Dresden Files RPG: Dark Days - Logs and panoply

[Steel Shadow]

Some scenes copied across from the edupad set between games:

'What do you with a drunken Doom House?' Or What people did after the got out of the hotel

When EV gets home with her new phone she strips and goes directly for her bed, where she sleeps for an entire day (Or at least until waking up early the next afternoon). She showers, dresses, and calls her aunt.

"Hey Aunt Helen. You saw the news right? Yea. Can you please call them when we're done chatting and place a generous offer on the pile of rubble? You know, upstanding member of the community looking to help and all. Rachel wants the place, its ... special. And we want to build a club house there. Her dad's probably willing to pay for it or most of it or whatever, but just to make sure that its purchased, we can iron out the details later?"

"You want a pile of rubble as a gift for the daughter of the local White Council Representative? ... Dear, I realise they're a destructive lot, but I don't think they want their buildings pre-blown up..."

"Um. We blew up the building. So it'd be cheaper to purchase the location."

"... She's getting started on her career quite early, isn't she? Oh very well, I'll look into it. You can tell me the details when you visit for tea over the weekend, hmm?"

"I could come over tomorrow afternoon?" "Wonderful! I'll have Gregory prepare somethng special."

She then heads off to work. To get paid for getting a proper meal. She texts the important parts of what her aunt said to James to get to Rachel.
After a late work night she heads home for some early sleep, so she can get up early and go shopping for shoes for her aunt and head over for tea. Where she tells her aunt about the entire adventure in detail. ("You tried to seduce a building? Dear, really now..." "I thought it might have been lonely! The poor thing!")

---

Sometime after escaping from DREAD HOUSE, HOUSE OF DREAD (It's technically a hotel...) (it's technically a pile of rubble, it just doesn't know it yet >>), an ad appears in the Yellow pages:

James Spade: Private Investigator
Have problems with cheating spouses, missing persons, fae, undead, evil wizards, or sentient buildings*? I deal with all of it, professionally and efficiently.

555-555-5555

*James Spade can not be held responsible for property damage resulting from armies of undead, rampaging wizards, demons, ghosts, other mythological creatures, other magical creatures, gangsters, any other hazards of the case, or his own attempts to protect himself from them. Clients take all responsibility for such damages.
Shortly after seeing the posting, EV hands the number off to some people at her work, telling them the number is a help line for various odd (and fake) problems. Prank calls ensue.

---

Adventures in Parkour!
Riley's been working on finding a way to save gas and run to some basic destinations instead, enjoying the work out she's getting. Unfortunately, it's really hard to do jumps and flips with groceries. People don't generally appreciate spilled milk when it's all over their clothes.

She's gotten good enough to avoid getting hit by cars! This is a fantastic upgrade as it was very difficult to explain to the officer that no, she's alright, really. She doesn't need to go to the hospital.

---

After the aftermath;
Rachel also gives Mister Cairo (Aka Egpyt) a call, although because phones are somewhat dangerous for her and she risks destroying a cell phone tower, she heads home, bandages herself up, and resorts to astroprojecting to his office. He's not terribly difficult to find, after all, and offices don't have thresholds to worry about.
"Mister Cairo? It's Miss Holtzmann, I'm calling to inform you of our success with the Riverside Hotel case. Um, it sort of got pretty interesting, really. Seeing as your stance on the uh, 'Superweapons' issue, and if, hypothetically we were to run across a powerful genius loci in the Riverside Hotel that was bound to a psychopathic warlock who tried to murder us using its considerable power, if you'd be interested in helping me, uh... Take care of it? I mean, I'd rather not have another Steven Rayle moving in after last night."

In which people meet on the Angel Bay Highway!

Post Hospital Scene with Jim: The next day, just before visiting hours.

"Just relax, the horse knows what it's doing." Sam leaned over to pat the neck of Mars, the white 'destrier' that Riley was riding. She didn't look reassured. That was probably due to the dress of deep emerald cloth she was wearing - a tight-laced ensemble - if she fell she'd need Sam's help to remount.

"Yes, but I don't know what the horse is doing." The ever-frightened vampire clung to the horn of the saddle awkwardly. She'd never been on a horse before, and she certainly wasn't comfortable knowing she couldn't run easily in this getup.

He himself was dressed in a white-and-blue knights surcoat, padded in a way that emphasized his broad frame. He held the reins of both horses expertly, a sheathed 'sword' hanging from the saddlebow of his charger. "Once we get going, just hang on. Mars has done this hundreds of times, and he knows he gets treats if you don't fall." Sam smiled as the horse's ears swivelled back at the word 'treats'.

The two of them were mounted just out of sight of the Holtzmann's driveway. The horses were giant, matching hulks of muscle and ornamental barding - bright blue and gold draped from each saddle. They were on loan to Sam from Kent Memorial Park's "Medieval Times" show, and he was under the strictest orders to come back with every bell and braid accounted for.

"Now to set up the entrance..." He muttered under his breath, whispering Rachel's Name as he had heard it in the forest of Faerie. It might get her attention, and that's the kind of boost needed for his grand display to work. He repeated it again to ensure she was listening, then tapped Ares' side with his heel. "Here we go!"

Riley's look of mild fear turned to horror as the creature underneath her immediately bolted into a gallop. A hiss of "shit" could be heard between her teeth as she held on for her dear life.

The horses surged foward as the pair of them charged up the drive toward the front entryway. As they approached, Sam used his best show voice, projecting clearly enough that the entire street could hear. "Rachel Holtzmann!" He deliberately avoided pronouncing what had once been her True Name, but he -did- want there to be no mistake who he was addressing. "Rachel Holtzmann! Come quickly!"

Having been grounded for the week, Rachel wasn't exactly in the best of moods, but her new babysitter-slash-friend had proven to be fairly entertaining company, at least considerably moreso than her dear father. Indeed, it was nice to have a wizard who was more human to speak to at times. In the middle of showing Iri her latest enchanted artifact contraption (It's a falcon engine, you know! - "... A Falcon engine?" The warden was experiencing an entirely new mix of feelings, somewhere between stark amazement at the young girl's accomplishments, and horror at the experiments she was attempting unsupervised.

Though she didn't know it, the feeling was not unlike the one encountered by parents when their 12 year old son informs them that they have built a working nuclear reactor in the basement. - ) she felt a strange, familiar tug on her soul. Her true name had changed since that day, but she wouldn't forget what a Fae's voice felt like.

"Rrr..." Rachel hissed under her breath, darting for the window, and peered out to see-... Sam? With Riley, apparrently, and riding barded steeds. "Oh dear. It's more serious than I believed." Reaching reflexively across the table, her hand passes over the golden handle of another project and hovers for a moment, "Mmm, no... You're not ready yet." Then passes over it to seize her familiar optical sapphire rod. "C'mon Iri! Let's meet my friends!"

"What?" The warden blinked, shaking off the mounting feeling of horror, and walked over to the window to see what was causing all the commotion. "... Rachel, what- Where did she go?"

Rachel bounds downstairs, energized with a newfound sense of adventure as she pops the front door open and walks outside, holding her hands out in the universal sign language for 'what the hell?'. "Uh, Sam? What... What's going on?"

Upstairs, Iri skidded out of the door and dashed for the stairs. How the hell did that child have such a turn of speed?

Pulling up to the front door, Ares prances artfully in place while Sam places a hand over his heart. His eyes sparked with mirth. "Wizard Rachel! You must come with us!"

"The city needs you!" Reaching down with his free hand, he hauls the mini-wizard into the saddle in front of him. No longer projecting his voice to the city at large, he whispers to the two women. "Hold tight, now."

Keeping one arm securely around Rachel, he draws the 'sword' from its scabbard and holds it aloft. At the signal, both horses reared, whinnying as they turned in place to face back down the drive. Their shod hooves made a delightful clatter as they raced onward to freedom.

Riley was still holding on tightly, but with the rearing she leaned forward and practically hugged the horse's neck in a panic. Another hiss from her teeth later and she recovered her act, riding alongside the other two in a not-quite graceful manner.

Vampires are not always perfect, as Anne Rice would lead you to believe.

"SorryIrigottagodutycalls!" Rachel shouted back houseward as Sam dramatically whisked her off into the sunset. She'd never really ridden a horse before, but between the saddle and the changeling's arm, she had little trouble keeping her balance.

The warden-turned-babysitter burst out of the front doors just in time to see Sam's horses disappearing around the corner at the end of the drive, galloping hooves racing away. "Hey!"

Iri was not a novice. As a trained and somewhat professional Warden, she'd seen her fair share of action, and she wasn't about to be left gaping at her escaping charge, no matter how ridiculous said escape was. Still, she couldn't quite stop herself from whispering "What the fuck..."

Then she was moving, darting back inside the house and grabbing the rolled up bundle she'd left just inside the door the day before...

Sam sheathed the sword once they were out of sight of the house, loosening his hold on Rachel once the weapon was safely away. The horses galloped on for a time, sweating under the heavy barding - not to mention poor Ares carrying double. His truck with its attached horse trailer wasn't too much farther, but...

Feeling a measure of pity for them, the changeling slowed the laboring horses to a walk before swinging himself out of the saddle. Taking long strides between the wall of white horseflesh, Sam peered up at the miniature maiden. "Who were you talking to back there, Rachel?"

While Sam and Rachel chatted, Riley enjoyed the slower pace and smoothed out her dress. She pats Mars on the neck. "Tell no one about this." She had handed Sam back the reins a few moments ago and felt safer with him in control.

Rachel waits for Sam to fully dismount before sliding over the saddle herself and daintily hopping to the ground, sparing Ares the awkwardness of attempting to dismount at the same time. She dusts herself off with no hurry, and then looks up, "Oh, that? Well, my Dad's out with some other wardens protecting Europe from vampires or something, so he left one of them here to watch me. Her name's Iri, she's pretty cool."

An unreadable expression crosses Sam's face at the word. "Wardens." He looks across at Rachel, who characteristically looks unconcerned at the idea. "Watching you?" A momentary silence decends as he thinks, wondering what to do with this development. Jim and Seph should be safe enough, but he and Riley - especially Riley - would find no solace in the White Council's sight.

She peers into the distance back the way they came, and shrugs, "I'm sure she'll catch up or something. I was gonna show her the old Riverside, but then you guys showed up. Hi Riley!" Rachel waves, "So... What's up?"

Riley dismounts in the way you would expect-clumsily even with assistance, and offers a wave back to Rachel. "Hey Rach." Dusting herself off, she headed for the front of the trailer. Opening the door she hops into the driver's seat and remembers that Sam has the keys. Still, better in a seat than on a horse.

He closed his eyes, and when they opened again they were filled with that same golden mirth he displayed in the driveway. "Ah. We're going to see Jim at the hospital." He unlocked the padlock on the back of the horse trailer with one hand, the other firmly grasping two sets of reins. "Riley, there's two bags of treats-" Two pairs of ears swivelled forward at the word, "- on the passenger seat, if you'll get that for me."

The vampire happily complies, snatching the bag from its resting place and rounding the corner to toss Sam the bag. "Keys Please!" Knowing they were in a hurry, she opened her palm for the other half of the trade so she could get the truck started.

Tossing Riley the keys and feeling uncomfortably exposed on the still city street, Sam hurried to sequester the horses - there was no chance the Warden Watchdog was going to dally about finding her charge, and Sam wanted the animals out of any line of fire.

"Uh, something wrong, Sam?" Rachel looked confused at the taller man's concern for a bit, before it dawned on her, "Oooh, right. Um, I guess I could-" She peers at the truck as corners the back, hopping over the trailer tounge to find the passenger door, "On second thought, that's probably a bad idea. So is Jim still hurt?" Veiling the truck might, well, break it. Sure, they'd be invisible, but they wouldn't be getting anywhere. She hops in and buckles herself up. With any luck, Riley was a better driver than Jim was.

The engine roars to life with Riley in the driver's seat! She probably isn't as insane of a driver as Jim is, but who knows? "Guess so, I haven't seen him yet."

"His burns are still pretty severe." The changeling finished stowing the horses' barding, though he kept on the knight's surcoat. It wasn't any additional protection, but the figure he cut in it was spectacular.

A dull roar began to fill the street...

Sam jumps into the bed of the truck, thumping the roof of the cab twice in the international signal for "step on it". His maul rested comfortingly in his lap as he watched their retreat.

Riley needed no other encouragement, accellerating at a controlled pace to as fast as she could manage. She gives Rachel a glance and, seemingly satisfied, concentrates on getting them out of there as quickly as possible. "I don't suppose the horses are going to bust me for speeding."

As Riley began to pull away, a motorbike turned onto the street. Well, skidded, you can't really 'turn' at the speed that thing was going at. Its rider was a young looking woman with long brown hair tied back in a pony tail, wearing a somewhat hastily donned leather jacket, dark shades, and a rather unhappy looking frown. At some point she'd strapped the long thin bundle she'd grabbed from the house across her back.

She was gaining.

Rachel winced as Sam mentioned Jim's burns still being severe, then idly peered at the passenger side mirror, "Um... Riley? Uh. Look behind us?" Rachel pointed with a tone that was somewhat between childish fear (Of being say, grounded again) and disbelief. "That's bad, isn't it?"

Riley glances at the rearview mirror. "Yup, that's bad, kid. Your babysitter?" She didn't wait for a reply and tapped the nearby GPS (we have those, right?) to reroute their path. A neutral robotic voice piped up, "Turn right in half a mile." The vampiress shoots a glare at the machine. Yelling into the truckbed, Riley pushes down on the gas pedal a little more than she probably should, "Got any ideas before I make a damn turn at this speed?"

"Yeah, that's her. I guess that's either her staff or sword on her back, 'cause I didn't see either of them yet." Rachel replied, pulling her seatbelt taut and leaning back agaisnt the seat.

Sam opens the back window, poking his head inside out of the wind. "Can you hex the bike without killing her or my truck?"

"Um, I donno... It'll break her bike, and she might spin out... I kinda don't wanna make her mad, you know?" Rachel cringed defensively, "I mean, I'm in enough trouble as it is..."

"Right turn in a quarter mile."

Sam sighs. "Alright, alright."

"Riley, make the turn, but be gentle if you can." He withdraws from the window, crossing the moving bed of the truck with ease. White surcoat blowing in the breeze, the fae strikes a pose with one foot planted on the tailgate, the rising sun settling on his shoulders like a halo.

He set himself for a moment, reaching within to that nest of wildness and growth that now made up part of his soul. He bent it to his will - and the asphalt just behind the horse trailer cracked and buckled, tall, thick green strands of vines escaping quickly upwards from their prison toward that life-giving sun.

The new life formed only the thinnest of walls between them and their pursuer - but Sam hoped it would keep them out of sight long enough to make the turn - maybe even force her to take a new route.

The wall of vines shrouded the road, and separated the group's view of the closing warden for a moment - but only for a moment. Then it shredded apart in a blast of air, leaving a few weakly waving vines and a large crack in the pavement as the biker sped through the gap and zipped after the trailer towing truck as it made the turn.

There was an odd screech as the bike suddenly began to slow, skidding to a halt - coupled with the rider suddenly mounting the thing to stand upright and leaping...

The momentum carried it a lot farther than it should have - a spell? - And she landed on top of the horse paddock, one hand grasping the roof for balance. It was hard to tell under those black shades, but the angry look she was shooting at Sam could not have been a good thing. Slowly, she reached her free hand over her shoulder, and pulled a silvery, very sharp looking sword out of the bundle on her back...

Sam huffs, maul still pointedly at his side. "Drawn steel? And without even so much as a challenge."

"What?!" Iri yelled down. It was kind of hard to hear what people were saying at this speed. At least it was when you were on top of a car. Trailer. Thing.

He sighed and held out his free hand, a gesture of peace - and assistance for the Warden's balance if necessary. He raised his voice. "You may as well come inside."

Iri frowned, but seemed to take the gesture as it was intended. She pulled herself forward and dropped down into the trailer of the truck, sword still in hand. "Where's the kid."

"It's a little early for drawn weapons, wouldn't you say?" Sam leaned against the cab, blocking the view into the window.

"You're the one who brough magic into this, changling," she replied calmly, her sword twirling lightly in her hand. "Where is she?" Her tone was becoming more insistant.

"I just redecorated the street a little. The poor thing looked so drab, you know? I thought a little color might be just the thing." He huffed. "I didn't know you were with the housing association."

Ding! "Please turn left now." Ding Ding!
The truck driver was happy to comply, trying not to freak out about whatever the fuck was going on back there.

"..." Iri huffed out a sigh of irritation, and raised her hand to her face, pulling her glasses down and looking Sam in the eye directly.

He met her gaze readily, his golden eyes wide and inviting. He had nothing to hide, especially not from this Warden, but the question was... did she?

A moment later, she quirked an eyebrow, and pushed her shades back up, apparently watching him to see his reaction. She didn't lower her blade, but she did shift into a less offensive stance. "You've kidnapped the child I'm supposed to protect. You're in league with a thrall of the red court, at first glance. You seem to have some semblance of honour, but your kind and mine have different ways of viewing things like that. Still, I'll ask you one last time, where is Rachel?"

Sam reeled, momentarily shocked out of his relaxed demeanor. He blinked once, languidly lidding his eyes as if against a suddenly too-bright day. So that is what Soulgaze was like. No wonder Rachel didn't go around staring people in the face all the time. It didn't, however, keep him from listening with some bemusement to the Warden's increasingly clipped speech.

He didn't shift away from the cab, but he did wave a hand at the irate woman. It was difficult to tell if the gesture was meant to be dismissive or placating. "No one has been kidnapped, I am in league with no Red thralls, and your kind and mine are the same." He smiles, an easygoing grin. "I have a soul, and free will, as do you! That's as human as you can get."

"If that were true, your eyes would not be yellow. You've not chosen which camp you belong to, and that in itself is a choice, if not the most important one. Don't think to call yourself human until that day - it demeans the term." Her words weren't as harsh as they could have been though. "As for the charge of kidnapping, you plucked a young girl from her home without asking her parent or guardian. Even by mortal standards, you've commited a crime. By white council standards, you've taken the child of a wizard far too young to have full defenses against such things as fae domination, and done so in the company of a being bitten by the vampire faction we are currently at war with. Were I-"

"Were you any more boring I'd have tossed you out of my truck by now." He holds up a hand to stem the flow of words. Gods but she could talk the ear off of anything, is that how she got this sorry posting? "If you'd just-"

"Well then." The truck's engine coughs and dies, a whisp of smoke rising from the engine box. "So be it." She falls into a proper stance, ready to attack.

He doesn't move, though his voice softens. "If you'd looked anywhere but at me with those judging-"

"??????." A few moments later, Sam's head stopped spinning enough to find himself lying flat out on a low roof top above the street. In the truck, Iri lowered her sword and blew a stray hair out of her face. Glancing at the two in the cab, she shrugged. "He'll be fine. I can tell he has a thick skull. Rachel, a word?"

Riley mutters with a defeated glare to the warden, "Just find out what she did to Sam, Kid. You can see James another day if it comes to that."

And fade to black...