[DFRPG] The Rainy City Book 1: Music Doesn't Lie

[Steel Mirror]

But Ray, I'm only going to say this once, GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

His defense, tagging "Paused in Regret"
[roll0]+3+2= 4

2 stress, which he can't handle anymore. He's out.

Ray flinches at the yell and looks down briefly, then back to his friends.

Body language is important in the supernatural world, heck anywhere. And right now, Ray's body language isn't that of an alpha dog - it's of someone who just got spooked and is backing down. He still holds himself tall and is standing in Andrew and Victor's way, but the fight has gone out of him and he is at a loss for the moment.

Taking a small risk, Andrew walks right by him, banging his shoulder as he goes. When Ray lets him pass, the other guys move aside as well.

"You're just letting him walk by?" Samantha asks, incredulous.

With a shrug, Victor follows Andrew up the steps and into the Cultural Center. Behind them the teenagers fall into indecisive muttering while Samantha tears into Ray. "Some medicine man you are, does a little cold and a skinny white guy really scare you that much?"

Then the two investigators are through the door and past the werewolves, and ready to find someone with a more level head and better information to talk with.

There are two real options. Chief Whitebear might have some information about the skin-walkers, but Andrew never knew him very well. Still he tended to be level-headed and reliable in the time that Andrew knew him, and might be their best bet for someone who can deal with them without the past getting in the way.

On the other hand the tribe medicine man, Stuart Ashleaf, is the one who deals with most of the day-to-day spookieness that life in Seattle entails. He certainly knows something about the skin-walkers, but it might be hard to convince him to share that if he is worried about Andrew's mental health.

[Sanguine]

The question strikes Connor like a thunderclap. Died. People had died. People had come her, to his home, and had killed people. Guests in his home, people he should have protected. And these morons were wasting his time. Time that he should be using to hunt down the monster responsible!

Connor's face is filled with a terrible, primal, fury as he turns to the reporter. Clenching the neck of the man's shirt in his fist Connor fixes the man with a gaze that chilled the blood in his veins and growled. "You want a comment? Here is your comment. Right now my investigation is being hampered by a flock of inane little reporters who think that their stupid little questions are a more valuable use of my time then hunting down the monster responsible for this carnage." The comment is punctuated with a quick sharp shove to the reporters chest sending him sprawling. "Now unless you want the monster who ordered this travesty to get away I suggest you get the **** out of my way!" Connor casts his terrible gaze across the crowd of reporters and yells. "MOVE!"

[Steel Mirror]

"Now unless you want the monster who ordered this travesty to get away I suggest you get the **** out of my way! MOVE!"

The reporters scatter, the cameramen stalling long enough to get a long, smooth shot of the enraged detective and the sputtering reporter from Channel 5 news. Nobody challenges his progress any further as he stalks his way past them and through the back entrance of the bar, Chêne skipping along cheerfully behind.

It looks like the Crime Scene Unit is done with the place, and a few of the kids who weren't on shift last night are sweeping up. Remarkably, the front windows are already being replaced by a trio of construction workers who have parked their truck out front. Broken furniture and shattered wall decorations have been removed, and Connor knows that replacements in the basement are ready to replace them once the boys are done cleaning up.

They wave to Connor as he stalks past, and one of them points to the front where Detective Young and Patrick O'Reilly are in the middle of a conversation.

Young throws up his hands in relief when Connor catches his eye. "Thank the Saints, you're finally here. Please explain to your father why he can't put this sign out on the sidewalk, and why he shouldn't have struck Officer Kou when they disagreed about its appropriateness."

The sign in question is the bug chalk sandwich board that they use to advertise daily specials and other limited-time offers. On it, in what Connor is sure is a deliberate echo of the hateful note thrown through the window last night, is the following message:

N*******, Sp***, Ch****, P*****, and freaks: $1 drafts at O'Reilly's tonight.

"Looks pretty good to me," Patrick says gruffly. His shoulder and arm are in a sling, but he looks ready to take on the world regardless. Connor recognizes that stubborn look in his father's eyes - he's seen it enough times in the mirror himself.

[Sanguine]

Connor rests his face in his palm in what is simultaneously an expression of exasperation and an attempt to hide his smile. It was just so very much something his father would do, and he loved him for it.

Once his face is back under control Connor lifts it up from his palm and looks directly into his father's eyes. "Dad, I like the sign. Really I do. But I think you might be neglecting to consider how people who don't have the proper context might interpret your words."

[Steel Mirror]

"Dad, I like the sign. Really I do. But I think you might be neglecting to consider how people who don't have the proper context might interpret your words."

"Maybe some people get upset when they see it. Maybe they complain, ask a few questions." He gestures with his good hand at the bar.

"They ask me what it means, and I tell them about the *******s who thought that someone being different was a good enough reason to shoot bullets at innocent kids just trying to have a good time. I tell them that in Seattle, we don't retreat from hate and violence like that: never again. And when people find out what those animals are trying to do to our city, we'll send them the message that we aren't afraid of them, and we aren't going to be intimidated into running away anywhere."

The emotional speech reminds Connor of a factor he had been only marginally aware of before: his father had left one home because of violence and intolerance. This must be an earth-shattering reminder of worse times that he thought were in his past.

[Sanguine]

The realization hits Connor like a ton of bricks and he just stand there stunned for a moment as a flood of memories come back to him. A house on a grassy hill from so long ago, and the pain and anger as it was ripped from him. All of those horrible things he did all those years ago in Ireland, and the self-loathing as he looked back upon his perpetuation of intolerance and violence. The sight of those people bleeding out on the floor of his home, and the helplessness he felt as he watched them taken away. All of this flashed through his mind, feeding the deep well of anger in the pit of his stomach, and Connor felt it as the anger stirred up his own stubborn pride.

Taking a handful of steps Connor moved to stand next to his father and said. "You are absolutely right. We keep the sign up."

Compel on my Pissed Off consequence?

[Steel Mirror]

Taking a handful of steps Connor moved to stand next to his father and said. "You are absolutely right. We keep the sign up."


"Umm, well, no," says Detective Young in a small voice. "That's not really the kind of thing you were supposed to say."

[Sanguine]

Connor looks Detective Young squarely in the eyes and says in a calm steady voice. "Chris, I don't expect you to understand why this is important to my family. There's no way that you could. But I do expect you to respect the fact that it is. We won't take this lying down. We can't. So here are your options, you can cuff me and my father here and drag us off to the precinct, or you can leave well enough alone and let the sign stay until there is an official complaint. It's your choice."

[Steel Mirror]

"Chris, I don't expect you to understand why this is important to my family. There's no way that you could. But I do expect you to respect the fact that it is. We won't take this lying down. We can't. So here are your options, you can cuff me and my father here and drag us off to the precinct, or you can leave well enough alone and let the sign stay until there is an official complaint. It's your choice."

"Look, O'Reilly. I get that this is a statement. I even get that your old man doesn't mean this as racist, that he is lashing back at the bastards who did this to him." He is pleading now. "But we are under strict orders not to reveal the contents of that note to the public. The mayor doesn't want a race riot on her hands, and I don't want to have to haul off the proprietor of the place that was shot up last night and his son the cop hero who fought off the gangsters that did it."

"City Hall is the rock," he says, balling a fist. "You are the hard place," he clenches the other. "And you've got my balls in a tender spot between them." He bashes his fists together. "Tell me there is some way that you guys can make your statement without Seattle hosting the next Rodney King riots."

Connor likes the kid, and the young detective already owes Connor a favor. It never hurts to be owed another solid; you never know when you might need to collect. But this is both a personal and a family issue. Is there any way to meet him halfway, or will he be forced to a path that leads to a place neither of them wants?

[Sanguine]

Connor's stomach twists at Detective Young's words. Young was a good person, he didn't deserve to be caught in the crossfire. Nor did all the other innocent people who would get hurt if this did explode into a genuine race riot.

"Dad, Detective Young has a point. If we go about it like this, chances are a lot of decent people are gonna get caught in the crossfire. Maybe there is some way we can make are statement that won't send half of Seattle into a frothing rage. Maybe some variation on our standard "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" banner?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Dad, Detective Young has a point. If we go about it like this, chances are a lot of decent people are gonna get caught in the crossfire. Maybe there is some way we can make are statement that won't send half of Seattle into a frothing rage. Maybe some variation on our standard "Let Your Freak Flag Fly" banner?"

"I'm not going to be intimidated by anyone, thugs, cops, or mobs," says Patrick. Connor know that he doesn't really want anything like that to happen, he's just too mule-headed to admit it in a situation like this. He needs to figure out some way that they can come to an arrangement that makes it seem like his father has won, but doesn't involve that sign being put up.

Young seems to want to press his advantage. "Something like that would be fine, a message against violence and intolerance in general. Something that doesn't insult half of Seattle at the same time, preferably."
Since this is a fairly subtle line of attack, Connor can roll Empathy to get his dad to decide to use another sign to send his message, but while believing he has "won" the argument.

His dad is extremely stubborn, though, and Young flapping his gums doesn't necessarily help get him in the compromising mood!

If Connor "takes out" his father in this conflict, he wins. If his dad manages to take out both Connor and Young first, though, it might mean a trip down to the station!

Patrick's social defense:
[roll0]+4=

[Steel Mirror]

"Why are you hassling me when you should be out there catching the people who planned this murder instead? Or do you think that would make a good headline: 'Seattle Police arrest victims of shooting for speaking out against violence while perpetrators remain unknown'?"

Patrick avoided Connor's attempted social attack, and is now striking at Young.
Patrick's attack:
[roll0]+2= 4

Young's defense:
[roll1]+3= 2

Young sighs. "If you won't listen to me, listen to your son. He's right about being able to make a stand without making things worse."

Young tries to place the aspect "Voice of reason" on Connor for tagging.
[roll2]+3= 4

Current Status:
Patrick: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Young: [ ] [X] [ ] [ ]

"Voice of Reason" to tag

Now it's Connor's turn!

[Sanguine]

"Dad, I'm on your side. I want to make a stand against these people just as much as you do. I want to scream my defiance into their faces. But this isn't the way to go about it. If we leave up this sign it's just going to lead to more hatred and violence, and when that happens they will have won, just as surely as if we had packed up and left. What we need to do is stand tall as bastions against intolerance and hatred, not spread more of it." Connor pulls Chêne in front of him and continues. "Besides, little kids come through this neighborhood on a daily basis. Do you want to be the one to teach them these hateful words?"


Okay tagging "Voice of Reason" and if I need to invoking "My Loyal Vassal: Chêne, the Soundless Wind"

[roll0]+3+2 for Aspect=8

[Steel Mirror]

Connor pulls Chêne in front of him and continues. "Little kids come through this neighborhood on a daily basis, do you want to be the one to teach them these hateful words?"


Chêne looks curiously from Connor to Patrick, waves a little toddler wave at the older man, and smiles a gap-toothed smile. "Hey, Master, what does ******* mean?"

Connor isn't sure if the little guy is acting to help out, or really just interested in an answer. An awkward silence stretches between the three men, with the little child/lutin grinning widely and obliviously.

Chêne maneuvers to add on the Aspect "From the mouths of Babes", which, if successful, will be immediately tagged by Connor.
[roll0]+3= 5 (success)

So that is a strength 10(!) social attack against Patrick.

Patrick rolls defense:
[roll1]+4= 3

Wowzers.

The awkward moment ends when Patrick laughs a hearty, self-deprecating laugh. He's always had a good laugh, infectious and un-self conscious. Pretty soon even Young is cracking a smile, and Chêne even joins in with a delighted giggle.

"Oh . . . oh," Patrick says as he tries to catch his breath. "From the mouths of babes . . ." He wipes a tear from his face and smiles up at both Connor and Young. "All right then, ye guys win. I'll get all of Seattle in here tonight to fly our freak flags high, and tell anyone out there just how we respond to hate around here!"

[Sanguine]

Connor can't help but reciprocate his father's laughter. His laughter a mirthful mix of relief and amusement over the cheap trick he had just played. Playing with the lutin's hair Connor smiles at his dad and says. "Would you mind taking little Chêne here inside and getting him something to eat while I talk with Detective Young about the case? No salt though, he's allergic."

[Steel Mirror]

"Would you mind taking little Chêne here inside and getting him something to eat while I talk with Detective Young about the case? No salt though, he's allergic."

Patrick grabs the little lutin by the shoulder and leads him over to the kitchens, still chuckling. On the way he calls for some of the lads to pull out the Thursday night banners and get ready to do some alterations.

"Thanks, O'Reilly. I know I was talking hardball to your dad earlier, but it would be just as bad for me if I really had to take him in. Flippin' nightmare."

He frowns. "That just about sums up this case, actually. A nightmare. I've had my boys working it all night, and we've got a few leads. But it just keeps looking uglier and uglier."

He hands over a file surreptitiously, making sure that nobody from outside can see them. "You ever heard of a group of whackos call themselves the Knights of Laconia? Well they fit the racist bill pretty well, and we did a quick check of their finances and associates. Turns out they've been doing a little outreach among the Native American populaiton in town, trying to turn whites and Indians against the other minorities in the city. Nothing violent that we can prove, yet, but it's pretty suspicious timing." Connor flips through a few photos showing young men and women talking with an imposing white guy with short hair and a messed up left ear.

"The money that was found in the car was almost 10K in sequential bills. We checked, and it turns out that the Knights withdrew 15,000 bucks in cash, all sequential bills, yesterday morning from their suspiciously well-stocked bank account. We don't have the numbers, unfortunately, so we can't trace them back, and it's beyond circumstantial so we won't get a court order to dig any deeper. But it's painting an ugly picture all right."

"All the guns were reported stolen or missing within the last year, from various parts of the state. Trail stops cold; none of the usual gun fences check out. We're still working that end of the case."

"And one last thing. As if it weren't looking shady enough for these Knight guys already, last night the Harbormaster at Harbor Island calls in multiple gunshots from somewhere in the dockyard. Officers respond and find a bunch of guys beat up pretty good, saying they had some kind of disagreement and it got physical. No charges have been filed. Most of them were dockworkers, and all of them are known or suspected members of the Knights. Around the same time, there was a break-in at their HQ in Chinatown. We got this image off a security camera just before of someone trying to get in the front door." This time Connor looks at a blurry image of a thin person with mid-length black hair pushing against the locked door. There isn't enough detail to make out a gender, much less a positive ID. "One guy got beat up, private security provided a description of a young man about 5'7" to 5'10" and black hair."

"I'll be damned if I know what is going on, but everything keeps leading back to the Knights here, even if I don't have anything solid." He reaches out and shakes Connor's hand. "Now I've got to get back to work. I owed you one from that thing with the guy, now I paid that back and I owe you one for today. I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Connor shakes his hand and tries to think if he has any questions for the detective before he leaves. He knows one thing at least. The pictures might be too grainy and dark for a good ID, but he recognizes the outfit and the hairstyle, and there is only one person who would take it on themselves to do some snooping around on a possible threat against Chinatown.

Time to give young Zhao Yin a call, to compare notes. They both have a reason to care about this case, people close to them who could have been hurt. And she can take care of herself. As long as he is off duty, it might be good to have an off-the-record partner.

And those guns: while he is sure Young ran down all the likely suspects in the city and came up with nothing, there are a few people under the city who might have been responsible for the sale of a few firearms of questionable origin to someone of less than savory intentions. He has a lead to follow that the regular police could never understand: just his kind of job.

[Sanguine]

As Detective Young leaves Connor considers calling Zhao Yin, but a quick look at his watch showed that the scrappy little defender of Chinatown would be in classes at the moment. So with a tired little shrug Connor decided to do something that made him just the tiniest bit guilty. He took a nap.

Connor woke up refreshed and ready to kick some racist butt. So after a brief delay to make sure Chêne would stay put with his dad and keep out of trouble Connor set out for the Dancing Dragon. With only a brief detour to pick up another box of donuts.

[Steel Mirror]

Connor makes his way into the Dancing Dragon, where the scent of dumplings and stir-fried vegetables fills the air. There is a bit of a wait for a table, as lunch-time dim sum at the Dancing Dragon is a favorite destination for office workers from Chinatown to Downtown.

He walks in through the happily chatting crowd. A young man is calling out numbers in Chinese as tables become available, but he heads to the back to get the owner when Connor flashes his badge.

Zhao Bae, owner of the Dancing Dragon, comes out to greet him. She escorts him to one of the private rooms in back and offers him some tea. "I hope that my daughter's overreaction won't be a great problem, Detective. Kara assured me that the young man in question is not interested in filing charges."

[Sanguine]

Connor gratefully accepts his tea and arches his eyebrow questioningly as he takes a careful sip. "And which young man would that be?"

[Steel Mirror]

"And which young man would that be?"
"Oh dear. Are there more than one? I had thought that she simply attacked the young man in concern for Kara, thinking that perhaps he was one of the thugs that she fought with last night. I haven't heard from her since."

[Sanguine]

Connor can't help but smile as the conversation spirals entirely out of his control. Giving a self-deprecating shrug the Detective sips his tea and says. "I'm afraid you've lost me."

[Steel Mirror]

Connor can't help but smile as the conversation spirals entirely out of his control. Giving a self-deprecating shrug the Detective sips his tea and says. "I'm afraid you've lost me."

She raises her eyebrow, then frowns. "Ah. I take it that you are here on business other than my daughter's incident this afternoon at the University. I am sorry."

"Perhaps we shall start again. Good afternoon, Detective. How may I help you?"

[Sanguine]

"Sound good to me." Bowing his head respectfully Connor says. "And a good afternoon to you too Mrs. Zhao. I'm here to speak with your daughter about the events of last night. Though it seems she isn't home yet. Would it be alright with you if I waited here for her?

[Steel Mirror]

"Sound good to me." Bowing his head respectfully Connor says. "And a good afternoon to you too Mrs. Zhao. I'm here to speak with your daughter about the events of last night. Though it seems she isn't home yet. Would it be alright with you if I waited here for her?

"May I ask if you are here as a detective, or," and she glances at Connor's silver arm, covered by a glove. "Are you here in a different capacity?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin eventually found her way to the Dancing Dragon, ending in and taking a look around before asking one of the employees where her mother was. From there, it was a simple task to head to the private rooms. Peeking her head in and seeing Detective O'Reilly there as well. The holy warrior of Chinatown let out a sullen sigh, "So.. how much trouble am I in? Am I going to be arrested? 'Cause I'm not in the mood for that today."

[Sanguine]

Connor took a long sip of his tea as he considered how to respond. Placing the tea down Connor turns to Yin a cold fury burning in his eyes. "I'm not here as a detective. I'm here because a group of intolerant bigots attacked my home. They violated a place of peace and safety and nearly killed everyone I care about. These hateful bastards are going to pay for what they did last night. I am going to make sure of it. And I want your help."

[AvianMalkavian]

"Oh. Well.. this might not be the best time. I'm kind of.. going through some things. Viciously beating up innocent guys, realizing I enjoy hurting people, stuff like that," She glanced over at her mother briefly, frowning even more if it were possible, "Also, if you're talking about those KoL guys? I beat up a bunch of them. They didn't know about the drive by on O'Reilly's."

[Sanguine]

Connor stares at Zhao Yin, something very near contempt in his eyes and his voice, and not a little bit of shock as well, as he responds. "So you are just giving up? Whether or not it's the Knights of Laconia, there is a murderous psychopath on the loose going around killing people because they are different than him. And you aren't gonna do anything about it because you're too busy throwing yourself a pity party?" Turning away in disgust Connor heads for the exit and says. "I thought you were better than this Zhao Yin."

[AvianMalkavian]

For most of the day, Yin had been feeling like crap, had been feeling useless, even broken. However, as Connor began to walk away, another emotion decided to drop by: anger. "You ginger *******! How dare you talk to me like that!"

With a surprisingly loud roar coming from someone her size, she turned all of her self loathing and pointed it in the wrong direction, "Let's ****ing go, Robocop!"

[Sanguine]

A small smile creeps up on Connor's face as Zhao Yin dashes after him spewing profanities. That was more like it. "If you're coming hurry it up! We've gotta go see a guy about a gun."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin was pulling back to throw a punch and then, "... uh.. huhwha?"

Her arm fell back to her side and she grumbled as she followed after him, "I'd hit you, but then I wouldn't be able to go to the pub and.. look at good foot that I can't eat.. Why didn't I hit you?"

[Sanguine]

Connor turns to Yin showing her his smile and than says teasingly. "Why, my sparkling personality of course." Giving Yin a wink Connor jauntily strolled through the door.

[Steel Mirror]

As Connor opens the door, he sees a blur of red hair and Kara almost plows into him head-on. Struggling to catch her breath, she clutches his forearm and looks pleadingly into his eyes.

"I swear, officer, it was just a misunderstanding! She thought she was saving me from being kidnapped! I'm the one who beat that boy up! THE BARRISTAS AT STARBUCKS ARE TELLING DIRTY LIES!"

[AvianMalkavian]

"Sparkling like Crystal Pepsi, maybe," She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the wink, but they quickly focused back on what was going on ahead of her when Kara showed up to embarrass her again. Yin sighed, moving over and pulling her friend off of Connor and giving her a hug.

"Kara, its okay. He's not here to arrest me. Just.. you know.. supe stuff."

[Sanguine]

Connor smiles at Kara and pulls a heroic pose saying. "Yep, just call me Tuathaman! Unfortunately my sidekick Elfboy is back at the pub."

[Steel Mirror]

"Kara, its okay. He's not here to arrest me. Just.. you know.. supe stuff."

"Yep, just call me Tuathaman! Unfortunately my sidekick Elfboy is back at the pub."

"Oh. Ok then." She straightens and steps aside, looking curiously at Connor, but biting back the question that is clearly on her mind. "I won't keep you guys then."

"Indeed not. Detective, Yin. I wish you good fortune. Should you need a place to retreat and recuperate, my restaurant is always open to friends of my family." Yin's mother gives her a look that, to any observer, appears to be merely distant, perhaps tinged with dismissal. Yin knows her well enough to see a shade of concern as well, and a challenge to live up to her family's name, whatever she is doing, and make her ancestors (and her father) proud.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin rolled her eyes again at Connor, shaking her head before looking to Kara, "You people sit tight, hold the fort, and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn... call the president."

[Steel Mirror]

The safest place to enter Undertown is O'Reilly's, but the reporters are still going to be there. Connor feels a flash of real anger that those jackals have managed to turn what is essentially his home into a place that he has to avoid to keep a low profile. He hopes that his father is all right and the repairs are done in time for Happy Hour.

Instead, the two investigators go to an entrance to Undertown that Yin knows about, in the cellar of the Uwajimaya Asian grocery store. Connor offers to drive, but Yin tells him that its only a few blocks away, and shoulders her backpack.

It's in probably the nicest part of Chinatown, and so a part that Yin feels the need to patrol rather infrequently. The streets are wide and clean, the businesses new and tidy. The store itself is brightly lit and almost fastidiously clean. Connor gets the feeling that he could eat off the floors with more confidence than he could some of the plates in his own apartment.

They walk back to the butcher's department, then wait for a moment when nobody is looking. Quickly, but smoothly lest they draw unwanted attention, they seize the chance to walk back into the big walk-in refrigerators when everyone is looking away.

It's frigid in the tiny room, with icy buildup around the vents that exchange air from the inside of the fridge to the outside. Huge sides of meat and deadeyed fish hang from hooks all around, and one wall is stacked to the ceiling with vacuum sealed packs of tripe, fishballs, and dozens of other meat products. Fortunately, with the chill in the air, there is no smell. Or maybe if there is, the cold intimidates the nose into not reporting it.

Yin breathes on her hands and pulls her sleeves out to cover them up, then presses hard against one of the meat hooks on the back wall. For a moment nothing happens, then it swings slowly backward with the sound of nails screeching on a chalkboard. "Damn, this thing is never any easier," she mutters. "It's always refreezing."

The path revealed belong plunges quickly into pitch darkness, with the suggestion of flickering warm light at the end of a long, narrow descent.

They make it down without trouble, taking their time and struggling only to close the door behind them as they go. The air underground is a little warmer than it was in the fridge, but still cool. As they get closer to the lantern light, they begin to hear the sounds of the market.

Emerging from the darkness into dim light, the sights and sounds of the Undertown meet them in full. Nearby an unwashed troll whose skin looks to made of equal parts garbage and oil slicks barters with a figure so swaddled in rags and Salvation Army clothing rejects that it's not clear if it is even humanoid. Down the narrow passage they find themselves in, probably a city sidewalk once upon a time, a trio of spindly thin figures about 5 feet tall walk purposely towards, then past, Connor and Yin. They look human, except for their utter lack of any facial features whatsoever. They gesticulate to each other as though involved in conversation, though it's debatable how they produce or hear such a conversation with faces that are only blank, pale skin.

The light is coming from a combination of old-fashioned gas lamps installed irregularly around the Undertown, plus a will'o'the'wisp which is being followed by a thoroughly confused looking toad-like character. Somebody really should tell him that wisps make the world's worst tour guides, no matter how reasonable their rates.

A group of stalls and merchants are showing their wares on any surface available, making it difficult to move around. Food, trinkets, old keys, wicker cages, sparkling vials, bowls carved from bone, mean-looking spikes, ears cut surgically from all species of animal (including human) - the variety of wares available for purchase down here is simply staggering, and could take up hours of incredulous perusal.

And this is only a narrow offshoot of the market, and during off hours to boot. The real show happens at night under Pioneer square.

But the two aren't here to shop, and they pause to try and get their bearings. For all its splendor and wonder, Undertown can be deadly. Nobody really knows everything about it, and it is said that the less traveled corridors and rooms constantly shift and mutate while nobody is watching. The characters they are looking for - two goblins named Bargher and Monty, are arms dealers who have reason to want to avoid attention from a cop and a demon hunter. Arms dealers of any kind can be dangerous, supernatural arms dealers doubly so.

[Steel Mirror]

Connor spots a familiar face a few corridors over from the entrance.

"Honorable Hand of the Tuatha De Dannan, we welcome you, yes." Tatterkell is an Alp-luachra, a greedy fae that is known for stealing nourishment and vitality from mortals. Here in the Undertown, he chooses to trade for what his ancestors used to steal. His stall sells mostly fruit from the NeverNever. You can get pretty much any fruit there is, freshly picked and even out of season, as long as you are willing to take the risk that you'll fall asleep for a year and a day when you eat it, or the seeds of your watermelon will turn out to be eggs for some kind of terrible centipede creature that will burrow its way out of your eye sockets and seek out fresh meat to lay yet more eggs.

You know. For example.

Anyway, he usually knows more than most about what there is to be found in Undertown, and where to go to get it.

"Yes . . . Monty. Bargher. We know these creatures. But we don't run a charity. This information comes at a price. You smell good. Trade a year of your youth to us? Surely it is no burden to a creature of such long life as yourself?"

[Sanguine]

A year, a year was a lot. Even with Connor's centuries long lifespan it was time he would never get back. But to bring down the people responsible for the attack, it was a price he would gladly pay. Of course he might not have to.

Connor's first thought is money. But money was a little sparse at the moment, he could barely afford to keep his car stocked with donuts. And Tatterkell's services were never cheap.

So then it would have to be something more ephemeral.

"Hmmm, I've never liked dealing in life. Never really know how much it's worth. So how about instead we work with a currency we can both appreciate: Favors."

[Steel Mirror]

"Hmmm, I've never liked dealing in life. Never really know how much it's worth. So how about instead we work with a currency we can both appreciate: Favors."

"Favors implies future dealings. We prefer to collect debts now. Not leave balances outstanding on our ledger. Never know when mortals will die and leave accounts unsettled." Fae tend to take the long view on things, including barter.

"Unless you mean there is some favor you can do for us now? We can always use competent services."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin quietly watched the exchange between Connor and the little shen. She hadn't originally planned to involve herself in whatever deal Connor was trying to hash out, but if it helped to speed things along, she would do what was necessary. Moving closer, she looked over at her silver-armed partner, "How about this? We can both give him six months? I'd rather not involve myself in some.. unseemly Undertown business if I don't have to. Besides, I stay on my diet and I should live for, uh.." Briefly counting her fingers, "..several hundred years."

[Steel Mirror]

"How about this? We can both give him six months? I'd rather not involve myself in some.. unseemly Undertown business if I don't have to. Besides, I stay on my diet and I should live for, uh.." Briefly counting her fingers, "..several hundred years."

The wildfae's eyes glitter as he overhears this offer. "This is acceptable to us, as well," he murmurs excitedly.

[Sanguine]

Connor considered Yin's compromise for a time before saying. "Hmm, I don't know. A year still seems like an awful lot to pay him for such a trifle. How about three months from each of us? That seems more reasonable."

[Steel Mirror]

Connor considered Yin's compromise for a time before saying. "Hmm, I don't know. A year still seems like an awful lot to pay him for such a trifle. How about three months from each of us? That seems more reasonable."

The clean-cut man considers the offer for a moment, then agrees. The fact that he did so without trying to haggle even more means that the two are probably still overpaying, but they are in a hurry and need to get to those goblins as soon as possible, before they decide to change locations yet again.

"If you could simply give your mark on these bills of sale," the fae continues, retrieving two pieces of parchment and a small pen knife from somewhere under his counter, "then we will give you the information forthwith."

The contracts are standard Undertown affairs, no tricks that Connor or Yin can spot. All they need to do is seal the deal with a daub of blood.

[Sanguine]

Picking up the pen knife with his right hand Connor gently presses the tip into the soft flesh of his left thumb. Wincing slightly as a bright red droplet of blood bleeds out of the tiny wound Connor presses his thumb upon the contract, signing it in blood.

[AvianMalkavian]

While her partner is 'signing' his contract, Yin looks hers over carefully, just trying to make sure that there aren't any loopholes to exploit. When Connor is done, she takes the pen knife and does the same, pricking her thumb and then pressing it onto the paper, "There. Done. Now give us the info."

[Steel Mirror]

"Down the corridor where old Skid Road branches off from the lutier's shop. Follow the drainage ditch ninety paces on, then turn back thirteen paces. It's a dirty stinkhole, your nose will find the entrance even if your eyes do not."

Armed with her flashlight, Yin and Connor forge ahead, following his instructions to the letter. They might not make much sense in a linear, mortal world sense, but down here there aren't any GPS's and there isn't any google maps. If he says to walk forward and then turn right around and walk backwards, then that's what they should do.

Hopefully the way back is simply to reverse their course. Oh well. They can burn that bridge when they come to it.

They quickly leave behind the busy parts of Undertown and venture into the darker, more dangerous area. Things skitter in the darkness beyond the reach of the flashlight, and at one point they feel breathing down the backs of their necks - but nothing is there when they turn to look.

They make it to the place in question without any overt challenges, though. Tatterkell was right. It does stink. There isn't any opening in sight, though. Just a long, straight corridor, with detritus from a century of runoff from the city above overflowing a shallow ditch dug in the center of the floor. The walls are slimy brick, and the ceiling an arched masonry buttress with steel girders spanning the roof above.

[Steel Mirror]

Yin sniffs the air, trying to follow her nose like the fruit fairy told them to. It smells. She smells. This place is full of rotting garbage and mold, how is it supposed to smell?

"Yeah, lets just find the foul smell among all the other horrible smells. Who am I? Toucan Sam?" Kara would love to be here right now. Behold the glamour of being a superhero.


"Take a look at that," Connor answers, pointing at a patch of ground nearby. The wall next to it is every bit as slimy and disgusting as anywhere else, but the area where the wall meets the floor is bereft of slime and trickling water, for some reason. Everywhere else is slimy and moist as it gets. "I'll bet . . ." he trails off and finds a stick nearby, and lobs it at the wall. He is glad he is wearing a glove, right now, protects him from the filth-encrusted branch.

The stick passes straight through the glamour. There is the entrance, then. Nothing for it but to go through.

The moment the flashlight passes the illusory barrier, it dies. The two are left on the other side of the false wall in pitch darkness, not sure of the kind of space they have come into. The only thing they can tell about it is that, somehow, it smells even worse than anywhere else they've been in Undertown. It smells so bad that Yin makes the mistake of breathing through her mouth to try to avoid getting a whiff. Great, now she can taste it.

"Nobody's here, go away," says a thick-sounding voice from the darkness.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin nearly gags when she gets a taste of the rancid air, covering her mouth and groaning. She had saved the city.. twice! Would it have been so hard to just get a free pass when it came to having to go into sewer cities, "Gods, I hate this job. I really, really, really do."

At the voice, she turned towards the source, getting ready to fight if necessary, "Yeah? Well if nobody's here than who said that?"

[Steel Mirror]

At the voice, she turned towards the source, getting ready to fight if necessary, "Yeah? Well if nobody's here than who said that?"

"Not . . . um. Oh. You uh." The source of the voice is unclear, it seems to resonate around the room in an odd way, preventing either person from localizing its origin. It's deep and strong, but sounds confused. "Could you go away anyway? We aren't supposed to be open right now."

[Steel Mirror]

In the darkness, Connor and Yin weigh their options. A direct verbal confrontation could be rough, and a direct physical confrontation would be very rough. The voice in the darkness, if it is one of the goblins they are looking for, holds every advantage. Goblins are born to darkness and shun the light. Engaging one without the ability to see it is not a good plan.

On the other hand, from the sound of the voice, its owner might not be the shiniest turnip on the cart. Trickery may succeed where argument would be unwise.

Meanwhile, at the Native American Cultural Center.

Victor and Andrew decide to see who is in before they decide who to talk to. They walk through the lobby and past the public meeting areas and the small heritage museum, to the back of the building where the offices are. They find a small waiting room with sofas and chairs, a table with hot coffee and tea in big dispensers, and a young woman answering a phone behind a professional desk.

"Yes, Chief Whitebear will be honored to accept your hospitality. The Duwamish tribe is a long time supporter of the zoo, in particular the Pacific Northwest habitat enclosure which preserves pieces of our wild heritage for modern generations."

Her eyes widen when she sees the two enter the door. Conflicting emotions share space on her face: respect and deference when she looks at Victor, anger and a bit of fear when she sees Andrew.

"Please excuse me for a moment, I have an emergency I need to deal with." She pushes a button to put the phone on hold, then walks around the desk to greet the visitors in person. Instead of shaking hands, though, she does a complex bow almost like a curtsy that takes her all the way to the ground. She stays in that position. "What can we do for you, Emissary? Chief Whitebear is on Blake Island, but Mr Ashleaf is taking his morning stroll through the park. I could take you to him, if you like."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin looked about in the darkness, beginning to get a bit.. annoyed with the fact that she couldn't quite pinpoint where the one talking was at. Still, she knew that until she did, she'd have to play along with the whole thing, "So, we.. heard around that you guys sell weapons down here."

[Bunny of Faith]

Andrew frowns at the girl, the recognition on her face clear, even if he only vaguely recognises her himself. Not counting what had happened outside, Victor was at least somewhat useful in keeping the Duwamish from reacting too badly upon seeing him. He waits a moment for his companion to speak, and hearing nothing he addresses the girl.

"An emergency? That's pushing it a little, don't you think? I mean, if I was here to cause trouble then I wouldn't have come through the front door, and I wouldn't have come with the Emissary of the Lady of the Rains of all people, now would I? Just take us to Stuart, and if there were any problems I could cause then he'd be able to deal with them much better than you can." He sigh, then adds, "Or get back to what you were doing, I know where he'll be by this point anyway. Whichever."

[Steel Mirror]

"So, we.. heard around that you guys sell weapons down here."

"Uh, regular hours are from sunset to sunrise. My brother doesn't like waking up during the day, so we're closed right now."

[Steel Mirror]

"Or get back to what you were doing, I know where he'll be by this point anyway. Whichever."

The young woman's eyes dart between the two men. "I . . . ok then. I'll send him a text message so that he knows to expect you." She retreats meekly to the desk and sends a quick text message, before getting back on the phone and continuing her conversation, with occasional nervous glances back at Andrew.

The path through the park is unchanged from the last time Andrew was here. Seattle doesn't have much of a winter, it rarely snows and is almost always overcast no matter what time of year, so one season is much like the next, and all of them are dark and wet. Still, winter is usually a time of dormancy and calm in the natural world. Walking through a Washington forest in the winter, you get a sense that the world is sleeping, and gathering strength for the busy spring.

Here in Discovery Park, however, the plants don't seem to be asleep at all. Green newgrowth tips the ends of branches and pokes up through the dirt everywhere. squirrels and birds are moving around, and a few tiny wildflowers are even visible next to the trail. Despite being in the middle of the city and on the abandoned grounds of a military base, it really feels like the two are alone in the woods only a few minutes after they set out on the dirt path to find the Duwamish Medecine Man.

They find him next to a small pond, off the trail about a hundred feet. He shows no sign of noticing their approach, choosing instead to spend his attention on something at the water's edge. As they get closer, they see he is feeding ducks with chunks torn off a loaf of bread.

"They say that you shouldn't feed them, that it makes them dependent and they forget how to be wild. Maybe it's true, but they love it so much that I never can resist giving them a little treat. Especially the little ones." You notice after he speaks that there are, in fact, young ducklings in the pond, swimming like mad among their adult brethren in a desperate attempt to get their share of the breadcrumbs. One climbs on the head of his brother or sister and tries to launch himself at a morsel, only to dunk both of the fuzzy little birds headfirst in the water. Around the edges of the feeding frenzy, half a dozen or so ducks with boring brown plumage, presumably the mothers, quack loudly as if trying to get their unruly children to behave. To no avail, of course.

It isn't quite season for young ducks, being deep winter still, but these animals don't seem to have gotten the memo. Maybe with the old man's help they'll survive, anyway.

"If you came here to feed the ducks, too, you'll have to get your own bread."

[Sanguine]

Connor "watched" the conversation between Zhao Yin and the goblin in silence. Trying to get a read on the goblin before he said anything. Not being able to see the goblin did admittedly make it slightly difficult. "Of course, of course, how rude of us. But if you don't mind perhaps we could ask you a few questions. Just to make sure that you and your brother are the people we need."

Using Empathy to make an Assessment on the Goblin.

[roll0]+3=3

[Steel Mirror]

"Of course, of course, how rude of us. But if you don't mind perhaps we could ask you a few questions. Just to make sure that you and your brother are the people we need."

Using Empathy to make an Assessment on the Goblin.

[roll0]+3=3

The owner of the voice is barely better than an answering machine, clearly just repeating what he's been told by someone. Presumably this brother he mentioned. That is probably who Connor wants to talk to.

"I don't know about questions. I'd have to check and see if we answer questions when we aren't open."

If they could present him with something that he decides his brother needs to be awoken to address, they might be able to get somewhere.

[Bunny of Faith]

"Introduce them to some Fae, then it won't matter how dependant they were on you - they'll be wild again soon enough." He laughs bitterly, only giving the ducklings the briefest of glances before stepping closer to the old man.

"We didn't come to feed the ducks, or at least I didn't. I can try to explain to you what happened in the past, but the Emissary and I have a few questions we'd like to ask which are slightly more urgent than that." Andrew frowns, his mind a jumble of emotions - happiness at seeing his old mentor, shame for running off without even considering if he would have understood what had happened, and the urge to get the information and then run off once more.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin takes a moment to think about it, glancing over at Connor, or at least where she thought he was. It was like a lightbulb lit up above her head, an idea coming to her, and rather than consider whether or not it was actually a good one, she just went with it, reaching out for her partner and taking his arm, "Say, what could you tell us about this big honkin' silver arm?"

[Sanguine]

Connor is visibly taken aback when Yin grabs onto him. But deciding that his partner probably knows what she's doing he settles his expression to a calm mask and shuts his mouth waiting for the goblin to respond; and silently praying that Zhao Yin really does have a plan.

[Steel Mirror]

"Say, what could you tell us about this big honkin' silver arm?"

There is a shuffling sound, and when the voice is heard again it definitely sounds a lot closer. "Oooooh. Pretty. Maybe my brother would like to pay you for it. Magic arms are worth . . . some stuff, these days."

The shuffling repeats, and there is a crashing and the sound of something heavy being pushed across the floor. There is a guttural barking, that sounds like it's coming from an adjacent room or from beneath a muffling blanket. It sounds like two or more individuals are making the noises, but it's hard to be certain.

A few moments of silence, maybe punctuated by some rustling.

Then a dim light flares up, no brighter than a kindling match but made brilliant by its sudden appearance in the impenetrable gloom. Yin and Connor quickly adjust to the unexpected illumination, to see a lumpy, unbalanced-looking humanoid inspecting Connor's arm from only a few inches away. The light is coming from another old-fashioned gas lantern that he is holding in one hand. His face is a mass of ugly growths and strange discolorations, with a horizontal gash for a mouth which is filled with uneven points for teeth. He is about five feet tall and pudgy, he doesn't look like he'd be much in a fight. Behind him is a similarly ugly individual, somehow cast from a similar mold despite resembling his brother only in his striking ugliness. He is better than six and a half feet tall, and almost as wide. It's a good thing they didn't start a fight with him in the dark.

"A very unusual piece," he mutters. His voice is raspy and enunciated, in contrast with his brother's deep, dull words. "Are you looking for trade or cash? I know a great many men who would kill for an arm such as this. I can give you an excellent price."

[Steel Mirror]

"We didn't come to feed the ducks, or at least I didn't. I can try to explain to you what happened in the past, but the Emissary and I have a few questions we'd like to ask which are slightly more urgent than that."

He sighs and throws out another handful of crumbs. "I wish I could say it is good to see you again, apprentice, but the first virtue is truth, and the truth is that there are a great many questions that the tribe has about you and your conduct. Winter may shield you from the charges that caused you to flee our company, but it can't prevent you from being brought to the Shadow Court if you abuse your power in the future - or have done so since your return to Seattle."

He shakes his head. "But you are correct. We have more pressing concerns. I have been told that the pack smelled a wolf in the car that carried out the drive-by shooting. Since I can guarantee that none of those troubled young men were a part of our pack, it must be that the rumors about skin-walkers were, at least in part, the truth. I assume you have come here to talk about this?"

[Sanguine]

Connor was more than slightly off put by the tiny goblins intense examination of his arm. He rarely ever let anyone see it; and now someone was poking, and prodding it and coming up with a price tag. It was deeply unsettling. "Actually we were hoping to acquire some information."

[Steel Mirror]

"Actually we were hoping to acquire some information."

"Ah, a discerning customer." The goblin's eyes glitter. "Information is the most universal currency. I know a great many secret things, a great many facts forgotten by the world above and the newcomers here in the city below. Or perhaps you are searching for something more contemporary? My business makes me privy to a great many secrets that their owners would rather keep unknown. But they aren't always forward looking enough to secure my silence with a bargain." He doesn't stop his examination of Connor's arm while he speaks, staring greedily at it even after Connor withdraws it to be closer to his body.

[Sanguine]

Suppressing a shiver Connor says. "Let's start with something small. Just to see how in the know you really are. Do you know who supplied the weapons for the attack on O'Reilly's last night?

[Steel Mirror]

"Let's start with something small. Just to see how in the know you really are. Do you know who supplied the weapons for the attack on O'Reilly's last night?

The goblin finally takes his attention off the arm and looks into Connor's gaze. "The answer to that question is itself of value. Shall we trade questions, then? One answered true from you, to a question of your choice, for my true answer?"

[Sanguine]

Connor smiles, he might just get out of here without selling his arm or starting a fight. "Sounds fair to me."

[Steel Mirror]

"Sounds fair to me."

"Then the answer to your question is: yes. I know who bought those weapons." The goblin smiles wickedly. Connor gets the sense that most of his smiles are wicked, and made at the expense of someone who he has gotten the better of. He has technically answered the question; Connor will clearly have to be very careful about the precise wording of any agreements he makes with this creature.

"Now for my question. Is that, in fact, the arm of Nuada of the Tuatha De Dannan?"

[Sanguine]

Connor's smile turns itself upside down at the goblin's response, and the frown deepens at his question. "That question is hardly of equal value. But a deal is a deal. My answer is thus: Unless the people who gave it to me are liars. How about another round? Who acquired the weapons for the attack on the pub?"

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin quietly watches the exchange between the goblinoid creature and Connor, crossing her arms. She makes an effort to keep an eye on the big brother, just in case this all goes south and she has to start punching people in the face a lot.

[Steel Mirror]

"How about another round? Who acquired the weapons for the attack on the pub?"

"A more sensitive query, and one for which I must insist on a few precautions. You must not reveal that I traded you this information. You may do with it as you please, of course, it is your business and none of mine. But it may damage my business if it becomes known that I have shared such privileged knowledge with law enforcement."
Yin has established the fragile aspect "On Her Toes", which may be tagged if things go sour and the big brother starts some trouble.

[Sanguine]

Connor nods and says. "You have my word. I will tell no one that you gave me this information."

[Steel Mirror]

"You have my word. I will tell no one that you gave me this information."

"I can't tell you the name of the boy who bought these weapons, because he never told me and I never asked. He was human, mostly, though he smelled of something more. Perhaps a scion or a changeling, though the power had a cold, metal, desperate tinge to it. He had not mastered it yet, and perhaps given time it will come to master him. I have seen it overpower such fragile mortals before. I know not whence it came, but it was a dangerous thing."

"He wore lose clothing and a hood that obscured his features, though I can tell he was like your companion here. Eastern. A child of one of the ancient empires. He was alone."

"I knew nothing about his intentions, of course, and meant no harm to the mortal establishment that was attacked or the poor humans who were wounded." He does not sound genuinely concerned for anyone who was injured.

"If that answer satisfies you, then here is my own question. What representatives of the Tuatha are here in the Seattle area, or the city below?"

[Sanguine]

Connor takes a moment to think. "Well there is myself obviously; I suppose Chêne counts as well now. Aside from that, they keep two minor nobles in the city at all times. And Brigid only knows how many of the Sidhe and Wee Folk in Seattle are working for the Tuatha."

[Steel Mirror]

"Well there is myself obviously; I suppose Chêne counts as well now. Aside from that, they keep two minor nobles in the city at all times. And Brigid only knows how many of the Sidhe and Wee Folk in Seattle are working for the Tuatha."

"Excellent." The goblin smirks again. "And shall we talk about your arm? There is yet more that I can tell you about what is afoot in Seattle. I have many contacts in many places. But for the most potent information, I am afraid that there is little else of interest that you can tell me . . . and I am very interested in that bauble."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin decided to finally chime in, "It'd be nice to know more about whats going on, but we're not going to give you the arm. You'll have to ask for something a little more reasonable than our body parts."

[Steel Mirror]

"It'd be nice to know more about whats going on, but we're not going to give you the arm. You'll have to ask for something a little more reasonable than our body parts."

His eyes flick towards Yin. "I see. Well then perhaps I can share a less sensitive morsel in exchange for your name, young woman? Not your true name, of course." He rubs his hands together. "Though I would be willing to give you a good bargain for part of that. Your common name."

[AvianMalkavian]

She took a moment to think about it. Her interactions with the shen had been fairly limited, but she knew that they weren't very trustworthy. They were always playing an angle. Still, just knowing her name seemed like it wouldn't be too troublesome. She hoped.

"My name is Yin."

[Steel Mirror]

"My name is Yin."

I'm assuming you were just giving her common family name, not making the effort to pronounce it as her "true" name. If you meant to do otherwise, clarify and I can change the following post accordingly.
He nods. "I see. Well this young man paid in cash, mortal currency. It isn't something I always accept, but in this case he was generous in his offer and I like to keep some mortal money on hand. He spent it freely. I still have the currency. I could show it to you, if you were to tell me the rest of your name."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin knew a slippery slope when she saw one. Of course, it didn't always stop her from sliding down them. Here, however, she was given a moment's pause, "Nah. I'm sure we can figure the rest out on our own. Probably. I'm not a detective. But I know some."

[Steel Mirror]

"I see." He is clearly disappointed. "I presume that there is nothing, then, among my physical wares that you would find useful? A sword forged in medieval France? A squad assault weapon? The blood of a wild wolf?"

[Sanguine]

Connor watched the exchange between Yin and the goblin. Connor had a suspicion about the cash that he wanted to confirm, so he was mildly annoyed when Yin refused to give the goblin her full name. "I am interested in seeing this currency. What else might you accept in exchange for letting me take a look?"

[Steel Mirror]

"I am interested in seeing this currency. What else might you accept in exchange for letting me take a look?"

"What do you have that is of value? I am always willing to talk business."

[Bunny of Faith]

"Once I'm done with all of this, I'll come back and see you again to try to explain what happened. But for now, I just need to know everything you know about skinwalkers, because that is what I've come to talk about - there was one in the car that carried out the drive-by, but there's nothing for me to go on in terms of finding out where he came from." Andrew stops for a moment, debating whether or not to go into further detail before giving a small shrug, "I was wondering if you'd found anything out about the skinwalkers in these parts, that would help bring the criminals to justice."

[Sanguine]

Connor considers the question for a long while. He was out of cash, and he didn't have any more information for the slimy little arms dealer. He could offer him a piece of his True Name, but that would be incredibly foolish to do for something as small as this. He might be able to transfer Chêne's vassalage, but he didn't want to do that. Favors were always an option, but owing a favor to a scum bag like this didn't seem like a good idea. That left only one thing he could think of. "I could arrange for you and your brother to get free food and drinks at O'Reilly's."

[Steel Mirror]

"Once I'm done with all of this, I'll come back and see you again and try to explain. But for now, I just need to know everything you know about skinwalkers, because that is what I've come to talk about - there was one in the car that carried out the drive-by, but there's nothing for me to go on in terms of finding out where he came from." Andrew stops for a moment, debating whether or not to go into further detail before giving a small shrug, "I was wondering if you'd found anything out about the skinwalkers in these parts, that would help bring the criminals to justice."

"Everything I know? That would take a while, and is dangerous information as well. Skin-walkers are like sorcerers. It is black magic, the left hand path. Even knowing too much about them can be dangerous to the unwise, and if I share that knowledge with you and you misuse it, I am responsible, in part, for the consequences."

"The skin-walkers of Seattle are rumored to be part of a pack who aims to fight off the invaders, those that came here and stole our lands generations ago. They set themselves against all foreigners to these lands. It is said that they do not remember the blood that flowed like a river when our people tried to fight back, or that even a flawed peace is better than more war."

"I have examined many young men who were supposed to have been touched by this evil. Several were indeed afflicted by evil spirits, but I never confirmed that the nature of their affliction was these skin-walkers. Now, perhaps, our tribe must face the truth of this matter."

"The natural world is no longer in balance. These ducklings were born before their time, and may die because of it. Spring rains fall in February. The birds have shed their winter plumage. I had thought that perhaps it was Global Warming, but skin-walkers warp and twist nature in their path. Perhaps this has all been their doing."

He smiles ever so slightly, a self-deprecating gesture that Andrew remembers from their time as teacher and student. "I'm not sure which is scarier, actually."

[Steel Mirror]

"I could arrange for you and your brother to get free food and drinks at O'Reilly's."

"Food. Drinks. We get what we need in the darkness, and have little use for your hospitality." Both of the brothers sneer.

"I may have use of such an establishment to finalize certain business arrangements, however. Not all of my clients are comfortable with the ambience in my little domicile here. They seem to find the shadows threatening." He chuckles as evilly as he can manage. "A private room to conduct sensitive negotiations might be very valuable, on occasion. Nothing illegal by the laws of your mortal world, of course, as it is in the city. Does this sound agreeable?"

[Sanguine]

Connor's feels his stomach turn as he considers the idea of the little creep conducting his shady business ventures under the roof of O'Reilly's. It just seemed wrong to let the little man defile the place like that. But really it wasn't too much to ask for. So reminding himself why he needed this information Connor nodded and said. "I can arrange for you to have a room reserved for you four nights out of every month. If you want it more frequently then that it will cost you extra."

[Bunny of Faith]

"The first, easily. At least there's something to be done about skin-walkers. I take it that you have no idea where they are located, at least vaguely? I appreciate the information you've given me so far, though something more substantial would be useful - Weaknesses, numbers, alliances, anything." Andrew moves closer to the water, kneeling down to get a better look at the ducks. He speaks again, his voice flat.

"I had some trouble with Ray outside; I'm glad that you were willing to talk to me - and in hindsight, unsuprised. You were always good to me."

[Steel Mirror]

"I can arrange for you to have a room reserved for you four nights out of every month. If you want it more frequently then that it will cost you extra."

"Most generous. Agreed. If you will excuse me for one moment." The lamplight disappears, and darkness returns. There is the rustling again, then a faint clicking like a key turning a lock.

Then he is back and the light kindles into being once more. He is holding a surprisingly normal looking lockbox, about the size of a small briefcase. It is open, revealing a stack of American dollars, Canadian dollars, euros, yen, renminbi, and other currencies from a dozen nations. There are also gold coins stacked in a separate partition, and a loop of strange coins that look like they are made from bronze or copper with a square hole in their center.

"These bills are the currency used by the boy to buy those mortal weapons." He indicates a stack of crisp $100 notes in one corner, held together by a bank band labelled "$5000". He allows Connor to pick them up and examine them.

They are all fresh, sequential bills. He checks the file that Young gave him; they are a match. These bills are sequential and directly precede the money found on the attackers, making a total of 15 grand in sequential bills found.

[Steel Mirror]

"The first, easily. At least there's something to be done about skin-walkers. I take it that you have no idea where they are located, at least vaguely? I appreciate the information you've given me so far, though something more substantial would be useful - Weaknesses, numbers, alliances, anything."
"There has been trouble these past years in the Northeast of the city. Missing pets, mysterious loss of wildlife, even a few drifters who have gone missing. Our patrols have found nothing, not even the occasional ghoul or other supernatural predator you could expect in such a wild part of the city."

"Recently the problem has grown particularly acute around the Green Lake region. Squirels and other animals have abandoned the park almost entirely, except for the birds. The birds are there in great numbers."

"I thought that perhaps it was some spirit that had moved into the area as its new home. I thought that perhaps things would settle down as it grew accustomed to the area. But perhaps I was naive."

"As to further information about the skin-walkers, there was a time when I would have shared such information. But I can not do so, my old student. You know why this is." He seems genuinely saddened to have to deny this request.


"I had some trouble with Ray outside; I'm glad that you were willing to talk to me - and in hindsight, unsuprised. You were always good to me."
"I accept the Emissary of the Lady, as he has official business with our people and is representing our interests in court. Make no mistake, Andrew. Much as I wish things were different . . . you are no longer welcome among the Duwamish." This time, his face betrays no emotion. He stops feeding the ducks, and instead sits motionlessly, looking older than Andrew has ever seen him before.

[Sanguine]

Connor smiles as he double checks the bills letting himself feel just a tiny bit smug that his hunch was right. Of course this answer raised a few more questions. Was this the same 15K that was withdrawn from the Knights' bank account? And if so how did our psychotic little Asian boy get his hands on it? And why was he going to such lengths to frame the Knights of Laconia?

"Well I think that was all we needed."

[Steel Mirror]

"Well I think that was all we needed."

"If you ever need a means to defend yourself, remember my business. I have the feeling that intelligent people will be gathering strength in the coming days. The city may be getting much more dangerous in the immediate future." He bows, and gestures toward the wall through which the two investigators entered.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin offers a small bow to the two misshapen goblins before turning and heading out, glad to be out of one horrible smelling hole, even if it meant going into a slightly less horrible smelling hole, "So, that was lots of fun, making deals with strange and possibly malevolent creatures, all that stuff. Did you find what you were looking for?"

[Sanguine]

Connor is much less polite than Yin in his departure. Simply turning around and leaving without so much as a by your leave. This was due in no small part to a desire to escape the stench. "It went about as well as I was expecting. A name and address would have been nice, but if it was that easy I'd be out of a job."

[Steel Mirror]

At least the flashlights work again. As the two talk, they make their way back along the path that will take them to the faerie market. They reach an intersection and turn right . . . but the way is blocked. They definitely don't remember that iron grate there.

Retracing their steps to try and figure out where they took a wrong turn, they come to a wide open cellar where there was only a narrow, filth filled passage before.

They are lost.

The passages down here do have a way of twisting around. Tatterkell must have given them the way to their destination without supplying a similar path out. The two look at each other in exasperation, each clearly understanding what the other is thinking. This situation can't get any worse. Though the smell here isn't nearly as bad as it was in the drainage hall.

Yin tilts her head as she hears something in the distance. A noise echoing down the halls, soft at first but slowly fading and re-emerging, and growing slowly louder. After a moment, Connor begins to hear it too, first from the passage behind them, then from the left and from the front.

Is that. . . children giggling?
You can try to use Investigation or other skills to figure out a way out of the maze, and of course any other course of action you choose I'll adjudicate on the fly.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin begins to become increasingly pissed off as she realizes that they are lost. Rather than thinking of a way out, she simply focuses upon what she will do to the one that gave them the directions to this place without telling them how to get out. Of course, the fact that she won't be able to hurt him severely because she's lost doesn't dawn on her. What does, however, is the sound of children's laughter.

"Uh.. huh. Well, that's creepy. Who's in favor of getting out of here before we find out what's making that noise? All agreed? Good."

With that, her focus shifted radically, and she began searching quickly for some other means of escaping the Undertown.

Investigation Roll: [roll0] + 1 = 2

[Steel Mirror]

"Uh.. huh. Well, that's creepy. Who's in favor of getting out of here before we find out what's making that noise? All agreed? Good."

With that, her focus shifted radically, and she began searching quickly for some other means of escaping the Undertown.

Investigation Roll: [roll0] + 1 = 2

The best that Yin can think is that, if they go back the way they just came, they can try to figure out if the passageways are still changing or they have settled in their new shape. The laughter is still soft and diffuse, and she hasn't seen anything to go with it. Yet.

[Sanguine]

Connor is too busy thinking about the case for him to immediately notice that they are lost. He suppresses his initial irritation and gets to work trying to find a way out. He is distracted however by the strange laughter and Yin's statement. "I'm actually kind of curious. But if you want to get out I suppose that's fine too."

Bringing his attention back to the task at hand Connor sets about finding a way back to the surface.

Investigation Roll: [roll0]+4=4

[Steel Mirror]

"I'm actually kind of curious. But if you want to get out I suppose that's fine too."
Investigation Roll: [roll0]+4=4
Connor notices that the walls here aren't as covered in slime and water as they were in the corridor before. Presumably that means they are somewhere higher up than the old skid road, or further inland. Either way, they've gotten turned around pretty good.

The passage to the left takes them uphill, though, and while that is further away from the populated faerie market, it is also more likely to lead closer to the surface and thus closer to an entrance.
You guys can decide which path to take: Forward, back the way you came, left and uphill, or right.

[Sanguine]

Gesturing at the passage on his left Connor turns to Yin and says. "This one's heading uphill. It's probably our best bet for getting back to the surface."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin begins to head back when she hears Connor. Given that he's the detective and obviously noticed something she didn't, she shrugs, "Good enough for me. Lets go."

[Steel Mirror]

Instead of the moldy, wet, desolate passageways they have been travelling through until now, the passage they have chosen is a dry, dusty, arid desolate passageway. They walk by old, discarded lanterns and digging tools. A dusty old sign reading "Annabelle's Tru-" in huge cursive red lies across part of the passage. The other side consists of boarded up old windows and storefronts, with an occasional steel cage barring the way even further.

The laughter continues to shadow them as they go, and occasionally they get the sense of something moving at the corner of their eye, or behind a nearby pile of debris. While walking past a boarded up storefront, Yin notices a glint of reflected light as she passes her flashlight beam over the gap between two planks. She turns it back and sees a peeping eye looking through the boards at about her waist level. She meets its gaze and gets a sense of overwhelming nausea and terror, just for an instant.

Then the feeling is gone and the eye has vanished. For a moment the laughter sounds off, clear and nearby behind the boarded up storefront.

The two move on, navigating the branching passages as best they can and occasionally pausing or moving slowly to avoid the sound of giggling.
Roll some alertness! If you want, describe any precautions or reactions that you might have for the mysterious apparitions.

EDIT:You can also investigate one or more of the occurrences more closly, if you choose.

[Sanguine]

As the laughter continues to follow the pair Connor starts to get nervous. It's just so damn creepy. Pulling out his gun the detective keep his eyes, ears, and nose open; searching for any sign of impending danger. As well as some high ground just in case this should turn into a fight.

[roll0]+2=1

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin was quickly becoming convinced that they had chosen the wrong way to go. This place was making a concerted effort to creep her out, and so she responded in the only way that she knew how: by becoming increasingly angry. She clenched her flashlight in her fist, hand nearly going white with the strain she used to try and snap the thing in half.

The eye peeking at her from behind the wooden boards certainly hadn't helped, and she finally spun around, shouting, "That's it! I've had enough of your %$#@ing laughing and your %$#@ing scary eyes! Come on out of hiding and lets see what you've got!" With the blessing of the gods and the training of Taoist warriors dating back to the beginning of civilization, she stood, brave, courageous, with arms outstretched and shouted, "COME AT ME, BRO!"

[Steel Mirror]

With the blessing of the gods and the training of Taoist warriors dating back to the beginning of civilization, she stood, brave, courageous, with arms outstretched and shouted, "COME AT ME, BRO!"

The laughing stops abruptly at the end of Yin's declaration. She stands there, defiantly, with Connor watching her back with his gun at the ready. Utter silence reigns. Suddenly, the flashlight gives out.

Everything returns to utter blackness again, but only for a moment. The light stutters on once again a few terrifying seconds after it gives out, revealing Yin still staring angrily out at the shadows and Connor crouched against a wall with his weapon pointing straight down the hall.

Between them is a pathetic-looking dog, a mutt that is painfully undernourished and has fur falling out in great patches. It looks like one of its legs is broken, or at least injured.

It's also surrounded in a faint moss-green glow and is partially transparent.

[Sanguine]

Connor aims his gun at the dogs head, right between it's eyes. Sure it looks harmless enough, but you never know when something harmless-seeming is going to start trying to tear your head off. So it's best to be prepared. Admittedly a depressingly large amount of supernatural nasties are immune to bullets. And the fact that this one is partially transparent doesn't help the odds that it's an exception. "I don't suppose you speak English by any chance? Or possibly Gaelic?"

[Steel Mirror]

"I don't suppose you speak English by any chance? Or possibly Gaelic?"

It wags its stump of a tail piteously and yips in reply to Connor's voice. It glances over to see what Yin is doing.

[AvianMalkavian]

"Well.. that's not exactly what I expected."

Yin blinks for a moment, taking a moment to again adjust to what little light there is, as well as to come down from her righteous fury. Looking down at the glowing dog, she frowns at its poor state, "Aw, hey there little ghost doggie. Its okay. I won't hurt you. Unless.. well.. unless you turn into an evil demon or something. Then I would have to."

[Steel Mirror]

"Aw, hey there little ghost doggie. Its okay. I won't hurt you. Unless.. well.. unless you turn into an evil demon or something. Then I would have to."

It wags its tail again and hops in a little circle, passing through a shovel propped against the wall with no ill effect. With another happy yip it bounds down a passageway nearby, pausing about fifteen feet away and looking over its shoulder.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin watches the little dog start scampering off, looking over at Connor and shrugging, "Well, I mean.. its not exactly like we know where we're going. Might as well follow him."

She started walking after the dog, glancing around again in case the spectral canine was leading them into a trap, "I don't suppose you know the way out, do you, um.. hmm, you need a name. I'm gonna call you Whitaker." Looking back at Connor, "Get it..? Like Forest Whitaker..? ... He was in Ghost Dog."

[Sanguine]

Connor supposed that the ghost dog was kind of cute. In a pitiful sort of way. Of course that Sam girl last year had been really cute too until she turned into a nine foot tall hairy monster intent on destroying everything nearby. So it was with great trepidation, and an eye open for any danger, that he followed Zhao Yin and the ghost dog. He merely rolls his eyes when Yin names the thing.

[Steel Mirror]

The two make their way through this dusty, abandoned part of Undertown slowly and with their nerves on high alert. Yin occasionally makes comments, directed at the spectral dog or at Connor or at no one in particular. Connor scans the corners and crannies of the area, ready to respond to any threat.

The dust here is thick on the floor, and hasn't been disturbed in years. Their gradual uphill pace continues, though they wind left and right and even up and down narrow staircases and rotting ladders as they travel. Whitaker never moves more than about fifteen feet from them, though he often leaps ahead or sits and waits for them.

It occurs to them eventually that they have no idea how long they've been down here. Thinking back to their entrance from the supermarket, it could have been full days ago or only a few minutes. Time seems distorted down here, or perhaps merely suspended.

They eventually reach a long, narrow room caked in the dust of ages and filled with row on row of narrow beds with filthy sheets and sad, deflated little pillows. On the other side of the room is a ladder leading straight up through a regular, circular hole in the stone and packed earth ceiling. The hole continues up and out of sight into yet more shadows.

As they cross the room, they notice two important things. First, the dust here, though thicker than almost anywhere they have been thus far, is disturbed. There is a fresh path leading from the base of the ladder they are walking towards to another entrance of the room. Second, they are not alone.

In the corners of the room, two different groups of children are huddled together. One group looks to be between the ages of six and about twelve. They are dressed in old-looking, loose fitting clothing all in rough fabrics ranging in color from brown to darker brown. The style of the clothing is older. No t-shirts or jeans here. Most of them are hiding behind the beds or a toy chest nearby. They are looking intently at Connor, Yin, and the ghost dog that is leading them, with serious expressions and intense, staring eyes.

The other group is younger, around four to seven years old. They are gathered just to the right of the ladder, and are skipping and dancing around in some innocent childhood game. None of them are making a single bit of noise, or disturbing the dust where they run.

They don't appear spectral or ghostly, like the dog does, but between their otherwordly silence, the dim illumination, and the complete lack of color on any of the children (wardrobe or skin), it is obvious that they are no ordinary group of kids.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin followed after Whitaker, often blurting out jokes to hide the fact that was becoming rather worried about where they might be heading. Her worries certainly did seem to be justified when they entered the room and found the.. children. Were they really children? She couldn't tell, but something certainly felt wrong about all of this.

Looking to Whitaker, she shrugged, thoroughly lost on this one, "So this is why you had us follow you? What are we supposed to do about it?"

Turning her attention to the children, looking.. perhaps a bit more angry than she had meant to, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Won't your creepy parents be worried about you?"

[Bunny of Faith]

-snip-
"It's something, though. At least this gives me somewhere to start looking." He stands up, taking several steps back.

"I know why you can't tell me." He sighs, "And I wish I had the time to fix it, but hopefully dealing with the skinwalkers will at least go part way towards repaying what you've done for me. Or it'll make things worse, which has about an equal chance of happening. Either way, don't worry - I'll make sure to go elsewhere in the future if I need assistance." And with that, Andrew starts to walk away.

[Sanguine]

Connor shivers visibly when he sees the kids. Great. As if this wasn't creepy enough, now there were ghost kids too. Still, ghosts or not they were still kids, and there was no reason to scare them. So putting away his gun, and frowning at Yin's outburst, Connor kneels down to eye level with the nearest kid and says in what he hopes is a calm reassuring tone of voice. "Don't worry about my mean friend here. She's not nearly as scary as she seems. I'm Detective Connor O'Reilly with the Seattle Police Department. Can you tell me your name?"

[Steel Mirror]

Turning her attention to the children, looking.. perhaps a bit more angry than she had meant to, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Won't your creepy parents be worried about you?"

The group that was staring at them duck completely behind the furniture they are hiding behind as Yin addresses them. The other group ignores her, continuing instead with their games. A few of them seem to be playing tag, running around, under, and over the beds in their corner of the room. They are being chased by . . . a teddy bear, about a foot tall and with only one arm and one eye. It reaches out with its stumpy limb as it chases the children, trying to reach them. The children laugh in complete and utter silence, teasing their pursuer by darting as close as they can without being touched, or by making faces at it. Upon closer inspection, their eyes show the only color to be found in the room other than Connor, Yin, and their greenish ghostly dog. Their eyes are all bloodshot, but the irises are the normal range of colors from brown to blue to green.

Whitaker growls at the children, but when he reaches the base of the ladder he runs in a few excited circles and yips back at Connor and Yin.

[Steel Mirror]

"Don't worry about my mean friend here. She's not nearly as scary as she seems. I'm Detective Connor O'Reilly with the Seattle Police Department. Can you tell me your name?"

The child's eyes are a brilliant green, much like Connor's own. The dash of color is made even more striking by the utter paleness of her face and the dark pits that surround her eye sockets. The whites of her eyes are shot through with red veins, but she smiles up at Connor bashfully and moves her mouth like she is speaking. No sounds are audible, though.

She reaches up as though to touch Connor on the face.

Suddenly Whitaker is between the detective and the child, a low growl rumbling from him. His hackles are raised, and Connor could swear that the mutt is half a foot taller at least. Ectoplasmic drool drips from the dog's bared fangs, and the little girl jumps and backs off a handful of paces straight into the wall, vanishing into it like the ghost she is.

She doesn't look scared, though. She looks like she is laughing in exhilaration, like a kid who has just been discovered trying to do something they aren't supposed to do, and running from an authority figure to escape punishment.

As she backs off, the other kids that were hiding nearby disappear into walls and floors as well. Again, no sign is left in the dust as evidence of their passing. Once they are all gone, Connor and Yin can hear the sourceless, intermittent giggling once again. The younger kids in the other group seem totally uninterested in any of these developments, and continue playing their games.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin looked at Connor, seeming perhaps a little hurt by that statement, "I can be scary. If I want to. I just don't feel like it right now."

Looking back to Whitaker, she follows after him, looking at the ladder. She does her best to try and ignore the creepy children. As long as they left her alone, she'd leave them alone. So far, Ghost Dog hadn't led them astray and if he thought there was something wrong with these kids, she was willing to trust him, "What's this, boy? Is this the way out? Oh, who's a good boy? You are! I'd take you with me, if I could."

And then he was gone, jumping over to protect Connor. Yin was amazed at how fast he was, grinning like a fool, "That's it. I'm keeping you. You are no longer Whitaker. You are Ace the Bat-Hound!"

[Steel Mirror]

"And I wish I had the time to fix it, but hopefully dealing with the skinwalkers will at least go part way towards repaying what you've done for me. Or it'll make things worse, which has about an equal chance of happening. Either way, don't worry - I'll make sure to go elsewhere in the future if I need assistance." And with that, Andrew starts to walk away.

Victor steps up from where he was waiting on the trail. "I have a few more arrangements to make with the Medicine Man, actually. I'll meet you back at the car?"

[Steel Mirror]

"That's it. I'm keeping you. You are no longer Whitaker. You are Ace the Bat-Hound!"

Ace wags his tail uncertainly, looking between Yin and Connor. His moment of fierceness is gone, he looks pathetic once again. The giggling is louder now than it has ever been, and he edges once more toward the ladder, looking hopefully at the two as he goes.

[Sanguine]

Connor clears his throat as the little girls runs off and can't shake the feeling that Ace just saved his life. Trying his damnedest to not show how freaked out he is, and failing miserably, Connor moves over to the ladder and begins climbing. "Come along now you two, we haven't got all day."

[Bunny of Faith]

Victor steps up from where he was waiting on the trail. "I have a few more arrangements to make with the Medicine Man, actually. I'll meet you back at the car?"

Andrew nods, "Yeah, sure. Don't worry about him, he'll tell you anything he thinks will be useful."

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah, sure. Don't worry about him, he'll tell you anything he thinks will be useful."

As Andrew walks back to the car, he mentally goes through his next steps in this investigation. Green Lake is a small lake in about the center of North Seattle, and is near the place where Stuart mentioned that suspicious activity had been going on for the past couple of years. It was next to a big park, as well as the zoo, so if something was freaking out animals in the area he would have a lot to look at. Might be a good place for some skin-walkers to hunt unobtrusively, that's for sure. Maybe even establish a den.

He thinks back to the power that he tasted from those lutins earlier. It was like that of the sidhe, but distinct from Summer or Winter. Maybe this spirit Stuart was talking about might fit that bill. Could some supernatural bigwig have moved into the park, and taken control of the local wildfae and the skin-walkers both? Or was it always responsible for the skin-walkers, and has taken this time as its chance to widen its conflict against those it sees as interlopers in the lands that used to belong to the Native Americans?

Andrew is no expert on local history, but he knows that a few times in the past tensions between the races in Seattle have boiled over. From what he's heard, supernatural forces have been involved in that a few times as well. Such things could get very ugly, very quickly, and leave scars that outlasted the conflict itself and warped future generations.

If some supernatural force is making a play for a piece of the Seattle pie, and is invoking such ugly human tendencies to help pave the way, it doesn't really matter if it believes in those racist motives or is just using them as tools. Either way a lot of people could get hurt. Perhaps more to the point, the power structure of Seattle could suffer markedly, making it more difficult to extend Winter's influence in the city in an orderly manner. It's his job to prevent that from happening, if he can.

But how does kidnapping musicians factor into all of this? And what about the fact that the skinwalker was apparently paid for his role in the shooting, and hooked on drugs besides?

He needs more information, that's for sure.

As he is walking, he knows that somewhere in the back of his mind he is grieving. Grieving for the loss of his mentor, for the loss of Stuart's respect and companionship. For the loss of so many friends in the tribe, and the sense of belong and identity that those relationships had given him. Winter might have given him power, but it hadn't really given him any purpose. He served his queens out of obligation, but not love.

He probably didn't love anyone, really.

But none of that is apparent on his face. Winter despises weakness, and he had learned well how to disguise it. His face isa mask of cold, expressionless purpose as he strides along the trail toward the car. So focused is he on mulling over his investigation and distracting himself from his grief, that he almost doesn't notice the warning signs before it is too late.
Roll Alertness!

[Steel Mirror]

"That's it. I'm keeping you."

Now that she thinks of it, can she keep him? Yin looks at Ace more closely. Ghosts, or spirits, are rarely formed by anything but human beings (or something close enough to leave a similar spiritual impression). A certain amount of spiritual heft, of intelligence and self-awareness is needed to form a shade strong enough to be perceptible to the human eye. Animals rarely achieve that degree of supernatural weight, and thus tend to make poor ghosts.

Dogs, cats, and other pets tend to break that rule more often that other animals, maybe because of their closeness to human beings. Perhaps something about being loved and cared for by humans makes it easier for their souls to linger on in the mortal world. It could be that they are imbued with some indefinable quality over the course of their lives, which lets them linger past death. Or perhaps they are chained to this earth by the bonds of their owners' love, which refuses to allow them to move on. There are even stories of people who intentionally create such animal ghosts, for use as guardians, companions, familiars, assassins, and many other purposes.

Well Yin is no pet-ghost-whisperer, so that's all speculation, really. Ace could be a ghost, but he could be something different. Either way he seems to be more involved in the spirit side of things than the material, and that presents some challenges for getting him out of here and fitted for a collar and a doghouse back at the Dancing Dragon. For one, protecting him from the sunlight. For another, providing some anchor that will allow him to remain in the physical world, even while he is away from his usual haunts.

Oh. Also, getting him up the ladder. It might be hard to carry a ghost dog.

The giggling is getting louder.

Thanks to Yin's faith powers, she can extend protection to the spirit dog Ace by simply imbuing something she owns with a Fate point, and using it to cover Ace and protect him from the sun. So it needs to be big enough to cover his body. The anchor will have to be something from the immediate area, some piece of his usual haunt which will allow him to extend his existence beyond the Undertown (it will be temporary, on the order of two or three sunrises at best. Then he will automatically return home.) You are on your own for getting him up the ladder. :smalltongue:

[Steel Mirror]

So focused is he on mulling over his investigation and distracting himself from his grief, that he almost doesn't notice the warning signs before it is too late.
Stealth:
[roll0]+3= 2
[roll1]+3= 3
[roll2]+2= 3

There is a whooshing sound from behind and above, and Andrew throws himself out of the way on sheer reflex. A huge horned owl, with a wingspan in excess of four feet, hurtles through the place where his head had been a moment before and wheels about in a graceful swoop to come back around for another pass. To his left, he sees a thin brownish wolf loping through the woods on a course to intercept him. From the bushes ahead, another wolf, still thin but almost an orange-yellow with spots of white, emerges, fangs bared.

Well this is not good.

The orange wolf closes with almost unbelievable speed, flashing through the undergrowth so fast that it gathers up leaves and twigs twisting through the air in its path. It leaps straight for Andrew's wounded leg, trying to disable its prey and prevent it from fleeing.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin glanced over at Connor, "You can leave if you want. But Whitaker is coming with me. I'm not leaving him with.." Glancing around at the steadily growing sound of laughter, "Whatever the hell that thing is."

She took a deep breath, rubbing her hands together Mr. Miyagi style, "Come on. Yu-huang, Guan Yu, Xuan Wu. I know you can hear me. This spirit has helped us, allow me to help it, let me take it from this dark place, let it have a home, a purpose, and the love of a family again."

Taking off her jacket, she focused upon it, trying to pour her faith and power into it. Obviously, she had no idea if this was even going to work, but she hoped that the gods would grant her this one thing. Running to one of the beds, she rips off a piece of fabric from one of the pillows and stuffs it into the jacket pocket, grabs a sheet, throws the jacket over Whitaker, the sheet over the jacket, and ties it into a makeshift sling/dog carrier.

"I hope ghost dogs don't weigh a whole lot."

[Steel Mirror]

Attack
[roll0]+3= 3

Tiebreaker (I call odd)
[roll1]

So the owl will act before Andrew as well, and will dive at his face for another attack.

[Steel Mirror]

The massive owl finishes its bank and dives towards Andrew once again, this time letting out a high pitched screeeetch as its talons close the distance to Andrew's face.

Attack
[roll0]+2= 2

Roll defense twice, then it's Andrew's turn. Some assessments, which are a free action remember, are probably a good idea. Figure out what you are up against, what the environment is like and how you might be able to turn it to your advantage, and maybe how to run away.

[Sanguine]

Connor stops partway up the latter to watch Zhao Yin work. As she finishes her makeshift sling Connor slides down a couple of rungs and extends his hand saying. "I do believe I said the two of you. Now hand me that sling, I'll carry Whitaker."

[Steel Mirror]

"I hope ghost dogs don't weigh a whole lot."

At the very least, this ghost dog doesn't weigh much at all. While Yin's hand passes through him with a distinctly unpleasant tingle, the makeshift dogpack lifts him as though he were a normal canine. He doesn't weigh more than a loaf of bread.

The climb out of the room is tense, with the old wooden rungs of the ladder seemingly ready to fall off at any moment. They make it up without either falling, the spooky laughter giving them ample encouragement not to linger. At the top, Connor runs into a solid stone wall that looks like it might be possible to push away. It's very heavy though, and his first attempt does little more than budge it to the side.

Ace begins to Yip again, and struggles in Connor's arms. Yin reaches up to try to soothe him, then glances below. A few of the serious-faced older kids are assembled at the bottom of the ladder, looking straight up and standing still.

One of them reaches out and grabs a rung of the ladder, then begins to climb.
It's athletics to move the stone cap. Yin can try to come up with a way to slow down the ghost kids, if it comes to that, but they are ghosts. Might be tough to fight them with her clinging for life to a rotting ladder . . .

[Bunny of Faith]

Rolls first, then actual posting once they're resolved/sorted out!
Defense 1: [roll0]+1=
Defense 2: [roll1]+1=
Magical Shield of Shieldiness, 6 shifts - 5 power, 1 duration: [roll2]+4=

[AvianMalkavian]

"Oh, that's not good."

She looked up at Connor, "Hey, can I use your gun? Oh wait, they're ghosts. Damn. Um.. hmm."

Turning away from them, she looks down at the children beginning to climb up the ladder. There wasn't much she could do to hurt ghosts, but when you were at a loss, the best thing to go on was faith. Focusing again, she took a deep breath before shouting, eyes blazing with righteous fury, "HEAR ME, ABOMINATIONS! YOU ARE OBSCENITIES IN THE EYES OF YU HUANG, JADE EMPEROR AND RULER OF HEAVEN, HELL, AND ALL BETWEEN! IN HIS NAME, I COMMAND YOU! BEGONE!"

[Steel Mirror]

"HEAR ME, ABOMINATIONS! YOU ARE OBSCENITIES IN THE EYES OF YU HUANG, JADE EMPEROR AND RULER OF HEAVEN, HELL, AND ALL BETWEEN! IN HIS NAME, I COMMAND YOU! BEGONE!"

Her words ring out, echoing oddly in the enclosed, brick-walled tunnel. For a moment she is disappointed that there is no silvery burst of power, no wall of azure faith that springs forth between her and the oncoming apparitions.

Damn. That Andrew might be a creepy, cold customer, but at least his walls of will look awesome.

Then she sees the child who began to follow them halt, then flicker like a TV losing its signal.

Then he backs down.

Connor meanwhile puts his full strength into moving the granite slab. It weighs a ton, if not literally then close to it. Still, he shifts it a few inches more, opening up a slim crack to the world above. Fresh air and afternoon sunlight rush into the dusty old space.

His foothold on the ladder cracks under the strain. It still supports his weight, for now, but he isn't sure how much longer it will last . . .

Rolling opposing conviction to overcome the barrier.
[roll0]+2= 3
[roll1]+2= 1
[roll2]+2= 1

[Steel Mirror]

The wolf bites savagely at Andrew's wounded leg, but doesn't stick around to finish the job. It bounds a few steps off the path after hitting him, turning around and glaring hatefully into his eyes.

He is so off balance from the sudden pain that he almost doesn't react in time to stop the owl from raking his eyes out. The talons rip out a clump of his hair as the huge bird of prey screetches its way past him once again.

That's a 3 stress hit from the wolf, followed by a 3 stress hit from the owl. That's enough to probably make you want to take a minor consequence already! Bad news. Andrew might be looking for a way to retreat right about now . . .

Also, I am retroactively compelling "Can't catch a break" for the timing of this little incident . . .

Andrew's turn.

[Steel Mirror]

With a grim smile of satisfaction, Yin moves up past Connor on the ladder, careful not to disturb the fragile foothold. She braces herself against the side of the narrow passage, slightly above Connor, and pushes.

Connor does the same. The stone slides a little more, creating a gap wide enough to fit a hand or foot through, but little else. Ace is still yipping like mad.

Rolling opposing conviction to overcome the barrier.
[roll0]+2= 1
[roll1]+2= 4
[roll2]+2=


From below, there is a zap like a discharge of static energy. The green-eyed girl that Connor spoke to starts up the ladder, her cheerful expression as creepy in its way as the blank looks on the boys nearby. Behind her, another child lines up to begin the climb.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin grunts as she tries to push the cover again, finding it hard to get a good angle. Of course, when they move it a few more inches it seems like they might be able to slide it now without having to do so much lifting. Which is good, given that Yin now notices the ghostly children trying to make their way up the ladder, "Must go faster. Must go faster!"

With another deep breath, she attempts to summon up the will, desperately trying to move the cover again, "Guan Yu, give me strength!"

[Sanguine]

Connor spared a look down the ladder as he heard the barrier break. The sight of that little girl heading for them was just too much. That little girl had almost done something to him, he didn't know what, but he was damn certain he didn't want to find out. He was just as certain he would not let her do anything to harm his friend.

So moving with a new found purpose Connor placed his hands in the gap next to Yin's and pushed with all of his strength. The silver of his right arm screamed in protest as he pushed with all of his strength against the slab of stone; his left arm was silent in it's protest but just as insistent.

Tagging "Guan Yu's Strength" and Invoking "The Arm of a God"
[roll0]+4+2 for "The Arm of a God"=7

[Steel Mirror]

The silver of his right arm screamed in protest as he pushed with all of his strength against the slab of stone; his left arm was silent in it's protest but just as insistent.
Slowly, then picking up momentum, the massive granite slab grinds to the side. Connor's foothold snaps under the pressure, and without even time to cry out, he falls down the shaft.

And is grabbed by Yin. Straining to hold both her own weight and the weight of the powerfully built detective, she manages to arrest his fall and hold him in place long enough for him to grab back onto the ladder.

Without waiting to consult him, Yin shoots out of the hole and into the bright, fresh air. She doesn't even notice her surrounding, whirling around and sticking her hand down to Connor, who is climbing towards the exit as quickly as he can. Behind him, the little girl is climbing quickly, but not fast enough to catch the escaping man.

Then a child's face appears from out of the wall above Connor, and between him and Yin. Without any expression at all it locks gazes with him, and reaches out a hand towards his face.

[Bunny of Faith]

Andrew grits his teeth, the onslaught of attacks leaving him breathless and barely standing. Finding himself struggling to see from the owl's vicious raking, he settles into a slouch and raises his arms in front of him as a harsh blue glow seems to cover his hands. Trying not to think too hard on how much this will cost him in the long run, Andrew spends his time wracking his brain for anything he can remember that will help him in this situation as the air around him coalesces into mist and snowflakes begin to fall.

Already rolled for the spell, pulling in sponsor debt to have it go off.
Lore roll, to see if he knows what these things are (presumably were-things) and if he remembers anything useful)
[roll0]+3=7 Well okay. :smallbiggrin:
Physical: [x] [ ] [x] [ ] (-4 lacerated left leg)(-2 blurred vision)

[Steel Mirror]

Trying not to think too hard on how much this will cost him in the long run, Andrew spends his time wracking his brain for anything he can remember that will help him in this situation as the air around him coalesces into mist and snowflakes begin to fall.


He gets a good look at the wolf's eyes, and they are not the eyes of an animal. They are a muted brown, but the irises are clearly human, and the intelligence and emotion behind them belong to no animal.

It could be a werewolf, as the werewolf pack that greeted him at the Center weren't very excited to see him. But the owlform makes this likely that he is facing skin-walkers. The Duwamish only take the forms of wolves.

Skin-walkers are powerful and terrifying, but they have weaknesses. One is the blood of the animal whose form they are wearing. That probably isn't something he can take advantage of, right now.

They also use a power which is borrowed from others, and which they don't fully control. Spirits, most of them hostile and evil, are partially, and eventually fully, in control. Emotions, especially negative ones, can run out of control while they wear the animal forms. In that state of mind, some skin-walkers lose track of what is an ally and what is an enemy. Perhaps he could take advantage of that.

He'll have to move quickly if that's what he wants to do. It won't help at all if they eat him before he gets the chance to use this against them.
Each skin-walker has the aspect "Seduced by the Dark Side" which can be used to manipulate its emotional responses. In addition, the orange wolf has the aspect "Uncontrollable Hatred".

The other wolf comes bounding out from the trees and tries to attack Andrew from behind.
Attack
[roll0]+2= 2

The wolf launches straight for Andrew, and bounces off his defensive shield in a burst of of blue-white light and swirling snowflakes.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin reaches down to help Connor out and then the child appears from out of nowhere. With a righteous cry of "NO!" Yin leans down into the hole and attempts to strike the creature with every ounce of divinely inspired hatred and holy wrath that she can summon, "DIE MONSTER, YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"


Fists Roll: [roll0] + 4 = 4

[Steel Mirror]

"DIE MONSTER, YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"


[roll0]+2= 1

Yin's blow smashes straight through the apparition's face, but this time there is a flash of silver and she feels resistance when her blow meets spirit-flesh. Then the ghost dissipates into a wet blob of ectoplasm, raining onto Connor's face and splattering wetly onto the ground far below a few seconds later. The little girl is only inches behind him, now.

With a final burst of effort, Connor launches himself up the last few rungs and out the hole, skinning his natural arm as he goes and not caring at all. He collapses from effort and sheer nerves in the late afternoon sun, the ectoplasm quickly evaporating off his face and shoulders and leaving him chilled.

He doesn't care. Yin looks back down the hole after a moment. The ghosts are all gone.

They are in a small church graveyard, out of view of the street. Neither of them recognize it immediately. The granite slab was covering a grave, and the small stone marker above the place they just crawled out of reads "Kaito Ookami, 1912".

[Steel Mirror]

Circling back around, the orange wolf tries to get under the shield and land another hit to Andrew's wounded but still serviceable leg.
Wolf Attack
[roll0]+3= 3
The shield holds up though, throwing up another blast of snowflakes and causing the wolf to growl in frustration.

Meanwhile, the owl gives up on the direct approach and flutters around Andrew's head, trying to distract him and open up the way for another attack.
Owl's maneuver to inflict "Harried and Distracted"
[roll1]+2= 2
Defend with Discipline.

[Sanguine]

For a long moment Connor just laid on the grass relishing in the fact that he was still alive. The smell of the fresh cut grass beneath him. The songs of the bird in the nearby trees. Even the screaming agony of his arms and the chill seeping down into his bones. Every sensation was an absolutely wonderful reminder that he was still alive.

But as much as Connor would love to just sit there taking in the world and relishing in sensation he had a job to do. There was a madman out there with power he couldn't control and a nasty violent streak and Connor had to stop him. So with only the slightest hint of hesitation Connor stood up, ready to get back to work.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin slid the granite slab back over the hole and sighed with relief before she pushed herself to her feet, "I've almost died several times today and I have no idea how long we've been down in that putrid stinkhole. I need to get Whitaker home and I need a shower. How about we meet up in an hour or so and continue from there?"

[Steel Mirror]

So with only the slightest hint of hesitation Connor stood up, ready to get back to work.

As he regathers his wits, his cellphone beeps. He pulls it out. Apparently, it's about 4 pm. He had lost signal during their trek underground.

He has two text messages from about two hours ago, both from Kim.

Unlock starts in about half an hour, if you can make it to the library. I think Mara can get you addresses for more of the guys from Quarterblack.

Apparently he is already an hour late for the meeting, not even counting how far he may be from downtown right now. He checks the second message, timed from about the time the meeting was supposed to start.

Bad news. More people missing. I'm starting to get scared. Call me. :smallfrown:

[Sanguine]

Connor looks up from the text message distractedly. "Hmm? Uh yeah, an hour's fine." Bringing his attention back to the cellphone Connor dials Kim's number with a tiny flash of guilt. He had gotten so caught up in investigating the shooting that he had forgotten all about the kidnapped musicians. True Chêne had said they were safe, and while that more or less guaranteed they weren't in any mortal danger Faeries often had a very different idea of safe then mortals so who knew what kinds of emotional or psychological torment was being inflicted upon them.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin made note of Connor's current expression, moving over to take the ghost dog sling from him and putting it over her shoulders, "If you've got something you need to deal with, that's fine. Just meet back up with me when you can so we can figure this whole damn thing out."

With that, she spun on her heel and started walking off, meanwhile trying to get her bearings and figure out where she was now so that she could safely navigate her way back home, "Don't worry, Whitaker. Kara's going to love you. Not so sure about Mom but hey, its not as though you're going to shed all over the furniture or something."

[Steel Mirror]

Connor dials Kim's number with a tiny flash of guilt.

"Connor thank gods. I was starting to worry that something had happened to you. Is everything ok?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Don't worry, Whitaker. Kara's going to love you. Not so sure about Mom but hey, its not as though you're going to shed all over the furniture or something."

The ghost dog has gotten heavier in the afternoon almost-sunlight. It looks like it will be raining again soon. Yin can feel him shivering under the covers.

It turns out they are in a mixed residential/light commercial area just north of Chinatown's Eastern reaches. The church is Seattle's First Episcopal church.

There is a bus stop nearby, and she knows the city buses well enough to get back home that way.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin hugs Whitaker closer to herself when she feels him shiver, frowning a bit, "Its okay. I'll get you home safe and sound. You'll like it there, I promise."

Hurrying over to the bus stop, she waits as patiently as she can, petting through the covers to try and settle Whitaker's nerves. She had to admit that she'd probably be freaked out in his situation. Lots of climbing and screaming and running with no way to know what was going on? Still, he'd be safe in the Zhao home, and hopefully she'd find a way to anchor him there or to her permanently so that he didn't end up back in that rat infested Undertown.

[Sanguine]

Connor feels another stab of guilt as he realizes he mad Kim worry about him. "Yeah, I'm fine. But it seems I don't get any reception down in Undertown. Sorry for making you worry."

[Bunny of Faith]

Andrew grins in satisfaction as his shield deflects the attacks of the skin-walkers, using the lull in combat to shout, "Little Folk, I need some help! You're always bloody around, especially here, so if you'd make the orange wolf think that the other wolf was me, or the other way around, that'd be good!" He pauses, looks around quickly, then adds, "There's pizza in it for you!"

[Steel Mirror]

Hurrying over to the bus stop, she waits as patiently as she can, petting through the covers to try and settle Whitaker's nerves.

The bus arrives and Yin climbs aboard. The driver eyes her dirty little bundle of cloth and jacket, but doesn't say anything.

In the back of the bus, she finds a spot as far from anyone else as possible and sits, still doing what she can to calm Whitaker down. He is still shivering, and has added the occasional plaintive whine. A little bit of ectoplasm leaks out of the jacket onto her lap.

At the next stop, a big guy gets on the bus and settles in the seat across the bus aisle from Yin. Despite the fact that food isn't allowed on public transportation, he pulls out a whole, hot, footlong subway teriyaki chicken sandwich and begins munching on it.

As the smell wafts over to Yin, her stomach rumbles. She hasn't eaten since that morning, and her unplanned sojourn beneath half the city has made her hungrier than she realized.

At the same moment that she smells the sandwich, Whitaker seems to, as well. With a happy yip, he leaps from her lap, jacket and all, and into the center aisle. There he makes a blind charge in the general direction of the delicious smell, and bonks into the base of one of the chairs.

[Steel Mirror]

"There's pizza in it for you!"
There is a rumbling noise from beneath Andrew's feet, and a mound of earth almost three feet wide shivers and shimmies its way up from the ground from directly under him. Over the next few seconds, little toadstools about the size of quarters pop into existence in a perfect circle around his position.

"Would you mind moving slightly, sir? You seem to be standing on my eye." Andrew blinks, then realizes that the circle of dirt has resolved into the rough shape of a face. A gash in the earth is moving in time with the cultured words, which are pronounced with a refined European accent of some kind, not immediately identifiable. One green semiprecious stone eye is blinking up at him, and his left foot is on top the place that other one should be.

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah, I'm fine. But it seems I don't get any reception down in Undertown. Sorry for making you worry."

"Undertown? So you really were incommunicado. I guess that's a damn good excuse, at least."

"I'm at the central library right now. The meeting is wrapping up soon, but I can ask Dana to stick around. Some more people have gone missing, and I think we're way past coincidence at this point. I'm starting to get really worried, actually."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin quietly grumbles as Whitaker 'wets' himself, apparently. Still, she can deal with it. She hadn't planned on wearing these sewer diving clothes anytime soon again anyway. Of course, that isn't nearly the problem that having to smell that sandwich is. While definitely better than the smell of the Undertown, all it did was remind her of the empty pit that was her stomach, now howling for sustenance.

Eyes go wide as Whitaker leaps from her arms and after the food, "Whitaker, no!" Yin leaps after him, grabbing him when he runs right into a seat and picking him back up, trying to keep a stronger grip on him and chuckling nervously towards the large man with the sandwich, "Sorry about that. He's just really hungry. Long day at the vet, you know? Getting him all his shots."

[Steel Mirror]

"Sorry about that. He's just really hungry. Long day at the vet, you know? Getting him all his shots."

"You got a little guy in there? Poor dude, he's probably not happy about being all cooped up."

He reaches out a teriyaki stained finger towards the bundle of fabric. "Hey little guy! You want some sandwich?"

[Sanguine]

"Yeah, it's definitely not a coincidence. I'll fill you in on what I've learned as soon as I can get to the library. Which might take me a while as I honestly have no idea where I am at the moment."

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah, it's definitely not a coincidence. I'll fill you in on what I've learned as soon as I can get to the library. Which might take me a while as I honestly have no idea where I am at the moment."
"Ok. Thank you. I'll be waiting here."

Connor hangs up and takes a look around. Yin is on the bus that is leaving the nearby station, and after a moment he realizes where he is. He is about half an hour on foot from where he left his car, and equadistant from downtown and the central library. He could call a cab, but he doesn't have any cash on hand. And the bus isn't really fast enough for his tastes. He's late enough for Kim as it is, and he wants to be there as fast as possible.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin leans away a little from the man when he reaches out, chuckling again, "He's.. um.. nervous around strangers, you know? That's why I've got him wrapped up. And, uh, I'm trying not to spoil him with human food, you know? But thanks for the offer."

She looked about, glancing out the windows and wondering when she could get off so that she could get her ghost dog home and keep him from exploding in the sunlight. Man, why can't I just have normal person problems?

[Steel Mirror]

"He's.. um.. nervous around strangers, you know? That's why I've got him wrapped up. And, uh, I'm trying not to spoil him with human food, you know? But thanks for the offer."
He follows Yin back to her seat. "No really dude. You can't keep an animal cooped up like that. They have to like, breathe and stuff, just like people." Great. An indignant, well meaning, and ignorant bystander. These cause as much trouble as the monsters, sometimes.

"I don't think you can even have animals on the bus, man." He takes another bite out of his sub.

[AvianMalkavian]

"He can breath just fine," She grumbles, nearly growling at the end of that sentence as she sat back down and held Whitaker close to her.

She eyed this bozo and his sub, nodding her head towards it, "You aren't allowed to have food on the bus either, but you don't see me getting on your case about it. How about you go back to your seat before I defenestrate you?"

[Steel Mirror]

"You aren't allowed to have food on the bus either, but you don't see me getting on your case about it. How about you go back to your seat before I defenestrate you?"
His eyes widen in righteous anger. "Did anyone hear that? This girl is threatening to sexually assault me! And she is abusing that animal! And she's breaking bus policy!" His voice raises with each charge until he is yelling loud enough for the whole bus to hear. Whitaker begins barking back at him, and people are starting to stare.

Meanwhile, more ectoplasm drips from the jacket. Yin is starting to worry that all this excitement isn't good for the little guy. If she doesn't get him behind a real threshold and away from the dangerous effects of the sun, and soon, he might not make it. She definitely doesn't have time for this, or to be kicked off the bus and have to walk home.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin is practically grinding her teeth as this guy yells. She can feel the ectoplasm dripping out and the fact that Whitaker is, basically, falling apart only pisses her off more. She stops herself before she can kick the guy in the groin though. Doing that would only cause more trouble. Instead, she tries to get away from him, letting out a girlish shriek, "Get away from me, you pervert! I don't want to see your.. your sex dungeon! I'm only 16!"

Maybe that'd get him to go away? It was worth a shot.

[Sanguine]

Connor considers his options briefly before deciding that walking is probably the best option. So with his decision made Connor sets out on a leisurely jog to the library. Or at least what he considers a leisurely jog, most people would probably classify it as Olympic-level sprinting.

[Steel Mirror]

"Get away from me, you pervert! I don't want to see your.. your sex dungeon! I'm only 16!"

"Wha? Bwa? Thaz just . . . I didn't . . ." The guy can't marshall anything else in the way of defense, and now people are staring at him. "I swear I didn't . . ." An old lady shouts something at him, and he deflates completely. Hiding his face behind his bag he moves to a seat close to the bus's rear exit, apparently ready to get off at the next stop. Chicken ans sauce dribble our of his sandwich as he retreats.

The old woman comes to sit next to Yin. "Are you all right dear? Would you like someone to call the police?" She shoots a dirty look at the man, who is unsuccessfully trying to shrink his generous bulk entirely behind his paper sandwich bag.

[AvianMalkavian]

She made an effort to hide her disappointment at having someone else come talk to her now, offering the elderly woman a smile. "Oh no, it's alright. I'm fine, and I'm sure he's learned his lesson," She said, looking over at the man with smug satisfaction in her eyes.

[Steel Mirror]

Connor considers his options briefly before deciding that walking is probably the best option. So with his decision made Connor sets out on a leisurely jog to the library. Or at least what he considers a leisurely jog, most people would probably classify it as Olympic-level sprinting.

He makes it there in under fifteen minutes. He isn't even really sweating, though he's not exactly smelling like roses when he arrives either. Between the hourse in the disgusting undercity and a facefull of ectoplasm, he's actually looking pretty rumpled, and smelling worse. He didn't have time to shave, either, since this whole thing began.

He looks like a hobo.

The Central Library is an amazing structure, designed by some modern architect and colored inside like a child's toy box. The entrance is a huge, open room with a ceiling that stretches almost a hundred feet above. Across the broad floor are set up dozens of reading surfaces, magazine racks, and public computers. Directly to the right is a group of receptionists and security guys, several of which are looking at Connor curiously. Further to the right, and on, is the stacks, as well as numerous media rooms, meeting rooms, and other more contained library spaces. They are situated in a tall, glass clad structure, almost a building inside the library building. His goal is somewhere on one of those floors.

"You doing all right, buddy?" One of the guards has sidled up to Connor and is looking at him with a calm, friendly expression, but his hand is on his knight stick.

[Steel Mirror]

"Oh no, it's alright. I'm fine, and I'm sure he's learned his lesson,"
She eyes the bundle of shivering, leaking fabric. "You know, maybe you should get that animal checked out. I have a chihuahua and they can literally scare themselves to death. He might need some fresh air."

God this day can't get any more annoying. She is clearly a busybody, interested in sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. If she can just deal with this woman, maybe she can make it home and try to save his unlife.

[AvianMalkavian]

"I just came from the vet. They said he's got a bladder control problem. I just need to get him home so I can give him his medication, that's all. But really, thanks for helping."

She gives the woman the warmest smile she can, praying underneath that she'll just go away so that she can focus on getting Whitaker home.

[Sanguine]

As Connor walks into the library he can't help but feel all of the eyes staring at him. Maybe a quick trip to his apartment to shower and change clothes would have been a good idea. Oh well, it's too late for that now. He'll just have to deal with the looks.

As the security guard comes over he can't help but sigh. This is just what needed. Still, maybe it could be a blessing in disguise. Hooking his thumb through his belt loop Connor nonchalantly pushed his jacket back revealing the badge hanging at his waist. "Yeah I'm fine, it's just been a busy day. I don't suppose you know where Unlock meets do you?"

[Steel Mirror]

"I just came from the vet. They said he's got a bladder control problem. I just need to get him home so I can give him his medication, that's all. But really, thanks for helping."

She gives the woman the warmest smile she can, praying underneath that she'll just go away so that she can focus on getting Whitaker home.

With a "hrrrmphing" noise and a few mutters, Yin is finally free to get home in peace. The bozo with the sandwich retreats off the bus at the first opportunity.

When she finally reaches her stop, she charges off the bus and to the Dancing Dragon with all the speed she can muster. Whitaker's struggles have settled down and his cries stopped a while ago. She can only hope and pray that she will reach home in time.

Athletics, and if you want a post describing Yin bursting in the doors (it's a slow time for the restaurant, thankfully) with the ghost dog she has invited into her family residence . . .

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just been a busy day. I don't suppose you know where Unlock meets do you?"
The guard blinks, clearly put off by the mismatch between appearance and apparently legitimate authority. To his credit, he checks the badge carefully before answering. "Yeah, room 3G. I think they're just wrapping up, if you're looking to join up."

Connor nods and heads up, stopping only to consult a map and get his bearings.

The room is a large space with cartoon palm trees and jungle animals painted on the walls. Short bookshelves filled with picture books cover two of the walls, and various instruments and music stands are set up throughout the room. A circle of chairs take up the far corner, mostly empty. About two dozen people are standing in front of those chairs as Connor quietly lets himself in.

A young woman with shocking blue hair cut in an asymmetrical slash is leading everyone in some kind of inspirational chant.

"She there dozed a wondrous work to frame,
Whose like on earth was never framed yet,
That own Nature self enjoyed the same,
And grudged to see the counterfeit should shame
The thing it self. In hadn she boldly took
To make another like the former Dame,
Another Florimell, in shape and looke
So lively and so like, that many it mistook.
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.”

"All right everyone, be well. Good session, and remember to be safe. Don't go anywhere alone, and call your friends or the police if you feel unsafe for any reason. Better looking foolish and jittery than gone." She looks deeply concerned, and the party breaks apart with troubled mumbling.

Kim notices Connor as soon as he comes through the door, and breaks away from the others as soon as the chant ends. "You made it just in time. There are supposed to be twice as many people here. Tell me you found something last night." For her to launch straight into a request without a little banter, she is clearly very worried, too.

[Sanguine]

Connor watches the young woman, listening to the chant. He doesn't quite understand it, maybe because he started listening halfway through, what he did understand was that the thing set him on edge. There was just something off about it.

As Kim comes over Connor finds himself acutely conscious of his rumpled appearance and rancid odor. Oh the odor. "Yeah I did. Well actually this morning. But before we get into that, what was that chant thingy just now?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah I did. Well actually this morning. But before we get into that, what was that chant thingy just now?"

She rolls her eyes. "This thing, that Dana does. She's a psychologist who wrote a self help book about artists and performers unlocking their inner muse to make it in the world. It has a lot of the new-agey, touchy feelie stuff like chanting and self actualization journals."

"The thing is, it really works! Like, 75% of the people who join Unlock manage to get their acts together and find some success. It's been amazing."

Then she bites her lip. "Until recently, of course."

[Sanguine]

"%@$&." Connor muttered as he realized why the chant had raised his hackles. Turning to Kim he takes her by the shoulders and says. "This is really, really bad. We need to get you behind a threshold, now!"

[Steel Mirror]

"This is really, really bad. We need to get you behind a threshold, now!"
She pauses in confusion, but just for a second. Then Connor sees a flash of fear cross her face, followed by a flash of defiance.

"You found something out, didn't you? You think I'm in danger, and it has something to do with this place."She looks him straight in the eye. "Well I'm not the only person here, and these people are my friends. If I'm in danger, they're in danger, too. And I'm not running for cover and leaving them out in the cold."

[Sanguine]

Conflicting emotions war as Connor thinks about what Kim just said. They'd make better time if it was just the two of them. But could he really just leave these people to the mercy of the Prince? After a moment his better nature, with the aid of his desire to not waste time arguing, wins out and he says. "Fine. Gather everyone up for a trip to the Dancing Dragon. But Dana can't come. I don't trust her."

[AvianMalkavian]

As soon as Yin is off the bus, she is racing at full speed towards the Dancing Dragon. She doesn't stop for anyone or anything, desperately trying to reach safety to make sure that Whitaker is okay. Worn out, both physically and mentally, all she can do is silently pray she will get there in time, hoofing it with every last ounce of strength she can push herself with.

Running across a street, she jumps onto the sidewalk, quickly telling Whitaker he's invited inside, before shouldering her way through the door and kicking it shut behind her as she turns to fall onto her back, panting furiously.

Athletics Roll: [roll0] + 3 = 2

[Steel Mirror]

"Fine. Gather everyone up for a trip to the Dancing Dragon. But Dana can't come. I don't trust her."

"So you're accusing her of having part of this. I like her, and I'm not having her disappearance on my conscience. Besides, if she is a part of this, you should talk to her and figure this out, right? And I'm not saying that she needs to be in the same place as everyone else, if you really think that there is danger. Just that she could be valuable if she knows something, and if she knows nothing she deserves protection as much as any of us."

A pause. Then, "wait, the Dancing Dragon? In Chinatown?"

[Steel Mirror]

Running across a street, she jumps onto the sidewalk, quickly telling Whitaker he's invited inside, before shouldering her way through the door and kicking it shut behind her as she turns to fall onto her back, panting furiously.

The greeter looks at Yin with a shocked expression. Behind him, the day crew is cleaning up for the night rush and a few customers are enjoying some food by the window.

Whitaker flops out of his impromptu carrier and gets unsteadily to his feet, shaking himself like he just got out of the shower and sending tiny droplets of ectoplasm flying in all directions. He looks even more translucent than before, though whether that is a result of his stressful journey or because it's the first time Yin is seeing him outside of pitch blackness she couldn't say.

He looks eagerly up at the workers and customers, wagging his stubby see-through tail.

"I should probably go get your mother for this, yes?" asks the greeter in Chinese.

[Sanguine]

"We don't have time to argue about this. If you're worried about her tell her to go straight home and lock her doors. I'm fine with that. But I don't trust her and I'm not risking everyone's safety to protect her. I'm not risking your safety." There is a desperate pleading look in Connor's eye as he says this. He can't let anything happen to Kim. He can't. "And yes the Dancing Dragon. It's big enough for everyone, has a strong threshold, and going there as a group won't arouse suspicion from any normals in the group. The family of demon hunters running the place is also a nice bonus. If you can think of somewhere better I'm all ears."

[AvianMalkavian]

"Yes, I think that would be good. Thank you."

Yin laid back for a few moments, just catching her breath before she got up. Whitaker looked a bit more translucent than before, but then he had leaked a bunch of ectoplasm on her too. She knelt down beside him, grabbing up her jacket and the sheet, "What do ghost dogs eat? I mean.. I know you wanted to eat that sandwich on the bus, but wouldn't it just go right through you like Slimer? Oh man, I got Dog Slimer as a pet!"

[Steel Mirror]

"If you can think of somewhere better I'm all ears."

She looks frustrated. "No, you know this stuff better than I do. I just . . . the Zhao family makes me nervous. It's ok. They just . . . my family and theirs has some history. I'm sure it will be fine, your friend seemed pretty nice. Do you think, at least, that you could have someone take Dana home? A policeman even? You're just kind of scaring me, and I'm afraid for her, too."

With that she turns back to the rest of the gathering, slowly winding down and, for the most part, oblivious of Kim and Connor's intense discussion. "And how are we going to convince them to come down and huddle up in the Chinese restaurant bomb shelter?"

[Steel Mirror]

"What do ghost dogs eat? I mean.. I know you wanted to eat that sandwich on the bus, but wouldn't it just go right through you like Slimer? Oh man, I got Dog Slimer as a pet!"
He sniffs at the air hopefully, then orients on the closest table. With a peppy trot he moves with purpose toward the elderly couple who are staring at Yin and her "dog" in surprise, their sweet and sour soup forgotten between them. Yin tries to grab him with the jacket, but the trip through the threshold seems to have purged the last of its ghost-touching power. She passes right through Whitaker's body, making her hands go unpleasantly numb.

He sits next to the old woman and pants up at her hopefully, underfed and mangy as ever. Also, a ghost.

She drops her spoon. Her husband's mouth is working soundlessly, as though he can't decide what to say but is certain he should be saying something, and probably loudly.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin shuddered at the strange feeling of passing through a ghost. Funny, in the movies that was always the case. Once in a while Hollywood was right about something. Crawling after him, she chuckled and smiled to the elderly couple, "Don't worry. He's actually really sweet. Honest."

Getting to her feet, she patted her leg and whistled to get Whitaker's attention, "Here boy! Come on, I take you to the kitchen and get you something to eat, okay?" She keeps grinning, her little laugh bordering on hysterical, speaking softly through her teeth, "Oh gods, my mom is going to kill me."

[Sanguine]

"There's a Detective who owes me a favor, I suppose I can have him escort her home. As for getting people to come to the Dancing Dragon. It's a restaurant seems a natural place for you guys to hang out as a group. You do that right? You could also play up the safety in numbers bit. I can't imagine anyone is terribly thrilled with the idea of spending the night alone right about now. That should at least get them there. As for how to make them stay put..." Connor frowns in frustration and sighs. "...I'll come up with something."

[Steel Mirror]

"Here boy! Come on, I take you to the kitchen and get you something to eat, okay? Oh gods, my mom is going to kill me."

He keeps his eyes fixed directly on the bowl of soup, as though looking through the underside of the table at it. Which, hey, ghost. Maybe he is.

"Your dog . . . is a ghost!" The woman seems shocked, perhaps of her own mastery of the obvious. She begins to hyperventilate.

[AvianMalkavian]

"No he's not. You're just.. having a bad dream. Yes, that's it. This is a very strange dream, probably having something to do with feeling helpless in your current work situation. I don't know. Just.. don't worry about it so much, okay?"

She glared at her ghost dog now, "Whitaker! Come here! I'll get you some soup, okay? Just come to the kitchen with me!"

[Steel Mirror]

"...I'll come up with something."

She shakes her head and lets out a long breath, not in disagreement but just to burn off some excess energy and anxiety. Connor recognizes the motion. It's Kim for "things are crazy and I'm freaking overwhelmed, but it's time to get down to business anyway."

"Ok, detective. You're the professional." She raises her voice to address the whole room. "Hey, everyone! This is detective O'Reilly. He's the man who caught the guys who attacked O'Reilly's last night, and he's the man who has been investigating the disappearances of Randy and Hannah and all the others. He thinks we might be in danger, but he can protect us. If we all just go out for dinner to talk this over, and maybe share anything we know with him to help the investigation, we'll all be a lot safer and we can help him get to the bottom of this."

Everyone listens, and then looks at Connor. They don't look very impressed. Maybe they don't like eau d'Undertown sewer main. "Isn't that the guy who punched the reporter this morning on Channel 5?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Whitaker! Come here! I'll get you some soup, okay? Just come to the kitchen with me!"

A nearby group of young guys and girls is now out of their seats, moving slowly to get a better look at what is going on. One of them pulls out a camera phone.

As for the elderly couple, they seem less than convinced. "I can see right through him!" She crosses herself and folds her hands in front of her. "Our Father, who art in heaven . . . "

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." Yin knows that voice, and she knew this was coming. "You know I always wanted a ghost dog! Zero! Good boy! Oh my god, this makes you Jack Skellington! Your mom can be Sally, I am totally getting my Dr. Finklestein on!"

[Sanguine]

Connor steps forward indignant. Too indignant to even be properly miffed that his stupidity was coming back to bite him in the butt. "I didn't punch him I shoved him. There's a difference. Besides the guy was asking for it."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin makes note of the other people beginning to move to see what was going, trying to stand in front of him so that other people wouldn't see. She sighed a little, when she heard Kara, of course, turning to shake her head at her, "His name isn't Zero. Its Whitaker. Get it? Like-oh nevermind. Help me get him into the kitchen. I can't pick him up because he's.." Glancing at the older woman still at the table, "..heavy. Look, maybe you just ate some bad soup or something, lady. No one is translucent around here."

[Steel Mirror]

"His name isn't Zero. Its Whitaker. Get it? Like-oh nevermind. Help me get him into the kitchen. I can't pick him up because he's....heavy. Look, maybe you just ate some bad soup or something, lady. No one is translucent around here."

"Riiiiiiight." Kara gives an exaggerated wink, then steps out between Yin and the kids with the phones. "I've got this. Here." She grabs the bowl of soup, then hands it to Yin. "Sorry ma'am, this soup is clearly not to your liking. My friend here will be happy to replace it for you." As she is talking, Whitaker's eyes follow the moving soup bowl and he gets up and lets out a happy yip.

Kara grabs the phone right out of the boy's hands ("hey!") and motions for Yin to leave. "Don't listen to the crazy lady, there was no translucent household pets or adorable little spirits playing catch with spirit bones. What you saw was light from the planet Venus, reflected off a weather balloon into a pocket of swamp gas . . ."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin takes the bowl of soup and quickly leads Whitaker into the kitchen, choking back a huge laugh at Kara's attempt to placate the masses. Once she was away from the general public, she set the bowl down for her ghost dog to.. eat or whatever he planned to do with it, "Wow. This day just keeps getting better and better. We've got to work on this whole thing, Whit. Seriously, you can't just stand around in public just because there's food. You'll draw too much attention and then you'll get me in trouble and.. you're not paying attention are you?"

She sighed, leaning against one of the tables, "You're a dog."

[Steel Mirror]

"I didn't punch him I shoved him. There's a difference. Besides the guy was asking for it."
Shockingly, his explanation of the difference doesn't seem to win him any more support. They look awkwardly at each other, and no one steps forward.

"I think we should listen to him," announces a voice from behind the crowd. A few people move aside, letting Connor see who was talking. A young man is sitting in a wheelchair, with a shiny pair of black eyes and his arm in a sling. "He saved my life last night at the bar, and if Kim trusts him it's good enough for me. Besides," and the young man smiles and puts on a natty black hat. "I'm kind of in the mood for some Chinese."

[Steel Mirror]

"You're a dog."

Whitaker laps eagerly at the soup, consuming nothing but sending it splashing across the floor nonetheless. Maybe he can taste it? He's very excited about it, anyway.

"No, it isn't. It is a trapped spirit. It is dangerous and yet somehow appears to have penetrated the threshold. But who would be so foolish as to invite an unknown ghost into our home?" Yin's mother delivers the question serenely, but she clearly isn't happy.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin looks up, mystified, "I sense something.. a presence I've not felt since.."

Turning to her mother, she frowns and crosses her arms, attempting to make it clear that this is something she won't budge on, "Before you start in on me because of this, I went with Connor into Undertown and we got lost. If it hadn't been for Whitaker here," Motioning to the dog who was happily lapping ineffectively at soup, "We would've been stuck down there and probably had our souls eaten by ghost children. He helped us find a way out. In return, I decided to take him with me. He didn't deserve to be trapped down there with those things."

"As far as I know, its only temporary though. I need to find some way to anchor him here permanently. So.. um.. could you help me with that, please, Mom?"

[Sanguine]

With all of the injuries the man suffered it takes a moment for Connor to recognize him. He was one of the musicians at last night's battle of the bands, Connor didn't know his name though. He was also quite sure that the man hadn't been in quite so bad of shape last night. Nodding his thanks to the man he turn back to the crowd and says. "I've been up all night hunting down leads on this case, and have gotten maybe two hours of sleep. So if I come off as rude, cranky, or a crazy hobo I apologize. But you need to trust me when I say that I am here to help you and if you cooperate with me I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. So please lets just go eat some goddamn Chinese food."

Rapport Roll: [roll0]+2=2

I'm gonna Invoke my "Strength in Solidarity" Aspect to bump that up to 4. These are musicians so chances are they've been to O'Reilly's and everyone who spend any time there knows Connor is a decent chap.

[Steel Mirror]

"As far as I know, its only temporary though. I need to find some way to anchor him here permanently. So.. um.. could you help me with that, please, Mom?"

She arches a single eyebrow at her willful child. "I would forbid this, but I have no doubt that you would refuse to listen. So I will say this instead."

"You can keep it, but you will have to take care of it yourself. Feed it, keep it from making a mess in the restaurant, ensure that it doesn't revert to its base nature and tear apart guests in its mad hunger to feast on the energy of the living. And determine how to anchor it here yourself, if it is even possible. Removed from its own demesne I anticipate it will dissipate within the week."

She turns to walk away, then pauses at the door. "And I will take care of the guests who saw your monster. But you must learn to think ahead to the consequences of your actions. Decisions have ramifications, and some day your inability to see that will cost you something precious."

[Steel Mirror]

"I've been up all night hunting down leads on this case, and have gotten maybe two hours of sleep. So if I come off as rude, cranky, or a crazy hobo I apologize. But you need to trust me when I say that I am here to help you and if you cooperate with me I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. So please lets just go eat some goddamn Chinese food."

Between his reassuring speech and solid professionalism, aided not a tiny bit by Kim's recommendation and her ability to bat her eyelashes prettily, the group agrees to head to the Dancing Dragon. While Kim organizes transportation and directions, the young woman with the bright hair that was leading the chant comes up to Connor.

"I'm Dana, the head of this little gathering," she says. "I didn't want to raise the alarm in front of everyone, as we're all pretty spooked already. I guess Kim's told you about everything. The disappearances and so on. And I take it you must have found something? Something that has made you worried for everyone's safety?"

Her expression is sincere, but then Connor has known some pretty good liars. She pushes her brightly died bangs back from her eyes and looks to him for answers.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin sighed at her mother's words. She knew her mother was right, but it wasn't as though she had had a choice. Whitaker would've melted in the sun if she hadn't gotten him here, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. By the way, what do I feed a ghost? He seems to be currently interested in feasting on the energy of this sweet and sour soup, but I get the sense that that isn't going to work?"

"Also, he's not a monster. He's a dog. And he's my friend. I'm going to find some way to anchor him here and I'm going to take care of him and help him. I don't know how, but I'm going to do it."

[Steel Mirror]

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. By the way, what do I feed a ghost? He seems to be currently interested in feasting on the energy of this sweet and sour soup, but I get the sense that that isn't going to work?"

"Also, he's not a monster. He's a dog. And he's my friend. I'm going to find some way to anchor him here and I'm going to take care of him and help him. I don't know how, but I'm going to do it."

"Ghosts usually eat mortals. I trust that I don't have to worry about you feeding such to your little pet." With that, she leaves Yin and Whitaker alone.

Whitaker, at least, seems to care little for her disapproval. He finishes sloshing the soup from the bowl onto the floor, then contents himself for a few moments spreading the cooling soup around the wooden floor. He loses interest by the time the liquid has stopped steaming, and turns back to Yin with a contented ghost burp.

[AvianMalkavian]

"I don't know, I could think of a few.." She rolled her eyes, not even having to see the look she was receiving from her mother to feel it and respond, "Just kidding! Honestly. I'm sure there's some kind of substitute for mortals that I can find."

"Apparently soup works," She smiled to Whitaker at the burp, "Kara and I are going to have to do some research to see what we can do to get you in better shape. Seriously, I thought ghosts were supposed to look.. in their prime or something."

[Sanguine]

Crap. Connor was really hoping Kim would be the one to talk to Dana. Which was admittedly kind of cowardly. He was the one who didn't want her to come, so he should be the one to tell her. Extending his hand he says. "Connor. And yeah I've learned a few things. Anyway, I don't think you should come with us down to the restaurant. I think it would be best if you go straight home and lock your doors and windows. I have a friend I can call to make sure you get home safely, a fellow cop."

[Steel Mirror]

"Connor. And yeah I've learned a few things. Anyway, I don't think you should come with us down to the restaurant. I think it would be best if you go straight home and lock your doors and windows. I have a friend I can call to make sure you get home safely, a fellow cop."

She looks confused. "I'm sorry? What? Why should I go home if you are taking everyone to this place to get their testimony? I know the missing people as well as anyone here. They have been my students, my oldest and best ones. I can tell you more about them than anyone else."

[Steel Mirror]

"Kara and I are going to have to do some research to see what we can do to get you in better shape. Seriously, I thought ghosts were supposed to look.. in their prime or something."

Whitaker seems content to listen to Yin talk for a while, and Yin is just glad to unwind from the recent madness. Even with her mother snarking at her, it's nice just to have a friendly ear to bend. Even an animal, ghost ear. Maybe especially an animal ghost ear.

In a few minutes, Kara bounces through the door. "I was worried about you after you left looking so bummed out, but this is a strong recovery! We convinced the customers that Slimer here was a malfunctioning part of our laser show. Well, I say convinced. We kicked them out and told them that nobody would believe their story over ours. Basically. Umm, I've been meaning to take that customer service course."

She leans over Whitaker, who is happily panting in her direction. "He looks a little ragged, doesn't he? Where didja get him?"

[Sanguine]

Connor grinds his teeth. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. It would be simple enough to lie to her, but him and lying, they didn't really mix. So that left him trying to convince her to do something without telling her why or making her suspicious. "I know all of that, and I definitely want to interview you. But later. Right now I need you to trust me and go home. Please."

I'm going to make an Empathy Assessment on Dana.

[roll0]+3=3

[AvianMalkavian]

"We found him in Undertown. He helped me and Connor get out when we got lost. Only seemed fair to take him with us. That place was horrible," She reached out to pet Whitaker, and then realized that she couldn't because he was a ghost. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Hey, can you keep an eye on him? I've been walking around in the sewers for a few hours. I could really, really, really use a shower."

[Steel Mirror]

"I know all of that, and I definitely want to interview you. But later. Right now I need you to trust me and go home. Please."

The color drains from her face. "Oh my god. Do you think . . . do you think I am in special danger? You said that you would have a policeman escort me home. Are they coming after me next?"

Her voice is getting shrill by the end, and if it's a performance then it's a better one than Connor can see through. She seems to be feeling exactly what she is saying, which at this moment is dread and fear. Her eyes are as wide as they can be, and she is clutching her stack of papers and notebooks so tightly to her chest that they are beginning to crumple.

[Steel Mirror]

"Hey, can you keep an eye on him? I've been walking around in the sewers for a few hours. I could really, really, really use a shower."

Kara's nose wrinkles up. "Oh is that you? I thought it was cuddlysnuffles here. Yeah, take that shower fastest, girl. You smell like troll rectum." Then she is cooing and making little baby noises, and Yin decides that she can probably have a few minutes to herself right now.

[Sanguine]

Connor is taken aback by the display of emotion. This doesn't seem to fit with his theory that she's working with the Prince. But while she certainly seemed sincere he couldn't risk peoples safety on the chance that she was just a really good actress. Besides she could be sincere and still dangerous, the pawns of Faeries are as often as not unwitting. Please calm down. I don't know what to think at this point. But I am doing everything I can to make sure everyone is as safe as I can possibly make them with the information I do have. So, Dana, please just calm down."

[Steel Mirror]

Please calm down. I don't know what to think at this point. But I am doing everything I can to make sure everyone is as safe as I can possibly make them with the information I do have. So, Dana, please just calm down."

"Ok, ok." She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, clearly getting control of herself. She mutters a few words under her breath, but Connor can't get a sense of them.

"Are you sure that my home is the safest place? Should I be somewhere . . . I don't know, public? I live alone. I don't really . . . I don't know if there is anyone that I could call at a time like this."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin lets out a sigh of relief, looking to Whitaker and pointing at her friend, "Whitaker, this is Kara, she's a friend. Okay? Kara, this is Whitaker. He's a ghost and he likes soup, apparently. Good, you're acquainted, now if you'll excuse me."

Quickly running off, she went about taking a nice (but quick), warm, relaxing shower. From there, it was a little more difficult finding some spare clothes, but she managed it. An old pair of Reebok Pumps that still fit, a pair of Kara's jeans that didn't exactly fit right, and a t-shirt that said "I'm not weird. I'm limited edition." later, and she was quickly on her way back to make sure that her two friends hadn't gotten into any trouble while she was gone.

[Steel Mirror]

An old pair of Reebok Pumps that still fit, a pair of Kara's jeans that didn't exactly fit right, and a t-shirt that said "I'm not weird. I'm limited edition." later, and she was quickly on her way back to make sure that her two friends hadn't gotten into any trouble while she was gone.

"It's like ghost doggie Jacuzzi!" Kara exclaims, by way of explanation. Whitaker is currently immersed in a twenty gallon stock pot full of steaming sweet and sour soup, the pot that the kitchen had been prepping for the dinner rush. Whitaker is visible only in flashes as a paw pokes out the side of the pot, or his nose rises temporarily above the level of the liquid. His happy cries are still clearly audible, despite his immersion in hot soup. Ghosts.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin just stares at this scene for a few moments before simply shrugging, "Who knows? Maybe ectoplasm is just the thing the soup needs. Come on, Whitaker. Get out of there!"

She looks to Kara, "So.. any ideas on what we feed a ghost?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Would you mind moving slightly, sir? You seem to be standing on my eye."

Andrew shuffles a few feet to the side, revealing the rock face's other stone eye. He feels a buzz of energy from the circle of toadstools at his back, and takes a moment to identify it. A veil. Contained in a magic circle, somehow. And he is inside it.

He spares a look for the monsters that have been trying to ruin his nature hike. The owl is flapping around confusedly nearby, and the orange wolf is snarling at thin air, sniffing in all directions in an apparent attempt to find his scent.

Ah-ha. The veil is to hide him, then. Probably both him and the face in the ground. It's a respite at most, since to push power outside the circle he'll have to break the veil, and then the fight will be on once more. Not to mention the fact that, with their enhanced senses, the skin-walkers are sure to find him soon, mushroom veil or no.

It's a chance to catch his breath and formulate a plan, though, and he'll take it.

"Much better, lad. Now I believe you mentioned the possibility of pizza?"

[Steel Mirror]

"Who knows? Maybe ectoplasm is just the thing the soup needs. Come on, Whitaker. Get out of there!"

She looks to Kara, "So.. any ideas on what we feed a ghost?"

"Your mom told me to make sure he doesn't eat people. I guess other than that, do ghosts really eat? I mean, he is dead, right?"

Then she grins widely, like the Cheshire cat. If the Cheshire cat were an obnoxious redhead. "Or you can try to cook your Zen diet pizza again, and he can eat the ghost of the meal you just murdered!"

[Steel Mirror]

I'm going to make an Empathy Assessment on Dana.

[roll0]+3=3

Sorry, forgot to give you an aspect for this. Her High Concept is "Pop Psychologist to the Wannabe Stars".

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin stares right at her friend, "I'd hit you if I thought you wouldn't disintegrate under the power of my holy wrath."

"I guess so. Still, he seems hungry, otherwise he wouldn't be swimming in soup," And then she goes back to smiling, patting her legs again, "Come on, Whitaker! Come here, boy! Get outta that pot, boy!"

[Steel Mirror]

"Come on, Whitaker! Come here, boy! Get outta that pot, boy!"
He doesn't seem very interested in leaving the pot. He continues to cavort within it with happy yelps, slopping a bit of liquid over the top occasionally.

[AvianMalkavian]

"Come on now! You gotta listen to me. If you don't, Mom is going to explode you with her disapproving look!"

She looks to Kara for help, "My first pet and he loves soup more than me. What am I supposed to do here?"

[Bunny of Faith]

"Much better, lad. Now I believe you mentioned the possibility of pizza?"

"Well, that was spectacularly good timing." He gives a sigh of relief, "And of course! Not specifically now, since I don't have any on me, but if you'll assist me in this fight then I'll, erm... How does once a week for a month sound to you?" He avoids looking down at his wounded leg, not wanting to think on how damaged it must be by this point.

[Steel Mirror]

"My first pet and he loves soup more than me. What am I supposed to do here?"
"All right, I'm going to take pity on you because I'm such a swell person. Leave him in the soup pot, I already have them making another one. Stay here and make sure that he doesn't get into any more trouble, I'll hit the books real quick and see what I can find about ghost dogs."

With that, she leaves. Yin watches Whitaker having his fun in the soup, which has cooled to the point that it is no longer steaming.

The greeter that saw her jump in before sticks his head in the room. "It's someone on the line for you, Yin. Say they want to make a big reservation for tonight?"

[Sanguine]

Connor sighed, it looks like Dana wasn't in the know. Or at least she was pretending she wasn't. “Dana, trust me I know what I'm doing. Your home will be the safest place for you.”

[Steel Mirror]

"And of course! Not specifically now, since I don't have any on me, but if you'll assist me in this fight then I'll, erm... How does once a week for a month sound to you?"

"Interesting proposal, unfortunately I had in mind something a little more immediate. I have precious little patience, you see, and I must insist on something rather more immediate in compensation for aiding you in your current conundrum."

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin grinned and hugged Kara, "Thanks. You're the best! You're my Oracle, you know. Even got the red hair and the glasses."

She moved over to the pot, just looking in and keeping an eye on Whitaker when the greeter poked his head in, "Oh, sure. Yeah, just a sec. You be good, okay, Whitaker? Just have fun with your.. soup bath thing. I'll be right back."

And with that out of the way, she was heading for the phone.

[Steel Mirror]

“Dana, trust me I know what I'm doing. Your home will be the safest place for you.”

"Is that policeman going to be staying to make sure that nothing happens?"

If you are ready to move on, you can. If you want to ask Dana anything else about the group you can, but you've convinced her to head home with the cop as soon as she has the chance.

[Bunny of Faith]

"Interesting proposal, unfortunately I had in mind something a little more immediate. I have precious little patience, you see, and I must insist on something rather more immediate in compensation for aiding you in your current conundrum."

"Immediate? I have some sweets, I suppose. Or is there something else you would be interested in?" He sticks a hand in one of his pockets, pulling out a handful of small sweets and holding them out towards the ground.

Might as well try my luck on the diceroller, lore roll to see if Andrew can think of anything that he'd be able to give this thing to help him.
[roll0]+3=3

[Steel Mirror]

And with that out of the way, she was heading for the phone.

"Um, hello. Yin, right? I actually met you . . . last night. Before the shooting. Connor knows you, I guess. My name is Kim?"

[Sanguine]

Connor lets out a sigh of relief at Dana's question. “I think I can arrange that."

Yeah I think I'm done with this scene.

[Steel Mirror]

Might as well try my luck on the diceroller, lore roll to see if Andrew can think of anything that he'd be able to give this thing to help him.
[roll0]+3=3


Andrew can't be sure, but he thinks that the creature he is speaking to is an Erdgeist, a spirit of earth and a kind of genius loci. Like all minor spirits, they are vulnerable to bribery, especially rare gems and precious stones.

Andrew doesn't have much of anything like that on him, but there is another possible avenue to secure its assistance. Erdgeists are extremely territorial, and resent the presence of other supernatural powers in their area. While in this case Andrew qualifies as well as the skin-walkers, their magic is naturally more twisted and destructive. It's a start, anyway.

[AvianMalkavian]

For a moment, Yin didn't recognize the voice. She'd had an.. eventful day and it certainly didn't show any signs of slowing down to anything that might be mistaken for normalcy, "Oh right, the singer, Connor's girlfriend, right? How can I help you?"

[Steel Mirror]

Connor lets out a sigh of relief at Dana's question. “I think I can arrange that."


Dana bustles around the room, giving a few supportive words to her students, but obviously disturbed and in a hurry. She begins taking down the posters and flyers advertising "Unlock". Kim is talking on the phone to someone, and motions Connor over.

[Steel Mirror]

"Oh right, the singer, Connor's girlfriend, right? How can I help you?"

"Oh, no. Not girlfriend. Just girl, who is a friend. We know each other from way back. I know his family."

There is a pause. Then you hear her voice, a little quieter, like she is talking to someone else. "Hey Connor. I'm just making the reservation for us at the restaurant. I mean, all of us. Not just us us. Not that there would be anything wrong with . . ."

"Just give me a second."

"Yeah, sorry Yin. Is there any way we could get a table for about twenty in half an hour? Sorry for the short notice, but Connor thinks there might be trouble, and that you can help us keep these people safe."

[Bunny of Faith]

Andrew can't be sure, but he thinks that the creature he is speaking to is an Erdgeist, a spirit of earth and a kind of genius loci. Like all minor spirits, they are vulnerable to bribery, especially rare gems and precious stones.

Andrew doesn't have much of anything like that on him, but there is another possible avenue to secure its assistance. Erdgeists are extremely territorial, and resent the presence of other supernatural powers in their area. While in this case Andrew qualifies as well as the skin-walkers, their magic is naturally more twisted and destructive. It's a start, anyway.

"However, wouldn't you just prefer both them and me to be gone? You could let them kill me, but then they'd come back again and again. Or you could help me get rid of them, and you won't have either of us to deal with again. That's two immediate problems dealt with, with your assistance."

[Steel Mirror]

"However, wouldn't you just prefer both them and me to be gone? You could let them kill me, but then they'd come back again and again. Or you could help me get rid of them, and you won't have either of us to deal with again. That's two immediate problems dealt with, with your assistance."

The lead wolf has stopped sniffing in all directions, and is looking directly in Andrew's direction. The owl lands on a branch behind and above it, bending it down almost to the ground under its weight.

"I smell him," the wolf says in a guttural, strangely modulated voice. "He must be hiding behind some magical trickery. Farrah, make sure he does not escape."

That was unexpected.

"Suppose I agree that these . . . individuals, are aesthetically unpleasant. It seems that they have a definite purpose here. Namely, yourself. Were I to lower the veil and allow them to take you, they would seem likely to carry out their business and leave forthwith, ridding me of all of you without any expenditure of power or risk taken on my part. I have never seen them before, I find it probable that, once they conclude their business with you, I need never see them again."

His tone is still pleasant, but Andrew knows that a creature like this can send a man to his death with no ill feelings.

[AvianMalkavian]

Yin rolls her eyes and shakes her head, grinning, muttering under her breath, "Completely in denial.

"Twenty people? I'm not sure. Give me a second," She covered the receiver and looked to the greeter, "I know we've got that dinner rush coming. You think we have room for twenty people?"

[Bunny of Faith]

"Suppose I agree that these . . . individuals, are aesthetically unpleasant. It seems that they have a definite purpose here. Namely, yourself. Were I to lower the veil and allow them to take you, they would seem likely to carry out their business and leave forthwith, ridding me of all of you without any expenditure of power or risk taken on my part. I have never seen them before, I find it probable that, once they conclude their business with you, I need never see them again."


Andrew frowns, turning to face the wolf that had spoken as he replies to the spirit, "Correct, in part. But I happen to know that they also have 'business' with the humans in this area, and that they are not on the best of terms. If you did lower the veil, then the chances are that they would leave for the moment. But then they would return, again and again. Help me with dealing with them, and I can assure you that these three individuals will never be able to bother you again."

[Steel Mirror]

"Twenty people? I'm not sure. Give me a second," She covered the receiver and looked to the greeter, "I know we've got that dinner rush coming. You think we have room for twenty people?"

"Yeah, I think so. They'll have to take one of the private rooms, though. Remember to tell them that means a mandatory 15% gratuity."

Once Yin relays the message, Kim agrees quickly. "Thank you so much. We'll be there soon."

[Steel Mirror]

"Help me with dealing with them, and I can assure you that these three individuals will never be able to bother you again."

"Your word seems to be somewhat suspect, given your personal prejudicial interest in a certain outcome to these negotiations. And the wolves are getting closer."

The orange wolf is, indeed, a single step from crossing the faerie circle.

"So I would seem to have an advantage in these proceedings. Here is my proposal. Give me a single mortal child, before the age of three, by the next new moon. Do this and I will deliver you safely from the park. After that, you are on your own."

[Steel Mirror]

It's the standard circus of getting people with cars together with people without, but in the end every person is packed into a vehicle and on their way. Kim really is good at calming people down, taking their thoughts away from the shapeless fears about which they can do nothing, and focusing them on problems they can solve. Dana leaves with the officer that Connor called, shaking and shoving her supplies into the trunk of her car. Kim hugs her before she leaves, and makes her promise to call once she gets home. Apparently, she doesn't have a cell phone.

"So," she says, when everyone is off with purpose. "Where did you park?"

[AvianMalkavian]

"Sounds good. See you then," She hung up and looked to the greeter, "They should be here soon. A group of twenty, probably led by some cute rocker girl and a big muscly ginger cop who looks like he's been in the sewer. I need to go check on my ghost.. soup.. dog thing."

"It's a good job, huh?" She patted the greeter on the shoulder before heading back to the kitchen.

[Steel Mirror]

"It's a good job, huh?" She patted the greeter on the shoulder before heading back to the kitchen.

"Beats working at Arby's," he mutters.

Walking back to the room she left Whitaker in, she sees that he's calmed down quite a bit. The soup looks like it has cooled off, and he's no longer yelping and barking, or sloshing the soup.

In fact, he's not making any sound at all. And she hasn't seen a flash of him at all since she entered the room.

She rushes over to the soup pot and shakes it.

He seems to have moved on . . .

[Sanguine]

Connor couldn't help but smile watching Kim organize the chaos. She really was amazing. Though seeing how close she was to Dana made him distinctly uncomfortable. Either Kim's friend was betraying her or Connor had falsely accused her. Neither option sat well with him. Turning to answer Kim's question he smiles sheepishly and says. "Uh, Chinatown."

[Steel Mirror]

"Uh, Chinatown."

"Huh. What a deadbeat." Her eyes are sparkling. "And I bet you need a woman to buy your cab ride. You charmer."

They call a cab and are on their way. "Things really don't change, do they? Here we are, you broke and me paying for your cab, and both of us running from something spooky we don't even understand."

Both of them are silent. When she speaks again, it is with a more serious tone. "This time, though, we'll save our friends."

[AvianMalkavian]

"Great Caesar's Ghost!" She begins looking around frantically now that she realizes Whitaker isn't in the pot. Moving from the kitchen, she grumbles, mostly to herself, "Hey, someone help me find my ghost dog! Whitaker! Here boy! Please listen to me and get over here before I decide to smite you!"