Mission Delta

[baedalites.livejournal.com]

Who: List forthcoming.
What: Getting a lantern.
Where: Spatters.
When: NOW. This thread will likely cover a few days.
Warnings: To be updated.

Dear Mission Delta,

So you're going in to Spatters to deal with actual people. Actual confrontation how about that. Well don't feel too bad or too glad, these guys hardly count as Citizens but that's on them. They have apparently collected a significant number of neat and cleverful things, all of which you may keep should you come across them. All exempt for the lantern your gods require of course. Don't come back without it.

Your boons for this mission are as follow:

A Weapons Cache - I haven't personally gone through every single item in this collection but I am told they are for pacification and non-lethal if you hold them right. Who knows what happens if you hold them wrong.

Ward Breaking Talismans - You will not be kept safe from hexes, but you will be able to break through most protective spells and also bonus: you can touch the talisman to objects and people to see if they are what they seem to be. Pretty useful.

Spatters is in a constant sad state of affairs. It's not a neighbourhood into which respectable citizens often travel, and it is easy to see why; there seem to be mostly cracked houses and smashed windows, half-tents and shanties made up by discarded materials. This is where Baedal's rejects end up, the half-wits, the psychotics who cannot function in the City and those who can't deal with shifted reality. It's also a home to those who have business they wish to keep out of the public eye. Man-eaters and predators of different stripes are known to stalk Spatters. The streets are eerily empty, but perhaps the people here are so used to hiding that they hardly ever seen.

The House have a building in the area, and it is not far away from the basement that has been pointed out as host to the Candlelighter hideout. The place is likely to be occupied, and the occupants are likely to expect hostile company.

Comments

Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[aldabeyoun.livejournal.com]

After receiving Ceith and then Arthur's message, Njoki quickly packed a few essentials into a rucksack and made her way over to the Mog Hill Temple. She knows she's no good in a fight, but at least she might be able to do something with the talismans.

Re: Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

Robin's entire response is best summed up as well then; having survived her brush with the ants earlier in the week she's not particularly bother (to say the least) buy not having to revisit their happy hives, but this business of potential conflict with the locals doesn't fill her with any particular joy - still. Getting word out to her Master, to let him know what's happened - at least they'll know, even if she's been trapped - and she's been volunteered anyway, so she might as well come and see, come and see.

She packs what she's got (the Abaddon takes up residence in her pack alongside some bread and cheese she bought with some of her allotted stipend, because you never know), puts on her battered greatcoat, and arrives at the Temple fresh-faced and with a completely gormless sort of wave hello.

"I came as soon as I heard," she says, French-accented English, bright and cheerful as-you-please-it, "what're we doing then?"

Re: Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[weaponthatlives.livejournal.com]

Youko packs her sword; though she intends to investigate the supply of non-lethal weaponry mentioned in the message, and use it unless things get out of hand, she's most comfortable using her sword. After checking in with Hellsing and making sure her CiD is packed and accessible for keeping communication open, she heads to the temple, cutting a calm figure in her pretty much entirely black and combat-ready clothing.

Seeing that there are already others here, she makes her way over to them, speaking in Japanese-accented English. "Hello."

Re: Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

It's hard to miss Robin, what with her perpetual doof of an expression and that scar running down the left side of her face, but she gives Youko another (excited! hello, new people! who cares that this mission may have horrors and we are about to fight other people and that I'm stuck in a city made of crazy with no way to get back and fight the fight I was made for, I'm meeting new people!) wave anyway.

"Hello?" she says, and then adds, "... you look scary!" in what are supposed to be encouraging tones, like the kind you'd use to tell someone their Halloween costume really makes them look like Batman, or something.

Robin's way of coping with potentially life-threatening situations is perhaps not most people's way of coping. Oops.

Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[aldabeyoun.livejournal.com]

"Hullo," she says while looking over the other two and then to the two boxes of supplies they've been given. Njoki has little to no interest in the weaponry -- she's never shot a gun and knows that this isn't the time to learn. "I'm Ki."

Re: Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

"Robin," she says, gesturing with a hand towards her chest, just over the where the heart might be; the cross insignia/symbol printed on her gloves is obvious from the gesture.

Ki's interest prompts Robin to investigate herself, briefly; she starts a hand towards the talismans, before sucking in her lower lip through her teeth with a resigned sigh and looking pensive instead (you heard about what those things do, useful as they might be is that really a good idea), then moves on to the weapons proper but finds nothing she feels comfortable using herself.

She looks a bit more bemused than jovial when her poking is done. "Ah, this will be interesting."

Looks like 'natural talents' it is, then. Won't that be fun.

Re: Pre-Mission: At the Temple

[weaponthatlives.livejournal.com]

"Youko." She inclines her head in a short bow to both of them, then joins in with investigating the contents of the boxes. She's not as good with firearms as she is in melee, but she knows her way around them, and as long as they're loaded with non-lethal rounds of some kind... she grabs one, and a couple of spare clips that she tucks into her belt. She also picks up a talisman, after noting Robin's reaction and tucking it away for later investigation. There could be plenty of reasons for someone not to want to mess with an object like that.

"It is nice to know that killing them is not considered necessary."

[fixedroll.livejournal.com]

Fashionably late (although not on purpose), Arthur appears over yonder, moving at a brisk walk. He has chosen not to wear the only set of clothes he came with—who knows when he'll be able to get his hands on a comparable three-piece, after all—and yet, somehow, he manages to look fastidious even while dressed in items found on the relatively-cheap. A vest is almost certainly involved.

As he approaches the group, he slows, looking...cautious, let's say. He'd planned on launching right into some form of the usual introductory spiel, but instead he glances here and there as though wondering if he's missing something, finally halting near the small gathering of ladies.

"Delta team?" His voice should not be at all difficult to place.

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

Robin waves. "It's the angry man," she says, by way of greeting - and explanation for those who didn't pick up on it themselves, apparently people like that might exist and Robin wouldn't want them to be left confused.

[bangyoudead.livejournal.com]

"Yo!" Look who has arrived at the same time. It's Remy, who is wearing what appears to be black tactical gear under a long brown leather trench coat. This is totally normal. He gives a cheerful wave to the people he's already met.

"I like that. It's a good code name. The Angry Man."

[dailymask.livejournal.com]

"We should get you a t-shirt." Guess who.

Eames comes in from a different direction as his significantly more put-together counterpart, looking rather like he rifled through the local second-hand clothes shop until he found the ugliest shirt short of Hawaiian print, which he has blessedly half covered with a jacket (and yet it works, somehow). He's armed, but not blatantly so, and headed for the weapons cache, thank you.

"Maybe a lapel pin," he amends, as if Arthur might actually wear a 'The Angry Man' lapel. "Hello," he adds to the group with a wave.

[whosedaughter.livejournal.com]

Jenny looks up from sitting cross-legged by the weapons cache and waves at the new-comers with her free hand -the other hand is holding a manual, presumably for the weapon lying next to her.

"Hi," she says, sounding slightly more upbeat than earlier after some internal sulking on her part. Rassa frassan gods and whatnot. "I'm Jenny."

[baedalites.livejournal.com]

Spatters itself has been described in the post, so if you want a refresher, look up to the top of the page.

The Candlelighter house is an old brick building (http://i.imgur.com/RLFOQ.jpg) stolen from some urban area. What was once yellowish brown brick is now stained nearly black with smoke and exhaust that can hardly have originated in Baedal.

It might at some point have been some sort of industrial building closed down in the Earthly 1950s before it got stolen, but now it is appears deserted and full of trash. And Candlelighters, apparently.

BE CAREFUL EVERY DOOR AND WINDOW HAS BEEN WARDED TO SEND AN ALARM. Also be careful with whatever light sources are being used -- certain hallways are charmed with a particularly nasty hex that can turn shadows into prowling shades if fed enough light and heightened emotions.

[fixedroll.livejournal.com]

Arthur arrives at the designated intersection almost exactly one hour and fifty minutes after his departure. If any other members of Delta team had been looking for him on the El Train, or indeed at or around any station between Mog Hill and the Spatters, they would not have seen him.

He looks much the same as he did before leaving the temple, save having replaced his wingtips with a more practical (but no less stylish!) pair of boots. Still not visibly armed, still unsmiling, now twisting the top back onto a small flask and slipping it into his bag as he swallows. He looks entirely non-threatening. Kind of scrawny, actually, from a distance.

[gotbottle]

"Hey."

Rachel's voice carries softly as she approaches, looking exactly as she did at the temple. Same clothes, same messenger bag slung across her body, same brave face put on despite her feeling terribly out of place. She strolls up casually, standing close but not too close in case of curious eyes.

"Anyone else get here yet?"

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

Robin's hair looks a little more windblown than when she accompanied Alan out of the temple, but her appearance is otherwise unchanged when she steps out from one of the connecting streets, Alan coming up behind her, and nods her head to Rachel's query, having arrived just in time to hear it.

"Not exactly ..." She shrugs, smiling through the embarrassment. "We've been near here for a time? We only - haha - found ourselves a bit lost! Sorry."

(This is not necessarily the truth, though it's true enough that it likely saves answering awkward questions about their arrival method, too; with Robin worried about time and not letting down the rest of their ad-hoc team, they ... didn't take the train either.

(Perhaps attentive sky-watchers saw that brief streak of light flash across the sky from somewhere in Mog Hill to somewhere just inside the Spatters an hour or so previous, but it didn't land anywhere near here when it came down. Probably just an errant flare or something of that nature, who knows right now, anyway.)

[whosedaughter.livejournal.com]

After several minutes, Jenny comes around a corner looking fairly similar to how she appeared before: black stretch jeans, converse and white vest-top under a black blazer. The one vital difference is she seems to have ditched her bag and has acquired a holster, although it's quite discreet underneath her jacket. It currently holds one of the weapons from the temple along with a rather snazzy looking sonic blaster, if she does say so herself.

...aaand now that she has a run-down of what to expect, and a good estimation of what the others in the mission are like, she also seems a fair bit more upbeat. Given the circumstances anyway.

"Hey campers," she says, as she bops up.

[aldabeyoun.livejournal.com]

Before making her appearance, she'd spent a little time quietly sitting in some back alley in Spatters trying to get a feel for this neighbourhood -- what, if any, local spirits had sway, which gods were strongest here, and where the 'heaviest' weight of the dead was.

Njoki nods in greeting, but otherwise doesn't speak. She's brought along an over the shoulder bag with a few useful bits of conjure, but other than that, she's unarmed.

Group Awesome: Look-out

[baedalites.livejournal.com]

Across from the Candlelighter House, there's a fairly filthy and nondescript brownstone-style porch. To one side, there's a window well (http://foundation.repairwinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/WindowWellsAcc_hdr.jpg) that stinks of old garbage and urine, and to the other, the well is blocked over with old cardboard 'coated' in something like cellophane and duct tape.

Re: Group Awesome: Look-out

[withdeviltry.livejournal.com]

Robin considers, for a worryingly lengthy amount of time, whether poking the cardboard covering the blocked window well right away is a good idea or not, and then turns to Alan, rubbing at the bottom of her chin and clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth.

"So, do you want the smelly hole in the ground, or shall I?"

[alan_shore]

"Gee," Alan murmurs (for a loudmouth he's surprisingly soft-spoken; for a man whose most useful contribution to the mission with which they've been tasked would likely be in the role of human shield, he's surprisingly...not relaxed, certainly, but collected), "how kind of you to offer."

With an air of resignation, he too considers the window well. "It doesn't appear to pose an immediate threat, other than to one's organ of olfaction." Still, he sounds less than hopeful. "What about, ah"--he fumbles through a vocabulary that all at once seems painfully inadequate--"magic? Can you...detect anything?"

Group Bad-Ass: Basement

[baedalites.livejournal.com]

Upon entering the Candlelighter House, it's clear that there's little of interest on the ground floor: a few pamphlets scattered about, a solar panel angled to catch one of the rare rays of sunlight let in through the boarded windows, and empty bedrolls haphazardly pushed up against the wall.

The kitchen has a little food in it, but it looks as if whoever has been living there has been reduced to rice and beans with a little weak tea. Perhaps it hasn't been safe to go out shopping? For those familiar with it, there's a strong feeling that the people of this building have felt themselves under siege.

In the kitchen, there's a small, twisting staircase, angled down toward the basement. Just approaching the door, there's a strong scent of wet earth, mouldy papers, and decay.

Group Candyland: Upstairs and Attic

[baedalites.livejournal.com]

To the right of the entranceway, there's a narrow, twisting staircase that leads to the upper floors of the house. The lights are out and the windows boarded over with layers of wood and cardboard, all reinforced thin strips of burnished aluminum cut from cans. It's a curious luxury in a metal-starved city.

On the walls, someone has painted elongated figures in dark shades of brown and black with wide, white concentric circle eyes.

[fixedroll.livejournal.com]

Those sensitive to hypocrisy or backseat driving will perhaps appreciate that Arthur intends to back up his unsolicited assumption of command by taking point—or he'll be made fun of from behind, whichever. With his tranq pistol at the ready—he holds it like he was born with a gun in his hand—and the bag strapped more tightly against his back so it won't snag or hang in the way, he splits off from the group assigned to the lower levels, leaving them with a low-spoken wish for good luck. It's terse, but honest.

At the foot of the frankly really unappealing stairs, he hisses over his shoulder to the three (hopefully) behind him, "Everyone bring lights?"

[gotbottle]

"I did."

Rachel pulls a flashlight out of her bag of flashlights. They're her best weapon in a situation like this, though she hopes she never has to use them for that purpose.

It's a little hard, after all, to pretend you're just as normal as everyone else if you go busting out some magical superpower you're not even that great at using.

"I have more if anyone didn't bring one."