[RPG][WOD] Blood on Fire- Trav

Trav Parker is the last member of Blood on Fire to change. He's fresh and raw, still learning about The People and his place in the world. Luna demands an incredible sacrifice from him, and Trav is learning how to accept it. He's the member of the pack I wrote first, and his change is what forged this pack- literally with blood and fire.

While he's Trey's younger brother, it's Hilary that he looks up to now that he has his legs under him. She tirelessly answers every question, while holding the pack to unyielding standards. Trav's respect for her command and dedication is unparalleled, and Trav would do anything Hilary asked of him to prove his loyalty.

There's a lot of terminology in this one, but I hope you understand him even through the jargon.

[RPG]{WOD] Trey's Stats

There's some experience spent here, but not nearly as much as Hilary got.

Trey is an Iron Masters Rahu.


Int 3
Wits 2
Resolve 2

Str 3
Dex 2
Stam 3

Pre 3
Man 2
Comp 1

Mental skills
Academics 1
Computer 3 (specialty in build/repair)
Crafts 1 (specialty in computer)
Crafts 2 (woodworking)
Investigation 1
Medicine 1
Occult
Politics
Science 1

Physical Skills
Athletics 2
Brawl 2
Drive 1
Firearms 2
Larceny 1
Stealth 2
Survival 1 (Specialty in urban settings)
Weaponry 1

Social skills
Animal Ken
Empathy
Expression 1
Intimidation 3
Persuasion
Socialize
Streetwise 2
Subterfuge

Merits
Primal Urge 2
Resources 2
Ambidextrous

Renown
Purity 2
Cunning 2
Glory 1

Gifts
Clarity
Attunement

Partial Change
Mighty Blow

Left Handed Spanner
Nightfall

Health 8  Willpower 3 Size 5  Defense 2 Initiative Mod 3 Speed 10 Harmony 7
Primal Urge 2

Vice: Pride  Virtue: Fortitude

[RPG][WOD] Blood on Fire- Trey

Next up for this pack is Trey Jenkins. He has a successful computer repair/build operation, and lives in a self built cabin on the edge of the Blood on Fire territory.

His pride is his greatest falling, but he's slowly learning there's honor in accepting one's place in the pack and among the People.

He doesn't do anything easy, and writing him was no exception. He was an absolute pain in the ass to get written, but I'm very happy with the end result.

[RPG] [WOD] Blood on Fire- Hilary

First up for the WOD show and tell is Hilary Carson.

Tiny, blonde and fierce; Hilary is the Alpha and was the first among Blood on Fire to change.  Her body and personality seem much more suited to a life as a Rahu, but Hilary has adapted as Luna's choice dictated. Her skill as a Cahalith is beyond effective, based on her understanding of the ways to motivate and inspire her packmates. Her talent for fighting is often underestimated, based on her looks.

Inspired by the group making characters, I wrote up Hilary's first change. The tale of any first change is burdened by that which lies underneath. Deepest fears, greatest longings and righteous fury are unleashed in the bath of Luna's gaze.

Here it is. It's just a touch "adult"-  and yes, there are a lot of "H"s in this one.

I'll put her sheet up separately.

[WOD] Why Does He Do That?

On Vinnie motivations and such.

Vinnie started off in Austin as a soldier, looking for an army to join.

As an Ordo, he had a built in army. He was given missions from higher ups, just like any soldier. some of his missions had a direct and obvious purpose, while others were more subdued, inobvious and vampire-y.

Vinnie doesn't talk about why he does things very often, and certainly not with other Kindred. He knows Kindred share a tendency to be less than clear about their motives or aims, and sees the wisdom in it, after having seen first hand all sorts of scheming.

Vinnie was primarily motivated by the pursuit of power. Vinnie's particular avenue to power has always been knowledge. Most of his interactions with other Supernaturals have been to gain information or access to it, and he has used the information to fuel his adventures. Some of the people he has encountered have been more useful than others, and he has pursued deeper relationships with them.

Vinnie embraces both his Mekhet and his Ordo natures, and has come to realize that the only way to gain the power he wants is to adapt as things progress, 'see things', and do a whole lot more listening.

At one point, Vinnie wanted to kill the Commissioner if the situation presented itself. He's now in the position of viewing the Commissioner as something of a mentor, especially regarding philosophy and the nature of God's purpose for the Kindred in their existence.

While Vinnie doesn't have a lot of experience understanding or discerning supernatural things, he has been exposed to quite a few and is just now starting to understand how they interact with each other and what advantages to use when. His particular avenue of attack at this venture is to befriend one of the Mist-Walkers, and use this person as a  walking "dead-detector". He's also decided that it's hilarious fun to torment the Mages, but in a subtle and devious way.

(The Mages are protecting someone they think Vinnie and/or Reese are after for nefarious purposes. Vinnie has made a big production of wanting to talk to the fellow, and the Mages have become defensive. Vinnie doesn't really care about the person in question, but instead wants to push the Mages out of their hidey hole by being very persistent about finding said person.)

My major problem with playing Vinnie at the moment is that I don't think very quickly. I am usually trying to play catch up by at least one game session, if not two...

[WOD] True Reflection

[lots has happened and I'm not writing it all up. the summary is Vinnie now has the opportunity for power if all goes well and he plays his cards right. At the moment of the following scene, Vinnie is debating what to do with a large haul of cash.]

~A badly lit stretch of road within Austin is seen. Slightly ahead on the left is what appears to be a run down service station. A few lots over is a dilapidated junkyard, crammed with ratty cars, discarded tires, obsolete appliances and twisted heaps of metal. There's strong but quiet sense of emptiness here, lingering like ivy in the night.

What windows are left in the garage are boarded up and the small parking lot is choked with weeds and dried brush. The pole sign is rusty and the lighted section is hanging loosely from the top of the steel pole. Several beat up and crummy looking cars are parked haphazardly in the bays.

A "woody" station wagon pulls into the lot, lights off. It drives slowly around to the back of the lot, where a small one-car garage is seen. This garage is equally run-down, with peeling paint and blacked out windows. Several dingy toolboxes lay around, opened to show decrepitude and neglect. The car stops in front of the small garage.

Vinnie hops out of the car, and twists the knob on the garage door; and it opens with surprising ease. Vinnie jumps back in the car and drives it into the enclosure, and the door shuts behind the car. The camera follows Vinnie inside the garage.

Vinnie sits on a rolling stool, staring at the car. As the camera adjusts to the light, the inside of the car is seen. An exceptionally large pile of money litters the inside of the car. From the looks of things, Vinnie has hit an armored van.

Vinnie takes his gaze off the car and looks around the inside of the garage. One wall is covered in shelves and shelves of books, all very well organized and cared for. In one corner, strapped to a moving dolly, is a suit of armor. The armor's breastplate is painted with insignia implying a religious connection of some sort. The next wall holds a small locked standing tool chest. Next to the tool chest is a workbench with hemostats, tweezers, an engraver's block and chisel set, a brayer block, brayer and several vices.

Hanging prominently by a scarlet ribbon on a pegboard next to the engraver's block is a large pair of stainless steel scissors. The metal is highly polished, and the scissors are the only tools on this pegboard. For the briefest of moments, Vinnie's eyes glint back at him from the reflective surface of the metal tool.

Vinnie's gaze moves back and forth between the money, the suit of armor, and the scissors. He begins talking in darkness in a low voice.

"'There are many paths to ultimate knowledge'; that's what you always said. 'Use the available tools and your surroundings to your advantage.'  'Be aware and think clearly'. 'Disguise your desires in your duty'.

There is a distinct rhythm to Vinnie's speech, a rising and falling with a strange sort of expressiveness; almost a benediction.

"I'm aware that this temptation could be my downfall. Moving past who I was before and making something new is tougher than I ever guessed. Evolution as I truly understand it takes more than just knowledge; it takes application. The question is, do I apply what I know, or do I see what else I can learn?"


Vinnie's eyes linger longingly upon the pile of money in the car and then back to the engraver's tools. He seems to shake off a heavy thought as he gets up from the stool. He opens the car door and grabs fistfuls of money, deliberately handling every piece he can get his hands on. He carefully crawls around the back of the car, grabbing up the cash, counting it into nice; neat stacks. He opens and closes the various doors of the wagon from inside and out, making obvious pains to touch nearly every surface of the vehicle as he does so. He opens and closes the glove box, the console, plays with the radio, and fiddles with the shifter. Vinnie then goes about leaving the garage and locking it up, and drives back towards Austin.

Roughly counted, there is $11,000.  Very rough, considering the sheer volume of change in numerous deposit bags that lay in a couple layers beneath the cash in the back of the Woodson/Woody.  A decent haul, but a small, and short-sighted goal if he ever saw one. 

We see Vinnie drive to a well lit Wal-Mart, and park the car under a light. He walks away from the car and continues traveling for several blocks, finally finding a pay phone. Vinnie plunks in the required coins, waits for a connection, and speaks clearly and briefly.

Vinnie's dark eyes briefly glitter in the reflection bounced off the glass of the phone booth as he reports a car full of money in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

[WOD] Austin By Night: Agent of Chaos

Most of the writing I do here regarding WOD is about the characters I play in the game. I've chronicled at least some of Jak's antics, almost all of what I remember and was important for Eile, and have started on Vinnie's journey.

I haven't really brought up anything that TheBoy is or has been doing- mostly because this is my blog and I write about stuff that affects me. Shamelessly self-centered, I know.

I spend a lot of physical time with TheGirl due to work schedules, the store, and other real life things. The time I get with TheBoy is pretty limited. WOD was a game that he and I joined together, as a deliberate attempt to have some time just for the two of us. I've guarded that time as closely as I can, knowing that I don't have much time left before his life changes dramatically and his priorities may not entail 'gaming with mom'.

Very recently, TheBoy's longstanding character Bruce died. Bruce was a Hunter, a lone human standout in a hugely supernatural world. Bruce was, in most cases, an unmitigated ass. There were some situations where he made allies and was helpful, but for the largest part, he was a man acutely aware of the horrors around him, forced to deal with them rather than die. He mainly chose not to slay the monsters in order to study them further, and gain valuable information for the "big wars"- and man, there are a lot of them.

Bruce died in an attempt to stave off an elder god being summoned by 2 grief crazed members of the group. [Yes, PCs tried to summon an elder god. It was weird.]

Whether Bruce was successful or just satiated the god's thirst for now was irrelevant to TheBoy. He was thrilled with how his character went out, and felt great pride in staying true to his character to the bitter end. I have to say I was really proud of him.

TheBoy is now playing a SinEater named John. John is a Celebrant whose Geist is an agent of chaos. John's Geist's name is Methusela, and he loves to create havok. TheBoy has a great rolling dialogue about how his Geist torments John's coworkers at the "pencil pushing factory" (stolen RIGHT from Fairly OddParents, I love this kid) or will depants the clerk at the grocery store, or other, random, weird shit; just because he can and because he thinks it's funny.

In high school, I was friends with two of the strangest guys, who were both delightful adherents to 'chaos in real life' as much as they possibly could be. Their singular purpose was to cause as much dissonance and sow as much strange as they could.

There were many times when being their friend was a lot of fun, just to see what would happen. The same is true with TheBoy's character. Watching what he does with John and Methusela and what trouble they get themselves into is immensely amusing to me. I love the creativity running through TheBoy's head and I can SEE the ideas burbling about as he blabs some new scene of what he is doing.

I can't wait to see what he does next!

[WOD] Austin By Night: Long Time Coming -Vinnie

I wish I could touch you again
I wish I could still call you friend
I'd give anything


When someone said count your blessings now
'fore they're long gone
I guess I just didn't know how
I was all wrong
They knew better
Still you said forever
And ever
Who knew - Pink, Who Knew 
-------------------------------------------------

I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve, and it's usually apparent to those around me. As a rule, I'm not great at hiding things. In addition, I work pretty hard to be an honest person. All that being said, I'm very skilled at lying when something truly important is on the line. This dichotomy might seem strange, but it makes sense to me that in order to protect myself or someone I love, I'm going to have to lie (and keep the lie straight). If I'm lying, there's a really good reason for it.

I've been lying to myself about something pretty big for a while now, and I'm just now working out how to cope with the situation and how to be honest with myself about it.

I am very upfront about the fact that I often use a character and his or her roleplaying opportunities as therapy for the stuff I am personally going through. This is specifically true in the WOD game, where the people I play with and the environment is very safe, and I feel that I can really "get through" my issues and get closer to whole again.

Vinnie is a way for me to deal with a very specific issue. However, the issue is the same one I've been lying to myself about. In order for me to get where I want to go, I have to tear down the "wall" of a lie, and face certain truths.

So here it is. I've been hurt recently- and very badly. I've lost something very dear to me, and it's killing me.

I'll admit that I had a role in this and my actions didn't always help me. But I was letting the situation control me; instead of taking some kind of ownership and finding a way to deal with it. I was hiding from how truly hurt I was over this loss, and how much I want to get it back.

In making Vinnie, I came to the "wall" and had to deal with some reality. I can't get what I had back- there's a saying; "you can't go home again". It's very appropriate; but it misses a deeper truth. "Home is where the heart is"; so I can't go home- I have it with me no matter where I go.

Vinnie lost something. He wants to get it back. He knows he can't have the "same" thing; but that he can build himself back up to a level similar to where he was before, and maybe make it his new home. In order to get his "home" back, Vinnie is going to have to do a lot of work.

He was recently asked by the Harpy to get in touch with certain people in the city, and offer certain services. He did what he was asked to do, and got looked at like he was a fool. Vinnie absolutely does not understand what EXACTLY he is supposed to offer; and he doesn't care. He'll do what he has to for a shot at building his "home" (easiest way to express it)  back up from the ashes.

I have to be Vinnie for a while. I have to refuse to allow other people's opinions affect me or who I am as a person. I have to do whatever it takes to get some semblance of what I lost back- even if I have to re-examine what I had and determine if it was worth having in the first place. That, my friends, is real and brutal truth.

Vinnie's background and stats will be posted tomorrow- I figure I've gone on long enough.

[RPG] Breaking Past Yourself

There's a guy I know at my local store who's pretty quiet. In fact, a much better way to describe him is "mousy"- he's very introverted, super passive and generally unlikely to stand up for himself in any way.

The character he plays is a whole lot like that, too. For the most part, this does't effect the game he's in, but now and then this isn't so great for him or the people he plays with. Recently, something pretty unpleasant happened to his character, and his response was - mild.  He just couldn't bring himself to do something "different" from his normal self, something crazy, foolish or even outraged.

It was very rough for me to witness as a bystander. I was furious and wanted him to "do something". However, that really isn't in his personal character, and he couldn't reach enough past his own makeup to act in line with another personna. 

At first I was very critical of this, and then realized that I am guilty of it too. I was specifically challenged to run a particular type of character recently, and I balked- HARD. I just wasn't comfortable with the things I would need to do in that kind of role, and felt it wasn't a good fit for me. I did move away from the kind of character I traditionally run, but I certainly did not do any real "break away" stuff in designing my new dude. 

If roleplaying is all about being someone else and exploring parts of yourself, these boundaries make it difficult to achieve something greater- and it's doubly hard when you don't know you're limited. I sure didn't- at least not until I looked closely at the situation. 

How do you break out of your own self and into someone else; move beyond your own personal tendencies and into new territory?

[RPG][WOD] Compromise

I worked and worked on that stalled out idea from a while ago some more.

It rattled around, but just wouldn't go anywhere.

So I took a drastic step and talked to the guy in charge of the game I an trying to join. I KNOW, what a concept!

He's a really creative guy. I like talking to him. I enjoy his game. So why was I hesitant to bring my problem to him? Mostly because looking back, that's all I ever seemed to bring to him. I wanted to bring a full, working idea to him this time. But I bucked it up and talked to him about the problems I was having.

He came up with a suggestion that was pretty much the exact opposite of what I was trying to do. His idea was really a departure from what I had explained to him and he seemed really confident that I had the ability to pull off the changes he mentioned. He left it up to me, of course, but he got me thinking.

I thought about my issues and my concept a while longer, and then talked to another player in the game. This guy went in a completely random direction from where I was,but the idea he offered was totally doable.

However, I hated it even MORE than my "dud" idea.

So back to thinking some more. I was sold on the basic premise of the character I had in mind, it was the finder details (and especially the history) that were giving me fits. I decided to sleep on it again, and woke up the next morning energized and completely confident that I could make my concept work.

What changed? I decided to go with a compromise. Some of my idea, and some of the ST's idea all mixed together. What came out of it was a character idea that has life and promise for me, a lot of interesting plots for the ST and some meat for other players to dig into when they finally meet him.

Yeah, I'll do a write up and probably will resume with the after-action reports once I get "introduced" into the game.

yay for compromise!

[RPG][WOD] Getting Frustrated

I'm feeling more than a little frustrated right now. Things have changed enough, or timing is different enough, or my life is settled enough that I finally feel I can take on being in the WOD game again. I've talked to the ST about it, and he has said "ok" to the idea of my coming back as well.

So I'm working on a character idea for the game.

I have actually come up with an idea that is perfect, intellectually. He's got tons of good plot material, has a good reason to be in Austin, has enough abilities to make him interesting- the whole package is pretty awesome.

So what's the problem?


I am not excited about the idea. Not even a little. There's no joy; no promise; no thrill. This character, while ideal on paper, would merely be an intellectual exercise; but not FUN.

Everyone else in this game loves their character. Gets pumped, excited and flush with the thrill of playing their respective imaginary personas when game time comes. And I really want that.

What makes this all the more frustrating is that this particular idea is a Vampire; and I'm fairly well known for Vampires; and I generally love them. But this guy is making me pretty aggravated, so maybe I need to go back to the drawing board. Or something.

How do you handle this? Cause it's really annoying.

[RPG] More on Substance

I'm continuing to work on the character "shape" I shared earlier. He has become a lot more "sticky" in the past week or so, and I even have a mental picture of what he might look like. His name and backstory are still things I am working on, but as soon as he's ready, I'll tell you more about him.

It takes a lot of work to develop a solid-fleshed out character idea that has "legs" so that you can play it for a while. Sometimes you know you have a winner, and other times it is more of a toss up.

I think the same is true for games as it is for characters.  I had to excuse myself from JR's Hellfrost game for at least a month due to real life chicanery. While I was talking to him about it, the players were discussing how the game was trying its best to implode. JR's tougher than the game and is trying to keep it alive.

In the discussion, the other game that JR is running was brought up- and it's going fine. We decided that the Hellfrost game was the sacrificial offering to the Game Gawds to keep the other one running. It's the one TheDude is in, and it's keeping him sane, so I don't mind. 

I've seen really good games blow up for silly reasons, and really silly games stay afloat for a very long time. Games have personalities just as much as characters and players do, and if you're one of those "shared experience" kinda people like I am, WHO plays in the game as well as what kind of character can make or break an entire evening. 

Building a game with substance then is infinitely harder than building a character, if you ask me. Certainly GMs build their worlds, the people in them and the adventures to be had- but the players decide if it is compelling and worth their attention. I think picking the right kind of players (or avoiding the WRONG ones) becomes paramount when deciding to run a game, if you have the ability to do so.

But back to my still-developing character- I need something to help him be finished soon, because I really want to play! Any ideas?

[RPG] Creating Substance

Right at the moment, I am working on a character idea for a game. I don't have anything really concrete yet- just vague..."shapes", if you will.

This isn't uncommon for my process. I usually have a single element floating around in my head for a while before I can attach anything else to it. A good example of this is when I originally created Diamond. I just had "long blonde hair" for a solid week, before I got anywhere else. Other characters have come to me as "drinks a lot" or "loves Louboutins".

I've come to accept this, and try to help the process along. Sometimes I stick other, similar ideas next to the concept or image I have in my head, just to see if it "fits". I keep at this until I have a fully formed, fleshed out, substantial idea. But it often takes time.

Right now, the character I am working on is not very sticky. I do know it's a "HE", so I'm thinking of him that way. The concepts that are sticking to him are "movement", "money" and "Latin".

Mexican cab driver? Puerto Rican Olympic runner? Brazilian banker on the run?

I don't know, but it sure is a fun process to try to add substance to him until he's done.

[RPG] Getting What You Want

A little while ago, Jay over at Life and Times of a Phillipine Gamer shot out his expectations as a player in a game. I posted then that I really admired it- it is far too often that players do not know what they want from a game.

In certain kinds of games, this is ok. I'll say that 4E D&D and Pathfinder offer the option of waiting to see where the adventure takes you. Those games are (as a rule) pretty prescribed into "what do you DO" and not "how do you FEEL".

Other games, it really pays to have some concepts of what you want to do with your character (other than show up to beat on things). Having at least some character development goals can immensely improve your gaming experience. It can enrich the group setting and help everyone have an idea of 'what to do' when moving from place to place in the game.

It is important to talk to the GM and be sure the kinds of expectations you have match or mesh with the kind of game they are running. If you are in a gritty, dark & dirty near future game of some sort, wanting to become a porn star is probably feasible. If you are playing a silly dungeony old school variant, wanting to become a serious magical theoretician is probably not going to work out so well.

In addition to the kind of game, it helps to know that the GM is into the same level of "work" that you want. In one of the games I watch, the GM does a TON of work. If I walked up to him and said "hey, I want to do a bunch of private scenes to help with character development", he would at least consider it. He might say NO because that's adding to his workload, but at least it is in his realm of possibility. If, however, I did the same in Jeff's amazing dungeon game, he would almost definitively say "no". That sort of thing doesn't mesh with his style of running a game, overall.

Overall, I would hope that I'd know before I ever joined a game whether my playstyle and the GM will mesh. I would HOPE that I would investigate and ask questions, and make sure the GM did the same. But it's happened to me more than once when I have gotten in a game where things just didn't work, and I didn't know how to get what I wanted. I've put that knowledge to use, and have learned for the future, but when you're  in the thick of it, it can really suck.

So what do you do when you want something the GM can't or doesn't want to give? How do you handle wanting intense, deeply personal private scenes with a GM that overschedules himself and barely sleeps, much less has time for "bluebooking"?  How do you handle wanting to show up to "beat on stuff" with a GM that really wants character development hooks and rich, thick and immersive play?

[WOD] Final Session as Eile

 [this is a long one! bear with it, it's worth it.]

You're so mean, when you talk, about yourself you were wrong.
Change the voices, in your head, make them like you instead.
So complicated, look happy, you'll make it!
Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game.
It's enough! I've done all I can think of.
Chased down all my demons, I've seen you do the same. 
[snip]

The world stares while I swallow the fear
The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer
So cool in lying and I tried tried
But we try too hard, it’s a waste of my time Pink, F'N Perfect

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Terrance- Chamgeling

Waco- Changeling

TK-Geist

Lucky- Geist

Reese- Vampire

Ed- Werewolf

Raaf-Werewolf

Ginger- Werewolf

David-Werewolf

Victor-Werewolf

Terrance, Waco, TK, Lucky, Reese, Ed, Raaf, Ginger, David and Victor are all at the farmhouse with the doorway where Waco took Eile. Ed and Raaf recognize the area- they had a run in with a “leech” and The Rangers nearby quite some time ago. TK also recognizes it, as he had been told by the leech in question that he could stay there.

The area itself reeks (to those that can smell it) of death. While it's not recent, it is prevalent and saturating, almost drowning out all other considerations. While looking around, the group finds other hostilities laying about. There's some tense investigations as Terrance and the Omen pack feel sources of wrath; along with spirits, shards and rats. The Omen pack makes a quick attempt to destroy the slivers of shards, but the slivers retreat to the other side of the Gauntlet. Ed resolves to deal with the Beshilu after their trip across the Hedge, and moves on.

Waco leads the way through the doorway and the rest follow suit. The pack goes through a strange, disquieting transformation as they step through and are stretched like rubber bands, with the thorns tearing at their psyches. Their pack telepathy is removed, and the “presense” of each others' minds is painfully revoked as they step across. Their spiritual elements are also revoked- most notably, Ed's hammer.

[WOD] Austin by Night- Session 15 as Eile

I'm on the hunt I'm after you.
Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the wolf

Stalked in the forest too close to hide
I'll be upon you by the moonlight side- Duran Duran, Hungry Like The Wolf 
----------------------------------------

Eile works at the Hedge Row, serving drinks to Simon, Reese, Calin and Waco over the course of the night. She then closes her shift, and heads over to the strip club to work a show.

The show's a rowdy one, with a customer spilling his drink all over her, and another getting very touchy. Eile calls the bouncers to keep the guy in line, and gets ready to go home. Before she changes into clean clothes, she's invited by a bunch of girls over to a local all-night restaurant. When Eile emerges from the changing room, the girls are gone. Eile takes it in stride, and struts her way to the restaurant, feeling flush with the rush of money and the sweet smell of emotions.

As she heads down the street, she hears a voice calling out to her to "watch out". She turns and sees Waco; but nothing else. He's acting jittery and weird, and keeps saying something about "gremlins" and them being "after" her. Eile's really not a bright girl, and she's in a spirited, social mood, so she invites them all along to whatever she's doing- she wants to party. She continues on to the restaurant, with Waco in tow. As she enters the restaurant, she sees the girls who ditched her earlier, trying to avoid her. She shrugs and sits down to eat. 

As she's looking over the menu to order, Waco flips out- literally. He flips the table, hitting the one girl in the group of ditchers that was somewhat nice to her with the table settings. He grabs Eile by the arm and drags her out of the restaurant into the alley behind it. He's going on about the gremlins, and how they're everywhere- and they're interested in her. He keeps saying he sees them, and she doesn't. As this is going on, Waco asks her where she feels safe- a huge trigger for Eile's suspicions. She says she needs to call Terrance. As she turns to grab her phone and dial, Waco stabs her in the shoulder with a tranq gun, and she goes down. She drops the phone as the call is dialing, and the phone stays open. 

When Eile wakes, she's in a grassy meadow leading up to a hunting lodge. She's being carried over Waco's shoulder, and being taken to what appear to be kennels. She screams and cries, and yells and defies, all to no avail- Waco is much stronger and tougher than she is. All her questions reveal her worst fears come true; being betrayed by someone in her close circle. No amount of convincing or pleading works, either- she's been taken back to Arcadia against her will; at Waco's Master's insistence. Waco was given a picture of Eile, with the words "We want the bitch" on the back. His Master(s) threatened Waco's human family- a wife and daughter. The mention of a child is the only thing that offers Eile any sort of tenderness for Waco, as she's been contemplating her ability to procreate quite seriously with a recent pregnancy scare on her mind courtesy of TK. (12 weeks of waiting for her cycle, but with negative results at every test.) She knows she's one of a very few Others who come back with the ability to have children (and she knows she's exceptionally fertile), but she doesn't know how this affects her being brought back; and not to her Own Keeper.

Eile soon finds out why, as she's drug to a bitching station and chained to the ground by a collar with three links, no room to move or struggle. She's transformed yet again- no longer a coyote, but more a beagle; or a hunting dog of some sort. She's mounted by a stud and forcibly impregnated- and the gestation is rapid and brutal. Within 4 hours of impregnation, Eile bears a litter of hobgoblins that claw their way out of her canal, and the process is begun again. Each 4 hours, Eile brings about a gorge of servants to Waco's Masters; she's bearing the soldiers of an army. Time is truly strange on the opposite side of the Hedge, and while 16 hours goes by in Arcadia, Waco returns to Austin in just 36 seconds.

In Austin, Terrance gets the phone call, which he knows is from Eile, but nothing is on the line except the sound of passing cars and random talking. The phone is then run over by a car, and Terrance is left confused. He quickly figures out Eile is not at The Hedge Row or their apartment, so he deduces she was at the strip club. 

[The rest of this information is Terrance's story, but relevant to Eile.]

Terrance winds up in the alley behind the strip club, looking for Eile; and is confronted by a large number of gremlins. They  surround him and tell him : "It was our job. He took her. She's been TAKEN. She's gone." Terrance asks a few questions, which the goblins generally answer; and then they start to pursue him. Terrance runs, and calls Avere. They agree to meet at the Hedge Row, and Terrance avoids a serious encounter with the goblins.

Once at the Hedge Row, Terrance and Avere find Duncan and Terrance relays the story as he knows it to both Duncan and Avere. Duncan catches on the word "taken" which was uttered by the goblins very seriously and they discuss the ramifications of that specific word among the Lost. As they are discussing this, Waco comes in, out of breath and quite beaten up. He tells them he saw Eile being taken, and he knows where she is, and that they jumped him, etc.  With this last piece of news, Duncan is very concerned for Eile's safety and longevity. He impresses upon Waco, Avere and Terrance that he considers all the Lost that frequent the Hedge Row as family, and that everything possible should be done to help family. This is especially important to Avere, whom Duncan as adopted as a sister, and who has been searching for her family since she returned from Arcadia.

Avere and Terrance are vocal about doing anything and everything to get Eile back, and Waco goes along with them as they try to figure out how to rescue her. Avere calls the Omen pack, and calls in a favor. Ed feels more than compelled to help Avere, as it was at HIS direction that Avere was made a protected member of the pack. He agrees to meet her at the Hedge Row, and heads over in short order.

[He is sidetracked by something important, which allows for the situation at the Hedge Row to play out.]

Back at the Hedge Row, Avere, terrance and Waco head downstairs after talking to Duncan. As they head down, Terrance stops Waco and offers to help heal him. Waco accepts, and while Terrance bestows his contract of healing on Waco, he also uses Witches' Intuition, and discovers that Waco knows very precisely where Eile is, and he's hiding it from Avere and Terrance in fear of being discovered.

Terrance confronts Waco in front of a large crowd -many of whom are Avere's allies. Terrance is in a terrible wrath and is insistent that Waco is hiding something harmful. Avere trusts Waco, and doesn't understand Terrance's anger- until finally, Avere asks: Is what Terrance is saying true? Are you hiding something from us?

Waco answers, yes, he's hiding something. Avere continues: How do you know where Eile is? And Waco answers; "because I took her there".

Pandemonium ensues as Avere strikes at Waco with a wrench, and encourages several of her allies to do everything in their power to hurt (if not kill) Waco. She's infuriated that one of the Lost would betray another by continuing to obey their Keeper, and wants nothing but harm upon Waco. As this is going on, Terrance has grabbed Waco and wrapped him into a submission hold when Waco whispers something that stays Terrance's wrath. Terrance then grabs hold of a collar from around Waco's throat (which no one has noticed before) and starts trying to remove it.

The collar proves quite stubborn, and so Avere produces a unicorn's horn from her bag- something that she's used against Hedge crafted things quite successfully in the past. She stabs the collar, which opens up and grabs Terrance, wrapping around his hand. It begins to open a door, and is sucking Waco into the doorway- and Terrance feels the pull. Avere is trying to get him to let go, and Terrance panics and releases the collar. The collar sucks shut, pulling Waco into it like something out of a comic book, and the large group is left with no ideas on where Eile might be, or how to track her.

[WOD] Austin Tales (1): The Vigil

Up at dawn. Head to Sand's. Work on adaptation again. Leave and head to the Row. Up the stairs (man, my ass is going to look nice), unlock the door. 

Inside, he's on the bed, under the sheets.  I sit next to him and keep hold of his hand, thinking of anything but the future. 

He neither breathes nor rots- in complete stasis. This idea is so foreign to me I just don't understand. I keep hoping something will change, but it doesn't.

Time to head downstairs to tend bar. I lock the door behind me as I slip it shut. 

After my shift, back upstairs and wait the night away, holding his hand as nothing changes. 

Weeks of this and time starts to blur on itself - I'm no longer sure how long I've been waiting. I've been waiting and the answer is always the same. There's never any change.

Is this still Austin? Have I gone back by mistake? Is this an even worse torture than never having something to hold onto? 

I leave Sand's and head to the Row. I head up the stairs (yeah, I'm rocking a smaller size jeans) and unlock the door.

He's not there. 

I check the window, look for mirrors (they're sneaky), check for trapdoors. Nothing.

He's not there. 

Faster than I can believe, it's time to work the bar. I head downstairs, with nothing but bees in my head.  I work, considering options and adaptations.

A man comes in the bar, and he asks for the usual. His voice sounds familiar, but I can't place him. He talks, and it becomes clearer- it's him; just different.

Did he go over, and come back changed? Is this where my world starts turning?

He's bewildered and babbling, and out pops a word I've heard; but never from him: wife.

He's not there.

[WOD] Austin By Night- Session 13 (as Eile, sort of)

 A snapshot of what I know happened. No quote as I really wasn't involved much. I was waiting for a couple things to resolve and wound up spending much of the night out of scenes.

--------------------------------
Werewolf stuff to my knowledge:

a) Ed has made a few blanket statements. Avere, Coyote Joe, Memento all have full access to the house. TK and Terrance have some access to the house, with his involvement/permission required. Eile is not allowed in the house, ever. (And his emphasis on *ever* was really strong.)

b) Another Irraka was added to the pack.. I only know sketchiest of details on this.

c) Avere and Coyote Joe were announced (through Cahalith calling) to be allies of the pack. Any harm that comes to them will be met with retribution. (I am pretty sure the harm has to come from Uratha related sources, but not sure. It might be ANY harm.)

d) January is fasting month to honor Brother Dreamcatcher's ban. No hoarding of food/essence, just enough to keep alive. IE you can't draw from the locus, you only get back what you gain from sleep. (I am not sure what else there might be, this is what I know I heard the ST saying.)

e) Mutual non-aggression agreement with Memento (might not be new)

f) Bruce is on the 'watch list' (from what I understand. I heard this early on in the night, it might have changed after other things happened). If he is seen in territory wearing silver- take him down. If he is seen in territory without, bring him to Ed.

g) Challenge made (through Cahalith calling) to Alpha of Blood Talons pack by Alpha of Omen pack. (I am pretty sure the wording was:  The Alpha of Omega pack issues a challenge to the Alpha of Blood Talons pack. If you don't respond, we know what your colors are.)

h) This one I only heard snippets on, but marking of expanded territory and/or into Blood Talons territory (?) began.

Other things:

-w6w-

--Reece (new player, Vampire) and Waco both check (separately) with Eile to see how TK is doing. She is very tight lipped and refuses to let either of them see him. Reece indicates that TK is somehow under investigation and tries to intimidate Eile into letting him talk to TK. Eile is steadfast and refuses to divulge any information or allow a visit.

-- TK and Avere had a long dream sequence that caused TK to regain consciousness and come back to reality. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to TK's player before he left for the night to resolve a plot there.

--At beginning of "down time" (time outside of game- which our ST uses EXTENSIVELY), Terrance went to the Hedge on his own. He wound up in trouble and unconscious, on the outskirts of town. He has been out of touch for 2 weeks due to this predicament.
-Terrance woke in a hospital. He was in and out of consciousness, but he remembers being operated on, hearing Bruce's voice describing Avere's Seeming to someone out of eyeshot, being strapped and cuffed to a metal chair, and having stitches in his upper shoulder and along his spine.

--Terrance returns to the Hedge Row, where a very concerned Eile tries to find out what happened to him. He relates his general tale to her and asks her if the two of them should involve the Omen pack (due to history of Raaf seeming interest in helping Terrance). Eile decides this might be a good idea for reasons of her own (specifically trying to get Bruce dead).

--Eile sends Raaf a text message, saying they need to talk ASAP.

--Raaf calls back, and says he won't talk unless someone is in danger. When Eile relates that she believes Terrance is in danger, he gives Eile directions to the Tur, but says to wait until he calls back to do anything.

--Raaf calls back and wants to bring Ed along to talk but not at the Tur. Eile and Terrance agree and meet them on the street in front of the Omen pack house.

--Ed makes it plain Eile is not to come any closer to the house than where they are standing. The group talks and discusses the whole situation with Terrance. Terrance is most upset that another member of the "family" (Avere) has been threatened and someone who does not need information regarding the Lost has a LOT of detail. It is agreed that Omen pack will talk to Bruce and get back to Terrance with a resolution. Terrance agrees but indicates that if he doesn't like the resolution he may have his own.

[As all this is happening, Eile is standing in a protective fashion in front of Terrance, who is twice her size and three times as tough. Ed and Raaf both notice and say something, which Eile ignores.]

--Omen pack talk to Bruce. Bruce's player makes a colossally funny slip of the tongue trying to talk himself out of being beaten to death by Ed's hammer, which may have saved his character's life.

--Terrance and Avere talk again. Terrance tells of his adventures in the Hedge and learns you can show your seeming. He advises Avere that someone has seen her and she says she knows, it was ok- she showed someone (and indicates who with Avere-speak). Terrance lets her know someone OTHER than who she thinks she showed knows. He won't tell her who unless she promises to let him deal with it, which she won't do. They leave the conversation at an impasse.

--Terrance, Eile, Waco and Reece all at bar. Memento, Calin (new Mage) also present. At some point Bruce comes in and proceeds to get trashed. Terrance stalks and sulks. Bruce leaves as do Memento and Calin. Tensions lower.
-Terrance and Eile enter into a somewhat veiled conversation about what to do regarding Bruce, as he has been "let go" by the Omen pack. Reece and Waco are both present for this conversation, which discusses potentially killing Bruce, eating him, or leading him into the Hedge. BOTH Terrance and Eile make their clarity rolls for this outright plan to behave like The Others, and continue it. Eile does try to warn Terrance that maybe Waco shouldn't hear what they are saying, but Terrance misinterprets all of her warnings as encouragements. Reece leaves because he has no idea what is going on. 

I know quite a bunch of other things happened, but I am not sure what any of that was.

[WOD] Austin by Night- Session 12 as Eile

There's not enough room in this world for my pain
Signals crossed and love gets lost and time passed makes it plain
Of all my demon spirits I need you the most- Indigo Girls, Ghost 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- Terrance and Avere go into the Hedge together. When Terrance returns, there's a marked difference in his attitude towards Avere which leaves Eile feeling more than a little threatened.

-- Eile enters her first pledge.

--Ed, the previous Omen pack Alpha, returns from a mission in Chicago. He takes back his position as Alpha in the pack.

--Eile works at The Hedge Row and talks with Waco. He tells her of the fight from last session between the Werewolves and the Ghosts and Abomination/Dog Spirit and his pack.  Waco specifically uses the word "werewolves" in regard to the Omen pack.

--Reece, a new person to town, comes into the bar. He wants to talk to Bruce. Eile calls Bruce, who shows up and talks with Reece.

--Eile calls Raaf & she, Raaf and Terrance set the terms for Terrance to be a sponsored fighter at the Tur's fight pit. They go to the Omen pack's house. Eile discovers David is no longer Alpha, and she meets Ed. Eile flirts with David and in a backwards way, Ed. David rudely rejects Eile, which Eile takes in stride- she's learned something very valuable in the conversation.

Raaf is downstairs with Terrance, trying to determine what talents Terrance has so that he can help make sure the fights are fair. Raaf is suddenly surprised and the pack becomes very defensive. Raaf mentally lets them know he's fine, and things continue.

-- Some members of the group (Reece, Waco, Axel, Memento, Giovanni, possibly others) are involved in a mystery/plot involving the sewers. TK is found there, dying. Memento rushes TK back to the Omen pack's house, as TK is a friend of the pack. memento ALSO has a book, written in Latin, that he insists is essential to helping with the problem, However, Memento does not read or understand Latin.
- Eile stays at the Omen pack house with TK for a very personal reason.
-Eile overhears a comment that TK and Frank have been separated from each other. Eile knows this is BAD news- while she does not understand what it is that Frank is, she knows that TK has said they can't exist without each other.
-Axel, Raaf and Memento do everything in their power to recconect TK and Frank. There's some very strange Wuji going on involving a coin, which has tethers (invisible ones, btw) connected to Frank. Raaf suggests calling a death spirit (!) which makes Memento lose concentration on the spell he had going on the coin.
-Memento gets the spel lgoing again, and pulls the coin (with effort) over TK's body. He then pulls the tethers away and destroys the coin. The tethers sink back into TK's body, and Frank and TK appear to be connected again.
-Eile is emotionally stunned by the goings on for a variety of reasons. Memento's obvious desire for the coin and frestration with Raaf snap her into a full Glamour state. Memento then introduces himself to Eile in a very specific and unusual fashion, which feeds Eile a hint of what he desires overall.
-Memento then leaves BUT WAIT, there's more.

As all of this is going on, the spokesman for the Black Talon pack has made himself visible across the street from the Omen pack home. He's there to negotiate, but Ed, Ke, Ginger and David all head to deal with it. Terrance asks if Ed needs help, and Raaf says yes. Terrance heads up to the fron of the house. Eile follows for a moment and watches but realizes it's just a territory discussion and heads back to TK. The negotiations go on for a while and Eile and Terrance are separated so Terrance misses seeing TK being revived by Memento.

--Eile escorts TK back to the Hedge Row and gets him settled in his bed as he is still in a coma state. Terrance follows shortly after. They get into a long conversation where Eile admits wanting to face her fears and says she finally has something that makes her far less likely to run from her problems.

w4w-

--The negotiations with the Black Talon pack involved taking out the Ghosts as a combined unit. The designated time and place occur, and the two groups take their respective places. Omen pack does some strategic planning to try to scout and have advantageous lines of sight etc.

[I only heard parts of this section as I was still deep in conversation with Terrance's player. Please forgive me if I missed something or left something important out.]

--Apparently without Omen pack's knowledge, Memento came along, but in another dimension specific either to Mages or to his FIELD of magic. [I can't remember what it's called, either.] He watched the proceedings until he felt his involvement was important, and then acted. He opened a hole between the dimensions and grabbed a member of the Ghost pack, drug him into the portal, shot him a couple times, and then used Death magic to hide the cause of death. He then threw the Ghost out of the portal.
- The Omen pack saw a black nebulus open, with writing shadow tentacles grabbing the Ghost member, hear a couple noises and saw muzzle flashes, and the Ghost coming back out onto the roof of the building where he was grabbed.
-The other Ghost was somehow dispatched, and it involved his Locus in some way, but I missed this part for sure.

--Eile visited Raaf & Ed. She showed them her true seeming.

--Eile later visited Memento and offered her thanks for his assistance with TK. He rebuffs outright debt. Eile decides she likes him and offers to be on the lookout for whatever it is he regrets having lost.

There were at least 2 other scenes I know of that happened, but don't know who they involved or their results- I'm trying to get better, but what I hear all depends on where I am physically located in the building during the game. Sorry, I can't be everywhere -- YET.

[HS6E] Hawaii Action - (Session 9)

It's a matter of time
one of us walks out that door- Carlos Santana (featuring Eagle Eye Cherry), Wishing It Was 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometime in last session, Jumpshot "assigned" Freestyle the job of checking out local wuji shops in an effort to find anything in the way of information on leylines, or the funky symbol that was at the bottom of one of the notes Lisa found. (Why did he assign this job to Freestyle? Freestyle is the only born & bred local, and the thinking was that he'd have a better shot at finding something than some outsiders.)

So Freestyle & Jumpshot go their various ways to try to find something helpful. Jumpshot uses the ever-popular "yellow pages" search method, while Freestyle looks around the old fashioned way. Using both the phone book and Freestyle's knowledge of the area, they eliminate the "obvious" touristy places and narrow their search down to three shops.

They are as follows (with silly in game nicknames following):

Kamaimai's Chest (Mayonnaise Chest)
Olone' Books (Alone Books)
Legends of the East (Legends of Yeast)


They visit Kamaimai's Chest first. Jakel takes a look around and finds "no hippie shit", so he hopes it is a good option. It smells OLD, with towers of bookshelves with various old books in assorted languages all over the place. A middle aged Hawaiian woman works the counter. She's pleasant enough, but the store doesn't seem to have anything Jakel is looking for, so he heads on to the next location, which is around the corner.

The next store is Olone' Books, whch is everything KC was not. It's clean and well lit, with dedicated sections for various types of books- and an exceptionally helpful staff. Jakel finds 3 or 4 books on the "Dragon Roads" at this location, and finds out he wasn't the only one to buy one specific book. This nugget of information is not immediately helpful, but definitely interesting to Jakel. Meanwhile, the young lady working the counter flirts with Freestyle to no avail.

[If you know the dragon roads, you can use them like other roads and step onto it. It will take you to other locations touched bny the roads.- Example of info from books. All theory, no proactical examples.]

The two part ways at this point and Jakel finds his way to the next shop, Legends of The East. It is settled in the Chinese section of town, and looks like this:

 

The traditional looking Chinese curio shop is tended by a short, elderly Chinese man with a long, white beard.  (Think Pei Mei.) He greets Jakel and the two talk for a while. At some point, Jakel starts inquiring about the "Dragon Roads"/ley lines, and the Chinese man talks a bit about how the ley lines work and so forth. We have a winner, folks.

Further discussion reveals that the old man is quite adept at using perceptions to his advantage. He continues discussing the dragon roads and tells Jakel that he can open doors into the paths. Jakel calls Lisa to tell her the news, and she makes her way over to visit the guy in person. 

We discover that his name is Paiyun Fo, and that he is the former owner and current Master of the Hiping Su school of martial arts. This same school will be hosting a tournament shortly, and Steel Warrior is very interested in attending the tournament, as the Master is very well known and regarded in the marital arts community. 

Lisa arrives and chats with Paiyun Fo, who displays tendencies of some form of mental abilities. Lisa wants to know what the gentleman will want in exchange for opening a door, as she's entered into some dubious deals lately and is not in a hurry to start again in the deal making. 

Paiyun Fo talks about  the concept of guānxì, which at the very simplest translation equates to "a favor for a favor". He explains he wants no payment now- just the assurance that the Ultras will offer him a favor in return at some future date. 

He says that making the token to open the door will take about a week, and that if 'Nani is still on the island, she is in the volcano, where only ley lines can reach. He asks Lisa for some personal item of 'Nani's to gain a sense of her essence to help make the token, and he tells Lisa that she should be more forthcoming with the remaining Ultras about her relationship with 'Nani and what's really going on. He also indicates the weird symbol on the note was a signature- a needlessly complicated signature. Paiyun Fo believes the person that left probably thinks he is smarter than he truly is.

The group thanks him for the hospitality and tea, and leaves for the remainder of the evening. 

Other things that took place:

SteelWarrior walked out a "map" of the ley lines (which we will get as soon as the GM draws it)

Lisa got a copy of the last agreement made by 'Nani with the Japanese firm (but hasn't read it yet)