Innocent Lost Plot Short & Sweet

[Seryna]

A man who walks along the edge of the courts does not pause to look over the snack stand or the game in play. He moves towards the group of teenagers who are speaking underneath the trees. In a darkened area of the school grounds. As he moves, the short figure in the jacket turns away and moves towards the parking lot. The figure is moving at a brisk walk.
What do you do?

[Verity Carmen]

Crunch time I need to make a choice. One coming from the other going to. The parking lot seems to be the place to be.

With that in mind, Verity will move to follow the shorter figure as they head away, tailing him from a reasonable distance of about fifteen feet, phone out in her left hand, her right has deposited the open packet into the same pocket as the closed one and currently holds the canister of pepper inside it's pocket of her jacket ready to pull it out if this goes nasty. And If I'm wrong well fingers crossed the other one will come back this way.

[Seryna]

The figure moves at a brisk walk. They appear to be hurrying. No notice is taken with the vehicles. The person cuts a straight line across the parking lot. The shadows would quickly hide this person to the average mortal.
Within a few moments, the person is leaving the school parking lot. They forego the sidewalk running alongside the road and walk in the rough farther from the road. In the shadows. The person walks East, heading away from the gas stations and fast-food restaurants. This is a brief stretch of buildings in development and construction sites. A place where no one is around for the moment.

If trying to remain undetected, make a Stealth roll with a +1 modifier

[Verity Carmen]

Pursuit now meant leaving the carpark, the school and her stuff stored in her minivan, her minivan itself, her means of escape if needed. But the behaviour marks this one out as suspicious. Intuition tells her even if this one is not related to what is going, even if she has made a mistake something is at play here. She commits hoping that following this short suspicious stranger will result in learning something useful.

Verity will attempt to keep up unseen.

Stay unseen 2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-09 16:48:00	Verity Carmen rolls 3 to Stay undetected dex 3 stealth -1 (untrained) +1 (10 Again)	6, 10, 4, 9	2 successes

[Seryna]

The hooded head turns towards Verity slightly. Yet the foot steps slow as it looks down hill, into the inky black darkness. Something or someone there has attracted this stranger's attention. It concerns them more than Verity, if Verity's presence was registered.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-15 14:47:11	Storyteller rolls 5 to Awareness (10 Again)	2, 9, 10, 5, 3, 2	2 successes

The slowed gait signals detection. A skinny and quick moving figure darts out of the darkness and barrels into the short stranger. The stranger is knocked about a foot farther into the darkness and rolls to a crouching position facing the skinny figure.
"I told you," A woman's voice comes from the short, jacket wearing Stranger. "I don't have nothing for you. Move along."
"Oooh," That voice is insidious, insistant in a low pitched tone of voice as the taller man closed the distance to the stranger. "That isn't true, is it? I told you, I need a little bit to get me by. Go to your Master for me. You could. You're there walking, drinking from master's teat-"

The short stranger moves quickly. She darts forward and reaches upwards, pressing a hand to the man's mouth. Her right hand drops inside her jacket. Perhaps reaching for something?
The newcomer is a thin, nervous looking man that stands a foot taller than the Stranger. The word that is hissed by the short Stranger to the skinny man is too low pitched for Verity to hear. It is definitely an exhalation of anger.

"Do I have to get physical, Peter? I don't want to." That sounds sincere. "Yet if you risk my own, I will fucking end you." That has a sound of steel in the voice.
"Did I see you down at Cedar Grove park this morning?"

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-15 14:54:18	Storyteller rolls 5 to Restraining speech (10 Again)	10, 10, 5, 7, 4, 8, 7	3 successes

[Verity Carmen]

I'm usually needling this kind of information out of people who witness this stuff, not the one doing the watching. Clearly something was going down and Verity trusting this show wouldn't be put on if her presence was known chooses to keep to her spot still and quiet to let this play out and glean what she can from these two.

[Seryna]

The grasp on his mouth is removed.
"I asked a question."
"You know I don't want to do this." The man's voice is cajooling.
"Then don't." Her voice is hard. Unyielding.
"Yeah. Yeah, is that what you want to hear?" His voice cracks.
"There were two teen-"
"I didn't! I didn't do that, I couldn't. You know that."

She recoils away from him, staring into his eyes. The darkness is a barrier to some, yet Verity was able to see. What does Verity do?

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-22 13:54:03	Storyteller rolls 5 to Perception (10 Again)	3, 7, 6, 6, 6	failure

[Verity Carmen]

Thoughts whirl through her mind as she remains corpse still. Listening.

Need something to get by. Drinking from. A master. This morning. that doesn't add up to what I thought.

She thinks this Peter could have? Seems they don't know? wrong trail? then what is this?

Either way risking revealing herself by moving seems dangerous and they are currently on the topic of interest. For a little longer she stays still. Ultimately trying to glean as much as she can about these two so when they split she can make a decision about who to pursue if either. Hand in her jacket pocket still clutches the canister of pepper spray the longer she stays the risker it becomes and these two are ready to threaten violence towards each other who knows what that would mean if she was discovered.

[Seryna]

The moment stretches. The silence seems to hang heavy in the night air as the two strangers stare at one another.
"You know what you are doing is dangerous." The woman says heavily. "Even the way that you came at me-"
"I know, I'm sorry-"
"If you're sorry, then you need to stop." There is true emotion put on that last word.

The silence returns. The man shuffles his feet and looks at the ground. The woman stares at him for a long moment. Finally, she speaks and the steel remains in her voice.
"There are two dead people found where you admit to being. What you are doing is not working. It could be actively pulling attention.
And the kids-" Emotion touches her voice and she stops speaking.
The man seems to be touched by an electric spark and jerks, moving away from the woman.
"I can't, Adair."
"This life of ours, we don't have many choices, Peter,"
He cuts her off. "What you are sayin, ain't no choice for me, Adair! You didn't get no choice in this! But you are trying to chain me to-"
"I am trying to help you, diety damn it. And you're so strung out, you can't even see it. Who was at the park with you this morning?"
"One of the pretty, strong ones. I was making a strong case for myself, when I realize I can smell it. He'd been using a car and looked like he was just chilling, so I didn't see them at first. He had been drinking when I came up on him.
Adair, I swear, I did not see them.
But he was pretty, blonde and had already pulled two teens to him in the car. He looked real young. Like the same age as the people in the car. So I thought if he got offended, I could take him.
But when I asked him to give me a drink, he snarled. And the guy looked scared, and the - the - strong guy, he just ended them."

The woman looks shocked. The man is now shaking and starts looking around. He looks hunted.

[Verity Carmen]

Short, jacket, female, Adair. More with it.

Skinny, quick, male, Peter. Strung out.

and ... jackpot.

Blond, pretty, strong, male, high school aged by looks. Could be describing a Daeva? but in the morning? regardless willing and capable of murder with no provocation.

Smell it? the car? the guy?

Drinking. That would fit. Unless he means booze?

deity dam it? no specifics?

One of the kids was scared? not majesty at work then.

Verity has a lot to think about. For each puzzle piece that she had picked up another question took its place. But she had a description of the killer and more the inkling he was either a highly experienced killer or more then appearances would lead but that issue of the morning? it was vexxing.

And the only person who had that information was this Peter.

Fuck it I'm a socialite not a spy.

In what is at best a very questionable decision Verity Slowly steps out from her hiding place relying on more then just her natural charm to stop her head being ripped clean off the moment she does so.

Awe (E-Suxx) 5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-04-23 12:24:51	Verity Carmen rolls 12 to Awe (Pres 5, expression 3, majesty 2) -1 (2 people) +3 wp (10 Again, WillPower)	5, 5, 3, 4, 3, 9, 8, 7, 8, 8, 7, 8	5 successes

The blood stirs the gift of her clan like it rarely does, the gift to Enthrall without dominating, to take the spotlight in a world of shadows, to the gift to play the game better then any kine could hope to dream. She just has to hope its enough to survive this.

''Hey. I think we can help each other.'' Musical tones smooth and pleasant, melodic and pleasing to the ear.