The Brother Spirit
11/25/2008
Back at the Rayne house: Doc is still on the couch. The group cleans weapons until they are tired and wander off to bed. Steven had been drinking the entire time. Gordon doesn’t feel tired until around 4am. This time, he recognizes it, and makes it to his room before he passes out. Gordon awakens at 7am with a weird taste in his mouth. He realizes it’s the blood from the previous day that he tastes, and can sense the blood of the person next door and can almost feel the heartbeat…he thinks it’s Michael.
Julie calls Steven “Hey! You want to meet for breakfast?”
“Sure…give me some time, I’ll be where we usually eat.” He gets up, actually feeling fairly good after the night of drinking. He realizes his truck is gone and he needs something else to drive; he sees one of Gordon’s nice expensive cars…and drives off in it! Gordon recognizes the engine noise and runs to the window, swearing. The shock pulls him out of the heightened sense, and he feels normal.
At breakfast, Julie mentions some issues at the local college, but Steven acts innocent. They finish breakfast and he heads back to the house.
Gordon goes downstairs and makes coffee, as Doc walk in “sure, I’ll have some of that. While we are talking…what are we going to do about you?”
“Yeah, um, do you know any people? What do you want me to do?”
“Well, two things. One, I don’t want to have to deal with the blood and victims?”
“I can order some blood if it didn’t get destroyed at the clinic, but I can’t do that often, maybe a pint or two a week.”
“Well, that would be something…a start.”
“You will also want a special fridge you know, in case you entertain.”
“Ah, yeah, I’ll put it in the gun room maybe.”
Michael walk in and comments that Gordon is drinking coffee, Gordon is kind of uncertain himself as they talk about the lack of sun and food. He does mention that consuming blood is needed to heal. Neither have a lot of vampire knowledge though, so it doesn’t go far.
After breakfast, the group decides to pick up some new vehicles. The group goes out to a car dealership that the Rayne’s new about, and pick up all new vehicles. The salesman is quite happy. After taking the vehicles back to the Rayne house, the group piles into a single vehicle and head off towards Maxwell Clarke’s.
Since he is at a penthouse, we stop at the lobby trying to get in.
“Hi, my name is Brian, welcome." says the man at the desk. We ask about Maxwell, he responds "He’s busy right now in a meeting; maybe I could have one of his associates come down if she is available. Just a second, I will call.” After talking to her a bit, he hangs up the phone, pulls out a key and opens a special elevator. “If you will follow me please,” as he uses his key to allow a button to be pressed to just under the penthouse.
Steven can sense some sort of resistance, as if the magic is really far away as he tries to put his temporal resistance ability. Gordon notices him trying to do something, but not certain what he was trying.
At the top, he points to a door off to the side as everyone leaves the elevator. They push Michael towards to door, as a woman opens it. She is in her 30’s, pretty, dark hair.
The first thing she does is look at Michael, and he can sense the beast rear up whithin him.
It’s like predators recognizing predators as they meat and almost instantly attack each other. It takes some willpower from each of them to keep from instantly attacking.
Michael can sense that she is a vampire.
“Interesting…Brian the doorman was right…come in…”she says between clenched teeth. The room is completely dark as she offers drinks. Nobody accepts.
“Brian said you wanted to see Maxwell, I can help if you tell me what it is about…”
“Someone is trying to kill him…
She begins laughing, and then stops and says “Well who is it? He has a long list of enemies..”
“Vampires?”
“Some,” she says, “I’m not surprised. Do you have any more information? Oh, but where are my manners, I am Persephone Moore.”
They defer to Michael, who mentions the attacks, the hit list, and the eastern European accent.
She looks to Gordon “and what clan are you?”
“I claim no clan, and no clan claims me, I am Rayne.”
“And where is your pack?”
“We had started a new pack, there were few of us and were caught off guard.”
“I see. Oh wait, I have heard of you, the detectives from Englewood. You have done good work. Captain Carter,…current? With whom do you work?”
“US Army”
“More specifically”
“Special assignment”
“More specifically”
“I can’t tell you…” as she concentrates at him, but he just smiles and doesn’t answer.
She looks back to Michael and Gordon “Why bring these two?” ponting to Carter and Michael.
“They have proven useful" says Gordon
"More than family?" she asks.
"Yes, they are highly qualified to help us,” says Gordon
She absorbs that, and continues.
"So…what do you know of kindred politics? Have you ran into any in the past couple of years that you have been operating? Probably not because we were ordered to stay clear of your family. I don’t know why, maybe Maxwel knew someone from your family."
“The Hungarian dude said ‘if you don’t know your own history, I won’t tell you’” says Steven.
“OH! You must be a mage then! Of course, the Scottish family, Rayne. One of the awakened I think they are called. Rayne was a very powerful family in Scotland 3-400 years ago. Vampires went to consult with them, even some werewolves. They were mostly a good family, some ups and downs, but nothing evil. I had heard that the family was attacked several times and then wiped out by a clan of eastern vampires that were upset over a deal going bad or something” She says. “So, have you overcome the family curse?”
“What is that then?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, you” she says pointing to Gordon “can’t become a mage any more. Do you have any other family?”
Michael says “Doc?”
They ponder this for a few minutes, then she goes starts on a new topic.
“To step back, what might or who would put both of us on the same list?”
“Well, Maxwell is the prince of the vampires of the town of Chicago, and he ordered us to stay away from your family, Maybe that is it? As long as everyone is happy with him, his word is law. But here is the thing, I would not mind working with you a bit on this. I would like to be your liaison to the vampires of Chicago. I have no contact with the wolves in the town, so I don’t know about them. But as for your group, I would like to think we could mutually help each other.”
“What is your relationship with Maxwell?”
She pauses, thinking, then says “well, you have been honest with me. He is my sire.”
“What?” says Carter?
“He bit her” says Steven
“Why is he with you again?” she says
“I’m good with a gun!” he sounds off.
“So, are you a secretary, or and advisor is what I am asking.” asks Steven.
“Alright, here’s the deal. As far as the power structure is involved, I am the lowest of the low. He put a ban on making, and then made me. So it weakened his position. So I want to help strengthen his position and also help me. There is a very big personality war happening at the upper levels. And Max is at about 60% popularity. Maxwell still likes me as a person, so Brian probably thought I am his mistress that is why he called me when you asked for Maxwell. And I am taking a good risk just dealing with you. And you Gordon, you have to hide what you are while you are in town. As soon as they find you, then you are going to have to choose to align with a clan and a covenant.”
Suddenly Carter says “Why should we value him over anyone else?”
She thinks, and then answers “well Solomon Birch is fanatical about some things. If he were to come to power, it would be like the gang wars of the 20’s and 30’s. You would be caught in the middle.”
She hands her cards out, with her numbers on it saying “If we have a deal, here is my card so you can contact me. I don’t have any ghouls or anyone in my employ. If you do not hear from me, then it is not from me. Also, I would act like you do not know the name if you hear it. I would avoid the second city and the sewers as well. I know about you house, any other person you want protected?”
“Julie and Doc and Benjamin, but they are both Rayne. Our lawyer, car dealer, etc.”
“Ok, if that is all then. Any other information?,” asks Persephone Moore.
They mention the daughter that was saved, the law firm, and the fact that the mother may be involved in occult activity.
She then escorts them down to the lobby, and has a brief talk with Brian, he seems dazed as she speaks.
Steven needs to find a ‘hallows’ to assist him in getting manna back for spells. Michael helps him, and is able to help him realize the river is actually one. The problem is it is not a very good one. It is also protected and claimed. So, if he taps into it, someone will know. Steven decides to check out the wards as Michael suggests that if mages are “uncommon” that maybe he should tap it to see who shows up.
Steven tries to draw from the river. Carter and Gordon suddenly feel static electricity build up from Steven. As Steven holds his hands out, he’s looking a little weird moving around. Michael can feel Gaea giving Steve some energy. Steven gets a point of energy back, but then the wards go off. Steven sees a magical imp appear, and as it’s about to leave, Steven reaches out and grabs it. He senses that he could possibly absorb more energy from it, but he decides to do that and try to ground out the magic imp.
Michael can sense something is there, but doesn’t see it. The others see nothing. Steven tries to shove the imp back into magical components into the lay line. It breaks down into its material components. He tries to pull more energy out of the river, but realizes he needs a new spot.
Steven tries again, standing by the river, moving around and grabbing, but not getting anything. It’s like he’s a crazy person reaching out in the air. He sees a ward go off and tries to grab it. He fails but does get 2 points of manna back. He calmly walks back to the car and says “let’s go.”
Back at the mansion, the vehicles are all there. The lawyer, Benson Hurst, is a very private and confidential lawyer. He’s not a high priced lawyer but very good at what he does, has all the paperwork done for the car dealership.
Gordon’s phone rings. “Are you the detective? I think I have a problem.”
“I can help with many problems. What can I refer to you as in our conversation.”
“Well, I don’t know if you can help me, but I think I’ve seen my brother. My name is Cory Brammer, and my brother Randal died a couple weeks ago in a car accident, but I think I’ve seen him since.”
“Where would you have seen him…”
“Well, he came to the house. He was outside the front of the house. By the time I got there, there was fresh dirt all over, but he wasn’t there. Do I sound crazy?”
“No, not at all. I am just taking some notes. Did you say a car accident?”
“Yes, he was just buried this past week at the Oakwood Cemetery.”
“This may sound odd, how are you certain he died in a car accident?”
“The doctors? I mean, I got a call at the hospital, he was all torn up just like on the TV shows, all I heard was the sound of beeping and then it went solid, and they said he was dead. Then, later, as I started going through his stuff, I became worried. About 15 years ago he took a trip to Haiti. And he just became enamored with some voodoo guy he met there. He’s been sending the guy money and helping the guy out really believing in him. It took him six years to save up for a 2 week vacation down there. But since he has been there this past 15 years he has made it down there 23 times. Plus, he has $38k in savings and some more in IRA’s. I don’t know where the money came from and was curious about this as well. I heard from a friend to talk with you about this. I don’t mind that his money is going to his kids, but I want to know where it came from. Can you meet me at his place? I’m supposed to go look at his stuff, but I’m kind of leery going in there now. My friend says you are used to this, and I don’t want to go in and find shrunken heads or something when I go in there.”
The group goes to the house with Cory taking only the shotguns with rocksalt. As they get there and walk up to the house, Michael looks in the window. He immediately sees the brother staring at him. He turns and tells the group it’s like Brad trying not to scare Cory, as the ghost reaches through the window and grabs at Michael. It feels icy cold as it touches him.
Steven looks at the house and sees it’s covered in necromantic energy. He informs the group of what he saw. Cory thinks he was joking, sees he is serious, and decides to wait at the car.
We enter the house. A chill passes through Carter as he is unable to resist as something for a second takes position of his body, takes control of it, and shoots into Steven’s back with the shotgun loaded with rocksalt.
“Ahhh!” as Steven turns around yelling at Carter.
Michael caught motion from something fly into carter, carter shoots, and then it leaves
Michael changes into Dalu form. In this form, he sees a spirit about to attack from the hallway. Without thinking, he charges at the spirit and swings his silver Aztec dagger. He manages to hit it and it vanishes. Michael realizes this is a different spirit than the one that went into Carter. He informs the group.
Suddenly, the door shuts behind them. Steven tries to use a magical vision to look for more. As he looks he can see what looks like a modified spirit bag in one of the plant arches. It is anchoring something, most likely a spirit. Steven pulls out his shotgun and blasts at the bag.
Michael sees two spirits charging, one to Steven and one at Carter. He yells out to his companions and charges the one at Carter. He hits it, and it vanishes after being struck. Turning, he sees the one on Steven still. Hitting it, it also vanishes after being struck by the dagger.
Gordon turns and shoots randomly at the area with the shotgun. Rock salt peppers the house, but misses the spirits. The entry way is clear, and Michael doesn’t see any more spirits. Steven looks for more spirit bags, and explains they are what is holding the spirits here in the house. Once seeing them, Gordon and Carter find four more bags that they bring down to the living room while Michael watches their backs for spirits. The 1st and second floor is clear.
Steven decides to use a ritual to destroy the bags and places them in the living room in a pile. After about a minute and a circle of salt, he manages to destroy them. He takes some bashing damage but manages to gain back manna from the exercise. The bags literally pop like firecrackers and Steven reels back a bit before he recovers.
Michael sees the brother again; the ghost yells “Noooo” and runs towards the basement. Michael lets the party know as they head that way.
The basement is so stereotyped, it’s almost funny. Skulls are all over the place with candles on them, runes all over the walls and ceiling, and at the bottom of the stairs is a large pentagram. Gordon can actually see the haze of the brother over by a workbench.
Steven and Carter open fire with the shotguns as Gordon points where the spirit is standing. Carter gets a glancing blow, and Steven hits a little better. The spirit cries out in pain. Knives and daggers form In front of the spirits hands, and fly at the vampire. The ones that miss fly into the werewolf.
The three pump their shotguns and shoot again at the spirit, as Michael slides off the side of the stairs avoiding the pentagram and charges the spirit. Right before Michael gets to the spirit, it cries out in pain as multiple salt blasts go through it's form. Michael can tell this is a vengeful spirit that needs to be sent back. He hits it, it vanishes, but he can tell it wasnt destroyed and that it will recover in time.
As he says this towards Steven, he sees a black man in the corner, highly decorated like a TV witch doctor. The others cannot see him though.
Witch Doctor:" Who are you? Why do you disrupt my work?"
“I am here to release these spirits” says Michael
Witch Doctor:" Then we are enemies" and the astral form dissapears.
He tells the group what the astral projection said. They find some more spirit bags and destroy them, as well as destroying the pentagram.
Suddenly after destroying the last of the bags, Steven calls out. “I destroyed the bag, but something went into me. I need your help Michael.”
Michael uses his vision to see that the spirit is riding in him, but not taking him over.
We decide to go back to the mansion to get rid of the spirit in Steven on home turf.
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