Howling Creek

Game Master neonblues

At the mention of his family, Derek looks down and away, worried and introspective. "I don't know how they could understand something like this..."

He freezes for a moment, an expression of shock dawning across his face. "Wait, you mean.." His expression flickers between surprise and anger. "They KNEW?! And didn't tell me?!"

He turns in a quick dash, spreading his wings and leaping up into the air, grabbing and leaping off a couple trees to get some height, as he flies off back towards the carnival, and his young cousin, whose response to the whole ferris wheel situation is now making a lot more sense...

Derek
From the air, you can see more or less the whole festival. The commotion near the Ferris wheel seems to have died down a bit, but several people are watching with curiosity as the police start to cordon off the edge of the woods.

Searching a bit, you're able to pick out Kelly near the base of the Ferris wheel. She's looking around frantically, your sweatshirt clutched in one hand, Josie's hand in the other.

Derek flies over the carnival, spotting Kelly and Josie. He tries to find a good angle in Josie's field of view, along the edge of the festival, where he can catch her attention to draw her over (especially if she knows what to look for) without attracting anyone else's eye.

This feels like it might be a Read a Bad Situation roll, with some folks in the crowd keyed up on a possible "monster". Plus, the possible shapeshifting monster in the crowd, which Derek doesn't actually know about, since Phil and Arianne spoke of it in a quiet voice he wasn't able to hear. If not, disregard.

Read a Bad Situation: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (5, 1) + 0 = 6

Derek
You're having trouble picking out an ideal location for that maneuver. You could pick a spot and take your chances, but you run the risk of being seen by Kelly or someone else. Alternatively, you could switch to human form out of sight and approach them that way (though Kelly will no doubt have some questions for you).

"Argggh. Too many people in this damned town." Derek grumbles to himself. Can't believe I'd be saying that about this place.. he thinks to himself.

Derek finds his way to the north edge of the festival grounds, beyond the Tilt-A-Whirl and funhouse, and lands out of sight. He shifts to human form, feeling self-conscious and a bit chilly with only pants on, the cold not having much effect on him in his inhuman form.

Derek sneaks his way towards Kelly and Josie across the grounds, keeping out of the immediate path of any passersby. He's not super-concerned if anyone sees him, he just doesn't want to invite obvious questions of why he's running around barefoot and shirtless. Maybe they'll mistake him for the victim of a teenage prank. Oooh, that's an idea.. Err, wait, no, he mentally debates.

He gets up to Kelly's position, and grabs for the hoodie, trying to pull it on in one smooth motion if he can.

Derek, give me a fairly low-stakes Act Under Pressure roll (just to see if you can pull off this shirt maneuver).

Act Under Pressure: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (6, 6) - 1 = 11

Derek
You do indeed put the sweatshirt on with a single deft motion. Kelly, however, gapes at you slack-jawed. “Wha- Derek??? How... where were you???”
Josie looks happy to see you, then slightly nervous.

Derek winces. "It's a long story, sorry for disappearing like that. Thanks for watching Josie for me." He takes Josie's hand. "I'll be right back. I need to talk to my cousin a bit, I have a few questions."

Derek considers for a second as Kelly gapes. "Okay, listen. I'll do whatever I can to make sense of this for you, just gimme a few minutes. 'Scuse us."

He leads Josie a little ways away, apart from anyone else.

"Okay, kiddo, spill it. What am I?"

"Wait!" Phil steps back in surprise as Derek suddenly takes off. He turns to Arianne, deep concern spreading across his face.

"What the hell is he? Is he going to hurt someone?" Phil looks around, hoping no police officers had returned in time to see what just happened.

Derek
Kelly starts to follow you in protest, but Josie stops her. "Please, give us a sec. It's... a family thing." Kelly is left behind, looking bewildered.

As you move away, Josie sighs. "Grandma knows the whole story, I just know what she's told me. You're not a monster, you're just... different. Both of you. Maybe me, too. You're... gargoyles."

"What, like those stone things from that Disney Hunchback movie?" Derek reiterates his limited grasp on pop culture.

Derek
Josie makes a face. "Not really, I don't think. We're more like superheroes. We protect regular people from bad guys. You should talk to Grandma." She glances back at Kelly. "After you... talk to her."

"Superheroes?" Derek contemplates this. "Okay, superheroes I can handle. It also implies supervillains exist, but okay..."

He steps back over to Kelly, making sure Josie is close behind.

"So, umm... I know you have questions, and I might not have the best answers, but I will try."

"Basically a gargoyle. I'm told his great-to-the-Nth grandmother had a spell cast on her, and it apparently got passed down." With a shrug and a wry smile, she adds "No idea if that's true, of course. But he's a good kid."

Derek
As you explain the situation to Kelly, she's naturally incredulous at first—but surreptitiously showing her your retractable claws quickly allays her doubts.
"This is... It's just... I mean, you hear all sorts of stories and legends and things around here, but I never thought..." She's at a loss for words. "I think I need to go home and process this. But... I'm just glad you're safe."

"Thanks for being cool about it, really. Since you're going home anyway, can you do me a favor?" Derek asks. "Would you mind taking Josie back to my family? I'm kind of dealing with something here. I'll tell you about it later, if you want, though I can't guarantee it'll make you feel better about.. well, anything."

With Josie safely escorted, Derek will say his goodnights, and make his way back to the edge of the festival grounds and out of sight, before taking his sweatshirt off, tying it around his waist, and shifting back into his gargoyle form. He then takes off back into the woods, keeping a safe height above view, heading back to the location of the body, looking for Phil and Arianne.

Phil and Arianne
Anything in particular y’all are doing before the coroner arrives?

"A gargoyle?" Phil's eyes widen in disbelief. "Incredible. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a bad Bela Lugosi movie." He walks back over to the gruesome body. "You know I should call him in..." He shakes his head. "But I'll trust your judgement of him."

I can't think of anything specific.

Phil and Arianne
After some time, Pulaski returns and the town's coroner arrives on the scene. She's a short blonde woman who introduces herself as Paula Nixon. She examines the body for a while, shaking her head in confusion. She converses a bit with Pulaski, then comes over to you.

"Never seen anything like this. This was one hell of a seizure, if that's what it was. It almost like he was electrocuted, but there aren't any burns to indicate that that's what happened. And that still wouldn't explain... his face."

"He did have a driver's license on him, though. Name is Walter Lenk, from just out of town. Not sure what he was doing here." Nixon hands Phil a business card. "I'm going to have to take his body back to the lab and run a few tests. Feel free to get in touch later, I may learn some more information."

Derek
You locate Phil and Arianne just as the coroner arrives.

Magnus
At this point you're probably more or less caught up with the others time-wise. Where do you go from here?

Derek keeps quiet and out of sight up in the branches, and tries to catch Phil and Arianne's eye to let them know he's returned. He listens intently to the conversation below.

He'll stay nearby their location, and follow along if they go anywhere, to try to get a chance to talk.

"Thank you, Ms. Nixon." Phil nods as he accepts the coroner's card. He pulls out a pen from his pocket and jots down the victim's name on the back.

Walter Lenk

"We'll stop by your lab later once you've had time to run your tests," Phil says, pocketing the pen and the card.

Nixon nods as some members of her team prepare to transport the body.

Pulaski comes back over to you and crosses his arms. "We can take it from here, Agent. Unless there's anything else you wanna... help with."

Phil smiles and shakes his head. "He's all yours, Sergeant. Thank you for allowing me to observe the body." He pauses for a moment, and then decides to push his luck.

"If you happen to learn anything about what exactly the victim was doing in town, I would greatly appreciate it if you shared that information with me. I will, of course, share with you anything I happen to learn about him in return."

Manipulate Someone?: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8

Arianne spots Derek in the trees, and discreetly steps away from the group, recounting the (admittedly limited) info from the coroner.

Sorry, last couple of weeks have been nuts.

Pulaski gives Phil an inquisitive look. "That depends. What's your interest here, anyway, Agent? An out of state case, you said?"

Phil nods. "That's right." He lowers his voice in a conspiratorial tone. "I'm here following a lead concerning a small smuggling ring based in Indiana. I'm trusting you with very classified information, so please, make sure you keep it secret." He glances at the body. "There wasn't much to go on, but a mysterious dead body from out of town? That sounds like it might be related, don't you think?"

Phil watches the sergeant closely, hoping he buys the cover story.

Act Under Pressure?: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11

Pulaski raises his eyebrows, intrigued. “Huh.” He seems to weigh options in his head. “Alright. I’ll let you know if we find anything. Just, watch your step, both of you. We don’t need anyone mixing us up in any extra trouble. This is a nice town.” He glances back at the body. “Most of the time.”

The crime scene appears to be more or less exhausted of information at this point. Is anyone doing anything else of note today?

Phil feels himself relax as Pulaski agrees to keep in contact. "Of course. Last thing I want to do is cause any problems."

Is there a local hotel, bed and breakfast, or something similar? If there is, Phil would head there if it's not too late to ask if Walter Lenk was staying there.

There are a few hotels in town. If you ask around, it doesn't appear as though Walter was staying at any of them.

(Incidentally, where are Phil and Magnus staying in town? A hotel, an apartment, etc.)

I think Phil has a small apartment he's staying at for now.

Before they split up, Arianne makes sure Phil has her new number. She spends another hour or two wandering the festival, looking for any indication of the tablet she's supposed to find, before accepting that it was, statistically, extremely likely to have been on the dead man. (

Heading home, she locks the door to her apartment and pulls out a small (electric) brazier, some metal rods, and a few chicken bones. With an ancient chant, she places herself into a trance, then applies the rods to the bones and contemplates the patterns of cracks that form, the dead body, the footprints, and the tablet she's supposed to find.

Fortunes: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 3) + 2 = 8 1 hold.

Then, she heads back out, trying to remember where she's seen the one armed man.

Arianne: You did obviously notice him at the fair near the pie eating contest, but you also happen to recall a large man hanging around a seedy club in town called The Horny Owl once or twice. You've never been there yourself but you've passed it a few times while handling Collector business.

I head back from the club to my motel room. As I park my car and head towards the door marked with a 3. I stop before entering my room, glancing around cautiously.

Magnus: Everything seems clear around the motel; nothing suspicious.

Phil returns to his temporary lodgings, frustrated that no trace of Walter Lenk has turned up anywhere. He paces back and forth as he considers his next move.

Phil pulls out his phone and punches in a number. His finger hesitates for a moment over the dial button.

If I report what's happened now without any concrete information, I don't think that conversation will go over too well. And he still wasn't sure what to do about the gargoyle. Phil shakes his head and clears out the number. He then pulls up Arianne's information and sends her a quick text.

Walter Lenk wasn't staying in town. Or if he was, he was avoiding hotels.

Botting for the sake of moving things along.

Phil and Derek: Arianne texts you both and lets you know that she remembers seeing a large one-armed man at a club called The Horny Owl. She has some personal business to take care of first, but will try to meet you there if you'd like to go ahead and investigate.

Heading home from the festival and forest, Derek uses his new wings to get most of the way home, before he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Landing on a rooftop, he checks his phone and reads Arianne's message.

Derek feels torn. On one hand, he could head home, and talk to his family for more answers. On the other, he could find the tall one-armed man who took the briefcase, and maybe solve this mystery. He considers, then looks up the address for The Horny Owl on his phone.

He heads off in that direction, keeping an eye out for Phil, and perhaps, Arianne.

See you there.

Phil puts away his phone and feels the gun hidden away on his person. Hopefully this wasn't the sort of club that would try to frisk him. He briefly considers leaving it behind, but ultimately decides against it.

Phil looks up the address, then locks up and heads out on the dark, unfamiliar streets. As he drives, he watches the skies for any gargoyles that might be flying the same way.

Phil and Derek: The two of you arrive outside The Horny Owl at roughly the same time. A sturdy-looking bouncer stands outside.

I unlock the door and enter, tossing my coat on the bed and put the money into my suitcase. I sit down on the edge of the bed and flop back. I start going through all that happened today to see if I might have overlooked something, but Im too tired and cant keep my mind focused.

"I just hope that this Arianne will have some answers in the morning," I think to myself before falling into an uneasy sleep, filled with flashes of nightmares and old memories.

Phil acknowledges Derek with a nod. "Follow my lead."

He approaches the bouncer and, flashing him a quick smile, attempts to walk straight into the club.

Derek takes human form and pulls on his hoodie, glancing down at his bare feet in a self-conscious fashion. Hurrying along behind Phil, he attempts to look bland, following him closely.

The bouncer stops the two of you and gives Derek a dubious look. "Gonna need to see some ID, there."