It seems that everybody's given up on Detroit, calling it the Dead City. But those who know about the magic that has taken root in Detroit know better- and it scares them. There are worse things in this world than a dying city...but hope remains, on the shoulders of some extraordinary individuals. A young man struggles with the horrors he's seen in the past and the responsibility he's been given. A woman is thrust into a conflict that she doesn't quite understand. A man of the law who tapped into the power of magic to bring criminals to justice awakens from an attempt on his life. A crusader bears an angelic sword in his quest to fight off the darkness. A mortal takes up his birthright and dares to hunt that which is unknown. A good man has a dark curse pushed upon him that alters his entire existence and forces him to be in conflict with himself and lashes out at the monsters he fears he'll become. These individuals are the last hope of Detroit, and together they must fight the forces that seek to claim the city for their own.

Warren-Prentis Historic District- Todd Maudlin's House

Todd Maudlin awoke to the sound of his door being opened. He swore under his breath and reached for his staff and baton. No time to find his ring, he had to move now. He crept downstairs, wondering just how in the name of all things wholesome somebody got past the threshold. He could hear quiet footsteps in the foyer as he tightened his grip on the driftwood staff.

A dark figure in a black hooded coat stood in the entryway, looking around the house- probably trying to figure out where Todd slept. Not gonna get the jump on me. thought Todd, holding out his staff. "Vapeur!"

There was a loud hiss as a concentrated jet of steam burst from the end of Todd's staff. The dark figure turned, their body language indicating surprise. Then a woman's voice cried out:

"Tutelare!"

The steam hit an invisible wall that suddenly formed before the figure, and the identity of the figure became obvious to Todd. The voice, the usage of gratuitous Italian for evocations? It could only be one person...

"Todd Layton Maudlin," said the figure sternly, "Is that any way to greet your mother? And why are you half-naked?"

Todd looked down and saw he was only wearing a pair of plaid boxer shorts. "I wasn't expecting my mother to break into my house and make me think I'm under attack." he replied. Todd's mother pulled down the hood, revealing her face- the blonde hair, the deep blue eyes that were nearly identical to Todd's, the hints of crows feet on her face. "Go get dressed, young man." said Angelica Maudlin. "You have company coming." Todd blinked. "Company? What company?" Angelica looked sad for a moment. "The last Paranet meeting spot was attacked. I had to find somewhere to organize a search."

"So you chose my house."

"Yes."

"Without my permission."

"Oh, don't get me started on the things you've done without my permission." scolded Angelica. "Fine, fine..." huffed Todd, sitting on the steps. "So what's this about a search?"

"A girl's dead." said Angelica. "That's sad, but why does it concern the supernatural community?" asked Todd. "She died two weeks ago, yet she was the one who attacked us...along with some friends."

Todd's blood went cold with fear. "Teeth of the dragon..." he hissed, running upstairs and putting his clothes on, along with the Warden cloak before coming back downstairs. Angelica looked surprised. "You didn't tell me you were promoted to Warden."

"I didn't want to talk about it." said Todd. "You sure she was dead when she attacked?" "As a doornail." answered Angelica. She looked at the grandfather clock that stood in the entry way. "They should be here soon..."

Todd sighed and let the wards on his house down. Next time, family wouldn't get through them without alerting him.

---

The invitations all said 'URGENT MEETING FOR DETROIT'S SUPERNATURAL COMMUNITY', then the address of Todd Maudlin's house at the meeting time, 11 PM.

(OOC: Have the characters show up at and introduce themselves to each other while they wait for Todd to let them in)

edited 23rd Dec '13 9:04:56 AM by fearjunkie

Liese stepped around a corner, looking at the printed out street-map she paid the clerk at the Internet Cafe for. Her Orders had been clear, meet up the local Warden ask him for a report on the current situation here and then report this back. Until the Wardens were absolutely sure they had found everything Wizard Peabody had contact to, inclusive the Councils Telephone Room, this was to be done by hand...or rather foot.

So this was the reason she was walking down a street in Detroit to meet up the local Warden, mainly thanks to her being simply unable t stay in the same room with the Traitor without starting to needle him about his atrocious German so she had apparently been spared his mind controlling paperwork. As her teacher had commented, it might however also be fully possible that the bureaucracy of the current German government simply had given her acquired immunity...

Rearranging the Bag's over her shoulder a bit for comfortably's sake, she turned around another corner and finally saw the the house in question. Finally she thought and walked up to the door and knocked.

edited 23rd Dec '13 9:48:07 AM by 3of4

"You can reply to this Message!"

Jacques took a brief moment to look at the crumpled-up note in his hand before putting it back into a jacket pocket and hefting his sports bag over his shoulder. He looked at the house from a distance for a moment. Anyone could have sent this message, after all. And what would the White Council want with a foreigner? Not just a foreigner in terms of their internal politics, but someone not even native to the city? It was worth investigating, but that did not mean he could freely discount the possibility of danger. His free hand absent-mindedly wrapped itself around the cross necklace he wore.

He raised an eyebrow. It seemed he was not the first person to arrive. He moved closer, announcing his presence so the other party would not be startled. There was no reason to start off on the wrong foot, after all.

"Bonjour," he said. "Are you here for the meeting as well?"

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.

Liese turned around and inspected the newcomer, tensing just a tiny bit. "Meeting?"

"You can reply to this Message!"

Jacques fetched the note out of his pocket, letting his shoulders slump ever so slightly in the process.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to startle you. I was referring to this meeting."

"Incidentally, I am Jacques Delacroix."

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.

A vintage Buick sped by the two of them, carrying yet another person to the meeting: John Charleys. He ground his teeth. This was a great way to wake up, really: clothes, gun, and a note telling him to meet with other members of the Supernatural at some decrepit house.

A trap if ever he saw one, so in that hour or so between his awakening and now he'd prepared a full revolver of incendiary rounds. If anyone tried anything funny, he could just burn the place down. Hopefully the uniform he wore would dissuade them. He parallel parked outside the house, strapped on his gun and adjusted his hat, and walked up to the door. He raised his fist to knock... and stopped. He took a few steps back, looking around the building, checking lines of visibility.

He took several more steps back and hung back at his car, waiting for someone else to open the door first. For now he could content himself with staring at the post-apocalyptic wasteland that was Detroit. City honestly hadn't changed much since he'd been out.

Weird leaned back against the alley wall, spitting out a gob of blood from his bitten tongue. The broad shoulder man turned, whipping the blood off of his hands and started to walk away. Weird turned, deciding that he was bored and needed some fun. "Your mother still owes me twenty bucks!" A moment or two later, Weird walked out of the alley, black eyed, broken nose, and split lip, a few bruises, he'd had worse...Still hurt like hell. Weird jumped at his pocket vibrated, pulling out his phone he looked at it. That meeting at whoever's house. Turning, he started to sprint, shoving through crows, vaulting over cars until he came to a house, taking out a cigarette, he attempted to light it only to discover, like almost always, it didn't work. Throwing the cigarette to the ground, he walked over to the doorframe, pulling out his electronic wizard sensor, essentially an Ipod he had stolen from someone. Letting the thing pretty much explode, he put it in his pockets. "So, Todd's having a party?" He asked, knowing the somewhat hostile nature between Wardens and Hunters, Hunters thought Warden had a stick up their ass, Warden though Hunters were idiots.

Good to be back

"You gonna open the door, bud?" John called out from his spot at the car. "It'd be mighty courteous of you."

He reached for his gun, all the same, keeping a steady eye on the guy. He was either in really good shape, or some form of Vampire. Or Fey. He could deal with a vamp, but he didn't bother to prepare a Circle Charge. Or Condensation. Fire would have to be the solution, if it came to that.

Weird turned, spitting some more blood out. "Why don't you get out of the damn car?" He walked over to the car, a scowl on his beaten face "Aw fuck. You." It was the asshole who arrested him a month ago. He spat some blood onto the hood of the car, both because his mouth was getting full of the stuff again, and he really hated the guy. "What the hell is one Of Detroit's finest doing here?"

edited 23rd Dec '13 8:52:35 PM by TroyandHawk

Good to be back

"I don't know myself." John climbed out of the car, keeping it between him and the guy. He squinted over at the criminal. "O'Connell, right? You have anything to do with that ambush those punks set up for me? You know, the one that put me in a coma a week ago, from which I woke up an hour ago, to find a note telling me to go here. I assume he'll explain what happened while I was out." He waved an arm vaguely at the city. "I didn't really see anyone on my way here. Saw graffiti saying Dead City on my way over. I take it that all of Detroit didn't just take a vacation?"

Weird pointed at his beat up face. "Yes. Clearly I am the dastardly bastard who got you threw in the Hospital. did you get my Get Well card?" Weird shrugged. "Dead city huh? Well, there's been more monsters popping up. Almost got killed last week by a Rawhide. But I dunno, this is a shitty city, and it looks like it's getting shittier."

Good to be back

Liese looked at the two...persons. "I assume you two are members of the local supernatural community?" she asked courteous, with a slight german accent.

"You can reply to this Message!"

Jacques gave the two a skeptical glance, then shrugged his shoulders. Deceiving appearances, and such. He smiled slightly at Liese's accent.

"Sounds like I am not the only foreigner."

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.

"Strangers in a strange land, apparently."

"You can reply to this Message!"

The door opened and Todd poked his head out. "Terribly sorry about the...abrupt nature of this meeting, I didn't know about it myself until five minutes ago."

Angelica, who headed the Detroit chapter of the Paranet, beckoned everyone in. Todd sighed, wishing he had a beer on hand. A police officer, another Warden, and...

...oh, swell.

It was "Weird" O'Connell, a man who lived up to his nickname. Todd knew him only by his reputation, and his reputation (at least among the White Council) was that he was a reckless S.O.B, kind of like that one crazy-ass wizard down in Chicago. He gave Weird a disapproving look before going into the living room to see his mother drawing a magic circle on the floor in chalk. "...please tell me you're not going to summon something in my living room." groaned Todd. "I'm setting up a projection field." answered Angelica. "It would be best to explain the situation with visual aid."

Todd sighed. "Carry on, then." There were a number of metal folding chairs already set up for everyone to sit in.

John walked straight past the Warden without a word and stepped inside, but remained standing. "Pass me the chalk when you're done, please, ma'am? I don't take kindly to standing in an enclosed space," he looked around the darkened house, "with any number of hidey-holes. A circle of protection is the least I could do."

Liese nodded to her fellow Warden and followed inside, politely saying."If this would be any form of ambush it is entirely possible it would involve firearms. A circle would not protect against those in any form." she told the Man, while taking out her Warden Cloak out of her bag and putting it on.

"Warden Maudlin? I am Warden Gärtner." she then introduced herself to her colleague.

edited 24th Dec '13 9:52:47 AM by 3of4

"You can reply to this Message!"

"That's true, Warden, but guns I can handle." John said back. "Anything too advanced that I can't dodge or survive would jam or explode on firing in the presence of so many magic users." He kept his hand out for the chalk.

"I think you are seriously overestimating the effect Wizards have on non-electronic mechanics." Liese said, shrugging. "Even stronger Wizards would need to focus on the weapon in case and invest considerable magic into purposefully breaking it."

Another shrug. "Unless the weapon is not properly maintained. A poorly treated weapon is more susceptible to it."

edited 24th Dec '13 10:24:38 AM by 3of4

"You can reply to this Message!"

judging by the look the Warden gave him, the Hunter already had high expectations for this meeting, Weird walked in, looking at the woman making a circle, he turned. "Hey, Todd, didn't know you got a girlfriend." He got himself a folding chair. "Out of curiosity, why the fuck did I get a letter? I thought the Wardens hated the Hunters." Granted, the wardens were stingy douchebags, but that was besides the point.

edited 24th Dec '13 1:39:51 PM by TroyandHawk

Good to be back

"The Americans keep...colorful guardians, certainly," Jacques remarked, as diplomatically as he could put it.

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.

Todd ignored the girlfriend remark, despite wanting to slap the Hunter. He instead gave Gartner a friendly smile. "Pleased to meet you." he said kindly.

Angelica tossed John a spare stick of chalk as per his request.

"In case you're wondering why you've been called here, allow me to explain. Last week, the members of Detroit's branch of the Paranet were attacked by a horde of zombies."

Angelica's magic circle flickered to life, and a blue-tinted image of walking corpses bursting in on the Paranet meeting hovered in the air. "I'm not sure who's responsible for the attack, but there is a lead."

The scene in the hovering image shifted to show a bald, stern-faced Caucasian male holding a small drum under his arm- the one who was giving the 'beat' necessary to keep the zombies under control. "This man here seemed to be leading the attack. However, his energy was not the same as the energy that had reanimated the corpses."

"So what you're saying is that this guy's just an officer for this army of darkness?" quipped Todd. "More or less." replied Angelica.

Liese looked at the man. "Necromancy required the use of a rhythmic sound, usually a drum, to act as a sympathic 'replacement' for the heartbeat. Without it the resurrected corpses cannot be controlled. Traditionally, most Necromancers employ a 'Drummer' to free themselves from doing that, to keep their own hands free so to speak." She explained, sounding like she simply recited what she had been taught.

She looked at Angelica. "Have you reported this to the Council proper?"

edited 30th Dec '13 10:32:33 AM by 3of4

"You can reply to this Message!"

"Hang on." John stood up from drawing his circle and fixed the Wardens with a glare. "Zombies? What the hell happened? I've been in the hospital, comatose, for a week. Before anything else, I need you to explain to me what made Detroit look even worse in the week I was out. I can certainly run that guy through the cops' computers, but I need to know the situation here."

"My guess," Jacques remarked drily, "would be that, in the interim, necromancers happened."

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.