Our upcoming DC adventure

[Trebuchet]

I sent off a "newspaper" article as a leadin for our game this coming Saturday; and both of my players (Blackjack and Christopher) responded with some good role-playing so I assembled the replies into a more coherent form.

 

Artemis is played by Blackjack.

Raptor is played by Christougher .

Justicar is played by yours truly.

 

Just as a quick explanation of the status of our DC group; Justicar and Raptor are a strictly ad hoc team who work together and coordinate to a certain extent. (They've even got walkie-talkies for emergency communication). Artemis is an independent heroine who has worked with Raptor a few times, but remains unaware of Justicar's existence up to this point. (She assumes all reports of a dark winged figure is Raptor.) Without further ado -

 

Cassie had dropped in (okay, snuck in) to Jen Harper's window, just to see her old friend. A month after the fact, Jen was still starry-eyed over the ring Mike had given her when he'd proposed on Valentine's day.While Cassie was genuinely happy for her friend, she managed to hide the annoyance she felt at the reminder of her own perpetually lonely lifestyle.

 

"I just hope this new mob war doesn't spill over into our neighborhood, we're awfully close to Little Italy." Jennifer bemoaned. Cassie flinched, "New mob war? What happened?" Jen blinked, wondering how her friend hadn't heard. "I think yesterday's paper is still downstairs. I'll go get it." Jen came back a moment later and tossed to paper to Cassie. The headline screamed above the fold:

 

Suspected Gangland Killing Has Officials Concerned

 

The Hudson City Daily Star-Gazette - March 22, 2006 - A 43 year old man killed Thursday evening by a bullet fired from a high-powered rifle had ties to organized crime; according to a police spokesman. Salvatore "Big Sal" Napoli, believed to be an enforcer for Hudson City's Verontese crime family, was shot once through the head while exiting Lambertini's Pizzeria in Little Italy around 9:10 PM. His wife and two teenaged children were uninjured, although his wife was sedated at Queen's Hospital and released Friday. Mrs. Napoli's attorney stated Friday that the family was in mourning in an undiscoled location.

 

Napoli was killed by a single shot to the head, suggesting a professional hit. Police are concerned this may be the beginning of a new mob war in Hudson City. The city's Organized Crime Bureau and the FBI will be investigating the homicide.

 

According to James Lambertini, the owner of Lambertini's Pizzeria, Napoli and his family were regular customers. "He was always polite, and always tipped well. His wife was a real sweet lady, and his kids were always very polite, not like most teenagers these days. He'd just answered a call on his phone and walked out the front door when blam! You know, you see that stuff in the movies and in the papers, but you never think it'll happen right in front of you."

 

Cassie read the article twice, looking for details and trying to figure out what the police might know but not release. When she was done she simply looked at Jen and said, "Wow." Later, the pair went out for lunch, a small cafe near Le Magister park, where Jen had to pay, again. After lunch and an awkward goodbye, Cassie had an errand to run.

 

*****

 

"Miss Hok, to see ADA Rogers." the small oriental woman said to the security guard.

 

Hello, 'Miss Hok,' it's good to see you again," ADA Rogers welcomes you into her private office, then tells her secretary "No calls," and closes her office door carefully. She looks at you appraisingly for a moment, then she gestures toward a comfortable looking chair in front of her desk. "Please, have a seat."

 

"It is good to see you again, my friend. I heard the horrible news the other day, and it reminded me of you. No, not this of course, I know it's not part of your job. Perhaps you have a trustworthy friend who might chat with me? But tell me, what of the poor deluded man who was arrested for burning down churches? Has he been tried yet?"

 

"The issue of Henry "Hellfire" Blass' mental competence to stand trial is still being adjudicated," ADA Rogers admits. "His crimes and behavior since his arrest have given his defense attorney a LOT of ammunition... There have also been a few administrative and procedural delays, but nothing too unusual for Hudson City's wheels of justice. In any case, he'll be off the streets for a long time. We were very lucky you managed to stop him before he burned down St. Ignatius Cathedral."

 

Cassie merely nodded. It was clear Rogers didn't know about Justicar's considerable help in that incident, and given his clear desire to remain behind the scenes, Cassie saw no reason to enlighten the assistant district attorney about his presence. Without his "force bubble" to smother the fire, St. Ignatius' might well have burned to the ground.

 

"I presume you're here about the mob shooting Wednesday night? Well, I'm afraid that the police have little data yet. There was apparently something unusual about the bullet used, but I don't know the specifics yet. I'm supposed to be briefed on the status of the investigation early Monday morning. If you'll meet me afternoon, I'll tell you what I can. I'm sure you realize that a mob war would be very bad news for Hudson City. If we can nip this in the bud, we'll all be better off. In the meantime, I've got something for you." She reaches into her desk drawer and hands you a blue plastic card. "This is a building security pass so you can bypass security on future visits. You're registered in the system as a 'Confidential Informant." She smiles wryly. "That's a term we usually use for criminals who snitch on their fellows, but I suppose we can use it truthfully even though it's usually me informing you." Looking at the card, you see it has a grainy photo of you and a 5-digit ID number, but no name. "You did realize all visitors to the building were routinely photographed, didn't you?" She also hands you a business card. "I've written my cell phone number on that if you ever need to get in touch with me outside office hours."

 

"Yes, a new turf war would be bad for the city." Raptor responded. In Cassie's mind, Rogers seemed a little friendlier this time, had the occassional calls and meetings broken the ice a bit? Ms. Hok took the cards lightly, examining the plastic one in great detail. "I'm not surprised about the photo, I've taken some precautions" she answered, toying with one of the items on the ADA's desk that hadn't left fingerprints on her first visit. A moment of paranoia swept across Cassie, could the card be used to track her? It seemed too thin to have a bug embedded in it. Still, she'd find a way to conceal it on the roof of the building. "This number, does it have any meaning?" Ms Hok asked, working to commit it to memory. Sliding Raptor into their workings like this suprised Cassie, and she made the comment aloud, "Hiding in plain sight, interesting."

 

"No," replies Rogers, "it's just a number used to catalog the holder in the computer. All entrances and exits are recorded in the security computer. My own ID card has a number too." Ms. Rogers holds her own card out out; except for the fact hers has a different number, her name, and 'Asst. District Attorney' on it they look identical. "If you're not comfortable meeting here, I'll understand. That's why I gave you my cell number. All calls in and out of the office here are recorded, but not our cell phones."

 

Cassie looked skepticaly at the ADA.

 

Rogers purses her lips. "It's obvious you don't entirely trust me,'Miss Hok.' That's understandable, I suppose, I'd probably feel the same way were I in your shoes. The Powers That Be upstairs haven't quite decided how to deal with your presence and that of your costumed colleagues, but I personally feel that in light of metahumans appearing around the world your presence was probably inevitable; and in my case welcome. You saved my life a few months back, and I won't ever forget that. I've already spoken out against active measures against costumed heroes, and in light of your recent rescue of the Mayor it looks like my superiors are at least prepared to let things slide for now; although they're balking at active cooperation. Even if the city's policy towards costumed heroes changes for the worse, mine won't. The worst I'll do is cease having these meetings with you. You have my word." She looks up and meets Cassie's eyes, and her sincerity is obvious.

 

"In any case, I hope to have more information for you Monday afternoon. She stands, and extends her hand. Somewhat reluctantly, Cassie shakes it, then takes her leave. She has a lot to think about.

 

*****

 

After night fell, it was time to hit the streets, but this time violence wasn't going to be the fast answer. Cassie figured her best chance was to haunt the Red Light district and listen in, hoping the shooter may have satisfied some baser pleasures after his job. While the story might be running around in the Numbers, and there'd be plenty of wannabes bragging they could have done it, the actual quality of thugs and shooters down there was pretty poor.

 

Even though Little Italy would be a better source, it seemed that was Justicar's turf, and she wasn't going to intrude on it, and get in his way. She was most certainly going to meet him at midnight though.

 

Later that night, at Raptor's usual midnight rendevous with Justicar on top of St. Ignatius Cathedral to discuss crimefighting, he expresses his own concern about the possibility of a Mafia war. "It's rather odd, though. I try to stay up on mob gossip, and I should have heard rumblings of an impending war between the Verontese family and any of the other HC crime families. And Salvatore Napoli would be an unlikely way to start such a war; he's far too low on the Verontese totem pole to be useful as a first strike. All it does is put the Verontese on alert. I wonder if it's something more personal...?" His voice trails off speculatively. "I need to do some poking around. If I find anything, I'll let you know tomorrow night." He turns, and with characteristic abruptness leaps off the pinnacle of the cathedral roof and glides southeast towards Little Italy. Justicar is normally rather taciturn, but somehow Cassie senses he's more bothered by the prospect of a mob war than she'd expect from him.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Our upcoming DC adventure

 

Laura rounded the corner from Beaufort Avenue onto North Lincoln Street way too fast. Her bicycle tilted to a dizzyingly deep angle, but somehow she managed to maintain her balance - and speed - as she pulled quickly into the thoroughfare's southbound bike lane. She cursed silently to herself as she negotiated the light, pre-rush hour traffic. She had hoped to finish her patrol early last night, knowing that her superhuman strength and resilience didn't make it any easier to get up at 6:00 in the morning. Stumbling onto an overturned tanker truck hauling hazardous materials to the Fulton Avenue docks just as she was about to turn around and go home didn't help either. Still, she had done some good. She had easily righted the tanker and moved it off the road before any serious damage could be done, the driver wasn't hurt, and the authorities had arrived as promptly as she could have hoped, given that it was Eastwod. She had debated leaving as soon as the immediate situation was resolved, but decided against it. She couldn't know if the truck's damage was worse than her untrained eyes could tell, and she didn't want a shaky, post-accident driver on the roads. No, she needed to make sure he'd stay put until someone with a badge arrived to ask all the right questions. It meant listening to his feeble come-on lines and double entendres until she finally bullied him into silence. The whole thing had put her back at home over an hour later than she had planned. Now, as she'd feared, the rest of her morning's schedule was struggling to catch up.

 

Once she arrived at the classroom building, her concerns lightened. She'd made pretty good time, and now that she was in an empty stairwell, she could jump from landing to landing, ascending at an astonishing rate. Finally arriving on her floor, she paused, consciously reining in her abilities and slowing her breathing as she re-entered the "normal" world. She stepped into the classroom and took her seat just as Dr. Graves walked into the door on the other side of the room. All she had to do now was to endure his traditional midterm reveiw free-for-all, helping the undergrads squeeze months of reading and research into one hour...

 

She looked over at the stack of books and papers on the desk in front of Terry, Dr. Graves' other TA. On top of the pile, neatly folded, was today's edition of the Daily Star-Gazette.

 

Suspected Gangland Killing Has Officials Concerned

 

As she read the headline, it looked as though tonight would be FAR more hectic than the previous one had been...

[Edsel]

Re: Our upcoming DC adventure

 

Looks pretty interesting so far. Thanks for sharing.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Our upcoming DC adventure

 

Thanks. I'll post additional stuff as I disseminate it to my players and their responses if any. I hope to document the whole scenario from start to finish.

[Trebuchet]

Woman Murdered Walking Home From Work

 

Woman Murdered Walking Home From Work

 

The Hudson City Daily Star-Gazette – Monday, March 27, 2006 Ginger Rae Jackson, 30, a divorced bartender walking home to her apartment from work at Downstairs, a popular Marwich nightclub, was fatally shot at approximately 11:35 PM Saturday night at the corner of Kemp & North Jefferson in Bayside. Jackson had reported feeling poorly, and left work early. Cause of death was a single shot through the heart.

 

Her body was discovered by a HCPD unit responding to a 911 report of a gunshot. Her purse was missing, indicating robbery may have been the motive.

 

Suspicion originally centered on her live-in fiancé, Joseph Williams, 39, a recently retired Marine Recon sharpshooter. Williams was taken in for questioning but released 3 hours later after phone records indicated he was home at the time of the shooting. Neighbors report no loud fighting or noises, and Williams had an exemplary military record. Jackson and Williams were engaged to be married in August. Williams told police he usually walked her home from work when she normally ended her shift at 2:30 AM; but she had declined escort when she called him enroute a few blocks from home. Their apartment is only about ¾ of a mile from the nightclub.

 

According to family members, Jackson was attending Hudson City College and planned on becoming a teacher when she graduated. Her fiancé planned to begin college in the fall semester.

 

Police are continuing their investigation.

[NightStick]

Re: Our upcoming DC adventure

 

Kool Stuff!

 

I look forward to following the storyline of your campaign. It would appear that our (The Weekend Warrior campaign that Edsel is running) stories will be running simultaneously.

 

This just makes me look forward to our next session with that much more anticipation:cheers: !