2019.07.03 Beware The Bad Juju

Beware The Bad Juju
Wolves Investigate Anger Management Group Therapy Session, Kill some Banes
IC Date	August 12th, 2019
IC Time	7:00 P.M.
Players	Calvin, Cait, Wynn, Remi, Hazel, Johnny Law
Location	Downtown Prospect
Prp/Tp	Precinct 29
Spheres	Gaian Garou

Log

“So how does that make you feel?”

”Angry, doc, why the fuck do you think we’re all here?” The room heckles the doctor, a young man with a bit of an effeminate cast to him. He crosses his legs and leans forward over his knee. “This is a safe space. We are all here to learn strategies on how to control our anger.”

A local medical building, standing oh so tall at three stories that opens out onto a large abandoned lot with various abandoned bits of construction that was halted and left to rot. This is where the members of the soon to be pack, Stray Wolf Strut, plus somebody who knows a thing or two about it. Remi. “Did everyone finish their pre-fun espresso shots?” Calvin whispers to the group. Dusk has come and passed, and the group is ready, waiting to cross over into the gauntlet into the Umbra to scout out.

"You know that stuff isn't good for you, right?" Hazel, always a little socially stiff whispers back to Calvin. She sits on her heels just to the side and behind Calvin, eyes flicking from the people to the architecture about them with curiosity.

Remi is there just a lend a hand if things go rough in the umbra. Remi looks down at the free trade almond milk latte then shrugs taking another drink. The dead eye Ahroun nods to Calvin "I'm ready when ya'll are. I'm just mainly here for support. Banes can swarm nastily."

"Espresso's better than any of the energy drinks, at least, and doesn't taste like skunk piss," Wynn offers cheerfully. She drank hers. It's hard to tell. "I've never done this before, so I appreciate it," she tells Remi, a little less sarcastically than her usual demeanor. "Hopefully we won't have to pun our way through this," she asides to Cal. wiping her hands on her jeans and giving the nod that she's ready, too.

"I am sure we will be able to proceed without worrying too much about ad-libbing puns on psychiatry." Rain was very recent, puddles are rampant in the lot and the group is circled more or less around a large reflective puddle. A nervous smile from Calvin to the group before he reaches a hand to settle upon the puddle.

Then his hand plunges through without disturbing the puddle after a few moments. "Alright. Here we go." The rest of Calvin follows eerily, reappearing upon the Umbral side in the same sort of position as before, kneeling upon the ground to wait for everyone else.

"Are you sure it won't just be all in our head?" Hazel can't resist at least ONE pun for the scene. It's probably out of her system now. Maybe. She likes words. She eyes Calvin's backside till she sees him not there before him then makes to follow.

"'Freud you might be right about that," quips back the Ragabash because she can. Wynn takes a deep breath as if she might be actually jumping into a puddle, before she too follows the others through to the Umbra, dark eyes glancing around once she finds herself on the other side.

Remi slings the duffel back of 'tools' and steps sideways and in the umbra seems more.. Citified. The greys of Remi's clothes are more the texture of concrete. Rather than hazel eyes they're more like rust. The Ahroun has the aura of a native of the urban jungle.

The strands of powerline run from pole to pole even here, but the lines are a spider's web, with weaver crawlers chattering and running back and forth over them. Calvin looks distinctly different here, his hair like moving bits of rebar and his eyes seem to be polished glass like the windows of a skyscraper. And those windows roll heavily at the collection of quipping Garou. "Well, lets go see what we see, eh?" And he starts off towards the building that exists here as well, bare concrete with glowling lines permeating to provide light.

"I think that might be good," Hazel is still riding the pun wagon up here in her thoughts. She falls to the back of the crew and flips out a notebook. Finding information means taking notes in Hazel's mind. This is totally a legit thing to do.

"This is always such a trip," says Wynn. She hasn't done much work in the Umbra and looks like a tourist in a way, glancing this way and that as she follows Calvin. She's content to look and listen, rather than take any notes like Hazel. "One hundred percent less stinky than last trip, so that's four stars for the Umbra Trip Advisor website."

Eyes darting around Remi looks silently over at the pack. No puns from the Ahroun. "Had much experience umbra delving?" as Remi slings the duffle around to have easy access. Resting a hand just inside the zippered compartment.

"I have." Calvin is quick to offer up as they stand in the lobby, hand digging into the back pocket of his jeans and pulling out a rather hastily crumpled bit of paper. "Uhhh..group therapy is in the basement." It is a flier, 'Learn To Love Again/Stop Being at the Mercy of your Anger!' An anthropomorphized badge with tears out of one eye, and anger in the other is the headline image on the flyer.

He'll point off towards an open doorway with stairs heading downwards. And poke his head through the entryway before starting off down the stairs himself. "Soooo. The fetish at Precinct 29 was a beacon for Banes. And they kept grabbing onto police officers, is what Acacia said. So we're gonna see if one managed to get here and we'll know what we're dealing with."

"They went to the ~moon~," Hazel adds helpfully to help explain some of the umbra walking that the others have done. "It was an okay story," she is subdued a little bit as she sighs at some internal thought. Her pen scratches against the page for a moment before she looks up again. "It is interesting to see the Umbra myself rather than read the descriptions of others writ down." Pen is totally poised to draw what they see.

"Not much. I was sort of a lone wolf back home before I came this way," says Wynn to Remy. "Still learning to play well with others. Or play with others at all," she quips. She nods to Calvin. "You're the boss," she says lightly. Mostly because he seems to know what he's doing, and she certainly doesn't. "You have, I'm assuming?" she asks Remy over her shoulder.

"Just what we need over entitled authority figures with banes riding them. Fuck the police." Remi grumbles softly before adjusting the headphones around her neck. "Do we wanna send someone ahead to scout or is this a boot the door thing?" before Remi nods to Wynn "My pack is very umbrally. Following Uktena."

"Calvin's fucking the police," Hazel quips, though her eyes are on her paper as she does that. It's FACTUALLY true...

"I'm sure that, uh, Hazel and Wynn will end up in a pack sooooooon." Calvin draws it out as they approach a door. PLENTY of noises beyond that, with echoes of shouting and what not. And now shouting here. "Time and place, Hazel." Not spoken loud, but hissed loud at Hazel like, oh my god could you not. But there is plenty of other shouting to interrupt them. Keep them on track. "So yeah, the perp came at me with guff, so I batoned his knee in!" Shadows loom through the open doorway.

Solid ground side, one of the police officers is standing and talking about the last time he lost his cool, the day before. Doctor Niles Heron is sitting low in his chair, unable to keep a handle on his group therapy session. "Perhaps it would be best to figure out how we could've better handled the situation...." But some of the group are clapping about it while the rest look mildly worried.

"I think its more of a kick the door in, sort of thing. Yeah? You go first?" Calvin says to Remi

"Oh, really?" Hazel stops moving as Calvin points out that this wasn't a time to talk about who or who not he is sheet wrangling with. The others draw a few steps in front of her. Clearly, she's not a multi-tasker. "Huh, I thought, well. I guess maybe not..." She's not convinced that it really wasn't the time. Didn't they NEED THAT information?

Finally she gets moving again and catches up, "Julia's not in there?" Clearly, she's not done talking about it. When talk of kicking the door in comes though, she'll get behind Remi. She's a thinker, not a kicker.

"Hopefully just the one or he'll be regretting that soon enough," says Wynn a bit airily, though there's a glint of coolness in her eyes. "Also, you lose a point for not picking up the 'riding' analogy and applying it to, you know, my sister." She smiles brightly. "Well, probably my sister. Not that she'll admit it." No, Wynn's not bitter.

"Kicking's good," she agrees, rolling her shoulders to prepare for what comes next.

Remi nods to Calvin and out of the bag comes a square blocky rifle. Taking a moment Remi looks between a selection of drum magazines that look loaded with shotgun shells. For those familiar with firearms Remi is carrying a fully automatic shotgun, an AA-12 to be exact, that Remi slaps a drum into "Spirits don't require special ammo." then Remi begins pumping out the jams from the headphones as Remi advances into the building with Garafena's Crown active.

Calvin is not aware of firearms at all, and looks askance at the rather large blocky piece of metal and death. Death for bad spirits at least. "Uhhh, after you, Remi." Calvin shifts onto four paws but a large bulky wolf-shape to follow in after Remi.

Inside the room, it seems like the banes are arranged in a halfmoon circle. One of the three stands and his glistening black talons are lifted out on a hand. Two more like the first, beings of blackened ichor and slender frames, talons sit upon nothing, a wisp tendril of inky black is extended from their chest and latches onto humanoid shaped wisps of smoke on all of them. The one standing's wisp of smoke is clearly defined and the facial features can be made out.

"I didn't know she was your sister." Hazel says thoughtfully, "I thought I //wasn't// suppose to talk about the ways she may or may not bend with her sibling? Someone told me that once. Tell me," Maybe this still isn't the time and place, but Hazel's got a one track mind, "Do siblings ride it similar? Or are they different? Is it more a nature or a nurture - though I guess it would be weird to nurture that kind of thing...."

Oh good. They're going to the quasi-wolf so that they can go in. That at least stops her musing. She'll even 

attack something.

Remi, having booted the door, looks over at Hazel and Wynn casually commenting "It's not incest if someone else is in the middle." before switching the fire selector on the AA-12 to full. Remi, moving with the speed of the 'Fuck you I go first' gift steps forward into close combat and the auto-shotgun ROARS as bullets and casings fly.

Calvin and The Scrag encountered each other in a quick jumble of furious attacks! Calvin's maw closes around the arm of the scrag and digs in deep to gush pain and anguish out of it. Then the talons shred through the fur over his ribs and blood coats them. The concrete-grey hispo wolf is injured.

Remi gets most of their attention. Drawing Agro one might say. Pelting 2 of the Banes with slugs that do little but get their attention. The one that Remi didn't touch wanders over to mangle Calvin some. Now up close and personal with the banes.

Cait has been in 'serious mode' since this mission began, and has been quite silent the entire time. It's a little weird to not see Cait being jovial, but now, she's focussed. At the mention of changing into their hispo form, she'll shift slowly, into a large mottled wolf that looks quite sturdy, having a barrel chest. As they all enter and Calvin gets hurt, Cait-wolf will spring forward with a vicious snarl and bite into the Scrag with a ripping sound. The ahroun clearly loves battle and forces herself into the forefront while taking a nice chunk out of the scrag she attacked.

Hazel bites, but doesn't pierce anything. It's not a very good bite. She should probably not. Like, in fact, she should REALLY probably not.

The powerfully-muscular wolf form that's Wynn leaps for the second of the banes that is making its way toward Remi, slashing long claws across the chest of the thing, before scuttling back out of the way before it can retaliate -- she hopes -- and to prepare for her next attack.

The Scrag up front, with the nearly solidified wispy smoke humanoid suddenly roars some sort of victory. Then vanishes from view, both Scrag and Human.

Dr Niles Heron is standing up in the group therapy session, talking to the man who was standing. Another man has stood up to talk to him as well, but gets grabbed by the shoulders and flung back into his chair. Then the ANGRY POLICE OFFICER exits the room to stomp up the stairs. A scrag bane spirit has fully possessed a human host.

Remi unloads on the bane point blank as the AA-12 roars away. Ammo supplied by Remi's gift. Casings scatter across the umbral floor before they break down into tiny spiders while dissapear into the webbing of the umbra.

Ahroun totally enjoys the battle, and Cait is no exception. She really, really loves it and snarls viciously as she leaps forward to throw herself bodily at the Scrag and literally rips out its throat. She'll land and turn, immediately preparing for another battle, there's a vicious gleam to her eyes.

Theurge is helping! Theurge didn't get all chomped by Scrag3 because suddenly Cait is there, landing on that damn thing and maiming it all to bitter death. So Calvin turns and charges into Scrag2, chomping at its ankle like a chihuahua and doing absolutely no damage!

Launching off of paws, this time Wynn goes for a bite, sharp teeth finding purchase on an arm and ripping into it, then shaking her head like a dog in the bath for good measure.

Remi lets loose with a stuccato of short shots as the barrel of the rifle was starting to get rather red and hot. Some of the slugs finding purchase in the Bane.

Wynn goes in for another bite, this one at the neck, trying to tear the flesh loose from the jugular. Do banes have jugulars? Maybe that's why it's not dead yet.

Calvin was quick to turn and pursue the still standing Scrag. His teeth settle tighter into the thing's slender blackened ichor knee, but slips free as bullets richochet through the inside of the spirit.

Cait doesn't do as well against this other scrag, she takes a bite but it doesn't really seem to do anything Cait leaps into the fray yet again and this time, with another vicious snarl, on the tail end of her comrades damage, she'll rip out another throat. The scrag falls and she'll spit out whatever fetid material is in her mouth, obviously looking like she just bit into something very distasteful.

Calvin waits a few moments, as if more Banes might pour through the walls before he shifts back into homid form. "So. Uh. 3 total were in, and one disappeared? Or did we get him when I wasn't looking?"

Remi blows on the barrel letting it cool before looking to Calvin "I think one fully possessed and dissapeared. Good chance there is a riden or soon to be Fomori cop out there."

Wynn shakes her head. "I think he made it out," she says, with a wrinkle of her nose as she slips back into human form, moving to wear she dropped her bag to pull on the loose tank top and yoga pants she has within. "Sorry. Shit. So that cop's fully possessed now? We'll need to figure out which one. Can we ... you know, extract the bane or is it too late for that?"

Cait slowly changes back into her homid form, dressed in those shorts and generally exercise outfit. She'll look around and look slightly disappointed there is not more to kill, but she definitely looks energized. "one got away?", she'll ask, apparently she missed that completely. "What did it look like? We should hunt it down!"

"I really don't have much of a clue about how long a bane will ride someone." Calvin's hand presses into his side to check for blood, but there is none. Healed. But still ouchie. "Oof. Uh. Maybe we'll need to bother whoever was running the group, see if someone was particularly angry or something?"

Remi sighs "It's temporary usually.. Till it's not. If it can overwhelm their will long enough they go from just being influenced to a full on Fomor. So saving them then."

"Well, that's good and bad news," says Wynn with a glance from Remi to Calvin to Cait. "Hard to tell their real life features, but checking with the group leader, maybe would work. Maybe Julia can ask around. Can you tell by looking at someone if they're being hijacked by one of those things? Probably some gift or another she doesn't have, though." She really doesn't know that much about how these things work, poor wolf orphan.

Cait glances at the others to see how hurt they are, and then slowly stalks towards the door. "You sure we can't just go up?", she'll smirk a bit. "I'm sure we could sniff them out. They'd stink."

Remi gives a shake of the head "Not to be a downer but.. If there was a thing influencing them at the Precinct, and something influencing them here.. Then they're all going to smell wyrm tainted. It'd be hard to notice the difference. Specially in town."

Calvin turns to head back towards the doorway as well, to get to the stairs and out somewhere they can cross back over without being seen. "The fight took awhile, they might already be gone. Driven off or something." And so, this portion of the story draws to a close. Some banes dismissed, a police officer possessed.