Monday, November 14, 2022

• Some of us stay overnight in the freehold after our adventure in Alexandria before heading out pre-dawn
  • Blaze, Moira, and I head to Moira's studio to try using Blaze's jug on the statue there
  • Aoife and Agnes head to work
• The news  of the morning:
  • A story about a notable increase in ghost sightings/experiences around town in the last couple weeks
  • Dr. Who fans are flocking to the city to spot weeping angel statues
  • Hospitals are experiencing a shortage of anti-venom as there has been an unusually high number of venomous snake bites
• Blaze and I have a production meeting tomorrow for a comic book movie,

At the studio

• The statue is not where it was left, and has moved to a door and is grasping the doorknob
  • Blaze pours water from her jug over it, and the water briefly crystallizes in a rainbow, and we can sense something has changed
  • Moira starts dragging it to the shed behind the studio and eventually Blaze and I step in and carry it for her
• Moira sends Blaze and I outside to get out of the way
  • I cobble together a guac gun and show the few people in the studio how to make one
  • Blaze remembers that she was supposed to open today and takes an Uber to the coffee shop

Agnes has to actually work

• Agnes gets an email saying her classes are cancelled, she's needed in the field
  • Alan tells her they're heading to Macon
  • They're going to see Shelly Park, the deputy director of the Atlanta field office
    • Agnes typically tries to avoid her because she's so banal
• There was a young woman murdered in a ritual fashion last night
  • Park wants Agnes to suss things out and put a lid on it
• The brief Agnes gets:
  • Subject: Deceased Individual - Jennifer Bland Davis “Jenny”
    • Name: Jenny Davis
    • Date of Birth: May 17, 1997
    • Date of Death: November 13, 2022
    • Age: 25
    • Height: 5' 8"
    • Weight: 120 lbs
    • Hair Color: Brown
    • Eye Color: Blue
  • Education:
    • Recent graduate of Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia (May 2018).
    • Major in Communication.
    • Minor in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management.
  • Family:
    • Hometown: Vidalia, Georgia.
    • Family involved in onion farming.
  • Employment:
    • Internship at the Tubman Museum.
  • Affiliations:
    • Member of a Wiccan club during her college years.
    • Active participation in environmental groups.
    • Led a recent protest against the Mayor's plan to expand the Norfolk Southern rail yard into a commuter terminal in the Ocmulgee wetlands.
  • Medical Information:
    • Wore a medic alert bracelet.
  • Emergency Contacts:
    • Isabella Blackwood (Friend).
    • Elijah Barnes (Physician).
• Agnes and Alan set out for the 2 hour drive to Macon
• When they finally make it they meet with Sheriff "Trey" Maddox at the crime scene
  • Some kids found the body early in the morning and reported it
    • They took the photos; police confiscated the phones
  • Based on the candles being lit when the body was discovered but out by the time the police got there, they place the staging to have happened just before dawn
  • The presumed murder weapon, a knife, was left in the body
    • They think she may have been drugged, but are waiting on the toxicology report
  • The police recognized her from her work leading a protest against the mayor's train program expansion
    • No arrests, just some warnings
• Agnes investigates the scene:
  • She assesses that the body was staged to look ritualistic, but does not have actual ritual significance
    • Department store candles, arranged in a way that doesn't even fit any pop-ritual patterns, the sigils are things that you could just turn up from online searches and have no connection to what would be used for a sacrifice
  • No obvious tracks
    • Looks like they did a decent job of concealing their tracks, which is helped by the fact that the ground is very cold
    • Body could have been carried here from a car
      • Alan going to look into the whereabouts of the victim's car
• She goes to investigate the body

Trying to be good citizens…vassals…whatever

• I call up Aoife to ask what's the protocol for contacting people in the court to tell them about the Face in the Stone and Blaze's jug
  • She sets up a meeting with Baron Athelstan
• Aoife, Moira, and I go to Oglethorpe to meet Athelstan at lunch
  • We go towards Dreamcatcher's office to ask where the freehold is…and find ourselves in the basement
  • There is a giant bank vault style door with a sign that says "the crypt of civilization"
  • I lose signal and the Facetime call I had with Blaze drops
  • We recall there is a time capsule from the 30's on campus
    • There are probably a lot of great signatures in there
  • We go back upstairs and find her office unoccupied
• We set off across the quad to the north
  • I try and take us to the library, but Aoife steers us to the right of it down a winding, elaborate boardwalk path through trees towards the student center and performing arts building
  • There is a small path that leads into the thicker woods beyond the performing arts building
    • I explain that I know two things about werewolves; they have cameras, and you have to walk sideways to get into their lairs
      • Though I suppose technically the first isn't right, it's a different company
• As I explain all that we find ourselves in the glade
  • It's warmer here and there's a pond in the middle with a giant, house sized turtle shell sticking out of the water
  • We spot Athelstan at a picnic table
  • We tell him about the Face in Stone and Blaze's jug
    • He agrees to tell us about moving statues so we can douse them and to spread word to be on the lookout for moving statues

Back home

• Moira takes me back to my trailer
  • My bathroom is full of snakes!
  • THERE IS ONE IN MY HOARD!!!
  • I move all of my signatures to one end of the trailer, and build a barricade of furniture between it and the bathroom
  • I message Agnes who gives me the contact info for the guy she uses to go extract snakes for her rescue, but he's swamped
  • I stay up all night defending my hoard with a mop, windows and door open, A/C on, trying to make it as cold as possible
• Aoife goes home and her elderly neighbor tells her about a ghost who walked into her apartment through the wall
  • The ghost was dressed "like Scarlet O'hara, but old"
• Agnes is staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Macon, and goes to get hashbrowns from Waffle House for a late dinner

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Frost Zombies!

• Blaze and I go to the studio for the production meeting with the 2nd AD for Frostbite
  • They're not sure what they're going to be able to do for the fake snow
  • They have us try on the ice zombie costumes to see how we can move in them
• We spy a tall, slim, white haired man on the other side of the soundstage
  • Blaze and I go over under the pretense of checking that area for doing some testing
  • He's dressed in blue tones
  • He doesn't seem to perceive me at all, but sees Blaze
  • He came to see the movie set because of the whole ice theme
  • He says he is called the Herald
    • He brings "news of the end of all things"
      • It's kind of a corporation
      • He says he's heralding on behalf of "the true rulers of all the world"
  • He's trying to find something
    • He tells Blaze that if she finds things for him, he will buy them and there's some sort of offer of a place in things after the end of all things
      • Something that involves giving her "a beast skin"
    • He gives her a small shard of ice that is a token by which she can contact him by holding and saying his name
  • He throws some shade at the thallain
  • He's the one that did Baron Berin in, because he wasn't receptive or polite when they talked
  • He walks off and Blaze stows the ice shard in her locker
• Blaze and I try and plot out a plan to run the costumes through the paces for the 2nd AD

The investigation continues

• Agnes meets Isabella Blackwood, the Wiccan high priestess of Macon, who has not a magical bone in her body and doesn't seem to be a person of interest at all
• Agnes spots Paul loitering about in the parking lot

  • She gives him a nod, which he returns, and she crosses the parking lot to talk to him

  • He mentions something about the FBI being run by the New World Order, and Park being a technocrat, whatever that means

  • When asked what he's doing here, he says "probably the same thing you're doing here"

    • He's here to try and see if his people need to be worried about a nephandus

      • Agnes ensures him the ritual trappings were bogus and he accepts that and heads out

Back at the freehold

• Blaze and I go through an incredibly convoluted plan that fails miserably, but we still manage to pull it off (thanks to Blaze dropping a couple hundred dollars) get Paddy's car out of impound so I can move my hoard
• Sam Springfoot shows up with a message from the king for Aoife
  • I make him wait for an inordinately long time while Blaze and I unload all of my hoard
• Aoife reminds me that I shouldn't have brought the car here, so I drive it to the Chamblee MARTA station and leave it and take MARTA back down
• The message from the king reads:

Subject: Urgent Missive - Recent Troubles and Call to Vigilance
Kithain of the Kingdom of Willows, dwelling in the City of the Phoenix,

We hope this message finds you safe and well. In recent days, our city has witnessed a series of unsettling events that demand our immediate attention. We share this information with you to keep you informed and to call upon your vigilance and cooperation.

On November 12th at 1 PM, a grave incident occurred involving Baron Berin and his retinue. The frozen time that many of you experienced seemed to be designed to allow attackers to assault the freehold. All potential kithain witnesses were killed, and none of the mortals within the freehold were harmed or have any memory of this incident, including the enchanted.

The clues are thus: all kithain within the freehold were tragically and brutally slain with mundane (but not iron) knives after being defeated chimerically. This dreadful act was likely committed to ensure that they would not awaken and potentially recover their memories of the attack. Additionally, their clothing was ruthlessly torn apart, and various areas within the freehold were swiftly ransacked, suggesting that the assailants were searching for something. Baron Berin showed signs of torture, in addition to battle wounds.

These events are a part of a larger pattern of strange occurrences that have plagued our city since Samhain. What makes this situation even more concerning is that Atlanta bears the brunt of such apocalyptic events. Similar, though lesser, incidents have been reported in other major cities, including London, Galway, Paris, Zurich, and Rome. None have been increasing at the rate of the events here, and Rome and Zurich have even seen a cessation of such troubles recently. Other cities might be suffering similarly, but outside of our current sphere of knowledge.

We call upon all Kithain and Kinain to keep their eyes open for any signs of Fomorian and Thallain presence and to report any clues or information related to Berin's murder to the court of Willow's Heart. Your insights may prove invaluable in unraveling this dark mystery and ensuring the safety of our community.

In these trying times, unity and collaboration are our greatest strengths. Let us stand together, protect one another, and strive to bring an end to these malevolent forces that threaten our city and our way of life.

With unwavering determination,
King Riordan Fellbane
Court of Willow's Heart
Kingdom of Willows