Luke Read / Kleptomaniac's page

Luke peeks down at his hand for a moment before stuffing the items into his pocket. Feeling a mixture of embarrassment and shame, he almost chases after Samuel. But he catches himself. What would he say, that the man had simply dropped the items? As the shame grew stronger, so did Luke's decision.

Luke sighs. "Let's, um, go." Little can hide his embarrassment, and he can only barely conceal what's causing it.

Getting into his car, Luke whips out his phone, and glances through his contacts. Who would be in today? And, hopefully, alright?

Nearly fumbling the number, Luke puts the phone up to his ear. "Dr. Yung? Er, are you alright?" It takes a moment for Luke to realize he's only reached her voice mail. "Damn." Luke whispers. "Yung, give me a call back as soon as you can. I'd like to know what's going on at the hospital. Please."

Investigate: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 1) - 1 = 4

Using the weakness "Seen as Weak-Willed by His Fellows"

"Spine, heart, and brain. Seems to be running a theme here." In fact, there was a theme. But what from? It seems so familiar.

"I say we head there and ask around. Maybe I can get in touch with the staff. Those that take me seriously, anyway." Luke mutters the last part under his breath.

Luke takes a parting look through the diner window, seeing Samuel walk off. Surely he won't notice... one, right? Luke barely catches himself as he feels his hand begin to grasp for the whole bag. But he manages to limit himself to taking one, singular, tiny pill.

Not entirely sure how I should handle this use of Hand of Want. Go Toe to Toe makes some sense up to the point that Samuel doesn't really have a method of striking back. I suppose Change the Game, using the Juice to make the story tag "Green Pill?"

Change the Game(Long Arm Thief): 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 1) + 1 = 4

Welp, no drugs for Luke then.

"Copper? How close were they to Tin-Tin?"

"Did Penny have anything else besides these?"

"NO?" Luke takes a look at one of the pills, then another which had fallen differently. "Or ON. Neither of which make a lot of sense."

"Who did you get these from?"

"Emeralds?" Luke says out loud. "Maybe I don't know enough about drug abuse, but I don't think I would take anything that was bright green."

"So I suppose we could try to find these on the street, but I'm more interested in what Tin-Tin had. Maybe we can find a reason she was killed."

Luke dusts off one of the books on his shelf. He'd forgotten the relaxation of reading, but studying the myths had reignited that part of him.

Sitting in his leather armchair, Luke slowly flips through an old text. He remembered most of it, but there was always something seemingly new to discover despite its years.

Luke will Give Attention to Neural Expert

"No, I didn't look into it. You have a lot more experience in history than I do, Fredrick. A bit more reading could uncover some new information."

"While you were finding a dead body, I decided to follow a more academic route. I looked through a few books on mythology, trying to find anything related to taking hearts. Not much luck, though."

"And I don't want to go back to the library and ask about cultural figures who kill homeless people." Luke jokes, trying to cut the tension. It doesn't.

"Well, let's take a leap here and say the events are connected. By what, then?"

Luke sighs. "I mean, I don't want to sound like a bigot, but I guess I am. Would it be too far out of left field to say this woman was doing the same drugs Mark was dealing?"

Not quite content with his research, but knowing where to quit, Luke shelves the books he had picked up. Giving a passing nod to one of the librarians, Luke makes his way back to the hideout.

How about "From what does the murderer gain his powers from?"

Luke makes his way to the local library, making a beeline for the culture section. If it was some kind of fire or stealing souls, this would be impossible. He pulls a book off the shelf. A Beginner's Guide to Greek Mythology Luke opens it up, his eyes flicking from page to page as he flips through it. Finished, he returns it to its proper place and moves on to the next - an encyclopedia on Hindu culture. Ripping someone's heart out is a unique murder method. It's not very convenient, either. That means it must be taken from something - like how my "hands" come from someone else."

Luke pores over the books he can find, asking the library staff for help frequently.

Investigate: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Diligent Student tag, reflecting Luke's familiarity in looking for specific information in this manner.

Luke bows his head to think. Mark dealt drugs? Did his father know about it? No, any parent like that wouldn't let their kid go around doing something so dangerous. Why would Mark need to do that anyway?

"Be careful here, Wade. Anyone who goes by an alias of 'Wizard' is either a nutjob, or someone like us."

Firearms? Luke gulps. I'm pretty sure if I try to use one, I'll shoot myself in the foot. In a non-figurative sense.

Luke takes a sip of his coffee. "Thanks for all the work you do, Donovan."

"Fredrick and I looked into Mark's father, the one who runs a shoe store. We informed him of his son's death, and...he didn't take it kindly. I'm worried that whatever killed Mark may be after him as well, however, so I'm planning to come back tonight to look around."

Making his way back into the base, Luke picks up and examines his labeled phone. "Handy. Thanks, Donovan."

Luke takes a seat, giving an exerted sigh. "Can someone pour me some coffee? I have a feeling I'm going to have a rough night."

No sweat, and makes sense for chronology.

Luke shakes his head. "Fine. But keep your doors and windows locked." He says, quickly putting back on his original shoes. Halfway through the door, he pauses to look back at Mr. Sapataro. "Don't hesitate to ask for help. We know you'll need it."

As the store is behind them, Luke turns to Fredrick. "I think we should come back here at night - there's still the people who were here the last few nights before us. Sapataro wouldn't know them, it seems like, but if we can catch them it would be a solid lead."

Luke considers how much information he can get from Mr. Sapataro. He doesn't know anything of his adversaries, which was what Luke wanted to know most. But he can't just leave him here - if someone was willing to kill Mark to get what they wanted, Luke can't see a reason they would stop at Mr. Sapataro.

"Mr. Sapataro, your life could be in danger - we're not the first ones to be keeping an eye on you, we've learned. Whoever killed Mark may be after you as well, so we need to get you somewhere safe."

I think it's especially important to Luke now that a kid is dead, his entire life cut short. The cause of death suggests there is a Rift about, which means the police will never catch the killer (assuming there isn't someone with powers in the police force, but Luke cannot guarantee that). I think catching the perpetrator is Luke's main goal - he knows all too well the feeling of helplessness after the crime.

Luke nods in concurrent reasoning as Fredrick speaks. The shoes may have been a little too on-the-nose.

One clue from the last post, correct? Although, it is a 7-9, so maybe not so great.

Luke follows up with a question of his own.

"Who were the people who tried to visit Mr.Sapataro before we did?"

Luke continues to speak. An emotional reaction meant nothing at this point. No, he had to get somewhere, and that meant Mr. Sapataro had to talk.

Marking attention on Passive Exterior

"Mr.Sapataro, your last thoughts of your son were no doubt of you and your safety. Why he was killed I cannot tell you, but I can promise you I will find that out, and bring his murderer to justice."

"And so," Luke pauses for emphasis. "I want to know what you know. What have you been doing lately that you think would provoke your son into wanting us to investigate you."

Investigate: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 Could "A Desire to See Justice" apply here?

Luke closes his eyes. It reminds him too much of looking at the relatives of dead patients, telling them the bad news. Yet, somehow, it was worse, as if he were sneaking behind this poor man and bludgeoning him over the head with his son's fate. But it had to be done. He deserved to know.

"Mr. Sapataro-" No, the death was a bad place to start. Better to cushion the blow. "I met your son yesterday, who asked me and my associates to perform an investigation over, well, you. He was worried you were up to something illegal."

Luke pauses, in preparation of the hardest moment. "Your son... after we finished talking with him, we left for a short time to get ready to go and investigate. When we returned -" The image flashes again in Luke's mind, a curse of remembrance. "He was dead. There's currently a police investigation going on, and in the chaos, I'm not surprised no one has come to tell you yet."

"I'm sorry." Luke says, the pitiful words meaning nothing, as they always did.

Actually, there's the minimum one rule, which means if a player ever rolls with a power of zero or less, they still get at least 1 point of the move's benefit (Clues, Juice, Statuses, etc.) It's a short clause on page 247 of the rulebook, kind of an odd place to put it.

Luke walks around the shop with the shoes for a few moments, pondering the man. Scaled shoes, shiny leather... the relation between them and Fredrick and I is impeccable. This man may have powers like us. Luke ponders. But it could be a coincidence. Perhaps, in a mundane way, he can see more of what we are.

Luke decides it's time to get to business, enough of beating around the bush. "Mr. Sapataro, have you heard from your son recently?"

"Amazing. You know, if you sold the recipe for this, I bet you could make a tidy profit." Luke says, studying the man for any sort of reaction.

Investigate: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

Luke smiles, liking the fit of the leather. "Amazing. Where did you find shoes like these?"

Luke smiles. "I'm afraid not today. My friend and I would like to ask you a few questions, if we could."

"I've heard that this shop has seen more than a few offers - like someone is pretty interested in buying it." Luke says. "Does that happen to be true?"

I don't think I can be in two places at once, and considering Zenna was going with Wade, I'm going to assume it's supposed to be him rather than Luke at the diner.

Luke turns away from the window for a moment, warily checking for the police officer who stopped him yesterday. Deep breaths. He thinks to himself, before opening the door. He looks around to browse, grateful to get a better look at the shoes. They were a fine quality, enough so that Luke considered purchasing some. But at the moment, Luke needed to ask questions, not prices.

Luke waits until the couple leaves, both to be polite and to ensure he can talk privately with Mr.Sapataro. Seeing the man alone, he approaches briskly.

"Mr.Sapataro, I assume?"

Default, should I mark Attention on Neural Expert for the weakness tag?

Luke muses to himself. This power sounds similar to my own, only the application is stealing hearts rather than objects.

"Fredrick and I tried to get in contact with the boy's father, but found little success. We were stopped by an officer who found us suspicious. More importantly, he said that someone had been waiting in front of his house the last two days, not just when we got there."

"I think we should investigate further on that front. In addition, I'd like to know exactly from what 'ripping out hearts' comes from. It seems pretty unique."

Yeah, having no idea what the answer is makes it interesting. Luke may not like what he finds, and that's okay with me. Sometimes the "answer" to a question doesn't really have to be correct.

Luke chuckles, hoping to defuse the situation. "Sorry, officer. Just wanted to talk to Sapataro, nothing illegal. Can't say much of the other nights, this is the first time I've been here. Apologies if we woke anyone up."

Although, Luke thinks, I'd better make a mental note of that.

Trying to Convince here, invoking the "Can claim innocence" tag. If I can, I would also like to use the weakness "Permanent bags under eyes," if that would make Luke seem more of a shady character in the officer's eyes.

Convince: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7

"I guess we just have to hope he's home. Don't say anything about his son - especially his death. I suspect he'll hear about it soon anyway, and I'd rather not have to console a crying father while trying to ask him something." While it was unethical, sure, it was the truth. Grieving could be postponed for the moment.

Luke places his finger on the doorbell, pushing it twice in succession for good measure.

"Probably lives on the second floor. Maybe asleep by now, judging from the light." Luke looked around the building. Anything like a fire escape on the outside?

"We could break in." Luke notes, biting his lower lip. "I'd rather not. But if he's in danger, I don't know if we have a choice."

"I think I'll go and see the boy's father - if someone was willing to kill the kid, odds are they'll want to go after him, too. I'd like to get him somewhere safe..." Luke hangs his head. "Or look around if it's already too late. There has to be a connection there, otherwise I doubt there would be a motive."

Luke turns to someone in the crowd, preferably someone who looks particularly mortified, as if someone had dropped dead right in front of them (which, hopefully, they had).

Placing an arm on their shoulder, Luke asks bluntly. "Did you see what happened?"

Investigating with the Seen as Neutral Entity tag. Trying to make Luke seem like just curious bystander.

Investigate: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 3) + 1 = 10

"Lord." Luke whispers to himself as he begins to push against the crowd. A chorus of excuses and apologies stream from his mouth unconsciously until he reaches the front. While the cops keep him moving further, he can see it without a doubt - the body is Mark.

Luke turns his eyes from the sight. He was just a boy, looking after his father. He had unwittingly walked into the jaws of a lion, it seemed. If only I could have stopped him. Stayed with him, tried to save him. But those thoughts were pointless now. The boy could no longer be helped, only his cause.

Luke looked around, staring at the cops. Leighton or Wade. I need one of them here. Now. He whips out his phone, texting the group. Where is everyone? Have some bad news.

"Seems fair. Meet back here at seven?"

"So you came to us, rather than the cops, because you think it could get your dad in trouble." Luke says. Poor kid. Likely has enough of his own troubles, doesn't need any of his father's.

Luke grabs one of the newspapers and a pen, writing down some notes. "What kind of people are coming to buy the shop?"

After helping with the chairs, Luke moves the pile of newspapers out of the seating area. "Sorry. Been looking through a lot of local news recently, mostly political stuff. Probably not a whole lot to do with, well, us, but you never know."

"Thanks for the drinks, Fredrick. Of course," He grins. "I might have some of Leighton's later as well." After fixing himself a cup of coffee, Luke sits in one of the chairs.

Leaning slightly forward, he asks. "How does one become an expert in taking care of armor? Do people just have suits of armor lying around they practice on?"

A dirty blonde haired man, dressed in a green jacket, sits by a lantern powered by a battery, reading a newspaper in the dim light. "Feel like a squatter." He murmurs to himself, leaning back against the concrete wall. He rubs his chin as he reads, noting that he had forgotten to shave this morning.

Looking expectantly at his watch, he wonders what has been keeping everyone so long. Sure, he was early, but usually someone else was too. Guess I'll pace around for a bit. Ground's cold and hard: I should buy a blanket, maybe a sleeping bag to put down here. A thought strikes his mind to bring his leather armchair from home, but it soon fades from sheer absurdity. He places his newspaper onto a stack of many others: various dates, topics, and publications.

Luke wanders about, never leaving the general area more than a foot. "Maybe bring a few towels down here too. It's pouring outside."

Votes!

WHERE DO YOU MEET, WORK, REST, OR PREPARE FOR ACTION?
1. Backroom of a Diner or Bar
2.Abandoned Subway Platform
3.Police Station

HOW DO YOU HELP, ASSIST, OR SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER?
1.Watch each other's backs
2.Burdens lessened shared
3.Snap out of it

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED TO DO WELL TOGETHER?
1.Blow off steam
2.Tailing and Eavesdropping
3.Take back the Night

WHAT PLACES OR SITUATIONS DO YOU FIND TOUGH TO HANDLE?
1. No in with criminals
2. Broad daylight
3.The Mist is still foreign

Alright, time for some thinking!

WHAT IS OUR SHARED GOAL: Keeping the city safe, investigating crimes?

WHO OR WHAT BROUGHT US TOGETHER: I was thinking Wade or Leighton, maybe both as part of the police.

WHY DO WE WORK TOGETHER, WHAT DOES EACH MEMBER CONTRIBUTE TO THE CAUSE: We probably recognize the safety in numbers, and realize our singular mythos cannot take on the mysteries of the city?

WHERE DO WE MEET, WHERE DO WE COLLECT OUR EVIDENCE OR PREPARE FOR ACTION: A police office may be too conspicuous, but it could be effective. One of the crew's home could also work?

WHAT SORT OF RESOURCES DO WE HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL: A lot, actually. We have access to the police resources, some ability to use a hospital, and Donovan works at a social security firm.

Unsure of tags yet, so I'm going to put some thought into those and post later.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Well, keep in mind Neurology and Psychology are quite different, and Luke wouldn't really be able to make judgement on the latter field. Of course, Zenna may be wanting unofficial help, to keep things off the record, in which case choosing anybody with even some experience would be helpful.

Would Zenna expose any part of her Mythos, or play under the terms of it being a mere disorder?

Masked Vigilantes seems to be the general consensus, and it sounds good to me.

Seeing as Luke's power seems to home in on objects that are worth a lot or have monetary significance, it makes sense that Luke could have stolen some of Fredrick's "hoard." It's a great connection that has a bit of negativity to it, in which Fredrick would understandably be angry with Luke, but also the two would come out of the experience feeling better about the other, as Luke explained his intentions. Of course, Fredrick could have a negative view of Luke's Mythos, being a pretty large antithesis to Fredrick's ideals and Mythos.

Unsure how to connect to Donovan and Zenna: from a Mythos perspective, I suppose Luke could look at Donovan poorly. Lupin abhorred murder, usually preferring subtlety or guile. Zenna... I'm sorta at a loss. Any tips on that front?

Wade and Leighton are both part of the police - it would make sense that they would investigate strange occurrences around the City. I don't think it would be unlikely for them to run into the rest of us along the way. For instance, part of Luke's backstory is performing petty thefts: Wade could have investigated it and found out it was Luke. But considering none of us are necessarily bad people, it would be difficult to perform an arrest (especially considering the supernatural nature of our abilities, leaving not much evidence).

Perhaps Wade or Leighton are trying to expand on how much ground they can cover, and thus recruit other Rifts to assist them in defending the town. We wouldn't exactly be a professional team of detectives, but would have some authority, pushing us out of the casual detective territory.

Never used Discord for PBP, but I can understand it makes it a bit easier for more instantaneous responses. Seems fine to me, unless anyone has an objection to it.

I have the rulebook, used it to help with the tags(which I am finished with!).

For the Crew Theme, I like the idea of a detective agency. Luke isn't really up the vigilante alley, though.

Speaking of Crew Themes, we should also do the Help and Hurt for each crew member, which I'll do when I'm at a computer.

Luke Read reporting in!

Still need to do tags and weaknesses, but the powers are there and I have a decent idea of what I want.

I think unless we're trying to be real secret between each other, we shouldn't really need codenames to go by one another. Really, I would use them if we're engaged with someone we don't want to know our real names.