~~META: title = Hunt 27: Chapter 3 ~~ ====== Hunt 27: Webs - Chapter 3 ====== //Game was Sunday 5/12/19. It went well, the combat flowed smoothly, and Annemarie wants to try and NPC.// ===== Friday October 1st, 2010 ===== The hunters linger as the clock strikes 10:00 PM while [[wod:characters:polly|Polly]] fishes out her phone. [[wod:hunter:pcs:josh|Josh]] Googles “Things that kill spiders” and carefully asks [[wod:characters:ranjip|Dr. Ranjip]] if he has a way to contact the [[wod:characters:mactan|Widow Mactan]] to see if she has any potential information about her fellow arachnid – and how to do so politely. Dr. Ranjip shakes his head and replies, “She’s a hob, so she lives in the Hedge. She doesn’t have a phone that I’m aware of, although I suppose the hell-phones might function now.” Veltis replies with a crude gesture, and then Dr. Ranjip realizes there are parties present who haven’t sworn the Pledge of Deathly Silence. Polly hits [[wod:characters:hope|Hope]]’s number and sets her phone on speaker. They all hear Hope growl, //“Honey, I love you, but this is not a good time,”// through the phone, and the experienced hunters realize Hope is not in human form. The hunters hear ripping and tearing sounds through the connection, including a wet tearing noise followed by a whimper. Polly stands her ground and replies firmly, “There’s an //Azlu// loose at Cooley-Dickinson.” There is a moment of silence until Hope explodes into a fiery tirade laced with profanity that overrides any other sound. The rant last three long minutes, and after Hope finishes, the hunters hear [[wod:characters:cain]] ask, //“So… are you ok?”// Hope snarls, //“No. The rest of the pack has found an //Azlu// at the hospital. We need to meet them. Now. Meet us in the parking lot.”// Hope crushes her phone before they can fully answer, but the hunters eye each other and [[wod:characters:mick|Mick]] announces, “So I’m more scared now that I was before.” Anita enthusiastically agrees. Josh quietly explains the pack to Isobel, David, and Peter as they exit the hospital. They relocate to their cars on the outer ring of the parking lot, and Josh glares at William, but wonders if he should get earplugs to prevent spiders from crawling into his ear canals. As the hunters settle in to wait in the crisp, cool fall night, Mick wonders, “What did we interrupt?” Anita posits, “Werewolf Sabbath?” Leta whispers, “Are all werewolves Jewish?” Polly groans and replies tersely, “No they are not. It was a leadership challenge. [[wod:characters:valerie|Valerie]] challenged [[wod:characters:cain|Cain]] for control of the pack.” William mutters, “Glad I didn’t call.” Leta retorts, “Why not? They like you! All the supernatural ladies like the Troy boys, even the lesbians.” Josh replies, “Because I know my place in the pack?” At 10:30 the hunters hear the first warning growl as five dire wolves slink out of the darkness along the bike trail. David whispers, “Holy shit!” as Peter mutters, “Having second thoughts about this,” as the five dire wolves charge at the hunters! No one breaks, and the wolves come to a graceful halt in front of them. Anita yells, “Turn around!” to her Sin-Eater gringos as the Troy cell pivots. David, Peter, and Isobel comply, and then comes the flesh-ripping, bone snapping sounds as the pack shifts into another form. A barely human voice snarls, “It’s safe now,” and the hunters turn. They see the five werewolves in dire-human form, and Cain has the left side of her face ripped open while Valerie is clearly favoring her right side, her shirt dark with blood. However, they hunters can see their regenerative abilities are already in play, as their bones start to knit in front of them. Anita admires Cain’s pink Mohawk, which seems to be part of all her forms. She asks her about it, and the younger werewolf seems startled and reluctant to answer. Hope cuts in with, “It’s a form of magic.” Leta whispers, “Like glamour from //The Craft//?” Anita starts muttering in Spanish, but is surprised when Valerie and the [[wod:characters:heather|blonde-haired blue-eyed white werewolf girl]] does too. ((Heather grew up in Springfield and speaks Spanish fluently.)) She points to both of them and growls in Spanish, “You and you. We’ll talk later.” There is an awkward moment of silence before Hope snarls in rage and demands an explanation. Dr. Ranjip quickly provides one, with the others chipping in as needed. Hope nods when they’re finished and asks about the layout of the hospital. Dr. Ranjip explains there are three core buildings. West Building is the original hospital and has the main entrance and the emergency room entrance. The East and North buildings are later, smaller additions. The basement contains administrative stuff, radiology, and the morgue in North Building. The ground floor is the entrances and much of the emergency department. The first floor is the cancer center and other services, while the second floor is administrative: medical records, HR, the hospital administrations offices, etc. The third floor is patient rooms, the fourth floor is additional patient rooms and the Joint Replacement Center, and the fifth floor is inpatient behavioral. Dr. Ranjip clarifies that the third, fourth, and fifth floors have the smallest footprint, so Hope looks at everyone and states, “Then we split up and mix up the cell, the krewe, and the pack. One cop or legal authority in each group in case we’re stopped.” She quickly puts herself, Polly, Valerie, Isobel, Peter, and Abby on the basement and ground floor. Mick, Cain, Lydia, Dr. Ranjip, and David will search the first and second floors. This leaves William, Josh, Leta, Veltis, Anita, and Heather to tackle the smaller third, fourth, and fifth floors. ((Storyteller fiat, as I wanted to keep the PCs together.)) The hunters eye each other and concede Hope’s plan is solid. Hope rattles off some facts about the //Azlu// to the non-//Uratha//, while Josh covertly checks on Abby and Petite; neither seem thrilled to be searching Cooley-Dick for a spider monster, but options are limited. The allies head inside and slip into the chaos of Cooley-Dickinson. William and his team grab an elevator to the third floor, and Josh performs the //Moral Support// tactic on the way up. ((+3 to Resistance for everyone.)) They reach the W3 floor, which is telemetry patient rooms. Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Boneyard//, and clears a full third of the ward of spiders. They sweep through the remaining fourteen rooms without issue, and as long as they don’t do anything overly suspicious the nursing staff ignores them. They find no spiders, so they head over to N3. Once again, Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Boneyard// and finds nothing in about half the ward. They sweep through the rest of the ward quietly without arousing suspicion or finding any spiders. ===== Saturday October 2nd, 2010 ===== William, Josh, Leta, Veltis, Anita, and Heather finish their sweep of N3 a little after midnight. They then swing out and troop up to w4, which contains telemetry rooms and ICU/Critical Care rooms. The hunters have to tread carefully, as there are many more nurses on hand. However, they manage to clear W4 without issue, partly in thanks to Anita, who unlocked //Pyre-Flame Boneyard// again and cleared half the ward. They slip over to N4, which is the Joint Replacement Center and some patient rooms. Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Boneyard// once again, but this time finds dozens of spiders in the joint replacement lab! Anita warns the others and then texts the rest of the cell a warning. The cell slips into the lab and finds the waiting room. Anita guides them to the back, into the lab, and they spot spiders crawling over a prosthetic leg. The spiders bolt and swarm under a door! The hunters race up and find it’s an office door for one [[wod:characters:chapman|Doctor Brett Chapman]]. Leta picks the lock while Anita uses the credit-card trick to bypass the deadbolt. The door pops open and Leta carefully pushes it open while shoving Josh to the back. Josh pulls his socks up over his jeans to prevent any arachnid visitors. The door opens all the way and they see the spiders crawling up a man sitting in the chair, facing them in the dark. The man is an older Caucasian with a white beard, and shows no signs of life. Anita and Leta share a look, and then Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Rage// while Leta calls upon her //Hellfire//. Josh bolts for a fire extinguisher as green and magenta fire swirls into the room and immolates several spiders on the man! The man then stands bolt upright and pats himself down before returning to his seat and resuming his blank stare. A few spiders survive the fiery apocalypse and reach the vents safely. The man – Dr. Chapman – has some scorch marks on his clothing but seems otherwise unharmed. Anita checks him for signs of life or death, and realizes he’s neither – he’s not alive, but he’s not dead. Anita mutters, “He’s an empty shell,” and texts the group a quick update. Heather leans in to sniff while Josh checks the logs, and finds records going all the way to today at 5 o’clock. Heather rumbles, “No //Azlu// stink, but something is definitely off with this guy. I smell metal.” Josh jokingly raps on the man’s head – and backpedals when his third tap results in a metallic clang! William fishes out his phone and calls Dr. Ranjip directly. The changeling answers and William tersely asks if he knows Brett Chapman. Dr. Ranjip replies, //“Yeah, sure I know him. I had lunch with him today. Why?”// That sparks a lot of chatter as people try to figure out what’s going on, and Josh suggests, “Have Dr. Ranjip call him!” Ranjip taps Chapman’s number to initiate a three-way call, and then the hunters hear a cellphone ring in the desk. The body suddenly moves, opens the desk, grabs the cellphone, and answers! Chapman says, “Hey, Amar, great to hear from you. I’m at the office late, though, can I call you back?” Dr. Ranjip assents, so Chapman ends the call, replaces the phone, and resumes blankly staring. Josh asks Chapman about his elderly grandfather needing a hip replacement, but the being doesn’t react – although William shoots Josh a withering glare. The hunters realize this is a separate issue, and depart Dr. Chapman’s office quickly. They exit the Joint Replacement Center and head down the hall to check out the remaining patient rooms. Luckily, there is no staff on hand, and only one patient occupies a room. The elderly woman is awake and looks directly at them before uttering, “Did you see all the spiders on the ceiling?” They look up, but see nothing. The woman insists they swarmed up, so they check her charts quickly and find she’s suffering from liver failure – and is doped out of her mind. However, they take her words as genuine, and after sweeping the rest of N4 without finding anything, they decide to skip W5 and head to the roof of the North Building. Roof access is in the main staircase, so they head there and find a keycard lock on the door to the roof. Leta carefully picks the electronic lock successfully, and the hunters step through the door – and then double over with intense nausea! As they recover, they realize Veltis has reverted to a human-sized rat, Heather has shifted to a dire wolf, and Leta’s horns and claws are fully visible! To make matters worse, they’re not on the roof, but in a sleek, ultra-modern hallway! Josh checks the hell-phone and finds it has no signal! On a crazy impulse, Josh croaks, “Dr. Chapman?” The hunters jump when Dr. Chapman’s disembodied voice answers, //“Yes?”// Josh asks, “Are you a sentry program?” Dr. Chapman replies, //“Yes,”// and Josh and Leta try to reason with him. He keeps insisting they are on the roof, and that their questions are for classified information. Josh asks where the stairs are off the roof, and Chapman replies, //“Three doors down on the right.”// On another bizarre whim, Josh asks, “What’s your favorite color?” as he figures Dr. Chapman is just an operating system. Chapman replies, //“Goldenrod,”// as the hunters hustle for the fore-mentioned door and William opens it – only to have something plow through and bowl him over! A massive spider-woman hybrid with four arms and four lags, with compound eyes and proboscis, screams and scuttles up to the ceiling as Josh shrieks in terror before he grabs his grandfather and drags him away. Luckily, William was startled but unhurt. Heather howls as she shifts into the //Garou// war-form and attacks! William draws and fires his pistol while Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Rage//; both hit the spider-monster. Leta and Veltis both follow up with //Hellfire//. The //Azlu// shrieks in pain and bites into Heather’s face, releasing a toxin as it also fires a glob of webbing. The glob expands and slams into the hunters; William and Anita and webbed to the floor while Veltis and Josh end up webbed to the ceiling! Only Leta managed to avoid the web. The //Azlu// screams, “Where is it?” as it continues to savage Heather’s face. Josh wiggles but realizes he’s stuck fast, so he yells, “Where is what?” To his surprise, the //Azlu// screams, “The device to close the Gash! Where is it?” ((The Azlu is referring to the gaping hole to the Abyss where the asylum once was.)) Heather ignores the conversation and rakes her claws down the monster’s thorax! William manages to aim his gun and he fires as Anita unlocks //Pyre-Flame Boneyard//. Leta blasts the //Azlu// again with Hellfire while Veltis strains and snaps free of the web! He plummets to the ground, and his weight rips free the webbing holding Josh fast. Josh falls, landing right on Veltis’s back! He hears something break, and Veltis screams in pain. The //Azlu// continues her attack on Heather but fires a second glob of webbing at the hunters. Josh, Leta, and Veltis manage to evade, but William and Anita are hit with another layer of webbing; threatening to suffocate them. Josh hurriedly frees his grandfather’s head so he can breathe, while Heather continues her attack. William rips his arms free with Josh’s help, but Anita remains immobilized as she unlocks //Pyre-Flame Boneyard// further, causing the //Azlu// severe disorientation. Veltis cradles his broken ribs and hisses profanities as he staggers to his feet. Leta sees her wounded familiar and snarls in rage; she howls, “Heather, duck!” as she fires off a potent blast of Hellfire! ((Leta took one level of aggravated damage to make all of her Hellfire damage aggravated. She scored six successes.)) Luckily, the werewolf hears her and dodges as the blast hits the //Azlu//, incinerating it! The monster screams in agony as it breaks apart into thousands of spiders; Heather howls, “Get them!” as best she can in the war-form. Josh starts stomping spiders and yells for Heather to close the door to the stairs, but the enraged //Uratha// doesn’t register him; she starts slashing madly at the spiders. Unfortunately, the fire spreads along the webbing, partially freeing Anita and William, but causing serious burns as well! ((William took three levels of lethal damage to his legs, while Anita took two levels of lethal damage all over from Leta’s fire.)) William bites back the pain and manages to free himself, but Anita remains prone and unlocks //Pyre-Flame Rage// once again to incinerate a group of spiders. Leta charges around the frenzied werewolf and slams the door shut, cutting off the escape route, but cursing as she realizes some spiders have already made it down the stairs. The door is a very tight seal, allowing the hunters to stomp the remaining spiders before they can escape. After destroying the spiders they can find, the hunters jump when they hear Dr. Chapman’s voice utter, //“Laboratory compromised. Initiating purge.”// They quickly open the door and are relieved to find the stairs. They hustle through and down the stairs, squishing any spider they see, and get to the fourth floor safe albeit not sound. Josh is the only one unwounded, while Heather has massive rends in her body that are slowly regenerating and Leta is coughing up blood. Veltis has at least one broken rib, while William and Anita are suffering from bad burns. William fishes out his phone and sends a mass text to the entire group, //“Dr. Ranjip’s office, now.”// ---- [[{}wod:hunter:recap:27_chapter_2|<= Chapter 2]] [[{}wod:hunter:recap:27_chapter_4|Chapter 4 =>]]