~~META: title = Hunt 32: Chapter 1 ~~ ====== Hunt 32: Posthumous Family Matters - Chapter 1 ====== //Game was 6/6/20; [[players:paul]] Skyped in from Florida, which I concede is a definite argument for remote gaming.// ===== Wednesday November 3rd, 2010 ===== ==== Crucifixion ==== [[wod:hunter:pcs:josh|Josh]] looks around and sees the army is about to deploy. He spots a second figure in black iron armor, with threads from their fingers to [[wod:characters:konstantin|Konstantin]] like a puppeteer. He also realizes some of the soldiers in the army appear alive! All of the soldiers wear the same mask, an organic-appearing helmet of dull greens, browns, and golds that cover the top of their head down to their eyes. Despite the desaturation, these masks appear much brighter than anything else here in the Underworld. Josh then examines the army itself and realizes about 5% are enthusiastic followers of the man in the iron armor, 10% appear zombielike and enslaved to his will, but the remaining 85% appeared to be fighting the masks. To his horror he also sees two crosses going up and realizes he and [[wod:characters:caleb|Caleb]] are about to be crucified! Meanwhile [[wod:hunter:pcs:leta|Leta]] realizes she's about twenty yards from the army of the dead and eighty yards from the River City. She looks down to [[wod:characters:veltis]] and asks, "Should we hunker down, or should we run to the gate? Our options are limited." Veltis peers around the rubble and tells her, "They're about to crucify Josh!" Leta grinds her teeth but realizes she can't abandon Josh, so she squirms deeper behind the rubble in an attempt to gain cover. ==== Violence & Ghost-Raccoons ==== On the roof of the asylum [[wod:hunter:pcs:william|William]], [[wod:characters:abby|Abby]], [[wod:hunter:pcs:anita|Anita]], [[wod:characters:black]], [[wod:characters:hawk]], and the unknown man survey the scene below them. Most of the inhabitants are manning the defensive walls, and the [[wod:characters:jessica|Queen of Ice and Blood]] is lumbering across the open central square to join them. They spot the Latino [[wod:characters:icecaptain|captain of the guard]] who looks up and sees them; the expression on his face clearly telegraphs, //"Oh these assholes again."// [[wod:characters:jordan|Jordan Mendez]] also spots them up there and waves happily to Anita. He then looks confused as he realizes she's not supposed to be here! Anita looks out at the army of the dead gathered before them but also spots some movement behind a large pile of rubble. She idly wonders, "Was that a ghost-raccoon?" William sees Leta hiding behind the rubble, as does Silas Black. The hunters realize that Silas's eyes are now glowing blue while Sadie's eyes are glowing red as she examines the army below. The unknown man has eyes that are solid black as he also looks around to examine the scene; he then notices William's scrutiny and gives him a mocking salute. Sadie Hawk growls, "What the fuck are we doing here?" Anita, Abby, and William remain silent but the unknown man replies, "We're here to help, and I'm betting we're not going to be able to rescue Mr. Troy the Younger without violence, and violence is what you're good at." William and Anita nod in agreement, noting his faint Spanish accent and flawless enunciation. The unknown man continues, "Look around you. What do you see? What do you smell? More importantly what do you //not// see? What do you not smell or hear?" Sadie Hawk smiles with a manic look on her face and then she growls, "Who do we hurt first?" Anita gestures to the army outside and says, "Those people! We need to save Josh and this side has a vested interest in keeping him safe!" Sadie Hawk replies "How so? What's the context here?" Down below they notice the Latino captain of the guard get the Queen of Ice and Blood's attention and then he points up to them. Meanwhile Jordan remains in the center of the square, looking up at them and still trying to figure out how they've gotten back here. Anita turns to William and asks, "Do you want to tell her or should I?" William replies "Go ahead." Anita then turns to Sadie and explains the situation, how the Queen of Ice and Blood is Josh's mother, and his capture is away to throw her off her game to invade the city. She points to Konstantin and explains, "Josh got him decapitated." Sadie Hawk snaps, "Wait, what? He decapitated someone?" Anita clarifies, "No, he didn't do it. An ally of ours did to protect Josh." Sadie demands how long ago did Konstantin die; Anita replies, "About 24 hours?" Sadie Hawk frowns and asks, "Is this related to the mess at the Northampton airport?" Anita grins but says nothing. Sadie says, "Got it." ==== Extraction via Inspector Gadget ==== Silas Black turns to Sadie Hawk and says, "This is your area of expertise. What do we do?" Sadie looks out again, clearly assessing the situation. She murmurs to herself and moves her hands as she mentally catalogs the situation; William has a flash of //déjà vu// as he recalls a sergeant from the Korean war that did the same thing. Sadie turns back and asks William, "Your friend Leta and the rat?" William nods so she then turns to the unknown man and says, "[[wod:characters:benjamin|Benjamin]], find out if she wants an extraction." Benjamin nods and then whispers, "Miss Mackenzie, do you want an extraction?" Down by the rubble, Leta hears an unknown, accented voice ask, //"Miss Mackenzie, do you want an extraction?"// She cries out, "What the fuck?" The unknown voice explains, //"We are on the roof. Everyone, wave to Leta."// Leta looks up, past the walls to the top of the asylum, and then sees William, Abby, and Anita reluctantly wave. The voice asks again, //"Do you want an extraction?"// Leta retorts, "No, I just came down here and I'm comfortable." Clearly ignoring the sarcasm, the voice continues, //"Do you get airsick?"// Leta replies slowly, "No?" The same voice replies, //"Very well, I will send Mr. Black to your location."// Leta replies, "Wait, what?" Benjamin turns to the hunters and explains, "Miss Mackenzie wants an extraction and doesn't get airsick. However, when you get her make sure both ends are away from you!" Silas Black nods and takes a few steps back. He then runs and leaps off the top of the roof! Metallic wings rip from the back of his shirt and spread open as he flies over the city! The wings crackle with blue and white energy and Anita demands, "Is he Inspector Gadget?" As Silas Black soars over the River City, the hunters on the roof see the Queen of Ice and Blood look up, spot him, and then with deliberate slowness reach up and extend her middle finger to William. Meanwhile, Josh is being dragged towards the cross, but he reaches out and tries to grab the threads connecting the second figure in armor to Konstantin. His first attempt brushes up against the strands and Konstantin jerks back. Realizing he can use this to his advantage, Josh grabs the strands and pulls, trying to drag Konstantin towards the second figure! The second figure braces and does not move, but Konstantin falls flat on his face! ==== "Get Josh, go home, and make julienne fries." ==== Leta looks up to see Silas Black soaring through the air towards her, and she mutters, "What the fuck //is// he?" She watches as Black soars over the army of the dead, clearly angling to catch her. Realizing this is her best shot, she scrambles forward and leaps into the air, allowing Black to catch her! As they soar up into the sky, Silas Black growls to her, "If you throw up on me, I will drop you!" Leta replies, "Don't worry, I'm in awe of this new ability of yours!" Silas Black does not reply, but flies to the to the roof and lands with surprising gentleness. Leta looks up at him and sarcastically says, "Silas Black, you're my hero!" Black growls but Sadie Hawk laughs uproariously. Leta adds, "Just think, a week ago you wanted to kill me!" Silas Black snaps, "I still do!" Leta reaches up and pats him on the shoulder while William explains, "She's hard to get rid of." Anita stares at Silas Black and demands, "Wings? Were they issued when you became a businessman?" Black retorts, "That depends on the business school one attends." Leta tells Silas Black, "There are so many questions swirling. Can you make julienne fries with that sword? Slicing and dicing?" Silas Black looks annoyed, but replies, "Yes, I can make julienne fries." Leta says brightly, "Great! So, we go get Josh, get out of here, and you can make us fries!" Silas Black demands, "And how do we do that?" William asks, "Can you get Josh the same way you got Leta?" Silas Black shakes his head and says, "Not easily. I'd be alone against who knows what down there." William reluctantly concedes the point. Sadie Hawk turns to William and says, "You've been in the military. I can tell. Come here and tell me what you see." William complies and looks over though roof down to the army below. He looks around but doesn't see anything openly unusual. Sadie Hawk sidles up to him and whispers into his ear, "What do you see? More importantly what do you //not// see?" William flinches at her unexpected closeness but looks out carefully and realizes something is in fact wrong – the attackers don't seem to have a way to breach the walls and a dug-in defender can easily repel an attacking army many times their size. William then realizes what Sadie Hawkins is intimating; the attack is nothing more than a diversion for something else. As recognition flares in William's eyes, Sadie Hawk smiles and gives him a respectful nod. ==== Dead Sisters Aren't Much Fun ==== Sadie Hawk turns back to the others and announces, "There must be a bolthole. An escape route for the queen to flee if the city is in danger of falling. That is what this army is after. They're going to try to infiltrate city through this bolthole." Leta frowns but then realizes, "There are no sewers here. There's no infrastructure or sewage treatment." Sadie Hawk agrees and Leta muses, "They must have dug something. Every window is a potential door, or a wall, roof, or dimension," as she gestures to Silas Black. Sadie Hawk turns to William and Silas Black and says, "I need your eyes. Look around and find us that bolthole." Both men comply and step to the edge of the roof to look around the River City. Silas Black spots it first and points. William follows his finger and realizes Silas Black is correct. Across the path from the ruined asylum there is a broken-down shanty looks a little //too// broken down. It was clearly engineered to be it cover. Both men point out the bolthole and Leta says, "You always have to protect your butt!" Sadie Hawk mumbles, "I have to agree." Leta wonders about 'click-clack the rattle-bag,' her nickname for the ghosts in the dark iron armor. The hunters then have a bit of an argument about their next move, as Sadie Hawk favors infiltrating the bolthole to bypass the city's defenses and coming up to engage the army from behind for a quick rescue. None of the hunters are sanguine about this plan, but no one has any better ideas. As they debate, Benjamin steps to the edge of the roof and looks around. His eyes turn solid black and then he says, "The tunnel terminates right by Leta's rubble. We need to get there before the invaders do. I bet they're going to stop at the rubble while the rest of the army surges forward, providing cover for the infiltrating team." The hunters realize that they're out of time and they scramble down a ruined a stairway to the ground below. They had for the ruined shanty as Jordan intercepts them. He asks, "What's going on?" Anita replies, "Do you have anything sharp?" Jordan retorts, "I've got my sharp wit and a hammer!" Anita replies, "Good enough for me. Follow us." They flirt a bit, leaving Silas Black to gag. Leta slaps him in protest but winces as it's like hitting a brick wall. They then enter the ruined shack, find the bolthole, and slip into the tunnel below. Meanwhile, Josh and Caleb are nailed to their crosses, but despite the pain Josh gives a rousing speech to the ghosts struggling against their masks; he extorts them to fight back! Several soldiers, the still-living, struggle with their masks. One soldier recites the Lord's prayer over and over, with a thick Alabaman accent. The second figure in armor sidles up to Josh as the cross goes up; they lean in and whisper to Josh, "Nice try brother, nice try." Josh's blood runs cold as he realizes this is his dead sister [[wod:hunter:pcs:serena]], as she pats him right on the chest. Thinking quickly, Josh immediately shifts his speech to include her in this, begging Serena to see the better part of herself. ==== The Hunters Attack ==== The hunters race down the narrow tunnel, but luckily no one has any serious problems. Silas Black must squeeze carefully in a few places, but the tunnel was built with the blocky Queen of Ice and Blood in mind. They exit the tunnel through a concealed hatch about six inches from Leta's original hiding place. Leta curses but then they hear Josh's speech referencing his sister Serena! Anita mumbles, "Who?" Leta looks around carefully, checking to see if William is paying attention. As soon as William's head jerks up, Leta leans in and whispers to Anita, "This is the sister that got eaten by a werewolf!" The hunters gather in the rubble underneath an outcropping. They see the army of the dead march past them without noticing them as they all look straight ahead, never varying their direction. They then hear footsteps as several ghosts climb on top of the rubble to use it as a vantage point, just as Benjamin predicted. Sadie Hawk cocks her head and listens, she whispers, "Eight of them, not counting the boys." William hears Josh's cries and then scrambles up the outcropping to rescue his grandson!(([[wod:hunter:pcs:william|William]] made an exceptional success on a breaking point.)) Leta curses once again but follows, bypassing William to scramble up to the top of the outcropping. She runs forward and activates her infernal vestments. On her shoulder, Veltis leans forward and belches a tiny gout of balefire at Serena! Josh sees them and roars, "See! Hell comes to you!" He then continues to pontificate. Anita also scrambles past William, getting to the top of the outcropping. She unlocks //Passion Rage// at Serena, unleashing magenta fire and causing Serena to stagger backwards! William then charges forward and rushes to free Josh. He manages to free Josh's legs while still supporting his weight. Abby climbs up next, and charges towards the first ghost in the black iron armor as she also unlocks //Passion Rage//. She grapples with this ghost and manages to sink her claws into his corpus! Sadie Hawk scrambles up the outcropping next, with a gun in each hand. Then the hunters realize there are four guns! Sadie Hawk has an additional set of arms and fires all four guns simultaneously at the dead gathered at the base of the outcropping! Four ghosts explode from head shots and collapse. Silas Black scrambles up next and charges forward to engage the six other shades alongside the ghosts in the dark iron armor. [[wod:characters:petite]] and [[wod:characters:witch]] join him, followed by Jordan. Benjamin gets to the top of the outcropping and then teleports to Josh's side to free his left hand! Leta slashes at Serena, inflicting a grievous wound! Veltis realizes that Serena is being dealt with, so he leaps, shifts size midair, and lands next to the cross to finish freeing Josh. Josh stumbles forward, leading on all three men for support. ==== A Horrible Truth ==== The unknown ghost in the dark iron armor then attacks Abby, causing tiny metallic shards to erupt from her body, spraying blood and plasm everywhere! Josh hears his girlfriend's cry but realizes there's nothing he can do currently to help. He continues his speech, exhorting the ghosts to free themselves from the masks. Anita attempts to unlock //Passion Rage// at the unknown ghost but fails. Serena retaliates against Leta, and green vines erupt from the ground to entrap her, causing multiple wounds as they slash into her flesh! William ignores all of this and focuses on providing first aid to Josh. Although he lacks any specific tools, William is able to at least stop the worst of Josh's bleeding. Abby staggers to her feet and attacks the unknown ghost but fails to cause any damage. Sadie Hawk shifts her priorities and dives for Caleb's cross. She lashes out and destroys the cross with one punch! She then pivots and lays all four arms on Josh, healing some of his wounds.((2 Lethal damage vanishes.)) Silas Black continues attacking the other ghosts alongside Jordan, The Witch, and Petite, while Benjamin frees Caleb. Leta slashes at Serena again, finally causing enough damage to cause her to discorporate! Serena staggers back, holes ripped through her corpus, and then dissolves! Her form swirls like water going down the drain, into the dusty earth of the Underworld. The vines surrounding Leta disintegrate but extrude a rich smell that reminds Leta of the Hedge. Veltis fires a gout of balefire at the armored ghost but fails to do any damage. Josh slumps forward, still mostly out of it, but warns everyone else in a slurred voice, "The people in the masks are being controlled!" Before the hunters can absorb this knowledge, the armored ghost retaliates, hitting Veltis this time. Veltis shrieks in pain as more metallic shards rip free from his flesh! Anita unlocks //Passion Rage// for a third time and flames shoot out to engulf the ghost. William realizes that gunfire seems to work and pulls out his weapon. He fires at the ghost, causing a grievous injury. While Jordan, The Witch, and Petite focus on the remaining dead at the base of the outcropping, Silas Black wades into the fight and drives his fist into the armored ghost's face! The ghost collapses, and the helmet is knocked free. Silas Black drops down and raises his fist to punch again but then stops. Silas looks confused, and with horror William recognizes the face of his son [[wod:characters:peter_troy|Peter]]! Sadie Hawk fires four times again, but this time into the mask ghosts! She causes little damage, as she was aiming at ripping off the helmets with the bullets. She is successful, and four of the ghosts stagger free of the organic-looking masks. All four of them cry out with Alabaman accents, and one of them yells, "Sarge! Where are we?" Benjamin teleports to the fallen ghost and kicks the helmet away. ==== Leta Realizes A Second Horrible Truth ==== Leta charges forward to attack the fallen ghost but Silas Black whips around and catches her fist before she can connect. Leta kicks at the fallen ghost ineffectually while Veltis hesitates, but both do recognize the ghost's face. Peter Troy looks confused and calls out, "Serena! Where is Serena? She was just here! Wait, where am I?" Leta explodes and screams at him, "You just nailed your son to a fucking cross! You tried to invade your wife's city! What the fuck do you think you were doing?" Peter looks over and sees not only his son Josh, but his father William. He then starts to scream as his actions register. All around them the ghosts suddenly start pulling the masks free of their heads now that the outside control is gone. Silas Black releases Leta at her insistence, while Abby limps over. She announces, "He was a Reaper! Ghosts who put on death masks become Reapers and they don't remember what they were doing while they were masked." As the masks fall free and the living start crying out, Leta makes the connection. She realizes this is the unit of [[wod:characters:groups:alguard|Alabama National Guard]] that was guarding Shelburne Falls, the unit that they heard but never saw. The soldiers and their support staff stagger about desperately trying to get their bearings, but most have descended into insanity. Anita eyes them warily but then recognizes several other figures in the army, ghosts from the hallway! She spots [[wod:characters:madam|the Madame]] and a few other familiar faces and tells the others. Leta hisses, "They're from the hallway that Sethic cleared out?" Anita nods and Leta continues, "This was Sethic's doing and we need to find cover. We're exposed out here and we just broke a True Fae's toys." Anita swears in rapid-fire Spanish but growls, "Should we try to get back into the River City?" The hunters look up to the walls and they see the Queen of Ice and Blood finally stagger to the top of the defensive wall. She calls out slowly, "What is happening?" Leta chirps, "The war's over, can we come in?" She feels the Queen's icy stare but then the Queen gestures and the gates start to grind open. The hunters limp down from the outcropping, and Anita starts rounding up the hallway ghosts. Sadie Hawk carries Peter Troy, while Silas Black helps Abby. They then stagger towards the opening gate, all the while trying to rally and gather the unwilling soldiers, living and dead. ---- [[{}wod:hunter:recap:32_chapter_0|<= Prologue]] [[{}wod:hunter:recap:32_chapter_2|Chapter 2 =>]] {{tag>chronicles_of_darkness hunter recap}}