[NWoD: GtSE] New Orleans Bacchanalia IC

[Q'telun]

The sun rises slowly over the city of New Orleans. 10 years after Katrina the city is just getting back on its feet, but it makes progress towards completion with each new day. At least, from the air thats what it looks like.

New Orleans finest is as hard pressed as always, and when the tourists leave after Mardis Gras a kind of quiet numbness sets in. Its a hard city to live and grow up in, but it breeds fighters, survivors, those who keep going even when logic tells them they shouldn't.

Because no matter who they may be, from the lowliest beat cop to the highest drug lord, this is their city. This is their home, and no amount of storm damage, lack of government response, or any other obstacle will change that.

10 years after Katrina, the city of New Orleans is still fighting for its life. Its broken, battered, and more than a little punch drunk, but its still alive. Which is more than can be said for some of its residents...

Spoiler: Faust, The_Snark

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The smell of disinfectant is a powerful one, and one you probably will never forget in your life. The soft whir of machines comes from somewhere beyond your closed eyes, broken only by an intermittent beep. Something appears to be stuck in your arm. Whatever you're lying on is soft, and you're inside. The last thing you remember is the figure talking about some kind of deal, but in all the confusion you're not sure what happened...

Spoiler: The_Snark

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Even more surprising is the fact that you're alive. You're not quite sure how you managed that one, that last attempt was almost guaranteed to work, or at least leave you dead to the world until they pulled you off the plug...

Spoiler: Beans, Hemnon

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It's been three weeks since you died. The people at the hospital said it was a miracle that you survived, but you know the truth. That thing brought you back, for better or worse, because you made a deal with it. Now you're back to the same old same old, but just a little more in tune with the actually haunted spots of New Orleans. Theres been nothing out of the ordinary in the news, except for the house fire involving a member of the police force, a few gang hits, and the ever-mounting homeless problem. Just another sunny, beautiful, summer day in New Orleans!

Spoiler: Yuki

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Dawn comes, and the Priestess is shaking you awake again. She stares as you go about your daily routine, waiting for the day when you finally agree to take the fight to the Kerberoi. She has never said exactly why its so imperative that they're taken care of, but if she's been fighting this battle for as long as your father claims then it must be an important reason, right? At least you have the summer off from high school to go explore some of those occult shops that have been springing up. Who knows, maybe one actually has something that can give a different point of view on the Underworld.

[Yuki Akuma]

Hannah peers at herself in the mirror, fixing her hair and trying to ignore the black-eyed doppelganger peering over her shoulder. At random, she chooses a hair clip and sets it in place. A blood red wolf. She took a few minutes to consider her appearance. Maybe she should get a red streak in her hair... That would suit her, wouldn't it?

She's dressed in a blouse and skirt combination. Cool enough for the summer weather, although not much use if it suddenly starts raining. Which it often does in New Orleans. The clothes are black, with red highlights - she really does like that combination. Under the skirt she has on a pair of bike shorts, because this skirt is ridiculously flappy when it's windy, and she can't stand to wear anything more confining.

But eventually she heads for the door. She pauses as she passes her red, hooded cloak. It's too warm to wear it, really, even though she really does like it. It makes her stand out, but pulling the hood over her head gives her a sense of anonymity all the same... A few more moments of thought, and she stuffs the cloak into a traveler's bag. She didn't know if she was going to be out after dark or not. It might get cold! Or rain! ... On that note, she should bring some pants too.

She doesn't stop to check if her father or aunt are home. Just straight out the front door, not even eating breakfast. She'll just get something on the way to... wherever it is she's going today. She still has some spending money left, doesn't she?

Whatever. Onwards! Those occult stores won't window shop themselves.

[Hemnon]

Alicia Awoke with a sudden gasp and stir! She'd dreamt that dream again.... or maybe it should be called 'she recalled that event again'. Every night she is reminded of the pact she's made with that Geist. She have the same dream every night, or at least it comes in and takes over every night.
She doesn't really mind it anymore, cuz after the first week of it, she had gotten over the whole deal.

So with a stretch, Alicia got out of bed and began dressing herself before she headed off into the kitchen to make some breakfast.
--------------

Alicia had been living in America for only a few years, having basically migrated from Poland to take the Harvard University offer she'd gotten back in the day. But that was all over now, She'd Graduated just a few weeks ago and, well, died the same night. Well, died for a few minutes that is.
So now Alicia had managed to get a hold of a rather well-sized Shop that combined as her Home on the Above floor, The Shop was just called 'The Occult Shop - Where All Your Mystical Needs can be fulfilled' [Open 9 am to 8 pm (Opening Hours may vary)].
So That Gave Alicia a bit more time to deal with breakfast, a bath and a re-dressing, as well as noting down any ghosts that have come for a visit to ask for a chance to talk to different relatives, or checking for Planned Job-visits, etc.

[Beans]

Paisley rolls awake and finds the bed next to her empty. Last month, it wouldn't even register as "empty" to her---that was the default state. Nobody else ever would be in her apartment.
But with her... incident three weeks ago, she's been diving headfirst into being social. It's often awkward, sometimes fruitless, but it's gotten her a few dates and she actually knows people now. And last night... well, that had been quite nice. A good deal of American girls seem to find her Yorkshire accent cute, even if it doesn't have the allure of the posher Received Pronunciation that so many people thought of as The British Accent.

She turns the radio on as she stumbles into the shower, more to let the Static have its say than anything. It likes to talk through radios, though phones and computers do fine. It even tried the microwave display once. The wheel twitches on its own, falling into the haze between stations and...
G O O U T S I D E
The genderless, accentless, fuzzy voice would be at home on a numbers station.
"Well, that's right specific of you. Mind giving us a hint or are you just concerned I don't get enough sun?" She doesn't know why she chatters to it like this---it just feels... neighborly to do, kind of. It doesn't matter, but being able to do things that don't matter is a nice part of life.

W I L L S H O W Y O U
"Right, then, that helps. You sit tight f'a bit, mind, as I've t' get breakfast sorted and all."
Twenty minutes later, she's heading out. Faded jeans, a lavender cami, a pale grey hoodie---light colors are what she does. She feels a bit of a... pull, as it were, toward an area she knows has some odd shops---occult and the like, eccentricities.

[DoctorFaust]

Charlie wakes up with an enormous cough, and tries to roll over onto his side. "What... the hell..." he pants between fit of coughing. The only things he remembers from last night was going to bed after a few hours of bar hopping with coworkers, and some half-forgotten, almost dream-like meeting with... an anthropomorphic fire? Which couldn't possibly have happened, but he still remembers the burning feeling in his chest and throat as it spoke to him.

Burning. Chest. Right.

He groans, and rolls back over onto his back. "Hey," he croaks, hoping an orderly or a nurse is around to hear. "Can I get some water over here? My mouth feels like an ashtray full of cotton... Or something like that. And then I want someone to tell me what happened to all of my stuff."

[The_Snark]

Normally, Addison sleeps deep and wakes slow. On a good day that's a chance to indulge herself, luxuriating in that warm and dozy state that lies halfway between consciousness and dreams. On a bad day it's a struggle, fatigue weighing her down like a leaden blanket as she climbs towards wakefulness.

Today is somewhere in between. The sounds and smells she's picking up don't feel familiar, but that's not so strange these days... There's an actual mattress beneath her, which is nice. She's not sleeping in dirty clothes, that's even better. On the other hand, there's something wrapped around her arm which - ow, no, sticking into her arm -

Memory comes crashing back. She tries (unsuccessfully) to stifle a groan, curling in on herself. Waking up was not part of the plan. Waking up in a hospital, definitely not. Stupid. Now she's going to have to deal with a lot of doctors and nurses, and they'll all know, and there's no way she can pay for any of this...

[Q'telun]

Spoiler: Yuki, Beans

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Its a beautiful day out, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and best of all the ghosts seem to be ignoring you for now. Sure you walk over a couple of death stains, and past a crime scene with a chalk outline and a lot of... fluids, but thats hardly enough to put a damper on this day, right?

There are a few occult shops in town, and one is even rumored to be haunted.

Spoiler: Hemnon

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The ghosts that drop by are actually fairly calm today. Its mostly older folks who died peacefully, but left behind some kind of regret. Other than that, it looks like its going to be a beautiful day today! Even your Geist is quiet right now.

Spoiler: Faust

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It appears your relief was misplaced. You still are in a house fire, and this must be a hallucination caused by smoke inhalation. A burning mass of matter looms over you, staring down at you wi-

Wait, staring down at you?

A second look reveals that the fire is in fact in the shape of a human, with twin specks of yellow for eyes. It hisses and crackles as it stares at you, and strangely no one seems to be reacting to it. Across from you in the same room is a woman in bed, with a strange figure standing over her...

Spoiler: The_Snark

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A voice calls to you.

_Time to ^get up dear...

[The_Snark]

- that voice does not belong in a hospital. Doesn't fit into the neat, miserable little picture she's been building up in her head. More memories wash over her, waves scouring away the sands of oblivion and sleep. Holy ****. Did that really happen?

Addison uncurls, opening her eyes to see just who -- or what -- is standing over her.

[DoctorFaust]

Without breaking eye contact with the thing standing above him, Charlie starts scrabbling at his bedside for the call button for a nurse. After a moments search, he finds the remote, but just before he stabs down on the button, he is caught up in another coughing fit.

A long thirty seconds pass, but slowly, he starts breathing normally again, enough to choke out the words, "**** off, Calcifer."

[Yuki Akuma]

Hannah can't help but shiver as she passes by one of those death stains. Even though it's so warm out, they always send a chill up her spine. She supposes that's... normal, though? She does remember, vaguely, her mother always complaining that hospitals felt cold to her... With the amount of people who die in those every day, it had to be the death stains, right?

Regardless, Hannah is pleased she's not getting accosted by ghosts today. Sure, she could just filter them out, but... She always felt guilty doing that. If a ghost needed her help, she should pay attention to them. Right? But today, apparently no ghosts need her help. Or none of them are lucid enough to ask for it. Either way...

Hannah stops as she reaches one of the occult shops she's heard about. This one is apparently haunted. Of course, most places ended up being haunted, really, specially within the past decade here in New Orleans... But, hey. If this place had a reputation for being haunted, maybe it was the real deal and actually had an Occult Secret™ or two.

So Hannah opens the door to what is coincidentally Alicia's shop.

[Hemnon]

Alicia had dosed off after having read a little in one of her many books, the heat outside already cooking down on her little Shoppe and making it nearly just as warm inside than outside.

The Jingle of the door-bell caused her to sit up with a jerk and look around, instantly calming down, as she realized that she was just back in her Shoppe, not walking through the Underworld, haunted by the horrors from the depths... Sheesh, what's with those dreams?!

She walked out through the veil the parted the store from the private area of the building, aka. her kitchen and staircase up to her own bedroom and other stuff, and gave a light greeting to the possible customer.

[Beans]

Paisley's eyes scan the storefronts as she walks, stretching. One of them catches her eye, however, as she sees a girl go into it. She normally wouldn't be terribly intrigued... but 1) the girl looks like she's not even 16 and 2) her phone buzzes. A scrambled text message from her cryptic friend. Well, perhaps she should take a look.

The creeping feelings of deathly and occult presences get a tiny bit stronger as she walks in after the girl, wondering just what a girl too young to drive is even doing here.

[Yuki Akuma]

Hannah sees what is presumably the shopkeeper step out from a bead curtain. She puts on her best smile. "Hello there!" she greets pleasantly. "I was... just... Mmh, well. I was wondering if you have any books about the Underworld or ghosts or something along those lines?" Might as well just go for it! "And I mean, like. Not the Greek Underworld. Well, maybe the Greek Underworld, but, I mean... You know. The actual for-realsies Underworld."

She realises this might make her sound nuts. It's okay. She's a teenager, she can get away with it.

[Q'telun]

Spoiler: The_Snark, Faust

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A nurse rushes in as soon as the call button is pushed, and he breaks into a smile. "You're both awake! Good! Everyone else on the floor thought you were goners, but I knew both of you are fighters. Which means I win the entire pool!" He gives a conspiratorial wink. "There something I can get either of you? Water? Some delicious hospital food? Painkillers?"

He doesn't appear to notice either of the figures standing over you. In fact, at one point he walks right through the woman standing over Addison, chattering away obliviously as he checks vitals.

Spoiler: Yuki, Hemnon

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Your Geists, if you aren't manifesting powers, are staring at each other. They make no move to do anything else.

Spoiler: Beans

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Your beans

[Hemnon]

Alicia's eyes narrowed at that line of questions, and he recently-developped ability to see death and such was instantly active.... and sure enough, it would appear that the newcomer had actually died recently.... just like Alicia herself had.

"If i say: I met a Geist, what would you respond with?" Alicia said Cryptically, still looking like she was wound up like a spring. She hadn't actually met another Sin Eater yet, and neither did she know very much about it all.... yet.
But she had understood what little her Geist had tried to communicate to her, although it hadn't been much more than some occult knowledge and a bit of 'what you are' hints.

So for now, Alicia took the causious route and looked like she was suspecting the newcomer of nothing but badness... or was that her Geist influencing her to think such? Maybe it was a territorial thing amongst Geists and sin eaters?
Alicia really had no idea of what might gonna happen, but she was ready for it.

[Yuki Akuma]

Hannah crosses her arms casually, and rests her weight on her back foot. Adopting a sort of casual slouch, essentially. "Well that depends, doesn't it? It might respond with 'oh wow you can speak to ghosts and you met a Geist?' or 'oh my gosh I am so sorry to hear that' or maybe 'oh you're German and using the German word for ghost and causing all sorts of hilarious misunderstandings'. You know. Depending on the situation." She's grinning now.

"So I guess this shop is the real deal. Presumably. Actually plenty of Bound have no idea what the hell they're talking about..." she mutters. "...Also the Priestess noticed your Geist the moment she laid eyes on you. Being 'subtle' doesn't really work in this case."

[Hemnon]

"So when did you die the first time? And by Priestess, do you mean the Geist bound to your soul? I'm Fairly new to this myself, but if you're here for any other purpose than peaceful, then you best leave now. I've heard what can happen when an corrupt or monsterous Sin Eater wish to collect Mementos, so unless i get a solemn vow from you that your intentions for being here are peaceful and not of any violent or evil intent, then you'd better go. Already excepted death once, i do not want for that to happen again." Alicia replied, looking like she was 100% serious right now. She had never had any contact with another Sin Eater, and the whole 'seing ghosts and Bound Geists' doesn't really make it easier to instantly trust someone. So she took the caucious route, since her Geist had be 'kind' enough to fill in a few hints of detail on what could happen when sin eaters meet for the first time... in more than just words as well.

[Beans]

Halfway into the door, Paisley watches the exchange. After an awkward pause, she steps inside. "If'n yer talkin' bout Geists, I've'n 'a those, what's as is a ghosty thing 's bound t' soul." The almost incomprehensibly Yorkish girl smiles. "It says h'lo, or really it says a mess of broke radio sounds but I'm sure it's meaning t'be neighborly."

[DoctorFaust]

"Water and some painkillers would be nice," he says. "And a cut of the pool for my own hard work in winning you the money. By the way, doc, or nurse or whatever, is seeing things after near death experiences... normal? Or should I start talking to insurance about how good my mental health coverage is?"

[Yuki Akuma]

"Wow that's a rude question!" Hannah responds to the question of how she died with a cheerful grin. She then shakes her head, and laughs. "God, you must be new if you're that paranoid. If one of the Bound wanted a newbie like you dead, do you think they'd really have such a flimsy excuse for being here than 'I need books about the Underworld and stuff'? ****, like half of them could kill you without you even knowing they're there."

Shaking her head, Hannah turns around as if to leave - only to nearly walk right into Paisley. She stares for a moment. "...Is that English?"

[Hemnon]

Alicia's eyes also went to the other newcomer, having understood ZERO of what had been said by said newcomer.

"Well, if all you wish to do here is buy a book, the sure, no problem, I just wanted to stay on the safe side of things is all." She replied to Hannah.

[The_Snark]

"Water," Addison croaks, and coughs. "Water'd be good."

Her gaze drifts, avoiding both the nurse and the eyeless woman in white. Is she going crazy? She's still alive, but she wouldn't be the first person to survive swallowing a bottle of pills. Hell, she doesn't know exactly how much counts as overdose, maybe she didn't take enough... Anyway, people probably see all kinds of crazy things when they're on the edge of dying. But she doesn't think they keep seeing them when they wake up afterwards. Is she nuts or is there actually a ghost here? The nurse guy definitely doesn't see her...

Something the other guy said catches her ear. Sounds like somebody's having a better day than she is, not that that's a surprise... She turns over so she can see the other side of the room, and freezes: what the hell, something is on fire, why isn't that guy screaming? This was not in that crazy vision.

After a moment she manages, "Where is this?"

[Q'telun]

Spoiler: Faust, The_Snark

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The nurse closes his eyes and tilts his head to the right. "Near death? Not so much, I think. But you guys went way beyond near death." He looks slightly uncomfortable telling you this. "You," he points to Addison, "Were DoA. Not pretty. And you," he turns back to Charlie, "Well, we did everything we could for you, but you still died after about half an hour." His look of discomfort has faded to simply morose. "So, we were all pretty surprised when both of you started breathing on the slab. Freaked out the poor tech who was about to open you up." He flashes his broad grin before continuing. "Which is why we had the bet going. Its not every day you get to see Lazarus syndrome first hand." He rubs the back of his neck. "So, I suppose hallucinating after something like that wouldn't be the weirdest thing to experience."

"And to answer your question, Miss Doe, you are at the LSU Hospital, courtesy of the state at the moment. Possibly pending a transfer to pysch, if the doctor feels its necessary."

[The_Snark]

It takes her a few moments to figure the acronym out. Dead on arrival. Well, that's... a thing, all right. Part of her wants to shiver and curl up again. Another part whispers: and whose fault is it that you're here, again? Little late to be getting cold feet.

Shut up.

"I don't need a shrink," she insists, reflexively. They don't have her name, that's good; if she can just talk her way out of here somehow, then she'll be away and clean. Courtesy of the state, for now - hah. Best be out of here before they start making noises about paying them back...

[DoctorFaust]

"Well, that's at least slightly reassuring." Charlie drops his head back to the bed, and grunts. "Not that I was ****in' dead and in the goddamn morgue, but that there might be a normal reason for seeing something standing at the foot of both of our beds."

[Q'telun]

Spoiler: The_Snark, Faust

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The nures stops smiling and faces Addison. "Patient presented with thready pulse, shallow to no breathing, and was non-responsive. Symptoms are indicative of a Xanax overdose. In addition, found among the patient's belongings was an unmarked bottle of pills, which were determined to be Xanax." He frowns. "It is likely patient attempted suicide." He sighs. "We can't prove that of course, but remember, the hospital is here if you need help."

As he turns to leave, another nurse walks through the door and approaches Charlie. "Oh good, you're awake! We were wondering when that would happen!"

Neither nurse makes any move to avoid the other, but instead of colliding, walk right through each other. The first nurse proceeds to walk through the closed door, and out into the hospital.

"How are you two feeling? You gave us quite the shock, almost dying like that!"

Spoiler: Hemnon, Beans, Yuki

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A ghost drifts through the shop like a tumbleweed between duelers.
(You three are free to RP, no plot is happening yet. Or is it...)

[DoctorFaust]

Charlies looks over at the girl opposite him, and says, "You saw that too, yeah?"

[The_Snark]

Addison frowns. So was I dead on arrival, or did I have a thready pulse and all that? Something doesn't add up here. But before she can figure it out and call him on it, the door opens and another nurse walks in... and... through...

F***.

She's seen The Sixth Sense, it's not too hard to figure out what's going on here, especially with the near-death experience and the weird spirits(?) hanging around. But it still sends a chill down her spine. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto...

And then the other guy speaks up again. Her shock gives way to annoyance. Jesus Christ, guy, are you trying to get us both locked in a psych ward? She squints at him, feigns confusion, and says to the nurse, "Thirsty. Could I get a glass of water, please?" Play nice, get the nurse out of the room so she can shut this guy up. Nice to have someone else in the same boat as her, but not if he keeps trying to spill the beans...