rush99999

Urban Shadows - Heebie Jeebies

Someone is your go-to when you get into trouble. You owe them 2 Debts

Abberline Winchester

@Candykane

I feel I should point out two things.

Thing One: Abberline has only just arrived in the city. He hasn't been around long enough to gather any debts yet.

Thing Two: Abberline shoots anyone who isn't from Mortality on sight. He would sooner hunt Misty than help her.

If you'd like a hunter for a bodyguard, you are by all means welcome to one. Just not Abberline.

Urban Shadows - Heebie Jeebies

Wasn't able to start things off before the end of '22, but I managed to get it going before we got too far into '23. Hopefully that counts for something. Either way, I have a series of tasks for each of you. Complete them all and you will get a minor reward later on. Your first tasks are as follows.

@Guardian Angel Haruki
In your first IC post, explain how Grace came to have the Wizard in the Wires as both a debtor and a creditor.

@XxFellsingxX
In your first IC post, explain how Kendra came into possession of their tarot deck and what feelings its absence provokes.

@RBYDark
In your first IC post, explain how Mitra came into possession of a Totem of Prey.

@Candykane
Misty will come into the IC a little later. In the mean time, could we hear a little more detail about her debtors and creditors?

Urban Shadows - Heebie Jeebies

Good evenin', listeners! If you're just tunin' in, I'm your host Mr. Dialtone and you are listenin' to Awareness Radio. Our top story tonight, the City Council voted against increasin' fundin' to City Maintenance. The opposition to the proposal, led by Councilor Chandra Singh, rightly pointed out that City Maintenance already have more than enough fundin' to do their thing and that the various failures, disruptions, and paperwork pileups the increase in fundin' would supposedly prevent would never happen anyway.

Now listen up, listeners. Cuz' ol' Mr. Dialtone's got some truth for the folks out there that the Houseguest hasn't chased away. That proposal was a power-hungry piece o' posture put out by one o' Edward Farley's goons. That's right, listeners. The Risin' Shadow is at it again. I don't know why he wanted to send more money to City Maintenance, but ask anyone out there in the know and they'll tell you that anything good for Farley is bad for everyone else. So if you see Chandra Singh out there, buy her a drink for me. She's gonna need it after crossin' Farley the way she did. Believe me. I know.

In other news, tonight marks the third week that the Trader has been runnin' around the city and plyin' their trade among the citizens of our fair metropolis, whether they like it or not. Now don't get me wrong, I've been hearin' all you listeners from Arcadia. That's just how tradin' works back home. But here on Earth, you don't just take stuff without askin'. Even if you leave payment behind. You gotta offer the trade first. And if they say no, you gotta respect that. You'd think the Trader woulda been told this by now, but no. It seems fae culture has a thing about correctin' folks too. If no one gives the Trader the news though, they might just have to learn it the hard way.

And finally, there's a new hunter in town. Now usually, I'd welcome that. But this one, Abberline Winchester, he isn't your usual "protect the people from what goes bump in the night" sorta hunter. No, he's more of a "hunt what goes bump in the night for sport and hang it on the mantelpiece regardless of whether or not what goes bump in the night was actually hurtin' people" sorta hunter. So if any o' you guys from Power, Night, or Wild just wanna mind your own business, I'd suggest keepin' your heads down for a while. And while Mortality might not be on his merc list, I'd suggest you folks steer clear too. While he does try to keep ordinary folks out of the crossfire, collateral damage won't dissuade him if push comes to shove.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. More will come as it happens, but in the meantime here's some music.

Awareness Radio's Nighttime News

@Guardian Angel Haruki
Anytime you pass a phone, it begins to ring. You may have thought it a coincidence before, but not now. Even among wizards, Mr. Dialtone is something of an oddity. But then again anyone who's had their soul imprisoned in electrical wiring would be something of an oddity. Regardless, the guy is friendly enough and has even been pretty helpful to you in the past. Partly because he owes you, partly because you owe him, but mainly because he's just cool like that.

From past experience, you know that the ringing phones won't stop following you until you pick one up.

What do you do?

@XxFellsingxX
Someone's been in your apartment. You wouldn't have noticed as soon as you did had it not been for Trinity, but with her around, that eye for detail her forensics career had honed to a keen edge managed to pick up that various objects were out of place a few moments after you and your roommates returned to your abode after each of you had fulfilled the myriad obligations that made up your day. But even without Trinity's sharp eyes, you would have realized this eventually.

Your tarot cards are gone. A deck of cheap, low quality playing cards left in their place. Nothing else has been stolen, but that doesn't change the fact that you are now without your prophetic tools.

What do you do?

@RBYDark
The Totem of Prey. In the hands of most, it's an odd little animal bone trinket of no real use or value. In the hands of those who know what they're doing though, it's an early warning to get your head down because someone or something is hunting you. You have come into possession of one. And as luck would have it, you know what you're doing.

But you don't have time to focus on that right now. The all too familiar sound of loud music comprised mainly of trumpets has reached your ears. An all too familiar sound that is drawing closer with each passing second.

It appears that your boss would like a word with you.

What do you do?

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Happy New Year!

Di'Siveks: Adventure (A D&D 5E Game)

And posted. Sorry for taking so long. I'll make it my New Year Resolution to work on my post frequency.

Di'Siveks: Adventure (A D&D 5E Game)

It didn't take long after opening her awareness for Cascade to pick something up. The scent of fire and brimstone drew the paladin's attention to a tent roof about 30 feet away. After staring at the tent roof for a moment, Cascade would notice a small indent in the fabric that suggested something should be sitting there, yet nothing was. After a few more moments of staring, the faint sound of flapping wings met Cascade's ears, the indent vanished, and the fiendish presence moved swiftly and suddenly upwards until it ascended past the 60 feet mark and vanished from her senses.

---

Shortly after Cascade's experience, Aura began receiving information from Hawk. Whoever was leading the attack had brought a small army. The shield wall was holding for now, but it was only a matter of time before the press of bodies became too much.

With the attackers so focused on the battle in front of them, it was a simple task to fly right over their heads all the way to where Hawk could get a perfect vantage point on the leaders of the attack. The two of them were arguing with each other in their respective languages. The one who spoke terran looked to be a statue of a male drow that had been brought to life by magic. Meanwhile, the one who spoke ignan looked like a burning bipedal newt.

"You would let their insults stand, Ervdul?!" The newt questioned demandingly.

"I would not allow them to rob us of our sense, Yoseph!" The statue shot back. "If we fall, our masters' forces will have nothing to drive them forward! And with nothing to drive them forward, the battle will be lost!"

"And because of that you would let those who mock us go unpunished?!" Yoseph pressed.

"I would focus on winning the battle." Ervdul answered. "Then I would seek retribution for the insults. The will of our masters come first and foremost. And their will is that we take this campsite. Besides, I marked the worst offender for death, did I not? The Northman's head will be on a spike within the hour and neither of us will have needed to lift a finger to put it there."

Yoseph and Ervdul continued on arguing as Hawk flew past them and spied on the rest of the attacking forces, learning many interesting things that would give the highwaymen a comfortable advantage should they be informed of these things.

---

Once Hawk has scoped out all he can and reports that he is on his way back, you all hear the leader of the highwaymen call out to everyone in the area. "If you can't fight, take shelter in the camp's western reaches. If you can swing a sword, loose an arrow, or cast a spell, gather around me! The time to begin our counter attack is at hand!"

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Skobeloff

Skobeloff follows the group out of the cell and to the kitchen. "You three go sit at the table and relax for a bit. I think you’ve earned a break after all that crazy stuff." Skobeloff said as he moved to begin gathering the ingredients he needed. "The tea’ll be ready in just a minute." Having said that, Skobeloff fell silent as he focused entirely on making the tea. As the water boiled, the Trickster peered into a small bowl he had set down away from everything else. Skobeloff had placed the gem sand he had collected from the beach inside the bowl. Teleportation wasn't the only property it had. If one were to look down on the gem sand at just the right angle before talking to someone about something important, the light glinting off the sand would impart insights into how best to speak with them. After a moment, Skobeloff nodded himself before stowing the sand away and turning back to the tea.

A few minutes later, Skobeloff arrived at the table with a kettle full of tea and four steaming cups already filled. "Hope you like it." Skobeloff said as he passed a cup to each dragon at the table before placing the kettle in the center and taking his own cup to the place left for him. "Once we’re done, we can talk about the thing Fogdance can’t remember and what we’re doing next. But for now… kanpai!" For the next few minutes, Skobeloff sipped his tea and made pleasant conversation with the others, making sure they were all calm and relaxed. Then, once the kettle ran dry and the cups were empty, Skobeloff cleared his throat and turned to Fogdance, the smile that usually adorned his face fading away as he spoke.

"Sooo, Fogdance... you wanted to know what you were doing during the parts you can’t remember, right?" Skobeloff said. "Weeell... somewhere along the way, the Darkness kinda grabbed onto you and twisted your usual caring self into being way too protective. And that made you do some... pretty extreme stuff to keep everyone 'safe'." Skobeloff paused then to ensure this revelation wasn't too distressing for Fogdance, taking a moment to calm her down if it was before continuing on. "When I showed up, we managed to tug you back from your Shadowself." Skobeloff said. But about what we do now... maybe we should make sure the Darkness can’t sneak up on you like that again. I kinda get the feeling you remember more than you’re saying. Probably something about how you turned into your Shadowself in the first place. Stuff like that’s usually touchy, I know. But... if we really wanna stop it from getting that bad ever again, we probably have to talk about it. Even if it’s a bit uncomfortable."

OOC

Skobeloff rolls an 11 to convince Fogdance to speak of what she is keeping secret.

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Skobeloff

Realizing that there would be no danger in revealing himself, Skobeloff opened his eyes and got to his feet. After taking a moment to stretch his limbs after lying still for so long, Skobeloff turned to Fogdance and spoke. "Yeah... “strange” is definitely one way to say it." Skobeloff stated while wiping the porridge sludge off of himself as best he could. "There’s another way to say it too, but it’s probably not something you wanna hear while you’re all confused like this. Maybe we should talk somewhere brighter and less... gloomy than this tiny room, too. And maybe have something nice to drink. I know how to make a really good green tea, if anyone wants some."

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Skobeloff

When Fogdance released Skobeloff, the rawscale drake did not immediately end his charade. Instead, he lay still and continued to act incapacitated. Now that Fogdance had returned from her Shadowself, Skobeloff became consumed by concern. The mindset Fogdance needed to return was built on trickery and deceit. If Skobeloff revealed that, what if doing so caused the foundations supporting that mindset to crumble? All the work leading up to this moment would be undone! But at the same time, Skobeloff knew he couldn't keep lying on the floor forever. And so he wracked his brain for a way to drop the act without running the risk of bringing Fogdance to the conclusion that she had it right the first time because no one had actually been harmed.

OOC

Skobeloff studies Fogdance. He rolls a 12 and learns the answers to the following questions:
- How could I get you to realize that I'm alright without undoing all the work I've done?
- What could I learn from you?

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Skobeloff

Despite not knowing what the sedative was exactly, Skobeloff knew it wouldn't matter. His fox fairy teachers had taught him enough common symptoms among medicine overdoses that his act would be convincing regardless of what medicine Fogdance used. With the use of medicine confirmed, Skobeloff gathered up a few common kitchen ingredients and the drugged porridge he had hidden away earlier for use in his plan. When he had what he needed, Skobeloff snuck back to the cell.

"Ok! I've got everything I need." Skobeloff said softly as he entered the cell and quietly shut the door behind him. "With this stuff, I can make it look like Fogdance gave me way too much sleeping medicine. Now listen up, this next bit's important." As he spoke, Skobeloff began mixing what he had gathered from the kitchen into the porridge. "When I start my act, you two have to freak out. Like, really freak out. Make lots of noise so Fogdance comes running. When she gets here, tell her you woke up because of the noises I was making, and when you looked over... you found me like that." Skobeloff finished mixing and looked into the bowl. The porridge within now looking considerably more half-digested than before. "And here’s the best part: after you say all that, you ask Fogdance what she did to me. That should really make it sink in how her “keeping us safe” stuff can go very, very wrong. Any questions?" Should either of the twins have questions, Skobeloff would answer them then while hiding the supplies next to the door in such a way that they would be out of sight when the door is open.

Once any questions were answered and all things were ready, Skobeloff poured a puddle of seemingly regurgitated porridge onto the floor and also put some of the mixture into his mouth, taking care not to swallow it so as not to be effected by the sedative. With that done, Skobeloff hid the bowl with the rest of his supplies, returned to the puddle, collapsed into it, and began seizing and convulsing on the floor while making choking noises and allowing the porridge in his mouth to leak out and join the rest of the puddle.

The trap was set. Now the twins needed only to lure Fogdance in.

OOC

Skobeloff attempts to trick Fogdance into thinking she made him overdose on the sedative she gave him. He rolls a 10 and opts to learn a valuable secret and confuse Fogdance for some time.