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--- wod:hunter:recap:27_chapter_5 [2020/03/08 21:00] – [Springfield] scarlettsiren
+++ wod:hunter:recap:27_chapter_5 [2020/09/09 16:28] (current) – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation anagramofbrat
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 ===== Saturday October 2nd, 2010 =====
-As the hunters sleep, they all dream. [[wod:hunter:pcs:josh|Josh]] and [[wod:hunter:pcs:william|William]]’s dreams are formless things as their subconscious minds struggle to come to grips on their activities at Cooley Dickinson hospital, while [[wod:hunter:pcs:anita|Anita]] has a merged dream with [[wod:npcs:Witch]], as she’s trying to find [[wod:npcs:jordan|Jordan]] in a burning Puritan village. [[wod:hunter:pcs:leta|Leta]]’s nightmares are of tempter demons constantly whispering, trying to seduce her to use her infernal powers for her own gain. However, around 5:30 in the morning, a figure interrupts their dreams by handing them a plain, high-quality envelope. In Anita’s dream, the figure appears as a well-dressed Puritan minister, while in Leta’s dream the figure resembles [[wod:npcs:guiseppe|Guiseppe]], the demon-butler from Milan.
+As the hunters sleep, they all dream. [[wod:hunter:pcs:josh|Josh]] and [[wod:hunter:pcs:william|William]]’s dreams are formless things as their subconscious minds struggle to come to grips on their activities at Cooley Dickinson hospital, while [[wod:hunter:pcs:anita|Anita]] has a merged dream with [[wod:characters:witch]], as she’s trying to find [[wod:characters:jordan|Jordan]] in a burning Puritan village. [[wod:hunter:pcs:leta|Leta]]’s nightmares are of tempter demons constantly whispering, trying to seduce her to use her infernal powers for her own gain. However, around 5:30 in the morning, a figure interrupts their dreams by handing them a plain, high-quality envelope. In Anita’s dream, the figure appears as a well-dressed Puritan minister, while in Leta’s dream the figure resembles [[wod:characters:guiseppe|Guiseppe]], the demon-butler from Milan.
-Each of the hunters then realizes they are lucid dreaming, and open the envelopes. Each envelope has the same thing, a piece of thick, cream-colored cardstock with elegant black filigree. Each card reads, “[[wod:npcs:totem|The Academitrix of Classical Studies at Smith College for Women]] invites you to a meeting. Tap to reply.” William is instantly suspicious, but realizes he can will himself awake at any point. Josh looks for a pop-up menu on the paper, while Anita sighs but accepts. Leta is also wary, but accepts. Eventually, William and Josh also tap the paper.
+Each of the hunters then realizes they are lucid dreaming, and open the envelopes. Each envelope has the same thing, a piece of thick, cream-colored cardstock with elegant black filigree. Each card reads, “[[wod:characters:totem|The Academitrix of Classical Studies at Smith College for Women]] invites you to a meeting. Tap to reply.” William is instantly suspicious, but realizes he can will himself awake at any point. Josh looks for a pop-up menu on the paper, while Anita sighs but accepts. Leta is also wary, but accepts. Eventually, William and Josh also tap the paper.
-The hunters are then somewhere on Smith campus, in front of an ornate stone building that does not exist in the real world. William, Josh, Anita, and Leta look around and see [[wod:npcs:veltis]], [[[[wod:npcs:abby|Abby]], [[wod:npcs:polly|Polly]], [[wod:npcs:mick|Mick]], and [[wod:npcs:ranjip|Dr. Ranjip]] next to them. There is a moment of, “Wait, what are you doing in my dream?” until the hunters realize they are having the same shared dream! They are each their idealized selves, so William appears old, Dr. Ranjip is in his fae seeming, and The Witch and [[wod:npcs:Petit]] are clearly visible next to Anita and Abby respectively. However, the two Sin-Eaters appear healthy and alive. The Troys eye The Witch, but just see a column of fire with an indistinguishable figure inside.
+The hunters are then somewhere on Smith campus, in front of an ornate stone building that does not exist in the real world. William, Josh, Anita, and Leta look around and see [[wod:characters:veltis]], [[wod:characters:abby|Abby]], [[wod:characters:polly|Polly]], [[wod:characters:mick|Mick]], and [[wod:characters:ranjip|Dr. Ranjip]] next to them. There is a moment of, “Wait, what are you doing in my dream?” until the hunters realize they are having the same shared dream! They are each their idealized selves, so William appears old, Dr. Ranjip is in his fae seeming, and The Witch and [[wod:characters:petite]] are clearly visible next to Anita and Abby respectively. However, the two Sin-Eaters appear healthy and alive. The Troys eye The Witch, but just see a column of fire with an indistinguishable figure inside.
 The carved wooden doors of the building open soundlessly, and Josh chirps, “Hello, Academitrix!” to the building. They then see the pack totem emerge from the building and wave them inside. As they move forward, Josh pipes up, “Is that your correct name?” The totem spirit replies, “That is my formal name, yes.” The hunters step back, startled that the totem speaks! She leads them inside, into a classical foyer with fluted columns and artwork, and then leads them down a corridor of bookcases. Books are crammed in everywhere, and the hunters have to push Abby forward to keep her moving. They finally reach a circular space in the middle of the building, and all around them there are aisles of bookcases. Above them is a large balcony with more bookshelves. ((Every book that has ever been on the Smith College campus is here. [[players:andee]] joked, “That’s a lot of porn.”)) High-backed leather chairs form a circle in the clear space, and the totem – the Academitrix – motions for them to take a seat.
-As soon as the hunters sit, they become aware of why the totem has invited them here – she wants to offer them a chance to join the [[wod:groups:smithsdaughters|Smith's Daughters]] pack officially. This would entail joining with her, and bearing her gifts and ban. Knowledge would be theirs, but they would have to spend two hours each week acquiring knowledge, as is her ban. ((+1 dot of Academics and Science, and the Multilingual • Merit.)) Abby and Polly are immediately interested for different reasons, but Josh hesitates and frets about the pack’s reaction. Leta leans in and murmurs to Veltis, “This sounds ideal.” Veltis nods and whispers back, “We’re already associated with this pack. May as well get the benefits, since we already suffer the drawbacks. Besides, they’re less likely to eat us.” Mick and Dr. Ranjip are openly considering it, while William remains unconvinced.
+As soon as the hunters sit, they become aware of why the totem has invited them here – she wants to offer them a chance to join the [[wod:characters:groups:smithsdaughters|Smith's Daughters]] pack officially. This would entail joining with her, and bearing her gifts and ban. Knowledge would be theirs, but they would have to spend two hours each week acquiring knowledge, as is her ban. ((+1 dot of Academics and Science, and the Multilingual • Merit.)) Abby and Polly are immediately interested for different reasons, but Josh hesitates and frets about the pack’s reaction. Leta leans in and murmurs to Veltis, “This sounds ideal.” Veltis nods and whispers back, “We’re already associated with this pack. May as well get the benefits, since we already suffer the drawbacks. Besides, they’re less likely to eat us.” Mick and Dr. Ranjip are openly considering it, while William remains unconvinced.
-Josh keeps pressing his concern about the pack, and the totem sighs. Then, five wolves appear in the space, looking startled – and then they collectively sigh as they realize what’s happening. The hunters immediately pick out [[wod:npcs:Cain]], as she has the pink Mohawk in wolf-form. The massive black wolf is [[wod:npcs:Valerie]], who seems happy. The graying wolf is [[wod:npcs:Hope]], who also supports this. They guess the tawny wolf is [[wod:npcs:Heather]], and she seems fine with it. The sleek black wolf is [[wod:npcs:Lydia]], who raises no objection. Josh jokes about a wedding, but William cuts it, “It’s not a wedding, it’s an adoption.”
+Josh keeps pressing his concern about the pack, and the totem sighs. Then, five wolves appear in the space, looking startled – and then they collectively sigh as they realize what’s happening. The hunters immediately pick out [[wod:characters:cain]], as she has the pink Mohawk in wolf-form. The massive black wolf is [[wod:characters:valerie]], who seems happy. The graying wolf is [[wod:characters:hope]], who also supports this. They guess the tawny wolf is [[wod:characters:heather]], and she seems fine with it. The sleek black wolf is [[wod:characters:lydia]], who raises no objection. Josh jokes about a wedding, but William cuts it, “It’s not a wedding, it’s an adoption.”
 Anita considers the proposal – until The Witch starts jabbing her and hissing, //“Do it. Do it. Do it,”// repeatedly. Josh also agrees, as do Leta and Veltis. This leaves William, Mick, and Dr. Ranjip still considering it. Mick suddenly says, “Screw it, I’m in.” Dr. Ranjip is clearly torn, as he is well aware of what oaths and promises mean, but then he murmurs, “On the other hand, having werewolves around when the True Fae come sniffing about… I’m in!” William considers it – and shakes his head no. Josh looks at him sadly, but the totem accepts his choice without question. She reaches out to touch the heads of everyone who agreed, and their minds suddenly expand with knowledge!
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 Anita snaps her head back, suddenly aware she’s conversant in German, while Josh gains some fluency in Spanish and Mandarin. Leta learns conversational Italian and Spanish, while Abby gains German and Arabic. Mick gains conversational fluency in Spanish and Gaelic, while Polly gains conversational First Tongue and Portuguese. ((Half-remembered teenage lesbian fantasies…)) The shared dream ends as the hunters continue sleeping. Josh wakes up at 7:00 AM and immediately texts Abby, //“I assume after last night you’ll be studying and won’t want company tonight?”// He gets back, //“Yup,”// almost immediately, and smiles. He powers through his exhaustion and showers, has breakfast, and starts doing homework. He also realizes what the sign Anita hung behind the counter means, and blushes when he starts translating what some of the older Latina women said to him in Spanish!
-At 8:30, Anita wakes up and staggers into the shower, cursing as chemistry theorems keep flitting into her brain. She showers and then heads for the stairs, only to find [[wod:npcs:abuela|Abuela]] staring at her, arms crossed, at the foot of the stairs. Anita demands, “Did you stand there all night?” Abuela snaps, “What do you think?” and Anita concedes, “I think you did, actually.” She heads downstairs and elbows her way past her grandmother for the coffee pot. As she starts pouring coffee, Abuela demands an explanation. Anita replies, “You’re not going to like it,” but rears back when Abuela snaps, “English or Spanish!”  Anita realizes she was speaking German, and switches to Spanish.
+At 8:30, Anita wakes up and staggers into the shower, cursing as chemistry theorems keep flitting into her brain. She showers and then heads for the stairs, only to find [[wod:characters:abuela|Abuela]] staring at her, arms crossed, at the foot of the stairs. Anita demands, “Did you stand there all night?” Abuela snaps, “What do you think?” and Anita concedes, “I think you did, actually.” She heads downstairs and elbows her way past her grandmother for the coffee pot. As she starts pouring coffee, Abuela demands an explanation. Anita replies, “You’re not going to like it,” but rears back when Abuela snaps, “English or Spanish!”  Anita realizes she was speaking German, and switches to Spanish.
 Abuela demands, “Where did you learn to speak German?” Anita replies, “Those intensive language courses in Northampton are killer.” Abuela is not amused, so Anita explains she suffered burns last night while killing spiders at Cooley-Dick. Abuela snaps, “So now you’re working as a freelance exterminator? Did you get paid?” Anita replies, “I learned German…” Abuela starts cursing Anita’s //gringo// friends and laments she doesn’t know which group to blame. Anita concedes, “I was with both groups last night.” They go back and forth a bit, and Abuela snaps, “Don’t blaspheme!” when Anita mentions hellfire. Anita shrugs and replies, “I didn’t take the Lord’s name in vain, and there was hellfire. We used it to kill spiders.” Abuela stares at her and sputters, so Anita brightly chirps, //“Guten tag!”// and runs out of the house! She grabs breakfast on the way and drives to the Botanica. She busies herself with early morning work before unlocking the doors at 10:00.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==== Northampton ====
-Morning rolls into early afternoon and the rain continues to fall. At 2:00 PM, William hears the sounds of multiple motorcycles, and he looks out the window to see a dozen bikers suddenly roar onto Sovereign Way. His street is a cul-de-sac and the bikers circle the loop before pulling up into William’s driveway! They stare at him through the window, bikes idling, and the closest biker is a foot from his Buick Skylark. William notes that the group is eleven men sporting gang patches for the [[wod:groups:seekersofhell|Seekers of Hell]], but the unquestioned leader is a woman with dark hair, a broken nose, and scarring along her right arm. William guesses that she has some Asian ancestry from the shape of her eyes, as she stares at him intensely.
+Morning rolls into early afternoon and the rain continues to fall. At 2:00 PM, William hears the sounds of multiple motorcycles, and he looks out the window to see a dozen bikers suddenly roar onto Sovereign Way. His street is a cul-de-sac and the bikers circle the loop before pulling up into William’s driveway! They stare at him through the window, bikes idling, and the closest biker is a foot from his Buick Skylark. William notes that the group is eleven men sporting gang patches for the [[wod:characters:groups:seekersofhell|Seekers of Hell]], but the unquestioned leader is a woman with dark hair, a broken nose, and scarring along her right arm. William guesses that she has some Asian ancestry from the shape of her eyes, as she stares at him intensely.
-The Seekers glare at William for a full minute before suddenly swinging their bikes around and roaring off. William eyes his car but decides to leave it outside for now. ((Polly left it in the driveway last night when she dropped it off.)) He sends Mick a text message about the strange encounter. Mick texts back a few minutes later, //“Seekers of Hell are a white supremacist biker gang out of Springfield. Never known to venture this far north before. Led by a woman, [[wod:npcs:sadie_hawk|Sadie Hawk]]; also called the Iron Lady.”// William frowns but has no clue why this gang would be glaring at him. Mick sends out a group text as a warning. Down in Springfield, Anita picks up her phone, reads the message, and grunts. She’s familiar enough with the gang, although she’s never dealt with them personally. She heads upstairs and asks Josh, “Why are Nazi bikers scoping out your grandfather?” Josh frowns as he grabs his phone, which he keeps silent when he’s working. He reads the message and recalls Hawke, the infernal cultist who died last year. He performs some quick research, but finds no apparent connection between Hawke and Sadie Hawk.
+The Seekers glare at William for a full minute before suddenly swinging their bikes around and roaring off. William eyes his car but decides to leave it outside for now. ((Polly left it in the driveway last night when she dropped it off.)) He sends Mick a text message about the strange encounter. Mick texts back a few minutes later, //“Seekers of Hell are a white supremacist biker gang out of Springfield. Never known to venture this far north before. Led by a woman, [[wod:characters:hawk|Sadie Hawk]]; also called the Iron Lady.”// William frowns but has no clue why this gang would be glaring at him. Mick sends out a group text as a warning. Down in Springfield, Anita picks up her phone, reads the message, and grunts. She’s familiar enough with the gang, although she’s never dealt with them personally. She heads upstairs and asks Josh, “Why are Nazi bikers scoping out your grandfather?” Josh frowns as he grabs his phone, which he keeps silent when he’s working. He reads the message and recalls Hawke, the infernal cultist who died last year. He performs some quick research, but finds no apparent connection between Hawke and Sadie Hawk.
 Leta reads the text message, and then hears motorcycles! She looks out the window to see the twelve bikers turn right onto New South Street, pass by her apartment, and then pull a tight U-turn to swing back! They come to a stop right outside her apartment, and stare at her through the window. Leta pops the window open and yells, “You looking for me?” Several bikers tense, but the woman – Sadie Hawk – motions for them to stay calm. As they pull away, she pulls something out and hurls it right at Leta! Leta has enough time to register what the object is and she scrambles back, screaming, “Grenade!” The grenade bounces off the mesh over the window and lands on the ground as Leta backpedals deeper into the apartment, wondering if her downstairs neighbors are about to die!
-Seconds pass and nothing happens, so Leta gets to her feet and carefully looks outside. The grenade is sitting there without a pin, but nothing is happening. Leta quickly calls 911 and then texts Mick. A minute later, she hears sirens as the [[wod:groups:NPD|NPD]] comes screaming into view! Within seconds, they have blockaded New South Street, and Leta spots Mick. The Northampton bomb squad pulls up a second later, and issues an evacuation order via the back stairs. As they wait in the parking lot, Leta hears the cops clear the building, and then the bomb squad clears the device. The NPD lets people back into the building slowly, and asks questions of everyone. Mick manages to ‘interview’ Leta and he hisses, “It was a fake. A very realistic one, though.  What did you do?” Leta explains what happened. Mick groans and whispers, “[[wod:npcs:fuller|Fuller’s]] involved now.” Leta curses, but says, “Thank you, officer,” as she heads inside with Abby.
+Seconds pass and nothing happens, so Leta gets to her feet and carefully looks outside. The grenade is sitting there without a pin, but nothing is happening. Leta quickly calls 911 and then texts Mick. A minute later, she hears sirens as the [[wod:characters:groups:npd|NPD]] comes screaming into view! Within seconds, they have blockaded New South Street, and Leta spots Mick. The Northampton bomb squad pulls up a second later, and issues an evacuation order via the back stairs. As they wait in the parking lot, Leta hears the cops clear the building, and then the bomb squad clears the device. The NPD lets people back into the building slowly, and asks questions of everyone. Mick manages to ‘interview’ Leta and he hisses, “It was a fake. A very realistic one, though.  What did you do?” Leta explains what happened. Mick groans and whispers, “[[wod:characters:fuller|Fuller’s]] involved now.” Leta curses, but says, “Thank you, officer,” as she heads inside with Abby.
 ==== Springfield ====
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 Josh texts the pics to Leta while Anita decides the Dominican ghosts are a problem for later. She texts Peter about the situation and asks if he’s on-site, and Peter texts back a few minutes later, //“Yes I am. Going to be a while.”// Anita texts back, //“Understood.”// //Abuela// lingers as Josh quietly shows Anita the pictures he took of the //Mafioso// and then a note on his phone, //“Keep this quiet, we don’t know if they planted anything in the store!”// Anita frowns, but can’t discount the possibility. She has Josh forward the pictures to Peter.
-A minute later Peter calls Anita! He hisses, //“The man with the blue eyes? That’s [[wod:npcs:black|Silas Black]]!”// Anita curses as Peter ends the call, and wonders why the new head of the [[wod:groups:belladonnafamily|Belladonna Syndicate]] was in her botanica. Josh stays until 7 o’clock, helping the last of the customers, and offers to escort anyone home who would want it. //Abuela// turns to Josh and growls, “Dinner, 8 o’clock sharp.” Josh nods as he walks out with an elderly Latina, but practically jumps for joy once he’s out of sight of the botanica. He sends a text message to William that he won’t be home for dinner. Anita texts Leta about Silas Black’s presence in her store, and wonders if the Mafioso and the biker gang are connected. Leta texts back, //“That’s unexpected.”//
+A minute later Peter calls Anita! He hisses, //“The man with the blue eyes? That’s [[wod:characters:black|Silas Black]]!”// Anita curses as Peter ends the call, and wonders why the new head of the [[wod:characters:groups:belladonnafamily|Belladonna Syndicate]] was in her botanica. Josh stays until 7 o’clock, helping the last of the customers, and offers to escort anyone home who would want it. //Abuela// turns to Josh and growls, “Dinner, 8 o’clock sharp.” Josh nods as he walks out with an elderly Latina, but practically jumps for joy once he’s out of sight of the botanica. He sends a text message to William that he won’t be home for dinner. Anita texts Leta about Silas Black’s presence in her store, and wonders if the Mafioso and the biker gang are connected. Leta texts back, //“That’s unexpected.”//
 ==== Northampton ====
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 ==== The Cherion Group ====
-Around the same time, a secret operation is taking place at Colley Dickinson hospital. [[wod:npcs:sarah|Sarah]] and [[wod:hunter:pcs:flo|Flo]], her protégé in [[wod:npcs:cheiron|The Cheiron Group]], spent all day with Administration discussing the issue of the Troy cell’s incursion last night. Their disappearance from the material world for ten minutes means a lot of paperwork, but Flo is getting used to the corporate jargon. TCG has long had connections down at Baystate Hospital in Springfield, but the events of six months ago that left the Troy cell as the local powerhouse also has had other repercussions. Chief among them, Springfield has always been a haven for vampires, but six months ago, an old vampire woke up after a long time asleep, and promptly moved somewhere in the Northampton/Amherst area. Although TCG no longer truly harvests vampires as they have a surplus of captive assets to work with, the maneuvers of an elder is always a concern. Sarah is teaching Flo to be a recruiter, one of the wheat who commands the chaff – aka the ‘common’ TCG asset.
+Around the same time, a secret operation is taking place at Cooley Dickinson hospital. [[wod:characters:sarah|Sarah]] and [[wod:hunter:pcs:flo|Flo]], her protégé in [[wod:characters:groups:cheiron|The Cheiron Group]], spent all day with Administration discussing the issue of the Troy cell’s incursion last night. Their disappearance from the material world for ten minutes means a lot of paperwork, but Flo is getting used to the corporate jargon. TCG has long had connections down at Baystate Hospital in Springfield, but the events of six months ago that left the Troy cell as the local powerhouse also has had other repercussions. Chief among them, Springfield has always been a haven for vampires, but six months ago, an old vampire woke up after a long time asleep, and promptly moved somewhere in the Northampton/Amherst area. Although TCG no longer truly harvests vampires as they have a surplus of captive assets to work with, the maneuvers of an elder is always a concern. Sarah is teaching Flo to be a recruiter, one of the wheat who commands the chaff – aka the ‘common’ TCG asset.
-However, after the meeting, Flo finds herself with arguably the strangest task she’s faced since joining TCG: her new team is ready to go into that doorway to the roof, once she raps on [[[[wod:npcs:chapman|Dr. Chapman]]’s head. Brett Chapman is alone in his office and seems an empty shell, but at 7 o’clock, Flo raps on his head – and it clangs. Her team, linked by microphones and helmet cameras, immediately sweeps into the door to the roof – and finds themselves in the high-tech hallway! Flo watches her first team as they sweep down the hallway, until they all hear Dr. Chapman’s voice call out, //“Intruders detected in the lab. Countermeasures deploying. Have a nice day!”// Suddenly, all the cameras go dark amidst screaming, and then the lines go dead. Flo sighs as she realizes what’s next: staff meeting.
+However, after the meeting, Flo finds herself with arguably the strangest task she’s faced since joining TCG: her new team is ready to go into that doorway to the roof, once she raps on [[wod:characters:chapman|Dr. Chapman]]’s head. Brett Chapman is alone in his office and seems an empty shell, but at 7 o’clock, Flo raps on his head – and it clangs. Her team, linked by microphones and helmet cameras, immediately sweeps into the door to the roof – and finds themselves in the high-tech hallway! Flo watches her first team as they sweep down the hallway, until they all hear Dr. Chapman’s voice call out, //“Intruders detected in the lab. Countermeasures deploying. Have a nice day!”// Suddenly, all the cameras go dark amidst screaming, and then the lines go dead. Flo sighs as she realizes what’s next: staff meeting.
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