Zoë Campbell |
Hi, I'm here. About the city, well Detroit sounds really interesting, should be quite gritty and grim, with an aloof upper-class as well. Possibly some music execs' or motor company magnates, who are exploiting the down trodden. Personally I always like a few ghouls for that "Clive Barker meets Pickmans' model" touch.
The background or third story that people could guest star in is...
After moving to Detroit Zoë feels even more lost in the world but she tries to create a purpose for herself. She wants to help those in trouble and try and prevent the unprepared being abused. Sure that she can protect those that need it; Zoë takes to the streets on an evening. Trying to act as a vigilante, she goes to bars and get a feel for the major players in town.
Unfortunately she is really out of her depth in gathering the intelligence, most of the time she ends up being chased out of bars. With her ability to sense the 'weak' in a herd she follows the natural victims from bars and clubs - shadowing them and protecting those that are the most vulnerable. This proves especially useful when she finds crack-houses or vampire bars where they prey on the weak. She develops a small reputation as a shadowy avenger.
Whilst at a wine bar with her Aunt Rowena and her associates she over hears that a General Motors factory that is developing 'Hydrogen-Fuel Cell' Technology and that it is going to be robbed. Industrial espionage or something more sinister?
Thus she sneaks inside the establishment during the night of the raid, watching from the roof-top Zoë is astonished when a group of Ghouls attack....
Of course there is also the other stories Aspects (in profile). Zoe is a young lady from England, whose farther disappeared when she was young and when she was walking on a Moor with her mother she was attacked and gained the ability to transform into a Lioness.
Simon Whittaker |
Okay, just for Inconvenience I've tidied up the sentences of my background ;).
I don't see a good opportunity in Zoe's first story for a guest appearance by Simon just yet, but we'll see how it develops.
Here's mine:
The answers the couple provided, particularly the strangely parallel dreams they experienced, raised the oneiromancer’s suspicions, and so he invited them to try what he described as a relaxation technique, but was actually an opportunity for him to perform a ritual to reveal evidence of a supernatural predator preying on their dreams. Everything proceeded as it had done many times before; the telltale signs of some outside influence slowly appearing to Simon’s eyes through the billowing clouds of incense which surrounded the half-sleeping pair. With his suspicions confirmed, he went about the careful process of convincing them it would be beneficial for him to help them perform a similar technique in a place they felt more comfortable, such as their home.
That evening, feeling confident in facing whatever creature was harming the couple, or at least identifying it so he might be better prepared for a later confrontation, Simon set out with his ritual components to the address they had provided him. Upon his arrival the couple greeted him with as much politeness as they could muster given their unrested state, and after brief pleasantries they proceeded to prepare for sleep. Everything proceeded well, and it wasn’t until about to begin his ritual that Simon was confronted by his terrible mistake; the thing feeding on the couple was not merely confined to their dreams, but had manifested physically within their home…
A timely rescue wouldn’t go amiss.
Eddie Tesla |
I am here, and I hope to have a first story up by tomorrow. With reasons why a Tesla would show up in Edison town! Seriously, a little research showed me that Detroit is powered by Edison Electric, a coal plant. How crazy is that? Carbon based fuel for a large city this day and age.
Zoë Campbell |
Well, most of the British cities are coal/gas powered. Wind is too 'controversial', as is nuclear.
I'll wait to see everyones first stories before I/we work out the best guest stars for Zoe. Because I have found in the couple of DF games I have been part of that generally the first to post get the majority of the guest stars.
Blair Renault |
Events: Blair was born in Windsor, Ontario to Michael and Rebecca Renault. With the rising strength of the auto industry in the 50s and 60s, Blair’s parents immigrated to the US and settled down in the sleepy suburb of Troy where his father quickly found work as an automotive engineer. Blair grew up in the quiet suburban neighborhood and after remaining in the country for a few years, all three became US citizens. Blair was an avid student and his parents were very encouraging of his academic pursuits. Three months after Blair’s fourteenth birthday he blew out all of the computers in the school’s new computer lab. Nobody, not even his parents believed that Blair had done nothing to the computers. Thousands of dollars of damage, school and neighborhood condemnation resulted in Blair being expelled.
Feeling persecuted by his family, friends and school acquaintances, Blair ran away. This was a difficult time for Blair. For nearly a year, he was hungry, exposed to the elements and things seemed to never go right around him. Shame at running away, shame at failing, shame at the recriminations kept him from returning home. The accidents continued away from home and the school however. Small fires broke out, tree limbs crashed into the tents of other homeless, cars and generators sputtered to a halt around him. Blair started to wonder if he was jinxed.
A young homeless worker and a sensitive caught wind of Blair and brought him in to a shelter before the Michigan winter began. That fall, he was introduced to the concept of magic and was tested for his aptitude. He tested well and was accepted as an apprentice of Ibram Goldstein.
Events: Wizard Goldstein took Blair in as his second apprentice. His first was the slightly older Antonio Tremaine. Tony was already beyond Blair in his training and took every possible opportunity to lord over Blair. His training was disrupted, his homework burned, his clothes soiled. Tony would constantly inflict small harms on Blair at any opportunity, no burns or bruises ever showed, but the treatment only got worse.
Blair learned however. The constant challenges posed by Antonio’s constant assaults pushed Blair to learn faster and faster. Ibram didn’t understand how Blair was progressing so quickly and began to slowly distrust Blair. As Blair’s abilities to manipulate magical energy bloomed, Ibram settled on a belief that Blair had made some sort of deal with a power.
As Antonio’s assaults on Blair began to be stopped by Blair’s growing understanding and skill, Ibram, without meaning to was discussing his youngest apprentice to members of the White Council. It wasn’t long before others began to distrust Blair as well.
As odd as this seems, these years were the happiest of Blair’s life. He felt connected to a larger society. He was able to tell his parents that he was alive and in a special school. Most important of all, he fell in love with the study and essence of magic. He found beauty in magic for its own sake. He began to hear magic wherever he went. Unfiltered and raw like the white noise from an unturned radio that rose and fell in waves with the ambient strength of the magical field. From that, Blair would spin music. Simple things sounded like a violin, or a clarinet, or an oboe. Others had multiple weaving strains of melody. Once he was even able to weave together something that sounded like a string quartet.
The end came when Antonio was made a full wizard. Perhaps Antonio said something to Ibram, perhaps there were whispers among other members of the Council. Blair was pulled before the Council and questioned. He was questioned about his magic, questioned about his strength. Accused many times of consorting with powers. In the midst of this inquisition he became aware of Antonio questioning him as well, and though others did not see it, Blair saw the hunger and the anger in the newly minted wizard’s eyes. Blair knew then that he could never be a member of their family. He would never trust them, those that would blindly accept a monster like Antonio.
Blair told the wizards what they could do to themselves, in no uncertain and distinctly scatological terms. Ibram raged as Antonio smiled, broke his apprenticeship, took his robe and denied him assistance, rest or surcease from any member of the White Council. He was cut off.
Blair was an older and wiser young man when he was dropped off on the streets of Detroit. It was the early 60s. Blair started working at the Mack Avenue Ford Assembly plant (known as the Mack Plant back then). He learned to keep a tight rein on his magic and his emotions, but he bored of working at the plant after a few years and put himself through night school, becoming a high-school teacher at a private school in Detroit.
When several old friends are hurt in an accident at the Mack Avenue Assembly Plant, Blair Renault, private school teacher and one time apprentice wizard must pit himself against a rising tide of dark magic, mobster ghosts and piles of ungraded tests. But will he find the cause of the terror before old enemies on the Wizard Council decide that Blair’s summary execution is the quickest way to end the threat?
Zoë Campbell |
Zoe can definately fit in either of those first stories. Either her Aunt may know the couple who Simon is councilling, being as they seem well bred. Perhaps even Zoe has been going to Simon's for help with the nightmares' since she met a 'demon' in NY? (The only thing is the time scale if Simons' is from years ago)
For Blairs' well Zoe is studying Art at a College/Uni level and she might well go to a private school or have private tutoring.
EDIT: Just realised we have 3 Wizard types and 2 were-cats! Not very eclectic. :)
Zoë Campbell |
To be honest, the ritual section of the book is a part I really have to read more on. But it seems there is a lot you can do with it - given the imagination, GM consent and time. And I find that everyones writing style is different too so that 2 identical PC's would be very different.
Zoë Campbell |
Yes, I think so. Zoe is quite well travelled; sort of bohemian youth. She originally came from the UK, moved to NY and now to Detroit.
I'll do a bit of research at Detroit tomorrow to see what we can purloin for the game. I do like that the Motor Plant has a connection to us. Maybe it can have a 'Face' and be sinister/supernatural.
Eddie Tesla |
NY Zoe? Sounds perfect for a tie in with my first story.
This leaves it pretty open for just about anyone in the area to lend a hand. I also agree that the magic in the group is diverse enough to handle the three of us. What's the paranet for, if not to link lesser powers while vampires run rampant.
Zoë Campbell |
Actually that sounds perfect for Zoë, as her Aunt is a lawyer. Perhaps she was doing some pro-bono work as part of the Law Firms tax exemption and Zoës' Aunt Rowena was handed Eddies' case. Zoë intrigued by the fellow decides to investigate or help, it quickly turns sour as there are rumours of people going missing in the subway.
Simon Whittaker |
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
What do you think of this?
Blair Renault |
Simon Whittaker |
That works, it ensures that Blair has a personal stake in coming after him... I figure that since something supernatural is going on, Blair's first suspect will be the one supernatural guy who's got a connection to the victims. Is your idea that these 'accidents' are fatal? Or do the victims survive to tell the tale?
The encounter might also be Simon's first introduction to the Laws of Magic, possibly with accusations of breaking the Third Law with his work*, or at least a stern warning to toe the line.
*and at first, even the First Law, depending on how quickly it's established that something else has been the cause of the trouble.
Eddie Tesla |
Would your aunt do pro-Bono for someone that most would perceive as a privileged kid? When I typed it, I was thinking more along the lines of her vigilantism. She corners Eddie, turns into a lion, and his only retaliation is using lightning to stun her and run away. Later,she catches up with him and gives him a chance to explain himself.
Blair Renault |
@Simon. We can have the foreman still be alive, just very damaged mentally and in the hospital. A persistant vegitatve state?
Blair does not have the sight, but it makes sense that he would be able to determine that as there is nothing physically wrong with the victim (according to the docs) and that his psyche underwent some sudden trauma. So I show up on your doorstep as a very suspicious person and after figuring out that you are a real practitioner and not a charlatan, accuse you of being a bad guy and warn you of *dire consequences* (breaking the laws) for hurting my friend.
So you are motivated to solve the mystery and save the day, and I am in the background dogging your steps. (like a middle aged ninja in a suit and oxfords...so not so good on the dogging)
Perhaps toward the end of the story it becomes obvious that you are not the bad person and I give you backup as you go after the badguy in the Nevernever, where you use your powers to stop the badguy.
Zoë Campbell |
Yeah, Eddie that sounds even better. Perhaps she meets him when he has to go to the law-firms offices, alternatively she could track him down? And then maybe a third-party is involved where they team-up (depending if the relationship between the two is cordial, rivalry, or just acquaintances)
Eddie Tesla |
I was thinking semi-aggressive at first encounter. A lot of people died to a bizarre power surge in the railway. I'm sure NY has some form of SI and at least one informant with ties to the paranet knowledge pool of practitioners. It wouldn't take much to draw a conclusion that the human coil could have done it.
If you would prefer a friendlier meeting I could go for that, but I don't think he would be at a law firm. He comes from money but has none. It wouldn't take long to see that he may be troubled but non-hostile. He is also not too arrogant to accept help when it's needed.
Zoë Campbell |
That sounds good - agressive first meeting.
When Zoë hears of problems on the subway she feels compelled to investigate, continuing the work of her late friend Sally. Encountering a 'live-wire' youth, she has a scuffle with him. He escapes after using his powers on her. Tracking him down in the underground they meet again - surrounded by a pack of Were-rats!?!
Simon Whittaker |
@Simon. We can have the foreman still be alive, just very damaged mentally and in the hospital. A persistant vegitatve state?
Blair does not have the sight, but it makes sense that he would be able to determine that as there is nothing physically wrong with the victim (according to the docs) and that his psyche underwent some sudden trauma. So I show up on your doorstep as a very suspicious person and after figuring out that you are a real practitioner and not a charlatan, accuse you of being a bad guy and warn you of *dire consequences* (breaking the laws) for hurting my friend.
So you are motivated to solve the mystery and save the day, and I am in the background dogging your steps. (like a middle aged ninja in a suit and oxfords...so not so good on the dogging)
Perhaps toward the end of the story it becomes obvious that you are not the bad person and I give you backup as you go after the badguy in the Nevernever, where you use your powers to stop the badguy.
I'm not sure if that shifts the focus too far away from Blair and onto Simon, it is your story after all.
If Blair's friend isn't reliant of life support, then with a symbolic link to him Simon might be able to perform a series of rituals to enter into his dreams and find out what happened. One to intensify whatever dreams he is having to the extent that they form a dreamscape, another to create a veil around it to avoid unwanted attention on the Nevernever, and a third to actually enter it and communicate with him.
Blair Renault |
Whoops. Yes lets change the last bit around some.
mmmmm.
I am making a small change to Blair, taking away full evocation to give him a point for the Sight.
Soooo: On visiting his old friend in the hospital Blair learns from the doctors that they can find nothing wrong to explain the coma that he is in. Blair uses the Sight and finds that the victim's psyche underwent some sudden trauma. So Blair shows up on Simon's doorstep as a very suspicious person and after figuring out that Simon is a real practitioner and not a charlatan, accuses Simon of being a bad guy and warns him of *dire consequences* (breaking the laws) for hurting Blair's friend.
Blair believes that Simon is the culprit, but cannot fully prove it, so he starts investigating. Blair rocks the boat a bit, going to the plant and the hospital, asking questions, and he gets attacked while .
Simon, saves Blair, and the focus of the investigation becomes a contract negotiator for the auto industry plant. The shift worker is a minor sorceror, Abraham Verghese, that has been psychically invading union leaders to undermine ongoing contract negotiations. He enters the minds of the leaders through their dreams and makes alterations. Blair knows that it is only a matter of time before he is attacked through dreams as well, and enlists Simon's aid. With Simon's help and instruction Blair is able to create a battlefield in his mind. Blair and Simon fight in Blair's dream, and Blair is able to work some thaumaturgy to trap Abraham's psyche in the Nevernever.
Zoë Campbell |
How about this Eddie? & others - it still needs work.
Guest Story 1 - w/ Eddie Tesla
Aspect - To be Confirmed...
Like the native New Yorkers, Zoë prefers to take the subway rather than trying to navigate the busy city streets. It also enabled her to observe a cross-section of humanity, 'It always surprises me the amount of strangeness that isn't connected to the supernatural.' she thought astonished as she watched a clown juggling bibles on the platform.
But today Zoë had a mission, bolstered by their sucess at returning the knights mantle to the Summer Court of the Fae However her companions had other duties and Zoë knew she had the ability to continue alone, she had to prove to herself that she was capable and able to find the truth about who was behind the death of her friend Sally.
When Zoë arrived in NY, Sally was her first and best friend. A clued in young woman Sally studied diligently, investigating anthropology and aboriginal history. She served as a great insiration to a slacker like Zoë. Sally had found out that vagrants and rats had recently disappeared from the parts of the old subway system. Specifically a hobo had found a statue amongst some old debris. He had been hoarding it but had suddenly been found murdered, with strange markings according to 'rumours'. After a party Sally was run off the road by a trio of identical men....
Snapping back into the present, Zoë shocked a couple of people in the car as she suddenly stood up. She was going to visit 'Toothy' Hulson near the abandoned station where the disappearances happened. The track after this section had been closed to the public after a landslide and collapse of a tunnel in the 1940's.
The section of Subway built in 1870's using Irish (navvi) blood, was designed by an eccentric Jedediah Hulse using hidden cache of gold. It describes a strange elliptical patterns rather than direct routes, which he claimed to the council were to avoid bad spots. After his disappearance at the turn of the century this line was never expanded. Recently strange sounds have been heard, singing? Machinery? But no-one should be down there; of course the poor, lost, destitute, insane, wanted or unwanted use these tunnels but now even they are starting to leave!
Getting off the train and waiting upon the platform for Toothy, Zoë watched a young man lost in his thoughts (Eddie).
More stuff here - including Toothy giving her the statue?
With a screech of metal, a carriage flew into the station - too fast and derailed. Smoke, fire and sparks racked the station, the emergency lights covering the scene in a blue luminescence. Zoë stumbled over to the young man, coughing the smoke out of her lungs and wiping the blood from the scalp wound. She sees into his eyes, a crackling lightning filling them. 'Did he do this?', she thinks a small growl forces it's way out of her mouth.
He flees but she catches up to him, she changes into a lion!
Redirecting the current from the live central rail through Zoë's; she convulses in shock. Her yowls ring out through the tunnels. Eddie escapes.
Zoë & Eddie meet-up and find the ghoul enclave in the tunnels?
So does anyone what to use Zoë's first story from the start of the thread? If not then I'll create another.
loimprevisto |
Zoë Campbell |
Yeah, I was thinking that would be interesting if she was visiting him about those too. Having seen 'demons' has afflicted her psyche. I am flexible for altering the first story as it is very rough; although from my meagre experiences each player has a different idea of a first story. Either a blurb, a concept, a shared experience or a long story.
Blair Renault |
After moving to Detroit Zoë feels even more lost in the world but she tries to create a purpose for herself. She wants to help those in trouble and try and prevent the unprepared being abused. Sure that she can protect those that need it; Zoë takes to the streets on an evening. Trying to act as a vigilante, she goes to bars and get a feel for the major players in town.
Unfortunately she is really out of her depth in gathering the intelligence, most of the time she ends up being chased out of bars. With her ability to sense the 'weak' in a herd she follows the natural victims from bars and clubs - shadowing them and protecting those that are the most vulnerable. This proves especially useful when she finds crack-houses or vampire bars where they prey on the weak. She develops a small reputation as a shadowy avenger.
Whilst at a wine bar with her Aunt Rowena and her associates she over hears that a General Motors factory that is developing 'Hydrogen-Fuel Cell' Technology and that it is going to be robbed. Industrial espionage or something more sinister?
Thus she sneaks inside the establishment during the night of the raid, watching from the roof-top Zoë is astonished when a group of Ghouls attack....
I would suggest changing it from the factory, which most likely would not be doing research, to an engineering university. The research is sponsored by GM, and one of the research assistants blabbed about it to the wrong sort of people. Mob? Does the mob use ghouls for dirty work in Detroit?
Blair is at the university just coming home from giving a talk on American history, when (by dumb luck) he sees the ghouls entering the building, and a very fast moving person chasing after them. Not knowing what is going on, but not wanting ghouls wandering around the campus eating students, he goes inside to find Zoe in a full scale brawl in one of the engineering bays. Engine blocks, power tools, airguns and arc-weilders are wielded by the various combatants in a symphony of destruction. Blair throws in with Zoe and uses kinetomancy to help her drive the ghouls off.