Season Ten
https://wikiawoo.queer.me.uk/index.php?title=Season_Ten&action=edit
Summary of Events. Also Todo List
2023-06-05
TL;DR Steven Thompson is the new Garou Grandee who has replaced Sir Robert Laffrey on account of the latter suffering a slight case of death, probably at the hands of John Northbridge current Sheriff of London. Also Pope Hope III has posters up recruiting around town.
So at The Pack House Carlie and Sunny are planning on running Stewie up the M6 to get him back to his pack. Ariane is surfacing from her time with Umbral Travelling Sickness, has breakfast and chats with Lydia and Holly to get caught up on everything: although when asked to guess who has murdered Sir Robert she guesses at Mother or The Angel Islington before getting to Northbridge. Is told it happened a couple of weeks back and that Steven Thompson is now in charge, hears about Stewie who is on our sofa and claims it is still 1997 and we're having him on, he also produces a can of stella from inside his jacket while we answer questions about Labour, Blair, Brown, Johnson, Trump, and Oasis.
Ariane proceeds to go upstairs and scream into a pillow about everything then carefully re-reads her magical contract to try and work out if she has any powers of her own, finding that she does not it all derives from the Sheriff, she gets access to Thompsons phone number and gives him a call to explain where she's been and arranges an appointment for 10, he indicates he knows my mother as well.
At the Tower of London: Lydia, Jules, Holly, and Ariane arrive, greet Three dressed as human, its now June, its warm. We meet Steven Thompson dressed in an Italian suit sat in Robert's chair in his study. Also present are River Fleet and the mythic Sam Aston teleports in as well with popcorn because she's watching a movie. Thompson asks for a summary of the Umbra mission and we tell him that Morton is dead and we show him the picture as proof. He reveals he spent a week in Rising Stones when he was younger, we also let him know we got Sun Wang-Li / Liz to Spire.
We talk of the death, he tells us he thinks a definite murder. No police involvement, died attacked by known entities at behest of the sheriff. A cover up is going on, the body is on ice and will go to the Themes. He has no surviving family. They have one of the agents under wraps at Paddington Green, a Toreador called Samantha Wallingford who was caught in the act and refuses to speak. Her Coterie operates out of a wine bar called "The Night" in the City of London. We get a copy of The Sheriffs report and its thin, Thompson says that he, Fleet, and Aston believe it to be a very thin cover up and have evidence of the Sheriffs involvement. The short version is a cotorie of Vampires went to a meeting in the British Museum with him (possibly about Laffrey buying the building that The Night occupies) then to drinks in a pub nearby, after drinks they jumped him, he killed 3, Samantha Wallingford is under arrest, the last attacker is unknown. It should be noted that John Northbridge is Samantha's childe. Just before the attack someone unknown arranged for a quarter million pounds to be transferred to the Cotorie, it was routed from or at least via the People's Republic of China and we know that Laffrey and The Lady of Kowloon have links to PRC.
Westbury feels this has been investigated and closed, that Sir Robert struck first and the Vampires were defending themselves, they need a majority of the Grandees to make Ariane Sheriff and give her the powers thereof. The Pack talks it over with the Grandees there and no one feels like the Vampires here had a good reason to murder Sir Robert over this, it feels pointless considering the stakes and not enough money. Professor Rodriguez and The Angel Islington wouldn't like us just murdering people to solve this. Thompson and Old Crone Fleet keep pushing for his and want us to push the Lady of Kowloon (via Holly) and Rodriguez (via Sunny) to flip enough people to think this is a cover up. Crone Fleet tells Holly she wants us to get to the bottom of things rather than just supporting a Garou/Vampire fight, and says the Fae will help any way they can.
Meanwhile: Up the M6 there is a lot of football talk and catch up on the drive, Stewie reveals that his ability to produce a can of Stella at will is a gift that he learnt from a spirit that manifests in the basement of Jillies Rock Club in Manchester, she teaches it to Garou because she loves getting them intoxicated for reasons. They tell him how phones and the modern internet work and is bemused by the prevalence of satnav. They drop him off at the train station where he's met by Angie and Brian (who look like 40 year old rockers), they come running being keen as they thought he'd been murdered by vampires years ago and Carlie drops him in it that he got stuck in the deep umbra instead, and Sunny clarifies that he got stuck on the beach of Tranquillity. They invite the Manchester pack to come visit us in London but they tell us they rarely leave, in Manchester there's no arrangement like the Grandees giving peace, instead the Garou own the day and the Vampires own the night and dawn and dusk they try and murder each other.
We're told we're owed favours from them if we ever need them.
Back in London Ariane makes a howl! Its very good (ooc: 6 successes, +1 honour, +1 wisdom everyone. Also everyone gets +7 XP to spend on things and we are advised there is a [[Season Ten]], [[Season Eleven]], and [[Season Twelve]] due before the game either wraps or goes on very long haitus)
2023-06-19
(Jules and Lydia are busy, Sunny and Carlie investigate Paddington Green, get contact with Sargent Deerborn (probably of 21st Tactical Reconnaissance Regiment) and learn about Sergeant Limehouse as a possible contact in The Met. Ariane contacts Derek Watford, finds out about Sargent Limehouse and some leverage, is asked if we'll put up Athens Smith (Lydia's GNC sibling) and queries the legality, she also finds out The Sheriff of London answers to The Spirit of London. Carlie gets Ariane to start thinking about sourcing fake ID. Holly goes to speak to Sanjeev and gets the gossip catch up: Some Vampire/Garou violence is already begun, there is a clock before all out war occurs, soldiers of The Eternal Empire have been seen in the Penumbra and that Pope Hope III personally has been making TV advert appearences)
Jules goes to do ART! with some recreational substances, Lydia heads to work and they are both busy the whole session. (ooc: Players were busy)
Sunny and Carlie return from Manchester quite late and tired, in the morning the Pack has a debate about the virtues of performing an open vs. a quiet investigation of the murder and we decide that keeping it relatively low key at least is probably the best move. Carlie makes a plan to sniff out any Garou in The Met because what they know and when they found out and what they covered up will tell us a lot about who may be behind it. There are discussions around the option questions of: What was the meeting in the BM? Why go from the BM to a bar for more conversation?
There is then a long aside about The Demimonde as terminology and then another about Loup-Garou.
We do some digging and find that in times of war the Sheriff of London must carry out the orders of the majority vote of the Grandees of London by magical geas.
Sunny and Carlie then head to Paddington Green because they suspect if there are Garou on the police, or if there are people who know who/where the garou on the police are they will probably be there. They go in Lupus to give least suspicion. Carlie heads in and attempts to bed something off the armed guard at the desk who is a little suspicious and tries to shoe her out, she makes to urinate which gets him running then she bolts into the building, she clocks the scent of weird ozone-magic and calls Sunny who follows her in.
Sunny is chased through an open plan office and then to a large secure door with an armed guard, the scent of the Wyrm comes from behind the door, the guard points his gun at her and she lies down like playing a game, he orders her to turn Homid if she's garou and she acts like she can't understand, since she's pinned between multiple cops she slips sideways into the Penumbra however here its a single cube room with 2 large grumpy spirits who keep repeating "You're not supposed to be here!" at her, she tries to explain she's looking for police wolves but they don't seem to help and they tell her to go back to the physical world as she can't leave from here, they threaten to make her leave but she rolls over and they just advance and wait around her.
Carlie meanwhile finds an open door where the air feels like its thick, some kind of magical barrier, she shoves her way through and a bunch of alarms go off. An armoued humvee arrives outside along with a cop car and more people come in, Carlie sneaks her way out and doesn't smell any werewolves amongst them. Outside she barks and runs around trying to draw them away from Sunny. Eventually a cop comes out to sit and smoke, smells human, she leaves and returns human and asks him if he knows Derek Watford, he asks if her colleague is inside, but admits to knowing Watford and doing some interesting jobs for him. Introduces himself as Sergeant Deerborn probably of 21st Tactical Reconnaissance Regiment. Carlie asks him who's doing the real job of Watford i.e. actually making day to day decisions about what to cover up or investigate and how, the guy is hesitant to talk about it but reveals that John Northbridge has vanished and isn't in touch with them, Carlie clarifies she's looking for who was cleaning up and hosing down the blood from the murder of Sir Robert Laffrey and gets a contact for a desk sargent called Sergeant Limehouse who used to work with Watford and is still there. She's told that her canine pest problem can be resolved now but next time they'll shoot first when we come in.
Carlie heads in, finds a portal there where Sunny headed through, warns Deerborn about Pope Hope III and he says he'll check it out and warn "The Colonel". Sunny then pops back into the physical and they're both broadly told to fuck off.
Meanwhile Ariane emails Watford to try and ask his advice and catch him up on the news, he calls her back and she explains all about the murder. Watford says if he wasn't retired he maaaaaaaay ask a former desk sgt he dealt with, she is given the contacts of Sergeant Limehouse and told to remind him of the time he got stuck under a ford focus as a piece of leverage/proof she's coming from Watford. She asks about the camera system and told there was no paperwork, he'd get a phone call then basically shut things down by remotely faulting the cameras involved, says that Limehouse may well do it if a Chief Superintendent or similar told him too, he would be able to do it technically. He reveals personally he's enjoying his retirement in the countryside, its beautiful, boring, and rural. There is talk of the Sheriffs contract and while the Sheriff is directed by the Grandee's his actual boss is the Spirit of London as he is a servant of the Royal Family and Crown of the UK. He finishes the call by asking Ariane if they would like to host Athens Smith (Lydia's GNC sibling) who may need to leave home, she clarifies that this person is legally a child and how that may complicate matters, she then asks if he's near/observing Lydia's family and he hangs up abruptly.
Carlie calls Ariane and asks her "Hey how do we set up false ID?" and then clarifies she's okay if its obviously seen to be false, tells her they broke into Paddington Green and got some wyrm scent that was probably Samantha Wallingford.
Holly meanwhile has been going to talk to the other packs to get gossip on the situation, starting with Sanjeev, who reveals that the general news is that Samantha Wallingford is basically in protective custody because the other Packs would have murdered her by now if she was free, says there are rumours a few Vampires have already been killed in some escalating turf wars, Diamond Annie is currently no where to be scene and hasn't made a move yet, The Guild is in disarray because both the Mythics and Garou felt Sir Robert was their leader and friend and are all angry and taking it hard. Has heard that in the Umbra various warrior spirits who look African influenced in gear (of various tech levels including and up to super science) and features have been seen popping into the local Penumbra, looking around, then vanishing away back into their own realm, they can't cross the Gauntlet into the physical yet but they are maybe probing for weak spots. She also learns that Pope Hope III had a TV spot during Coronation Street essentially making a pitch that sounded like it was between a religious revival and a black rights matter speech, which is a strange audience to pick, Holly gives Sanjeev an update on the scale of the Pope and The Eternal Religion and how bad this could be for everyone involved. She is told there is essentially a clock on the investigation because sooner or later Millwall Football Club Supporters will get the other packs together to start a war with the Vampires over this.
Holly returns, briefs the pack about the conversation in general including the TV spots, posters, etc. There is talk of can we counter it somehow and she suggests calling in our marker with the True Londoners to manipulate the media against them. There is talk of spirits and The Spirit of London and The Mother of All Parliaments are separate entities, with The Spirit of London being based out of The Tower of London and sort of representing the whole city where as The Mother of All Parliaments is more a giant Weaver spider who is sort of the the government structure/bureaucracy of the city.
2023-06-26
It's a Tuesday evening at the Pack House, finally Jules opens her door and floats downstairs, the rest of the pack carefully fill her in on what's been going on and she is very nice and chill about everything. There's a bit of a discussion about if Vampires drink werewolf blood what happens (does the Gaia-ness overwhelm them or do they absorb our powers?). Lydia arrives home very unhappy about work, kicks the wall on her way in then tells everyone shes fine, she also says she wants to flood London to kill all the humans and that she hasn't hit anyone yet, tells us an antivaxxer tried to break into her covid ward and kidnap a patient, she threatened to drop him down a lift shaft but was good about not doing it. Ariane tells her about the call from Derek Watford about Athens Smith maybe needing a place to crash and Lydia alternates between telling us how much she doesn't give a fuck and telling us all the procedural issues and safeguarding stuff that would be deployed to track them down. Ariane mostly talks the pack into making the house a little safer for a possibly visiting human (locking the basement, hiding booze and drugs, moving the trophy and weapons wall), Carlie reminds Lydia about the pattern where she sets absolute red lines and refuses to shift, Lydia then complains that she swapped eternal bliss and paradise for being fuzzy and better at punching people. Holly goes for a walk, Lydia sulks, Ariane orders everyone take out.
On Wednesday Ariane calls Desk Sargent Limehouse and arranges a drink as friends of Watford, its going to be at The Lamp Over The Themes with a pint of Adams cider at 18:30, he knows its about the British Museum murder and tells Ariane to bring £150 for some debt Watford owes him about a car jack.
Jules explains about, then gives Ariane one of the anti-scrying rings to help the investigation, she tells us the other is with Liz and the one almost ready will go to Carlie. Ariane attempts to make funny about how no one will have made new laws in the time we've been in the Umbra and gets an "Oh sweetie" from Jules, the burn about her ability to be funny is so harsh even Carlie applauds. Jules then starts to safe the house a little.
Carlie, Lydia, Sunny, and Ariane head to The Museum Tavern which is where Sir Robert Laffrey went for drinks after the meeting, and then was attacked outside. It's a lovely sunny day and we grab a quick drink at one of the outside tables. Carlie scans the wifi with a burner phone, Ariane looks partially subtly at crime scene photos to try and piece together what happened and when. As she's doing so Carlie notices someone in a shabby suit watching her, she looks around him and with Sunny sniffing him as a distraction picks his pocket and finds out he's a journalist called Jonathan Price who works primarily for The Sun, and partially for the BBC. She listens to his dictaphone a little and he's talking about a scandal with an actress, and then talks about how he was sure he saw someone getting offed, has been investigating, there's no CCTV, the witness statements are vague, he thinks it was a gang attack but his own memories are vague and blurry, his editors then told him to drop it and apparently the whole situation has been hit with a D-Notice. She texts Ariane that she's being watched, at which point Ariane tries to draw him away, Carlie sends a small kid to give his wallet back (in exchange for a cool book on Egyptian mummified cats) and then Carlie goes to buy the book.
Price then catches up with Ariane, shows his BBC badge, says he knows the envelope she's carrying is from the Met, she pulls a no-comment cagey interaction, he tells her that a rich white guy was murdered by a gang and it should be 10 o'clock news headlines. He saw Sir Robert arguing with a woman in a black suit in the corner of the pub. Ariane trades him a burner number (one of Carlies) for the information that it concerned Hong Kong and he has more information if someone is willing to contact him as an "unnamed source". Carlie tracks down a back alley to the small square where the death happened, notices several flats and other things above Russel Street that should have had a great view, and also 3 privately operated CCTV cameras (one belonging to The Museum Tavern).
Sunny engages her nose, finds the scent of old blood and a faint lingering hint of The Wyrm.
Lydia has tea then waves her work ID and talks to the manager about his covid protections, talks about the QR codes on the tables and implies some people are putting up fakes, manages to get given one and tells him to print a fresh one (she is presumably going to try and use this and her NHS access to work out who checked into what tables on the night). She heads to the kitchen and chats to a kitchen worker who says the cops talked to people a week or so back, and tells her that someone called Jane was locking up and fucked it up somehow (but they didn't get robbed). Jane then claimed the bar was haunted and instantly quit. Lydia claims she investigates unusual happenings and will take her seriously so gets the contact information for Jane. She chats with James (current boss) and hears that he thinks there are sometimes ghosts seen in the upstairs store room late at night.
There's talk between the investigation team about recruiting Price as a resource with Carlie broadly coming down on the side of it would be better for him to not get involved and he's from The Sun and Ariane saying he could be a very useful resource if he was given enough tips to keep him eager. We head back to the Pack House.
Holly meanwhile has been going through the notes recovered from Rising Stones and remembering how much she hates written work since she left education. Think's she found details of several additional spheres and connections from the marginalia however. Also there's some notes from Harold Styles about an encounter with The Eternal Church around 2010 which is far after he was officially dead, they talked to him about David Cameron so they were definitely in contact with Earth around this time. She theorises that he chose to forget what happened in Spire and questions if he even came out the other side.
The Pack reassembles at the house and goes through the dictaphone in detail: Mostly its hints about celebs, then musing about how he doesn't want to work for the Sun but wants to become a respectable journo at the BBC, he isn't sure what he saw, a toff getting mobbed by "youths???" with some question, the woman he argued with in the bar directed it (he alludes to knowing what the argument is about but won't say), but his memories are badly messed up, he saw something, his head feels like its screaming, he saw the attack, then he's missing time and having a drink in another bar somewhere else. The Museum Tavern say they handed their CCTV footage over to The Met, he's talked to other pub people and they all had a weird story about ending up somewhere else and didn't really want to talk about it. Ariane recalls she's seen John Northbridge doing mind control so theorises this is somehow related.