Supernatural/Urban Fantasy Mercenaries/Private Eyes RPG

San Alvaro is one of the most up-and-coming cities in the world. Everyone dreams of visiting its unique, colorful architecture, beautiful beaches and advanced technology, or so Hollywood would have you believe. It really is beautiful, but people who live there will let you know more about the crowds, the high rent, the smug businessmen, the monster infestations, and the long, long lines at Characteristic Supply centers.

People forget how lucky they are that CS programs exist in the first place— only 30 years ago, vampires who required human blood, for instance, had to either beg for it or take it by force, when now it’s available for almost nothing by the liter. Things still aren’t perfect. Many resources (especially human flesh, which some species need to live) are hard to come by, it’s hard to make technology accessible when vastly different anatomy is extremely common, any sea creature with no land-based form is stuck underwater, away from the vast majority of the world— there are so many problems it seems impossible to solve them all. Still, the city gets a little better every day, and the generosity of everyone, government or civilian, involved in making it habitable for everyone is still pleasantly surprising even to San Alvareans who experience it up close.

But the world hasn’t become more altruistic as a whole. There are still people who take advantage of others just as much as you’d expect. People in the US government, whose unethical and illegal experimentation on rarer or more powerful species, started in the late 1800s, continues to this day. People like the many cult leaders that operate in the city, worshipping and frequently attempting to summon bloodthirsty gods. People like the gangs and career criminals who operate in San Alvaro, more hidden than they used to be, but still just as powerful and just as dangerous. As safe as the city seems from the outside, many of the low crime and fatality statistics come from corrupt reporting brought on by bribes or threats. The city is also home to some of the most high profile criminals in the world, with even international celebrities, billionaires, and politicians having connections there.

That makes it a lucrative environment for you. You’re employed by the relatively small but effective Cardinal agency, where the customer is your first priority. Your clients are typically criminals who want to hire someone to capture and turn in their rivals without going to the police, but you get other types of clients often enough, and the agency accepts almost anyone who can pay the price. Typically, you’re supposed to avoid breaking the law in a way that brings attention to yourself, but with this job, you can’t really help it.

Right now you’re all outdoors in a public park, meeting with one of the agency representatives, a human woman there to moderate and one of your customers, who also appears human at the moment, to discuss your strategy before you begin the mission.

“This is Julia Murakami,” your associate says, gesturing at her. The client’s not making eye contact with any of you, she looks like she doesn’t want to be there at all. “She’s informed us about the target you will be locating and capturing, and assured us her associates will be paying in full.”

“His name’s Michael. He’s an angel who kills people because he thinks it’s divine judgement. We only know this because he monologues, out loud, while he’s killing people. He only does one at a time, and lets everyone else escape, but he’s been after us for weeks now. We know he’s immune to guns and physical attacks, but we haven’t been able to try magic or other weapons. We haven’t been able to predict when or where he’s coming, yet.” She finally starts looking at all of you, as if challenging you to come up with something.

Edited by pyrounicorn on Mar 29th 2021 at 9:45:56 AM

My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone

Marin is leaning forward in her chair through the entire briefing, legs crossed and hands on her thighs. Despite being in human form for this, she still can't manage to look overly professional. She's far too interested, not detached enough, and she's still wearing a biking jacket and thick jeans instead of a suit or similar apparel. The young woman does have a notepad outo and is furiously scribbling in it, although that just makes her look like somebody at a college seminar and not a mercenary. "So, he's... he's killing people because it's divine judgement?"

The redhead scribbles something else down. "Have we tried, you know, talking to him? That might be a stupid question, since we know his motivations and everything, but have we really tried it? Maybe we can get another angel to talk to him or something. If he's this tough, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of trying to throw down with him. I'm sure I could throw fire at him and stuff, he's not a demon, but if he can tank gunshots I'm not confident fire is gonna do anything. We should exhaust everything else before we jump straight to 'try to fight the apparent avatar of god,' you know?"

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

"Has he expressed distaste for any specific parts of the modern world?" Tia asks quietly after a moment or three of consideration, slouched back in her chair with her rainjacket's hood up. "Perhaps he is 'judging' these people on what he perceives as their sinning."

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Richard listened attentively. This job promised to be more interesting than he had expected, at least they wouldn't be using his talent to apprehend some petty criminal. His curiousity roused, he couldn't help himself but ask a few questions. "May I have a list of the victims along with time of death? Surely there is some pattern to the killings. Is it clear what transgressions the angel is punishing?"

He really shouldn't pry any more, doubtless the agency's clients expected a degree of confidentiality but he could not help himself. "Why do you think he is targeting you? Why haven't you contacted the police about this, I don't see any reason why it would arouse any unwanted attention?"

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Mar 29th 2021 at 10:09:44 AM

Tia looks over at Richard apprehensively, sitting up straight and tugging her hood off. "Sir," she says, trying to maintain her quiet tone, "I can understand your misgivings, but I do not think it wise to cast suspicion upon our employers while we are speaking to them." She glances over at the client and the agency representative before returning her gaze to Richard and continuing to speak. "As has been suggested" - here she gestures to Marin - "perhaps it would be wiser to speak with this 'Michael' figure, and ask him directly about these matters, rather than possibly risking the client's confidentiality and our continued employment." She began to continue, but became suddenly aware that she had quite possibly spoken too freely and angered the man, and therefore elected to remain silent and on-guard for a reprisal.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Richard knew he probably shouldn't say anything more, but he was nothing if not prideful. It was beneath him to allow an oversized eel to talk to him in such a manner. "Are you actually suggesting that a homicidal archangel will be a better source of information than our employer?"

He turned back to their employer, he hoped he had not appeared too unprofessional "Please forgive me, I have, in my zeal, overstepped the standards for confidentiality. What I meant to say is that I would appreciate any further information on the killings that you can provide, it will be difficult to detain the angel if we cannot predict his actions."

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Mar 29th 2021 at 1:18:52 PM

Public Park

---

"Are we sure he's an angel?" Khulan asked. She'd made sure to lower her shades to give Julia a smile when the girl finally looked up, but she was talking to the others. Just so they didn't rely too much on what the client was sure she saw. They were all sure. When they weren't lying to you. The dramatic angel that killed with all the efficiency of a guy with a spoon did not quite sound right.
Though she listened, Khulan let the others take the lead with questions while she focused on the client's responses. Partly to scrutinize Julia better. Partly because she was currently practicing the Rumba. Hey, it was the park. Cardinal had invited them out and she took advantage. Khulan hadn't even tried to look professional for the occasion. She was dressed for jogging and had spots of mud flaking off her from when she was laying in the grass.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

"Hey, don't snap at her like that." Marin snorts softly, smoke curling from her nostrils for a moment. "It's rude. And besides, if he's the kind of murderer to monologue, I'm willing to bet my feathers he'll let something slip, if he doesn't just... tell us outright. I'm not saying we shouldn't get our clients information, within the limits of confidentiality," she adds diplomatically, "but talking to him can't really hurt. Humans are great and all, but they don't really have perspective when it comes to a lot of supernaturals."

She shifts in her chair. "With big things like dragons and cloud giants, it's usually better to find out what they want and use that to get them to go away. Trying to just beat him up is suicide. If he's after everyone of a particular heritage, something as simple as a last name change could get him to fly off and go bother somebody else, problem solved."

"And that's a good question," she adds, nodding at Khulan. "Wouldn't be the first thing humans have mistaken for something else with wings."

Edited by Cwest5538 on Mar 29th 2021 at 11:38:36 AM

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Julia answers your questions in order.

"I don't think you can talk him out of it, if that’s what you’re asking. If you want to try, go ahead, but he doesn’t seem the type to listen to your argument. Especially if he thinks any of you are sinners. I was there one time, and I heard stories about him, too. He walks in, answers anything you ask him, but doesn’t stop or slow down. When I was there, he went straight for… an older accomplice, someone I didn’t really know. Put his hands on his face, burned him alive. He just left after that. We couldn’t track him down.”

She frowned at Richard’s question. “We don’t exactly know why, no. No one thought to ask him yet. We were mostly just surprised when he showed up. He’s only gone after more experienced members. People with 20, 30 years of experience. Probably have sinned as much as he says."

“Don’t worry about it. I can’t give you much,” she says. She looks pretty young to be involved in crime, like an older teenager just out of high school. At least that means she probably doesn’t have a high standard for professionalism. “Confidentiality, you know? The less you know about who we are, the better. Though I can say we have very, very good reasons not to get the police involved. So far, he’s gone after 3 victims, with no patterns other than their history so far.” She leans back in her chair.

“Might not be an angel. He acts like one, or at least he thinks he is. Physically, he looks pretty standard ‘human with wings’. Could be an illusion, though, I’ve met angels with multiple forms.”

“Personally, I don’t care what you do, but at least do it in one. Don’t want to keep losing people while you try to figure out what to do, you know.”

The company representative adjusts her glasses. “We can compensate you for any damages you may suffer as a result of our services, but that’s not included in the contract you signed. We can’t promise when an assignment will be completed.”

“Just a personal suggestion,” says Julia. She’s smiling a little more now, with pretty sharp teeth for a human.

My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone

"So you guys are like the mafia?" Marin doesn't say it like a condemnation- she looks more interested than anything. "Well, that's good to know." She nods. "The thing is, knowing that, I'm more inclined to think talking to him is the right approach here. No offense, but like you said I'm sure you've all done some very terrible things." She waves a hand, a few feathers sprouting along her arm. "So he's not doing this for no reason. He's clearly on some kinda divine crusade, because he's murdering terrible people. And you know, the murder isn't great," she adds, "but he's got an actual motivation. Everything, even mindless demons, has a motivation."

"And knowing his motivation means we might be able to talk him out of it. Figure out what he wants, get more in-depth information on why exactly he's doing this. If it's just a general crusade against evil, we're all out of luck and it's time to get in a scrap with him, but if he's pissed because you guys don't repent enough, we can solve it without further violence. Your weird mafia organization going to church every Sunday is probably a small price to pay for not being murdered by an immortal avatar of the divine, and it'll be a lot easier on everyone than destroying downtown because we threw down with him." She conjures a small flame in the palm of her hand and plays with it a bit, twisting it into various shapes. "I'm not going to shy away from a fight, but if we go head to head with him, it's going to have collateral."

She more or less ignores said 'personal suggestion.' Work like this can't really be rushed. Besides, that's a company problem, not a field agent problem.

Edited by Cwest5538 on Mar 30th 2021 at 12:17:44 PM

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Marin really seemed very insistent on talking to Michael, a policy Richard really did not think advisable. It might not pose much danger to him, but it would put their clients in danger, whilst they waited for the angel to show his face again. "I think that talking directly to the angel will not be a very efficient course of action, we don't know when he is going to attack next, and there will almost certainly be casualties when he does so. It would be better to first aquire some information through more reliable channels. I can summon a lesser angel and ask it what it knows of the matter at hand. I know you are hesitant to offer more information, but would you at least mind telling me the dates of the attacks and the means of death?"

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Mar 30th 2021 at 2:32:24 PM

"Perhaps you have forgotten, sir, that we are at least supposed to work together," Tia says to Richard, struggling to keep her voice calm and quiet. "Even if you believe otherwise, I ask you give the beliefs of the rest of us some consideration. Perhaps we can try both ways if we split into two groups - one group including you stays here to speak with the angel you summon, one group including the phoenix gathers information the mundane way and goes to speak with this Michael when he appears?" This overzealous, self-centered random-human-looking guy dismissing her earlier had wounded her pride, and she felt it reasonable to respond in kind while also trying to get in on the planning.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Khulan

---

Khulan cackled at Marin calling out their client as Mafia so openly. "I hate to contradict you, but a vengeful spirit is just as good at resisting gunfire. Though one probably couldn't burn a guy like that... Either way, we have time. We can chat with our lesser angel and wait till someone calls screaming for help. Or research while we listen to the others chat. We haven't gotten anything that'll point us right at Julia's friend Feathers. We're not going anywhere right now."
Khulan stood still for once, stretching during a short pause between aerobics. "I know a mid-century style hotel with silk sheets and a great tea if you want to summon your angel in comfort." Khulan knew full well how dismissive her words seemed of Julia's danger but the girl was giving them little to go on and giving info very grudgingly. If the plain fact that they had to do more legwork like this didn't light a fire under Julia's derriere to cough up more info and maybe answer Richard then the group may as well take their own sweet time.
"If you must hunt now though," Khulan inhaled and scratched her head. "I can work on tracking an angel but just an angel out of however many are around." Narrowing it down would be the fun part. Well, that and the fact that she'd be stalking angels. That was breaking new ground.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Julia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at getting called Mafia. Twice. "Fine. The dates were... yesterday was the most recent, one the Tuesday before that, and one the Friday before that. Means of death all the same, burned alive after a touch. Whole body goes up in flames. The good news is we're on lookout for an angel matching his description, and he won't catch us that off guard again. If nothing else we can try to outrun him. The bad part is like you said, we have no leads. But I can take you to the last murder scene if you can track him from there." The last sentence she says nodding at Khulan, but with a tone of a complete lack of faith in your abilities. It probably wasn't her idea to hire the agency. "Maybe summoning another angel is a good idea, 'cause he's pretty much impossible to predict at the moment."

My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone

Marin

The phoenix perks up a bit at Tia supporting her, looking grateful. Khulan laughing gets an interested look- she doesn't know anyone here particularly well, but she wouldn't mind being friends with her coworkers. "I wouldn't mind splitting up, if that was what was necessary."

She also looks positively delighted at the mention of burning alive. Somehow. "Well, I suppose I'll be fine around him, then. My fire immunity extends pretty far, so unless this is some kind of reality destroying fire, I can tank it." She raises a hand, looking over at Julia. "Have the mafia members attacked by Feathers-" she's stealing the nickname shamelessly, that was a good one- "reported any other abilities? Aside from what sounds like flight and teleportation. Super strength and stuff?"

"If his only attack is the fire, me and the-" she coughs a bit, glancing at Khulan- "-human can probably pin him down for a little bit, or otherwise engage him physically. If my fire can't hurt him, well, his fire still can't hurt me, and unless he's super strong or something I can probably shift and throw him around, even if it won't actually hurt him. Worst comes to worst when he shows up if he's strong enough to hurt me, I could probably fly you guys out of there."

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Angel Hunt - Khulan

---

Julia's people are going to keep a lookout for the thing that can appear and vanish at will are they? Khulan stared into Julia's eyes. The girl had sounded so confident when she said that, and looking out for a teleporter wasn't impossible but that wasn't something you just improvised either. Feathers would catch them off guard. He'd demonstrated that several times. Khulan tilted her head thinking for a moment to recall information that wasn't hope-crushing. She pointed at Richard. "Magic Man might give you some tips on repelling angels. In the meantime though you have to stay in groups and stay on the move. Take Marin's advice and take a vacation if you must."
"We'll pin him down when he find him though," Khulan gave Marin a wink. Though they'd have to talk about that. Feathers's victims may have burst into flames as they died, but that didn't mean he was burning them. Smiting could look like that and that didn't tickle. Okay, maybe it is an angel.
"And I'd appreciate if you took us to the site of the last murder." Khulan dug a clump of dirt and grass out of the ground and held it to her ear while lovingly stroking it. "I'll put my ear to the ground and the lovely earth will come through for me. If it doesn't the first time, I'll sweet talk it. Never fails."

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

"Very well," Tia says, resigning herself to the outcome. She would have preferred to go out and investigate, but she wasn't about to rock the boat now. "So, we are decided in how to complete this mission? You two" - she nods at Marin and Khulan - "will investigate the scene of the latest murder, and the summoner and I shall stay here while he converses with an angel." She slouches back into her chair, pulls her rainjacket's hood up, and crosses her arms, pointedly not looking in Richard's direction.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Julia grimaces when Khulan talks about her tracking techniques, not even trying to hide it.

"Great. Let's get out of here." The chair makes an awful screeching sound against the cement ground as Julia stands up.

“Oh, as for his other powers, nothing else that I can remember. We don’t even know for sure he can teleport, though that explains why he was able to get away. Actually… Unless his attack is paralyzing somehow, he might be strong. Able to hold people in place, at least. Not just humans, one person he attacked was a mid-range werewolf.”

“I’ll tell everyone what you said about staying on the move, but can’t guarantee they’ll listen.” She sends a text on her cell phone. “Won't like putting business on hold, you know?”

My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone

Angel Hunt - Marin

"You could come with us, Miss Tia," Marin says primly. "I doubt that Richard will need backup summoning an angel. He seems rather competent. And I'm sure we would enjoy your company, even if you aren't used to investigations."

She doesn't really hide her distaste for leaving the leviathan alone with the mage. There was no way that would end well. He'd end up eaten or drowned or he'd snipe at her the entire time- best to try to take her along, really.

"And, erm... Julia..." Marin looks at her, and pauses, as if trying to find the words. "While I appreciate that mortal business is very... rapid... I do have to question the wisdom of not fleeing the horrifying divine angel that's currently immolating people in order to continue running a business they won't be able to see to, if they die horribly. If you could... emphasize... the danger involved and get the danger through to them, that would be very appreciated."

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Upon hearing Marin invite her to the investigation, Tia makes a surprised sound, uncrosses her arms, and looks at the phoenix appraisingly. "Your kindness is great, but I must insist," she says after a few minutes of thinking. "True, I cannot disparage Richard's competence, and neither can I doubt your character. However, I am obliged to try - whether he accepts that is his choice." She lets out a small, short sigh, more of a breath than anything. "It will be good practice for that if nothing else. Good luck, you two."

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

The car wheels spin in the muddy dirt as they brake. You've driven for almost an hour to get outside the city, and it couldn't be more different— San Alvaro has very little plant life outside of palm tress on the beach and a handful of public parks, and it's brightly lit even at midnight. The woods you're in now are dim, thick with trees, and the sky looks more clouded than it ever does over the city. There's a warehouse. It's a large building, but smaller than your typical warehouse. Probably small enough not to be visible from above unless you knew exactly what you were looking for.

Inside, there's a concrete floor, empty wire shelves, and not much else besides a few empty cardboard boxes. With the exception of what looks like a pillar of charcoal. Upon closer inspection, it's a corpse, with no recognizable features left. Its arms are in a strange position, and you realize that's probably because he was trying to push his killer away. It looks like it would crumble into ash at a single touch.

My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone

Warehouse - Khulan

---

Khulan, on her way to the site of an epic angel smiting, did what came naturally. She dozed off in the car and snored for a good part of the journey. She had herself propped oddly just off her seat. Her head never came to rest directly on the window and there was a telltale sparkle from thin lines of web stretched just in front of her, and, almost imperceptibly anchored on her skin. Usually, it was to alert her to intruders, but it made a decent alarm.
"You couldn't have your mafia meetings in a Chuck e Cheese?" Khulan asked after stretching and a get a look at the place after they'd arrived. "This seems like a gloomy place to play poker and discuss giving a dude Cement Shoes." Khulan herself may have been at ease hunting the things that go bump in the night, but she loved the city lights at night and the flashy stage lights.
"Stay in someone's sight at all times," she said to Julia, again abruptly interrupting her teasing to advise the civvie. The huntress quickly dropped to all fours, 'climbing' along the ground and carefully eyeing, smelling, and tasting the ground around. She smelled the ashen remains before entering the warehouse, and her eyes lingered on the charred victim for only a moment. Not like he'd get any deader if she kept looking. She had no idea what angel tasted like, but she knew what mold, burned man-meat, cleaner, mothballs, and other assorted things smelled and tasted like. Process of elimination.

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Warehouse|Daniel Browne

Daniel, who's sort of just been listening and/or sleeping the whole time, finally decides to butt into the situation. Standing in all his 5'9" glory, he walks up to the client and flashes a razor-sharp smile. "So, uhh, this Michael guy, he ain't too much of a fighter? I mean, I'm just sayin', if I'm gonna kill the dude, I want a fight. I want blood, or the angel equivalent of blood, I want guts, I want a real fuckin' brawl." He's flipping his black bowie knife in his hand, the white handle gleaming slightly when the dim light hits it.

"Oh, by the way, do you think demonic constructs might be the ticket to killin' the bastard?" He creates a seafoam-green construct in the shape of a baseball bat, twirling it. "I sort of have an... arrangement with a demon chief, so I can manifest demonic energy, blah blah blah. I think it might be just what we need." He tips his baseball cap (which has the Five Finger Death Punch logo on it) down a bit. "After all, they don't call me Danny Skullbuster for no reason! I'm gonna rip this guy limb from limb, then I'll shred up what's left."

He pauses. "People tend to either be scared of me or hate me for moral reasons, like the fact that I occasionally eat people, or any other number of things I partake in. Which side'a the scale might you be on?" His grin widens slightly.

YOHOHO!

Warehouse - Marin

Marin stares at him a bit. "Demonic constructs might do it," she nods slowly, thinking. "If he's really an angel. Like Khulan here said-" and she inches closer to the sane spider woman, away from the apparent murderer- "he could really be anything with wings. Lots of things look angelic but really, really aren't."

She herself pauses to look at the corpse, but appears more interested in keeping an eye on both Julia and the final member of their squad than the body. "Regarding the scale, I think it would be wrong to judge you by standards that I wouldn't judge other phoenixes by, and a few of our members have eaten others. So I think I would have to judge you based on who you ate, or for what reason."

Marin seems less scared and more distasteful, but she's pollite enough to keep any concerns to herself as she glances over at him. "I would ask you to keep the bloodlust under control for a little while, so we can at least ask the damn thing a few questions. Then you can rip and tear to your hearts content."

The phoenix goes back to examining the body and keeping an eye on Julia, keeping that one talon transformed, mostly out of habit.

Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look

Back at their base of operations, Richard began to draw a summoning circle. He didn't put a great deal of care into it, he was only summoning a minor being after all. He was tense, his last interactions with angelic forces had been rather antagonistic, and he was not entirely sure how cooperative the bound creature would be. That said, he didn't think they liked serial killers any more than he did, and would be more likely to be more helpful in this endeavor than they normally were. He completed the diagram, and began to call the angel through.