(IC) Acrewood College Prep - Homeroom, scene 3

[Q.Q Elf]

Yeah, that Darkest Self is a hard one for the Ghost. I didn't do you any favors by helping keep Clarence's story with Vanessa (who appears to be way off the map at the moment). I tried to fix it a bit by throwing in the curve with the Price family... but how long Lucinda will last, I don't know. Clarence doesn't have a ton of options.

You can fix it by forcing the action with Lucinda or Vanessa. I don't know that Victoria has anything to offer... but that doesn't mean anything. I've revealed a lot of story, but what I do as a MC isn't the only way to define the world. You still have the opportunity to shape the fiction through leading the action.

Phrase your Moves so that it takes the Story a certain way. Maybe the Price family still has Clarence's old room the way he left it. Maybe Vanessa has some sort of personal token from Clarence. Plot the moves so that the Story bends the way you need it to.

[Rukellian]

Yeah, that Darkest Self is a hard one for the Ghost. I didn't do you any favors by helping keep Clarence's story with Vanessa (who appears to be way off the map at the moment). I tried to fix it a bit by throwing in the curve with the Price family... but how long Lucinda will last, I don't know. Clarence doesn't have a ton of options.

You can fix it by forcing the action with Lucinda or Vanessa. I don't know that Victoria has anything to offer... but that doesn't mean anything. I've revealed a lot of story, but what I do as a MC isn't the only way to define the world. You still have the opportunity to shape the fiction through leading the action.

Phrase your Moves so that it takes the Story a certain way. Maybe the Price family still has Clarence's old room the way he left it. Maybe Vanessa has some sort of personal token from Clarence. Plot the moves so that the Story bends the way you need it to.

I've been wanting to do a lot of this earlier, but I forced myself to hold back so as to not step over the boundaries of me being just a player and stepping on the MC's toes. It's a way of thinking that has carried over from my other games, I know... but its not easy to shake off.

With that said, I will certainly try to force the story a little more, allowing my character to make important decisions that affect others, not just himself.

----

The site of the antiquated, yet still fully functional Shaden Clinic always have left an impression of mixed emotions on Clarence. Even as a ghost, his human attachment to this place is still strong. It is here that he got his first buckle fracture fixed up after his first and last shot at joining the school's track team. It is here that he stood by the death bed of his late mother, the only one who seemed to treat him like a normal boy, not some heir to a city. It is here that.... yes, he remembers now. He was treated for an overdose on a drug he took, one that Lucinda provided... He must of died then, two years ago, assuming he wasn't dreaming all of this up. It was here that he visited his only friend Vanessa, when she was recovering from her suicide attempt, here that he learned of Mr. Finney and Marcus' connection to the drug network and perhaps something worse. And now it is here that he shall visit someone once again, Summer Bartlett, the person he hurt out of anger and blind vengeance.

Has Clarence recovered one harm during his rest at the gym? Not sure how recovering harm works for ghost.

Still nursing his ghostly wounds, Clarence stumbles into the hospital's front entrance slowly. The attendant looks up only to find the doors open by themselves, feeling a draft roll in. He walks up to the counter and tries to find a recent patient list, looking for his classmates' name. Once he finds the room she is in, he will head inside there and sit down, watching her for a moment. He keeps himself calm by slipping on his earbuds and listening to his mp3 player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhjKjtdu-_c

He picks up a pad of paper and a pen from nearby and starts to write down a note. He voices each word out loud, not really caring if anyone can hear him, it helps with the process he remembers, saying it and writing it, it helps.

"Summer Bartlett,

A lot has happened these past few days and I feel I owe you an apology, as weak as it may come off sounding. My name is Clarence. I've only just recently learned that I am dead and that these past two years have been a lie. I was enraged about the whole idea and couldn't handle it calmly. I vented my anger and frustrations on those who I've doubted and hated. You were one of them, Summer. I attacked you with that chair, not really thinking about why I was doing it, except for the sole purpose of getting some sort of revenge. Revenge for what, I'm not sure. I blame my family members for my death, and Lucinda was... is my sister, god help me. I hated her for what she did and didn't do, and when I saw you trying to protect her, I don't know... I guess I just lost it at that point.

I don't expect you to understand everything that is going on, or care for that matter why I am dead, let alone forgive me; but if on the off chance that you want to talk to me about this, if only to vent your anger and get back at me in some way, I'll be waiting outside my apartment complex, near the front entrance. Here is the address. I'm a ghost now, so you won't see me, but I will see you. If you see a box float up and then set back down, I am there.

-Clarence"

Clarence tucks the note under her side, so that only she knows it is there when she wakes up, not really wanting anyone else to read it.

*sigh* I suppose this is a start. There is still so much that I need to learn and do, but I cannot do any of it alone. That run-in with the werewolf has made it plain as day that this is so.

Clarence gets up and leaves, heading back to his apartment complex, resting there for the day and perhaps night. He stays awake though, not really feeling the effects of a tired body or the hunger of one. Being dead does have its perks I suppose.

Edit: Though my character is waiting for Summer's release from the clinic, hopefully meeting her outside his apartment complex, I cannot ignore the fact that other people might bump into him or enter the general area as well. Could make for some interesting scenarios to pass the time or take the story into a new twisted direction, if such a thing were to happen...

[MonkeyWrench]

The father looks to his son, and shakes his head. "She is your responsibility now, son. You know she cannot go back to who she was. If she turns to serve her new master... well, you know what must be done. She cannot live, for the good of the Pack. We cannot jeopardize our safety for her, especially since she serves the Dark powers.

"Neither can she return to her old life, with her parents and family. Not yet, anyway. Until she knows herself, her new... true self, we are in danger from what little she does know now.

"Again, son, if she tries to leave for her parents' sake, you know what must be done. She must be put down, for the good of the Pack."

MC Voice: The Pack leaving? It's all about choices that force Seth into confronting adults & feeling alienated... because that's what the story demands.

As his father speaks Seth keeps his head down, eyes shifting towards Vanessa every so often. As he finishes his decree Seth looks up hesitantly, keeping his gaze from the alphas eyes in respect; He starts to speak a few times but stops himself, when he finally responds he simply says, "I understand father, I will make sure no harm comes to the pack." after saying so he lowers his gaze and stands still, once his father nods and leaves Seth walks over and sits down beside Vanessa, leaning on a tree. Seth doesn't say anything for a moment, not until he can no longer hear the engine of the 4 wheeler, once everything is quiet and the only sound is Vanessa, Seth releases a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. He looks at Vanessa as she lays there, a look of confusion and possibly pity cross his face before once again being masked by his usual calmness. "I... I'm sorry I put you in this situation. We need to talk, about what is happening to you and what you need to choose from now on... But first, I'll answer any questions you have, as my way of apologizing." He rubs the back of his neck, showing his unease behind the calm mask he is showing as he looks at her.

[Q.Q Elf]

Let's assume time has passed. Seth needed time to escape to the hunting grounds. Summer is in the clinic. Clarence made his way there after resting under the bleachers.

Everyone reduce Harm by 1. I think Summer is down to 1 Harm, with Clarence & Seth at 2 Harm.

...

Yes, a lot of other systems allow you to wait for the GM to present a problem before you figure it out (through the pixel-bitch method, or killing them & taking their stuff).

There's no one solution for Clarence in Darkest Self, though. We're close enough with Seth running into his father (because an attack on his father would be predictable & an automatic exit from Darkest Self).

The conditions for the Ghost's Darkest Self are just harsher, in some ways. Easier in others (since Clarence isn't forced to attack people that stand in his way).

You could possibly make Summer (Metal Fatigue) trigger the conditions, but that's not purely up to me & you. Otherwise, you have to force action with Vanessa, Lucinda, or someone else you can arguably say has a reason to want Clarence around. It's not a simple process, and there's no map to get there.

[MonkeyWrench]

I'd say it's spot on for Seths father to revert the change, unless under more dire circumstances.

One, they're a purebred pack, excluding Vanessa, meaning they are going to be more in tune than those bitten. Add on the fact that he is older, stronger, and currently Alpha and even Seth's internal wolf would back down to such a threat.

[Q.Q Elf]

Moving right along, because we're still earning the 1 Harm that went away & all the characters have gone off to different spots, with no clear resolution...

Summer is safely resting in the clinic, with Clarence's note.
Clarence is hiding in an apartment. I'll have to come up with something...

Twilight begins to settle over the Pack's hunting grounds. Vanessa has fallen asleep, still gripped by the fever that wracks her body. As the moon rises, and rays of silvery light pierce the canopy of trees overhead, Vanessa's eyes snap open. Her body immediately starts seizing, and harsh guttural noises erupt from her throat. Her muscles ripple and bulge with inhuman strength as she staggers to her feet, hair sprouting from her limbs. Her face lengthens, fangs appearing where incisors and omnivore's teeth used to be. She has become the Wolf.

In a deep, resonating female voice, she says, "What... what has happened to me?" She bares her fangs in a snarl, the Wolf's red rage beginning to overcome her capacity for human thought. She stares at Seth, whose body still bears the marks of the fight with Clarence at the school.

While Vanessa smells of Pack, the transformation brings out even more of the sulfurous smell that marks her as something other than Pack.

[MonkeyWrench]

Seth continues to sit, resting against the tree in his human form. He begins to exert his primal dominance over her, forcing her wolf to submit to a greater wolf and helping to clear her mind.
Manipulate NPC: Seth Hot Roll: [2d6+2] = 8+2 = 10

He then begins to stand up, his own wounds partially healing after only a few hours of rest. He gives Vanessa, now in her new true form, a piercing look as his eyes take on a more golden color as he bathes in the moonlight. He looks up at the moon with a smile on his face, What has happened to you? So many, many things" As he speaks he undergoes his own transformation, this time controlled and in the moons rays, his voice getting deeper and more primal as the change happens. When the change is done and he is once more in his true form, power coursing through his veins and muscles, he looks back to Vanessa in her wolf form, smaller and paler then his own tall and black haired form, his voice rumbling from his chest as he stares at her as he initiates tradition that has existed long before any wolf can remember, "Questions later pup, this is your first night, so tonight we hunt." With that he motions her to follow him as he runs on all fours through the forest, sniffing the hunting grounds for prey, a howl rising up through his throat and is soon followed but Vanessa, and a distant howl of his own pack.

We can end my part there and continue off into the next scene if you'd like, just in case I'll add a continuation of the next day here. You can either put it in the next scene or continue on here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NEXT DAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seth wakes from the nights hunt, a mauled and eaten deer laying a few yards from him, Vanessa still sleeping with last nights blood caking her mouth and neck. He lets her sleep and travels to one of the nearby caches where they store clothes and water for after nights like these. He walks back, now fully clothed in some jeans, t-shirt, and a red hoodie. He lays some clothes down that were meant for his mother, luckily they are around the same size, for Vanessa; a simple shirt and pants. He sits down, drinking from one of the water bottles as he waits for her to wake up from her first hunt, then they can talk in earnest about her future.