Children of The Divine (IC)

[Jay 2K Winger]

Location: Johnny's Room, The Mirage, Las Vegas

Selene makes a quiet noise, as of clearing her throat. Johnny glances at her, then says, "Okay, now you're on speaker, Aiden. Go, Selene."

The hacker pipes up. "Found your location, Aiden," and she follows this up with a rough street address, adding, "Western Union a block away, money in your name waiting, enough for cab fare and any other incidentals. Reservation just set up for you," and she gives a hotel name and address as well. "Recommend we head there as a group to pick up other team's trail soon."

Johnny nods. "You set up travel arrangements. Solomon, you'll take care of TSA?"

The big Aussie, by now in dry clothing, nods. "Sure. Most of our gear we can stash in the armory. If'n Blood-drinker," and he gives Jack an amiable nod, "wants to take his knife with 'im, I can smooth that over, no worries."

Selene speaks up again, "Got hits on three of the other team. The one who hurt Luke is Susana Ishii, Japanese-American from San Francisco. Daughter of Susano-o, from the Amatsu-kami Divinity. God of seas and storms. Professional criminal. Charges of grand theft larceny, grand theft auto, assault, battery, and murder. Known Titan sympathies. Not sure why her sword escaped notice for so long.

"The Shadowman is Mattieu Carrefour, known street hustler from New Orleans. Son of Kalfu, from the Vodoun Divinity. Kalfu is the Loa of the dark crossroads and wicked spirits of the night. Known con artist and thief. Unclear about his connections with the Titans."

Then she pauses and inhales sharply before continuing: "Third is MacBride. Morgan MacBride. Irish-born. Son of the Morrígan, a Celtic goddess of war. MacBride is a rogue terrorist, former IRA, gone freelance when his views turned too anarchistic and nihilistic for the IRA leadership. There have been ten known attempts on his life, including one car bombing while he was sitting in the driver's seat. He survived with no injuries. Notes in his file suggest avoiding conflict with him."

Johnny interrupts, "Thanks for the intel, Selene. Keep looking and see if you can find out any more on the other two that Aiden saw in his vision." He turns to the others. "Get your things together, and watch for a call or email from Selene or myself regarding your flight to Denver tomorrow. We'll take care of accommodations on the other end, separate rooms."

Later That Night...

After business was concluded, the scions on our merry band of misfits return to their accommodations in Vegas. Although the same rooms are still booked, the hotel staff are very conscientious and state that anything the scion might want is at their disposal. A text from Johnny (and it's from his phone number) indicates that he got their service upgraded so everyone's last night in Vegas (for now) can be a pleasant one. While Aiden is not in Vegas, his hotel in Denver has done much the same thing.

The gang still in Vegas receives a text or email from Selene stating that their flight to Denver is at 12:21PM the following afternoon.

That night, everyone has a particularly vivid Dream...

An icy fortress amid snow-covered crags, a Jotun of particularly tall dimensions and regal demeanor clutching something that shines too brightly to look at as he shouts something in a voice that-- by the weird mechanics of dreaming-- is too distorted to make out.

A flash of light and fire over a different mountain range, a spreading darkness and Winter claims the land. And it's something far worse than a mere cold season, and thus fully requires the capital letter. After this the imagery gets jumbled. Cities in chaos. Snow and ice and darkness blanket the world...

On heavenly battlegrounds, the Titans and Divinity make war. The jotun and their fiery kin storm the Bifrost. Twisted mockeries of the Aztec Divinity swoop down from the stormy skies and upon the Divine stepped pyramid of Acopa. Greater cyclopi and the ferocious hekatonkheires swarm up Olympus. Monstrous ghouls and creatures out of chaos descend upon Tian. Beings of light, of terrible intensity, assault the bottomless Divine River of Iteru, shining brighter than even Ra Himself.

The imagery gets more jumbled and chaotic, but no less vivid. But each of our scions sees something or someone especially personal to them swept up in the all-consuming chaos, which threatens to destroy it...
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// GM NOTES--

The gang's going to be heading out to Denver "in the morning." Feel free to have character interactions either at Johnny's Room or elsewhere in Vegas.

The Prophetic Dream that everyone just had is similar to everyone, but there will be imagery that speaks more directly to each scion individually. So please let me know what that is. You can either post it in the thread or PM it to me, but this may will play a factor in future plot happenings.

The person or thing which is important to each scion that's being threatened by the course of fate can be anyone, but I'd recommend it be someone other than your Divine Parent. You're on the course to help save the world from Götterdämmerung, the Twilight of the Gods, they're already in danger as it is. You might be half-Divine, but don't forget your mortal side.

[Scorpodael]

Jack goes through the Arsenal for a bit, looking at the large caliber handguns... and then stops short when he sees what appears to be a double-barreled pistol. ... Yep, double-barreled .45 pistol- an AF2011-A1. Of course, Jack doesn't know the proper name for it- all he knows is that the gun makes him smile such an evil little smile that he immediately picks it up, along with 4 clips - 2 full of lead bullets, one packed with silver, and the last gets Cold Iron. "Salt. Silver. Iron. Lead. ... That should do it." He mutters to himself, heading off to bed pretty much immediately at that point.

The dream he dreams... Well, that's just not very pretty at all, now is it? Among those images he saw- the personal one- was the realm of his father, the afterlife known as Tlalocan. Normally, this wouldn't bother him quite so much, if it weren't for all the children... the souls of centuries' worth of children, cast out into darkness, and into oblivion.

And if that weren't enough, he sees the face of a girl- a young woman, actually. But he doesn't remember her. She looks so very familiar, though. That long, dark hair. Slightly Asian cast to her features. Eyes the color of ashes. And so sad... and afraid. And then the blood... so very, very much blood...

And Jack sits bolt upright in his bed, clawing at the side of his head where he'd been hit 2 years gone, fingernails digging into his scalp and cheek as he whispers just a single word... "Felicia..." And he's crying, but he doesn't know why.

[Chanlin]

Fiona, Emmett, et al: Mirage Hotel

Emmett changes back into his normal street clothes keeping the pistol and cane sword he took from the armory earlier. He heads off to bed early, a move which unfortunately does not turn out to be as wise as it usually is. His rest is fitful as his sleep is plagued by dreams of death and destruction. Among the chaos he watches as a demon rips Kevin, his good friend from the Chicago PD, apart like a paper doll. The torturous sights do not stop there. He sees the home of his mortal parents burned to ashes, charred skeletal remains among them, his younger step-sister weeping and looking terrible. And the worst of this torture is the images are repeated and try as he might, the blessing of waking up and ending the nightmare will not come.

Fiona for her part manages to get mostly buzzed, not even a little drunk, despite downing most of the minibar. The entire evening she grumbles to herself, anyone near will note the words "Stupid little Japanese whore...." and similar slurs.

Eventually she passes out on the couch late in the night/early morning. Like the others her dreams are plagued by disturbing images. Most of them are the death of a random stranger as a result of her own failure. But somewhere among the myriad of faces is a young girl. She would be older now, but this is how she remembers her. Young, frightened, hollow looking. The way she used to be. She never even bothered to learn her name before running away and leaving her in that hellhole of a foster home. And try as she might, she can't get to her to save her. Others might be awakened when Fiona wakes and sits up screaming....

[Mytical]

Lupo mostly lost interest in the goings on until McBride is mentioned. His ears perks up. "Somebody to avoid conflict with?" he practically licks his lips "Sounds like my kind of person. As for the one who hurt Luke..I have a score to settle with that one. Not much more to learn from them, but that is ok."

Later that night...

The personal part of the dream includes the images of children cold, hungry, and/or dying. For some reason this disturbs Lupo, even though normally his only care is the next fight, the next challenge.

[Naamah]

The hotel Selene organized for Aiden was a nice upscale place - and it had a wonderful bath to soak some well-needed heat back into his bones. He'd picked up a cheap cell phone, switched the service, and texted Kerry to update her.

Then, snuggled in a fluffy comforter and soft sheets, he dreams...

He hears a howling, and his heart is stuck in fear.

A hissing, and terror trembles in his bones.

The shriek of a woman, and he is frozen.

But those things are far away. Before him is a river, roaring rapids. He sees his assistant/accountant/official well-paid Trouble-Getter-Outter, on a fragile raft desperately trying to paddle with her own hands to shore.

Even as he runs towards her, the river fades. Jamal and Thom, his high school friends and co-conspirators in the infamous 'duckcident,' are chased by whirlwinds. He speeds forwards, trying desperately to reach them, but they as well fade.

He collapses, and lays his hands on the ground - on a tombstone. His mother's. Except, even as the etchings upon each side are the same, the roman script is replaced by runes - curses and profanities, gloating at her death, at her future death, at the death of all Aesir...

He awakes in a cold sweat, and spends a good amount of the rest of the night curled up in a towel watching old Iron Chef reruns.

[Jay 2K Winger]

// GM POST TIME - Feel free to expand on events here, have your characters chat or interact. This is mostly to just move us along from Vegas to Denver and on to part two of our epic tale.

Location: McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas

It's clear when the gang rolls up at the airport that no one got a lot of sleep. Johnny Mercury is wearing sunglasses and a ball cap pulled low to keep the late morning sun out of his eyes. Solomon's slouch hat is likewise pulled low, and he emits a sort of low grumbling as he stares around with bloodshot eyes. Even the stoic Selene looks frazzled as she clutches a cup of tea in her hands.

"Everyone have a good night's sleep?" Johnny asks sarcastically as he gives everyone a wan smile.

After morning greetings and any discussions are given, it's time to go through the usual air travel process. Boarding passes are acquired, baggage is checked, and then the rigamarole with TSA. Solomon ends up pulled aside for a strict wanding and pat-down, and then hustled off for presumably a thorough strip search. Selene has to demonstrate to TSA's acceptance that her laptop and tablet are not secretly bombs.

Fiona is given some trouble about her staff, but it eventually subsides, and she's told it will have to be stored in the overhead bins or in the forward storage closet on the plane.

Jack, however, is not given any grief about his knife-- indeed, it's almost as though TSA doesn't know it's there. Best not to press the issue, however.

The only two who don't seem to get much trouble from TSA are Johnny and Lupo. Johnny because he's that movie star, you know? And Lupo because "Holy shit, it's Mike Wolf!"

Someone from TMZ follows them through the terminal on the far side of TSA, but it's mostly unobtrusive and mildly annoying to have "videorazzi" dogging your every step. Johnny seems to "switch on" when they start following and distracts them with his usual hammy charm, talking about how he loved being in Vegas, really he did, he's gonna go out to Vail now, some of the first snows are coming down, maybe get some skiing in, et cetera.

On The Flight

Money was spent to get everyone first-class seats. The seats are comfortable and food and drink are available. There's one or two autograph-seekers for Johnny and Lupo, but the flight attendants do a good job maintaining their privacy. Selene looks twitchy not having solid net-access.

There's some turbulence and issues, which the pilot apologizes for, claiming some instrument trouble (truthful, Emmett would learn), but the plane touches down in Denver International Airport and fortunately the TMZ hounds don't pick up the scent here as taxis are taken to Aiden's hotel.

Location: The Hotel, Denver

While everyone else was dealing with airports and so on, Aiden was likely dealing with his own issues from a night's worth of bad sleep. There were the usual commercials on TV, including some of those ad spots that are clearly inserted into blocks for local sponsors. One of them, however, is the more familiar adverts for SLAM! Energy Drink, from Pyke Brands. Which, Aiden might recall, is based in Colorado. Some corporate offices in Denver, but Gunnar Forson-- the head of the company-- runs most of the business from Colorado Springs.

Eventually, the rest of the gang arrives and convenes in Johnny's hotel room, where the armory and wardrobe are made available again. "So," a still-tired Johnny says, "weird stuff was going on with dreams last night, I gather..."

[Scorpodael]

Jack is fairly moody on the way to Colorado- not really responding to attempts at conversation beyond a few guttural grunts. After recovering the weaponry and outfit from the wardrobe and Armory, he sinks into a chair, holding his head in his left hand. For a few moments after Johnny mentions the dreams, he's silent. Then he slowly raises his head, and stares at Johnny with an unnerving stare... but this time, it's not theatrical. "There was a girl. I don't know who she is. I don't know what she is to me. Just a face, and blood, and the memory of a name from... somewhere. She's supposed to be important to me, I think. But I can't..." He says, very, very quietly, the hand on the armrest clenching tight, with sparks jolting from fingertip to fingertip, charring the upholstery slightly. "My goddamned memories... why the FUCK doesn't it work right!?!" he snarls, much louder. He already knows the answer to his question, of course. He's just lashing out in frustration.

Anyone with a talent for seeing that kind of thing might realize that Jack is exceptionally unstable at the moment, although he does manage to calm himself down over the next several minutes, no longer inadvertently using his powers, shoving the anger and the frustration down to a manageable level, taking a deep breath and then releasing it slowly, shaking slightly.

[Mytical]

Mike "The Wolf" Hammer is a different animal then Lupo. He is all smiles, ruffling the hair of the kids, picking them up to get a picture with them, and shaking the hands/signing autographs for the fans. He even does a little 'shadow boxing' for the TSA people, and flexing for the flight attendants (he is in rather good shape after all). Mike also wears 'bling' (something Lupo is rather unfond of). A few rings, a couple of golden necklaces, and a diamond stud earring. All of course which are taken off when going through customs.

During the flight there is no sign of being uncomfortable in first class (though even Mike prefers not to be in first class), nor any sign that he had a rough night last night. All smiles, charm, and fun. Helps that his exercise routine often has him up at 4 or 5 in the morning..he is use to very little sleep.

Almost as soon as they touch down and are out of the limelight, however, Lupo is back. In the hotel he sighs. "Don't know what last night was, but yeah..no rest for the wicked."

[Naamah]

Aiden comes into Johnny's room lugging a grocery bag, a bit less worse-for-wear given his nap while the others dealt with travel. He slips into the Eternal Wardrobe and re-emerges in clean clothes - slacks, a button-up, a blazer - and carrying back a full-length wool coat under one arm. He collapses into a chair and rubs a little sleep out of the corners of his eyes.

"Right. Terrifying creepy prophetic dreams including the deaths and/or peril of those we hold dear, check. This is why I recommended we split the booze duty, guys - er..."

He gives a look to Fiona, blinks a couple times, resumes: "- and new guy. Right. Never a dull moment. Er, does that tattoo -- actually, I'm sure I'll find out eventually. Nevermind."

He reaches into his bag and plunks a can of SLAM! onto the table. "So here's what I know. Matty and MacBride booked it, but he did leave me in Denver. Which is the headquarters of these assholes - as you may recall, the ones who booked the ambush room. So, just maybe we should go visit them. Or their CEO while he's at the golf course. Or both."

[Chanlin]

Emmett spends the better part of the plane trip napping. Though it is a short flight, the small amount of sleep does seem to rejuvenate him some.

Fiona seems to want to talk to Lupo. It's clear she recognizes who he is, but she decides against it for now since everyone seems to be tired and cranky.

At the room in Denver Emmett looks down at the floor at the mention of dreams, "Is this one of those dreams that are inevitable? Or can we prevent it from happening?"

Fiona remains quiet until the attention from Aiden, "Oh yes, it does handsome." She gives him a big toothy grin. She look to everyone, now that they are for the most part all in the same place, "Fiona Black. My dad is Sun Wukong." Then she looks pointedly at Lupo, "And you and I gotta spar at some point cause hey... its the champ." She says with a bit of a half giggle half laugh.

[Mytical]

Lupo chuckles. "Nah, Mike Hammer is the champ, I am just Lupo. I got an in with Mike though, and he never turns down a challenge." He grins. "I'll see what I can do." he laughs.

[Chanlin]

Fiona makes herself look like a 16 something young girl and then squeals and jumps up and down clapping her hands, "Like ohmaigod its the champ!" She turns back to normal. "You mean you aren't him? Ok, I'm confused."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Location: Johnny's Hotel Room, Denver

Johnny pinches the bridge of his nose. "The dreams are troubling, but as I understand it, the 'tapestry of fate' is always unclear past a tangle. I think we can save the people we saw in our dreams, but it might be tricky to pull off." He gives a tired smirk. "But if it were easy, it wouldn't be us doing it."

Selene is once again plugged into the net on her laptop and tablet. "Aiden has point. Pyke Brands bankrolled the room where the trap was set up in Vegas. Pyke Brands been suspected of having ties to Titans. Should investigate. Gunnar Forson is in Colorado Springs at the moment, however."

"I think it might be a good idea to split up," Johnny says. "Some of us go into Pyke HQ here in Denver, the rest pop by Forson's place in Colorado Springs and see if he knows anything."

Solomon speaks up, "I think Selene and me should help the team going into Pyke here in Denver. Johnny can take his team to Colorado Springs. I know a helicopter pilot who can get you there quick."

// GM Notes: Time to split the crew. The Pyke HQ team will be dealing with some infiltration and stealth issues, while the Colorado Springs team may be doing something akin to an interrogation. Choose wisely.

[Chanlin]

Emmett listens to the plan and then says "I think my skills would be put to better use here in Denver."

[Scorpodael]

Jack eyes Johnny again... "I'll be going to Colorado Springs, then, I think. It is simply astounding how much information people volunteer when Mister Stabby asks them nicely." He says, patting the knife at his side. It's not really called Mister Stabby, of course. That would just be silly.