GleefulNihilism

The Shriek "Sir, who is there? Is your Attacker there? Can you describe him?" Sergio has kept to shadows and quiet places, just listening to the heart and the voices. Killing the targets is always tempting, but he as of yet hasn't intentionally killed anyone. Surprised even himself with what people can live through, granted, but Mom would be dissappointed. And that's a line he feels like maybe he shouldn't cross. Still, nobody has to know that. You Are On Holy Ground, Confess. A low voice that seems to grumble from the gravestones themselves. "Sir, what's that noise in the background?" Tell Them Everything, All Your Sins. Then Leave Soverign City, Forever. Do This Truthfully, And I'll Spare Your Life. Granted, he still intended to make sure the guy didn't change his mind later even if he did do it - but nobody had to know that. OOC Oh obviously, wouldn't dream of controlling actions. Just thought that *occasionally* a little RP spicy is okay sometimes. In fact, your turn for some RP spicy if you want.

OOC: Did I go too far? I’ll delete it if you want.

The Shriek His target's heart sounds like a Thunderstorm and Sergio can't help smile. A soft click and he gets a sonar picture. Sounds like he tried to break into one of the Mauseliums but changed his mind at some point. Can't even fault the guy for that, showed that occasionally a couple brain cells rubbed together. Not enough though. He was trying to hide between two particularly large grave markers. Between two Angels, ironically enough. When he gets closer, Sergio takes a moment to savor the conversation when can hear the other end too. The way the dispatcher's voice carries it's pretty obvious the guy tried to call 911. "Sir, Sir - Please remain Calm." "CALM?! CALM?! I'M BEING HUNTED BY A F#{%ING DEMON! HOW THE F$%^ AM I SUPPOSED TO REMAIN CALM?" he gives out with that attempt to yell and whisper at the same time that accomplishes "Sir, either calm down or call a church. Perhaps you could try to describe your attacker?" "'Describe my Attacker'? Alright, alright - how aboout this. NO F#$%ING EYES!" "...Sorry, what?" Sergio smiles at that too. In the dark of the moment he can understand how someone would make that mistake. The face conceling mask didn't have eyeholes and in the dark the mind can play tricks. Great for the story though. "I saw the guy's face. In the eye sockets there was just - Nothing. Jesus, F#$%." A pause from the other end, the voice comes back much more serious. Sergio takes advantage of the moment and sends a little footstep flick on the far side of the statues to throw off his scent. "Sir, sir - you still there?" "He's Here." OOC I'm thinking Sergio would know about that, but only because he looked it up at some point. The moon is only barely not a New Moon. Works in his favor a bit. If you don't mind I run with that a bit.

Don't mean to cross threads like this, but Nico and Boz seems particularly historically compatable. Want to go full Thieves Guild? Have Master Cullen be higher ranked in the guild? Heck, have her full name be Ena Cullen and we can have the same mother-figure in both the backstories.

We seem to be on similiar pages. :P Awww, that's adorable. Yeah, maybe it's a branch office of a bigger guild but I do figure I could meet other players halfway on this. Boz is a proper Guilded Thief, and that implies not only crime but enough crime that there's a systemic and organized approach to criminal activity but there are rules the rest of society benefits from. It doesn't have to be puppy-rainbows nice but rules like "avoid unnecessary violence and only kill in kill-or-be-killed situations" and "don't steal from those worse off then you are" can be among them. It might even be a thing that a percentage of takes go toward community projects. Some of the motivation might genuinely be altruism, but just as likely it's just the guild trying to intentionally invoke the power of PR. [Got to have a reason that the Paladin and the Rogue can be in the same room.] It's entirely possible that dad thinks Boz is dead at this point actually. So yeah, he won't come up much *at first* but that can change as Boz gets noticed.

The Shriek And just like he thought. He could trace the guy to the Cemetary, hiding around the Mauseluems because Holy Ground gave the illusion of Safety. It almost wasn't fair at this point. He goes for a back groundskeeper entrance to slip in quietly like a teenager going through an angsty phase. He has to be careful now. He figured out how to use sound waves to play havoc and break nearby light sources but obviously that doesn't work on the Sun or the Moon. Fortunately, he's probably too busy trying to get a phone with a broken screen working to care. Stick close to trees and graves to get closer, maybe he is trying to call someone. Could be fun to listen in. OOC I'm assuming you mean just catch up with him, lol. Did we ever say what phase of the moon it was?

Groovy, now might be a good time to do some fine tweaking for the setting if you want to maximize some hook potential. Off the top of my head - Boz’s archmage father’s identity can be tweaked. I’m picturing someone who is a particularly powerful wizard and is considered an archmage, but maybe knowing more for their political power than magical power. I like the idea that Boz is in a thieves guild, I don’t know the setting well enough to pick one. I am thinking of the more morally gray ones though, at least not one that’s known for murder. Maybe even one that frowns on its members killing people outside of self-defense situations, if maybe more because they feel like that says you’re not a very good thief than out of actual morals.

The Shriek ---OOC--- OOC PER -> 11

The Shriek Mental Note - that trick clearly works pretty well but next time he needs to be a bit more clear about "where" the "shots" were "coming from". Doesn't sound like the shots hit anyone but too much of that came down to luck for his taste. Alright, do-gooding accomplished here. Sergio gets back on track for his original task before he gets sidetracked again. OOC

The Shriek 38's. Nothing fancy as far as he can tell. Granted, everything he's ever learned about guns he learned after getting his powers for obvious reasons. Doesn't seem like a snub-nose, so probably 8 or 10 bullets in the magazine and chamber. A breath as he starts making another kind of music with his sound games. Sure, this was the kind of neighborhood where hearing a gunshot or two in the distance at night wasn't all that weird. But what about someone emptying out a magazine right over your shoulder or at your front door? Should at least wake some people up. OOC OOC - Just to be clear, when there's a gap in time you can assume a Recovery action happened. heh. So, more sound illusions. Do I roll the 8d6 plus bonuses again or?

The Shriek He did not have time for this stupidity. Seriously? What goods? This was a corner store, at least knock over a bank if you actually want goods. A quick low click of the tongue happens as he gets an idea that should get this over quickly. Time to be a little less subtle. OOC OOC - Alright, active sonar. Can Sergio tell if they have guns? And if so, what kind?

Slightly more seriously, might be worth considering it to flesh out "Earnst Featherwell, Sergio's Professional Manager" more. So I have as part of Sergio's backstory that after the boatride he was bounced around the bad corners of the foster care system until he got lucky and ended up with a high school music teacher. In Chatswick? Earnst I picture as someone several years older and one of Sergio's adopted mother's former students. Had aspirations for a rap career and isn't terrible, but it's obvious even to him that he's better on the business/promotion side of the music industry. Now makes most of his money using his connections to look for new acts and working the management side for a percentage, which can and does often include Chasing the Algorthm. Helps run Sergio's youtube channel for obvious reasons, and can sometimes be seen literially begging Sergio to just throw out an occasional cover song among this own work. In fairness, *business-wise* Earnst was absolutely right to do this as they act as bait on the hook to get his other songs more play.

Woot! Good apps everyone. Hope to see you all around.

The Shriek He doesn’t have time for this. Sergio wasn’t out to eradicate crime or anything like that. He has the temptation to just keep going. But he did suppose these morons might get someone hurt. Small chance it would be someone who didn’t deserve it. So he takes a breath, and does decide to be nice for a second. Sound powers come in handy. With a breath he just keeps going by - while using the power to create the illusion of a police siren starting up. Maybe a block or two over and getting closer. Just spook ‘em off. OOC

The Shriek --OOC Post--- OOC Alright, I'm thinking Sergio isn't really in this to fight crime in general or for Justice or anything like that. So going Streetwise, does he know anything about this store? If the owner of the store is a big enough arse Sergio's more likely to help the guys out. :P Is this one of those corner stores where the owner and their family lives in the upper floor? I figure between Streetwise and his Powers he could find out more relevent information.

Was thinking about the Music side of this character. He's a professional musician in a modern setting, occurs to me that this means there's a strong chance he has a Youtube channel or something. Terrifying. :P

Glad you noticed. From one Rogue to another - Good Luck, Ry. :P

The Shriek What was that bit from that biology class he heard once? That Humans evolved as Endurance Hunters. He didn't have to be faster, just had to catch up eventually. Assuming he makes it too the Cemetary. Cars happen. The way the guy is breathing a heart attack was on the table too. He figures he can take a little time to get there keeping to alleys, emptier streets, and shortcuts. When he has to he can adjust clothing a bit to look like something more natural. Just a random blind man, pay no attention. He'll get to the cemetary first if he gets there at all. There's a temptation to play a few sound games, try to get the guy hit by a car. He avoids that temptation but only because spooking the kid too put him in a mood. Getting some face under his fists feels really good right now. OOC

The Shriek Well, "See". He's been completely blind as long as he can remember, but ever since the gap days his hearing has been so good that it compensates in some ways. His hearing was so good that he might as well have Sonar. A little click of the tongue was all it took sometimes to get a mental picture. More, in some ways. The pumping of hearts often sounded like heavy drumming right in his ears. The legend of the Shriek usually said that if it did let you see it's face you would see either empty eye sockets or eyeballs obviously stolen from a corpse and just crammed in the holes, whichever the storyteller thought was the worse of the two ideas. The truth wasn't quite so dramatic. In his "work clothes" he covered most of his face and didn't bother with eye holes in the mask. In the darkness though, he didn't blame people for getting it mixed up in the passion of the moment. He turns his head like he was trying to look at them. He doesn't quite get the angle right. "That probably bought you an hour or two to get to somewhere to hide. Go to a women's shelter for a few days. No family, no friends, he probably knows where they all are." he remarks in a normal voice. Scaring them wasn't the point of this. He rolls his neck, and "looks" back over them again. If he gets the courage to come back there's a strong chance he'll come back with guns and friends. *If*. "I'll go see if I can talk him into just staying away. Safer for everyone that way." Yeah. "Talk". OOC

I mean, I am DMing a 5e game on another site and when I put up the advert I got about three times as many apps as I expected. So on a principle level I don’t want to agree with you - but Yeah. This part is rough.

The Shriek You know, not much can give Sergio pause when the Shriek is out and about but this is one of them. The kid was more scared then the target was. He actually feels a little guilty about that, was he being just as guilty of treating People like they're things? The kid's been traumatized enough, let's see if he can change that. He flexes his power again, to reach for the inner demon. Sticking to dark places, maybe the guy will see him if he looks. But if just as a silhouette it would be to his advantage anyway. The Child Can Make As Much Noise As They Like Tonight, You're Not Coming Back. The sound comes out like an evil low raspy sound, like something with a deeper throat then a human one was trying to sound human for now. And it wasn't quite doing it right. This House Has Seen Enough Fear. Your Turn. You want to live to see the Sunrise? The closest Holy Ground is the Cemetary to the Southeast. Run. Run. RUN. OOC Presense Attack? How's that work? Roll 8d6 plus modifiers and hope it clears the guy's PRE or EGO score, whichever you deem more appropriate? I think I'm going to roll 8d6 + 1d6 (Violence) + 1d6 (Psychological Complication in Shriek's favor) + 1d6 (Power) + 1d6 (Siloquiy) = 12d6 to just scare the guy into running. Whether into traffic is another question.

The Shriek --OOC-- OOC When I wrote that, I was thinking the audio illusion is mostly creepy whispers with no determinable source. And the lights should go out accompanied by a loud ear-splitting Shriek.

The Shriek Somewhere there's a Radio on, he only catches a few minutes as it drives by but he doesn't need to hear more. It's not important, just amusing. 98.1 - Red Hot Radio You're listening to Rowdy Randy and Martini in the Evening on 98.9, Red Hot Radio. Bringing the Heat to SC's Scene. So believe it or not, Martini babe, I do think I owe someone an apology. Oh really? Who exactly? That nutjob we've been hearing on the news, the Shriek. Alright, I'm listening - explain. You don't think they're a Demon? Nope, just some nut with a taste for theatrics. But the police seem to have known for a while that all of the Shriek's hits have had something in common, they all abuse kids. My sources are telling me that we're about to hear that one of the latest victims worked for city hall too. Shriek, if you hear this, I still say you're a friggin' loon but you make way more sense. After you get caught and get the help you obviously need, your first beer is on me when they let you drink alcohol. Martini, want to give the token liberal line about peace and love? ...Nope. <El Chillado>, I once saw my brother-in-law put out a cigarette on my niece's shoulder. [Beep] you, Fernando. Oh, nice! Unexpected Boner! Boooinnnggg! An old scar checks in, one he can keep under clothes. He had a foster parent that used to do that to him too. He heard the talk, people always asked what was it about the Shriek and kids. Everyone was overthinking it, really. It was actually glorifyingly simple. Sergio wasn't doing things like this out of a sense of Justice or Harmony or anything like that or some Psycho-Sick Fixation on Innocence to Avenge his own Crappy Childhood or anything like that. It really just came down to that few things pissed Sergio off more then treating a Person like they were just a Thing, and kids often got the worst of that kind of thinking. As for the Demon part, well - that was because as a Creative Sergio was well aware that there were few things in this world as powerful as a Narrative. He didn't even come up with most of it. His first target was a pedo-priest so of course he "became" a Demon. Things just kept evolving from there, all Sergio did was not disprove anything unless he had too. He could only guess the phases of the moon and sometimes he guessed wrong, but that ended up just adding too it. A noctural predator that hunts in darkness, using the eyes of the dead. He knew some Metalheads that would kill for publicity like that. Now, he keeps to the shadows the best he can. How did that little rhyme the kids came up with go? Let's open up with a little Terror. There was a story in Soverign City of something spawned in the worst corners of it. Of a Demonic Predator that stalks in darkness, uses the eyes of the dead, and let's out bloodcurdling shrieks. Funny, the Bogeyman doesn't normally work in Reverse though. === Run and Run And Watch Your Back ~~~Something's Coming From the Black Try To Scream, Hear Him Come ~~~Your Precious Time Is Almost Done You Try To Hide But Hear His Shriek ~~~Your Teeth Chatter, Your Knees Go Weak Under Dirt and Under Stone ~~~He'll Take His Last Breath All Alone ~~~He'll Take His Last Breath All Alone ~~~You'll Take Your Last Breath All Alone === A moment to listen for some variation of 'What the Flying Hell was That?' from the POS that calls himself a Step-Dad, then he follows up with an Ear-Splitting SHRIEK. OOC Opening with an Audio Illusion, then the Change Environment. Not sure how the actions line up but seems cool to stop here. :P

No rush, I kind of figured you just got busy. Off-line life happens.