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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 4, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty, Inspired Ilaniel parks his car close by, and approaches the blaze with his notepad out. He finds one of the cops working the perimeter, and he presented his press pass. "Hi, Christopher Brawlins, Indy Star. You have a few minutes to answer a few questions about what's happened here? I've heard reports of suspected arson: do you know anything about that? Have they saved any survivors yet?" He spotted Mons and gave him a slight nod, but otherwise acted as a stranger while trying to get more information out of the officer.
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Mar 31, 2014 21:59
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Malediction "Well it seems like you have more information on the precise circumstances of the event than I do. In my memory everything after my brother attacked me is a blur, up until the battle had ended, the warehouse we had tracked the demon to was a smoldering ruin, and I was not longer connected to our creator. Even more concerning is that all my memories of the demon we were hunting are missing, as if they were forcibly deleted. I know we were hunting a demon, but I could not say for certain why we believed it to be located in that warehouse, or even if we did believe that. It is simply the only logical conclusion I can come to as to why we went in there. I have been searching for information on who might be able to so thoroughly remove information from a mind like that, but have yet to find anything certain. I do have one good lead, however." He lets that last bit hang for just a few moments, baiting the hook. This is a chance he can't pass up, if not a way back in at least a foot in the door. He can't let it slip away, so he puts every once of charisma he has into it. "Which brings me to an important point. It is clear we have the same goal. I would like nothing more than to serve up the one who did this to me to our creator on a silver platter, and to continue to carry out the duty for which I was created. Since this is the case, it would be most efficient if we worked together. Don't you agree?" Rolling Manipulation + Persuasion + 3 for Integrator condition + 3 for Willpower + Resolving my Inspired condition Befriend the Angel: 12d10o10h8 7 So yeah, that happened.
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Apr 1, 2014 06:27
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Malediction You find it easy enough to slip back into the angelic mindset, and you come up with what feels like the perfect snare to gain the angel as an ally. After you say your spiel, the angel looks you over. It has the same perfect control over its body language that you possess, but it doesn't take a genius to know it's thinking your proposition over. Eventually, after what feels like a minute, it begins to speak again. "Very well, Mr. Gilbert. I shall assist you, and you shall assist me. I trust that you will not turn me over to others that you know, and I promise to do the same. Now, for the matter of your Fall. I have retrieved your orders that were given to you that day. You were to track a Demon by the name of Proterius and dispose of it, as it was intent on brazenly destroying Infrastructure. In lieu of the events that followed, there is reason to believe that the one called Proterius was doing this on purpose in order to attract Hunters to itself. Your partner was recording footage of the hunt as it went on, and before the stream was severed, the archives received these images." It removes a small photo album from its and tosses it on the coffee table in front of you. You open it up and take a look through it, scanning it for any information of that day. They are very clear, as an image recorded by an Agent of God should be. They show a brown-haired woman in a tan trenchcoat walking out of a decrepit warehouse in an unfamiliar part of town. Her face is unremarkable, save for a small scar over the left of her lip. Her expression is inscrutable; whatever she was thinking, you wouldn't know. Eventually, she turns and directly faces your partner in the eyes. The next and last picture is garbled; all the background has been warped or rendered into static. The only thing intact is the woman herself. "Now, for the matter of your lead, Mr. Gilbert. What is it that you have in mind?" Take two beats, one for resolving your Inspired Condition, and one for resolving your Integrator Condition, and a point of Willpower. Feel free to roll for the next clue to your Cipher. Also, pat yourself on the back for doing something so brazen as forming a Demon-Angel buddy cop duo. Ilaniel The police sergeant rolls his eyes at you. "I've had enough of this crap. loving journos pestering me with all this... Fine, make it quick." After you ask your questions, the policeman responds. "We are waiting for the firemen to get finished with the office room, but no bodies have been seen inside the building. The fire seemed to have started in what used to be the operating rooms, judging from the damage. We have footage of the owner, Dr. Herwig Wolfram, entering the building about thirty minutes before the blaze began, but none of him exiting. Are you done yet? I'd looove to get back to herding around a dozen others like you asking me the same drat questions." Something catches your eye as the policeman finishes speaking. There are several black cars parked just outside the police perimeter. There are about seven rather plain men, wearing an assortment of professional but bland looking suits, standing about them, that seem to be waiting for the fire to be extinguished completely. The cops don't seem to pay them any mind, despite their close proximity to the crime scene, and you begin to wonder who they are.
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Apr 2, 2014 05:44
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Malediction Malediction studies the images very carefully. He doesn't recognize the woman, which is no surprise, but Gilbert's profession was perfectly suited to finding out who she is. It would just be a cover, but it would be a start. "I trust I can keep these?" he asks, slipping the images back into the folder. "Now for my lead. Shortly after my fall I was contacted by an agent of the Apollon Group looking to recruit me. The timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence. I can only conclude that they have some connection to the one who did this to me, and it is possible they were targeting me directly. I've decided to play along for now; insert myself into their organization, see how much I can find out. Keep them from doing too much damage when I can, without arousing suspicion. "Which brings me to a bit of a problem. Recently, at their behest, I investigated a certain cult operating in this city. I assumed another identity and infiltrated the group alone, so I could judge how little information I could get away with giving Apollon. After interrogating one of the cultists, I learned the purpose of the infrastructure was to summon an angel which they referred to as Lugus. It was also clear they were very bad at it, having repeatedly failed in their mission. They've since been dealt with. But during the course of my investigation some sensors inside were alerted to my presence, and a hunter was deployed to dispatch me. A terrible waste, I'm sure you'll agree. It is very unlikely he has any leads on this identity, but it is not the most stable position to be in. "Now, I wouldn't think of asking you to destroy a fellow angel for me, but I believe there is a way you could ensure the matter is resolved without the destruction of any faithful servants to our father. If you could simply inform this hunter that his target has fled to Wyoming, he will find the man who infiltrated the cult there. He can complete his mission, and I can continue to assist you in yours without worry." Get hosed, Bobby. Use you Cipher to decipher: 5d10o10h8 0 Nerts.
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Apr 2, 2014 06:54
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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 4, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty, Inspired Ilaniel heads for the suits, a smile on his face. "Hi, Christopher Brawlins, Indy Star. You gentlemen look to be in the know. Part of the Outfit? Or just here sight-seeing? Did any of you see the blaze start? Can I get a quote about it for my story?" He knew he was being annoying, but that was the point: keep 'em annoyed with questions while you figure out what you should really be asking.
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Apr 2, 2014 20:12
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Ilaniel They all look up at you in unison. One of them, a blond with an extremely thick jaw, mutters, "FBI. Move along," while the rest continue to stare at you. Something is off with these men, but you just can't tell what. One of them, a black man unbuttons his jacket and puts his hand in the inside pocket. You can see the edge of what looks like a gun holster in his coat. The man looks at you without a trace of emotion with eyes that are just a little too far spaced for his face. They don't seem to appreciate you questioning them. Malediction The angel nods when you ask to keep the photos. After you request it to throw your hunter off his mark, the angel folds its hands together and says, "I have already notified it of this development, and it has accepted this new information. However, I'm afraid that it has attacked someone in the process of hunting for you. A man who was seen in a car with you and several others. I do not know the name of your companion, but the Angel mentioned that it was not able to finish interrogating the man because of the intervention of some other party. The angel mentioned having to burn the building it was inside of down in order to escape, and that angel was much stronger than I. I do not know where this man is now." "In any case, that is something you will have to deal with. I can not offer any further assistance on that matter. Now, for your lead. We are aware of Apollon, and it was a strong possibility they were the ones that enabled this Demon to carry out this plan. I request you to draw this Demon that recruited you out for me if you can. I wish to interrogate it. I cannot get close, as Apollon is particularly cunning at detecting Angels. Those much higher than you in your group's hierarchy often times protect themselves with a small device they keep hidden on themselves. If it senses the use of Essence within a certain area, it alerts the user to the general area of what is using it. It allows them to have a chance to flee or change their Cover before we close in. If you could steal this device, I could apprehend the Demon at a later time. Of course, you could also just abduct the man yourself, if you feel it is possible." You've resolved your Hunted Condition. Take a beat.
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Apr 3, 2014 03:24
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Malediction Malediction betrays no reaction to learning about the doctor's fate, though a small part of him is glad to hear he escaped with his life. He has that much gratitude at least. "I will see what I can do, but it's important that whatever happens to them doesn't lead back to me. There's still a lot I can learn, and do, from the inside. Do you know what this device looks like? If I can get it away, I don't imagine you'll have long before they notice and get a replacement. Assuming it is something that can be replaced, that is." I suppose around now would be a good time to decide who it was that first approached Mal.
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Apr 3, 2014 07:50
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Sorry for not posting much recently, work keeps giving me late shifts and then early shifts. Mons The scene was chaotic, which was useful in and of itself. It gave Mons more opportunity to blend into the crowd. It was far too suspicious that this should happen so soon after they hit the cult and the Demon couldn't be sure that the perpetrator wasn't still about. Possibly could have something to do with the birds. Speaking of which... Dr Green cast his eyes around looking for a sign of the birds, it wasn't immediately important as to if they were here or not, but it would be useful to know how closely they were watching him. His eyes fell on the dark suits. Well they're probably not human. It made sense, it was what he'd hide himself as. Mons considered investigating them directly but thought better of it. There was a lot of them, and he wasn't at full capacity to begin with. Instead he began focusing on if anyone had been pulled from the building, hopefully he could overhear some interesting information from the mouths of a raving traumatised victim.
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Apr 3, 2014 21:41
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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 4, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty, Inspired Ilaniel squares his jaw and keeps jotting notes in his notepad, looking the men up and down. The FBI mysteriously showing up at an arson investigation? Without a doubt, he couldn't get that into the lead, but it would make a nice sixth paragraph. "Alright, then I'll say there is an ongoing FBI investigation into the matter. You have a nice evening, sirs."
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Apr 10, 2014 00:53
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Malediction You remember being approached by Apollon two weeks after your Fall. You were still in shock from your disconnection with the God-Machine and were having a bad time adjusting to the life of a mortal. It's a wonder you weren't picked off by a hunter during that time. Eventually, a man approached you and slipped you a business card with a stylized A in the shape of a chariot. You met this man, Charlie Bearer, and he requested that you join his group, Apollon, in exchange for some tutoring in how to act more human. He seemed to know what you did before you Fell, and believed that your skill in detective work would benefit Apollon. And soon, you fell in line with the rest of your Ring, investigating small matters until yesterday. As you recall your past, the angel answers your question. "The device varies in appearance, but it is always something small enough to carry that has speakers capable of recording sound. A cellphone, a recorder, a microphone, and so on." Ilaniel The man relaxes and zips his coat back up, re-concealing his weapon. As you turn to leave, you see something that definitely interests you. You couldn't see it before until you came closer, but there is a Gear of the God-Machine behind one of the so-called FBI agent's cars. The bottom half of the Gear resembles an extendable camera stand made of aluminum. The top, however, is considerably more supernatural; a large grey human eyeball, about the size of your head, rests atop of the stand. It stares forward, occasionally blinking as it surveys the fire. No one else seems to notice it as per usual for the instruments of your Creator. Mons You walk around, watching the skies for any crows. Sure enough, there is one standing atop a nearby clothing store, observing you from afar. As you walk towards the ambulance, you overhear two emergency response team members talking to each other. "So, Anne, you think anyone was in that fire?" "Firefighters haven't found anyone in there yet. But one of those FBI guys gave us a packet of something they thought was blood and told us to keep it for them." "Keep it? Why? We're not supposed to handle evidence." "I dunno, but those guys just kind of strong-armed me into it. So now it's chilling out in the freezer in the ambulance." "Jesus, Ned, you never did know how to say no." SunAndSpring fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Apr 10, 2014 |
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Apr 10, 2014 06:11
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Malediction "Well that will make it a little harder, but I'll see what I can do. And if there's nothing else you need to tell me, I should probably see what my 'comrades' are up to." Sorry for the delay, couldn't really think of any worthwhile response.
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Apr 15, 2014 06:21
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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 4, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty After another moment, the demon known as Ilaniel takes a step back and a glance around the entire place, trying to keep his composure as he departs from the nearly-fatal encounter he just had. He scribbled a few more things in his pad, gave a nod, and said, "Thanks, fellas. I'll be sure to keep you out of the first paragraph." Then he glanced around the scene once more and walked its length before heading back to his car. He looked over the burning building once more, trying to catch any last details. Whatever happened here, it certainly wasn't an insurance fraud. With any luck, he could also go get the final report from city hall in a few days. It'd likely be doctored, but it would probably still contain enough truth to help the real investigation that was now underway. Percepting: 6d10h8 3 I'm going to spend Inspired to make than an Exceptional Success.
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Apr 15, 2014 14:24
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Ilaniel You take in your surroundings as you walk back towards your car, putting as much distance away from you and those freaks you just met. As you look back at the scene, you can see the firefighters have finished their job, and the building lays a smoldering wreck. You can just barely see what's left of the front lobby mural. Wolfram always did like to be extravagant in everything he did, and the mural was no exception. It was beautifully put together, and displayed Persephone, one of the Gods of the Greeks, being returned from the underworld and Hades to the realm of man, bringing the rejuvenation of spring with her. Or at least that's what Wolfram told you once when you were pretending to be inquiring about a nose job in order to swap information with him. A typical Tempter through and through. As you look at the scene, you see a few more of the eyeball cameras. One of the weirdos that claim to be FBI is setting another one up in the back of the building. Once again, no one seems to notice the devices. It seems like they're trying to get a view of every angle of the building, but why? You also manage to see something strange on the outside of a window. It would've been easy to miss, but your sense are especially sharp today. There's a mark shaped like a hoof scratched into the wall, angled downwards. You can see just one more print like it made of ash outside the window. It seems like something with cloven feet burst out of the building after it was already on fire. Take a beat and a point of Willpower. Also, feel free to ask me for any more details about the crime scene until you leave because of your exceptional success. Malediction The angel gets up. "I have nothing more to say. Steal the device and leave it in the dumpster outside your house. Draw an eye on the dumpster when you do so. That will let me know the device has been taken and I can make my move. Farewell." It then walks out your front door. You follow it and try to see where it has gone, but it seemingly vanished the second it turned the corner. Shrugging, you go and find where you left your cellphone. You've received a few texts, and they all reinforce what the Angel has told you: Dr. Herwig has gone missing, and his business is in ruins. You wonder how the others would feel about you meeting the Angel. Ilaniel seemed to be reluctant to work with it, and what about Redactor? You hope your bosses haven't noticed, at the very least. You remember hearing rumors of what happened to the last traitor Apollon unrooted. "Drowned in raw sewage" is not exactly how you want to go. SunAndSpring fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Apr 18, 2014 |
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Apr 18, 2014 04:40
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Mons Hmm, so the medics had something important that the suits wanted. Blood or something like that. Crap, if that was important to them then they couldn't be allowed to have it. But Mons knew he didn't have the skills to steal it right there and then. Plus that wasn't really his style. However, just because he didn't have the skills to do so didn't mean he couldn't get some outside help. The universe was a funny thing. Push it in just the right place and who knows what would happen. --- I want to use Lucky Break to get whatever the item is into my hands. Also going to throw a point of willpower into it. I really don't want to start rolling compromise with the suits being right there. 8d10.hitsopen(8,10) =3 Three successes.
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Apr 20, 2014 00:31
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Mons You watch to see what happens after you use your Embed. After a minute or so, you watch the female nurse take a few steps closer to the clinic as it is finally extinguished. She gets behind one of the police cars and watches as firefighters march into the building. At the same time, a police officer gets into the police car and starts it up. The woman, not paying attention to what was going on under he nose, fails to notice as the police car backs out, and the policeman fails to notice the girl behind his vehicle. She falls under the car and you can hear a snapping sound as one of her legs is crushed under its wheels. You see other officers and the EMTs on the site rush over to the area. The ambulance is abandoned and no one is paying attention to you. If you move quickly, you can get the blood before anyone notices.
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Apr 20, 2014 03:33
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Malediction Malediction wastes no time getting down to business, though he has no interest in heading somewhere sure to be crawling with angels. That doesn't mean he can't help focus his allies' concerns. [If you want to know about Dr, ask A] That text sent, he turns his attention back to personal matters. He begins scanning one of the more mundane-looking pictures the angel gave him into his computer as he calls an acquaintance who works the night desk at the local precinct. "Hey Rory, it's Gil. How's the wife treating you these days. Good, good. Look, I've been working a case and I spotted this woman who I know is involved somehow. I'm sending you a picture now, check your email. I was hoping you could run it through your database, help me put a name to the face." Police Contacts: 6d10o10h8 0 Ouch. Well I rolled straight Manipulation + Persuasion, let me know if you think I deserve any bonuses for this.
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Apr 20, 2014 18:04
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Malediction "Gil, I can't just toss anything you come up with into the database without any details on your case. You should know that by now. It may sound wimpy of me, but the wife's got a baby on board, so I can't just risk my job for your sake. I'm gonna need you to tell me what exactly you're investigating before you go off hunting people down." You can try to persuade him again, but at a -1 dice penalty.
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Apr 21, 2014 05:29
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Malediction Malediction pauses just long enough to give the impression of hesitation. "Alright, alright, but you gotta keep this to yourself. I've got a client who's having an affair, I can't say who. All I can tell you is they're connected to city hall, and I really shouldn't tell you that much even. Needless to say this client doesn't want their infidelity to be public knowledge. A week ago someone sent a blackmail letter, typical 'pay me or I send these pictures to the Star' kind of stuff. So I've been shadowing them for the past week, see if I can catch the blackmailer in the act, so to speak. And I keep spotting this woman. I don't know if she's the blackmailer, but she's involved. I just need to know what sort of person I'm dealing with so I can figure out my next move, without tipping her off." Switched over to Subterfuge since I'm lying my rear end off. Police Contacts Take Two: 7d10o10h8 4
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Apr 21, 2014 06:02
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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 4, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty Catching every last detail, Ilaniel heads home, ready to write a small story on the arson while thinking about the angels and what was probably going on for real. He was hesitant, all told: two sets of angels in two days was a little more heat than he had been used to, but things had been getting a bit out of hand anyway. Back at his apartment, he looked through the notes he had scribbled down at the scene, trying to piece together what had actually happened. He takes maybe half an hour, trying to scrape together the truth from his notes and the details he noticed. I'm going to take the +1 DP to investigation for my angels specialty, and using an Extended Test to piece things together over the next hour. Investigation: 7d10h8 2 Investigation: 5#7d10h8 4 2 1 2 5
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Apr 28, 2014 00:42
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Mons The chaos was what he wanted. The suffering caused to the woman was infinitely lamentable, and he wished that he could have done something to make it up to her. But there was no time. Mons walked into the ambulance and grabbed the container for the blood. Stepping out of the ambulance and walking back to his car, calmly and without a hint of worry or furtiveness. --- Do you want me to roll anything Sun&Spring? I can re-write the post if so.
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Apr 29, 2014 22:41
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Malediction Rory pauses, perhaps unsure to believe you. Eventually, he makes up his mind, and begins to speak again in hushed tones. "You sure about this, Gil? I mean, are you really sure this girl is involved? Alright, give me a minute. I'll call you back." He hangs up, and you wait for about half an hour until you get called back. "Hey, Gil, I got a name for you. Angela Fisher. Involved in a case of vandalism outside a store named I. Schueler's Fine Jewelry and Accessories. Threw a brick through the front window and started smashing the hell out of the place. Got arrested a day after she did it. She paid a pretty steep fine for that on top of a six month prison sentence. Nothing else asides from that. I'll send you some records. Guess she must be connected if she can get off that lightly." As you receive the records, you find something very interesting to you; the date she was arrested was one day after your Fall. Mons You take the chilled container for blood into your car without being spotted, and you drive off, leaving the wreckage behind. You arrive home and stuff the blood in your freezer; not exactly the proper receptacle for something like this, but you hope it'll keep the blood safe until you can get it tested. Your clinic has a DNA testing lab, usually for checking for birth defects and paternity testing. The man in charge of the lab, Dr. Adrian Moor, is not the friendliest of people and you wonder if you can keep him silent and get him to test the blood. You're not exactly sure it belongs to something human; the color of it is more yellow than you'd expect normal blood to be, and it's a no-brainer to guess that you giving Moor inhuman blood would destabilize your Cover. Ilaniel You make a list of things you know. The fire started in one of the surgery rooms and spread more quickly than you would expect; Wolfram kept his anesthetic stored away from the surgery room when not in use, which ruled out the fire starting from there and being propagated by the anesthetic canisters exploding. You recall Bright telling you that he encountered an Angel who was sent to hunt down Malediction. It could start fires at will, backed up by the inferno that destroyed the cultist's warehouse. You saw a bunch of goons masquerading as FBI placing "cameras" around the crime scene. You wonder why they would bother putting surveillance around the area after the fire happened, and then you get a few ideas of what they could possibly do: either they could see some sort of trace that another supernatural being left around the area, or they could look into the past of an area. You'd have to research more occult avenues to find out what those things did exactly. Finally, the hoof print you saw outside the window. Judging from the position and the broken glass around the ground, its owner came from inside the building. The Angel at the warehouse did not have hooves according to Bright, and Wolfram's demonic form lacked hooves as well. You conclude that the Angel from the warehouse possibly tracked down Wolfram using conventional methods; after all, Wolfram drove the fanciest car he could to the warehouse and passed a fair amount of gas stations on the way. It's fair to assume that the Angel simply checked the camera records from the stations around the area, found Wolfram's car fleeing the scene of the crime, and tracked him down to his clinic. They possibly got into a scuffle, and then something else intervened, and then fled when the building was lit ablaze.
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Apr 30, 2014 23:09
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Ilaniel Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 5, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty So there were more players in town; that wasn't really good for anyone. Killing angels wasn't really something he could reasonably, do, so it looked like it might be time to lay low for a while. Well, after the vampire thing, probably. It would be a good time to spend some time getting hold of some infrastructure, though: maybe Wolfram had left a piece nearby that would help out with Aether regeneration, or perhaps something down at the Star's office. He scribbled down his findings in a journal, and then scribbled down a story to send to his editor. What a waste of an evening, with the friend dead like that. But maybe he'd pay for Wolfram's obit, tell the Obituary writer that he was feeling down about it after covering it. That might even get the word out to the Apollon Group as a whole: there was a demon hunter in town.
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May 6, 2014 01:41
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Mons Sitting at home and staring at his fridge Mons wondered if the choice to join up with the group had been the wisest of actions. He had got a vat of yellowish blood that he'd stolen from some kind of agency with angelic ties. Now he was considering manipulating a fellow doctor to find out just what it was. Sleep. He needed to sleep. He could make a decision in the morning.
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May 6, 2014 20:27
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Everybody After the insanity that was today, you find that the only thing you can now is to rest and wait for further instructions from someone. You wait over the weekend, laying low and trying to avoid the fallout of the situation. You hear nothing until Monday, one day before the vampire job, where you get a simple document in one of your dead drops. YOUR EFFORTS IN DESTROYING THE CULT ARE APPRECIATED. HOWEVER, YOUR EXECUTION WAS FLAWED. ONE OF YOU IS MISSING, AND ANOTHER IS IN JAIL UNDER SURVEILLANCE. FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO AGENT WOLFRAM. FIX ANY LOOSE ENDS THAT YOU HAVE LEFT. DO NOT SEEK US OUT UNTIL YOU DO SO. WE WILL SEND YOU A NEW AGENT IN THE MEAN TIME. WE HAVE INCLUDED A DOSSIER ON THIS INDIVIDUAL. Apollon. Always so personable with their messages. You read up on your new coworker, Ms. Sharp, AKA Graham Robinson. Included in the file is a cellphone number and a residence, as well as a general outline of her skills and personality. It's the middle of the day. You have a meeting with the hunters Redactor found at 10 PM tonight to get ready for, but that won't be until much later. Enough time to get anything else you needed to do done. SunAndSpring fucked around with this message at 03:55 on May 10, 2014 |
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May 10, 2014 00:19
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Ms. Sharp Saturday was a short day for the store, and Ms. Sharp took the time to make a grocery run, making sure to stop in the unisex restroom and check its broken hand dryer - neglected for so long that they'd simply installed a paper towel dispenser next to it. Remove a loose screw and pull the chassis, and one found a cavity large enough to hold a small parcel, like the one the Group had left her. Upon returning to her apartment above the shop, Sharp reviewed the materials - basic dossiers on a number of active agents, members of a cell it seemed she was to join, and a summary of their completed work. She recognized the doctor from the previous night's news - an agent gone MIA after an apparently successful operation was a bad sign, but if the disappearance posed such a threat to the Group they would be cut loose, not sent reinforcements. Sharp didn't feel particularly reassured in any case. She was meant to assist in determining this doctor's fate, and that meant gaining proximity to whatever it is he'd encountered. On Monday, Sharp opens the store in the morning, greeting Graham Robinson's shop assistant as she arrives for the day. Darby was a local girl with a degree in history, and she had the taste and the salesmanship to hold down the shop while Sharp tended to more vital things. Sharp informs her that Robinson will likely be absent for some time during the week and that she can expect hour increases, which isn't a hard sell. Excusing herself to the apartment above the shop, Sharp calls Mason Deitel, her cult leader, on a prepaid phone. She didn't know what the cell's job would require, but there were a surprising amount of accomplished professionals in the Deitel clan, and each would be honored to render their services. "Mason, it's the Reverend. I'm calling to let you know that St. Morgan's parish is undertaking a new mission project and we may have need of your family's alms. I'll call you when we've decided exactly what we're doing. Blessings be upon us, that we might turn this Earth into a Fortunate Isle in the dark. Amen." With that, Sharp returns to the storefront, phone on the counter, waiting for the call.
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May 10, 2014 03:51
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Mons Goodness, how charming. Mons thought to himself as he read the message. They went to all of the trouble to write it in all caps in bold to show how angry they are. Still the fresh blood sounded interesting. Speaking of which... Mons looked at his fridge, his expression unknowable. Basic deduction told him that whatever that stuff was it had something to do with the Doctor's disappearance. It also told him that investigating this further could cause irreparable damage to his cover. If he got caught then questions would be asked and angels could catch wind. He had been built for combat, not manipulation and Dr Moore was hardly the easiest mark in the world. Then there was the question of the member of their little band who had found his way into jail. Quite what had transpired there was hard to say. However, what was clear was that they needed to be released as soon as possible. He should also possibly warn them that he had a stalker who had been watching FAR to much Hitchcock. Mons sighed, this was going to be a busy day. He pulled out his phone and after a moments consideration began texting. [ 'Hey all, who's free for a road trip?' ] Whoever didn't respond to that was probably the jail bird. They could then co-ordinate without messaging the phone in police custody. Then picking up the message he typed the new number into the phone and sent another text. [ 'Hello, a friend of yours gave me your number. We're planning a little get together. A meet and greet if you will. Details to follow.' ] Arashiofordo3 fucked around with this message at 00:52 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 00:47
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Ms. Sharp ['I'll be waiting.']
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May 11, 2014 05:48
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Redactor WP: 3/4 Beats: 4 Cover Beats: 2, XP: 1 Cover XP: 3, Aether: 8 Redactor paced in the workshop above his sales floor, clutching his cell phone in one hand and a cup of black coffee in the other. It was early morning. Dark circles gathered under his eyes, which were bloodshot and a little unfocused from long hours of careful labor. The doctor's disappearance had shaken the demon, and when he was scared, he worked. On his workbench, the ink still drying, was a very convincing facsimile of a journal belonging to Alexander Dunn. It was a leatherbound moleskine of the type that would have been common any time from the mid 19th century. It was one of a lot that Culp had purchased from an Italian bookbinder that had gone out of business ten years ago, and so it lacked most of the subtle and not so subtle tells that would cause a discerning collector to date it at much later. Redactor had written in it in a spidery hand, and he'd used period-appropriate inks, which meant that they faded convincingly after several hours in a tanning bed, a process that had also given the pages the pale yellow look of old vellum. Redactor had weathered the cover with steel wool and dirtied the corners with grounds that had made the cup of coffee he was enjoying. He'd even put it in an oven at a low heat with some mothballs for an hour to give it the smell of something that had spent some time in storage. It wouldn't stand up to a real scientific analysis, of course, but Redactor was satisfied that even a trained eye would conclude that it was what it appeared to be at first glance: a journal that had seen daily use for a period of time in the late 19th century, and then spent a considerable amount of time in storage. [[I've got our party favors ready.]] He texted to the others. [[Preperations should be done for tonights event.]] Redactor has made a counterfeit journal which subtly lays out the facts we know about this vampire -- it looks to be something that it wrote itself to remind itself of its memories as it prepared to sleep for a few decades. This is what Redactor is going to offer to sell to the vampire hunters, in hopes that it puts them on the vampire as a target. Counterfeiting a journal: 7d10o10h8 0 Counterfeiting a journal x2: 7d10o10h8 3 Counterfeiting a journal x3: 7d10o10h8 3 Counterfeiting a journal x4: 7d10o10h8 4 Core says 4-15 successes to create a work of art, with each roll representing 30 minutes of work. So it takes about 2 hours to write the thing and make it sufficiently old looking, 10 successes should be enough to make something that will stand up to casual inspection. The actual social attack to convince people who read it that the target is a vampire and might be vulnerable to our plan is Int+Expression, +1 WP: Counterfeiting a journal x4: 9d10o10h8 4 Baby Babbeh fucked around with this message at 08:21 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 23:33
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Malediction Malediction lets out a low whistle when he reads message. The bit about Wolfram is interesting; either they're playing some deep bluff, or there is a third party involved. The news that one of them had been arrested is more troubling. He hopes it's Ilaniel, but he knows his luck isn't that good. He's on his way to City Hall to ask about some records when he gets Mons's text. [Perfect timing. Just closed a case.]
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May 11, 2014 23:46
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Oh my, I have been stingy with the beats for a while. Quantum, take one for assembling evidence of what happened to Wolfram. Goat, take one for getting more evidence on the Demon that caused your Fall. Arashi, take one for nicking the vat of blood. And Baby, take one for making a false journal. All of you save for Baby can roll to find a clue for the next bit of your Cypher as you were dealing with things relating to the God Machine. All of you get a cover beat as well for acting within Cover. Chunnel, take 3 beats and 2 cover beats right now so you can get caught up with everyone else. Don't want you getting behind. You guys ready to go to the meet up between yourselves?
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May 12, 2014 00:30
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 Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 3, XP Beats: 6, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, GuiltyIlaniel spent his day trying to find a suitable part of the city: he wasn't certain what he was looking for, but he was certain he'd know when he saw it. He checked the second booth of an Irish pub, he checked Kilroy's bathroom downtown, and one of the game rooms of a local gaming shop, including twenty other places, but with no luck. But he kept looking, burning away time until the meet... I'd like to exchange 5 XP for a piece of Suborned Infrastructure. Then I'm ready for the meet. QuantumNinja fucked around with this message at 03:54 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 12, 2014 03:39
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Ilaniel You cruise for a few hours, your eyes slowly glazing over as you try to find exactly what it is you're searching for. You almost get ready to just give up and head to the meeting and try again tomorrow. But, you finally see what you think could work. As you were driving in the ghettos of the town, trying your best not to attract unwanted attention from the local gangs as you conducted your search, you find an old animal shelter. It seems to have been closed off for quite some time; the sign outside the front, with a picture of a smiling border collie and tabby cat on it, looks like it has been sitting out since the Eighties. It would normally be unremarkable, save for the Gear that poked out of the top, languidly rotating on. You take a look around to see if anyone is looking. You then park your car, making sure to lock it and arm your car alarm, and walk inside the old shelter, stepping on the cracked and chipped linoleum floor. The insides look fairly untouched, and some of the lights are on for some reason. You figure someone would've stripped the place for the copper wiring right now if it wasn't for the Infrastructure inside. You move past the rotted wood of the front office and into the back, amongst the rusty cages that used to contain stray cats and dogs and more churning gears. You notice that the cages had huge chunks taking out of them, almost as if something were eating them. And further down, you can hear a grating metallic keening coming from further on. Steeling yourself in case there is still an Angel attending to the site, you move deeper inside. You enter the very back of the clinic, and you find exactly what is making the noise. A metallic beast is gnawing on a surgical table, taking bites of it. It is shaped like a pit bull, but made of an alloy that you're sure a human scientist would kill to have a way to make more of it. As it devours the metal, it releases arcs of green lightning that strike the exposed circuits on the walls, causing the lights to surge in brightness. Aether. You approach the metal dog, and it notices you right away. It makes a garbled noise that vaguely approximates a happy bark and approaches you, its joints creaking as it gets up. You doubt it could go far from the Infrastructure in the state it is in, having been unmaintained for so long. It seems it trusts you, perhaps due to your Angelic heritage. You pet the beast, taking advantage of the Aether that it gives off and store it within yourself. Say hi to your new pet, Ilaniel. Take a point of Aether. SunAndSpring fucked around with this message at 04:21 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 12, 2014 04:18
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Malediction With some time to spare before the meeting, Malediction makes his way to the records room in the basement of City Hall. The large room is all linoleum and fluorescent lights, with a womanly well past retirement age behind the front desk. "Morning Gladys, you look as radiant as ever," he says with a smile he has found to work wonders on elderly women. "Tracking down another deadbeat. You got anything that could give me an address for an Angela Fisher?" City Hall Contacts: 8d10o10h8 4. I'm thinking DMV records, property deeds, that sort of thing. After that I'm ready to get back with the party.
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May 12, 2014 20:50
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Malediction She smiles back at you, her face wrinkling ever further than before, and says, "OK, Gil, just give me a minute and I'll have all I can get for you." After about ten minutes of twiddling your thumbs, she hands you a manilla folder. "Alright, here's a few things I've found. I've got her address listed as an apartment out by the Fairgrounds. She used to manage a U-Stor-It near Southport as well, so I've included the address of that. Finally, she owns a small farm on Thompson Road, although she doesn't live there. Good luck on your case, deary!"
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May 12, 2014 22:43
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Health: 8, Willpower: 5, Cover: 7 , Primium: 1 , Aether: 4, XP Beats: 1, Cover Beats: 1, Saboteur Beats: 1, Guilty Ilaniel runs his hand along the strange beast, feeling the Aether climb into his own being, and smiles down at the dog. "Who's a good boy? You are!" He takes up a forgotten piece of metal, one of those old chain leashes, and sits with the dog in the old clinic. He spends maybe an hour with the dog, feeding it small links of the cahin, taking his time to acclimate himself with the new beast. After a long while, he rises back to his feet and prepares to leave. "I think I'll call you Rusty. Rusty, I am Ilaniel, once-great Destroyer of Man. And now I am here, with you, to see that same destruction turned back on our malevolent creator. You stay here, Rusty, and stay out of sight. I'll be back in a few days, to bring you by food, and whenever I can after that." Afterwards, he heads back out to his car, careful to seem like a misplaced reporter as he leaves. Then he sends the others a text. [Where are we meeting for this thing, exactly? I am not certain I ever got the full plan.]
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May 14, 2014 23:00
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Mons Mons checked his phone and was pleased by the speed of reply. He sent a response to everyone who replied in French translated into binary. [that small cafe on 6th street half way down with the green sign] After that he spent some time warming up for the day, considering the nature of hell and his place in the Great War. With that done he headed out to get the day started. --- Insert int+wits roll here: Key clue role: 6d10o10h8 1 Arashiofordo3 fucked around with this message at 23:21 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 21:08
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Oh yeah, that Cipher roll: 4d10o10h8 2
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May 15, 2014 23:07
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Malediction Your mind begins to wander for a while as you drive to the suggested meeting place to meet with your allies. It's interesting that you've grown so fond of the Embed known as the Knockout Punch. You used to cleave your targets apart with blades enchanted with Essence, but now you can drop them without even drawing blood. It's strange to think this way as a Destroyer, but it seems more efficient to use non-lethal force in some scenarios. Your only regret is that Knockout Punch isn't as subtle as you'd like it to be. Using it in a crowded area like a bar or a street will cancel out the effect, as someone will come running to whoever you had hit and wake them up. That's when it hits you. You've heard of Demons tapping into the phenomena known as the Bystander Effect, using it to get away with crimes that would normally be reported instantly. Your gut tells you that it will Interlock with Knockout Punch perfectly. Mons The Great War. It seems so far away, yet you were born for it. You didn't know how important you were at the time; if that statue had fell, the entire geopolitical landscape of Earth might be completely different now. You, now a lowly Demon working for an Agency that seems to treat you like a child, could've changed history had you stayed loyal. But now, you find yourself nearly a century later, wondering what exactly a world without the God-Machine would look like. Your Cipher holds the key to your own Hell, and you'll need your Wits about you to get to the next step of it. Everyone You arrive at the cafe, keeping a low profile as you all get a booth together. It's about 3 in the afternoon, now, and you've got a very important date today. If you can convince and aid those Hunters in kidnapping that Ghoul, your lives will go a lot smoother. And, there is the matter of Mr. Bright's arrest, Wolfram's disappearance, and your new comrade, Ms. Sharp. SunAndSpring fucked around with this message at 23:58 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 04:53
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Ms. Sharp Sharp (in Graham Robinson guise) arrives early, orders an espresso (had she her druthers she'd grind the beans herself, but the baristas always like to feel useful) and takes a booth. He takes out a handful of small tinctures filled with various sweet oils, in case special messages need to be passed in strictest secrecy (if nothing else, it wouldn't be out of character for Graham to make private sales pitches to discerning clients such as the men about to congregate). Graham produces a notepad and doodles aimlessly while waiting for the other agents.
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May 19, 2014 22:19
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Wits you say...? Could be anything at this point. Mons Mons arrived next and settled himself next to Ms. Sharp. Introducing himself by enquiring about the oils.
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May 22, 2014 20:45
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