(IC) HtV STL by Night

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: A wits+Academics or Wits + Crafts roll can be used here to appraise the authenticity of the item. Either roll will be at a -2 as neither of you are familiar with traditional native american objects.)

[Thundercracker]

(OOC: A wits+Academics or Wits + Crafts roll can be used here to appraise the authenticity of the item. Either roll will be at a -2 as neither of you are familiar with traditional native american objects.)

Wits + Crafts -2: (1d10)[3]

[Bennosuke]

Jenn does not have a strong sense for the quality or authenticity of the items displayed in front of her. They seem a little homogenous, but who was she to say whether or not that was an indicator they were "the real deal".

(OOC: Always free to use a WP or take a dramatic failure)

[Thundercracker]

"Ehh, I have no idea," Jen said to Karl, "what do you think?"

[Daishain]

He shrugs, "Can't say I know for sure myself. Worth a shot at least." *He nods to the store keeper.* "We'll take 2 sir."

[Bennosuke]

"Sure," the shopkeeper says. He gives Frank a grin that emphasizes his missing teeth, then bends forward to casually grab the two top dreamcatchers. He takes another puff of his cigar with his free hand, then leads Jenn and Frank to the cash register, where he says, "That will be thirty bucks. Anything else I can help you with today?"

[Daishain]

Frank shakes his head as he hands over a couple twenties, "I think that's it for now. We were heading to the heritage center next."

[Bennosuke]

"Very good," the shopkeeper says, taking a puff of his cigar before stuffing the dream catchers into a brown paper gift bag.

The two exit the store and begin walking down the street towards the Center for Osage Heritage. Streetlights have come on now, the sun having fully set. The Center is a squat building, though large by the standards of the neighborhood. It's front are all tall glass windows. But before the two get to the door, Frank's phone begins to ring, shaking and buzzing like a nest of hornets. It's the number from Neil's house. Frank had left the girls with him and Clarissa all day, and they were probably wondering when he was coming to get them.

[Thundercracker]

Jen buys an extra dream catcher, just in case.

“So now what?” she asked.

[Daishain]

Frank stares at his phone for a while before stuffing it back in his pocket and letting voice mail take it. He wasn't... ready for that conversation.

"Lets learn what we can, if there is anything relevant, and find a place to sleep tonight."

[Bennosuke]

Frank stuffs his phone back into his pocket and he and Jen walk into the heritage center. As the two go through the relatively spotless glass door, Frank's phone begins to buzz again.

Assuming he ignores it for now, they find themselves in a fairly spacious open concept lobby with a granite colored desk. The receptionist could maybe be in her twenties, but her age is hidden behind about a hundred pounds of excess weight. She regards the two with well lashed dark eyes, rimmed by black plastic glasses. The ivory papered walls are festooned with a series of paintings, collages and homemade art, as if this were a small arts museum. The woman at the desk regards the two newcomers with slight suspicion, but she quickly puts on a broad smile and says, "Welcome to The Center of Osage Heritage. We will be closing in about a half hour. How can I help you?"

[Daishain]

Frank looks to her, "Hello. We have something of a specific request, we're interesting in hearing about old folklore tales told by the Osage."

[Bennosuke]

The woman's façade of a smile vanishes into a confused look. "Uh, I just work the front desk," she says flatly, adding, "but if you want pay for a ticket we close in about a half hour. Room three is where we keep the collections on folk tradition and art... maybe it will have what you are looking for." She glances down at a sign posted on the front of the desk listing ticket prices. General admission would be about $30 a person.

(OOC: We can treat this as an investigation roll if you would like with Int + Academics. I'd give you a +1 bonus as a Library merit for the museum but then would also apply -1 for the time limit. Rather than making this primary and secondary roller, we can just average the number of successes and round up to save time)

[Daishain]

He nods and pulls out his wallet. Once inside he looks to Jen, "Right, lets make this fast, just skim through unless it seems related."

He gets to the books and starts leafing through.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Wits+academics+1-1 (3d10)[8][6][3](17)

[Thundercracker]

Jen Gibbs

“Uh, what?” Jen said. She tried to catch up and figure out what she was supposed to do.

Spoiler

Show

chance die(1d10)[5]

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: Rounding up, that's one success)

The two begin frantically moving through the museum, scanning paintings, some modern and others in some form of a traditional arts style. There are sculptures and historical artifacts from the tribe's past. The two skim through a relatively modern looking book on Osage folk traditions that sits on a table in the center of the room.

But the only information that Jen and Frank find of any worth comes from an adjacent book on the same table. It's titled, "History and Culture of the Osage People". There is nothing about The Wytche in the book, but Frank uses the index to find a small paragraph on Dream Catchers in Osage tradition. The two are disappointed to read that Dream Catchers are not actually part of the Osage culture. They were an object of the Ojibwe culture that became popular in non Native culture, and were thus appropriated by other tribes for primarily selling to tourists and non-Natives.

As the two are starting to put the book down, the woman from the front desk's voice crackles over a dying PA system, "The Center will be closing in five minutes, please proceed to exit the building. Again, the Center is closing in five minutes. Time to go."

[Daishain]

Frank rubs his eyes as he starts putting the books back in place, "Right, I think I remember reading about that once... Well I'm going to go ahead and hang mine up tonight, but I don't exactly think we can count on them."

He sighs a bit, "Lets get out of here."

[Thundercracker]

Frank rubs his eyes as he starts putting the books back in place, "Right, I think I remember reading about that once... Well I'm going to go ahead and hang mine up tonight, but I don't exactly think we can count on them."

He sighs a bit, "Lets get out of here."

“I’m about ready to call it a night,” Jen said, “definitively going to sleep with a weapon within reach tonight…”

[Daishain]

"Same. By the way I was thinking, Since a kill shot seems fruitless at the moment, if she shows up before we're ready for her, it might be best to go for the main joints instead, slow her down for an escape."

[Thundercracker]

"Same. By the way I was thinking, Since a kill shot seems fruitless at the moment, if she shows up before we're ready for her, it might be best to go for the main joints instead, slow her down for an escape."

“That’s what I was thinking,” Jen replied, “…this is insane, by the way.”

[Bennosuke]

As the two are walking out of the back through the museum towards the exit, Frank's phone begins to ring again. And again it's the number from the house of Handsome Neil. Checking his phone, Frank also sees that it's now almost 6:30PM, and would be about a half hour trip back to Saint Louis if the two didn't speed. He had left the girls there all day!

[Daishain]

Frank looks down at the phone, letting it ring out again, though he'll be calling back soon. He looks to Jen, "I'm heading back home. We've probably drawn her far enough away from there by now that one night back shouldn't be an issue."

"I at least need a break from this to process a bit. Early tomorrow morning I'm taking the girls to a waterpark, I can make things up to them while the running water keeps us safe from the wytch. Care to join us?"

[Bennosuke]

By the time Frank finishes speaking, a second voicemail flag has popped up on his phone.

[Thundercracker]

Frank looks down at the phone, letting it ring out again, though he'll be calling back soon. He looks to Jen, "I'm heading back home. We've probably drawn her far enough away from there by now that one night back shouldn't be an issue."

"I at least need a break from this to process a bit. Early tomorrow morning I'm taking the girls to a waterpark, I can make things up to them while the running water keeps us safe from the wytch. Care to join us?"

“Water park, I never would have thought of that,” Jen replied, “sure I guess. Don’t expect much in the way of child interaction though.”

[Daishain]

"Not looking for a babysitter, but an extra pair of eyes would be very nice, and we can plan our next move while they play." Frank heads for the car, listening to the message that was left.

[Thundercracker]

"Not looking for a babysitter, but an extra pair of eyes would be very nice, and we can plan our next move while they play." Frank heads for the car, listening to the message that was left.

Jen nodded and followed along. She couldn’t bring a gun into the water park…

[Bennosuke]

Frank pulls out his phone and types into his voicemail. The first message is from a very frustrated Clarissa, calling to find out when Frank is coming to pick up his daughters, and to make sure that Frank knows her displeasure with his lack of communication. Though maybe it wasn't fair to say that Frank was used to this sort of treatment, he had heard her far angrier and using far coarser language directed at him in the last year or two.

However, the second call is probably closer to Clarissa at her worst. There is lots of slander, lots of insults and derogatory language. She sounds drunk in her disinhibition and vitriol. But an alarm bell goes off in Frank's head when she adds, "And by the way, if that is you standing outside our house like a creep, you aren't ****ing funny you pig. I haven't seen it but the girls keep running downstairs to say there's someone on the lawn. Don't know if it's you, but just in case it is, Neil has already loaded his shotgun. It's already too dark to see anything out there, so it ain't worth dying over some ****ing idiotic prank, you immature waste of ****."

[Daishain]

Frank was already heading for the truck, but on hearing that message he starts running. "**** **** **** ****! She was supposed to be after us?! What the **** is she doing stalking them?!"

As soon as Jen's in the truck he starts driving while calling Clarissa back, whether she picks up or its voicemail he immediately says, "That's not me out there, tell Niel to fire away if he sees something. I am on my way."

[Thundercracker]

“I… have no idea, but let’s get over there,” Jen said.

[Bennosuke]

The phone picks up as Jen and Frank begin their race towards St. Louis, Clarissa's voice picking up over the speaker thanks to Bluetooth pairing. Her tone shifts immediately from anger to concern when she hears Frank talking. "What... what are you talking about? Frank? You sound like you know who is out there! What is going on? Are we in danger? What did you do?!"