JunkMail

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kyle and Kayla Foster

---

It was later in the night now.

The plan, in theory, was simple. All things considered, it was just an attempt to recreate the events leading up to the attacks. Fortunately, most of them happened to be within a mile radius of the Tír na nÓg according to the map that the ex-cop had recorded in the book Kayla had borrowed forever. That being said, it wasn’t going to be that simple. A mile radius was a lot of ground to cover, and getting inebriated before a fight is a bold strategy to say in the last, if one could even call it that.

So here they were now, walking to the bar now with the plan to get halfway drunk in an effort to attract their party of interest.

“So exactly how drunk are we supposed to get?” Kyle asked as they made their way forward.

“On a scale of 1-10, probably about 6.5.” Kayla replied, her arms crossed. “Also, what you said earlier was mean!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Not ALL of my ideas are ‘ass and a half’ as you so eloquently put it.”

“You’re definitely caught in some more doublethink because those words have never come out of my mouth.”

“Look at me, my name’s Kyle. I like using big words because it makes me sound very photosynthesis.” Kayla said, sticking her tongue out at her brother. “Have you heard anything from your girlfriend yet or..?”

“Kayla.” Kyle replied, not in the slightest bit amused.

“Sorry, sorry. Nervous, okay?” she said, taking a deep breath. “Still, you should probably contact her. Would be nice to have someone close by in the event that we do find trouble.”

“We are literally walking into trouble as we speak.” Kyle replied, “And to mitigate that, I’m only drinking enough to get slightly inebriated. You want to slam bottle after bottle, that’s on you. But at least one of us has to be more prepared for a fight with this thing.”

“Jesus, ye of little faith in your sister. Sorry for pissing you off so much.” Kayla replied shaking her haid.

“I’m sorry, just…” Kyle replied, “I don’t like this plan. I’m still going with it, but I don’t like it.”

“I know. I’m not a big fan of it either. If you come up with anything different, just say so.” Kayla replied. “And- I’m sorry too. For annoying you.” She looked away from him and caught sight of the bar. The scene in the alley from last night all but gone. Quite morbid, the efficiency this city had achieved at sweeping its messes under the rug. “Looks like the bar’s right up ahead.”

“Alright.” Kyle said, “We’re… probably going to have to have words with that bartender.”

“I’ll make sure to apologize to her for whatever I did to set her off yesterday.” Kayla replied, sighing. “I know I was maybe a teensie bit antagonistic but I didn’t think that would give her a meltdown.”

“We’ll apologize, order drinks, and that will be it.” Kyle replied, “I don’t think we need to burden ourselves with a fresh Jäger. Especially one with… colorful choice of words.”

“Agreed.” Kayla put it simply. Bringing a newby into a fight that even they weren’t sure about was a great way to end up with someone getting maimed or killed. The two were quiet for the rest of their short trek to the bar, and remained that way until getting into the building. They both took a seat at the bar, in the exact same seats as they had the night before, and waited for the currently absent barkeep to return and get to them.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

3+ years of being on the guild and this is the first time I learned that there are active mods.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Mauro

M E N D E R

_{"I don't aim to be decent; only better than the man I was yesterday."}

_______________________________________________ Mauro Angelo Bianchi _______________________________________________ May 18th, 1976 | 42 | Italian immigrant _______________________________________________ Single | ♂ | Homosexual _______________________________________________ Education NYU Medical Graduate | Surgeon _______________________________________________ Physical Profile ___________________________________ [+] //Basics: • Height | 5'9" • Weight | 198lbs • Build | Slightly muscular • Hair Colour | Dark brown, streaked with grey • Eye Colour | Blue Miscellaneous Items ___________________________________ [+] //Notes: • Vetran | Discharged 8 years prior • Alcoholic | 3 years sober //Paraphernalia: • Cell phone | out of date flip-phone

Appearance Details ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Mauro is something of a shadow of the man he once was or could be. His once muscular build has shrunk and turned gaunt after years of alcoholism while more recent times of over-working and exhaustion have further contributed to making him look older still than his true middle age. Still his face is that of a handsome man; if someone is able to look past his unkempt grooming and rather sunken eyes. He has no discernible fashion, most of his clothes while clean are riddled with tears and old stains meant much more for function and frugality than form. A hunched posture paired with already underwhelming height often leading the few people to take notice of him in a crowd to assume an underwhelming man in both physical competence and character. Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Only someone completely stupid with altruism would open a free clinic in the bowls of Santa Celia's ghetto, just plain stupid if they had open doors for all. Mauro however is neither. He carries a heavy conscience, and does his charity work to feel better about himself rather than the world; which he holds in a rather low regard. There is no underlying hope for justice, or any real cause he dedicates himself to; but if he is able to offer something to help those suffering around him, why wouldn't he? Few are close enough to Mauro to see the workings of his personality; he doesn't have time to make new friends, and is paranoid around most strangers. Even to the handful of people he is familiar with he remains distant and distracted, too often pessimistic and slow to smile. The brass exuberance that use to dictate his actions has been completely exchanged for a sour demeanor. He considers himself pragmatic but never to the point of nihilism, and holds a quiet hope for redemption in his own eyes however unrealistic it seems.

_{Character Synopsis
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}

Mauro's family immigrated to America in 1988. A run of misfortune saw them all but desitiute, and Mauro's father sought the aid of his cousin's who had begun landscaping business in suburban New Jersey thirty years prior. He suffered a heart attack two years after his arrival. Mauro and his mother were left to the good will of distant relatives and the small Italian-American community that had formed around them. They got by in the end, Mauro spending all his after school hours on menial jobs with his relative's company; where his talent with machines presented itself. It was such a natural thing to Mauro himself, he'd never considered it a gift, and while it was appreciated by his employers it was largely unacknowledged until he went to university.

Lacking funds, but desperate to please his mother who still clutched to her American dream, Mauro signed on with the military to pay for his college tuition for an eight year medical program at NYU. At school and away from working every evening his abilities became even more pronounced to those around him, and so he completed his degree a year early before beginning his residency with the American army where he met Kyle Harper.

Harper and Mauro grew very close during their deployments, and together took full advantage of the relatively new 'don't ask don't tell' policy as well as Mauro's access to the med-center's pharmacy. So Mauro continued his service after completing his due years until 2008 when both he and Harper where found with oxycodones.

The discovery of an affair with a lieutenant may have been overlooked for a time, but the drugs were not. Mauro returned to America in disgrace to a sickly mother. Unable to explain why no hospital or clinic would hire him, Mauro moved his mother south to the warmer Santa Celia, unable to afford sending her home to Italy as she wanted. Without work, his time was largely spent partying between suffering stifling disappointment from his mother, who died less than a year after their move. Without any real friends in the city, Mauro continued to spiral downwards until he woke up in Stadler's Medical Hospital, being treated for a stab wound by an old friend.

Don Malcom and his wife took it upon themselves to help their once promising classmate, but even their recommendations couldn't fix his name. Sober for the first time in nearly a decade, Mauro saw his life clearly for what it was and nearly turned back to drugs to out of shame. Instead he moved to the more derelict side of Santa Celia, and under the city in it's forgotten sewers and rail systems he found people in the position he'd been in, and offered them help.

Eventually word spread and the demand for a free doctor who didn't ask questions grew enough that Mauro earned his own small nook in the city's underbelly. He called his clinic St. Benedetta for his mother and spent the next four years securing and improving the space and in turn, his position in the city.

_{Abilities & Skills
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}

_//Abiliites:

Mechanical Savant | Mauro understands the workings of any complex system he comes into contact with, be it biological, mechanical, or even chemical. While the information he gleans is primarily useful in his knowing how to operate or manipulate any machine in the world, he also is able to instantly identify any malfunctions and have the most practical solution to repair them.

Limitation(s) | The knowledge Mauro gains isn't magical in itself, he cannot bring back the dead or any mechanism that is beyond repair. In addition he can't create anything himself, unless given extremely detailed instructions or blueprints; he considers himself more of an operator or repairman rather than inventor. He requires all equipment that would normally be needed in any medical treatment or repair. When it comes to understanding human bodies, it comes at its lowest form, he cannot deduce a person's personality or traits simply by using his power and unless the other person's power manifests itself in some physical alteration, he is unable to denote if a person has any super human abilities or what they are. His ability doesn't increase his underlying intelligence.

Weakness(es) | While still in better shape than most men his age, Mauro is past his prime. Constant over exertion paired with years of past drug abuse, and old injuries have left his body more aged than it would otherwise be. He possesses no outright physical powers and while his combat training and experience is more extensive than most a past knife wound to his lower abdomen has left him easily winded and prone to cramping, somewhat hindering his ability to actually put the knowledge to use. His position in Santa Celia itself is a precarious one; having no real affiliation with any of the city's gangs but doing work for all of them due to his 'helping anyone in need' policy. This paired with the fact that few people know the true scope of his abilities could easily land him in some deep water.

_//Skills:

Combat Expertise | Military trained in weapons and hand to hand combat, familiar with street fighting tactics from years of homelessness.
Medical Training | Surgical graduate of NYC medical school with a decade of working experience.
Multi-lingual | Fluent in Italian, English, Korean, and German; though the latter two are heavily accented.

_{Supporting Cast
^{▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔}}

^{► Maria Sinclair | Female/22}

A volunteer 'nurse' that helps out at the clinic. Once a homeless pregnant teen with a meth habit, Mauro helped her get clean and has allowed her to keep a cot in the back offices in exchange for her help.

^{► Don Malcolm | Male/44}

Mauro's only real connection in the legal medical profession, former classmates at NYU. Don works in Santa Celia's Stadler Medical Hospital and frequently bends the rules in order to supply his friend with supplies for his clinic. It was Don who found and saved Mauro at his lowest point, they had an affair for a short time, and though it ended abruptly they remain close as ever.

^{► Desiree Malcolm | Female/43}

Don's wife, also a former classmate of Mauro's at NYU, a close friend.

---

@Tackytaff

>Joined military
>ended up homeless

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Why? This power isn't overpowered, so I don't see why you feel the need to inflict such a massive nerf.

@thewizardguy

Here’s your own answer to your question.

.... yes. He gains ALL of the properties of the material he turns into. So when he turns into steel, he acts like steel.

Your artistic license is your character’s ability to change their substance at all.

I'd say he needs at least a marble-sized quantity. And yes, if he could acquire a marble of the material he could carry it around to transform. At which point he could indeed pull it out of his pocket and change whenever he feels like.

This is why this nerf is required. If you want the ability to change at will, whenever you want, requiring very little source material then that’s fine! If you want to be super durable, that is fine! But you cant be both. Characters that are min-maxed (like Natalie for example) dont get multiple powers or the ability to change their abilities at all. You can be the most durable character, a man of steel, but you cannot transform if that’s the case. You can transform regularly with little of your source material, but you cannot have full body transformation.

Unless you introduce another weakess that will balance having both.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

As the rest of that paragraph implies, the different 'powers' gained are the properties of materials he's mimicking. If he's made of glass he's hard to see. If he's made of paper he's incredibly light. If he somehow manages to become uranium he'll give people radiation poisoning. That paragraph is to indicate that he can gain access to the properties of a wide variety of materials, to a wide variety of effects.

By that logic he’d also be as unbending as steel, and as tearable as paper when he is in those states. I understand that a certain amount of creative license is necessary, but you cant just pick and choose what properties of the substances you get. I’m okay with him turning to steel, but in order to do that I expect him to act like steel would.

There’s a balance to this that I mentioned to Wraith where he only transforms parts of his body in cases like this. For example, his arm from the elbow down is steel so he can still strike things and move.

Is there a specified amount of the substance he requires to transform? I ask because he can carry around marbles of whatever substance he wants and change whenever he wants.

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

Kayla Foster

---

The following day…

Unlike her more driven sibling, Kayla was not keen on waking up early to begin her side of the assignment. Due to her magic usage the night before and her general laziness she had slept in until around midday. After getting dressed and ready for the day Kayla spent most of her time during lunch perusing the grimoire for any more potential information on the Aswang she was dealing with, and taking notes on the information that the, er, civilian investigator had provided for her. Her person of interest was a man named Oliver Whittle and was the first and only person to have survived an attack. This Oliver Whittle now resides in the Murdoch Mental Hospital- and likely wasn't going anywhere anytime soon as a result.

The process of actually getting to the hospital took longer than anticipated- mostly because Kyle took the car. An Uber took care of that issue pretty quickly- it wasn't her first solo rodeo. When the driver dropped her off, she took one look up at the hospital and was instantly disappointed with how mundane it was. It looked like a surprisingly nice place, which irked Kayla. She was an energetic person, and she usually relished the danger and excitement that came with her line of work. This place was all safe and easy and normal. Checking into the hospital was predictably easy- she simply walked in the front doors and approached the lady at the front desk. The lady requested her name and her business being here, which Kayla easily answered.

"Jane Whittle- my brother, Oliver Whittle, was recently admitted to this hospital. I flew in to visit as soon as I could."

The attendant nodded but didn't press her for further information. "His wife has been visiting him a lot since he was admitted, she might even be there right now." she said, her attention very obviously on other tasks- namely the file organization that she seemed engrossed in. Eventually though, she got around to printed and handing Kayla a sticker with her 'name' on it. Kayla quickly stuck it to her chest. "He's in room 113C. Try not to be too loud, sometimes it upsets the patients." The woman said, returning to her work.

113C. Kayla could remember that. As she walked the halls of the hospital, she couldn't help but note how clean everything was. She always hated the completely sterile feeling that hospitals had. It just felt so unnatural, and out of all the things Kayla had experienced in her life, that gave her the creeps. Lost in her thoughts, Kayla initially walked right past 113C, she realized it about five steps too late. She backpedaled, and read the number on the door. It matched, and there was even a name tag stuck to the door to confirm it for her: Oliver Whittle. Kayla reached for the handle and quietly opened the door as to not disturb Oliver's neighbors. As she entered the room, she noted that it was extremely tidy. Either the people that did the cleaning around here were extremely thorough, or most of the room hadn't been touched in a while. There were only two other doors in the room, one was open and displaying a very obvious bathroom. The other door was closed, likely the bedroom. Kayla walked to the door and entered the bedroom. Oliver was laying in his bed, asleep. There were pieces of paper on his nightstand with drawings of something on them. His wife was slumped against the bed and Oliver. She was also fast asleep, but she was holding Oliver's hand. The scene tugged at Kayla's heart, but she did not wake the woman. It would make things more... complicated. She also doubted her ability to ask his wife to leave- she couldnt even imagine what the woman was going through.

Kayla gingerly sat down on the side of Oliver's bed, and frowned deeply. There were bandages along the nape of his neck- likely concealing wounds left by claws in a raking motion if the long extremities on the ends of his drawing's hands were anything to go by. She signed, and placed her left hand on his heart, and her right thumb on his forehead.

"Nyara amin lle narn," she whispered. She began to feel herself dive into Oliver's mind, and upon his resistance, she added "-Ten' amin naa sinome fallan." She took a deep breath and felt Oliver's mind submit to the prodding. Taking the opportunity, she quickly prodded his mind for the right memory. Anything that was out of the normal, something horrid, life changing even. Upon touching one particular memory, she felt Oliver's mind tense. Ah, there it is.

It had been an exceptionally long day of work. The firm Oliver worked for had finally closed a deal with a foreign investor after a lengthy, uphill battle. As one of the project’s leads, Oliver wasn’t about to turn down a drink. Immediately agreeing after being asked by a couple of his coworkers if he wanted to accompany them to the ‘Watering Hole’, Oliver and his crew made their way down to the small pub later that evening. It wasn’t a far walk, the firm occupied one of Santa Celia’s towering skyscrapers that comprised the city’s skyline and Oliver quickly found himself losing track of time as the drinks kept coming.

Stumbling out of the pub several hours later, Oliver and one of his coworkers made their way back towards their respective car. Taking a shortcut through a nearby alley, the pair stumbled upon a crying woman. Oliver’s companion, a woman by the name of Karen, moved to comfort the other female only for her face to suddenly change. It was as though she was shedding a mask as her skin turned a pale grey, perfect teeth replaced with rows of thin needles a long tongue snaked out of her mouth.

Karen didn’t have a chance to react as the creature pulled her forward, its snake-like tongue wrapping around her neck, cutting off her air supply before retracting between the thin teeth as they closed around Karen’s flushed neck. Oliver screamed as the creature dropped Karen’s body, its dark, beady eyes eyeing him hungrily. It leaped into the air, running along the wall, as Oliver scrambled to get out of the alley, long claws raking across his neck as it tried to take down the larger man. Falling out of the alley, Oliver yelled for help as bystanders quickly moved to aid the man.

But it was too late, the alley was empty, save for Karen’s lifeless body.

A Manananggal. Female, that had to be it. She felt Oliver's mind relax as the memory faded, and suddenly she sitting under a tree next to what could only be Oliver himself. She looked over at him, and he looked right back at her with wide eyes.

"Who are you?"

Kayla looked away from Oliver and down to her feet. "Well, according to the secretary, I'm your sister Jane."

"I dont have a sister."

Kayla hummed. "Suppose you'd know better than I do, there."

"So who- what are you?"

Kayla met his eyes once more and there was a pregnant pause, then she reached over and hugged Oliver.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She said. Oliver hesitated, but eventually hugged her back. She eventually brought Oliver to arm's length apart. "Oliver, I'm going to fix this."

"Are you a guardian angel?"

Kayla bit her tongue, she had been told to never answer those types of questions when doing this. It was always better when they knew less.

"Oliver, right now your wife is by your bedside, and she needs you. Come back to her. Talk to them."

"But what if it happens again?"

"It wont."

"How do you know?"

"It wont, Oliver. I promise."

As quickly as she had entered Oliver's mind, she felt herself pulling out. When she came to, she felt the familiar feeling of her phone buzzing in her pocket- likely what had cut her distraction to begin with. She brought her hand away from the still sleeping form of Oliver and took out her phone. It was a text from Kyle.

Made a new friend today. is all it said. She smiled and texted back. Manananggal, female. Meet me at the motel?

Kayla looked up at the sleeping forms of Oliver and his wife and sighed. She couldn't do anything more- it was all up to Kyle to decide if he wanted to come back now. But, he was awake again, and likely thinking. Perhaps he would recover yet.

Kayla stood and crept out of the room, then left the hospital. They knew what they were hunting. Now came the fun part.

Vivid Recollections Season 2: Into The False Light (Urban-Fantasy, Cosmic-Horror, Mystery Thriller!)

<Snipped quote by JunkMail>

technically you bitched out of the RP

so ur not sexy

@Surtr Inc

life is hard and so am i

but i am back now

Vivid Recollections Season 2: Into The False Light (Urban-Fantasy, Cosmic-Horror, Mystery Thriller!)

Here is Season 2, you sexy survivors from the first part (and Junkmail).

@Surtr Inc

u wot

Santa Celia: Coast to Coast

I wanna be

@G3njii

Let's Gush!

I just wanted to take some time to appreciate the following folks who have ensured that my latest roleplay, Santa Celia: A Superhuman Story, has gotten off to a strong, solid start. These players have taken to each other in a way I haven't seen in a long time and have taken what little guidance I've given them and run off to create something beautiful. Characters have just organically clicked in the IC and you can see the plot threads hanging there, just waiting to unfold. So thank you to all of you:

@Star Lord
@SepticGentleman
@DC the Dragon
@The Bork Lazer
@Skai
@Silver Carrot
@chukklehed
@baraquiel
@Dusksong
@Hour Error

I want to give an extra special thanks to my Co-GM, @Hillan who is also my oldest friend on the Guild, our shenanigans having survived even the infamous Guildfall. As well as my other Co-GM and newest friend, @JunkMail who has been very insightful and overall joy to work with.

I am very much looking forward to watching our stories continue to unfold as we build and shape the world of Santa Celia together and with whomever else might join in later.

Once again, thank you guys for such a great GMing experience already. Here's looking at 40 and looking towards 400!

@Lord Wraith