Azrael/Donovan Craine's page

Donovan takes a nice, leisurely drive to the hospital, making sure to obey the speed limit. Once inside, he pulls a baseball cap over his head, pulls on gloves, and grabs a duffel bag out of the trunk of his car.

Making his way to the rendezvous point, Donovan does his best to look like someone not carrying a bag full of guns.

Back now, btw.

So I am posting from work:

Apologies about not posting sooner, but I have been down internet wise for roughly a week, and will not have internet back up yet for a week or so.

This means that I haven't had internet for the last 4 days (as we had 4 days off at my work for the holiday).

It's been...an experience where I learned that I use the internet more than I thought I did.

With all of that being said, I will try to post from work as I can, but if I am in your game, please bot me as needed.

If I am running your game, please bear with me while I try to post when I can. Hopefully, sooner than better, but I want to be up front about this issue.

again, I apologize about the delay.

Did I notice one of the group members put the food there?

As the group went in to meet the homeless man, Donovan was sitting in a car parked across the street, loaded pistol on his lap covered by a folded newspaper. He was not only watching the diner, but also watching the surrounding area.

"That's probably a good place to start. Find out what your 'fan' wants for the stuff and we'll go in assuming it's a trap."

Donovan will Give Attention to work. While he manages to stay ahead of his assigned tasks (mostly due to having automated much of his job via scripts), he still has to at least be there 8 hours a day.

"Why don't we keep investigating the drug dealer. I should have added that we were there asking questions about him when we found the dead homeless woman. We should stick to that until the thread is played out."

"Vikings too, according to my uncle google." said Donovan from the computer. "Let's see here; Babylonians, Sumerians, and Egyptians all had rituals involving removing hearts."

Donovan spends his time talking to nearby shelters and churches, seeing if anyone recognized the woman. He represented himself as a member of the press from a different city; his cover story is that there were several homeless murders a few years back, and after seeing this, his editor sent him to investigate.

If anyone asked, he's just writing a bio piece on the deceased woman, trying to humanize her.

"It's likely. Wade should at least be able to find out her name, and if he can't, I'll see what I can find out. If she was a drug user, I wonder if that is the cause: maybe it's some sort of magical drug?"

"Okay, so we have the first guy, who came to us about his dad possibly being involved in drug use. Then when we start looking for the drug dealer, we find a dead woman. While I'd like to think that it's just the city being awful, the timing of it is a bit strange, even if the deaths were committed differently."

Seeing other people start to show up and reach for cellphones, Donovan will rely on the darkness of the alley by pulling his out and turning on the flashlight as both a momentary distraction and to prevent them from recording him as well as they might like. He will then turn and flee down the alley, making a mental note to destroy the clothing, including the shoes, that he is currently wearing.

Okay, I'm gonna try and find the victim's address from their wallet/purse, so we can go see if there are any clues there.

Pulling out his phone, Donovan immediately begins taking pictures of the corpse, then of the alley for good measure. As he works, he says "Wade, is this within your precinct's area of jurisdiction?"

Once he has taken pictures, he will start looking around for a purse or wallet, grabbing a plastic convenience store bag from a dumpster to pick one up if he finds it.

"Look, there's no...." sputters Donovan as he is rejected. GD Pride! he thought to himself. Leaving the food, he sighs and then turns back to the group, just in time to see the two men come backing up on all fours.

Turning, he walks to the mouth of the alley and says "Are you guys ok?"

I think given my lie that Working for the Man works for this roll, but I don't see much else applying.

Convince: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4) + 1 = 7

Donovan walks into the Bistro and orders some food to go. Once it comes out, he heads over to the homeless people and says "Here. It might not be much, but it's better than waiting for leftovers."

Once they started eating, Donovan would say "I'm wondering if you guys could help me. I'm trying to look good for my boss, and I'm looking for someone around here called the Wizard. I promise you that my boss just wants to talk to him, not start anything. Think you could at least point me in the right direction and help me look good as the new guy on the job?"

"They're likely sold illegally or stolen. I took them from someone who didn't need them anymore."

"I will offer my help as well. I'll likely have to get changed though." Donovan says as he looks down at his t-shirt and shorts.

"Also, thanks to a generous donation from an acquaintance, I have a stock of "most likely illegal" weapons. Wade, if you don't want to carry your service weapon into the fray, I have some pistols that I'll be more than happy to give you. I also spread some love out throughout the base, so we can deal with intruders as needed."

I think once Wade has the case as his, we can help him start investigating...or at least I thought that was the plan.

"Wade, any chance you can get yourself assigned to this case? that would make our jobs considerably easier, as we wouldn't have to root around in databases for evidence."

"What did he deal? I can 'talk' to some people in my neighborhood who tend to know about such things and see if they've heard any scuttlebutt."

Donovan nods at Luke's compliment and says "Not a problem."

"So I didn't come away empty-handed." says Donovan as he plugs an external harddrive into his computer, which clearly has no internet access, for anyone who knows how to look.

"It looks like there was a death similar but not identical to Mark's, except this death was caused by the spine missing, not the heart. A rookie detective named Sinclair filed the paperwork on it."

"So we were nearly hacked while I was doing some research of my own. I've made sure that they can't immediately do it again, but just to be on the safe side I've gotten everyone burner phones. Don't use these except to contact each other. I've also gotten a bunch of new computer equipment, and hidden weapons caches throughout the hideout. Once we're done here, I'll show everyone where they're at. If any of you want anything specific when it comes to firearms, let me know and I'll see what I can get."

"Yes, but I'll explain once everyone gets here, so I don't have to explain it several times."

As the group begins to return to base, Donovan is just putting the finishing touches on a new computer system. There is a stack of computer parts in a pile near the desk wit the computer on it, and on a folding card table a handful of burner phones are laid out, with a notecard with each member's name on it.

Given the way that there are tools strung about, it's clear that there has been some work here, but nothing seems out of place.

no worries.

Not really. I figure it's going to take a while to get things set back up, and Donovan needs to go buy new computer stuff anyway.

"You should be careful with this envelope. Someone who wants to talk to you about buying your store, a guy named Powers, asked me to give this to you. I doubt it has a bomb in it, but there might be 'something' dangerous inside." Donovan will go on to describe the man and his interaction with him, allowing her to ask what questions she would. He would then pick out a copy of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for his sister before heading back down stairs and setting things back up, then sending the all-clear to the group.

"someone doing a favor for a friend." says Donovan as he shakes the man's hand. "If you're interested in acquiring the shop, you'll need to wait and speak to Morgane when she gets back. Until then, could I offer a recommendation?"

Donovan stands and meets the man's eyes, before saying "Not at the moment. Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Since you've saved the life of those who would try and come down here, watching your shop is the least I can do."

Posting this to all my games: Sorry for the lack of posting. For the second time this year, I got the flu, and the internet is out at my house right now (where it has been for the last two days). It should hopefully be resolved by Monday, and if not I'm going to switch ISPs. Please feel free to bot me until I am back up and running, and if I am running your game, I haven't forgotten about you!

Donovan will wait a day before sending the 'all clear' text.

How long ago was the police report filed by the good detective?

Donovan is in the middle of sending Wade a text when he sees the warning. flipping the switch on the power strip immediately shuts down both the modem and the computer.

Someone in either the Police Department or Coroner's office knows what they're doing. Thinks Donovan as he removes the modem entirely from his machine then boots up his computer. he throws a copy of all the logs on a thumb drive then powers his computer back down and gets out a power drill, which he uses to drill through the hard drive of his computer. He then does the same thing to his modem, before collecting both and taking them down the subway tunnel and dumping them there.

Picking up his phone again, he finishes his text to Wade and presses Send.

Hey, you know a guy by the name of Detective Randy Sinclair? Also, You should get some milk for the clubhouse before coming back.

Donovan will then send a similar text to the rest of the group, in-between preparing a welcoming party in case someone managed to get their actual location from the system intrusion. He secures two of the entrances, and gets a good firing position on the third, laying out a few different weapons in preparation for a firefight.

The last thing he does is kill power to the base, so that the abandoned station behind him is a darkened area. He then sits and patiently waits for anyone to come looking.

I assume that we would have set up a code word or phrase up ahead of time to let each other know if the base might be compromised. That's what the above mention of bringing milk to the clubhouse is in regards to. If someone has a better idea, assume that I replaced it with that.

Sure, I'll take what we discussed and figure something out.

Question: Are there any other similar recent deaths that match the facts we know? (specifically sudden death without attack in an open place, where it appeared to be heart disease)

"So I'm going to create a database of recent heart attacks and see if anything stands out."

Rolling up his proverbial sleeves, Donovan got to work on what he had dubbed their "bat computer", which was basically a desktop that they had installed in their base.

He started pulling in obituary data limited to the city and began looking for people under the age of 50. He also set up an alert to notify him of any more deaths that met his criteria.

Power Tags: Data Processor, Computers and Networks

2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 5) + 2 = 9

[dice=Power

"So I couldn't really find anything on the roof of the building I was on or the immediate surrounding buildings, but I still think our best bet is that this ability requires sight."

"Wade, have there been any other heart attacks recently? We should check on them just to be sure, as from what I understand, they don't usually do an autopsy on people that die of natural causes."

"Thanks, but after this I think I'm going to look for another job. I don't mind a bit of hazing, but this was way over the line."

Donovan will stick out his hand and say "I have to say, though, Eugene, you are a stand up individual. I wish you nothing but the best!"

Donovan will then make his way out into the city, disaster having been narrowly averted.

I'm actually okay with you providing the answer for me, as I'm still trying to figure the system out and I yet feel comfortable enough to decide on something like that.

"Thanks man, you're a real lifesaver."

As the two men walk down the stairs, Donovan will ask "So, what was going on with the police downstairs? I saw them show up, but since I couldn't really make anything out I stopped paying attention."

"Oh, thank god!" says Donovan as he steps from the corner, palming the knife back into it's sheath as he does. "I've been trapped up here for hours, since I'm the new guy, the people from my office thought it would be fun."

"Sorry about scaring you there. I was hoping to get the jump on one of them and punch him in the face for leaving me up here. Thank you again!"

Donovan moves towards the man as he does and quickly takes his hand and begins shaking it profusely, as though truly relieved.

Going to roll Convince. I see the following tags applying: Fluent in Body Language, Working for The Man. I also see the following weaknesses applying: Everyone's a Target, Clearly Tresspassing (-2).

Convince: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (6, 6) - 1 = 11

After leaving the group huddle, Donovan enters the tallest nearby building, relying on his confident yet calm stride to take him past the guard desk (the guard at the desk really isn't paying any attention to him anyway, as he is watching the crowd outside to try and figure out what is going on). He makes his way past the bank of elevators and to the stairwell.

Arriving at the top shortly thereafter, Donovan thinks to himself I barely felt that. I guess I am stronger now.

arriving at the top, Donovan first checks the alarm on the door but he finds it disabled. Guess one of the night crew comes up here to smoke he thinks to himself as he exits onto the roof. He takes a quick peek down below, and then is just starting to take a look around when the door begins to open.

As it does, the world around him slows to a crawl: he hears the tumblers click one by one as loudly as someone using an old typewriter in an empty room; The rain slows, and he can make out individual drops as the slide slooowly to the ground.

Taking advantage of his heightened perception, he moves to the side of the doorway that will be blocked by the door when it opens and waits just around the corner from the door itself, watching to see who [I]or what[I] he thinks to himself while suppressing a shudder, will come out.

Without realizing it, he has drawn a knife and holding it in his dominate hand in a reverse grip, with the blade resting against his forearm.

Sneak Around + Bullet Time and Lethal Reactions: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 2) + 2 = 6

"So, from what I can tell, there isn't any signs of assaults by weapon. We're probably looking at something mystical here. Still, I'm betting that there are some rules to it's ability: it probably has to either be able to see you, or know your name, unless this creature or person was just attacking a random person. I think for my part, I'm going to check the surrounding rooftops, and see if I can find any signs of someone being up on them."

Sorry, thought I had. I will get it done presently.

Donovan will watch for a moment and attempt to see if he can determine where the attacker came from.

Okay, so I am going to make an investigate check to see if I can determine where the attack came from (or if he was shot, where the shooter would have been). I think my relevant tags would be Threat Assessment.

Investigate: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4) + 1 = 10 So wit ha 10, the question I am asking is: Where did the attack come from?

Having taken a look at the scene, Donovan will send out a group text to meet in the base ASAP, then will head that way himself, shouldering his duffelbag.

The Subway:

Donovan took the subway home, as he always did, with headphones on and listening to something with a lot of Bass. It wouldn't do to get involved in someone else's business. Just ride the rails home, beats pumping through his ears into his....

Donovan looked up as the headphones were snatched from his head. A trio of punks stared down at him, and he realized he was the only one on the car.

"These must be some nice headphones. They got that noise cancelling s#!+ in them? I been talking to you the last 5 minutes or so, and you ain't heard me from jump."

Donovan listened, but already the...not quite a voice, but more like an instinct... began drawing his attention to things; like how the guy who was talking favored his right knee, likely due to an old injury that never healed properly, or The big one in the back was not much of a fighter, but relied on his size to scare people.[/I]

Donovan realized he was tuning out the talker, so he started paying attention to him [b]"...I said, I need your money for my sick ma."

Finally looking up, the leader couldn't quick comprehend what he was seeing: instead of a look of fear on his mark's face, there was a sort of dangerous little smile. Subconscious warning bells started going off, but by then it was too late...

Now:

It was unfair to say the alley had seen better days, considering that it basically was how it had always been: dirty, smelly, and especially dark.

As we look down from above, we see Donovan is talking to the leader mook, his headphones around his neck, right below the bloody collar of his dress shirt.

"You still awake? Yes? good. So as I was saying, you should consider this city off limits. Find someplace else to live. Before you go, however...Hang on a sec." Donovan was interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket "What's up? Okay, I'll meet you guys there in a bit. I got caught up in something and I have to finish it."

Turning back to the thug, whose eyes were wide with fear bordering on panic, Donovan continued "I apologize about that. Cellphones have not made it easier to have a conversation with another person, have they? Now where was I? Oh, that's right... You should do your best to convince anyone in your line of 'work' to leave as well. If you can't afford to leave, because you have roots in the community and all that, then alternately you can go to the police (there's a station right around the corner and down the block a bit) and confess to every crime you've ever committed, in full details. I want to read all about it in the papers. If I don't, and I find out you're still in the city, then you and I are going to have a much longer conversation. One I can promise you won't be interrupted by a cellphone. So, I'll leave you to your soul searching." Donovan started walking towards the mouth of the alley, then stopped and returned "Sorry, last thing really: Do you ever want to see me again?" the thug couldn't speak, so he just shook his head no "So, are you going to be telling the police about me?" the thug's eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head no again. "Good boy."

That settled, Donovan walked out of the alley, down the street, and into his apartment building. Changing quickly into a dark long-sleeve tee-shirt and dark jeans, Donovan hung his headphones around his neck and then headed out, catching a cab and meeting with the rest of the group.

"Sounds good."

Donovan will collect his stuff and head out.

"Okay, did we want to wait until later in the evening before going? I would like to change out of my work clothes."

"So what is our plan? Do we send our resident police officer to talk to him, or do we just follow him and see where he takes us?"