Patrolling the West

[Malcolm Green]

Green was pounding the streets. Sling bag bouncing over one shoulder, heavy boots crunching on tarmac, the big Elemental walked with a brooding look upon his face. It complemented his intimidating height and kept him isolated from the world, locked inside the quiet, cold, bubble of his strengthening Mantle. Today the Elemental was spending his time patrolling the limits of the Freehold.

This was his first patrol outside of the twisting confines of the Hedge: the Cottage was established as strongly as he could manage alone; and he was reluctant to make too many forays into the twisting paths and trods. His luck, he felt, was not strong among the Thorns. So Green had changed tack, focussing his efforts on the Freehold's limits (or at least, what he perceived the limits to be).

This sally was his first into Western Sacramento, across the river. He didn't know for certain if the Freehold had ever claimed this part of town, but true to his philosophy of keeping an eye to the horizon, he had struck out anyway. Given the Freehold's weakness, any scraps of information would be welcome, if not useful. So he walked, passing through the tangle of vacant blocks, houses, flats, and mixed light industry. He hadn't reached it yet, but he knew that at some point along his path, the urban landscape would give way to rural fields and for some strange reason, he had got it into his head that the long, lonely, roads would be somehow more prone to Gateways into the Hedge, presenting them with an ominous danger on their threshold.

Stupid idea, right? Yeah... has to be... Man, you are getting paranoid...

So it was that the mountain glumly followed the line of Sacramento Avenue. It wasn't like a long walk would do him any harm...

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-03-05 02:08:06		Green uses Kenning rolls 7 to Clarity 7 (10 Again)		6, 9, 8, 10, 10, 6, 5, 9, 9		6 successes
2014-03-05 02:07:18		Green canvasses the area rolls 4 to Perception (10 Again)		3, 2, 10, 7, 6		1 success

STs the rolls are provided if anyone wishes to drop something into his patrol

[Daniel Leto]

Daniel’s renewed search had brought him to the west of town. He kept an eye out for signs or sigils but so far they had managed to elude him. Instead he saw the husks of buildings and the pavement being overgrown by grass. The city seemed to die a little at its edges. However, if this was death to the city at least it was a kind one. Life sprung from the cracks in the asphalt where before was only a barren traffic-way. A thorny vine had managed to push its way out of the concrete next to a building and Daniel couldn’t help but stop to admire it for a second. It grew up the side of the desolate building, clinging to the cracks of the corpse of what was once a place where people had lived. Parts of it were green and others brown and some black from the pollution of the streets but it held on. However, in its desperation to grow it was slowly converting this dead shell into a verdant park.
From death comes new life. Daniel drew what small comfort he could from that and smiled.
A chill in the air made Daniel turn instinctively. An intimidating lumberjack figure was coming towards him. He automatically took a step back before regaining his composure and smiled.
”Hello,” he said uncertainly.

[Malcolm Green]

Green felt the pull of the Wyrd. He approached with a certain amount of caution, struggling to process his Kenning. He had never stretched out with his senses quite like this before, and never with such success. Being open to the nuances of the Wyrd this was was both exhilarating and uncomfortable, as if he were experiencing his first high. The mountain really hoped that using the Wyrd this way didn't have a come-down.

"Yeah... Uh... Hey. Um... What brings you out here on a day like this?" Green fumbled for words, a certain curiosity seeping into his voice as he began to recognise the Mantle the stranger wore.

[Daniel Leto]

“Looking for dead or lost civilizations,” he said casually and with a bit of humor, keeping his calm smile. The man towered over him. Daniel took a beat to think back to his previous conversation with the Lost of the area “Or, you know, a local club to join?” he said a bit more seriously, since he wasn’t sure how well the elemental might respond to humor.

“Daniel Leto,” he continued, holding out a hand. The darkling was pretty sure if the handshake was accepted he might very well find his forearm at the mercy of someone at least three times his size but hoped the show of courtesy would put the elemental at ease. “And what brings you here?”

[Malcolm Green]

Green loomed, pondering. Then he extended a meaty hand and grasped the other man's hand in welcome. It was simple action, yet it seemed to take forever, voyaging across great gulfs of time and meaning. A handshake between friendly strangers had so much more meaning for the Lost. The Elemental still wore carefully guarded suspicion as he spoke:

"Green. Name's Green... Won't find many clubs out this way, I think. There's a couple over the river in down town. That way, you know. Word to the wise - owned by the same holding company." He made an effort to craft a contemplative look to his face as he turned his attention to the warehouse. "As for what I'm doing out here? Umm... ah... looking for Lost civilisations?" His attempt at humour was forced.

Green tried not to loom. This time the situation didn't work in his favour.

[Daniel Leto]

It felt like the elemental’s hand engulfed Daniel’s in a slow, inevitable avalanche. Daniel became keenly aware that the man’s tone held distrust and that he stood what seemed like several feet above him. Green’s height also meant the attempt at a reciprocal joke had even farther to fall flat than normal.

Despite all this, Daniel’s smile broadened and he chuckled with only the barest hint of nervousness. A thin coat of frost formed, as the mist of Daniel’s Mantle froze upon meeting the cold mountain air of his fellow Winter courtier. It was oddly comforting to feel the delicate ice form. Familiar even.

“I haven’t had much luck finding anything downtown, unfortunately.” He glanced around at the fringes of the city around them, making sure there was no one around. The nearest soul was half a block down and pushing a shopping cart that was clattering very noisily. Even so, he lowered his voice. “Maybe I could help you.” He understood why the Lost had trouble trusting strangers. Hell, he understood why Lost would have trouble trusting even those familiar to them. At some point though, you had to prove the world wasn’t out to get them. I can help you with your task, if you'd accept my assistance. I can actually watch for the dead, if that’s useful.”

He beamed hopefully.

[Malcolm Green]

Green looked down carefully.

"Hum. Knew another who was kinda like that. He left." He made a considering kind of face; it took the Elemental a bit of effort to pull off. "Okay. So lets poke around here a bit. Eyes to the horizon, right? In return I can get you to our Court house. You should be able to find the other clubs more easily, then."

He nodded - as much to himself as Daniel: a simple, slow action.

"So... did you find anything? Um... Yeah... May as well ask. So far I haven't come up with anything strange out this way. Total blank."

STs and Daniel Leto is it worth making a pledge out of this (for the scene) or just parse it and carry on?

[Daniel Leto]

OOC

I'm good proceeding without formal pledge.

“Nothing so far, but a second look might reveal more.” He stepped into the shadow of the building, out of sight of the sun. After a few seconds the mist of his Mantle swirled in front of his eyes, obscuring them for a short time. Behind the fog where his eyes were, a dark witchlight glowed briefly. Then the vapors swirled again and the contract was complete.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-03-16 20:30:31		Daniel Leto rolls 2 to Ghostly Presence catch met (Pres2+Wyrd1-Seeming curse1) (10 Again)		4, 6		failure

“Might have missed something the first time around.”

He considered for a moment. “There has been plenty of graffiti. Probably some of it might be from gangs but I don’t know the local area enough to say for sure.”

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-03-16 20:33:26		Daniel Leto rolls 4 to Remember any gang signs? (Int2+Street2+Eidetic2-unfamiliar2) (10 Again)		3, 1, 3, 7		failure

ST Note

We usually prefer one Instant Action roll per post to allow the ST and other characters to react to the poster's failure. Also keep in mind that Seeming Curses do not affect Contract dice pools and re-rolling a failed action incurs a -1 penalty per re-try. Looking at the graffiti could be Reflexive, but re-trying the Contract should wait until your next post.

[Malcolm Green]

"Huh?" Green followed the smaller man, leaning to one side as he strove to get a better look.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-03-17 04:22:23		Understand tags rolls 4 to Intelligence + Streetwise (10 Again)		10, 7, 1, 2, 9		2 successes

[CyledyrWyllt]

Daniel doesn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary and while the graffiti means nothing to him, Green notices a few tags that mark this as disputed territory between the rival West Side gangs, the "Dunnies" and the "38's". However, the mountain man also notices that none of the tags seem very recent.