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Blood on the Court

STs involved: J, Glyff

Systems: Demon (Primary), Vampire(?), Mummy (Minor Tie-in), Any (Secondary)

Synopsis: With the current chaos in Gainesville and Jacksonville, as well as the need to cooperate with other Supernaturals becoming apparent, the decision has been made in Starke to reinstate the Infernal Court, to act as a governing body for Fallen and to represent Infernal interests in the area. Inherently political and with a top-heavy bureaucratic design dating back to the very first Court founded by Lucifer himself, Demons, despite being hierarchal by nature, are not uniformly eager to fall back in line, and those that do all have issues of their own... issues that, despite their obvious importance, will not be easily reconciled with the political realities of Starke. Sevrin and Daniel, acting on Michael's commands, are tasked with hunting down the various Fallen in the area, sorting out their various differences, discovering each of their secrets (and there are many), and then getting them all to agree to sit down to form the new Infernal Court of Starke... all while the matter of infernalism itself is brought to the foreground in the least flattering way, by other matters.

Protagonists

  • Sevrin Ashmoore
  • Daniel Dorn
  • Karen Garner/Arathiel: She's back. A Defiler who had gone dark following the Hidden Faces plotline, she's been found to still be active in the area, though far more withdrawn from the supernatural community and jaded in general. Her Torment score has gone up following the death of Alinduriel. While she acknowledges that Alinduriel was a monster and needed to be put down, she just can't help but mourn her former liege, haunted by memories from before the Fall of a different angel entirely. She agreed to hear the other Fallen out and is open to the idea of reinstating the Court, and will be the least difficult to agree to come to the table (indeed, she kind of already did). She will be supportive of working with the other Supernaturals, but will staunchly oppose any attempt to assert control over mortal society as a whole, but will grudgingly accept the need to form Pacts, so long as demons accept that they will then need to protect their Thralls without abusing them.

Supporting PCs

  • Michael Radcliffe: Because J is the lead ST on this plot, Michael will only have a very minor supporting role, and will only be able to offer advice to Daniel and Sevrin, who will be acting in his stead. Michael will only be present for the final Scene of this plotline, when the Infernal Court is officially founded, for which Glyff will be the ST.
  • Patricia Trish Kyleson: Always willilng to lend a hand. Helping because Michael asked, basically.
  • Joy Livingstone: After having grown closer to Michael, and having dabbled in infernalist lore before (without ever crossing the line and actually engaging in infernalism herself, it must be noted), she has become curious in demonkind, and has taken a personal interest in seeing the Court develop.

Antagonists:

  • Uriel: An Archangel that has been in contact with Karen. NOT expected to actually be a boss fight for the players, and will be damned-near impossible to defeat if she becomes one... players will be strongly cautioned NOT to fight her. After Michael (no, not that Michael, the actual Archangel Michael) attempted to fight Anubis and was forced to retreat, Uriel has taken it upon herself to gauge just how much of a threat the 'heathen Gods' are to the Heavenly Host. She will actively attempt to infiltrate the Court via a spy in order to spy on the Amenti.
  • Peter Villiers/Adranoth: A Fiend of the Reconciler faction. The true mastermind behind Gamma, who has been feeding him targets via encrypted email identified by his clairvoyance granted to him by the Lore of Patterns. Desperately wishes to rejoin the Heavenly Host, and believes that helping to hunt supernaturals, despite being supernatural himself, is the way to do that. Despite his clandestine approach, he is a powerful Fallen in his own right, having weaponized the Lore of Portals and the Lore of Light in conjunction with a heavily booby-trapped lair.
  • Gamma: A veteran member of the Society of Leopold. Considered an extremist even by their standards, though to his severe irritation, never mastered True Faith due to his seething hatred for the supernatural preventing his 'humanity' (for lack of a better term) to be high enough to qualify. Attracted to Starke by stories of unexplained recoveries in hospitals and rumors of vampire activity in nearby Gainesville and Jacksonville, Gamma took it upon himself to investigate. He is doing this without the permission or approval of the Society, with whom he has a history of insubordination. A possible non-violent route for dealing with him?
  • Possible overlapping antagonists with the Baali Plotline, will need to confer with Mortrarch.

Key NPCs:

  • Ada Hendricks: A mysterious Scourge who only recently appeared in Starke, having taken over the body of a young girl who had been declared braindead following massive brain trauma stemming from a car accident. Claims not to remember her own Celestial Name, due to the injury. Her recovery heralded as a medical miracle, she quickly gained Faith from the subsequent Reaping, and appears a little too eager to join the Court. Because of the age of her Host, she cannot leave the hospital, as her parents insist on running more tests to ensure she's really better. Both Sevrin and Karen will take her on as a patient in order to protect the Veil. Ada will grow quite close to Karen. Ada will feel oddly familiar to both Karen and Sevrin.
  • Reggie Burns/Ursiel: A Devourer in the body of the lead singer of a punk rock band popular in Jacksonville and Starke's underground club scene. Took over Reggie's body following a heroin overdose that should have killed him. Has been in contact with Karen for quite some time, quickly becoming her friend and ally after the defeat of Alinduriel. Lives in what is basically a hippie compound outside of Starke, where he and his drug-addled thralls live in 'harmony with nature.' Will require Karen's support to agree to join the Court. Unlike Karen, he supports directly influencing mortal society, having come to enjoy the love and adoration of his thralls and the fans of his band. Less trusting of other supernaturals, due to a few... unpleasant exchanges with local Fera and Gangrel.

Completed Scenes:

Scene 1: Paging Doctor Demon

Date: November 15th, 2018
ST running:: J
Participating NPCs: Karen Garner, Ada Hendricks
Participating PCs: Patricia "Trish" Kyleson, Sevrin Ashmoore
Summary:

  • Trish pretended to be a juggler to get into the pediatric ward. There she met Sevrin. Trish's Darkvision immediately identified Ada as Fallen. Sevrin invited her to join the Court, Ada eagerly agreed, but used the name 'Uriel' allowed. Uriel now aware that Ada has made contact. Sevrin used Arathiel's Celestial Name aloud too. Trish hacked Ada's medical records, Sevin forged them, made the attending physician look completely incompetent. Karen appears shortly afterward, annoyed that Sevrin interrupted her with a patient. Ada recognized her as Arathiel. Karen easily convinced to let them leave with her, even if she's not happy about it. Might be slightly more difficult to get her to officially join, maybe, maybe not. Sevrin calls Michael 'Tyrant' of the Starke Infernal Court. Players took the easy way out, letting Ada escape on her own after leaving the door open. Consequence: High Torment of Lore of Humanity 3 caused a big scene upstairs. Supernatural activity will be confirmed by Gamma. Will reflect in newspaper article after. One Fallen down, two to go.

Scene 2: Heaven Seethes

Date: November 21th, 2018
ST running:: J
Participating NPCs: Ada Hendricks, Uriel
Participating PCs: Patricia "Trish" Kyleson
Summary:

  • Following a night at the Crossroads, Trish agreed to take Ada to an observatory. Uriel used Lore of Patterns to freeze time, and appeared to Trish and Ada. Ada was completely terrified. Trish attempted to appeal to Uriel's better nature, convincing her to forgive supernaturals who repent. Uriel only cryptically replied, "Oh, we tried that." Uriel then revealed that Ada was none other than Alinduriel, the previously-defeated Earthbound, 'paroled' from hell by Uriel and placed in Ada's body. Uriel, by means of Alinduriel's True Name, has been secretly controlling her, and ordered her to seek out the 'other Betrayers' and join their 'Court' for as of yet unknown purpose. Despite making it obvious that Alinduriel is an unwilling spy for the Heavenly Host and even revealing Ada's identity, Trish embraced Alinduriel, believing that the Court would forgive her if they knew. Ada pleaded with Trish not to tell them. She agreed. Consequence: Alinduriel will continue to (unwillingly) serve as a spy for Uriel.

Scene 3: Even Blacker Friday

Date: November 30th, 2018
ST running:: J
Participating NPCs: Reggie Burns, Gamma
Participating PCs: Patricia "Trish" Kyleson, Joy Livingstone, Asad Nazari
Summary:

  • Joy, Asad, and Trish head to a concert at the 'Hole in the Wall' Bar. Attending a performance by the popular, local rock band known 'Freakhouse,' Trish, as per a successful Divination roll, believed that Gamma would make his next appearance here. Darkvision immediately identified Reggie Burns as 'Firstborn,' group correctly identified him as Ursiel of House Rabisu. They spot Gamma, make their move on him BEFORE the second act. Reggie feels Asad attempt to activate his Assamite poison via Supernatural Awareness, cuts the act short to pull the fire alarm. Gamma panics, reaches inside his coat. Asad uses the poison, six successes on an ambush, Gamma instantly collapses to Trish's anger. Joy pickpockets Reggie's phone and copies all data contained within. Fire alarm clears out building. Villiers calls, cuts ties with Gamma, claims to know what the 'vampires and demons' are planning and vows to stop them. Villers activates Lore of Portals, merges the bar with a warehouse being used as a safehouse by the Sabbat Inquisition, who were hunting the Baali. Only two Inquisitors were home at the time (lowered from four due to below-expected number of players; may use the other two later). Inqusitors mistakenly believe the PCs were the Baali coven and attack. Reggie activates Apocalyptic Form. Inquisitors dispatched easily. Asad attempts diablerie, fails due to Assamite clan weakness, takes 6 points of aggravated damage and falls into torpor, as well as loses a point of Humanity. Trish gains Gamma's gun, Joy gain's Gamma's True Faith-blessed knife. Both gain the location of Gamma's safehouse, as well as the fact that he appeared to be hunting a cult of infernalist vampires. Gamma is alive, but won't stay that way for long. Villers now knows that the PCs are coming and will plan accordingly. Reggie has agreed to meet with Michael out of gratitude, but would not commit to joining the Court, at least not without Karen.