As players appear, they will enter the room and can start posting.

Whoever first enters Conference Room 2B sees the following.

It's getting dark by the time you arrive. You enter the room -- chairs, a desk, a large table, a blackboard, what you would expect.

There's one person in here, a man, sitting at the table with a notepad and pencil in front of him.

He looks to be in his early 40s, with a closely trimmed goatee beard, and is extremely pale  and tall and thin, almost cadaverous. He wears dark-tinted glasses and a strange Indonesian cap. And black pants. And a black leather coat.

He smiles as you walk in, showing a wide smile of white teeth.

"Good evening. I suppose you're another member of the task force.

"The name is Magnus. Simon Magnus. I am quite excited to meet you. Your name is...?"

The man who entered was a bit over 6' tall and broad. A bit of extra weight hung on his large frame, and he looked like the kind of man who could finish a hero without much effort, but his raw physical strength was evident. Dark haired and dark eyed, his 5-o'clock shadow had deepened this late at night, and a meat-hook hand with sausage-like fingers rubbed his cleft chin underneath a bulbous nose and puffy cheeks.

"Detective DiCicco, NYPD."

He put his cup of black coffee he'd scrounged in the City Hall assessor's office break room on the table, unbuttoned his dark grey sportcoat and unconsciously loosened his necktie looking around at the empty room, before returning his eyes to Magnus.

"Not much of a task force, if you ask me."

Vinnie looked at his watch: it read five minutes to 8. He started to sit down, but thought better of it; he hooked one thumb in his belt and picked up his cup again with his left hand.

~~ This guy looked like somebody out of -- what was that movie Anthony wouldn't stop talking about? 'The Matrix' or something? Yeah, leather from head to toe. Weirdos on Halloween, man. Can I get the cherry jobs or what. ~~

Magnus looks delighted.

"Detective DiCicco! I am delighted to meet you! What an honor! It was you who caught that fiend, the cannibal, what was his name... I would imagine that that is why you have been summoned by the powers that be. It seems they want talent.

"What is my talent, you may ask? I am an expert in..."

(portentious pause)

"...vampirism."


OOC: give me both an EDU roll and a Spot Hidden roll please.

Edward had carefully weighed the options in his closet before committing to a black blazer with dark blue shirt underneath; he didn't think his usual velvet and silver jewellery would be appreciated by the boys in blue. Anyone who knew of him from his show, Darkness Walks, might think he looked a little less alabaster pale in person, his dark hair not quite so expertly mussed. The stylists didn't follow him on his off days, after all. His features were somewhat saturnine, full lips and a rather heavy brow, though this might be partly down to the somber cast to his expression. Though Edward was inwardly fantasising about the amount of cash he could generate out of this, he doubted that attitude would endear him to anyone.

He entered with a leatherbound folio under his arm, the kind that opens up with a pad and elastic to hold stationary, and glanced at the folk already there. A guy he would have bet his right hand was a cop, and ... a fellow that he would have been hard pressed to site anywhere. Offering them both a brief flicker of a TV-white smile, Edward took the seat that came closest to hand, settling his folio on the table before addressing the pair,

"Evening, gentlemen. I'm Edward Lovat."

The tall, gaunt, black-clad man in the strange cap looks at Edward. A big grin crosses his face.

"EDWARD LOVAT, OF DARKNESS WALKS!, IN THE FLESH! Simon Magnus. Please to meet you!"

He extends one skeletal hand.

OOC: EDU roll and Spot Hidden, please. Because you absolutely may know of him.

This message was last edited by the GM at 05:58, Wed 10 Nov 2021.

Waves of recognition of the TV personalities washed over Vinnie and he realized he's been set up. ~~ Stop a guy feeding his vics to dogs, and chowing down with 'em! and this is the billet the Captain sets up for you. For this I'm missing the twins' bedtime. Merde. ~~

He exhaled and slumped his shoulders, sliding down into one of the chairs and taking a sip of bad coffee.

Out of force of habit, he raised his cup when Lovat looked his way and said, "Saluto."

Magnus continues talking as he extends his hand to Edward.

"I am a great admirer of your work, Mr. Lovat. Not just a television personality, but someone who clearly knows something of the occult arts.

"What may it be, I wonder, that has caused the New York police to call us together?"

A pretty brunette with her wavy hair falling loosely about her shoulders walks in. She's wearing a white blouse, a tan cardigan, and dark jeans, looking casual but tasteful. The outfit was just heavy enough to keep warm, but you wouldn't want to stand around all night outside in it. In the hand not opening the door she holds a fairly large travel mug giving off the distinctive aroma of coffee; either it's decaf or she's likely to be awake very late tonight. She looks about, taking in the odd crowd. "Good evening, gentlemen."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:39, Thu 11 Nov 2021.

Edward realised, with a curious mixture of excitement and cringing horror, who he had mistaken for an incidental kook struck upon entering the room. Simon Magnus commanded the kind of assets he could only hope to amass, but yet he was so unaware of social convention that Edward felt his respectability slipping away by the second. Luckily, acting was one of Edward's forte's, and he schooled his expression into what he hoped was bashful appreciation.

"Ah, you have heard of the show then, Mr. Magnus. Likewise I think you have done great work in the field. It is such a shame such tragic circumstances should precipitate our meeting, those poor girls... I expect, given the presence of both of us, that there must be some Occult dimension to the affair."


Edward briefly but firmly shook the proffered hand, hoping that he had imparted on the eccentric the solemnity of the occasion. To the woman entering the room, Edward offered a cordial nod of the head a slight smile as he retook his seat.

Magnus nods and says, "it appears so, Mr. Lovat."

Turning to Dr. Perez, he introduces himself with a short bow and a small smile.

"What might your specialty be? Ghosts? Ghouls? Psychokinesis?"

Taking a sip of her coffee when Magnus asks his question, Mari coughs for a moment and makes an effort not to spit her coffee out. If her call hadn't come from a reputable source, she would have figured someone set her up for some Halloween prank. Once she's avoided the embarrassment of spitting coffee all over herself she mutters, "¡Dios mío!" After taking a moment to recover she replies to Magnus, "No, I'm more like Detective DiCicco than you two. I'm a forensic pathologist for Manhattan and the Bronx."

She looks at the seats, now hoping for one closer to the detective, certainly not stuck between these two TV personalities. Not that she's seen much of them, watching mostly Telemundo and Univision or children's programming. But if there is anyone in this meeting who would be closer to her views, it would probably be the detective right now.

A wave of relief washed over DiCicco's face. ~~ Thank God, somebody normal. Well... as normal as Medical Examiners can be, ~~ he thought.

"Word from the 4th Precinct is these vics had all the blood drained from 'em. That's something you M.E.'s do before sewing them back up, innit? Might want to talk with Chief M.E. Hirsch, get to their records... see if there's any stiffs in the morgue that match our girls; could be they're misplaced."

He paused for a moment as a thought struck him. "Or maybe one of yours decided to drum up some business, knowwhattimean?" DiCiccio knew the folks working autopsies were smarter than him, but what did they say -- they had a hard time dealing with 'the living'? He wouldn't be surprised if one of them got itchy fingers and wanted to see what it was like to go to work on a live specimen. Spending all that time in a cold morgue would make anybody gonzo after a while.

Magnus' eyebrows rise.

Amara says quietly to Det. DiCicco as she takes a seat beside him and he updates her, "I was a little afraid I was invited here as a Halloween prank when I saw these two."

Then she replies directly at a normal tone, "So that's why I'm here. Well, we don't actively drain the blood. That's just gravity. The killer could have just given gravity time, which wouldn't take much of any knowhow, or the killer could have done it actively. I'd like to see how much time there was between the victims being killed and being discovered and if there is any evidence of positioning of the body. I'll have to talk to Dr. Hirsch."

Then she reconsiders her prior thought and addresses the other two, "If Det. DiCicco and I are here about investigating these murders, why are you two here? I would think, in avoiding publicity around an investigation, that they would not bring in famous TV hosts."

Magnus says, his eyes invisible behind his dark glasses,

"Thank you for the complement, but I -- I cannot speak for Mr. Lovat! -- am hardly famous, and I am not a TV host. That is a but of popularization for the masses.

"I am, in fact, an occultist and investigator of the paranormal. A scholar of things that science claims shouldn't exist, and so it ignores them."

He chuckles.

"I would imagine that Mr. Lovat -- whose specialty, I believe, is cults, is it not? -- and I have been invited because the police believe that the case has some bearing on the occult, or cults. Satanists, perhaps.

"But the true star here is the detective. DO you remember how New York was terrified? 'The Wolf,' they called him. The cannibal killer! In Bellevue now, I believe."

He looks at Vinnie and says,

"Detective, wasn't there something about... dogs involved in the case? A rare case of psychological lycanthropy -- when a man feels he turns into a savage animal. And hunts luje one."

Vinnie tried to suppress the shudders with New York bravado. “Whatever was goin’ on in that creep’s brain made him flip out is the City on a Thursday. Nuthin special about him, just a different flavor of weird. Ask Pasquale d’Encre when he shows up. You know he changed his name to Lupus? How’s about that. Guy named ‘wolf’ acts like a wolf. Everybody got their fetish. You lookin for weird you’re in the right place. Welcome to New York, pal.”

It mostly worked, but he stumbled a bit trying to say wolf.

"Yes, I heard about "the Wolf" and Det. DiCicco's work. I think we are all quite appreciative. I certainly am." She smiles at Vinnie and gives a slight nod.

"So, we have a lot of experts on cults and murders here. And Det. DiCicco seems to know a bit more about why we're here. But we're still waiting on the bosses, huh? Det. DiCicco, care to fill us in some more so we're as up-to-date as we can be before the bosses arrive?"

Vinnie shrugged off the compliment like he wasn’t comfortable with them, but he was able to avoid the office-joke Dragnet response of, just doin our jobs, ma’am.

“Came from up-up, knowwhatimean? DAs office. Election year, ya know. Captain Matheson tapped me. So I went down to the 4th…” DiCicco produced a small notepad from his sport pat’s inside pocket and flipped it open after moving the rubber band around it. “Two vics: Wendy Hughes, 27, Hobb’s Court, discovered approximately 7am by sanitation, one witness questioned … no name for that one; Lori Atkinson, 22, found 1am today 3 blocks away by a roommate who’s gone loopy and in psychiatric custody. Ghoulie,” he shrugs in apology to Amara, “ah, you know, coroner Ra’s Al Gourdie. Same name as that Batman guy what comes back from the dead. I says the City’s weird, dinnit I? Word is the bodies was mauled. Ripped up. And no blood in ‘em.”

He flipped the pad closed and replaced the band.

“Congrats, you knows what I do. Still think the MEs office is the place to go.”

"Sounds like you're probably right. Can't speculate too much yet, of course. Maybe they'll bring us the medical examiner's report whenever they get here." Amara glances at her watch to try to ballpark just how late she'd get home if the meeting didn't start soon. Then she takes another drink of her coffee and settles more comfortably into the chair.

Pascal entered the room hurriedly.  Traffic had been surprisingly dense, given the hour.  He looked up from his silver watch, scanning the room, taking attendance.

He saw a couple of people he didn't recognize.  Then one he did.  That clown from TV - what the hell was he doing here?

He kept searching until his eyes locked on the big man seated at the table.

"Vinnie," he said almost solemnly as he approached.  "Been a while, brother."

He clapped the big man on the back, then acknowledged the others in the room, each in turn, with a gentle head nod and smile.

Vinnie stood up as Pascal approached. "Hey what's goin on, cujino. You're out late for the kid, eh? He finally wise up with babysitters, or you letting him on his own?"

At this moment, the doors open and five men walk in.

Some of you know some of them, and may have worked with some of them. But they introduce themselves.

This is going to seem tedious, but it needs to be done. After I introduce each person, if you haven't already, please make an EDU roll unless I say otherwise. This is to determine what you know of them (which will vary based on your background), as well as any secrets they may have. You can PM me the result of the roll.

The first is D.A. CHESTER BOULDER. The district attorney himself!

A well-dressed, professional-looking man.


This message was last edited by the GM at 10:09, Tue 16 Nov 2021.

Amara stands up when Pascal approaches (as she's seated beside Vinnie). She's about to introduce herself when the DA walks in. She stops speaking just as the slightest breath of introduction starts coming out, and she turns her attention to the DA and the four others following him.