Silence of Time Update
OK, a quick update from last night's game and then back to work.
So, the characters know that they want to find this Blaine Werner guy, and that he used to live in Youngstown. So, after doing a little more digging in Philly (which turned up nada), they road-tripped out to Youngstown, and discover that Werner worked there at a factory before his First Change, went to Philly, came back to Youngstown and worked briefly at the same factory, and then left town for points unknown.
The characters first found a pack of Uratha called the Rust Wolves. These Uratha were neighborly enough; they're older, more experienced werewolves and because the pack was polite, they were OK with them looking for Blaine as long as they didn't make trouble (and, frankly, they were curious as to what the hell is going on in Philly). They knew that Blaine had passed through Youngstown a few years back and that he worked at the factory before "the scandal", but not much else.
So Phil and Reese hit the library to look up details about the factory, and Zeke and Scylla went looking through the phone book for all of the Werners in the area, hoping to find Blaine's family. Both pairs were successful.
Phil discovered that the factory closed after a major drug and corruption scandal, and that the factory has some weird place in local mythology. Supposedly, a white van delivers a box to the place each month, and the police have standing orders to avoid it. That, of course, was enough to get the characters to check it out.
Zeke and Scylla talked to Blaine's parents. They first clammed up as soon as Scylla mentioned Philly, but then managed to talk them into spilling their guts by implying that Blaine's life was in danger. Turns out Blaine told his parents that if anyone ever showed up claiming to be "a friend from Philly," they were to call the cops, but Blaine had never explained why. He had also left a business card before he left for a corporation called "Argentum" in Denver.
So the pack met up, compared notes, and headed out to the factory. They broke in, and right away noticed something wrong. There were dead animals strewn across the floor, but no tracks, just dust. The air smelled like the factory had been in operation as little as a month before, when in fact it's been more like 10 years. They also felt a locus below them, in the basement.
Traipsing downstairs, they found the boxes that the white van delivered, enough boxes to account for 1 per month for a decade. Each box contained jars - empty but for a sticky, brown film that smelled of blood. While contemplating this, the pack was attacked by lamprey-like spirits that latched on and drained Essence, but between Reese's fetish ax and Zeke's height ("Roll Strength + Ceiling, I guess") they finished 'em off.
At that point, they heard something move and Zeke realized that the locus seemed to be changing position. Something spoke to them, and over the course of the conversation revealed itself to be Evelyn. Evelyn was, she claimed, a vampire, and demanded to know if "Simon" sent them (who Simon is was never really addressed). She talked to the characters and told them about Blaine; she witnessed his First Change one night after work and had kept tabs after he left town. According to her, he went to Denver. She also told the pack that a man called Darlington in Philly was a "dragon" as well as a vampire, but the characters don't have a lot of context for that comment yet. Things are falling into place, though - Scylla recently dreamt of spiders that helped her keep her footing over a large chasm. They helped her by biting her and keeping her focused, but helped her just the same.
So it was an interesting session. The characters' notions of the spirit world and the World of Darkness in general were called into question; none of them had ever seen a vampire before, and discovering that they existed seemed to disturb Zeke, but intrigued Phil and Scylla. For my part, it was nice to see a vampire/werewolf interaction that was tense, but not "RARARGGH! MUST KILL!"
And during the next story, they're headed to Denver! Yowza! I get to use that one book with the blue spine!
Oh, and Justin seems to be leaving the game in order to join the army. Not the best time for such, IMO, but that's his decision. It does mean I want to find a new player, though.
So, the characters know that they want to find this Blaine Werner guy, and that he used to live in Youngstown. So, after doing a little more digging in Philly (which turned up nada), they road-tripped out to Youngstown, and discover that Werner worked there at a factory before his First Change, went to Philly, came back to Youngstown and worked briefly at the same factory, and then left town for points unknown.
The characters first found a pack of Uratha called the Rust Wolves. These Uratha were neighborly enough; they're older, more experienced werewolves and because the pack was polite, they were OK with them looking for Blaine as long as they didn't make trouble (and, frankly, they were curious as to what the hell is going on in Philly). They knew that Blaine had passed through Youngstown a few years back and that he worked at the factory before "the scandal", but not much else.
So Phil and Reese hit the library to look up details about the factory, and Zeke and Scylla went looking through the phone book for all of the Werners in the area, hoping to find Blaine's family. Both pairs were successful.
Phil discovered that the factory closed after a major drug and corruption scandal, and that the factory has some weird place in local mythology. Supposedly, a white van delivers a box to the place each month, and the police have standing orders to avoid it. That, of course, was enough to get the characters to check it out.
Zeke and Scylla talked to Blaine's parents. They first clammed up as soon as Scylla mentioned Philly, but then managed to talk them into spilling their guts by implying that Blaine's life was in danger. Turns out Blaine told his parents that if anyone ever showed up claiming to be "a friend from Philly," they were to call the cops, but Blaine had never explained why. He had also left a business card before he left for a corporation called "Argentum" in Denver.
So the pack met up, compared notes, and headed out to the factory. They broke in, and right away noticed something wrong. There were dead animals strewn across the floor, but no tracks, just dust. The air smelled like the factory had been in operation as little as a month before, when in fact it's been more like 10 years. They also felt a locus below them, in the basement.
Traipsing downstairs, they found the boxes that the white van delivered, enough boxes to account for 1 per month for a decade. Each box contained jars - empty but for a sticky, brown film that smelled of blood. While contemplating this, the pack was attacked by lamprey-like spirits that latched on and drained Essence, but between Reese's fetish ax and Zeke's height ("Roll Strength + Ceiling, I guess") they finished 'em off.
At that point, they heard something move and Zeke realized that the locus seemed to be changing position. Something spoke to them, and over the course of the conversation revealed itself to be Evelyn. Evelyn was, she claimed, a vampire, and demanded to know if "Simon" sent them (who Simon is was never really addressed). She talked to the characters and told them about Blaine; she witnessed his First Change one night after work and had kept tabs after he left town. According to her, he went to Denver. She also told the pack that a man called Darlington in Philly was a "dragon" as well as a vampire, but the characters don't have a lot of context for that comment yet. Things are falling into place, though - Scylla recently dreamt of spiders that helped her keep her footing over a large chasm. They helped her by biting her and keeping her focused, but helped her just the same.
So it was an interesting session. The characters' notions of the spirit world and the World of Darkness in general were called into question; none of them had ever seen a vampire before, and discovering that they existed seemed to disturb Zeke, but intrigued Phil and Scylla. For my part, it was nice to see a vampire/werewolf interaction that was tense, but not "RARARGGH! MUST KILL!"
And during the next story, they're headed to Denver! Yowza! I get to use that one book with the blue spine!
Oh, and Justin seems to be leaving the game in order to join the army. Not the best time for such, IMO, but that's his decision. It does mean I want to find a new player, though.