oyster house, and the deck hand on the ferry, and the staff at the ferry plaza might all be related. They all shared the same chinless oval shaped face with round rheumy eyes and a near hairless scalp. In fact, now that Blaze thought about it, he could swear he had seen other people in New Bedford with a similar look.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

"Awww man...." Blaze thought. The movie 'Deliverance' came to mind. The pack might be dealing with a few hundred people that were very closely related.

Anyway, not much to do about it now.

"No man, no reservation," Blaze said, "uhh, you got a free table?"
He glanced around at the nearly empty restaurant.

[Bennosuke]

Bear and Chris returned back to the warehouse. Chris went off on his own, not even bothering to tell Bear where he was going, leaving Bear to his work. Ciara was sleeping in their room when Bear came in. She had grown so much, so quickly. It was almost a little terrifying to see how swollen her belly was; though of course Bear's love now had this beautiful glow to her face, her eyes shining like Mother Luna on a full moon. Her musk, that deep canine smell that seemed to hang on Ciara, had grown stronger too. The room was filled with her smell in a pleasant and familiar way.

She mumbled a little when Bear sat down at his desk and pulled out his laptop. Bear was finding nothing quickly, but as he pecked away at the keyboard, trying not to yell at Google, Ciara rolled over, grinning at Bear sleepily. "Any luck?" she asked, though she could probably tell even just from Bear's back that he wasn't having any.

************************************************** **********

The host stared at Blaze coldly for a moment, before looking over his shoulder as if to make sure the place wasn't filled up. "Very well," the man says coldly, staring at Blaze's unformal clothing, "follow me". The host leads Blaze and James to the very back of the restaurant, placing them at a small table by a window looking out onto the bay. Rain pattered hard against the window, sounding off like a thousand far away gunshots. "A waiter will be with you shortly. Here are your menus," the host says, handing out a pair of ancient leather bound menus. He eyes the two "out of towners", giving them a moment to say thank you, or ask questions, or simply dismiss him.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

"Thanks man, just some water to start with," he said.
He started looking over the menu.

Once the waiter was out of earshot, he said quietly: "Dude, why's everyone hate us around here?"

[Bennosuke]

A scowl crosses the waiter's face when Blaze calls him man, and he shuffles away on squat legs, his paten leather shoes shiny in the yellow light.

James rolls his eyes and says, "Locals. But they definitely are abnormally... guarded. And have you noticed how they all look... kinda the same?" He pauses for a moment as he looks over the menu. "So how do you feel about a plate of oysters then?" he asks, his tongue running across his teeth in a very lupine manner.

[Thundercracker]

A scowl crosses the waiter's face when Blaze calls him man, and he shuffles away on squat legs, his paten leather shoes shiny in the yellow light.

James rolls his eyes and says, "Locals. But they definitely are abnormally... guarded. And have you noticed how they all look... kinda the same?" He pauses for a moment as he looks over the menu. "So how do you feel about a plate of oysters then?" he asks, his tongue running across his teeth in a very lupine manner.

“I mean we kinda have to right?” Blaze replied, “hopefully they don’t suck.”

[Daishain]

Bear sighs, but smiles as he turns and looks at his mate, "Not really, I should have asked someone else to do this. A nap with you sounds like it would have been a much more pleasant afternoon."

He reaches out to rub her belly a bit, "It won't be long now. Has the little one been kicking much today?"

[Bennosuke]

Blaze's comment makes James grin. "We'll just get a dozen," he says, his tongue moving across his teeth again. Then adds, "And how about some lobster tails?"

He looks up and catches the eye of another man dressed in formal garb. Clearly the waiter, this one is younger but still bares a striking resemblance to the others with the "New Bedford Look". Perhaps in his twenties, the waiter's dark greasy hair is prematurely receding, his skin taking on the same grey pallor as the host's. "Welcome to the Cuttyhunk Oyster House," the waiter says once he reaches the table, a far friendlier smile on his face, "Have you had a chance to look over the menu? I'd be happy to start you off with some drinks if you would like; and maybe a plate of oysters?"

************************************************** ***************

Bear sighs, but smiles as he turns and looks at his mate, "Not really, I should have asked someone else to do this. A nap with you sounds like it would have been a much more pleasant afternoon."

Ciara smiles, her face turning flush but not with embarrassment and replies, "That would be nice." She snuggles up against her husband as he caresses her stomach. "He or she has been wild! I can barely get any sleep. Feels like they are already trying to claw their way out. We're going to go to the new Obstetrician tomorrow, right? I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Do you care?"

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Hey man, just something’ light while we wait out the rain, how about a dozen oysters and one lobster tail,” Blaze said.

[Daishain]

"Only reason I care is so I know whether to wish upon them your beauty or my rugged charm. Either way, they'd better have your brains rather than mine."

He gently puts his head to her stomach, hoping to hear something, "It certainly sounds like they have spirit. Are you a fighter little one? Are you a badass like both your parents?"

Sobering a little he goes back to Ciara's other question, "Yeah, that's tomorrow, and at least with this one we can talk about the rapid growth and its probable cause. There are times I regret the need for secrecy. Those humans are good at figuring out stuff like this. If it wasn't for that damnable xenophobia that keeps flaring up it might have been safe to let them try, but instead they can't even seem to live peacefully with people with a slightly different branch of the same religion..."

[Bennosuke]

The waiter nods his head, and rushes to take out a notepad and jot down Blaze's order. "Very good sir," he says in a rehearsed manner. Pausing for a moment, the waiter looks up from his notepad and asks, "Would you like anything to drink? The Oyster Stout on tap is delicious, and our bartender makes an excellent martini." He raises a thin eyebrow momentarily, as if first appraising Blaze and his companion for the first time, but quickly hides the look of suspicion.

From the other side of the room, Blaze catches the Host staring from behind his lectern by the restaurant entrance. Then Blaze catches sight of a new figure. A man in white kitchen attire, working at the bar. He was putting out ice on plates, but was staring at Blaze and James as well.

************************************************** *****************

Ciara sighs. This was an old conversation, one Bear had led many times. "That's just not the world we live in," she says with a resigned shrug, "but it doesn't matter. We'll find a way to make it. We always do." Her eyes move past Bear, over to his computer, and with curiosity she asks, "What is it you were working on?"

The question reminds Bear of the second half of his plan. He was going to try to communicate with the data spirit that Blaze had befriended and enshrined in his laptop.

************************************************** *****************

Jeremy Cooper's bus ride had been a long and strange one. The trip from Portland Maine down to Boston had been easy enough, though perhaps a little uncomfortable. Jeremy had heard all about New Bedford. He had read the news articles about the small plague that had popped up there, then died away almost as suddenly as it had started; Captain Drips they called it. He was on his way to join a pack of Uratha that called themselves "The Anchor Wolves". Rumor had it that they were the first pack in a long time who had been able to lay claim to the territory of New Bedford, and that despite being a group of pups, had already gained some renown for their accomplishments. They were from Portland Maine as well; it was the whole reason Jeremy had volunteered to leave his home to join their pack.

After Boston though, Jeremy had boarded a rickety bus run by a private company he had never heard of; Sea Skipper Travels. The Sea Skipper bus left Boston only once a day, and seemed to barely run. The bus had been big enough for at least forty or fifty passengers, but Jeremy appeared to be the only person travelling to the whaling town of New Bedford. The bus driver, a squat and round eyed man, had been rather unfriendly, if not downright suspicious of Jeremy when he boarded. Over the course of the four hour drive, during which the bus sputtered and spewed black smoke that Jeremy from the back window, the driver never once said a thing, almost like he were ignoring Jeremy. After several hours the bus finally pulled up across the long shoreline. The bus was arriving in the early afternoon, and heavy clouds blotted out the sun, filling the sky with grey. Even from inside the heated bus it was cold, and Jeremy felt like the sea winds were cutting through the bus windows to sting at his skin. And as the bus came closer and closer to New Bedford, it began to rain. At first it was nothing more than a light misting, but as the drive went on the rain came down harder and harder till it was pelting the bus like machinegun fire. It was almost a miracle the bus driver could even see anything in the downpour.

Finally, the bus pulled off the freeway, driving into a town of crumbling brick buildings and abandoned looking houses. Paved street actually gave way to cobblestone streets, and the bus' tires rattled and bumped on the uneven street. Passing chained up factories with boarded windows, the bus pulled into a large and empty parking lot. The driver pulled the bus across a number of compact spots, killed the ignition, opened the bus door, and wordlessly exited the vehicle. Jeremy was left simply sitting in the dark bus. His contact had told him that Jeremy would be picked up at the lot, but he hadn't seen any other cars when the bus pulled in.

************************************************** **************

Joanna was nearly at her wits end. She had been in cursed New Bedford for almost a week now, and not only had she barely made any progress, but she had found the locals to be almost willfully unhelpful. The level of poverty and urban decay in New Bedford was almost shocking, and most of the homes and storefronts were simply abandoned. Joanna rarely ran into a person on the street, and when she did, they eyed her in a suspicious and unfriendly manner, often times going out of their way to cross the street to avoid her.

She had been hunting a man named Brock Turner, who had killed a man in Boston in a rather brutal fashion during a bar fight. There was a bounty now on the man's head, but the crime smacked of spirit interference. Joanna had a hunch that Brock was either severely deranged, or had been affected by a murder spirit, maybe he had even been ridden! Anyone she interviewed in Boston who had known Brock had been shocked to hear what he had done. No one thought him capable of the violence he had inflicted.

Anyways, one of Brock's friends had indicated that he had a cousin out in New Bedford, and all indications were that Brock had fled to his cousin's to avoid being caught by the police. Joanna was told the cousin's name was Finney Marsh, and that he was a bus driver for a local company, "Sea Skipper Travels". For the last week Joanna had been trying to track this Fin down, but had been unable to even get a single local to talk to her, let alone help her find out more. She had found an address in an old moldering yellow pages book, but this simply had taken her to a crumbling and abandoned cottage by the beach of Buzzard's Bay.

Eventually, running out of luck and money, Joanna had gone to the Sea Skipper Travels building, a small and dark office run by an unfriendly clerk. He too had been unwilling to tell Joanna anything about Fin Marsh, but she had been wise enough to grab a bus schedule. So now Joanna was waiting at a large empty parking lot where the bus was scheduled to arrive from Boston. Joanna watched as the bus, a rickety looking vehicle with peeling white paint, pulled into the parking lot, stopping across multiple spots, and killed its lights. When the bus doors opened, the first person out was a short bald man in a striped uniform and bill cap; clearly a driver's uniform.

Along with making your first move, please describe where Joanna is. Is she in her car parked in the lot, or hidden behind a nearby building, or something else all together?

[Haval]

Joanna is fed up with New Bedford. Was the whole town trying to avoid her? Perhaps most people were still staying inside from fear of Captain Drips, but it did make finding anyone difficult if no one was around to talk to. Outside of work for the past week her only entertainment had been watching reruns in her hotel.

Then of course there was Brock himself. If what she suspected about him was true his case just made her sad. She'd heard the stories from Dad and others about the occasional dumb ass who had been unlucky enough to say throw a punch at someone with heart condition, but the idea that Turner was being manipulated from the other side was just upsetting. Not for the first time she wished she'd paid more attention to what her new friends had taught her back in Boston. If he was persuadable perhaps she could get him to come in quietly. If he was actually being ridden, better someone like her deal with it first then someone who didn't know what was happening. Maybe the man who died in the bar was only the first victim. Someone had to deal with this guy but it was hard to take any pleasure in it.

Now Joanna is parked in the lot with a decent view of any buses that actually decided to show up. Of course it was raining. She has a black hoodie on under her coat but no other means of keeping dry so she's sitting in the front seat listening to the radio and occasionally using the wipers. It would really help her if the driver of this bus was actually Fin, but even if it wasn't perhaps he knew the guy. After mulling over her approach for a bit, Joanna will get out of the car, pull up her hood to try and keep her hair dry and will go speak to the bus driver. 'Hi.' She'll smile brightly and attempt to sound as much like a lost member of the public as possible. Occasionally it paid off when she met someone who wanted to be helpful. 'I was wondering if you could help me? I'm looking for a Fin Marsh. This guy back home says he's a Sea Skipper driver. Do you know him by any chance?' As she's talking, Joanna will check the man's coat on the off chance he has a name tag.

Spoiler

Show

Presence 3 + Persuasion 2 + Striking Looks (Persuasion) 1
(6d10)[8][6][5][3][1][5](28)
Any 10 agains
(6d10)[7][3][10][10][1][6](37)