(IC) HtV STL by Night

[Bennosuke]

Passing the cigarette to her companion, Alexandra replies, "There's more inside, unless you mean a smoke."

Arnold takes a puff and nods. He taps some ash away then says, "Oh we got plenty of stuff. Bill's got quiet the collection." He offers the cigarette to Jen. "Still no sign of the Wytch," he adds, grinning proudly.

[Thundercracker]

Passing the cigarette to her companion, Alexandra replies, "There's more inside, unless you mean a smoke."

Arnold takes a puff and nods. He taps some ash away then says, "Oh we got plenty of stuff. Bill's got quiet the collection." He offers the cigarette to Jen. "Still no sign of the Wytch," he adds, grinning proudly.

"Nah, maybe later. I only smoke when I drink," Jen said, "yeah I'd like to take a look at it. Haha, I don't think that damn thing is coming back anytime soon, but can't hurt to keep an eye out. That's one thing we definitely don't want catching us with our pants down."

[Daishain]

Frank raises a hand, "As cliche as it is I suppose it boils down to being afraid of the unknown. The one threat that I now know for certain exists is possibly gone for good, though I'm not going to stop keeping an eye out for signs of her anytime soon. She... left an impression."

"But assuming she won't be back, my problem now is that I'm sure she was merely the tip of the iceberg, with ample other things that bump in the night having some truth to them. The existence of groups like yours sir is in and of itself a sort of proof of that. Do I need to worry about my kids running into a vampire at night? or redcaps in the park when there's a bit of fog? In the absence of solid information, either of those possibilities seem just as likely as stumbling across a native American witch bound to a tree."

"As I said, I'm principally asking for information, whether that's speaking with an expert, or spending a few nights studying in a library. More direct help would certainly be appreciated, but I understand if that is not on the table."

[Bennosuke]

Arnold shrugs and passes the cigarette back to Alexandra. He nods his head in agreement with her comment about the Wytch coming back and says with enthusiasm, "Agreed." He clicks his teeth, then the short man adds, "It's an odd time man. I mean, I'm glad the Wytch is gone and I hope she never comes back." But then he leans in close to Jen and in a whisper he says, "But like, what are we supposed to do now? You can feel it among the Brotherhood; that question. Some people are already losing their enthusiasm."

Alexandra glares at her husband. Recognizing the glance, Arnold shuts his mouth and gives her an apologetic shoulder shrug.

***********************************************

Frank raises a hand, "As cliche as it is I suppose it boils down to being afraid of the unknown. The one threat that I now know for certain exists is possibly gone for good, though I'm not going to stop keeping an eye out for signs of her anytime soon. She... left an impression."

Levi raises a bushy eyebrow at this, and leans forward. "Her? She? And what exactly was this thing that you refer to?" He waves away Frank's further ramblings, seemingly uninterested in conversation about vampires and things that go bump in the night. Shaking his head he says, "Let's pretend I have any knowledge about such fantastical things that you talk about. First, I think you need to tell me about what you have SEEN!" Eyes narrowing, a stern look on Julius Levi's face, the man looks like he might be trying to intimidate Frank, or maybe just pass gas.

[Thundercracker]

Jen

“It’s like being in a combat zone,” Jen said, “98% of the time it’s mind numbing boredom, but you gotta keep alert, because you know that other 2% gonna blow up all around you sooner or later.”

“Meanwhile, gonna do some reading,” Jen added.

[Daishain]

Frank suppresses an urge to startle back as Mr Levi gets more intense. He sighs internally, this story was a bargaining chip, and it seemed he had to spend it just to get to the table...

He leans back a little as he starts talking. "The locals of Salem just called her the Wytch, Osagee natives we spoke to responded with the name Mo-Tataklee when we described her. For us it all started when my friend and I got lost in the woods in Lytchwood park." Frank starts describing the events he and Jennifer experienced as the Wytch escaped her containment and began stalking them.

[Bennosuke]

Arnold speaks up again, despite himself and his wife's glare. "But the two percent," he asks, "what are we waiting for... if the Wytch is gone?"

(OOC: Outside of wrapping this conversation up, happy to move things on. I think your goal is to do some investigative book reading, so I'm happy to skip past further conversations with other NPCs and allow you to do some "research", which will likely revolve around a Resolve + Academics roll. So along with closing up the above, what do you want Jen specifically reading into?)

************************************************** ****

Frank's reply creates an immediate and palpable shift in his companion's demeanor. As the story continues, the color drains from Levi's face, and though his expression barely shifts, all his casual levity turns to stone. In the pauses between the story, Frank can hear the almost wheezing heavy breathing as he passes air with slow breaths in and out of his flaring nostrils. Frank almost gets the sense that Julius Levi is going to reach across the table and slap him, as Frank keeps talking.

Then the waitress comes with the oysters, setting them down, oblivious to the tension. The plate of ice and shell fish almost sparkles in the dim light. With a bored rote tone, she names each of the oysters and where they are from, in where they are along the rim of the plate. Levi doesn't look up, his eyes glued to Frank. He raises a quavering hand and waves her away.

Still staring at Frank, the man reaches to the plate, and with a meaty hand, clutches up an oyster. Without any ceremony and without anything to dress it, Levi slurps the thing down in one go, and places the shell on the table cloth in front of him. "And what happened to The Wytch? You are talking about this all as if there is an end to your story... but here you are alive."

[Daishain]

Frank keeps quiet while the waitress was there, he was fairly sure this man wouldn't pick a place with prying ears for a conversation like this, but there was no point in pushing it, "As far as we can tell the thing is dead. Jen and I knew it wasn't going to let up until it had us. We couldn't run forever, and there was no telling how far it would go after it was done with us. So we set a trap, with ourselves as the bait. Drew it into a killbox with heavy weaponry, well, heavy as civilian arms go at any rate. Finished her off with some thermite I made myself. There was nothing left but ashes when we were done."

*He rubs his head and sighs,* "Honestly we weren't sure that was the end of it. I mean the dreams ended with her but it seemed foolish to just assume that a simple thing like burning to ash would be enough. That is until we went back to her tree. The murder of crows was gone, the maze of illusions vanished, the tree itself was dead and decaying, and the entire... feel of the place was so much cleaner and less oppressive I almost couldn't recognize it. I don't know if I'll ever stop keeping an eye out for her, but at least I'm not jumping at every half seen motion in the corner of my eye these days."

[Thundercracker]

Arnold speaks up again, despite himself and his wife's glare. "But the two percent," he asks, "what are we waiting for... if the Wytch is gone?"

(OOC: Outside of wrapping this conversation up, happy to move things on. I think your goal is to do some investigative book reading, so I'm happy to skip past further conversations with other NPCs and allow you to do some "research", which will likely revolve around a Resolve + Academics roll. So along with closing up the above, what do you want Jen specifically reading into?)

************************************************** ****

Frank's reply creates an immediate and palpable shift in his companion's demeanor. As the story continues, the color drains from Levi's face, and though his expression barely shifts, all his casual levity turns to stone. In the pauses between the story, Frank can hear the almost wheezing heavy breathing as he passes air with slow breaths in and out of his flaring nostrils. Frank almost gets the sense that Julius Levi is going to reach across the table and slap him, as Frank keeps talking.

Then the waitress comes with the oysters, setting them down, oblivious to the tension. The plate of ice and shell fish almost sparkles in the dim light. With a bored rote tone, she names each of the oysters and where they are from, in where they are along the rim of the plate. Levi doesn't look up, his eyes glued to Frank. He raises a quavering hand and waves her away.

Still staring at Frank, the man reaches to the plate, and with a meaty hand, clutches up an oyster. Without any ceremony and without anything to dress it, Levi slurps the thing down in one go, and places the shell on the table cloth in front of him. "And what happened to The Wytch? You are talking about this all as if there is an end to your story... but here you are alive."

Jen wants to try to see if there's anything in addition to the Wytch they have in their 'archives', and also see if she can piece together some of the history of the Brotherhood, its origins, past leaders, etc.

Spoiler

Show

this is a chance die: (1d10)[9]

[Bennosuke]

Julius Levi's expression shifts as Frank speaks, often times belying awe and something like jealousy. But as he finishes, Levi's countenance hardens, and his eyes narrow with the study of suspicion. "I see," he says slowly, "that is very interesting." He pauses to drink a little water, still measuring Frank with his eyes. Placing the glass down, he asks, "Do you have any proof of all this," though it is clear that the man already believes Frank.

But before Frank can answer, Levi gestures to the plate of oysters. "Have one," he says flatly, adding, "otherwise I will feel bad for eating them all before you can get to them."

**************************************************

(OOC: So close, but a chance dice means you need a 10 for a success)

Jen walks inside, greeting the others and making pleasantries as necessary, before she is able to get Bill to show her his library. Most of what he shows her are books Jen has already seen before, leaving her to wonder if maybe Bill had an additional stash he wasn't sharing, or a trove of knowledge in some other form.

She spends about an hour reviewing things, but it's mostly all old news when it comes to The Wytch. The small leather bound booklet he shows her on The Brotherhood Of Mather is almost less impressive. Much of what's in the book are generalities and platitudes. According to the book, the group was founded by Father Mather, a catholic priest and witch hunter who came up from the South soon after the Louisiana Purchase. He and his congregation reportedly learned from the "heathen red men" how to live off the land, and about the secrets of The Wytch.

Interestingly, the book does refer to there being multiple Wytches, of course referred to as a "Coven", though most every other text refers to a singular "The Wytch".

[Daishain]

Frank reaches out and slurps down one of the oysters, "As in empirical evidence? Fraid not. We were pretty careful to leave as few traces as possible actually. Aside from feeling a need to be thorough with her, if law enforcement caught wind of our little trap night the one part of the affair that might exonerate us is also the part they'd never believe. I could show you what's left of the tree, but that's not especially impressive either now."

Frank scratches his chin a bit, "You could ask the Brotherhood of Mather about it, they've been monitoring that thing for generations and confirmed her disappearance themselves. I'll... let you judge their suitability at witnesses for yourself."

[Thundercracker]

Julius Levi's expression shifts as Frank speaks, often times belying awe and something like jealousy. But as he finishes, Levi's countenance hardens, and his eyes narrow with the study of suspicion. "I see," he says slowly, "that is very interesting." He pauses to drink a little water, still measuring Frank with his eyes. Placing the glass down, he asks, "Do you have any proof of all this," though it is clear that the man already believes Frank.

But before Frank can answer, Levi gestures to the plate of oysters. "Have one," he says flatly, adding, "otherwise I will feel bad for eating them all before you can get to them."

**************************************************

(OOC: So close, but a chance dice means you need a 10 for a success)

Jen walks inside, greeting the others and making pleasantries as necessary, before she is able to get Bill to show her his library. Most of what he shows her are books Jen has already seen before, leaving her to wonder if maybe Bill had an additional stash he wasn't sharing, or a trove of knowledge in some other form.

She spends about an hour reviewing things, but it's mostly all old news when it comes to The Wytch. The small leather bound booklet he shows her on The Brotherhood Of Mather is almost less impressive. Much of what's in the book are generalities and platitudes. According to the book, the group was founded by Father Mather, a catholic priest and witch hunter who came up from the South soon after the Louisiana Purchase. He and his congregation reportedly learned from the "heathen red men" how to live off the land, and about the secrets of The Wytch.

Interestingly, the book does refer to there being multiple Wytches, of course referred to as a "Coven", though most every other text refers to a singular "The Wytch".

"Oh, great," Jen said, filing the notes about a Coven in the back of her mind. It wasn't what she was looking for, but it might come in handy one day. She'll spend the rest of the day hanging out with the Brotherhood, getting to know them and whether there were any combat vets among them, which she would then have in common with.

[Bennosuke]

Frank reaches out and slurps down one of the oysters, "As in empirical evidence? Fraid not. We were pretty careful to leave as few traces as possible actually. Aside from feeling a need to be thorough with her, if law enforcement caught wind of our little trap night the one part of the affair that might exonerate us is also the part they'd never believe. I could show you what's left of the tree, but that's not especially impressive either now."

The oyster is good, briny without being cloying, though I leave it up to you if oysters are something Frank likes.

Julius Levi scowls at all of this, but waves it away with a hand and mumbles, "Very well." He studies Frank for a moment longer, then reaches over and scoops up a second oyster with a meaty paw. This time he spoons the oyster out and drowns it in mignonette, before taking it down lustily. He then watches Frank impatiently, waiting for Frank to have one so that he can have another.

Frank scratches his chin a bit, "You could ask the Brotherhood of Mather about it, they've been monitoring that thing for generations and confirmed her disappearance themselves. I'll... let you judge their suitability at witnesses for yourself."

This rouses Levi, his eyes going wide, his face turning flush. "The Brotherhood?" he asks (OOC: We'll assume Frank had not brought them up yet during his telling of the story, "You've met them already?" He reaches over for his glass and drains it, practically slamming it back down on the table. Julius Levi raises his eyebrow at Frank and again leans closer. He manages to compose himself, lowering the sound and tone of his voice. He says, "You've seen more than I expected then. The fact that you've seen... and combated The Wytch! I suppose it would be useful for you to know more." He nods his head slowly, and purses his lips. "How can we help you then? I take it you haven't... joined those hicks out in Salem," he asks, referring to The Brotherhood of Mather.

************************************************** **

Many of the Brotherhood are ex-military, and some are active police force.

(OOC: Wanna make a social roll, maybe Presence/Manipulation + Socialize/persuasion to start the task of "Helping the brotherhood find a new purpose, with a view towards becoming a more influential member.")

[Daishain]

Frank consumes another as subtly prompted, they were indeed really good, but he had things other than food on his mind at the moment. He shakes his head in response to the question, "They contacted us shortly after we stumbled out of those woods. Helped us figure out a few things and gave a little bit of support, but then they basically left us to fend for ourselves in actually fighting her, in spite of dealing with the Wytch being their self appointed responsibility."

"They offered to bring us in afterwards, but I declined. Among other problems the only thing they seemed to have any useful knowledge about was the Wytch. So when it became clear she wasn't the only problem to worry about I started looking for other more... reliable groups in the know. That hunt is what led me to the Lodge." Frank sighs, "My friend Jen though was of a different mindset. She joined them. Seems to think she can take over and whip them into shape, give them new purpose now that the Wytch appears to be gone. Who knows, she's a veteran so has a chance of relating to them that way, and if she can succeed, well I have to admit a bunch of well armed hicks serving as fire support could very much come in handy if there's ever another tough scrap like that."

He raises a hand, "Honestly I feel a little guilty not helping her with that, but firepower's often useless without the right information. That is exactly what I'm hoping you can help me with. I want to learn everything I can from you. There is very little I would not do to ensure my daughters grow up happy and safe from all of this. So I suppose my question is what would you ask from me in turn?"

[Bennosuke]

Julius Levi watches Frank take another oyster with a grin. He manages to hold out for almost a minute while listening to Frank before going in for his next. Something has changed in the last few minutes as Frank has told his story. The haughty indifference is gone from Levi's face as he listens. As Frank talks about the Brotherhood, he nods with approval, his eyes bright and attentive. Levi grins and it is almost friendly. "I see," he says when Frank is done speaking, clasping his hands together on the table, "I must admit, I had not... expected this today. I was not prepared to believe you, to be honest." He clears his throat. "Anyways, as I do believe what you are saying, I must admit that I am quiet impressed. We had been aware of The Wytch for quiet some time... and well, had considered her dangerous enough that we had chosen to watch and wait. You and your friend... Jen was it? You've made quiet an accomplishment for someone uninitiated."

Levi pauses and takes another drink again noisily clearing his throat. "Anyways," he continues, "you have the right of The Brotherhood. They aren't much more than a bunch of rednecks with guns and a few half-useful tomes." He leans in again, his expression shifting to something cold and stern. When Julius Levi speaks, his voice is barely audible above a whisper as he says, "Most people are completely unaware of just how many things prey upon our society and our people. If they knew how many old wives tales had some truth to the, there would likely be panic in the streets. There is much to know... and probably much that we could share. But I an my associates, we don't share that information openly, and for good reason. But, perhaps we could come to an agreement, if you are willing."

[Daishain]

Frank nods, "I figured as much. It shouldn't be too difficult to obtain empirical evidence of these creatures, and with that you could bludgeon through the skepticism. For all her power the Wytch was a flesh and blood creature that could be studied. It follows then that there must be some solid reason the knowledge is kept quiet rather than shouted from the rooftops."

He takes his time with the next oyster, he didn't like the idea of keeping secrets this deadly from the public. But there was no way in hell he was the first to stumble across this stuff who had the same sort of reservations, which made the silence rather ominous... "What manner of arrangement did you have in mind sir?"