Where the Wild Things Dwell

Where the Wild Things Dwell
Date 2085-12-21 GM Eddren Location Redmond Barrens Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Skraacha	Halloweeners
Backseat Black Dog Čarivnýk	Halloweener Vampire Halloweener Heavy Ghoul Feral Ghouls
Casualties and losses
0

Summary

A vampire has been kidnapping people from across Seattle and turning them into Ghouls. Why? The world may never know. Nor did the Skraacha, or the runners they hired, particularly care.

Background

The Skraacha had been noticing an uptick in disappearances in their territory. Greg, as a man of the people, was naturally the first to put things together and tracked down the disappearances to a run-down portion of the Redmon Barrens. Skraacha couldn't intervene because it was well outside their turf, but the community had put together money to pay for runners. Greg made a few calls, and soon Backseat, Black Dog, and Sorcerer(Cari) were brought into the fold.

The Meet

Backseat was relaxing at his favorite sports bar when he received a call from Clark Jamis about a potential run. Something to do with disappearances, Clark figured he'd send his best people person to try and suss out the truth of the matter. Fiendest hit up Black Dog, whom she knew was quite familiar with the Barrens and, with his penchant for protection, would be able to protect hostages in any situation. Meanwhile, Bolt, while he wasn't Skraacha's biggest fan, had been told this was a Weener op, and there was nothing Bolt hated more than filthy fucking Weeners. Bolt wanted nothing more than to see them hurt, and so saw it as a small investment to send one of his top scouts to aid the cause.

Black Dog needed some time to prepare his trash disguise, and away they were to meet up at a classically seedy-looking PI's office. Greg welcomed them in and caught the group up with the situation, and their first approach was to ask for information on the families of the disappeared. Greg, having been hired by these very families, was easily able to provide that information. They were able to negotiate for a little of the money up front, and a bonus should the group bring back as many alive as possible. This turned out to be something the runners went above and beyond for.

The Plan

The basic groundwork started with getting a physical picture, for any sympathetic magic the group might want to weave, and general canvasing. The net conclusion was that the targets were all alone, and the times were semi-random; the only explicit was that it was at odd hours. The people didn't tend to have a lot of connections to one-another, other than being related to Skraacha, but then--There was a bit of bias, there. However, after some discussion with contacts; calling in an acquaintance at the museum to get an idea of any changes they knew of within the neighborhood they were going to and speaking with 'Vic' Reyes, a dirty cop that Backseat had blackmailed back in the day and since befriended, they were able to get some idea of what was going on. Someone had come in very recently, installed a bunch of security cameras all over the place, and ghoul activity was starting to be seen. Further, they knew the area had a traditionally terrible power grid situation and Matrix presence was practically nonexistent.

The Ghoul angle, however, sparked some curiosity from Black Dog, who called in Fiendest. Fiendest, for her part, pointed him toward an infected bar in the area, where they were able to speak with a pair of regulars who had, in fact, caught sight of one of the people they were looking for. The man had been infected, and they were putting him up in an apartment until he could figure out what he wanted to do. The team heads to see this ghoul and, upon further investigation, learns that he had actually had a friend who'd escaped with him. They'd split up to avoid capture, but had been digging a tunnel for weeks now to get out from the basement they'd been held in. As far as they knew, there were others in the house who hadn't been as lucky. He knew of a powerful ward around the home; however, it seems to have been only half-hemispherical, as the tunnel went right under it.

After that came physical scouting, which confirmed the presence of cameras and a powerful ward. Sorcerer slunk into the home, confirmed that the remaining captives had turned feral, and that there were four Halloweener heavies working under a single Vampire, who was currently asleep. From the sounds in the other rooms, Sorcerer got the impression there was at least one living hostage, and multiple more that were likely feral.

From there, the plan was simple; Cari would standby under a silence spell, ready to eliminate the vampire on the team's mark. Upon doing so, Black Dog would bust in through the tunnel area and hold down the Heavies. Backseat would provide command support.

The Run

Things went...Well enough. Cari was unable to off the vampire before he woke up, but was able to gain the initiative and finish the job before it became a problem. Black Dog captured one of the Heavies before he could open the door and open fire on Cari. One of the remaining heavies opened a door to allow eight ferals out of a bedroom, who, upon hearing Backseat successfully bluff as though a fireteam was coming through the tunnels, swarmed toward Black Dog, who was in the way. Cari made two attempts at summoning a Beast Spirit.

Backseat's bluff was incredibly effective, and the Heavies began to retreat under suppressing fire, which their unfortunate fourth soaked up for Black Dog. Black Dog, for his part, let the man go in order to climb up...And was surprised to find the man climbed up with him. The ghouls, however, continued to plunge toward the tunnel and Backseat, seeing this, began praying to his ancestors. It's not certain if they heard him, but the Great Stone Dragon did answer his plea. It convinced him to fill in every hole he saw for the next 24 hours, and in return promised to capture the ghouls. The Beast Spirit began nauseating the retreating heavies, only to be thoroughly sprayed with gunfire. Black Dog recaptured their fourth member and killed them before advancing upon the remaining Heavies. Cari cowered.

The Great Stone dragon assisted Backseat in retreating from the tunnel before dismantling it, the Beast Spirit disabled a second Heavy, and Black Dog grabbed the last one. Cari continued cowering.

In the following few moments, the Great Stone Dragon collapsed every entrance to the tunnel, and in doing so, sealed the Ghouls with it.

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.