Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. It's a bright, warm afternoon, and already the waiting area of the emergency room is crowded. Conversations in at least half a dozen different languages fill the air with a tense, confused tangle of words. Off toward the windows, a thin, shaky young man jumps to his feet suddenly, drawing little attention from the visitors near him... at least until a moment later, when with a whooshing, cracking sound he bursts into flame. The scents of ozone and burning flesh mix sickeningly with the antiseptic hospital smell, screams fill the air as visitors scatter away from the contained, human inferno, toppling over chairs and shoving at one another to get away. A couple of nurses rush out from the station on one side of the room, but appear paralyzed by the sight, a sturdy paramedic steps in front of some of the crowd trying to calm them and gets overrun almost immediately. The chaos is literally but not figuratively dampened a moment later as the fire alarm sounds and the sprinklers turn on.
Tocal and Francis:
Jasper:
Spiro:
Mark:
"This is a surgery unit dumbass; the burn ward is fourth floor." Tocal says sarcastically.
Dot
I try to get to the burning / burned man. If I can't bypass the crowd, now that the sprinklers cool it down, I will try to adress patients and staff with a strong enough voice to be heard over the noise:
"Please, stay calm and help us out here! Follow our staff to the entrance area (clearly adressing the nearest staff member) Get the out of here, help them if you can if they are hurt or need to be transfered for treatment."
@Tocal
The crowd falls silent almost instantly at the first word from Francis, unconsciously falling into orderly lines and following the nurse out toward the main entrance. He easily makes his way through the rapidly clearing space to the fallen remains of the man, still burning fiercely despite the torrent of water from above, charring a neatly human-shaped patch into the carpet, leaving only blackened bones and a faint scent like iron and cherry blossoms.
Even though I know it won't do any good, I grab a fire blanket, put it over the remains to extiguish all fire that might be left. When I'm done I examine the bones.
Mark is going to enter the Hospital weaving through the crowd, trying to find 2 things a way to get these hearts out his hands and then find the source of the running crowd and what he can do to help.
Mark easily makes his way through the crowd, particularly once they calm down and sort themselves into lines. A large man in Harley-Davidson emblazoned scrubs whose nametag identifies him as a RN name "Mike" spots him and walks over, shaking his head a little and looking at the cooler in Mark's hands. "Delivery, huh? Surgery or lunch?"
Francis mostly manages to spread the soot around with the blanket, though the film of water covering anything at least prevents the particulate from becoming airborne. A quick evaluation of the bones reveals little odd about their structure besides a few old, healed fractures. Sorting through them, however, something does catch Francis's eye: a mark on the scapula, faded blue like old tattoo ink, in the shape of a Japanese kanji.
If ´possible, I'd like to sketch the shape of the kanji.
Not too good, but 3 sucesses
= 4 successes
Well Francis what do know about spontaneous combustion? Most SHC cases I've read about involve very low temperature flames that consume the person over a few hours. There must be an outside cause, probably that mark on the femur, which makes this a case of murder.
Did you recognize the victim Francis?
Frankly, I don't know much about that phenomenon. I recall reading about it in a TimeLife Book before I matriculated, that's about it.
But as far as I know, there was never a reliable witness - let alone a few dozen. That is...remarkable.
Roll(6d10)+0:
10,5,7,8,2,8,+1success for epic perception
Total:5 success
Mark would also like to activate Scent of the Divine Spending a Legend to see if anyone else of the Ichor is here.
Most Scions seem to stumble into Bands or find
themselves guided into collaboration by their divine
parents. A rare few, though, have the ability to smell
(and sometimes hear) the very ichor that flows in
the veins of other Scions. With just a sniff of the
air, the Scion catches the signature scent that wafts
off any Scion, marking the subject as more than
mortal. The Scion automatically knows when she
scents another Scion, be it hero, demigod or God.
Indeed, her refined sense may even divulge the
pantheon from which the other Scion hails, in the
form of a specific flavor or memory that comes with
the smell. Sometimes the triggered memory even
brings with it the phantom sound of a particular
music or tone.
If a subject uses a Boon or Knack to conceal his
identity or whereabouts, the sniffing Scion must first
be able to locate the target. If she isn’t aware of the
other Scion’s presence, then the sniffer won’t smell
anything. This power doesn’t tell her that another
Scion is lurking about somewhere, only that someone
she’s spotted is a Scion.
Scions in general do not have individual,
personalized scents of ichor, although at the Storyteller’s
discretion a God might be so powerful that his ichor is
unique and distinct. Instead, a Scion’s scent depends
upon his parentage. Further, even though a Scion
with this Knack might catch the scent of a particular
pantheon, she might not recognize what it is until
she’s managed to encounter enough other Scions from
said pantheon. If you have created other pantheons
for use in your game, you’ll want to decide on their
scents as well.
Note also that titanspawn do not have a signature
scent that is discernable with this Knack. Activating
this Knack costs one point of Legend.
As a last ditch effort; I find a phone in an office or distract someone and do a page through the hospital.
"Paging John Longfellow; please call (extention number); John Longfellow; please call (extention number)"
and see what happens while I watch what happens and try to appear official looking; if I can see the burning guy; I watch for who might be slinking away or watching for effect and look at the faces of those around just in case I see them again somewhere else in case this is "contagious"
"Mike is it, if you want what I have in here for lunch go right ahead but someone is waiting for the organs that are in here." pauses and waits a second "Someone is dying to have a heart" then wait for an answer.
@Mark:
As he scans the crowd, Mark takes note of a woman watching from near the entrance doors; paying close, nervous attention to the Doctors looking over the burned man, as if waiting for something. She's short, with the build of a dancer, and features that might be korean or hmong. She clutches a cell phone in both hands, almost as if she's forgotten it's existence.
As he opens his senses to the Overworld there's a rather dizzying sensation as the scents and mental cues align with their targets. The two Doctors standing over the charred remains, the official but unobtrusive appearing man behind the desk... quite a bit of divine blood in one place here!
@Tocal:
Neither Francis nor Tocal recognize the man the newly charred remains belong to.
besides charred flesh and bone, if this was a natural fire then there would have to be an excelerant; something hot enough to burn flesh; but not hot enough to leave bones white ash; so not magnisium; sulphur would do it; but there would be a very rotten egg smell as would any oil based or ethel based would have clearly been noticed before hand. I watch to see if anyone "tampers" with the scene, but there should be chemical evidence even on the walls; so should be an interesting case file. I rule out spontaneous combustion; as that is a more blue flame and acts like a candle leaving very little of any remains. Make a mental note to contact some old Chemistry proffessors to bounce a few ideas off of them; body is mostly water; thus two parts hydrogen one part oxegon; flameable; but a very strong bond chemically; typically; this bond is broken by electricty; but lights didnt dim; so I look for cameras in case they have this on video; ponder; electricty is most probably answer; and it would not be hard to add electrolites; but there should have been a bright flash, blinding; maybe even thunder; hmm; typical floor tiles; a wired metal grate would do it, hmm, wonder what the police lab boys will come up with.
Hey, is that Tocal; probably cause just turned more interesting. I wait for phone a minute; repeat the page; then will walk over and say hello to Tocal.
Spiro looks up in amazement at the flaming may, then grabs his iPhone and starts snapping pictures. "Whoa"! "That would be a great way to end a show", he mutters to no one in particular.
"Well lets not waste any time, someone grab a gurny and lets get him down to autopsy where I can get some more definitiave answer to our questions."
@Spiro - "Hey you with the camera make sure you take a lot of photos of the surounding area. They could be of some use latter."
"Well lets not waste any time, someone grab a gurny and lets get him down to autopsy where I can get some more definitiave answer to our questions."
@Spiro - "Hey you with the camera make sure you take a lot of photos of the surounding area. They could be of some use latter."
"That's for sure". "They'll be all over the band website before morning", Spiro says, continuing to snap photos.
Bragi
Bragi
AKA: Braga, Bragr
Description: Bragi, the God of Poetry, Eloquence and Performance, usually has white hair and beard, though he looks young and energetic. He inspires humans to create poetry and was a patron of the Norse skalds. When not wandering or spending time with his lovely wife, Idun,
he still sometimes greets einherjar or other guests as they enter Valhalla. Bragi uses his talents to lift spirits, to give weight to significant deeds and to ease tensions. Of course, being Aesir, he also understands the need for a good brawl and might stir things up from time to time. Though he’s generally good natured, he still holds a grudge against Loki for an old plot to kidnap his wife. In modern times, Bragi has been a beat poet, a Shakespearean actor, an etiquette coach, a street performer and a rock star. His way with words and his understanding of what makes a great performance lets him glide in and out of whatever creative scene currently interests him. Bragi’s Scions usually come about from one night stands with women he meets during his bardic wanderings. They all share his talents to some degree, and many become accomplished and famous performers in their own right. As children tied to Fate and grand stories, Bragi’s Scions often find themselves in the middle of great adventures whether they want it or not.
Associated Powers: Epic Charisma, Epic Perception,
Epic Wits, Jotunblut, Magic
Abilities: Art, Awareness, Brawl, Empathy, Integrity,
Presence
Rivals: Loki; Apollo, Izanami, Thoth, Tlazoltéotl
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 10, Stamina 8;
Charisma 11, Manipulation 10, Appearance 6;
Perception 11, Intelligence 8, Wits 11
Virtues: Courage 3, Endurance 3, Expression 5, Loyalty 4
Abilities: Academics 4, Animal Ken 3, Art (Acting, Poetry,
Singing, Storytelling, numerous musical instruments) 5,
Athletics 4, Awareness 5, Brawl 5, Command 4, Control 2,
Craft (musical instruments) 3, Empathy 5, Fortitude 3,
Integrity 5, Investigation 3, Larceny 2, Marksmanship 1,
Melee 3, Occult 4, Presence 5, Stealth 2, Survival 2,
Thrown 4
Birthrights: Followers 5 (five modern-era einherjar),
Relic 3 (hip flask), Relic 5 (Bragi’s Harp—Chaos, Fertility,
Magic, Prophecy)
Additional Gods of the Aesir
Supernatural Powers:
Avatars: The Wyrd
Boons: Accelerate Growth, Battle Cry, Bestial
Endowment, Bless or Blight, Blessing of Bravery,
Cleanse, Crawling Chaos, Dire Endowment, Divine
Endowment, Eitr Antivenin, Epic Endowment,
Eternal Bloom, Eye of the Storm, Giant, Green
Thumb, Heroic Endowment, Hornet’s Nest, Human
Endowment, Instant Riot, Magic 10, Morale Failure,
Paralyzing Confusion, Prophecy 6, Recurring
Distraction, Supernal Bestial Endowment, Supernal
Human Endowment, Twist Plants, Verdant Creation
Epic Attributes: Epic Dexterity 7 (Cat’s Grace, Divine
Balance, Escape Artist, Lightning Sprinter, Perfect
Partner, Roll With It, Untouchable Opponent), Epic
Stamina 7 (all from Scion: Hero, Devourer, Internal
Refinery, Raise Your Glass, Regeneration), Epic Charisma
10 (all Knacks), Epic Manipulation 7 (all Knacks from
Scion: Hero and Scion: Demigod, Trendsetter), Epic
Appearance 5 (Center of Attention, Detail Variation,
My Eyes Are Up Here, Perfect Actor, Tailor Made),
Epic Perception 10 (all Knacks), Epic Intelligence 5
(Fast Learner, Know-It-All, Perfect Memory, Language
Mastery, Multitasking), Epic Wits 10 (all Knacks)
Ultimate Attributes: Ultimate Charisma, Ultimate
Perception, Ultimate Wits
Join Battle: 16
Attacks:
Clinch: Accuracy 15, Damage 5B, Parry DV —, Speed 6, P
Unarmed, Heavy: Accuracy 14, Damage 8B, Parry DV 29,
Speed 5
Unarmed, Light: Accuracy 16, Damage 5B, Parry DV 30,
Speed 4
Hadseax: Accuracy 14, Damage 7L, Parry DV 29, Speed 4
Soak: 7A/26L/30B
Health Levels: -0x28/Incap
Dodge DV: 35 Willpower: 9
Legend: 12 Legend Points: 144
Other Notes: Bragi summons a squad of einherjar
equipped as per World War One or Two by waving
his hip flask and singing a bit of song from those
periods (“Over There,” “Der Führer’s Face,” etc.). The
small flask holds several gallons of mead fortified with
Everclear, so he can at least supply the drink needed to
repay the einherjar. Bragi’s golden harp grants access
to the Chaos, Fertility, Magic and Prophecy Purviews,
but a character must actually be able to play it to
access those Purviews. It also changes shape to become
anything from a harmonica to a Fender Stratocaster,
so Bragi can take it nearly anywhere. Bragi does not
bother to carry a relic for his few War Boons, so note
the reduction in his effective Legend whenever he uses
that Purview.
Spiro takes a moment during the chaos to see if anything even more unusual than spontaneous combustion is going on.
(Perception + Occult) + (2) for Epic Perception 3
@Tocal:
@Spiro:
As Spiro's vision focuses again and he scans the room, a few things stand out brightly. Foremost are the visible thread of Fate wound around the other Scions, showing them instantly for what they are. Beyond that, though faint, the kanji on the charred scapula flickers with a dull flame. Scanning the room he spots another glow, even dimmer, a faint tracery of flame around the neckline of the Asian girl near the entrance.
"Mother said there would be days like this" eying the phone; with no callback; will go over to Tocal
"Marhaba alla salam, I mean, Hola Tocal, via con dios este Mr. Muerte, seeing you here, and me, hmm, think this is an attack or just wierd confluence? Think this is sign from a Cartel? My federal friend here is missing as well..."
<turn my head to make sure my face isnt in any pictures>
TB
Spiro carefully notes the other scions in the room and sneakily includes them in his pictures. He makes his way over to the oriental girl.
"Gnarley huh"? He questions.
Mark will just note the divine, Taking a closer look at the woman seeing if he can get close to her. She seems to know something.
"Jasper good to see you again, too bad we always meet during unpleasent circimstances. This isn't one of yours is it?"
|
Turning to Jasper
"I sure hope the Cartel doesn't have tricks like this up it's sleeve."
"Tocal, I sure would love to get him into autopsy right away and have a closer look at the remains as well, but with this many witnesses I'm afraid the police and the hospital would take a dim view of us just grabbing him and bringing him down into the ward - but perhaps we can help each other to appeal to the medical examiner that he could need our assistance, once he arrives?"
"I was just here using the phone, nah; not one of mine, well if you want to do the autopsy, <looks at Feytharn>; guess that can be arranged; lets step back and make a plan; let them take their pictures and whatnot; they will move the body down soon enough; then we will sweep in with our "credentials" and take over; we can probably stall them for an a half hour with fast talk; but if you need over an hour we are going to need to call in a bomb threat. We can work it; no problem if that is what you want unless you have some legit way to handle it. But still, we should step back and get our props in place, my question is; is there a reason to hurry? why not wait for the official examination, then just obtain the report, then take a look afterward when the guys is just laying on a slab? Appeal the the medical examiner; dont see why we just dont take his notes; he will probably talk into a recorder or make a video right? but seriously, I am up for either way; just let me know how you want to play it."
Because the medical examiner isn't as good as I am and would overlook details that I won't.
"ok step back over here a minute <out of earshot of others and whisper>, then lets go steal you some examiner clothes and gear, I will zip out and get my DEA badge and make some changes on a court order and edit some dates and find a copier, Toc and I will go bombazzle the medical examiner with political right of access due to a DEA investigation and possible national security risk; all high profile case like; if not, my car is in a good place to make a speedy getaway; just keep running then buckle in. We also gotta stop by the janitors closet to rig us a believable but dummy bomb; be nice if we had one more person; but we dont; so if time gets cramped; Feytharn; you gotta make the call, this is the number to the nurses station I was at; should work; just say you saw some guys loading what looked like a bomb in the elevator. Come on, lets do it."
<go to the janitor closet and use my bomb making skill get his cart and load on the chemicals I need and vaccum cleaner or whatever I can use for the casing; plan is to put on the spare janitor overalls and take the cart to the elevator; not one for gurney patients; keep my head down; use some paint or chemical or tape to cover the elevator camera; pause the elevator; put the "bomb" that has no primer or initiator but still have enough chemical to feel and smell real and leak a bit to get ther attention; figure this will give a lot of time and keep security busy and we can go out when they clear the building and leave>
<we pilfer some documents; hospital has all kinds of paperwork lying around; so we have a stack of documents to shake in the face of the chief medical examiner; either take a court order out of my briefcase or we will have to find one with court letterhead and seals; probably again not to hard to find in a hospital; then we look all official and go find the medical examiner shake our papers and say that body has to go on the table NOW; like an hour ago; and how my boss is climbing up my drawers and got my butt in a sling; and shake my papers giving several glimpses of the court order on top and flash a badge and ask for "interdepartmental assistance and introduce our special DEA medical investgator and get this body moved and get it examined; and get the heck of the hospital>
"ok; I need you cell number; if I call you; that means we are in it and need and excape; call in the bomb threat; then we evacuate, everyone got it"
I use my cell; disquise my voice; look for the medical examiner on the phone list; and call and in a disguised voice introduce myself as from the DEA; Special Agent Jackson, and say that my team will be arriving to question and examine a cadaver; who was a patient but expired and was a key element in a high profile case and he should get an official fax and expect my agents shortly and we expect full official cooperation. <use and English accent>
@Jasper:
The girl blinks at Spiro, her eyes focusing away from the scene and onto him, a smile tugging nervously at her lips. "Er... yes. Very exciting morning. Um..." She straightens and squares her shoulders, slipping her phone back into her purse. "I'm sorry... you are..?" She appears to have made up her mind not to run at the moment, but Mark can easily make his way to the entrance behind her if he wishes. Security has just started to filter in and take charge of directing people, but with so many pressing them with stories and questions and explanations in half a dozen languages it seems unlikely the scene will be fully under control until the police arrive.
I add the phone number Jasper gave me to the memory of my cell-phone and try to grab a white coat when Jasper and Tocal "organize" examiner clothes.
to the lady, I presume she is a nurse, "I am agent Johns; and my client just went up in flames; I need the medical examiner stat; can you point me the way miss, I need some answer and I need the now?"
to our little group
"Let's move, police response to a hospital is fairly quick. We should meet at the medical examiner's in 7 minutes as he will take charge of the body and we will take it from him and need to impress on him that time and excreted chemicals have a short half life and we must examine quickly as possible so the police need to take their pictures asap or risk the loss of important clues and data and comprimise our 'case', lets move out; Doc; we need to get this medical examiner in our hand quick; I with the law/politics side and you with the doctor stuff; lets go"
Mark is going to get behind her waiting to see if she tries something(did she come up as Divine Blood)
Jasper slices very efficiently through the red tape. Within half an hour he, Tocal, and Francis have been left alone in a brightly lit room with the remains, and the ER lobby has been cordoned off with lots of hazard tape and signs, causing a bit of a traffic jam in the lobby as staff work to get patients rerouted.
Int + forencics = +2 auto = 8 successes
Tocal quickly and effecintly wrings all the details from the charred body.
looking for details like; age, sex, height, last meal, average health,
and external clues as to where the vic was in the last 24hrs.
@Jasper: ** spoiler omitted **
The girl blinks at Spiro, her eyes focusing away from the scene and onto him, a smile tugging nervously at her lips. "Er... yes. Very exciting morning. Um..." She straightens and squares her shoulders, slipping her phone back into her purse. "I'm sorry... you are..?" She appears to have made up her mind not to run at the moment, but Mark can easily make his way to the entrance behind her if he wishes. Security has just started to filter in and take charge of directing people, but with so many pressing them with stories and questions and explanations in half a dozen languages it seems unlikely the scene will be fully under control until the police arrive.
"Oh sorry", Spiro pockets his iPhone, and shifts his battered guitar case to his left hand, and extends his right to the young woman. "Spiro Hawke is the name".
"You look familiar to me, have we met somewhere before"? "I can't seem to place your name though...."?
His eyes silently move from the concealed source of power on the girl to the scalpel.
TB
In addition to the basic details that Tocal is looking for (and since he seems to be specialised in forensics while I'm not he is probably doing better then I could), I want to get:
- a sample from the ashes
- a bone splinter from a part where it won't look to suspicious when the body is examined by others, perhaps the heel or the metetarsal
- a good look at the old fractures. Am I looking at someone clumsy; a fighter; someone that has been tortured?
Though the corpse is little more than charred bones, Tocal manages to salvage a number of details. The victim looks to have been a male in his early thirties, malnourished but not unhealthy. The right radius appears to have been scraped with a needle at some point. Francis, while collecting his samples, also discovers an intact titanium stud, likely part of a piece of jewelry at one point. The fractures are numerous but old, save for a fracture of the left zygomatic bone that appears to have occurred quite recently, the older fractures are also quite minor for the most part.
The woman shakes her head slightly but takes Spiro's hand, giving a surprisingly firm handshake. "I don't think so? I would remember, I think. I'm Dae..."
I keep an eye on the activity and await the doctors preliminary report and run interference if needed.
Though the corpse is little more than charred bones, Tocal manages to salvage a number of details. The victim looks to have been a male in his early thirties, malnourished but not unhealthy. The right radius appears to have been scraped with a needle at some point. Francis, while collecting his samples, also discovers an intact titanium stud, likely part of a piece of jewelry at one point. The fractures are numerous but old, save for a fracture of the left zygomatic bone that appears to have occurred quite recently, the older fractures are also quite minor for the most part.
The woman shakes her head slightly but takes Spiro's hand, giving a surprisingly firm handshake. "I don't think so? I would remember, I think. I'm Dae..."
"Dae". "Thats a pretty name". "So are you here visiting someone ill"? "You seen to be healthy enough", with a disarming smile.
"Er, thank you... and no, I was just here running an errand, actually. And I should be getting back, I'll probably be late as it is. It was very nice meeting you, Spiro." She finishes the last few words quickly, while turning, and steps swiftly toward the doors.
Mark watches the woman turn, waiting for just the right moment to "accidentally" bump into her seeing if he can either knock the phone out of her hand and palm the phone while it drops.
"excuse me ma'am I am so sorry I didn't mean to bump into you, are you ok."
She leaps back a step as Mark bumps her, expression wide-eyed and wild for an instant before composing herself again. She nods, "Yes, I'm fine... Excuse me." Unless stopped, she steps past Mark and hurries out the door.
I take note of where the stud lies, in case I don't find any other clue what kind of jewelry it once belonged to, then pick it up to examine it more closely.
I also point out the recent injury to Tocal
"Er, thank you... and no, I was just here running an errand, actually. And I should be getting back, I'll probably be late as it is. It was very nice meeting you, Spiro." She finishes the last few words quickly, while turning, and steps swiftly toward the doors.
"Wait"! "Was it something I said". "I was just...."
Perception + Awareness (+2 Auto) 3 Successes
Exploding 10
Palm the phone in his pocket looking around to the other divine standing right there, "Hi Spiro, I am Mark I think we should talk" then going in a little closer "let her go we can find her again"