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Uh, the subject really says it all. I'm going to divide it up by time periods, and then sub-divide it by location, and then sub-divide it AGAIN by story line (because dammit! we have a lot of story lines! xd ). I'll try to keep it updated, but well, as you know, I'm busy and easily distracted, so -

Oh look! An adorable disapproving bunny!



*Coughs* Uh... so... the last post in this topic will say what page in the IC Thread that I left off on. Anyway, enjoy. 3nodding

Night: Sept. 15th/16th

BOSTON
In the slums… Fifi goes to her 2nd client and is nearly killed by a Church fanatic. She manages to escape with the help of a well-timed fireball. Meanwhile, Alice and Gabriel return to Gabriel’s home. He patches her up and she falls into a wary sleep in his downstairs room.

Following Ivan… Using his natural empathy, Ivan tracks down his demon target, who’s a bit of an easy kill. Mara runs into him in the back alley. They exchange words and set up a meeting for the next day (Mara gets weapon upgrades from Ivan), then Ivan drives back to the Church HQ. He’s offered a pair of theatre tickets for the Ishmaels’ show and takes them on a whim. He goes home to wait for a “guest.” Before long, Fifi arrives, and the two share a rather… pleasant evening (bow chicka wow-wow). Ivan invites her to see the Ishmaels’ performance that Friday, she accepts, and the two have some more fun before Fifi at last returns to her home and Ivan passes out in his bed.

Following Mara… After her run-in with Ivan, she returns to her home. She and her roommate/partner Raska chat for a bit, then they call it a night.

Following Nicolae… Nicolae goes back to his hotel and, while standing on his balcony, is spotted by the passing Brendan Meier. Bren offers to meet the stranger and give him a tour of the city. They do, and on their way back to the hotel they pass With Sugar on Top and Bren notices that the light is on inside – which means Lexi is visiting his mother. Nicolae expresses a wish to meet Lexi, so Bren takes him inside. Lexi and Nico talk for a while, make some tentative plans, and then everyone goes their separate ways to sleep.

At the library… Not much to report. Victor goes back to work at the library with Alika and Amaranta (and Amaranta’s super-cute kid, Eva). They close up, go to dinner, and then all return home. Alika’s husband gives her a pair of tickets to see the Ishmaels – she accepts the tickets but inwardly knows she’ll have to give them away, for reasons that the RPer is lovingly vague about. ^^;

MANHATTAN
Following Raven & Co… Rina comes running into Raven’s home and informs her that a strange priest-man (Zenith) has just arrived in the Square. Raven doesn’t have time to deal with it, so she sends Rina off with payment to track down Fenrir, a local mercenary-for-hire. Raven, Isra and Kachiki head off to The Drunken Penguin, where they proceed to lay a supreme beat-down on the owner and his a*****e friends. Raven drags the owner into a back room to question him (and have a midnight snack), but he pisses her off so much that she winds up draining him dry. Meanwhile, Kachiki and Isra kick a** and take names in the main room, and also run into Peder,. Raven comes back out and tells the others that the owner got scared and ran off. She and Peder exchange greetings (they know each other). After some arguing, they place some of the serving girls in charge of the management of the Penguin and head back to the Square just in time to pass out as the sun comes up.

In the inner city… Rina goes to Fenrir and gives him Raven’s orders – take care of the priest, but avoid killing him if at all possible. Fenrir agrees and sets off. He and Zenith engage in an epic battle of sorts, but Zenith is defeated and collapses. Fenrir drags him to the edge of Raven’s territory and dumps him off, then goes back to sleep.

With Medina… Medina had been hearing rumors of a guy who’d been running around killing people. He goes out to “take care of things” with his sidekick, Father Albany Harvey (NPC), and after a brief scuffle Medina puts a bullet through the murdering b*****d’s face. Then they go home and sleep!

ELSEWHERE
With the Ishmaels… Again, there’re some funny posts and some good character development, but as far as storyline goes they just eat dinner and go to bed. ^^;

Following Lao… As he’s traveling through the woods, Lao, feeling safe for the first time, begins to pray to Amitabha (yes, he’s a secret Buddhist), but his chanting is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, Swift. The two get to talking and Lao, getting a glimpse of his friend in the moonlight, realizes that Swift is a “demon.” He drops his “monk persona” and starts to speak honestly with his friend, but before either can really get into their life stories (except that Swift is looking for “Nicolo Greyfell”) they decided to set camp. Lao does an I Ching reading for Swift, then the two go to bed.

BOSTON
Following Alice & Axel… Alice and Axel exchange greetings. Alice is wary of the newcomer but decides to be polite anyway, and offers to go with him into town. He’s dressed really oddly though (shirtless), so she suggests they find him some more suitable clothes that won’t attract attention. He misunderstands her offer but agrees to come with her. With Alice's help, Axel purchases a shabby shirt at the store. There's some small miscommunication, then Axel at last puts the shirt on. The 2 seem to be preparing to head into town now.

Following Kassandra… Kassandra wakes up and trudges to her neighbor Fifi’s apartment to borrow some milk. She gets a full meal in the process, and the two discuss Fifi’s previous night for a while before Kassandra excuses herself to “her other job.” She leaves her apartment soon after, dressed surprisingly tastefully, and once she reaches the better part of town she ducks into a grocer’s bathroom. She comes out looking like an entirely different person, and catches a tram to Church HQ. After a brief chat with the secretary (who calls her “Miss Brooks”) she goes back to the Cardinal’s office, and reports to him on some of the goings-on in the slums. The Cardinal tells her he wants the names and addresses of the prostitutes, which she gives him for a price, and they discuss plans (though none of those "plans" are actually posted). Kassandra leaves after their meeting and goes home.

At the library / Alika & Ian… Alika gives the theatre tickets to Amaranta and heads out to her next job. Meanwhile, Ian has stopped by in front of the library, debating going in and asking Alika if she wanted to go to lunch. Bren runs into him briefly, but then Alika comes out and Bren darts into the library, to deliver his message (and that’s where he is now). Alika and Ian head to lunch, talking in quiet code about the twin letters they received asking them to go to “the usual place” that night. They enjoy lunch and then go their separate ways. Ian heads home and gets ready for the night. Meanwhile, Alika goes to the St. Mary nunnery, where she speaks to Mother Addessi. The Mother heals Alika's vision, and they talk about something Alika is "hiding" from her husband and how she will have to quit her "second job" soon, then Alika leaves to go to that second job.

Ivan & Mara… Mara waits around, bored, at Church HQ until Ivan finally comes in around noon, draining a pot of coffee along the way. She teases him about his “late night,” which Ivan brushes off. He gets down to business, and shows Mara a variety of new weapons that he’s been working on. He’s willing to sell them to her under-the-table, if the price is right, but before they can start bargaining prices Mara receives a summons from upstairs and leaves to see if Sutherland (NPC) has a job for her. Ivan gets back to his usual work.

Following Fifi... She hits the streets to take on a few early jobs, ignorant to the shadowy figure called "Macto" who is following her...

Following Bren... He dashes to the library during his lunch break and reports Nicolae's message to Victor, who agrees to meet with the other man at dinner. Bren salutes and hurries off again, back to school.

Following Lexi... Meanwhile, Lexi is about to go to his lunch meeting with Nicolae, but he receives a letter from Nico explaining that he had to rush to Virginia on urgent business, and will contact Lexi as soon as he returns. Lexi goes to lunch anyway, if only to escape the excited ramblings of reporter Oliver Cook. ^^;

MANHATTAN
Kachiki & Isra… They finish lunch and head off to take care of business. At the NY Public Library they meet up with Dotterell (NPC), a local loony and something of an inventor who found the dead body behind his home. They examine the body to confirm its identity, then head out. They wander Manhattan for the rest of the afternoon, and as the day turns to evening begin to return to the Square.

At St. Patrick’s… Rina meets Medina, and after minor small-talk very bluntly asks him if he’s the one who killed the demon who had been killing people around town. He eventually says “yes” and she thanks him for helping them out. She leaves, telling Medina that she likes him and advising him (with a smile) not to make Raven mad or he might not get out of Manhattan alive. They part ways, but on her way out Rina runs into Alison, who is apparently supposed to meet up with Medina. Rina gives her some advice and then runs off. As the afternoon becomes evening, Alison and Medina meet.

Meanwhile, Zenith... Still pissed about his fight with Fenrir, wakes up long enough to feed on a family, using their blood to call on a wraith to run his errands for him while he sleeps.

ELSEWHERE
The Ishmaels… After a hectic rehearsal, Kisha dismisses them from their duties, so the troupe prepares to spend the evening out on the town.

Lao & Swift… Continue walking and talking until late afternoon, when they come across a village. They go into town to see if they can hitch a ride to Boston by wagon/truck/etc., but find the townspeople gathered angrily around a little girl on the main street. Lao rushes to her aid and, ignoring one of the citizens, tells Swift to get the local priest. Swift runs into the Church to do just that.

The priest, Father Thomas, invites Lao and Swift back into his office and explains the situation: Suyai (the girl) had her family murdered by some kind of beast with enormous claws, and the creature threatened to kill the townspeople if they didn't turn her over to it. They've already lost several people who tried to protect her, so Father Thomas says they have no other choice. Surprisingly, Lao lets the matter drop and leaves, taking Swift with him to the little guest house located behind the Church. Swift rails at him about being so complacent, but Lao explains that he'll be going out into the woods to try to protect Suyai tonight - and he'll probably die since he doesn't own or know how to use any weapons - so could Swift please give him some quiet to pray one last time to Amitabha. Swift leaves, wandering aimlessly around the village until evening falls.

Night: Sept. 16th/17th

The night ends about halfway through page 38 (it's marked with a picture), so start reading from there to catch up. 3nodding

BOSTON
At Mick’s Place… After wandering unsuccessfully around town for a while, Axel & Alice head back out to the slums. Alice, wanting information, decides that they should eat in a busy restaurant called Mick’s Place. They head in and are waited on by Kassandra. She gives them some information about Boston and suggestions about where they should go for news. Then Fifi shows up and she and Kassandra chat for a while, and the night ends.

At Boston harbor… Ciro Halvorsen and Raven Brakenbury land at Boston harbor. After some tomfoolery they get ashore and look for a place to stay the night. They soon find an Inn and settle in for the night.

At Amaranta’s home… Once they’ve settled the Eva issue, Ivan starts talking to Amaranta – somewhat vaguely – about “Amalee,” and how with Amaranta and Mother Addessi’s help he thinks he can break her out of her coma. He asks for Amaranta’s help in another couple of weeks (when he thinks he’ll be finished with the final preparations) and she happily agrees. They spend another hour or so chatting, then Ivan heads home and the two go to bed.

Ian & Alika… Get to Outer Boston and set up: Alika positions herself on a rooftop with her sniper rifle, while Ian goes into the forest to find and draw out their enemy. D’Arcy (the demon) approaches him. The two exchange wary words, until Ian draws D’Arcy out far enough that Alika thinks she can get a shot of him. She shoots… and misses, hitting Ian in the arm instead. D’Arcy, thinking they are both under attack, grabs Ian and drags him further into the woods. Once they are safely hidden, he bandages up Ian’s wound, and Ian thanks him by shooting him… in the face… three times. Alika finds Ian and discovers that she's accidentally shot him. Guilt-stricken, she apologizes and explains her failing vision. She tells Ian that she'll resign the next day, but he clearly doesn't want her to leave. They head back into Boston to get his arm fixed, and the night ends.

Introducing Sister Lily von Dort… And what an entrance! We meet her as she poisons a man, quite painfully, because he was kidnapping children from a St. Nicholas orphanage. We find out that Bishop Hamilton is the American Branch’s spymaster, then the fellow dies and Lily goes about her merry way.

MANHATTAN
Kachiki & Peder… Kachiki and Peder head down to Bloodshot Alley, where the druggies hang out. They find the location of the White Heaven producers, and bust their way inside. Kachiki gets shot in the arm, and after their opponents say some not-very-nice things about Raven, Kachiki throws a knife into his throat. He and Peder kick a** and take a prisoner. Kachiki goes back in to burn down the building, but the blood loss gets to him and he passes out soon afterwards. Peder takes both the unconscious Kachiki and the single dealer prisoner back to Times Square (see "following Raven" for the rest).

Isra & Rina… Go out to Fenrir’s. On the way back, they come across a grisly scene in Times Square: a mass slaughter of bodies laid out in the shape of a cross (It's Zenith's doing, though they don't know that yet). Isra and Rina get sick, then they run off to find Raven while Fenrir keeps guard (see "following Raven" for the rest).

Following Raven… She saunters up to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and practically kicks down the door. Albany Harvey answers and, after scaring him a little, Medina shows up. He and Raven exchange a few words, then get into a semi-friendly brawl. They're interrupted by a frantic Rina, who pulls Raven back to Times Square. Raven talks to Fenrir about the incident, then sends him and Rina to get Feng, a Fire Craft specialist. Peder shows up with Kachiki and the prisoner; Raven orders him and Isra to take Kachiki to the unofficial Manhattan hospital, then sets to questioning the prisoner. When Fenrir and Feng return, Raven has Fenrir lock up the prisoner for the night, then watches and waits as Feng burns the bodies to ash. Medina sees the smoke and goes to investigate, learning about the incident as well. The night ends.

ELSEWHERE
Lao, Swift, & Suyai (NPC)… As they’re talking, Mr. Unknown Attacker (a human) shows up. There’s a scramble, and Lao gets stabbed in an attempt to protect Suyai. He falls into the stream, but Swift intercepts the attacker and gets him pinned to the ground. Lao shoves himself to his feet just in time to see Suyai heading to the attacker with a rock in hand, intending to kill him. Lao stops her, and Suyai drops the rock, half-crying into Lao’s jacket. Her tears trigger something inside of Lao, and he pulls a straw doll out of his pocket, using it to pin the attacker’s arms to the ground. He orders Swift and Suyai to leave him alone with the attacker. Once they’re gone, Lao begins very calmly torturing the attacker (apparently with illusion craft).

Once Swift knows Suyai is safe in their guest house, he returns to the forest. He doesn’t entirely understand what’s going on, but when he sees that Lao is still bleeding badly from his injury he reaches forward and (rather callously) slits their attacker’s throat. Lao snaps out of his trance and, seeing the dying enemy, kind of freaks out (for him, since their enemy never repented and worked off his karmic debts, it means they’ve sent a sinner to hell). He prays over the dying man’s body, then exhaustedly asks Swift to help him back to the guest house. Lao passes out and Swift calls for the a doctor, and the night ends.