Mister Vampire

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:17 pm

((Harley's Testing the Waters would be 9 [5 Intuition, 4 Empathy]. If there's an opportunity for Questions of Subterfuge, Harley has a dicepool of 10 [Charisma 4, Persuasion 6], but she could frame it as a drug sale, or even just a "sale" of food for information, and get 2 bonus dice from her Persuasion specialty. As she also has Tongue of Beasts, she can interview animals they find as well))

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:13 pm

((Marco gets 2 hits on Attract, distracting the ghost from her eternal fugue, and then 4 hits to persuasion, enough to get her to think about stuff she really doesn't want to.

Adel gets 4 successes to search, more than enough to find himself an animal to converse with, and 3 successes to trade food for information, which is at least one hit more than necessary.

Andrus gets the two hits he needs on Learn the Heart's Pain for what that's worth, and both he and Harley can buy the hits they need to get an Extra to cough up the information they want.))

---

The girl suddenly stops poking at the telephone, turning eyes widened by terror towards him. "I-I need to call the police," she says, "it's a robbery and I'm stuck in here, I need to call someone."

"It's alright, we're here to investigate," Marco says, "it looks like the robbers left, though."

"No, they're here, they're here," the girl says.

"Miss, relax," Marco says, "it looks like you scared them off for now. We're going to catch them before they get back, but we need your help."

She was silent for several long seconds, but then slowly nods her head and says "okay." Catching their killer was usually a safe bet for finding peace for a murder victim's ghost. Sure, this girl probably had math homework, trouble fitting in, boy troubles, worried about disappointing her parents or turning out like them, maybe a divorce going on at home, but being murdered tended to come with a bit of perspective.

"Good, now did you hear any names while they were here?" Marco asks.

The girl closes her eyes for a moment and thinks. She is still, then she shudders, and her eyes bolt open and she's breathing so fast she might hyperventilate if she were corporeal and her breath was anything but a memory. She swallows, composes herself, and says "Re-Reyes. One of them was named Reyes But not the boss. Reyes was talking to the boss." She's beginning to tear up now. "What happened to me?" she asks.

---

Harley, Adel, and Andrus search the streets. While Harley and Andrus are busy looking for homeless people to interrogate, Adel is charming the local wildlife. "You, there! Seagull!" he says, spotting one in a nearby tree.

"Human!" the seagull responds.

"I will give you a cracker if you tell me what went on in that building," he points to the ransacked shop with one hand and holds out a cracker in the other.

"Cracker!" the seagull says and flies down to Adel, snipping at his hand.

Adel keeps the cracker out of reach and swats at the gull. "First you talk, then I give you the cracker!"

"Oh, yeah, the shop!" the seagull says in a shrill voice, "lots of stuff happens there! Lots!"

"Like what?" Adel asks.

"You know," the seagull says, "stuff." Its beady eyes stare blankly at Adel for a moment, and then Adel punts it. The seagull hacks up a bit, and then shouts "fine! Didn't want your cracker anyway!" while flying off.

Adel closes his eyes and focuses his superhuman senses: A creeping in a nearby gutter. Rats. Every city has rats. "You there, rat, I'll make a deal with you," he says.

"What for? What for? Is it a trick?" the rat's voice asks as it scurries about in the gutter. "It's a trick, isn't it? I'll bet it's a trick."

"I'll give you this cracker if you tell me what happened in that building," Adel says.

"Full of poison," the rat says, "Smells good, smells good, but rats go in there and they don't come back out. Not unless they're too clever to be the first one to nibble, clever like me! Poor brother, though. Good rat. Good rat, only have so many brothers."

"I mean recently, the place is a wreck. What happened?" Adel asks.

"Humans trashed the place," the rat says, "rat told them to. Big rat. Tricked the other humans, you don't have noses, but I do. I do. I smell him. Maybe his brother dies there too, so he tricks a bunch of humans to go smash it up with him."

"A rat that looked like a human?" Adel asks.

"That's right, that's right, tricked the other humans, can't trick a rat, though, we have noses and eyes. Now gimme the cracker!" the rat demands.

Adel tosses the cracker into the gutter, and the rat immediately grabs it and scurries off into the sewer, nibbling occasionally. "Mmm," his voice echoes a bit as he descends, "good cracker. Good deal."

---

Harley and Andrus don't have as much luck. Culver City isn't swarming with homeless in the first place. Every city neighborhood has one or two, of course, and with Andrus' infernal perceptions they're able to learn that the one they're talking to is 1) not a monster and 2) pretty much lives for hooch. He tells them what he knows after being sweetened up with some cheap booze, but what he knows is basically just that yes, the place got robbed. The perpetrators arrived and left in two different cars. He can't remember the colors at first, when pressed he babbles out that they were both blue. Probably just making it up to have something to say. Better than nothing.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:10 pm

Adel sends Harley a brainwave. "Found out some good into. The robbers had one Nezumi with them, probably the guy in charge. Where you two at?"

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:16 pm

"Tell you what," Harley says sweetly, "Keep eyes on the place, and if we come around, let us know any info you've got since we last talked. In return, I'll bring you the best stuff you've ever drank. Ever have Johnny Walker? [she waits for a reply] This stuff's even better." She touches his shoulder, "Do we have a deal?"

Harley replies telepathically "We're [wherever]. We've got some info that's probably useless, but maybe it's an investment."

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:18 pm

Marco raises a hand to silence her. "That's a bigger question than you realize, and there are a lot of things I will not be able to answer to your satisfaction in one evening. For now, you need to understand that you should not be seen and that you are part of a larger, more dangerous world in which mere policemen cannot help you. In the future this place may become dangerous for you if those men return. I have ways of contacting you and wish to stop these men, but I will need your name and trust to do so. I will also need to know why people seem to want the book so badly, and I think you can tell me that."

(If necessary Marco will try to convince her that she needs to keep cooperating with a little bit of old-fashioned fear mongering about the robbers--his pools for impersonal threats/dire warnings clocks in at a fairly impressive 13 if you consider it an appeal to Force and 12 if you think presenting yourself as the alternative is an Appeal to Emotion.)

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:10 pm

"I'm...I'm Janet Brooke," the ghost says, "the book was a translation of something called the Morganwg Manuscript, all about a world of nightmares. Superstitious stuff. Really expensive, I guess. I could feel something when I read it. Like maybe it was real. It isn't real though, is it? It can't be real...It can't be real..." Her voice is drifting off, now, her focus slipping away from the conversation.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:26 am

Marco pauses for a moment and says "J, why don't you come over here for a minute and help me explain some things to a friend of ours?"

As he waits for J he says "There are books of real power in this world, Janet. I own one myself, should you wish to see it, but first there are other matters we must attend to. You see, where I come from, we have a motto: 'Loyalty to the family, to death and beyond,' and it is more than just an idle boast..."

Marco's going to explain to her that she's dead and give her a few tips on how to survive the Deep Gloom until nightfall and explain that she must stay out of sight--if (okay, when) she starts freaking out he'll try to calm her but that's some pretty heavy shit so J-Rock's Light of Ennui is probably a better bet. Unless she spills something juicy I'm thinking Marco has nothing more to do at this building. Also, she should be intangible rather than invisible right now, so if J-Rock's got some questions I haven't thought of now's as good a time as any for 'em. Marco will also call up his men and tell them to arrange for someone to collect her phone fetters in the morning if at all possible.

echoVanguard · Post by **echoVanguard** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:08 pm

J-Rock strolls over, eying the wispy spirit with no surprise or trepidation. "Ma'am, I understand that you're in some distress right now, but if you could remain calm, that would be a big help. Anything else you can tell us about the crime would help us in catching the perpetrators." [7 dice for calming the ghost (1 Charisma + 6 Empathy)].

(If she becomes agitated sufficiently that I need to use Light of Ennui, my dicepool for that is the same [7] against her Willpower. Either way, once she becomes calm I attempt to interrogate her to get as many clues as I can about the identities and motivations of the robbers. My dicepool for interrogations is 13 [5 Intiution + 5 Research + 2 Interrogation Specialization].)

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 6:12 am

Adel goes to find Harley and Andrus with the good news. Once they're clear of the bum, he fills the pair in:

"I talked to a rat outside. It claims to have smelled a 'rat that turned into a man' in the shop on the night it got robbed. I'm thinking another Nezumi. It also says the others there looked and smelled human. Could be witches, but they're probably just mundanes. You two got anything good?"

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:14 am

"Not really," says Andrus. "That drunk saw them leave in two different cars. All he remembers is he says they were blue, and for all I know he made that up to shut us up."

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:03 am

((J-Rock manages a spectacularly lucky five successes on his roll to keep Janet calm. Today is definitely his day.))

As predicted, the ghost of Janet grows immediately distraught upon learning that she's dead, whispering "no, nonono" over and over again. Fortunately, J-Rock is able to keep her calm as Marco walks her through how to survive the Deep Gloom until nightfall.

((Janet is fortunately pre-disposed to help you continue with the investigations because of the successes you've already achieved with her. Thanks to J-Rock, she's also going to be able to listen to and remember everything you tell her without completely freaking the Hell out and forgetting all of it. Since Janet's going to be doing the surviving off-screen, we'll abstract all of that to a single roll: The greater of Logic or Charisma (Marco's Logic is higher at 3) plus a relevant Background (Marco has Undead at 3): He gets a total of 2 hits, which means Janet should be fine. You won't know for sure until tomorrow night, though.))

echoVanguard · Post by **echoVanguard** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:52 pm

J-Rock takes down Janet's statement, noting with displeasure that it sheds no new light on the case. "Thanks, ma'am. Stay safe out there." He turns and nods to Marco, then leaves the crime scene to meet up with Harley, Ambrus, and Adel.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 2:50 am

Adel makes his way to the agreed upon meeting spot. Once everyone has arrived, he shares his news with J-Rock and Marco:

"A witness we found, rat in a gutter nearby, says it was a Nezumi and mob of mundane humans that did the break-in. Anyone got a list of lycanthropes in the city?"

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:35 am

Just before he leaves, Marco's going to check his smartphone notes and rack his brain for any records of important inventory the proprietors may have given the Ulmi when they signed on for the "insurance program." He wants to compile a quick list of missing items so he the group can try and put out feelers and contact fences. He's got an Ulmi 4 background and Logic 3+Research 1 (Archives), if that matters. Failing that, he'll just call the owners up and ask about what they lost, preferably politely and via montage.

Marco meets up with the others, thumbs tapping away on his burner phone as he speaks. "Rat's story adds up--We have reason to believe there were at least seven intruders in the building and one was very strong, which may be your nezumi. One of 'em was also named Reyes. Anyway, I'm still getting all the details squared away but the first thing they grabbed was the Morganwg Manuscript, which may be a legit grimoire."

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 6:00 am

((Asking around montage is Charisma of 1 + relevant background, Finance and Ulmi are both at 4 which saves me the trouble of figuring out which one fits better for asking small businessmen who have protection contracts with the Ulmi. Only one hit, but that's all you need to get shopkeepers to tell you what was removed from their own shops.))

Through a combination of Ulmi records and conversations with the shop owners (which takes place during the trip from here to wherever it is you guys go next, or just in the next 15 minutes or so if you hang out here while waiting for him to finish), Marco is able to determine that every shop robbed has had at least one big ticket item, equivalent to the Morganwg Manuscript, taken: A pair of goblets enchanted such that half the life is sucked from the drinker of one and granted to the drinker of the other, a totem stick that can be used for various rituals that cause equally various forms of insanity in unfortunate victims, a pair of bifocals that lets you see into the Shallows of any of the three worlds depending on which lenses are put into what position, and a fragment of the charts of the Stellar Oracles (which is both the most and least valuable object stolen, in that it's useless on its own but more valuable than the others put together and multiplied by ten if combined with the other charts). They've also lost dozens of genuinely magical but not very impressive knicknacks, things that turn small amounts of water into blood and such.

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:01 am

Adel puts in a discreet call to the Exarch, reporting in that the group's figured out that it's a Nezumi and six humans that hit the shop, that someone named "Reyes" was present, and the list of items that were stolen. Ideally, he'd like to steer the conversation toward finding out what the Morganwg Manuscript talks about and what sort of spells someone might possibly be using it for in conjunction with a magic totem pole and the charts of the Stellar Oracles.

((Questions of Subterfuge Dicepool is 11.))

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:52 pm

"Do any of you have connections in the Goblin Market? I doubt these thieves would be so foolish as to try and sell the goods immediately, given the circumstances, but we could still put out some feelers and see if we get a lead."

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:23 pm

"Can't make any promises, I wasn't exactly trying to make friends and influence people while I was there."

Andrus quietly texts a summary of the investigation to Logan, before racking his brains to check it Limbo Politics 3 can be stretched into Goblin Market connections.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:34 am

Limbo Politics doesn't give you direct Goblin Market connections, but you know a guy who knows a guy. If you can get into contact with people on the other side of the mirror, you might be able to scrounge up info, although it'll require more hits than normal.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:03 pm

((3 hits from Adel's Questions of Subterfuge against 4 hits from the Exarch's Intuition+Empathy))

Halfway through Adel's call to the Exarch, the Exarch says "I understand you are trying to investigate the missing items. It is obvious by now that you want to know what I know about those items, and while I am not personally familiar with them, I might know somebody who is. What I don't know is why you think I need to be tricked into helping you do the job I asked you to do."

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:34 am

Marco folds his arms impatiently. "So, did any of our rodent or homeless friends get a look at what the thieves drove off in?"

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:13 am

"I'll see what I can dig up. Might take a few hours, probably can't all be done here, and again I can't make any promises. I'll call you when I'm done."

Unless anyone has any better ideas, Andrus double-checks that he has a way to contact the rest of the party, then calls up some old friends with a total dicepool of 4 (Charisma 1 + Limbo Politics 3).

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:02 am

Can't roll the results on that until a couple of hours have passed in-game, so I'll wait a few days to see if anyone else has something they'd like to do with that time.

echoVanguard · Post by **echoVanguard** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 9:43 pm

J-Rock wants to follow up on some of the leads from the scene. He'll part ways with Marcone and do a Formal Request montage to try to get one of his old buddies at the department (Rating 2 Contact) to run a forensic analysis on the glove bits and partial shoeprint he found (Logic 2 + Police Procedures 6 for a total of 8 dice). He'll also have them run a search on known criminals that match the descriptions from his scene reconstruction and try to match the results to his knowledge of people who might be active in the scene currently (Logic 2 + LA Criminal Society 6, 8 dice again). Once he has the results from those, he'll meet back up with the team and discuss what everyone's found.

Whipstitch · Post by **Whipstitch** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 10:55 pm

Yeah, unless Adel responds soon and comes up with something real juicy I think Marco will also just head home and hope his backgrounds can round up some rumors.