Silence of Time update
Now back in Philly, the pack discussed their next move. Ann, the ghost (now residing in Phil's basement) told the characters that Krista was in a house in Ann Arbor, MI called the "Hayward Mansion", which she'd purchased a while back and used while she stayed in the state.
Scylla decided to contact Locksmith to learn the rite of Cleansed Blood the next day, while Reese and Fletcher would go and talk to Ben about magically dodging Krista's power to "see through the pack's eyes." Gordon went missing, but they figured he'd gone to work and it wasn't until the next day that they realized he was gone. A quick check of Pack Awareness revealed he was in the Empty Room (hobbesthetiger had a hot date with writing a paper, so he couldn't join us for the end of this story).
Meeting with the mages outside the museum, Ben told Scylla that Paula's soul had been removed and put in a jar, and her body was being kept unconscious while Susan worked on healing it. It was a slow process, probably requiring a few days. He scanned Reese and Fletcher and noted that they had "threads" connecting them to the room, piggy-backing on the threads to each other and the rest of the pack. He requested that they call the rest of the pack together, and while they waited for Zeke to arrive (he'd been walking the territory's perimeter), Fletcher went into the museum and looked for the predator magath (you know, the one that almost ate Reese). He felt it behind him, and it actually spoke to him, asking if he really wanted to turn around and look. Fletcher said he did, but just then a security guard distracted him and the spirit was no longer there. Fletcher went back outside to find his pack.
Ben told them that he couldn't break the threads connecting them to Krista, because they had a constant connection to the Empty Room, and thus to her, because Gordon was trapped there. He could, however, introduced some "static" to make it harder to pinpoint them. He drew runes on them to make the spell last, and the pack left for Michigan.
En route, they stopped at sunset and vanished into the Empty Room, this time for eight hours. Most of them slept; Fletcher could not, apparently troubled by something. They saw Gordon's ghostly silhouette, but did not see him. Some jokes about cutting ensued (Gordon used to cut on himself, pre-Change), and they returned to the world, ready to find their quarry.
They drove up into Michigan and into the neighborhood of the mansion - lots of land and snow. They didn't find any other packs' markings around, and Zeke, sneaking up to the house, saw evidence that she was home and alone. Fletcher looked into the Shadow and saw the usual spirits - winter, snow, etc. - but also five Ithalunim. Talking to them, he learned that they had come for him, but weren't willing to tell him why until he finished with his hunt (because, they said, if he died then they had no need to tell him why they had found him).
The pack snuck into the house, and quickly discovered that every room they entered began changing into the Empty Room. In fact, Phil didn't make it out of the first room - his player failed the Resolve + Composure roll and Phil vanished. The rest of the characters stuck together and tracked Krista. The paused on the first floor and realized that they were in a locus' area; Zeke noted that the locus itself was in the basement. They noted this and continued on.
Reese chopped the door to her room in half and was rewarded with a shotgun blast to the chest for his trouble (he wants a shirt that says "Meat Shield"). Zeke and Scylla rushed and made short work of Krista, however. As she died, the characters noticed the room changing to the Empty Room, and they grabbed her body and waited. Moments later, they found themselves in the Room with Phil and Gordon. The room spun, and a door appeared. They left and walked out of the bedroom, leaving behind on a smear of blood from Krista and a splatter of blood from Reese.
At that point, Stalker (the pack's totem) told them that he heard sirens approaching. They poured bleach on the bloodstains and, remembering the locus downstairs, rushed to the basement (Stalker left and went to go take care of the fingerprints and whatnot in the van they'd brought, which was stolen anyway). In the basement, they stepped sideways...
...into a crawlspace barely big enough for a wolf. In Urhan form, they started wiggling out, following Zeke (who was moving slowly due to his huge size), when a powerful spirit of fear, specifically claustrophobia, started messing with them. It used Numina to throw paralyze Fletcher with fear, and throw Reese into Death Rage. The characters threatened it, but it wasn't worried (they were, after all, not in much of a position to make threats). It said that if one of them stayed behind for an hour, it would let the rest go, but the pack refused. Zeke then, in a moment of brilliance, told it that if it didn't let them go he would bring Nithar Izi here to destroy the house, and his player backed it up with an exceptional success on the Intimidation roll. They left, ran for a few miles until they found another locus (which was marked by werewolves - the "Breathless Pack", which Stalker advised them to avoid), and stole another car to get back to Philly.
So that's the end of that story. The next one, though, will start almost right away (in game time; in actual time, we're moving the game to Fridays, and not playing again until 9/8). Stay tuned.
Scylla decided to contact Locksmith to learn the rite of Cleansed Blood the next day, while Reese and Fletcher would go and talk to Ben about magically dodging Krista's power to "see through the pack's eyes." Gordon went missing, but they figured he'd gone to work and it wasn't until the next day that they realized he was gone. A quick check of Pack Awareness revealed he was in the Empty Room (hobbesthetiger had a hot date with writing a paper, so he couldn't join us for the end of this story).
Meeting with the mages outside the museum, Ben told Scylla that Paula's soul had been removed and put in a jar, and her body was being kept unconscious while Susan worked on healing it. It was a slow process, probably requiring a few days. He scanned Reese and Fletcher and noted that they had "threads" connecting them to the room, piggy-backing on the threads to each other and the rest of the pack. He requested that they call the rest of the pack together, and while they waited for Zeke to arrive (he'd been walking the territory's perimeter), Fletcher went into the museum and looked for the predator magath (you know, the one that almost ate Reese). He felt it behind him, and it actually spoke to him, asking if he really wanted to turn around and look. Fletcher said he did, but just then a security guard distracted him and the spirit was no longer there. Fletcher went back outside to find his pack.
Ben told them that he couldn't break the threads connecting them to Krista, because they had a constant connection to the Empty Room, and thus to her, because Gordon was trapped there. He could, however, introduced some "static" to make it harder to pinpoint them. He drew runes on them to make the spell last, and the pack left for Michigan.
En route, they stopped at sunset and vanished into the Empty Room, this time for eight hours. Most of them slept; Fletcher could not, apparently troubled by something. They saw Gordon's ghostly silhouette, but did not see him. Some jokes about cutting ensued (Gordon used to cut on himself, pre-Change), and they returned to the world, ready to find their quarry.
They drove up into Michigan and into the neighborhood of the mansion - lots of land and snow. They didn't find any other packs' markings around, and Zeke, sneaking up to the house, saw evidence that she was home and alone. Fletcher looked into the Shadow and saw the usual spirits - winter, snow, etc. - but also five Ithalunim. Talking to them, he learned that they had come for him, but weren't willing to tell him why until he finished with his hunt (because, they said, if he died then they had no need to tell him why they had found him).
The pack snuck into the house, and quickly discovered that every room they entered began changing into the Empty Room. In fact, Phil didn't make it out of the first room - his player failed the Resolve + Composure roll and Phil vanished. The rest of the characters stuck together and tracked Krista. The paused on the first floor and realized that they were in a locus' area; Zeke noted that the locus itself was in the basement. They noted this and continued on.
Reese chopped the door to her room in half and was rewarded with a shotgun blast to the chest for his trouble (he wants a shirt that says "Meat Shield"). Zeke and Scylla rushed and made short work of Krista, however. As she died, the characters noticed the room changing to the Empty Room, and they grabbed her body and waited. Moments later, they found themselves in the Room with Phil and Gordon. The room spun, and a door appeared. They left and walked out of the bedroom, leaving behind on a smear of blood from Krista and a splatter of blood from Reese.
At that point, Stalker (the pack's totem) told them that he heard sirens approaching. They poured bleach on the bloodstains and, remembering the locus downstairs, rushed to the basement (Stalker left and went to go take care of the fingerprints and whatnot in the van they'd brought, which was stolen anyway). In the basement, they stepped sideways...
...into a crawlspace barely big enough for a wolf. In Urhan form, they started wiggling out, following Zeke (who was moving slowly due to his huge size), when a powerful spirit of fear, specifically claustrophobia, started messing with them. It used Numina to throw paralyze Fletcher with fear, and throw Reese into Death Rage. The characters threatened it, but it wasn't worried (they were, after all, not in much of a position to make threats). It said that if one of them stayed behind for an hour, it would let the rest go, but the pack refused. Zeke then, in a moment of brilliance, told it that if it didn't let them go he would bring Nithar Izi here to destroy the house, and his player backed it up with an exceptional success on the Intimidation roll. They left, ran for a few miles until they found another locus (which was marked by werewolves - the "Breathless Pack", which Stalker advised them to avoid), and stole another car to get back to Philly.
So that's the end of that story. The next one, though, will start almost right away (in game time; in actual time, we're moving the game to Fridays, and not playing again until 9/8). Stay tuned.