london ♔ welcome to the second reel

[wynn]

WHO || Wynn, Francesca, Lydia, Will, Cora, Sam, Dean, Helen, Tia, Val'drin, Sydney, Carol, Archer, Faith, Fiona, Rose, Eric, Lila, Sark  [Closed]
WHAT || Heartless Mission Briefing
WHERE || Knights HQ, the briefing room
WHEN || Feb 26th, shortly before 4pm [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

Instead of being directed to come to the Round Table, this group is instructed to meet at the downtown London Headquarters, told that this meeting has to do with the Children of Chaos, and that while only Francesca, Lydia, Will, Cora, Sam, and Sydney will be going into the field, Wynn would like input from everyone who has interacted with the cult in the past couple years.

For those who haven't yet been there, the main lobby area boasts an impressive silver dragon statue, about seven feet tall, immediately to the right of the entrance. The room is done in comforting wood and mahogany tones, and there's an array of tables and chairs across the room to the right, as well as a small piano. Statues of King Arthur and Lancelot flank the hallway that continues straight beyond the lobby, and there's a staircase leading up, with wooden dragon-shaped banisters, immediately beyond the bathroom door to the right.

On the left are two doors, and one of them leads into a room which also has a small reception window open, where they are received Between the doors hangs an ornate blue and silver tapestry with even more dragon imagery. It is an exercise in subtlety all around.

The woman working reception directs them each to head up the steps to the third floor, head to the end of the hall and take a right to the holo-room.

Yeah, that's right. They have a holo-room.

Walking in, it's possible to find Wynn standing over the much smaller holographic table, Tia, Eric, Faith, and Val'drin already in attendance.  

On the table sit two idols: both carved from hardwood, stained a deep, rich shade of brown.  Both are approximately 8 inches tall and 5 inches around at the thickest point, depicting a naked men standing with their arms at their sides.  One is emaciated and the other is obese.  Their faces are either horribly disfigured, or they're wearing masks.

There's someone else in attendance as well...

Comments

[certainproclivity]

[Sark's expression remains unwavering (though it seems there's some mild agitation creeping into his expression due to some of Lila's comments). He lets Wynn proceed and lets his eyes fall on Sydney as soon as he catches her staring at him.... and just... stares back.

Long after she looks away. :) Hi.

In fact, when he answers her question, he directs it specifically at her, as if no one else is in the room.]

It's likely that's what it refers to, yes. As I said, what these powers might be is virtually unknown, so St. Andrew could just as well be signing his own death warrant as gaining power- precisely why I want no part in this folly of his. I dislike chaos for chaos's sake, and I certainly don't believe what he's chancing is an acceptable risk.

[That while last bit he directs at Lila.] And given the deaths recently, he's close to reaching whatever he thinks he's going to get out of this.

[impetere]

[Now that they've set the atmosphere with the appropriate amount of foreboding, she glances away from Sark to Wynn for instruction.]

So what's the mission?

[immuno]

If it were as easy as turning on St. Andrews and interrupting his rituals, I can't help feeling like you would have used your access to him to do it already.

[ Which is Lydia's way of announcing that she shares the majority suspicion of Sark. ]

So is it reasonable to assume it's not that simple?

1/2

[superswank]

[ she glances at cora and lydia, but her attention keeps wandering back to sark since he's stARING AT HER BLATANTLY. ] Do we believe St. Andrew is removing the hearts himself? It'd be unusual for him to be so hands on, but at the same time, it's possible he doesn't trust anyone else with the task, if it's gone so far.

[likedillinger]

Not unless the guy's secretly a weretiger or something. [ he glances at sam, will, and helen ] There's some kind of creature doing the killing. [ one of his teammates who actually... figured some shit out about it can fill in the details ] I take it that's probably the complication you're talkin' about.

[impetere]

[Cora doesn't visibly react to that "were" tacked on to the front of Dean's descriptor (will save 24), but her eyebrows do raise just slightly as she glances to Sam or Helen, given that they're the two, aside from her previous teammates, who knows what she is.

A werecreature doing the killing definitely has her attention.]

[familybusiness]

All we know for sure is that it was some kind of feline creature.

The victims seem to have believed they were meeting someone, likely someone they knew, since they were able to get close enough to inject them with sodium penathol. This meant that when they were actually attacked, they made no effort to fight back. They were partially eaten, apparently while still alive.

We're not sure if the person injecting the drug and the attacker are the same person or not.

[He glances at Helen and Will, making sure he has the details right or if they have anything to add.]

[moonheart]

All we had on our mission were a bunch of zombies. Sounds like he's got some kinda new trick.

[certainproclivity]

[Sark considers this for a moment.] Being this close to an endgame, I doubt St. Andrew would leave anything to chance. Stealing hearts is enough to draw conclusions, but animal attacks are usually random and unpredictable. The authorities would be chasing their tails before anyone figured out the truth.

[likedillinger]

Well, whatever this is, he's got some way of smuggling it around without anyone noticing it. No witness reports have shown up of a man walking around downtown with a giant cat.

[impetere]

If he is a were and he was born one, it would be really easy for him to hide. They have complete control over their shape and don't even have to turn on full moons.

[Just a little helpful information from your resident werewolf.]

[mydesigns]

[meanwhile will is still staring at sark like YOU WOULD PROBABLY KNOW IF YOUR OLD BESTIE WAS A FUCKING WERETIGER WOULDN'T YOU????]

[certainproclivity]

[um. Sark looks mildly affronted that St. Andrew might have been a weretiger AND DIDN'T TELL HIM, so....] I suppose there is one way to find out.

[he glances at Peterson.] Mr. Peterson, tell me. Have you seen your wife recently?

[bittersweeter]

[ AGGRESSIVELY MAKES A FACE RE: AUDREY PETERSON. that ho. ]

[familybusiness]

His wife?

[Werwatey?]

[antiquaria]

[ grant shifts uncomfortably in place, hands folded on the edge of the table, as his eyes dart between sam, sark, and wynn. ] Not since her disappearance, the day of the counterstrike.

[certainproclivity]

Audrey Peterson is Nicholas St. Andrew's second in command, for lack of a better term. She might be much easier to find than St. Andrew, himself.

[hope you weren't hoping your wife wasn't a traitor, grant...]

[immuno]

Well, I hope you weren't relying on her husband to know the way to draw her out.

[ Because he sounded clueless just now. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ against her will, lila snorts a laugh at lydia's comment. accurate. ]

1/-

[antiquaria]

[ grant purses his lips, looking for a moment like he's going to ignore the comment, but he apparently can't keep it in. ] Unless that's precisely what St. Andrew wanted you to tell us. I can't believe we're going to act on this man's word. I'm sorry, Wynn, but this is highly irregular.

2/-

[valdrin]

No offense, Petersen, but so is having a Knight married to the enemy.

3/-

[sirstickuphisass]

Hey. [ eric speaks up sharply, cutting val'drin an irritated look, that he also trains on lydia for a moment. ] We've got enough problems without fighting among ourselves while we're at it.

4/5

[telekinection]

I assume Wynn brought us here for more than just an update or a brainstorming session. [ artfully changes the subject, looking to wynn, whose gaze is fixed on grant. ]

5/5

[wynn]

You're here because we may have a lead on St. Andrew's whereabouts - unfortunately because it seems that he's collected another piece required for his ritual.

It's important we understand as much as possible about his motivations, and what the team being sent may be facing if they do locate him. St. Andrew is a diabolically clever man, and we can use any advantage possible.

[ he waves a hand over the holo table and chief of police jared o'keefe appears in 3D video.

"Good evening," he says brusquely. "There's been another attack, and we've been conducting preliminary investigations while wynn drew you all together. We got a call from a pizza delivery driver not long ago, who had found himself with an extra pizza and a six-pack of beer that he wanted to enjoy in peace. He claimed he went looking for a private place, pulled into an alley downtown. His headlights shone on a gruesome scene - a body, and what he described as a "giant tiger on steroids", along with a "guy dressed in a long black coat holding a softball." he reads the descriptions off a pad, flipping it shut. "We showed him a picture of St. Andrew and he thought that might be him, but he admits that he was mostly silhouetted, and that he immediately put his vehicle in reverse and fled the scene to call the police. There's definitely a body there, but it isn't as completely mauled as the last ones. We want you to come down and take a look." ]

[impetere]

[Giant tiger on steriods - yeah that definitely sounds like a weretiger. But for right now, she'll keep being helpful.]

If we go now, we may still be able to track them.

[aka the scent will still be fresh.]