North Side Fires (Goin' Postal)
| North Side Fires (Goin' Postal) | |
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"So that's a spirit? That's wild." | |
| Players |
A weird hybrid spirit has kept the fires burning brightly in the north side of the Undercity. |
While the volunteer fire-fighters were equipped with maps, it soon becomes evident that they're not very accurate. Perhaps the vampires who mapped the place just wouldn't get close enough for an accurate marker; perhaps the rabbit warren of tunnels that exists down here got them turned around...or got the party itself turned around. But already they've found fires where there were no fires on the map, easily extinguished, and found only scorched walls in other places. It's as if fires are burning out and restarting in other places. Occasionally the scorch marks dance over old, faded logos that say "The Chicago Tunnel Company." The group is in a part of the undercity that used to be primarily freight tunnels. Old abandoned stretches of decrepit telephone cables occasionally rib the ceilings, and tracks built to accommodate tiny freight trains designed to accommodate cars no bigger than small dumpsters occasionally provide minor slipping or tripping hazards. The maps do show the places where the tracks are supposed to be...they do not, as it happens, cover the entire length of this twisting bit of underground complex...as well as places where entire tunnels, largely sealed away but occasionally accessible by the unwary, pose flood risks after any heavy rain. Here and there old structures that would take some work to identify jut up and out of the area like lost children. They're moving towards the last fire now, theoretically, the one that's supposed to be the very biggest. Of perhaps the biggest concern is what they haven't seen yet, and that's spirits. They know there should be plenty, but it's as quiet as a jungle where the lion walks. The general smell of mold and decay gives way to a smell that's reminiscent of a welder's shop, and there’s an electric hum in the air.
Aleks makes his way through the tunnels in his wolf form, yellow eyes reflecting the light. He has primarily served as a navigator around hazards and towards problem areas, communicating nonverbally as best he can with the others, and allowing any werewolf companions to convey what he can't. The only consistent sound he makes is his panting in the muggy, hot air, venting his body heat and providing a sort of audio guidepoint by which others might follow. Given what Elaine knows can be found down here, she is dressed for the occassion. Black plate armor, blackened even further since the previous incident down here, and a very large sword strapped across her back. She was mostly along as protection from the creatures which lurk too close to the wound, her primal fear of fire making her reluctant to get too close to the flames themselves. The wolves could take care of that, they seem practically fireproof after what happened last time. Nick is following along the group with a perpetual grimace on his face as he readjusts a backpack on his shoulder that seems to be zipped up with a few portable fire extinguishers and a mini shovel slung to the side of the backpack. Glancing around, his entire demeanor seems on edge as he speaks "Bones of the city" he says flatly as he moves with the group. Nope, someones not having a good night.
Alex is on the scene and in Dalu once they are on track to fight fires. Letting Aleks take the and scout ahead, he's a scary sight to behold. Blood spatters his face and chest, he is dressed in a simple black leather jacket with no shirt to show off his muscular and tattooed chest, jeans, and combat boots. On his person, he has several extinguishers in a duffle and a large pack full of water with a sprayer. Calling out to the group he says, "Aleks says we're bearing down on something large, metallic, and hot. Not sexy hot if I understood, but like burn you hot." The heat is certainly intensifying as they travel, backing up the assertions of Aleks and Alex; and that electric hum starts to get a lot more audible, buzzing at the edge of hearing. To the more sensitive ears in the group it sounds like the continuous wah-wah sound of an amp that's just been keyed up. Soon enough other sounds: clank crunch CLOMP. Clank crunch CLOMP. And the unpleasant scree-grind of metal against metal. There's a turn up ahead, but they can already see light spilling out of that intersection where no light they didn't bring, themselves, has been up until now. It's a painful white glow, like a mall food court at full sensory blast. The location is a match for the *big* fire on the map, but what they aren't smelling is smoke, and what they aren't hearing is the lick and pop of flames or the roaring whoosh of a fire looking for more to consume. This…is something else. Something perhaps born of those flames, but something Other than fire all the same. It doesn't appear to have noticed them yet. A small advantage. As he's poking around at the various historical artifacts, Sol slants a smile towards Nick. "Bones are interesting. Speaking of, there appear to be a system of signs down here. I don't recognize them, but perhaps it's something the Undercity Praxis uses. Anyone recognize them?" He'll point out a couple of the symbols in the gloom for the others. At Alex's translation, he hesitates. "It certainly is getting hot." But without the crackle of the fire, that light doesn't feel at all right. Curiously, he sniffs the air, his head cocking one way or the other, trying to place those weird sounds. "...if it's a giant magical fire robot, I'm lodging a protest with reality," he whispers to the closest firefighter. He sticks close to the wall, and looks like he'd like to edge closer. Instead of running ahead, though, he glances back at the rest, thin eyebrows rising in a silent question. When Solomon calls her attention to the strange symbols, she heads over to take a look at them herself. Maybe they'll give some insight into what might be going on up ahead.
Glancing over, Nick scans the buildings for a long moment before saying "Service pumps, so thats nice. I guess." The light catches his attention and he turns his head slightly as he narrows his eyes slightly at the sounds and growing heat, "I think we have a problem, and I dont think these little extinguishers are going to help.." Alex follows along with Nick and looks after where his packmate Aleks is. Shaking his head he says to Nick, "We could flood the undercity. I mean, we started the fire, we could end it. The vampires don't breathe, so it'll be ok if they get caught underwater." Trying not to laugh too much he drops the extinguishers and pumps the sprayer for the large water tank on his back to build pressure. "Hopefully, Aleks can give us a heads up on what's ahead." Looking to the rest of the group to see if they are ready for whatever may be ahead he gives the nod and looks back in the direction of the light. "Just call it a hunch, but something tells me that might not go over as well as you think," Elaine says with a glance toward Alex, having given up on making sense of the symbols. If possible, she would try and slip toward where the light is coming from and perhaps look around the corner quickly to get a glimpse of what is going on. Those grinding, clacking, clanging sounds start to draw closer, and more light starts to spill into the tunnel they're currently in from the one at the turn. The problem is on its way to them, it seems. Elaine and Aleks get their first look at what the problem actually *is*, even as Aleks uses his blessings to try to gain more information about it. Solomon nods to Nick. "Do you know how to work them? We wouldn't have to reverse all of them...just send some water down the tunnel to put out a few flames." A glance at the decidedly...un-fire-like look of the light. "Assuming that we're still dealing with flames," he murmurs. As the sounds get closer, he scuttles across the floor to one of the electric pumps. Right now, just taking cover behind it as he tries to figure out how it works. Just in case.
"Yeah" Nick says as he looks over the controls, squatting down to slug his pack off his shoulder and begins setting some of the materials out. "She's an older piece of hardware, but I think I can get her and her sisters going given time. I dont know how much shes going to have in her, but I doubt its going to flood the tunnels themselves...but it'll give us a good baseline to help if needed."
"So... how do we hurt that?" She turns back to the group. Whatever that was clearly wasn't natural. It also at least appeared to be made out of metal. Perhaps one of the wolves, or Solomon is more versed on such things than she is? (Could I maybe attempt an occult roll?) It wasn't coming slowly, this manifested monstrosity. Even as the team contemplates getting to work on the rest of those pumps, just about *everyone* will be able to see it oh…nowish. Rounding the corner, intent on going in a direction that seems pretty much the party's direction, is the head and front legs of a thing looks like it's made out of railroad tracks heated until the metal turns bright. At least it's not all the way into *their* tunnel yet, and there is certainly still time and space to maneuver and do things, but…they've run out of creature-free time. The manifested spirit looks kind of like a six legged bug. A long stretch of appropriated train track forges its curving, sinuous back, and six more lengths of train tracks forms its "legs." Its head is made out of what looks to be the reconstituted pieces of a mail car. It almost seems to be grinning as it stomps and clomps its way towards them, head moving from side to side, just having a grand old time doing what it's doing. Occasionally it belches out paper...bits of old pieces of mail...and then steps gleefully on them to set them alight, setting small fires that burn out pretty quickly, but which seem to satisfy the creature immensely. Then it opens its mouth good and wide. Is it…greeting them? Does it even exactly see them? Is this just a thing it *does?* Either way, it yells: "MAIL TIME!" in a sound like the clang-clang of a work bell, and belches out a bunch of mail. It's old, but dry, it's just paper, and yet…some *feeling* starts washing over the emotions of just about everyone here. Turns out that a brain finely tuned for writing long papers and doing weird occult things does not have a great _engineering_ capacity. Solomon gives the nearest pump a grumpy kick before Aleks' shift to human form distracts him. "Loose /mail/?" Solomon stares at Aleks. "What do you--" and then that THING clomps its way around the corner, and he just has to stare. "...can I take that home? It has my stamp of approval." Spoiler: It would never fit in his apartment. But then that gust of MAIL flows over him, and he's snatching envelopes out of the air, his expression setting into a determined air. And now he's running over to one of the dead pumps, stuffing the mail into it, then patting himself down. "Matches...matches...lighter? Why the fuck don't I carry a lighter? Anyone got a lighter?" Somewhere under the sudden obsession, of course, alarm bells are ringing. Aleks finds himself scooping up mail by the fistful now. "Where am I going with all this?" he asks, his tone bewildered. "Ugh, I can barely see." In an attempt to get his bearings to deliver the mail somewhere, he shifts into the near-wolf form and picks up a big stack of the mail between his jaws, the better to do so and make his way around.
Alex slides the large water tank off his back as that obsession to take the mail comes over him. Leaving it where it lays along with the extinguishers he moves over to help Aleks scoop up mail by the fist full. In dalu his hands are bigger and school up two huge bundles in each while trying to figure out where to go with the mail. Mail! She needed to get the mail delivered, yesterday! She excitedly prances over to where the mail is falling like snow and grabs two handfuls of letters. "Whose got a light! Surely one of you smokes! Light me up!" She exclaims, dancing in the deluge.
This…makes it *mad.* "OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAAAAAAY," it whine-growl-grind-shouts. Its sinuous body comes further into their corridor, about 25 in now, and it *stomps* its first two legs on some of the mail that hit the floor. WHOOOSH. A six yard flame burns up from right behind and in front of its foot in a long trail across the line of mail, sending crazy shadows across the walls and… Giving anyone who really wants to set some mail on fire right now plenty to do with that. And also meaning there's some fire to deal with for anyone who wants to get close enough to attack the thing. Alex shakes off that obsession with the mail and turns his attention on his packmate as Aleks attacks the spirit. Growling he follows his nametwin and shifts to gauru, a large black and gray beast with black claws that howls right as he rushes in to bite and tear into the gauzy, ephemeral tissue. "And this one goes...well, I don't really know that neighborhood, but I can figure it out. I need a map," Solomon is muttering, half oblivious to the giant fiery murder mail train in his urge to _puzzle out the mail_. And then there's fire, which is VERY useful. He shoves the handful of mail into some flames. There's a warm glow of satisfaction as he watches the paper burn. And he realizes, vaguely, that there's a fight happening. Oh, _RIGHT_. He shakes himself, backs away, and scrabbles for something vaguely seen in the shadows. He lifts the rebar. "I'm going to try and take care of the fire! Stay away from me!" He lifts the bar, then points it at the train. And he starts singing, "Oh the dreadful wind and rain," from some old folk song. Surely this has a point? It does. Thunder begins to rumble, and heavy rain starts falling from the concrete ceiling. Solomon skitters, trying to keep himself as far away from the others as possible, while he's surrounded by a storm that is growing increasingly fierce, with rain and wind battering around him. The beast took over, it giving her some clarity. The clarity to ask what the fuck she was doing playing with mail when there was a fire. She snarls and bares her fangs and her sword flies from its scabbard on her back. Her vitae infused muscles put considerable force behind her massive sword as it bites into the spirit train. With all the commotion going on in the chamber, Nicks eyes are all over the place as he looks this way and that at each of his companions. Fuck. Some begin to break out of the control and counter. The twins shift and begin to attack in their new forms, as Solomon literally makes it rain...have to talk about that later. Elaine pulls her massive sword and strikes at the spirit. With the snapping of bones and muscles as his body grows with a rapid speed, the solid black werewolf Midnight charges at the train with a loud rumbling growl before chomping into the manifested spirit. Have no fear...you've all been...delivered! The creature shreds under Gauru fury, Changeling rain, and vampiric frenzy. It is at first all globs of spirit muck and corpus, but it soon dissolves into a pile of rotted mail, dematerialized and back to its side of the Shadow. It might return someday, but they've definitely put the fires out in North Side for *now*, along with the thing that was continuing to perpetuate them in this side of the city. And nobody too much worse off for it, to boot!
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