Day 0: I'm just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened

[Dr Jackal]

"Airplane mode. You'll waste charge having it search for a signal," Kacey says offhandedly to Jackson.

 

She nods along with Jackson. "I'd like to hear about Steph and the vampires while we wait for ... for whatever is about to happen."

[Mister Doctor]

"Yeah, you can't just off-handedly say something like that and not explain. Vampires? Really? Are we talking... like..." Here Cole's grasp on pop culture failed him a bit. Granted, his exposure to movies and books was exceptionally lop-sided.

"Uh, True Blood? I think that was what my aunt was reading."

---

Adversity Token: 1

Edited March 5, 2023 by Mister Doctor (see edit history)

[Ezeze]

“Seems kind of meaningless now” Mr. Earles responds to Jackson’s offer to return his mask. Only then does he move onto the larger question, the one repeated by Kacey and Cole.

"Yes, vampires. Immortal, blood-drinking, unable to walk in sunlight. No garlic. No running water. No reflections. They've been in Normel since the beginning. Remember when I said the owners of the silver mines did worse than just exploiting the miners? They were vampires. They'd hunt miners in the dark. Exsanguinate them and hide the corpses in manufactured cave-ins. The first Silver Knights were the miners who pieced together the truth. Started carrying holy symbols and blessed knives down into the mines with them. Saved a few human lives that way. Ended a few vampire ones, too. We have their journals - prospective members are usually allowed to read them. Lends a little be of credence to what sounds like a bunch of crazy old men. I know that's what I thought, at first."

He leads back and admits “was really hoping to talk to Ms. Addams about this alone..."

Edited March 7, 2023 by Ezeze (see edit history)

[Ozma]

Emily decides not to join in on this discussion, if only because of the bizarre idea of arguing with her biology teacher on the anatomy of a vampire and their susceptibility to holy symbols. 

[Knave]

DiceBrawn10 d20+1
Fight d12+1
Grit d10
Charm d8
Flight d6
Brains14 d4 || StrengthsEasygoing: Get 2AT per failure
Protective: +3 to protect
Rebellious: +3 to persuade children or to resist persuasion from adults or children || FlawsIgnorant
Reckless

Adversity Tokens: 4

---

Jackson isn't one to get sidetracked by stuff he doesn't understand, otherwise he'd never get anything done. "Mmmhm right right right, but what happened to Steph?"

---

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Knave (see edit history)

[Ezeze]

"The vampires took her. Her boyfriend, too. It's too late to save her. The only thing left is revenge - and doing whatever we can to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."

OOC

I'll take a DC 12 Grit Snap Decision from anyone who has been paying attention to this discussion.

 

[Mister Doctor]

 

---

Adversity Token: 1

[Ozma]

Emily blanches, looking away from Mr. E.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Ozma (see edit history)

[Knave]

DiceBrawn10 d20+1
Fight d12+1
Grit d10
Charm d8
Flight d6
Brains14 d4 || StrengthsEasygoing: Get 2AT per failure
Protective: +3 to protect
Rebellious: +3 to persuade children or to resist persuasion from adults or children || FlawsIgnorant
Reckless

Adversity Tokens: 4

---

"Revenge?"

[Dr Jackal]

Kacey looks away and wipes her eyes when she thinks no one's looking.

 

Steph's dead. The vampire wannabes are going to pay -- that's true enough. But so are their enablers. Their fellow cosplayers.

 

It's just a matter of time.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)

[Ezeze]

There are just a few seconds of silence, then a loud noise hits your ears, the lights flicker and the building vibrates around you. It feels like a small earthquake; only about enough to throw the most unsteady individuals off their feet. Given what you know, though - that you are seven stories underground in a concrete basement - there can be no doubt that a massive explosion just went off at ground level.

"What was that?" Mr. E exclaims.

He gestures to Emily to bring the radio to him. He takes it, flips it on, turns to a specifically chosen but seemingly random frequency. Then he repeats the question over the radio, saying "What was that? What's going on?" but in a clamer, more authoritative voice.

There are a few seconds of static, then another voice - elderly and masculine - replies "Bomb of some sort. Early warning system picked up on it and automatically triggered the alarm. Didn't know that thing was even still working. You got any of the others with you? How many of us are safe?"

Mr. E looks at all of you. He hesitates just for a minute, and because you can see his face you know he's thinking up a lie to tell the person on the other side.  "It's just me and some students. I was at the high school when the alarm sounded. Glad I decided to take it seriously."

"What the hell possessed the bastards to nuke the god damn town? That's what I want to know."

"You think this was them?"

"Well it wasn't the ruskies. They haven't had the balls for forty years now. I'd wager it wasn't the Chinese neither. No sense bombing your best customer, right?"

"What did the vamps have to gain from it, though?"

"Next time I get my hands on one I'll ask it before I chain it to an Eastern-facing wall and wait for the sunrise." The voice on the other side of the radio switches gears. "Hopefully everyone else took it serious, too. You're the only one I've heard from, but maybe the other chuckleheads just forgot about the radio frequency, or thought they'd be able to use their cell phones or something. Can't trust cell phones. Always spying on you. And they go down faster than-" and what follows is a surprisingly specific description of a lady of the night of a specific nationally meeting sailors on shore leave.

Mr. E looks at you. "Don't repeat that" he instructs.

Meanwhile, the other voice has continued on "Anyway, if you're somewhere safe stay there for a day or two. The radiation levels should fall to a tolerable level after that."

[Knave]

DiceBrawn10 d20+1
Fight d12+1
Grit d10
Charm d8
Flight d6
Brains14 d4 || StrengthsEasygoing: Get 2AT per failure
Protective: +3 to protect
Rebellious: +3 to persuade children or to resist persuasion from adults or children || FlawsIgnorant
Reckless

Adversity Tokens: 4

---

Once again, Jackson filters out the stuff that he doesn't understand, and lands on a strictly literal interpretation of his teacher's words about Steph. 

"But she's alive huh? And near town somewhere? You reckon it's too late, but maybe I say different... They took her, we take her back."

 

[Dr Jackal]

Kacey stares at the football player with a look of shock. "Jackson, you ... you are a genius," she says, and it sounds like she actually means it. "It's just that simple, isn't it? They're going to be stuck underground for the next few days. And we can get to them, because these caverns go from one side of town to the other. Isn't that what you said, Mr. E.?"

 

She looks around at Cole and Emily. "Sounds like Jackson and I are going to go get Steph. You guys in?"

[Mister Doctor]

Cole watched as things got soundly out of hand. He was supposed to be back home in time for dinner but now he was trapped in half forgotten tunnels under the town. Vampires, secret societies, nukes, it was all a little too much. He had to figure out a new heading and get his immediate situation under control.

"Kacey, even if half of what Mr. Birdmask says is true. Even if it's just a bunch of weirdos that think they're vamps or something. We're four high schoolers. Any of you packing heat? Jackson? Emily? 'Cause I don't think my knife will cut it. Hell, y'all've got more family in town than I do, how're they not your priority right now?"

---

Adversity Token: 2

Edited March 13, 2023 by Mister Doctor (see edit history)

[Dr Jackal]

Kacey looks coolly at Cole. "My mom and dad made it ... or they didn't. And I won't know what happened for days, and even if I did, there'd still be nothing I could do. But you know what I can do? Get Steph. Jackson made me realize that."

 

She brushes an errant lock of hair out of her eye. "Team Edward has resources and money and connections. But that doesn't mean anything for the next few days, because they can't access them. 'Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots,'" she says, making it obvious from her tone that she's quoting something. "Sun Tzu, Art of War, Chapter ... 11, I think? Maybe 9. Doesn't matter. The point is, we're never going to have a better chance to rescue Steph than right now."

 

Kacey grins and there's something cold and unsettling in her gaze. "But that's just the intellectual argument. It's all true, but it's not the real answer. The real answer is that I refuse to go through the rest of my life wondering if I could have used these two or three days to save my best friend's life instead of sitting in a cave in the dark, worrying about all the things I can't change. That's my priority, Cole."

Edited March 13, 2023 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)