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Something is very wrong in Kochsville. It began last summer, with the death of that college student, Elaine Wilson, and, from what you’ve heard, it’s only gotten worse from there. Disappearances, freak accidents, all sorts of inexplicable occurrences have brought what used to be a mid-level metropolis into international headlines over the past year, in the worst way possible. There hadn’t been another death though. Well, at least not a provable one anyway. Not since Elaine’s. Not until last week. Last Monday, at about 2:00, PM, Father Samuel Pryor collapsed in the crosswalk on his way to the local Bakery (Bready and Willing), convulsing. The news reports said it was a simple heart attack. The man was healthy, but still, at 65, these things do happen. They do, but what they left out of the report, what you’ve heard, is enough to pique your interest if nothing else has. Father Pryor literally melted on the coroner’s slab, before an autopsy could be performed. That’s what unofficial channels are whispering, anyway. The locals say that Kochsville’s cursed. Built on an ancient burial ground, or someone opened a door that should’ve stayed closed, a door to somewhere...else. Or maybe it’s alien experiments. Or a government black-op. Or maybe it’s just Superstition ----------------------------------------------- Well, let’s dust this off, shall we? Hello I am awful Keeper LifeGetsWorser, trying something a bit different. Monster of the Week is a cooperative (well mostly) roleplaying game that is Pbta (that is, Powered by the Apocalypse), based on stuff like The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fringe, Penny Dreadful, Supernatural, etc. In it you'll take the role of a specific Monster Hunter and solve mysteries generally involving supernatural forces of darkness and/or evil. I'll be the one coming up with those horrible mysteries, of course, because it's fun (for me). Unlike a lot of modern PbtA games, Monster of the Week (or MotW for short) doesn't necessarily have a set setting. There'll be a fair bit of globe-trotting in this game. Sometimes to made up places. Like this one. Kochsville is more-or-less anytown, USA. As stated, a mid-level metropolis in America. Where’s it located? Near the water, but inland. Not too far from major cities but not too close. It’s a pastiche. That’s where we’re starting. We may not stay there, because things tend to...move around, when it comes to hunting monsters (unless your last name is Cooper, but even then you might end up...elsewhere). My computer died a horrible death the last time I tried this but in my downtime I had the opportunity to think about what I wanted to do with it and refine stuff in a way that I think will help (or end up causing the whole thing to burst into flames and die terribly, either way). Anyway, So consider this the pilot episode of a new show, because that's how this game structures itself. If you're interested, in addition to your character sheet declaring your playbook and backstory (as well as whatever questions your playbook may have for you), please answer for me the following questions: 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... 3: What is your greatest regret? 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? Some other important bits: I am totally down for whatever playbooks - so long as you can give me a revised version of it (if possible) and it doesn't seem too ridiculous. Of the ones mentioned in the revised playbook, the ones that aren't revised (and thus will make me squint at it harder) are The Action Scientist, The Big Game Hunter, The Constructed, The Luchador, and The Mad Scientist. I may also squint at the Meddling Kid - if it's not presented seriously, that is, so...good luck. Not to say I won't accept those playbooks - they seem to be fine, to me, mostly (other than...jesus Meddling Kid can get goofy), but yeah I will examine your playbook a little more. I am probably aiming for like, six characters...but MotW being what it is I can probably be persuaded to take more. Just keep in mind that MotW expects each playbook to be essentially unique - you are playing the archetype [whatever], so you might have a better chance of me looking favorably if you pick something that someone else hasn't picked... All PbtA games deal with some pretty adult subject matter. But I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable so if something is triggering you badly, let me know either via PMs or via IRC, which I will provide more info on momentarily... ...so I tend to hang out around the #swampthings channel on synirc - look me up there for answers to questions. You can also PM me, or find me in the swampthings discord channel. Less people are familiar with this one than other PbtA games, so I will be more generous with time. If you need assistance with getting materials, try here, or ask me, I have most of the stuff. That being said, I'd like to get the ball of wax moving in say...two weeks. Maybe less or more, depending on interest. For now there will be a soft cut-off point for apps by April 7th, so at least post interest by then, if you are interested. LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Apr 9, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 04:37
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Hazel Hall the Spell-Slinger Young, spry, attractive, exceptionally talented and the best (citation needed) drat witch on the east coast of the US, I'm Hazel Hall, magician extraordinaire at your service. I can perform all sorts of magical solutions, ranging from exorcisms to incorcisms, seances, fate reading, summonings, banishings, future-sight, curses and counter-curses, and of course, supernatural problem solving. Got a pesky Kelpie infestation in your lake? Goblins in your cellar? Does your local forest want revenge for a century of logging? Hellfire Ants? As long as you've got some money, I'm your girl, a thrilling life of supernatural investigation and adventure doesn't pay for itself, you know. You might know me for my work in this region - I don't do Maine or Dragons. 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? I've been keeping an eye - or ear, rather - on the situation in Kochsville ever since the whole Elaine situation. That was worrying, but only minorly so, and as nothing else seemed to be happening with regards to that, I let it lie. See, she was a member of the same order as me, the Sister of Midnight. We are, were in her case, the most important society of magical practitioners in the world and all "good" witches, which is to say we don't publicly do anything evil. Privately, things are a bit looser, minor demonic dabblings, maybe take a few blackmarket jobs, but nothing big, no deals with the devil or full summonings or anything like that. But for every rule, there's someone breaking it, and Elaine seemed like one of those, powering herself up with sketchy dealings with Fae or Demons or what-have-you. And then they came for their price, and she died. That was what it looked like, anyway. I don't think so anymore though, whatever could do that to a corpse, to a Priest, is bigger than one witch making stupid decisions. There's something in this town, something powerful, dark and most dangerously, subtle. When I heard the news from another local Sister, I thought the corpse thing was suspicious - plenty of monsters could cause a corpse to dissolve on the slab, but none of them are the kind who'd only be attacking one person, there'd be a rash of dissolving bodies if it was them - so I did a seance with a bit of his hair, and got nothing. Whatever happened to him didn't just dissolve his body, it dissolved his soul. Or else he was never a person from the start, but something that could still perform the duties of a priest. No matter how you cut it, bad news. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... Last brush? Well, I was trying to get the hang of fire magic to work into my spells and it kind of blew up on me, the more elemental bits of magic have always been trickier for me than the symbolic and personal, but that's not really what you meant, is it? Lets see, the last thing you could call a job of some sort - I didn't get paid for it, though I got some good magical trinkets and a resupply of materials from the, well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Up in Maine, some small town whose name I can't even remember just a few weeks later, kids started going missing. From a few towns around even. Well, could be a lot of things, but in that region of the Sisterhood, there was one witch who was really, and I mean really good at brewing and potions and the like. Big treasure-trove of knowledge, but she'd never talk about the missing kids if it came up. Didn't take too long to figure it out, for a master magician like me, I headed up there to check out the woods, and sure enough... well, I thought she was a hag, but turns out she was a proper Baba Yaga, chickenfoot house and all. It was hard to be confused once I saw the footprints in the ground. So I waited for the next kid to enter the forest, and when her house came by to pick it up, I drained the life from it and the two of us had a proper witches' duel. I haven't had that much fun in ages, but, well, as long as I don't go back to Maine, I shouldn't have to worry about her spirit hanging around to try for revenge. 3: What is your greatest regret? You know, I do really wish when I'd taken up learning magic, I'd gone for the Staff and Wand school of spellcasting, rather than the physical and symbolic brand. One style suits a person better, of course, but... to put it simply, with Rod or Tome or other tool, a witch draws their power from the earth, or binds it from spirits, and with burning herbs or oils, hair or blood, the magic comes from your body, fueling the magic with yourself. I thought it'd be easier to use without attracting attention, and it is... and I can do more powerful things with it, but it tends to be painful and kind of gross. And tends to get kind of funny looks when you use it in front of people. No one looks at you twice if you blow someone up with a fireball, roasting them alive, but heal yourself while draining someone so they're easier to capture and suddenly your Mrs. Dracula the Witch or something. ... Right after I'd taught myself magic, I was feeling really full of myself, top of the world, you know the deal. I could handle anything, and why not, I was Hazel Hall, self-taught magical prodigy, queen witch of the universe! I was definitely stronger than the books I'd read to get started with suggested anyone would be - and I was, too, I have a knack for this, dammit - but in the end, experience counts for a lot more than power, and that was what I didn't have. There was a dragon living in an abandoned coalmine under Centralia PA. Okay, yeah, looking back it was obvious that going after a dragon was way too much - I wouldn't do that today, not without a huge amount of preparation and a lot of backup, but back then, what better way to make a splash than take down the dragon that'd been living there for fifty years? sigh I'm not going to go into details, but lets just say the only reason I'm not covered in burn scars is because my magic can heal me. The two friends who came with me... weren't so lucky. I don't mess with dragons. 4: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? Gods, hell if I know. Being miserable probably. Trying to scrape together a living off a degree in chemistry or something? Maybe I'd have been able to go through medical school and be a doctor, sitting rich off overpriced cancer treatments. I've always had a good mind for theory and formula, but that doesn't mean much as far as long term prospects go in this economy. Actually, would I even have graduated school yet? How many years does that take, eight? So I'd probably still be in school. Glad I dodged *that* bullet at least, ha! 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? I'm going to direct you to my answer about the dragon. Maybe not the morally worst action, but when I consider the effects of any one thing I've done on other people, it's that. Doing minorly objectionable things - temporarily taking away the bodily autonomy of some cops who were about to wander into a vampire's den, say, or the occasional chat with a demon, while maybe wrong, lead to much better outcomes, and really don't measure up. The end doesn't quite justify the means, but they can soften them, and the end sure as hell can drat the best means. Paving the road to hell and all that. The Spell-Slinger posted:Playbook: The Spell-Slinger GodFish fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Apr 13, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 04:42
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 Jack Wolfe, the Chosen "Uhm, hey. I'm Jack. I'm a sophomore at SUNY Kochsville. As long as I can remember, people have been asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I've never really had a good answer for them. My mom's been doing what she can to get us by, but ever since dad left when I was a kid... Well, things have been tough. Real tough. I never had time to focus on what I wanted. I always needed to pick up an extra shift or blow off my friends to help my mom around the house." "SUNY was supposed to be this grand opportunity for me. A chance to really figure out who I am and what I want to do. I thought I'd found that when I met Elaine. She is — uh, was... — the best thing that happened to me in a long time. We met in remedial math, if you'd believe it. I don't know how she ended up there. She was the smartest person I've ever met. And the most interesting. And, hell, the most beautiful too. She saw something in me. Something that I didn't even see in myself." "God, I can't believe that she's gone. I... I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I can't just leave it to the police. Maybe if I figure out who killed her, the nightmares will stop. Maybe she'll be able to rest in peace." "...Maybe I'll be able to forgive myself." quote:1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. "Well, I've been keeping an ear out for weirdness ever since things with Elaine. I figure I'll find her killer that way. Father Pryor... well, honestly, I didn't think it was connected at first. I heard it was just a sad accident, y'know, through the grapevine. Then I saw some of the pictures that leaked onto social media from the crime scene. The stuff the killer put up on the walls? The symbols and everything? It was the same sort of things that they put on our apartment's walls." quote:2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... "You know, it's funny you ask that. When I was a kid, I used to go swimming back behind our house all the time. It was a pretty calm creek and I'd never heard of anything dangerous in there. But, uh, one day? One day I got attacked by something. It looked like a big lizard. I don't really remember too much of it, the doctors said I must have blocked it out or something, but... Well, I stopped swimming after that." "I still have the scars from the bite. It's pretty wicked, but the teeth are all wrong to be a small croc or something like that. Not that we have a lot of those in New York. With these dreams, though... Maybe it was that dragon I keep seeing? It was awful small, but I guess I was too." quote:3: What is your greatest regret? "Elaine wanted to tell me something a few days before she... Before it happened. I'm a pretty good listener, but she kept almost telling me something and then losing her nerve. I... I should have pushed her to tell me. Maybe I could have done something. Stopped whatever happened to her. But I didn't. I let her go." quote:4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? "Well, other than college... It was Elaine. Everything about her was perfect. And then she was killed. Murdered." "...I heard about it the same time her parents did. We were all supposed to meet up for this fancy dinner. Elaine was late. Really late. Eventually, the police called and... God. I'll never forget her mom's face." "The police didn't let me see the body, but... Well. All anyone's talking about is how weird it was. People have mentioned the dismembering and how there wasn't any blood around the scene, right? I know what happened to it. They painted the walls of the apartment we shared. Just... awful, terrible images. Sigils and designs that made my head hurt just thinking about them." "I'm crashing with a friend right now. I, uh, I don't think I'm ever going to go back there." quote:5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? "Well, uh, probably still being a full-time student. I was getting close to the point where I couldn't put off picking a major much longer. That's kind of the least of my problems now." quote:6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? "Uh, wow, that's actually kind of tough. I mean, I lived a pretty clean life before all this. Maybe forgot to pay for a pack of gum, once? But..." "..." "Alright, fine. They wouldn't let me see her. After she died. I broke into the morgue to say good bye. I didn't hurt anyone or anything, nobody was there, but the door looked kind of expensive. Expensive, but not quite as tough as a dragon. Ascalon ripped right through it." quote:Name: Jack Wolfe Tricky fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Apr 5, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 05:02
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Gonna resubmit Ivar from the last recruit to start, I'll probably tweak him a bit here and there though. I have his playbook and old sub on hand, so I can probably phone post the rough stuff now and slice him up a bit later once I'm back at my desk full time. Character Theme "I've fought anything normal that can be fought, and I've won. Monsters need a beatdown, and there ain't nobody can give 'em the thrashing I can. So stand back, I got this." Ivar has been at the monster hunting grind for a good 30 years now. He can't rightly say he actually knows much about the many beasties roaming the world, but the onset of the internet has made some of his work easier. His youth isn't something he frequently chats about, but a vigilante complex is the common thread throughout. Most of his teenage life was spent in juvie, for enthusiastically defending the bullied, followed by his early twenties spent in and out of the clink. His rapsheet is populated with assault charges against those who've managed to throw enough money at making their crimes disappear. In the tail end of his twenties Ivar left prison for the final time. He hadn't exactly curbed his anger issues in prison, but a chance encounter would lead to his first brush with the supernatural. Nowadays Ivar talks about the situation as if he'd been front and center, cutting down zombie vampire werewolves left and right, but in truth his first encounter ended with him nearly gutted and unconcious within seconds as he stumbled across the path of a hunter chasing their prey. The hunter nearly overlooked Ivar's unconscious form, but the moment's hesitation caused by spotting the near corpse cost them greatly. The Beast blindsided the hunter and struck a fatal wound that left the hunter fighting a defensive battle over Ivar's prone form. The hunger managed to drive the Beast away, but had business to attend to before they let their wounds claim them. A successor was needed to continue the work, and so after a bit of chanting and a meaty slap to Ivar's chest the collected scars of 300 years worth of monster hunters were transferred to young Ivar Svansson's body. It took the better part of a week for Ivar to wake in the hospital, in surprisingly amazing condition given that he'd been mostly disemboweled. That his body consisted of more scarring than fresh skin was somewhat disconcerting, but the new source of writhing hatred, for the enemies of humanity, festering in his guts helped push back the surprise. Having been denied the childhood stashed away in a hunter enclave, Ivar's first years were very rough. On the job training has covered some of what he would have learned and swapping info with other travelling hunters and imparting what he's learned to upstarts when he does bed down in a town for any extended period. He's getting too old for this poo poo, but someone has to keep the torch burning. quote:Name: Ivar Svansson 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange that might have piqued your interest. "Only been back in town a week and this happens? drat shame. My outta town trouble best not have found its way here on account of me." Father Pryor wasn't a close friend of Ivar's or anything, but the man ran a drat fine soup kitchen, day old breads generously donated by the very store he died in front of. Ivar's line of work didn't exactly pay out evenly, sometimes you found a bunch of costume jewelry on a vampire to pawn, but finances are tight and fuel for Ol' Bess wasn't cheap, so he'd availed himself of the good Father's generosity from time to time. There didn't seem to be anything untoward happening until the whole melting situation set off the local rumor mill and tweaked the hatred settled in Ivar's guts. By the end of the week Ivar had collected a good dozen eye witness accounts of the Father's final minutes. All the stories he managed to gather were near identical, but for a single detail that the Father was spotted heading for the bakery from every single approach to the building . Some accounts had him walking out of the side alley before collapsing while others simply described him walking down the street and then clutching at his chest. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... "You know what a Nightjar is? It's another name for the ol' goat sucker! The Chupacabra his-self. You ever see one? Well me neither." Ivar has just gotten off the Greyhound back from Houston a week and a half ago. He'd headed down to follow up on some rumors making it seem like the aforementioned cryptid was out and about, but after studying the remains left behind on several ranches it became apparent from the state of the carcasses that he was dealing with something a little more "mundane". Armed with a hell of a lot of dangerous weapons, little to no actual classical training in identifying supernatural beings, and Google; Ivar set to the task of tracking down whatever was causing the ruckus for the ranchers, after all he'd already come here and it'd be a waste to not get a new scar out of this at least. The better part of a month later Ivar had found his quarry drinking whiskey in a dive bar. It took a bit of doing, but he'd managed to follow the big bad wolf home and found himself in too good of a situation to pass up. Normally Ivar was all for a knock down drag out fight, but when a werewolf throws itself into a slow grinding transformation while you're looking in through a cracked open window? It's just too hard to resist. A single blast of silver shot to the back of the mid-transformed man's head was all it took. With that little bit of work done, Ivar buried the body, burnt the cursed pelt being used as a transformation medium and then got the hell out of dodge before anyone started asking questions. 3: What is your greatest regret? "Mm. I reckon you oughta be drat sure you know what and how many of a critter you're hunting afore you commit to a plan you can't back out of. Some stuff you can't take back." Ivar's first few encounters with vampires didnt go particularly well. The regret in question was focused around a the single vampire he'd been hunting was actually a lone wolf who'd surrounded themselves with thralls. When life hands you what seems like 13 vampires shacked up in an old and incredibly flammable building, everything starts to look like kindling. It wasn't until the news came out the next day that Ivar learned that two of the very human survivors had been pulled from the burning wreckage and had passed away in the hospital from their critical wounds. 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? "Don't like to poo poo where I eat, as my Pap used to say, but it's hard to ignore when someone comes into your home and drops a deuce on your kitchen floor." Kochsville has never been on Ivar's radar all that strongly, it was always just a convenient place to range out from. He has a bunker hidden in the crawlspace of a dilapidated home that he goes to ground in during the winter, but the vast majority of his work until now was done in the surrounding states. Ivar isn't particularly happy with something so blatantly unnatural happening in his stomping grounds, and now that one thing has been brought to his attention more are sure to follow. 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? "Can't say as I was ever normal by most folk's standards. The chip on my shoulder probably woulda gotten too big and I'd have ended up in jail for good eventually. Thankfully I got bigger problems to deal with these days." 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? It's hard to pin down something you could consider the worst thing Ivar has done. His resume isn't exactly a wholesome read. The hatred Ivar feels towards the monstrous creatures of the world isn't as all encompassing as it used to be while the transfer was still fresh. In the earliest years of his activity Ivar was responsible for a spree of forest fires, set in pursuit of purging a pair of dryads. Ultimately Ivar did nothing but cause a hell of a lot of environmental and property damage in addition to permanently removing what protections the dryads had been providing the nearby populace. There used to be a thriving community out that way, but nowadays it's a ghost town. Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Apr 12, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 05:26
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If you're doing a big group I might make a mundane.
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Mar 24, 2018 05:54
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Relentless posted:If you're doing a big group I might make a mundane. Well, how big is big? It'll depend on app quality, so if I get like...8 good apps I'll take 8. If I get 5, I'll take 5. Ish.
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Mar 24, 2018 06:06
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Here we go trying to kill your computer again! I'll probably post a thing tomorrow. A Professional, most likely. EDIT: Also, your discord link is just sending me to the discord app for some reason. Please send help. ----------- Jen Knight, The Professional  I'll get the basic details out of the way. My name's Jen Knight, I was born and raised in Philadelphia, got a degree in Criminal Justice, a Taurus and I investigate paranormal events. If you've got any fun X-Files jokes, you should get them out of the way now. I've seen enough actual poo poo that I'm not a skeptic or a believer, I'm a knower. Been traveling between every small, medium and big city in this country that matters to the mystical. And just imagine whatever you've seen on TV, just uglier and more likely to murder you in your sleep, and that's what things look like out there. This is my job now. Could've been FBI, police, something normal. You survive one stand-off with a werewolf without even having a single idea of the supernatural and the next day, you get a car parked in your driveway and a request on your phone to go to some little office in some nameless office building. The rest is history. Now I get a bunch of fake badges, a car filled with guns and a news feed of every strange activity happening in the United States. Bosses don't give me too much direction, but when they do, it's never anything easy. Got any questions? Might not be able to answer some of them. You know how it is. quote:Look: Woman, Determined Face, Tailored Suit 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. Look, when you get some intel that a preacher melts on a coroner's slab, it's hard to not stand out a little. Even if I couldn't verify it, the rest of the situation didn't match up with a normal death, natural or supernatural. No running, no obvious signs of demonic dealings that melting would suggest, no signs of struggle of any sort. Corpses that melt significantly after death usually means something big mojo-wise, and you do something like that to cover up what's going on. What caught my attention was the time between melting. If you're covering something up, you melt the bastard legally by cremation. If you want to make a point, you melt him alive. It doesn't fit the usual MO of a murder. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... I'll tell you as much as I can tell you. We've got certain rules, but you seem to be in the know, so I'll just keep the details light. There was a rash of missing in the midwest, college town, one of the cities called springs, if you want to look it up. Turns out, this one was a simple one. Young vamps started up a roost.. a coven? Whatever you call a group of bloodsuckers. A half-dozen of them, looked like they weren't going to stop even when one of them ran into a local who knew what was going on. Some locals and I, we got rid of the vamps. Shot 'em up, burned their building down. Nothing could have survived that. It's the problem with vampires, really. You can't really negotiate with them when they're all hopped up on human blood. No other way to deal with them. They have long memories, too. 3: What is your greatest regret? You don't keep a job like this if you can't rally past regrets. It isn't like I have much choice. Worst regret? Got an ex-boyfriend killed. I mean, it.. probably wasn't that simple, but there are definitely some spooky sorts of wizards and witches in the northeast. Was just home for a weekend before following something up in the suburbs. Usually don't do investigations this close to home, but, well, sometimes you make bad judgement calls. Boyfriend.. His name was Matthew, used to call him Matty, he was.. well, he's a good guy. Deserved better than what happened to him. The wizard.. Warlock? Warlock I was chasing had some sort of evil eye on me, thought he'd find out as much as he could from my ex. Found Matty dead, all sorts of signs of torture. Good news, he was the last one that fucker tortured. Put enough bullets through the warlock that he'd never get up. 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? It's hard to say that I'm not investigating this because it's my job. But something like this, multiple supernatural events, multiple signs of trouble, disappearances that weren't confirmed meltings. Having to say confirmed meltings. It screams that this is something bigger than just some faerie having a laugh. This one's a big one. Probably life-changing. May even get a promotion if I bring in the big bad, dead or alive. 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? I wanted to be a cop. You know, back before I got pulled into all this weirdness. Now that I've met a lot of cops, I think I'd be better being something not a cop. I mean, I doubt I'd just be a desk jockey or whatever. Get my master's, probably, maybe get into the FBI or something? I'll be honest, I haven't put much thought to it with everything that's going on. It'd have to be something exciting like this, no doubt about it. I can't imagine what it'd be like, waiting around for things to happen around me. It'd be absolute torture. Maybe CIA? Get to travel the world. 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? Is this some sort of psych eval? Look, I'm not proud, but I've worked with other hunters on occasion and sometimes hunts go badly. You ever seen a wendigo before? Antlers, giant, multiple animal heads, fur everywhere. It isn't an easy thing to hunt down for sure. Even if you can get it contained, finding a bone weapon that's properly treated is nearly impossible, and making bone-tipped bullets takes forever. There were some locals in the midwest, wanted to help, claimed they knew what they were doing and I didn't ask questions. Didn't plan to. To kill the drat thing, I used two of them as bait. I didn't tell them that, but I knew. I knew they weren't going to make it out alive. They were older, sort of knew the risks. They said they were doing it to make their grandkids safe. But I.. I couldn't think of another way, not without letting the wendigo get away. So, I just left them out there to be eaten. I'm not.. proud of it. I wish I could say it taught me something, but all I learned is that I need to do better prep. Make a better plan. The Lore Bear fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Apr 10, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 06:26
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thelazyblank posted:Here we go trying to kill your computer again! Should be fixed now?
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Mar 24, 2018 06:38
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  quote:Name: Rowena Carter My mom always said that there was a darkness inside of me. I figured she was just kidding until my 12th birthday, when she pulled me aside at my birthday party and explained that my father was an ancient being that lived off the life energy of humans, instead of just some guy that ran off on her one day. Oh, and that she was actually a monster hunter, not a pest controller. And that she'd be adding some red to my diet this year. My pony cake just wasn't the same after that. In all seriousness, she was right about the darkness. I first remember feeling it a few years before that - Jimmy Coates was bullying Sami Loren, who remembers why, when I told him to go take a hike. The look he gave me - I'd never seen it before, like he was in fear for his life... he took off running. They found him wandering up near Koch's Creek a few hours later... That was my first brush with my powers, and it's only gotten worse as I've gotten older. When I tell people to do things a certain way... they do it. Not even I know why, but my mom said it had something to do with a primordial instinct that my father's kind implanted in humanity back before time began. Her words, of course. And then there's the hunger. God... the hunger. Usually its just a low throb, a flicker in the back of my mind that I can tune out without too much trouble. But go too long... it starts to build and build until it's the only thing I can think of. I've only been there twice before... it's like I become a different person. My mother, thankfully, had been prepared. Stockpiling bags of her own blood to keep me sated. Learned and taught me as much as she could about what I am, and what the real world is like. Before she had me, she was apparently pretty famous - Ravena Carter, Monster Hunter. Now living a regular life as a soccer mom and part-time monster hunter, which in a town like Kochsville basically means keeping the grues trimmed back down at the graveyard. Still, she'd get some bigger prey a few times a year, and in the meantime told me dozens of stories, her biggest exploits, grandest adventures. She was even beginning to train me, at least... until she died. I've tried to find out what killed her, but I can barely even decipher the manuscripts she was referencing that night. And when she didn't return - well, I lost it. The hunger got to me, took control. I... I gave it the reins. And it almost killed me. Because... I almost killed someone. Some drunk walking home... the perfect target. But before I could act, another monster hunter stopped me. One of mom's friends. They'd heard the news and wanted to come check on me. Found the front door snapped off its hinges - put two and two together. I'll never be able to live it down, but it was an important lesson. I can't slip up. I can't afford to. Not if I want to live up to her legacy. Monster hunting. There's no use in denying it - my dream is to be a monster hunter. It'll definitely be an uphill battle, I mean, you should see some of the looks I get from my fellow hunters. But I can do things they can't. No, not because I'm a monster myself, but because of the drive she put in me to be this person. There's a lot of questions I still have. I still don't know who my dad is - she could never bring herself to tell me anything about the circumstances surrounding my birth. And, then there's my powers - who knows what else I can do, what I'll discover. But none of that matters, I know that I can do this. Because she knew I could do this. So let's do this. quote:How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. It has to be connected. It just has to be. My mother's death was written off as a disappearance, but I checked out the scene myself afterwards. No... she was there. She had melted. Whatever killed Pryor, also killed my mom. Now that I know this thing is close by, there's no stopping me. quote:What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... Since my mom passed, Kochsville really has been going downhill. Nobody to trim back the grues. Still, whenever a hunter swings through town, I try to pick up a few tips, learn a trick or two. This town is really getting out of control, whether because of the thing that killed my mom or just bad luck. So... job number one, fix up Kochsville. Like, last week, when I stormed a grublin nest. Took down a few of them with my revolver (my mom's idea of an 18th birthday present), and the rest scattered. Not the toughest fight by far, but you gotta start somewhere, right? quote:What is your greatest regret? Not being there for her. A small part of me knows, there's no way I could stop whatever killed her. But I just wish I had been there. To see her last moments... to spend just one more minute watching her in action. quote:Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? *raises hand* Townie. My, er, condition meant college wasn't really an option. So here I am. At least, until I get better at hunting. quote:If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? I remember a time in my life... un-life... when I had plans for normal things. College, wedding, picket fence. It's all gone now but I can distinctly remember leafing through Teen People magazines or taking Buzzfeed quizzes that predicted your career. One day I'm destined to become the world's first female president, the next a globetrotting historian a la Indiana Jones. But... you might as well be asking me what my favorite ice cream flavor says about my future love life. None of this is normal. There's no Teen People quiz that ends with you needing to suck down other peoples' blood to get through the day. quote:What is the worst thing that you have ever done? The worst thing? I already told you - that incident the night after my mom's death. The drunk walking home - I can still remember the abject fear in his eyes as he saw me rushing towards him. In retrospect... I mean, it's scary that somebody can even see you in that light. To see that part of you. It reinforces to me that I need to stay in control. I can't let it get the better of me. quote:So uh...vampire huh? Is it more like Twilight or more like Underworld? Uhhhhhh... quote:Sorry, seriously though, have you ever met other vampires? Met? Not really - I mean, I did have the chance to train hunting a few really burned-out husks, ones that hadn't had a drink in weeks, acting purely on instinct and weakened to the point where there's no coming back to your senses. Wandered out here from the city, is my guess. As for fully-functioning brethren, no. And that includes new and old lines - for whatever reason, they've been leaving this place alone intentionally. Something my father arranged? Maybe. Or just good luck... quote:Is there even a society out there somewhere, or are they just random loners like your dad? From what I've pieced together from other hunters, the two lines function pretty differently. The new lines - they work almost like gangs. Some feral, some violent, others with some bigger plans in mind. There's lots of fighting, lots of death. But the old line keeps them from getting too big - keeps them in line to keep the veil closed. The old line, my kin, its much bigger, and much more political. Illuminati poo poo. I don't really know much about it - they don't let on much - but my dad I guess was a pretty major figure. Or is. Or... who even knows. I think about these things and just... circle endlessly. If I ever run into him, should I try to mend fences? Kill him? Learn from him? quote:Speaking of, is he still out there, do you think, or did your mother (or another monster hunter) uh...deal with him? Still out there, somewhere. I'd like to think that somebody took care of him for me... but I know better than to rely on false hope. The old line don't leave themselves open to vulnerability often, I'm told, so I doubt that he'll be gone that easily. quote:Lastly - since you’re townie - have you ever been abroad, or has Kochsville been your whole life? I can’t imagine travel is too easy with your uh...condition. Townie through and through. By plan, I'm certain. No way my mom wanted to put me, or us, at risk like that. She always took great care to protect me - and inform me of the dangers out there. She wanted me prepared before we started to go out looking for trouble together. But that's something we'll - I'll never get. And... with Kochsville getting more dangerous lately, well, it's inevitable right? Even if I manage to take down this... whatever it is... there's no going back. It's time to 'nut up or shut up,' as she used to tell me with a laugh. But seriously, I do need the Twilight jokes to stop. Frgrbrgr fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Apr 9, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 07:13
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A Divine or an Exile should appear here soon.
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Mar 24, 2018 11:46
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A Chosen or a Divine will appear here.
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Mar 24, 2018 13:21
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 Lydia Martin, the Mundane Really? You want to interview me? Sure! Er, I mean - I guess I have time for that, I'm waiting for a situation to develop, we've got exactly an hour left, and... c'mon tell me, did that sound convincing? Just nod your head yes, thanks. Like... essentially, I've always felt that I was missing out. Like there was some world just beyond my perception, a whole host of people partying around just beyond some horrible veil designed to keep people like me out, and despite what quite a few people told me it turns out I was RIGHT. Like, I'd tell them to eat crow, but instead I just removed them as Facebook friends. WIP quote:How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. quote:What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... quote:What is your greatest regret? quote:Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? quote:Name: Lydia Martin Rauri fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Mar 25, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 20:44
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WIP quote:Name: Sigrún Odinsdottir Ferrosol fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Mar 25, 2018 |
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Mar 24, 2018 22:20
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Gonna resubmit my Mundane from the original recruitment thread just need to re do one or two things.
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Mar 24, 2018 23:51
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Whoops, this was supposed to be an edit - my app's up above.
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Mar 25, 2018 00:10
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//edit Nevermind, did something completely different! Possibly inspired by a The Good Place marathon and Jason Mendoza being too pure for this earth. quote:Name: Jace "Deuces" Sweeny quote:
quote:5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? Relentless fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Apr 8, 2018 |
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Mar 25, 2018 01:51
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 Katsura Keiko, the Monstrous What brings someone to battle her own kind? To defend those weaker than her, folk who would hate and fear her if they knew the truth? Keiko does it because frankly, it's fun. The woman is part Oni, and thus ruled by a hunger for many things: for food and lots of it, for freedom, for the simple joys of laughter and fighting. She is part human, which if anything makes those hungers worse. While her family had always tried to yoke these drives to high-flown ideals of duty and responsibility, it's hard to say if their lessons really got through. After all, many of her own cousins, aunts, and uncles had gone through the same rigmarole and ended up as regular menaces to society. So what made her different? Perhaps she just decided she liked people. Keiko certainly makes no secret of herself; any townie can see her name in lights every time the Kochsville Stage Company puts on a new production. Not an ideal choice of career for someone with a monster hunting side-gig, but not one she'd ever want to give up. Acting's been many things for her: a chance to live in the glamour of a world she'd always loved, an outlet for overflowing passions, a refined calling she takes the utmost pride in. It's also been hell on her schedule. While she was a vagrant 20-something, sure, she could easily pencil in time to puncture a were-bear's lungs and recreate the noise it made on-stage. But when she's becoming a fixture of the local ensemble? If the crew didn't cover for her she'd be out on her keister and living in her truck. The fame's not all bad though: even Kochsville's more cogent monsters have started taking notice of her work. Just like with humans, after all, there's few things that get under something's skin more than some rear end in a top hat who's a lot like themselves. Jobs from the town's ghouls and gargoyles are a semi-regular and growing part of Keiko's to-do list. And drat if they haven't been calling in since last summer. quote:Name: Katsura Keiko quote:How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. quote:If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? Bendigeidfran fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Apr 2, 2018 |
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Mar 25, 2018 10:36
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I think I'm happy with where I've got Ivar at, so sub complete I guess! I might flipflop on power choices, but that's pretty minor stuff. It's hard to resist Big loving Knife as a weapon choice, but the siren call of the chainsaw couldn't be resisted this time.
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Mar 25, 2018 22:46
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 Name: Perseus -- Percy Eurymedon Playbook: The Exile Look: Man, Warrior's Body, Hastily Scavenged Modern Clothing Charm -1 Cool +2 Sharp +1 Tough +2 Weird 0 Origin: You were taken from your home in the past, and dropped into the modern world with only what you were carrying. I am from Argos, in Mycenae, in the year 1300 (?) BC. Your nemesis came to the modern world as well, and is aware you followed it. It will try and kill you if you don't kill it first. Decide what it is (with the Keeper's agreement): My nemesis is a Kraken named Cetus. How did you get transported to the modern day? You were pursuing your nemesis Returning with the Gorgon's head, I made a detour to AEtheopia, to visit the city ruled by King Cepheus. This was shortly after my encounter with King Atlas, who was most inhospitable, and who I transformed into stone, that he might hold up the sky. Cepheus' daughter, Andromeda, had angered Poseidon, and the only relief that could be granted from his wrath was her sacrifice to the great sea serpent, Cetus. I battled the monster from the air, its coils and tendrils writhing as I hacked and slashed. Within its hypnotic patterns were woven the past, present, and future, and I knew that within its metallic shell was more knowledge than could fill the mind's cup without overflowing. I lodged my harpe in its forehead, and we tumbled downwards, deep into the depths of the sea. When I woke, I found myself on the shore, and the creature was nowhere to be found. Now, tell me more about this Hyperborean world of yours... Moves: Warrior: If you are fighting with (and against) old-fashioned hand weapons and suffer harm, you suffer 1 less harm. Monster attacks almost always count as old-fashioned for this move. Traditional Remedies: You can treat injuries without any need for modern medical supplies (although you might need someone to hold the patient down). Dealing with a poison, infection, or disease might need you to track down some specific ingredients (e.g., healing herbs). Gear: Ancient Armor (1 Armor) Harpe (Sword, 2-harm, hand, messy) Well-polished Shield (1-harm, hand, heavy) cannot be used at the same time as a heavy weapon Pankration (your unarmed attacks do 1-harm) (non functioning) winged sandals, (non functioning) cap of invisibility, and (non functioning) aegis 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange that might have piqued your interest. Father Pryor was kind to me when I was alone, and did not understand this world. His death must be avenged, whatever force caused it. During our last conversation, inside his church, the "Orthodox" (which is apparently how my father is worshiped nowadays), he spoke of a creature called the "Pythor", a sort of snake which is also the word for a snake. You'll forgive my English, it is difficult to put my thoughts into your words. The idea of the snake produces the snake -- and then the fear of the snake emerges from the mind, like Athena from my father's forehead. The fear becomes real, actual, definite. No longer an ideal, but a thing. Is this making sense? I do not fear the snake, because if it is real, I can best it. But the idea which passes from person to person, this is something to fear, for not all are as mighty as I. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... My last brush, as you call it, with the supernatural, was with a creature called the Vampire. Father Pytor and I investigated a ship that had come from "Greece", as my land is now called, which had a mysterious amount of dirt in it. Dirt from south western Europe. He knew more about these things than I do. Young women began to appear, flying about the air, hair wild like the harpy's, long claws and sharp teeth, seeking the blood of the innocent. This could not be allowed to stand. With shield, sword, and stake, we battled them, until we found their master, deep in the catacombs of the "St. Martin's Catholic Church and Parochial School". As when I fought the Gorgon Medusa, I did not look into his eyes, so his gaze held no attraction to me, and in my mirrored shield he went down again and again, refusing to fall no matter the blow I delivered that would kill an ordinary man. At long last, I severed the beast's head from it's body, and hoped to keep it to retain its powers of command, but when we entered into the purifying light of Helios, it crumbled into dust. Much like Father... No. Impossible. 3: What is your greatest regret? That the world has moved on so far from how it was. The silver age fell to bronze, then iron, and now to... tin? copper? electrum? No longer does man need the gods -- he makes miracles of his own. The world seems to hold no secrets any longer, and with a mere magical tablet, I can learn all the secrets of the universe. A tablet provided to all citizens, regardless of rank or status, so that they cannot appreciate its wonder or beauty. The one I possess, a miracle device, is garbage according to those who "know". When I return, if I return, then it shall be different. Man shall appreciate what he has. 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? Kochsville is my home, for now. I have not yet grown weary of its mysteries and secrets. I have yet to defeat all the evil that lurks here. And I do not yet know the mystery of why I was sent here, of all places, during my battle with Cetus. Soon, I will travel. But not yet. Edit: 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? No doubt, if this had no happened, I would still be on my way home, to return those treasures which were lent to me by the Gods, or perhaps there would have been another monstrous creature that would have ended up in my way that needed to be defeated. Regardless, I would act as I should, as an example to all other men for proper conduct and heroism. If that leads to my death, so be it. I will live on in verse and song for eternity, if your storybooks are anything to go by. 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? Killing the Gorgon, Medusa. Yes, I know. I should not regret anything, but... Her fate was not her fault. She did nothing wrong, and her anger at the gods was just. Athena's anger and punishment should have been directed towards Poseidon, not poor Medusa, who was victim and victim alone. I see this now. Though this age be far degraded fro my own, it possesses philosophy far more sophisticated than any known to my contemporaries. It is too late to change my actions, and by the time I encountered her, she had already killed hundreds, but I can work to prevent that fate from happening to others. No one, man or woman, should be made victim to the gods, nor transformed into a monster against their will. Toph Bei Fong fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Apr 4, 2018 |
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Mar 26, 2018 19:02
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With all the great vampire related backstories it's gonna be a real shame if we never investigate a vampire.
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Mar 27, 2018 02:30
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We killed them all already! It's fine. It's fine!!!
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Mar 27, 2018 03:17
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Going to try and get some questions up this weekend, so if you want some more to write this first time around, have an app up with the initial questions answered, please.
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Mar 30, 2018 07:08
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Gerald Rivet, the Expert 1: How did you hear about Father Pryor's death and why did it interest you? Give me something strange or at least something potentially strange about it (other than the whole melting thing) that might have piqued your interest. He was a friend. Is that not enough? Suppose not. Well, he let me base out of his church. Few people would go so far as to do that, and his death is a good reminder why. Funny thing is, he sought me out, not the other way around. I don't believe that's a coincidence. He saw what was coming, and hoped to get some extra protection. Didn't work out for him. 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? How did you resolve it - or did you? Maybe something's still lingering there, something that might come back to haunt you... Wednesday. Chopped up a wight stashed in the abandoned house up in Sodden Hills. It was a job from friends of some local paranormal investigators. Technically, they were only paying me for bringing back the bodies, but I like to think of myself as a professional. Being thorough is good. I'm not worried about the monster coming back. Like I said, I'm thorough. I'm worried about the camera I found on the site - running and most likely live broadcasting the entire thing to whatever obscure website the two morons used. 3: What is your greatest regret? I try to have no regrets. It's work, and if someone does this for as long as I have, they won't be able to save everyone. And some won't be able to afford to be saved. If anything, I regret that it got to the point that I feel that way. 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? I've been here for about three months, set up in St. Casimir's. I came here because I saw the patterns. The whole county is going to hell in a handbasket, and not just because of the economy. Ghosts, vampires, drowners, at least one sighting of a werewolf, the wight up in Sodden Hills, unexplained disappearances closer to home, a year-on-year increase of 231% in Missing Persons, I could go on. In fact, I made a list. I try to cross off one thing a week. Any faster than that and I risk ending up jobless and having to move again. 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? Let me give you some backstory. I was trained as part of an "orange" project of the US military. ("Orange" was what we called black projects that specifically dealt with things the general public didn't even know existed. I don't know where the name came from.) The government wanted to develop means of combatting the supernatural, and we were it. They gave us some unit name that wouldn't attract attention and put us to work. The project kept on for a year and a half until it lost funding due to some backdoor power plays between service branches. The Air Force took over the funds for something focused on the extraterrestrials. We got them back in the next round of appropriations, but I was out by then. Private sector seemed like a better guarantee of employment. So if I never got picked up for that whole super secret special forces thing? I'd be killing people instead at the other end of the world for about fifteen years, then I'd be setting other people up for killing others. I'm not that sad about not going the "normal" route. 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? I used a man as bait for a particularly vicious curse-made monster. You probably expect me to tell you he deserved it, but I didn't particularly care. Maybe he did. But my only reason was that he was there at the time. If it were someone else, I would not have bat an eyelid. Would I do that again if I was in a situation to do it? Maybe. I don't like hypotheticals much. quote:Looks: Man, scarred face, old-fashioned clothes Tevery Best fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 2, 2018 |
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Mar 30, 2018 22:35
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Taking me a bit longer to come up with specific questions for each investigator, but in the meantime, for those of you who have given me a bit of backstory and answered your initial questions, a couple more questions for you: The rest of you, please feel free to add these questions to your apps, too. 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done?
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Apr 2, 2018 05:20
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The doublepost of doom! First of all, a reminder: anyone who wants in, at least pop in and give me an interest post by the end of the night. Secondly - I have questions for people whose apps are done enough: Jack Wolfe So before you came to SUNY Kochville for school, where was high school? You say New York but does that mean NYC or somewhere else? Did anything weird happen to you there, or was everything Norman Rockwell paintings and apple pie? Anybody you left behind (aside from the folks) who you’d like to see again? Ivar Svansson So, nobody back home? Where is home anyway? I mean aside from prison. Speaking of, is there anybody from the slammer that you’d want to meet up with, I mean if you could? Or maybe somebody you definitely wouldn’t want to? Anyone in law enforcement who still isn’t especially keen on somebody like you? Or have you mended those fences? Jen Knight Have you ever had a partner, or have you habitually been a solo act? What’s your department like? What’s your boss like, I mean - but also what are the standard operations like? Is it all backstabbing conspiracies from the bottom up with shadowy cabals and half-truths, or are you more open, at least internally? Rowena Carter So uh...vampire huh? Is it more like Twilight or more like Underworld? Sorry, seriously though, have you ever met other vampires? Is there even a society out there somewhere, or are they just random loners like your dad? Speaking of, is he still out there, do you think, or did your mother (or another monster hunter) uh...deal with him? Lastly - since you’re townie - have you ever been abroad, or has Kochsville been your whole life? I can’t imagine travel is too easy with your uh...condition. Especially if you do sparkle. Deuces Sweeny So aside from making a mess in Miami, are there any other cities that you Katsura Keiko So the Kochsville Stage Company, that’s pretty cool. What’s the biggest production you guys have put on since you joined? What was your part in it? Is it pretty much Broadway style stuff? Or Shakespeare? Or anything more...obscure? Where was the last place you saw your parents, what did you talk about...or fight about...to make you lose touch with them in the first place? Do other monster hunters know about your heritage or have you managed to keep them in the dark so far? Perseus So, are you THE Perseus, then? Really? What’s the weirdest part about being in the modern era? What’s the most familiar? If you could go home, knowing what you know now, would you? What would you change if you went back knowing what you know now? Have you been back to Greece in the modern era? Or has Kochsville had enough going on to keep you occupied since your return? Did you ever pay back the people or person whose clothes you stole? Gerald Rivet So what rank were you in the military? Are you still in any contact with anyone from your old unit? Has anyone in the military reached out to you for contractor’s work since you left? Or from the government? How known are you to the bigwigs, is what I’m getting at, or do you mostly stick to local targets? Have you ever had a partner, I mean after the military - or do you work alone? LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Apr 13, 2018 |
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Apr 7, 2018 21:31
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LifeGetsWorser posted:Ivar Svansson So, nobody back home? Where is home anyway? I mean aside from prison. "I move around a fair bit, so no long term commitments, gettin' to old to settle down with a nice gal anyhow. We moved around a lot when I was a youngun, so no solid place to call home, but we settled down in Baton Rouge eventually. Kochville is probably the closest thing to a home nowadays, but I don't spend much time here if I can help it, there's too many things to take care of in the country. Pa kicked the bucket a few years back, but Ma is apparently still chugging along in a retirement home. Active gal for a 80some year old. I try to send some money when I can to keep things good, but I ain't exactly got the stable 9-5 life." Speaking of, is there anybody from the slammer that you’d want to meet up with, I mean if you could? Or maybe somebody you definitely wouldn’t want to? "I been back in a few times after taking up the whole monster huntin' thing. Hard to avoid that kind of thing when you look like I do and make a habit of running around the states with a chainsaw."  "Met a few folks in between stints that have had some lovely run-ins like me. Elias Cornell was my cellie for the better part of my most recent sentence. Poor fella's sweetheart got bit by a ghoul and he'd had to put her down when the infection turned her into one of them zombies. Court ain't exactly believe a tall tale like that, but his sentence got cut short after some of them shadowy government types looked into his case some more. I reckon I'll give him a look up sooner or later if I can."  "Aline Da Costa I met when she was volunteering in the prison system way back when. Ran a counseling group that I only sat in on a few times. Real odd lady who'd have a new weird tattoo on her neck or upper arms every other month. I didn't realize it at first, but after I got out I ran into someone similar and it turns out she was probably a witch of some kind. It's pretty hard to forget someone with a mug like mine, so she might remember me after all these years. I'd like to pick her brain over this supernatural poo poo some day."   Arti Maricruz is probably the only notable person Ivar would rather not run into again. He doesn't actually remember the man from his 20s, but Arti certainly remembers him. Arti is one of the many people that Ivar beat the poo poo out of in retribution for dodging justice, and he's one of those Ivar dealt a significant amount of damage to. Being assaulted by Ivar had turned Arti into a paranoid wreck and the man eventually started to lash out in every direction, eventually turning to more serious crimes and doubling down on using his wealth to say hell to the consequences. He's got a grudge that's lasted over 30 years and all it would take is one chance run-in to spark a hellfire coming in Ivar's direction. Anyone in law enforcement who still isn’t especially keen on somebody like you? Or have you mended those fences?  "The government ain't particularly pleased with me at any point in time, but I've been on my best behavior for the most part. I imagine if one of them FBI types were to get on my tail I'd be in trouble, but for the most part the law leaves me alone. I ain't one to brag, but I've got a good deal of goodwill with a bunch of small town sheriffs and the like. Turns out they like it when their folk stop randomly going missing or dying and you make it clear that you're responsible for stoppin' that poo poo. Last time I was out in Oklahoma their sheriff, a mean ol' gal by the name of Linda Wicket, put aside the paperwork and came out hunting this thing that was snatchin' folks from their beds. Good times. The whole upfront and honest 'I'll put a stop to this' act doesn't work so well in the big city though, folks are a lot less open minded about the things that go bump in the night when they've got hundreds of thousands of other folk to deal with in the day to day." Successful Businessmanga fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Apr 13, 2018 |
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Apr 7, 2018 23:50
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LifeGetsWorser posted:Deuces Sweeny So aside from making a mess in Miami, are there any other cities that you I know some people in Newark. I only owe money to a few of them. Everybody knows somebody in NYC, but I've never spent more than a weekend bender there. I've got cousin Howie in Atlanta that I helped move some cars for once. And my old buddy Spider moved to New Orleans and has a pretty sweet gig set up moving goods on oil tankers. I haven't been to see it in person, though. As for the book, it's not written in a language I know, but if you study it long enough, it just starts to... click. It's like watching somebody play a card game you don't know. You still don't know what anything is called or how the hell it's scored, but you figure out that spades trump hearts, runs have to be at least 5 in a row, kings are high, that sort of thing. The little bit I've been able to google says it's Babylonian. Super ancient poo poo. I can't explain it, but it just makes sense to me. At least some of it. I'm pretty sure it's called The Whispers of Ishtar. It's got some compassy symbol on the front, like a star that goes North, North East, East, South East, etc. Anyway, there's some prep stuff for a few pages, like a cookbook telling you what spices you need. Except it's mostly salt, honey, cardamom, thyme, beeswax candles and blood. And then get its into the good stuff. There's one that says, god, it's not even like it's a translation. It's like... eye of the other? But also the other eye? It doesn't really fit into American very well. Lots of double meanings. Anyway, you just need a piece of something, somebody's hair or their jacket or, well, a teddy bear. You draw the circle like it shows on page 8, light the candles, sit in the circle and read it outloud a couple of times. Don't ask me how I know how to do that. A drop of blood on a teddy bear, and I can see through her eyes. Enough to see an abandoned office in warehouse. Dusty old desk, some rusty file cabinets. And smell the oil. And hear a truck up. Beep beep beep... But most importantly, I could see an old smokestack with "JT" on it. In white letters on red brick. I can still remember it more clearly than I remember this morning's breakfast. It's not Google Maps or anything, but it was enough for them to find her. I found another one that lets me make a magic knife. Made a couple hundred bucks betting assholes in bars that I was strong enough to bury a knife all the way to the hilt into solid wood. Wears off after a day or so, but it's good in a pinch. I think it'll work on other stuff. I could probably do a whole sword. If I had a sword. There's another that I think summons a spirit of some kind, but I haven't been brave enough to try that one. Also, I don't think I'll get my deposit back if I murder a chicken in my living room. I can make out part of one that says it makes two spaces into the same space, but I haven't quite figured it out. The second half of the book might as well be greek to me. Actually, greek would probably be easier. Really, I've actually been kinda laying low since that whole mess went down. I'm making spare change doing my usual thing, friend of a friend introduced me to Shiny, who will buy any gold and silver, melts it down into a commemorative coins. Pays a finder's fee. Sell a little pot here and there, but ever since medical got legalized it's not that big anymore. College kids will always buy, but they're also broke. The old hippies are the suppliers, not buyers these days. Got a russian guy, Misha, who will buy electronics or sell 'em cheap. And he delivers, in a goddamn bright green Neon. Also, been working at Dave's Pawn. Those are always solid gigs for meeting new people. Helps pay for a lovely apartment. Dated a chick for a hot minute. Gloria Shoemaker. But Glory got off work early one day and walked in on me naked, in a circle of salt, chanting, holding a knife trying to cover it in honey. She blocked my number and when I went over to her place after a few days, she had bailed. Whatever. I never forgot to microwave the honey bear after that. I'm still not sure what possessed me to try to find that little girl, she was all over the news and I was reading The Whispers, and I just thought I could help. They musta been desparate to even talk to me. But, it got me a foot in the door with the cops, Detective Greenley in particular. And a couple grand reward. Since then I've been trading little tidbits of info to keep in her good graces. Nothing major, but she appreciates hearing about meth cooks. And I don't feel bad for keeping those idiots from blowing themselves up. I'm not sure what kind of favor I can pull in from her, but it's nice to know a guy. I'm not sure she'd protect my rear end if I got caught with more than a joint, but I could probably get her to deploy a whole goddamn SWAT team if I needed.
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Apr 8, 2018 02:58
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Feeling too headachey to finish app and questions today, but def interested. Will get everything finished up tomorrow if that's cool LGW~
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Apr 8, 2018 04:26
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Rauri posted:Feeling too headachey to finish app and questions today, but def interested. Will get everything finished up tomorrow if that's cool LGW~ You gave me an interest post and a skeleton so youze cool Rauri.
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Apr 8, 2018 06:43
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Questions done, answer in OP
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Apr 9, 2018 21:43
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Jen Knight Have you ever had a partner, or have you habitually been a solo act? We've got a partner system, but it's only for three cases: New recruits, probationary issues and special task forces. So, I've been part of the first, obviously, but was also on a six month job in Texas. I know what you're going to say, but it wasn't a chupacabra, or a Texas bigfoot or anything weird like that. Something called a Baykok, some sort of native skeleton monster that goes around murdering people for food. Reason you needed two people, at least, was because you had multiple investigations. You gotta find the bones and the skeleton. Right, yeah, not always a solo act. We learn to work together. People are the best sort of help against the supernatural. What’s your department like? What’s your boss like, I mean - but also what are the standard operations like? Well, I don't have a boss exactly. Not in the traditional sense of someone who pays attention to what I do. It's all messages down from on high, percolating down the right strings. I've got a handler, he has his cell, and then the cells make territories, and then there's the big bosses up top. My handler, Wendell Harris, is the only member of the Initiative I talk to more than once a week.  He's my primary point of contact, and the person who I report to about old hunts and where I get new ones. Thanks to the power of cell phones, our operations are now pretty mobile and rarely need to keep people in the same places. The cells used to be more regional, but now with a combination of cheap office space and Amazon Lockers, you can pick up most anything special you need. Well, assuming you want to deal with the bosses or whatever they keep around to pay for all of this. Is it all backstabbing conspiracies from the bottom up with shadowy cabals and half-truths, or are you more open, at least internally? Nah, between agents and some of the handlers who see this as a duty more than a career, it's mostly rivalries and one-upsmanship. We've got to keep discretion a little bit, but the less you know about the dark dealings, the easier it is to just try and make a good impression. Helps that you have to survive a decade as a full agent before they even consider you for a handler position. Usually, you're too busy trying to survive whatever is coming for you rather than worrying about why someone might want you not to know about eastern Canada's Sasquatch population. When you get past the handlers who'd rather stay handlers, though, well, it's pretty much where the half-truths and secrecy begins. Hell, you don't even know any of the territory chairs by name. They start getting code names at that point, supposedly to make sure that there's never any major leaks of what's going on if someone gets turned against the Initiative. I mean, I don't think there's much literal backstabbing. Or if there is, they do a good job with the deep cover codenames only changing when the person dies of natural causes or heroic sacrifices. I try not to think about it too much. Job's dangerous enough as is without looking over your shoulder for other agents who might think you've gone rogue or whatever.
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Apr 10, 2018 03:22
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LifeGetsWorser posted:Gerald Rivet So what rank were you in the military? Are you still in any contact with anyone from your old unit? Has anyone in the military reached out to you for contractor’s work since you left? Or from the government? How known are you to the bigwigs, is what I’m getting at, or do you mostly stick to local targets? Have you ever had a partner, I mean after the military - or do you work alone? SSG. Well, I got promoted to SSG when I got transferred to "orange ops," in the regular Army I was just an E-5. This put me right near the bottom of the totem pole, I don't think we had anyone below Specialist. We were selected for reliability as much as skill, so PFCs and below simply did not have enough time to show that. As for contacts, I'm more often in touch with people from my old old unit, the 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment US Army. Most of them are either retired now or getting ready to retire. Some went on to become officers and build a career. These are the ones that don't want to contact me, since they know nothing of what I did and prefer to keep it that way. As for who I do get in touch with - let's see. There's Earp Seegreen, from West Virginia, short dude who used to be a miner, he was in one of the other platoons and I think he's back in WV now. There's Ranun "Dandy" Buttercups, he was in my fire team and quit the service before I transferred out. Fun guy, but I have no clue what he tried to get by enlisting. Vengerberg and Bremervoord are in Korea now, hoping to get that one last pension bump. Duny Erlenwald was supposed to be coming back sometime this year. The military and the government have their own resources for tackling the supernatural. That said, they're not always available. So they have my number, but they prefer not to use it. Most of the time when I work for the powers that be I get contracted off the books by local authorities, particularly when they get themselves involved - someone had their daughter kidnapped, or a podunk mayor wanted to get rid of an election challenger through black magic and it went wrong, that sort of thing. But sometimes the 84th Ranger Communications Group or whatever my ex-colleagues are called now is busy dealing with a vampire infestation in Alaska when you catch wind of a witch cabal in Oklahoma, and someone needs to solve that problem. That's when I get a call. But it doesn't happen all that much. I do work with people. I don't mind it. But they don't stick around, and neither do I. Nature of the business. I think Trish Marchegiano was the one person I worked with the most, but I haven't heard from her in quite a while.
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Apr 10, 2018 10:46
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For people with the WIP apps, let's try and get those done by the end of Sunday so I can get you questions, ok?
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Apr 11, 2018 08:55
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LifeGetsWorser posted:So the Kochsville Stage Company, that’s pretty cool. What’s the biggest production you guys have put on since you joined? What was your part in it? Is it pretty much Broadway style stuff? Or Shakespeare? Or anything more...obscure? Ahaha, well that'd have to be Peer Gynt wouldn't it? Let me wind things back a bit. You see our production manager, Alexei, he's a really...opinionated kind of guy. We'd been putting on Falstaff, had a few seasons' worth of Sondheim, we did Der Rosenkavalier which I absolutely loved. So he comes along and says, oh, that's too much slapstick, too much satin. We need to do Ibsen, or Chekhov. Do real drama! So, of course we followed his advice and went with the troll play. Featuring myself as Peer and the lovely Brenna Shaw as Solveig! What're the papers calling us now, Kochsville's divine duo? They keep talking about Brenna like some delicate orchid, you know, but they've never seen her attack good draft beer. Now there were a few curses on the set, sure. Brenna and I even had to fight off some confused nattmaras that snuck in during the premiere. But you leave rice out for long enough and it turns into wine; all these inhuman mishaps were a hit with the crowd. And Mia, the resident fire-breathing New Englander on the stage crew, she was a dab hand at recreating 'em all once the trouble'd passed. That woman scares me sometimes. quote:Where was the last place you saw your parents, what did you talk about...or fight about...to make you lose touch with them in the first place? We'd ah, we'd all come home that evenin' a bit tight-lipped. Mom'd lost 200 betting on the Tigers (they'll beat those fuckin' Giants one day), Dad'd won 50 on mahjongg after losing 300 last week. At, you know, those cute little tables outside Chimi Mart. I'd run up a tab treating folks to Korean barbecue and got, uh, barred for life. Good news all around! Us being us, we all figured out what'd happened through the grape-vine. And things got bad before they got better. Never saw a fridge in quite so many pieces before then. But we weren't mad at each other, really. Something'd been eating at my parents like cats in a pantry. After we'd all calmed down they...they said I wasn't safe around 'em anymore. And I trusted them despite what they said, I really did. But then I wake up the next morning with them gone and an iron club in their place. quote:Do other monster hunters know about your heritage or have you managed to keep them in the dark so far? You just need to look at my business card to see I'm an oni! See here? 'Certified Member of Katsura Ogre Line'. And if they don't read the fine print, it's usually obvious enough after ya tear off enough car doors. Word spreads, and that brings in clients. Well, clients and hotheads thinking they can take me in a fight; dressing down the latter's always a great time. If'n you ever meet a white hair dye-abusin' fella what calls themselves "Melchior", tell them I sent ya and watch their face turn as red as a monkey's rear end!
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Apr 11, 2018 19:15
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LifeGetsWorser posted:
Really? Of course I am. Only a coward hides his name from his enemy. And while I have been known to employ a feint or trick in combat, there is a level of honor one must maintain to be an excellent and worthy hero. That is what I find both familiar and sad about this world, that it does not hold up its honorable men in high esteem, and instead promotes those who lie and cheat, those unworthy who think only of themselves and their own gain. Those men existed back in my own time as well, but the craven unworthy were punished for their transgressions. Alas, I have not yet made it back to "the old country" yet, because the town has been busy enough to keep anyone occupied. It is only sensible that in this degraded age that monsters would roam free. But this age also possesses such heroes as Father Pryor and Ravena Carter, who took pity on me, nursed me back to health, clothed me, and insured that I did not fall prey to those who would take advantage while I was in my naive state. Avenging his death is the least I can do to repay him. Of course, the world isn't completely the same, but its differences are not so extreme that I cannot adapt. Men still labor for their masters for their bread, they still revere their gods, they still seek amusements and attractive partners, they still enjoy stories from their bards... It is much more like being in a foreign land than it is being in the future. I'd say I understand this world just as well as my own. (Narrator: He doesn't. Last week, he got into a one sided argument with the television set over the details in an episode of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, and, unable to get a response from the television itself, called a local radio station attempting get them to address the error. His ensuing argument with Scotch and Stout in the Morning left him quite annoyed, and them hoping he would call back because he was such an easy target.)
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Apr 12, 2018 14:37
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I listen to the Adventure Zone and they just started running some games in this system and it seems quite rad. So here's my bitter as gently caress "Fallen" Angel for your consideration.code:Father Pryor offered me sanctuary when I most needed it. I have found that the best place to hide, even from the divine, is in plain sight. Who would suspect an exile to hide in their father's house? 2: What was your last brush with the supernatural? A Succubus, feeding on the local riffraff. In olden days I would have smote the filth in my full glory. Today I beat it's head in with a rock, messy but effective. 3: What is your greatest regret? I regret that I could not MAKE THEM SEE! I KNOW our father is all loving but he is NOT all caring! Too many innocents die needlessly, from man's own pride or the evils they call forth from beyond. Faith alone is not enough! We HAVE to act or we will lose humanity forever! 4: Is this what’s finally caught your interest about Kochsville, or was there something else that has drawn you here? If so, who or what is it? My sisters and brothers hunt me constantly. It is easier for them to manifest around areas where the faith is strongest. Smaller towns with less souls are harder for them to search. Until I am exposed, I stay here and do what I can to help these people. 5: If you weren't, through circumstance, coercion, or choice, inducted into the bizarre life you find yourself in, what do you think you'd be doing now? If you were, for lack of a better term, normal? I would be HOME! I would not be forced to hide from my own kind, an exile for their own shortsightedness! 6: What is the worst thing that you have ever done? I am hunted, always hunted by my siblings. I tried to make them see but they are blind, blind as I once was. But they are innocent, they only know what their creator allows. The last time they found me I was forced to manifest fully and our battle caused a great fire that ravaged an entire city. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire) When the innocent began to scream and they paused, I ran. I had to run. I've not manifested fully or been to a large city since. Morand fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Apr 13, 2018 |
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Apr 13, 2018 17:30
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LifeGetsWorser posted:Jack Wolfe So before you came to SUNY Kochville for school, where was high school? You say New York but does that mean NYC or somewhere else? Did anything weird happen to you there, or was everything Norman Rockwell paintings and apple pie? Anybody you left behind (aside from the folks) who you’d like to see again? "Mm, it's a tiny place up in the Adirondacks. You ever hear of Minerva? That was the closest town, I had to drive down like an hour from the cabin to get to school. Less than a thousand people, all told, and we had a graduating class of seven. Everyone knew everyone and especially everyone's business. Trust me. Kochville is a big step up from my podunk life before all this. Though, with all the murders, maybe not." "But, uh, yeah. For the most part it was just me and my folks. Folk, really. My dad took off when I was a kid. Five, maybe, I don't really remember. My mom did her best and I like to think I did what I could to help, too. By the time I got to high school I had a small posse I hung out with pretty regularly. We'd do a little camping, some hiking, hunting, and snowboard in the winter. Not a lot to do up in the mountains, not like there is in the city, but we made our own fun. Hope I see them again, yeah. Red, Livvy, Jeremy, they're all great." "And weird stuff, huh? I mean, aside from aggravated mountain gator and/or tiny dragon assault that one time, not really. I told that story once over a campfire and got razzed for like a week about getting all bit up by Champy. You'd hear some talk about weird things out in the mountains, but I never saw anything that weird when we were out there. Maybe a few scraped up trees out of season, but that was probably just a buck. A weird, confused buck." "Though... come to think of it, there was one thing. We'd hiked up to the top of Sleeping Beauty and were going to camp for the weekend. Red nicked a few bottles from his folks' stash and, uh, we all had a good time. Bonfire, some stargazing, the usual. The first night was great. Big, beautiful moon out. We hunkered down, pretty well sauced, and just bullshitted til we faded. When we woke up? The area around us was all messed up. It was like something had come up while we were sleeping and tried to get at us.... but couldn't. God knows what or why. We were all pretty spooked about it, especially Livvy, and we took off. Haven't thought of that in years, really. Must have slipped my mind."
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Apr 15, 2018 07:02
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Reminder to Ferrosol and Rauri: if you're still interested please try to have a backstory and the initial four questions done by 10ish hours from now. godfish, I'll come up with some questions for you (and ostensibly Ferro and Rauri) some point during the week. Lastly, Morand, hey, your app looks pretty cool, but it's a bit late, unfortunately. LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 18:52
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LifeGetsWorser posted:Reminder to Ferrosol and Rauri: if you're still interested please try to have a backstory and the initial four questions done by 10ish hours from now. Well that makes me sad. Oh well.
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Apr 16, 2018 13:14
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questions for Grogfish. Hazel Hall Ok so you’ve got magic that you taught yourself but...how? How did you figure that out, what was the catalyst? And how’d you come to the attentions of the Sisters of Midnight? On that note, who is in charge of the local chapter, and what’s your relationship like with them? I mean, if it’s you, then I imagine your uh...confidant personality tends to rub some of your subordinates the wrong way (whether you’re in charge or not, actually!), so, do you have anybody you’d consider to be a rival or an enemy in the order? Oh hey, and on that note, what about your family - are they magical, too? Or are you special, comparatively? LifeGetsWorser fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Apr 20, 2018 |
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Apr 20, 2018 05:05
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