What a session! It was so good, we actually lost track of time. There were fights, deals, a death, and a kidnapping...or rather, a ghulnapping. Quite the wild ride. That being said, here it is for your reading pleasure.
Time had passed in Sin City. Brandon, Shade, and Neil had about two months downtime. Brandon was finally able to get his insurance check for the fire and to get the rebuild going on his shop. That called for a bit of a treat. So, he bought himself a sword cane. Now, he is a douche bag armed with a sword. He also spent much of the hiatus avoiding the old man out in the desert and coyotes. Neil was able to set up the poker game in Mr. B's memory. Even though she didn't come, Drusilla was pleased (I foresee the Malvora Favor Aspect hanging about for awhile). The game allowed Neil to make a few more contacts. The only downside was that Fredrick Skavis showed up. Neil used the downtime to check out the paper from Wyatt's hat, as well. It turned out to be a contract dated October 31, 1897. The terms were not surprising. It involved the selling of Wyatt's soul. Shade kept busy too. Much of her time was spent practicing more physical manifestations of her power. She also spent all her money and bought the building where she has her tattoo shop and apartment. Friends weren't neglected. Neil came for a visit and learned, via Shade, more about the Supernatural community. Penny also stopped by to thank her for her support during the funeral.
Onwards to the night of December 21, where things started to go to hell:
Shade was finishing up her work day when she heard the bell ring on the front door. She glanced up and saw an attractive, long-haired redhead woman rush in. Looking harried, the red head pulled...something out and dropped it in front of Shade. Instinctively, Shade reached out and caught it. The woman then faded from view as she crossed into the Nevernever. Focusing on the object now in her hands, Shade saw that it was an apple, a golden apple. She could feel the power emanating from it. Upstairs, she set the apple down and, after pouring a drink, opened the Sight on it. She saw that, not only was it an apple, it was a sickle. Runes on it translated to "what you sow; so shall you reap". There was also a skeletal hand over the sickle, autumn leaves, and vines showing the duality (death and rebirth). A search through her library didn't yield Shade any information. Packing up the apple in a messenger bag, she headed out to find Harold, the only Fey she really knew.
Neil was out on the town with Christine. Still resisting her desire for something more physical and intimate, they went to dinner, a show, and then out for drinks. While on the Strip, he saw an woman with long red hair being chased by a couple of guys. One was very slender, dressed in black, and had whitish hair. The other man was bigger, more muscular with dark hair. Being casual, Neil stuck his foot out after the woman passed. The slender gentleman slightly tripped but didn't go down. When he looked up, Neil noticed that his eyes were an odd amber color. The guy gave Neil a knowing look and sped off again. The second, slower, man wasn't so lucky. He tripped over Neil's foot and face-planted. He got up and looked over to Neil, who managed to sound oh so innocent, as he asked if the guy was okay. The guy nodded and took off again.
Brandon was having a very quiet night. Out on the town, he had ended up at Legends, a piano bar. It was one of the few places he hadn't been kicked out of yet. He was having a drink and listening to the music when he saw Shade come in. She noticed Brandon and went over. After ordering a drink, she asked the bartender if Harold was there. Getting a no, she sweet talked him into calling Harold, who said he would be there soon. While waiting, Brandon and Shade chatted a bit. Once Harold got there, Shade made a beeline to him and dragged him to an alcove to talk. Once seated, Shade told him about the woman and showed him the apple. He knew absolutely nothing about the apple. However, he said the woman could possibly be Anna- his dad's lady. Brandon, who had been watching from the bar, and Shade both noticed a couple of people walk in. The woman was very professional looking, dressed in slacks and a trench coat. The man with her was more casual, jeans and t-shirt. When they saw Shade, they walked over.
Getting to the table, the woman told Shade to hand it over. Shade, caught in the act of standing up, played innocent and said she had no idea what the woman referred to. Still denying she had the apple, Shade attempted to move around them. Frost (the woman) grabbed Shade's arm and told her she was going with them. Struggling, Shade started to play up the Damsel in Distress Aspect. She wanted to get the crowd worked up so they would help her. Having seen enough, Brandon came up behind Frost and pushed the point of his sword into her back, telling her to let his friend go. Basically ignoring him and the crowd, Frost picked Shade up and threw her over her shoulder. That did it for Brandon, he stabbed the woman. She tried to block but he was able to make it through. Surprised, she told Rhyme (her companion) to finish Brandon off. Being stabbed with iron makes the Fey cranky. Rhyme grinned and pulled out a dagger. He attacked but Brandon threw up a shield spell. He hadn't figured on Brandon being a wizard. Having that information and seeing the bar crowd getting riled up, Frost dropped Shade and the two of them left. Soon after, Brandon and Shade left as well. They headed for the one safe place in Vegas- the Liberace Museum. Even though it was closed, Mason let Shade in for the night. Brandon headed back to his place.
The next dawned bright and early for Neil. He woke up to a 7 am phone call from Christine. Her boss, Mr. White wanted to see him at his earliest convenience. Once business was done, she asked Neil about going out again that night (the girl REALLY wants him). Neil said he would have to get back to her about that. After hanging up, Neil took his time and leisurely went about his morning. He didn't get to Uri's office until around 10. He talked with Christine for a bit, who said Mr.White was with a client, and then waited...and waited. And then, waited some more. After about an hour, the client left. Neil once again...waited. Gotta love those petty power games! Finally in the office, Mr. White got down to business. He asked Neil about the incident on the Strip last night ie; the girl being chased by the two men. Neil told him what happened. Uri pulled out a folder and produced a picture of Anna. Name confirmed. Telling Neil to check it out for him, Uri also gave him a picture of the guys chasing Anna. Once that business was concluded, the shit got real. Uri casually mentioned that Neil needed to do something or, rather, someone for him. His assistant Christine had been distracted lately and it seemed to be in Neil's power to...alleviate...that situation. Neil understood completely. Back in reception, Neil made a dinner date with her for that night. She was very excited about the idea of cooking for him.
After the meeting with Mr. White, Neil grabbed a sandwich and headed over to where Wyatt was working. Sitting on a bench across the street, Neil observed and ate. After some time passed, Wyatt came over and asked Neil why he was there. Neil produced the snapshot of the two men and asked him what he saw. Wyatt started to describe it but Neil told him to draw it on the picture. He did so. With that information, Neil placed a call to Mr. White to tell him what he learned. Neil was told to watch out for Anna and the men. He was also to keep an eye on Shade (the reason for that is in the next paragraph). Not being able to do both, Neil asked which took precedence. Anna was, Uri replied. Asked about Wyatt's description of the two men, Uri said that the guy with horns was probably a Gruff and that the other man was of the Fey Winter Court. Wyatt and Neil made plans to meet later to find the two men.
After a long night, Shade left a message for Locke, asking if he would come to the museum. When he got there, she showed him the apple and explained how she got it. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to tell her much. Still needing more information, she called the only person who would probably have the contacts to help her- Mr White. Luckily, she was able to get an appointment. When she got there, Christine surprised her by asking if she could talk to Shade about Neil after the appointment. Shade agreed and then was ushered into Uri's office. Launching right into it, Shade told him about the incident with Anna and the later attempted kidnapping. She then pulled out the apple. Uri remained stone-faced until she told him about it being a sickle as well as an apple. He bluntly asked her how much it would be to sell it to him. She refused and said she just wanted information about it and to get it back to it's rightful owner. He said he would give her the information but at a price. She would owe him a favor of equivalent value. Shade told him okay but with the caveat that she wouldn't hurt or betray anyone she knew. The deal being agreed to by both sides, Uri told her that the apple was the Sickle of Harvest. The woman wielding it was called Lady Autumn or Dame Autumn. She would be a mortal invested with the full power of the Fey. Just then, Mr. White received Neil's call. While he was on the phone, Shade opened the Sight and took a look at him.* What she saw was Uri wreathed in fire. The heat was intense. The core of the fire was black, only becoming red at the ends. Uri's skin was a muted reddish tone and he had horns, very appropriate for a half-demon. She couldn't tell if he had a tail or not; he was sitting down. Shutting the Sight off, Shade got up and made herself a drink, making sure to keep her back to him. After he hung up, Shade babbled something about being very, very, very sorry for doing something so stupid. He asked what she did. Her answer was that he looked good in red. Uri agreed she had been stupid. He went on to say that he could set up a meeting with the person Shade needed to see, at the cost of another favor. Wanting to get out of there, Shade said that would be good. She left, still so shaken up that she forgot about her talk with Christine.
Brandon's day started at noon, when he got up. Once fully awake, he decided to go to the Luxor. Getting there, he put some money on a table and played for a bit. By chance, Jeremy Running Mouth spotted him and came over to say hello. He asked what Brandon was up to. Brandon told him he was looking for two people, the ones that had tried to kidnap Shade. He had some of Frost's blood from the sword. Jeremy asked why he didn't just use a location spell. Brandon thought that a great idea, bought a map, and did the spell. The location of the two was in North Las Vegas. Brandon headed out, eventually making his way to the bus station.
After leaving Wyatt, Neil went in search of information. Being mortal, not too many were willing to talk freely with him. He was able to find out that Anna was often seen in the company of Philip. Their relationship was unclear. Some thought it was just friendship; others thought it a sugar daddy type thing. He also learned that Philip was a higher up in the Fey world. At each place he visited, Neil left his number with the message to give him a call. After awhile, it was time for Wyatt to get off work and for them to meet up. Once together, Wyatt did his find anyone thing and the chase was on. Heading into North Vegas, Wyatt pinpointed the bus station as where they needed to be.
Still a bit shell shocked over the half demon thing, Shade headed back to her shop to gather a few things together. She and Uri had agreed that staying there would be a bad idea. The safest place for her would be at the Liberace Museum. After gathering up a change of clothes, a tattoo gun, and some ink, she headed to the Luxor to see Locke and ask if she could just stay there to rest for a bit and get her head together. Thanks to Tawny, Locke's typical Vegas showgirl looking apprentice (ya RIGHT), that idea went to hell fast. First, Tawny shut the door in Shade's face. Then Shade hexed the door open and basically told her to cut the crap and get Locke. After that, it was on. First insults were thrown about. Then it came down to a full on girl fight. Of course, that was when Locke showed up. He magically pulled them apart and, after a stern lecture, sent them to opposite bedrooms. Of course, Locke being Locke, he had to first make some wise ass comments about setting up a mud pit for them to wrestle in (Shade isn't very good at insulting people. She's really too nice to be good at it. However, her best line came right after the mud pit was talked about. She said that it wouldn't be the first time Tawny found herself kneeling face down in the dirt- kinda proud of that one. Tawny got a couple of good hits in as well. I seem to recall low class tattooed gutter rat being said.). Locke explained that Shade couldn't stay there. He gave her some money and told her to get a meal downstairs.
As luck, and GM planning!, would have it, the three men showed up at the bus station at the same time. After the hello's, Neil and Brandon informed the other why they were there. Neil also got to hear about what happened to Brandon and Shade at Legends. While talking, Brandon looked over and spotted Rhyme. Turning his back to him, Brandon let Neil and Wyatt know that was who he was looking for. Just then, Neil's quarry came into view. Rhyme and the big guy met up and were joined by two other men. The four of them then left the station. Brandon, Neil, and Wyatt followed them. Outside, the suspects split up. Brandon followed the big guy and his partner. Neil and Wyatt followed Rhyme and the guy he was with.
With the two moving quickly, Brandon had to chase after them. Even at that speed, he was able to remain unnoticed. After a bit, the two of them stopped and seemed to be arguing. Brandon crept closer to try and listen in. He heard a loud thud. Coming even closer, he observed that the big guy had changed. His skin had become rough and hairy and he sported tightly curled horns. The Gruff, that being what he was, grabbed the little one and slammed his head on to the brick wall behind them. That pretty much stopped the argument. The Gruff headed off with Brandon still following. They ended up at the Liberace Museum.
Neil and Wyatt, using Wyatt's talent, had an easier time following their duo. After a couple of hours, Wyatt told Neil the two had stopped. Catching up, they found themselves at an empty lot in a very bad part of town. In the middle of the lot, they saw Anna struggling with Rhyme and the other one. It looked like he was stabbing her. Without hesitation, Wyatt and Neil rushed over. Anna crumpled to the ground as Rhyme turned to face Wyatt. Wyatt pulled out his knife and the two tried to gut each other. Wyatt drew first blood but quickly took a bad cut himself. More knife blows were exchanged with neither able to get in the killing blow. Finally, Rhyme had lost enough blood to give up. He pulled away and opened a way into the Nevernever. Neil and the other guy were having their own battle. Neil decided to not fuck around. He nailed the Ghoul in the testicles. The Ghoul went down (doesn't matter what species they are- a blow to the nuts will drop a male quicker then anything). Enraged and in pain, the Ghoul attacked Neil but missed. Neil used the attack against the Ghoul and once again dropped him to the ground. The end came quickly after Neil nailed him in the testicles again and then across the head. The Ghul passed out. With both opponents vanquished, Neil and Wyatt both turned to Anna. She was lying still, in an ever widening pool of blood. Wyatt dropped to her side to try and help her. Neil took off running for his car. When he got back, he saw that Wyatt had used his jeans to hogtie the unconscious Ghoul. Looking at Anna, Wyatt told Neil that they were too late. She had died from her wounds. Together, the two of them managed to get the Ghoul into the trunk of the car.
And there it ended for the night. Shade was in the Museum, doing some heavy thinking about her predicament. Brandon was outside the Liberace Museum, keeping an eye on the Gruff and his partner. Neil and Wyatt were in Neil's car with a tied up, unconscious Ghoul in the trunk. The next session is tomorrow and I cannot wait to see how each gets out of their predicaments.
*Most wizards do not use the Sight a whole lot. They can never forget what they see and the memory never fades. Shade uses it more then most but I do have an explanation why that would be. Shade deals with symbols and their physical aspects. For example: Fire is fire. However, there are many symbols for the physical manifestation of fire. She is comfortable with both ideas. In her mind, what she sees when she opens the Sight is just a symbol. That's not to say that what she sees with the Sight doesn't freak her out sometimes; it does.
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