(IC) HtV STL by Night

[Daishain]

Frank texts back, "Need to get the girls situated, I'll be ready to go as soon as they're taken care of."

[Bennosuke]

Around the time Jen gets Frank's reply, she gets a second text from Caitlyn reading, "That was soooo much fun! Thank you for coming out with me last night. Was great celebrating with you. By the way, this guy Arthur gave me his number, asked me to give it to you. Apparently he was checking you out all night. Want it?"

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

On the phone, Clarissa is all frustration and self-superior satisfaction. "Really Frank? After making such a big deal about how you wanted the girls this weeks, now you are bailing? I mean, I can take them... Neil and I can take them, but think about how the girls are going to feel!"

[Thundercracker]

Frank texts back, "Need to get the girls situated, I'll be ready to go as soon as they're taken care of."

“Ok maybe come pick me up when you’re ready then,” Jen replied.

Edit: Jen considered her reply to Caitlyn… then she typed out: “nah.” And sent it back. Then she followed up with: “yeah was a blast. let’s hang out again soon.”

She didn’t have time for guys who didn’t have the guts to man up and ask for themselves.

[Daishain]

"Oh believe me I know, I'm going to spend a long time making this up to them. But right now I don't have much of a choice. Just horrible timing." His voice drops, "It was so much easier when we could work together to deal with this sort of thing, and this sort of thing was just a short delay."

After her response, he hangs up, and with a droop to his shoulders he goes to make breakfast for his daughters and explain things to them. He hated sending them away, even without the nagging feeling that this might be a rather more final goodbye than he was going to make it sound.

Meanwhile, a text to Jen goes out, "That works"

He had already written a letter addressed to his ex wife and left it in his room, where it wouldn't be discovered until long after he should be back here to tear it up if it wasn't needed. "If you are reading this, then I am most likely dead. It is difficult to explain, but I accidentally angered someone very dangerous, who came after me. There was no work contract the other day. I am sorry for lying, but I had to send the girls away, to keep them safe while I tried to deal with things. Clarissa, we've had our problems, but please give them my love, and take care of them, help them grow into the lovely young ladies I know they will become."

[Bennosuke]

Clarissa makes it very clear that Frank will "never" hear the end of asking this favor, and that it will almost certainly be coming back to bite him in the ass; but she would take the girls back, "just this one time".

Meanwhile while waiting for Frank to arrive, Jen gets a reply from her friend, "You sure? He was talking about wanting to go out for a motorcycle ride. He said he wanted to take you!" Had Jen mentioned anything about her plan to learn bike?

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

Later, much later and after a very quiet and very pensive car ride, Frank and Jen arrive back in Salem. It doesn't take Frank too much time to navigate the truck out to The Illuminated Church of Saint George. Towering over the abandoned storefronts on Main Street, the church is all washed grey stone, round arched windows and crimson sparkling stained glass.

This time there is no booming organ music, though a number of trucks and harleys are parked outside of the church on the otherwise abandoned street. It's entrance are three tall arched wooden doors, the middle of which has one red door stopped open. Voices can be heard from inside.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

Reply to Caitlyn: "Rule #3, don't go out with anyone who can't man up and ask for himself. Tell him better luck next time. *raspberry emoji*"

Jen made sure to bring her bloody boots with her to Salem. If this thing was going to follow the scent of the blood on the boot, she wanted it to stop by the church where these folks were hanging out.

She recognized Frank was having a rough day, and knew well enough not to press the issue. Once they arrived, she stepped out of the truck and stretched.
"Ready to see what these guys are all about?" she asked.

If Frank doesn't have any objections, she'll walk up to the front door and knock on the frame.
"Hello?" she called.

[Daishain]

Frank shakes his head in response to Jen's question, "Not really, even knowing that something was out there doesn't make this bunch sound less like a bunch of crazy yahoo rednecks. But we don't really have a choice do we?"

He stands nearby as she knocks, waiting on a response.

[Bennosuke]

"Fair enough," Caitlyn's text reads in reply.

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

At the church, the voices suddenly down when Jen calls out, falling to murmur and then silence. After a moment, Jen and Frank can hear footsteps coming from inside the church, growing louder, closer. A couple arrive before the doorway, a man and a woman.

The man is shorter, stocky to the point of almost being pudgy, a scraggly brown beard falling down to cover his chest, off of a tanned and lined face that had spent too much time laboring in the sun. The woman was taller, lean and athletic to the point of being androgynous, a look not helped by the military style crew cut of her salt and pepper hair. She too had the tanned look of a day laborer, and the two of them were dressed in a mix of military fatigues and working gear. "You two here to see Bill?" the woman asks, her voice hard and confrontational to the point of almost being accusatory. The two seemed on edge, and were clearly sizing Jen and Frank up.

[Daishain]

"That's right, I'm guessing you're in on this little club of his?"

[Thundercracker]

"That's right, I'm guessing you're in on this little club of his?"

Jen just nodded her agreement, nothing more to say at this point.

[Bennosuke]

It's actually the woman who reacts when Frank calls it a "little club". Her thin lips pull back in a snarl, and she actually takes a step toward Frank with a balled fist. But the man puts a hand on her shoulder and through clenched teeth growls, "Not worth it Allie." The woman gives Frank one last quick death stare, but steps back. Then the man says to the two strangers, "Well I'm Arnold, and this is Alexandra." It's clear that Arnold is trying his best to remain cordial, but he does not step back to invite the two in, instead looking at them expectantly.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

“I’m Jen and this is Frank,” Jen replied.

“Honestly, I wanted to do this over the phone, but Bill insisted we come down, so here we are,” Jen said.

[Daishain]

Frank is tempted to respond with a bit of anger of his own, if these were the people responsible for the half assed containment of that thing... but antagonizing them wouldn't solve anything, so instead he simply states, "Frank, and Jen. I assume Bill is inside?"

[Bennosuke]

"Nice to meet ya," Arnold says, trying his best to tamp down his wary demeanor and show a hint of hospitality, then adding in reply, "Yep. Why don't ya follow Allie and me inside."

Alexandra gives the two one last death-glare, before the two turn and lead Frank and Jen into the church. The entrance leads into a small lobby, with marble tiled floors and mint green painted walls. Hung up against the far wall, which separates the lobby from the main body of the church is a cheap looking American flag. Under this is pinned a strip of what looks like printer paper, and hand painted in read it reads, "God protect us!" A table rests underneath the flag and banner. On the table sit a used looking black bound Gideon's Bible, flanked on either side by figurines. One is a porcelain model of a knight's templar in shining silver armor. The second is a cheap plastic model of a cartoon witch, complete with black pointed hat and broomstick. The murmuring Jen and Frank heard earlier has begun again, and can be heard more loudly coming from the other side of the wall

The two follow Alexandra and Arnold through the lobby and into the main body of the church, opening up into a wide and high arched space. The nave is boarded on either side by an aisles of rows of empty moldering redwood benches.

Down the nave, standing before the pulpit between the aisles are a pair of three figures, also dressed like ex-military or at least wanna be ex-military. In the middle is a tall solid looking man build like a refrigerator. His square jaw is lines with grey stubble, and his receding hair is pulled back in silver pony tail. He steps forward as Arnold and Alexandra lead the two down the aisles. His familiar gravel voice echoes in the gallery, "Welcome, glad you two finally made it." He gives Jen and Frank a **** eating grin that says he's surprised the two even showed.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

"Yeah well, I didn't have anything better to do today," Jen replied, "honestly if I hadn't just spent the night in the woods hiding out from something out of a horror movie I never would have called."

"But I did, and here I am," she added, "so what did you want to tell us that you couldn't tell us over the phone?"

[Bennosuke]

"Well," Bill says in his packs a day voice, as he takes several steps closer, "I figure... given what you two had been through, that you deserved some answers. But given the nature of what you encountered with the Wytch, I thought it was darn prudent to meet in person. Never know if a telephone line is bugged by the government and all." He stops for a moment to give Jen and Frank a crooked yellow toothed grin. He nods back to the group behind him, then adds, "You see, my friends and I are kinda the leading experts on The Wytch... along with a number of other anomolies that seem to be plaguing Salem and Missouri at large."

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

“Oh, the government, makes sense,” Jen said, “so uhh, why don’t we start with ‘what was it we saw in the woods’?”

[Bennosuke]

Jen's question causes the group as a whole to burst out in a nervous chuckle. One of the guys in the back looks like he's about to say something, but stifles and instead looks on at big Bill with uncertainty.

Bill takes a big sigh, then clucks his tongue against his teeth before speaking. "The Wytch," he says dryly, with a spasmodic shoulder shrug, "Not certain exactly what you're looking for here. But as far as we know, it's always been in those woods. Don't know if it's some genetic offshoot of the proto-humans, or some primordial force, or what. We do know that the people of this town have gone to The Wytch for generations, leaving offerings in the hopes of dark favors being granted and the like. Even have some evidence that we's learned to do this from the old Native Americans who used to live in these parts. Means the Wytch is terribly old." He pauses for a moment, bringing a gnarled and dirty hand up to scratch at his beard with a satisfied grin before adding, "Know she's hard to kill. Know she's a skin changer. And we believe she's a dream eater too. And well, it looks like you two had the bad fortunes of setting her free!"

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

Jen scratched her head, which turned into an all out rubbing of her scalp and running her fingers through her hair.

"Ugh, normally I'd say this is a bunch of crazy talk, but I know what I saw," she said, "and I know I'm not crazy because Frank saw it too. I know it skinned someone and I know I shot it dead center which would have killed pretty much anyone, but it didn't even fall over. So what do we do now?"

[Bennosuke]

"Well, that's where things get tough, isn't it," Bill replies, using the same hand to stroke his scraggly beard once before finally leaving his facial hair alone. He turns back to look at the group gathered behind him and sighs before saying, "Look, we here are kind'a a special organization, see? And well, we're not exactly supposed to be talking to the uninitiated about this sort of thing. But well, I can't exactly just allow you two to get killed for your ignorance, and well, we can't exactly let The Wytch roam free." He sighs again and shrugs before taking several steps forward so that he is within arms reach of Jen and Frank. "My thought was, if you're willing, we'll give you some information and supplies, kinda like bringing you in as potential recruits. But you gotta be willing to keep your mouth's shut, keep an open mind, and do exactly what we say." He pauses here, uncomfortably sticking a hand out to shake before the two and adds, "That's the best I can offer, but you gotta be willing to take it, no more questions asked." Bill studies Frank and Jen's response, somewhat anxiously awaiting their reply. You can see the others in the room are also watching nervously, shoulders tensed and brows furrowed.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

Jen thought about it for a second.

"Sure," she said, "not like I can tell anyone about what happened. They'll think I'm nuts, or worse, that I had something to do with those people disappearing. That thing killed and skinned a girl and if it's coming after me next, I'll take whatever help I can get."

She waited for Frank's response. He had more obligations than she did, after all.

[Daishain]

Frank frowns as things proceed, but eventually nods, "The first two requests are inevitable as far as I'm concerned, as for the third I'll do anything to keep my kids safe, if that means following your lead for now, so be it."

"But whatever else happens, if we can't kill this thing, I want you to promise we'll find a better means of imprisonment than an open area on public land with lots of visitors. I can appreciate you lot not wanting to risk moving this Wytch, but an incident like this was inevitable under the circumstances. Actually I rather suspect the only reason it hasn't happened already is others died before they found a way out."

[Bennosuke]

"Very good," Bill says with a satisfied grin. But he chuckles in reply to Frank's request, "****, if we could reliably kill the Wytch we woulda done so by now. And to be quite honest, The old grandfather Oak is probably the best form of containment we got. The woods out there are weird, and most people can't even find their way to that tree. From what my nephew told me, you two were very lucky... or unlucky is probably more accurate." He chuckles again, but seeing Frank and Jen's expressions gives a long sigh. "Look, we'll do everything we can to neutralize it, and any threat to you and your families. That's all I can promise. Fair?"

Again he sticks a hand out to shake.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

"Yeah," Jen said, shaking Bill's hand again, "this is probably a good time to tell you I have a bloody shoe from walking into one of the bodies of the people it skinned. Does that matter?"

[Bennosuke]

Bill looks down at Jen's foot with curiosity. "You ain't still wearing it, are you?" he asks flatly before replying with a grin, "Well I'm pretty sure we can find some use for it. Give it to Arnold and we'll see what we can't do."

Assuming Frank agrees (and in an attempt to keep things moving), Bill will invite the two guests to follow him. Bill and his group take the lead, with Arnold and Alexandra walking behind so that it almost feels like a prison march. The assembly walk down the aisle of the church, around the stage and past a string of faux-velvet curtains. In the dark hallway, Bill opens up a non-descript door and leads Frank and Jen into a darkly lit and painted room that looks like it was once used as an administrative office. However, the walls are covered with posters that read with things like "Jesus saves, but so dose my rifle", and "Blue Lives Matter". One strip of wall has been converted into a gun rack, sporting several pistols, and a few hunting rifles and shotguns. Over the rack are a "Blue Lives American Flag" next to a Confederate flag. A small desk is pushed into a corner of the room and is covered with a few dusty books and a large speckled diary that looks like it has been used for the longest running crafting project.

Once everyone is in the room, Alexandra closes the door. There is a moment's pause before Bill gives the two strangers a ****-eating grin and says, "Welcome to the office."

Spoiler: OOC: Content Warning?

Show

So I want to make something a little clear here, though I assume you both know me well enough that this should be obvious. We started this game with the intention of it slowly turning into a Hunter the Vigil game (the 2E book is finally out BTW) so that it would be easy to learn the rules while being exposed to a new CofD 2E setting.

While a major theme of Hunter is that the act of fighting the supernatural corrupts and alters you, I am intentionally portraying the NPCs here as "more than morally grey"... a group that you probably won't want long term affiliation with. They have the information that Jen and Frank need such that you will want to spend some time with them, but are repugnant enough that the two won't want to actually join their cause, allowing the two players to start their own Tier 1 group, rather than joining a larger compact and jumping into a lot of extra rules and fluff/setting.

So in other words, I do not condone anything these NPCs represent, and intentionally want them to be a little repellent.

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

"It's in the car," Jen replied, "I'd look pretty stupid carrying around a bloody boot, don't you think?"

Jen looked around the office.

"Okay, now what?" she asked.

[Daishain]

Frank looks around with a raised eyebrow at the choice of decoration, in a church no less, but says nothing until they are in the office. "I think information is probably our best starting point. I don't suppose there are books containing what is known about these creatures?"

[Bennosuke]

"It's in the car," Jen replied, "I'd look pretty stupid carrying around a bloody boot, don't you think?"

Bill shrugs and still grinning says, "Well if you can remember to bring that back to us."

Once the door is sealed, and Frank and Jen have both spoken up, there is a nervous tension in the room. The motley assortment of hoosiers, looks from one to the other seeing who will speak first. Finally Bill steps forward, starting with a big sigh. "Well... The Office is where we meet to discuss our research, and what WE call our 'never ending hunt' or our 'vigil'," Bill says, actually using finger quotations. As he speaks, Bill's eyes dart back and forth from Jen to Frank, perhaps looking for any hint of judgement or disbelief. "We call ourselves the Brotherhood of Mather," Bill says, raising both hands to his forehead, splaying his fingers out, and bringing the tips of his thumbs to touching. The symbol created in such a manner perhaps resembles a pair of wings, or given the placement on his forehead, a pair of stag's horns, or perhaps a "W" for Wytch. Bills followers repeat the gesture in kind, so that Jen and Frank are surrounded by a bunch of red necks holding their palms up to their heads. Lowering his hands, Bill continues, "Our... secret organization has existed in Missouri since our forefathers first interacted with the Native Americans, and has served in the shadows, working to keep our towns safe from the blasphemies of The Wytch." The others nod their heads a this, a congregation in proud agreement. "The injuns taught our ancestors how to create wards against The Wytch, how she can't cross running water, and how she can wear the skin of her victims and feed on their dreams. Our brotherhood keeps vigil against The Wytch. Well, while we can't exactly bring you into our ranks, perhaps we can help arm you so that you can protect your families, and maybe if we work together, we can bring her back to the woods and trap her again."

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

"I can go get it and bring it in anytime," Jen said, "want me to get it now?"

"Are you sure we can't kill it?" Jen asked, "it bled when I shot it. I was thinking maybe we could use the boot or uhh, us... heheh... as bait."

[Daishain]

"If they knew of a way, I'm sure they'd mention it." Frank says dryly, "Lets learn what they know and then try to see if there's something they missed"