Side Story: The Day of Broken Glass

[Azraeth]

OVERVIEW

Paranoia surrounding supernatural phenomena and the rise of the undead spread gradually after the fade fractures began to disappear, and awareness of vampires reached all time heights. Where once knowledge of the paranormal community in Harper Rock was confined almost exclusively to the distant and quiet government, people from virtually all walks of life learned about some of the many and varied aspects of the supernatural world. Some have seen zombies in person. Others have heard stories about more monstrous shadow beings. Even others have seen footage of superhuman feats. Not all of this pointed to vampirism.

At first, discussion about the paranormal played loudly over several less than reputable, local news sources and talk shows, in person, and over any number of debate fora. Afterwards, a sort of collective hush fell over Harper Rock. Things seemed to return mostly to normal, save for with one unique difference. Humans. Human society was uneasy. While many acknowledged the existence of vampires, the issue was hardly pandemic and in that uneasy silence, it was a simple matter to 'live and let live', to let things continue mechanically as they had been for years.

But humanity was not just quiet. They were quiet with purpose. Slowly, a rogue element began to form, comprised of Harper Rock's human business owners, scientists, people from every layer of social strata. They began to compile evidence. They began to craft weapons designed explicitly to destroy vampires. In that silence, they became a threat.

On November 15th, that rogue element will decide to strike. These are not just poorly organized gangsters. This is a small army. And they have come to put their minds at ease in these troubling times.

RULES & GUIDELINES

1. Sign ups begin November 1st. To sign up, post here with a character or list of characters.

2. Sign ups end November 14th at 11: 55 PM EST. Time Zone Converter for those who need it.

3. You may sign up individually or with a group. Group requests must be submitted with permission from all participants. We will NOT be making your groups for you. See the sign up thread for more details.

4. This is an attack. Your characters are going to be assaulted in their homes or businesses. Because this thread takes place during daylight hours, it may be beneficial to list related powers in your side story thread. Non-daywalkers will feel an overwhelming desire to sleep when the sun is up. Daywalkers will feel tired and smolder in the sun. Antiagrypniac daywalkers will not be tired, but will still smolder and be weaker than they might be during the night hours. It may be all your character can do to call someone for help. Or tome away. Or ask someone for a summon. Maybe they decide to teleport and accidentally teleport into a populated area. Or maybe they decide to try and fight back. All of that is your call! Obviously playable characters will not be killed unless the writer decides to allow it. Collaboration is key here.

5. Prompts will be given out when the event begins. Humans will be in groups of 2 or more. Each group of humans will have a specialized weapon. You can decide where they attack (thread location), the humans' strengths and weaknesses, etc. You can decide how the threads ends.

6. Prizes include: 5000 RPP per person, for all participants. An additional prize of 50 Karma will be given to a randomly selected thread that meets the criteria listed below. The 50 Karma will be split evenly between all participants in the winning thread.

7. Threads may be as short or long as you desire to qualify for the participation prize. To be entered to win the random selection prize, the thread must reach at least page 2. Prizes will be handed out after the event ends.

8. The event itself will run for 3 weeks from November 15th, as soon as the prompts are posted, to December 6th at 11:55 PM EST.

9. Those who do not want to participate directly will be able to reply to a response thread which will be posted at the time the event starts. Additional details about what should/can be posted in the response thread will be given when it is put up. There is no prize for indirect participation.

10. Warning has been given here, so your characters may be prepared. They may decide to sleep in groups for protection. Or they may decide to scorn the warning. That is your choice.

[Azraeth]

Introduction

The attacks began early in the morning, long before the danger of sunset, a tactical choice made by the leadership of the Humanity First movement, the rogue element that had been planning its strike against the vampire community. Chance of failure was not an option. The local police presence had been strongly encouraged, and in some cases paid to look the other way. At least for a few moments. Long enough for most of the bands of attackers to get in, do what they wanted, and get out. They came dressed in black, with covered faces, and weapons to avoid recognition and maximize damage.

The first attack was made against a man named Michael Miser, a local toymaker famous for a cheerful demeanor, who famously served as Santa Claus at several holiday gatherings. A prominent figure in the human community but almost unknown to his fellow vampires, he was one of several casualties. Assaulted when he was alone in his shop, all that was left behind was a pile of ash and a trashed toy construction zone.

When the dust clears after November 15th, he will be assumed to be missing by the local media and authorities, but vampires may know the truth. This is the story of The Day of Broken Glass.

Guidelines

Okay everyone, sign ups are over and it's time for prompts! I wanted to cover a few things first though:

1) All threads should be on the Path Hardcore Ruleset board. Please add 'side story' somewhere in the subject, so I can easily keep up with the threads and report back to David with who is getting the participation prize, and who qualifies for the random draw.

2. As stated originally, the side story ends on December 6th at 11: 55 PM EST. That is when chance to participate and qualify for the random pick ends, however people can feel free to continue and end any unfinished threads. Threads do not need to be completed to qualify for the random pick. Posts after that time and date will not qualify for the side story, this is to ensure everyone has a fair chance to post.

3. As promised, there is a thread posted here, for people who want to indirectly participate. There are many ways to use this thread. Your character may be reacting personally to the CrowNet post made by Markaus Lionelli, or you could collaborate with one of the participating characters and contribute externally by doing something like having your character summon or talk to theirs, or you could have your character find out about the attacks as they are happening, and respond accordingly. Click the given link for additional details

Prompts

Remember! These characters are NPCs. You pick the location. You decide how to handle the attack. You write the story however you want! Developing the NPCs, using the dice roller, etc are all bonuses, but not necessary.

For the sake of realism, the number of NPCs assigned to each group and individual was set using a random number generator, set to give between 2 and 6 (inclusive obvs) NPCs. Their roles and gender were also randomly assigned. Bear in mind these people come from the human community and can be anything from construction crew workers, to police officers, to body builders. They are loosely bound together by the organization to which they belong, and have been either taught or came into it with knowledge of the roles they play in the side story. For example, a medic may be a doctor or paramedic, or they might have been taught the basics by a medical professional. How good they are, and how much you use the details I've given is 100% up to you. All other details are yours to come up with.

A note on explosives experts: They are there to get past traps, locked doors, etc. They aren't going to carry a huge amount of fire power with them, but will have things like smoke bombs, maybe a small hand grenade, and enough explosive for a contained blast to get a door down.


Pi D'Artois

• 1 male explosives expert
  1 male medic

Whit

• 1 male medic
  1 female team leader
  1 female marksman
  1 female melee expert

Psyche

• 1 male team lead
  1 male explosives expert
  1 female medic
  1 female melee expert

Group 1

• 1 male melee expert
  2 male explosive experts
  2 male medics
  1 female sorcerer masquerading as a paid psychic; formerly aided the police

Group 2

• 1 male medic
  1 female with 3 trained attack dogs

Group 3

• 1 female melee expert
  1 female explosive expert
  1 male marksman

Group 4

• 1 female sniper who will attack from afar only
  1 female explosive expert
  1 male medic

Group 5

• 2 male blood thieves masquerading as rehabilitated addicts

Group 6

• 2 male medics
  2 male melee experts
  1 female team leader
  1 female melee expert

Group 7

• 1 male explosive expert
  1 male melee expert
  1 male hacker who will not willingly engage, but has a command center somewhere else in the city
  1 female medic
  1 female marksman

Group 8

• 1 male medic
  1 female melee expert
  1 female marskman

[Azraeth]

Just posting a reminder that the side story ends in 5 days! After that, I'll be going through the threads to check who qualifies for the prizes, so be sure to have posts made by December 6th at 11:55 PM.

[Azraeth]

Posting a reminder that this side story will come to a conclusion in about 8 hours. People can continue to post and complete their threads at their own desire, of course, but that's the prize cut off point.

[Azraeth]

Okay folks, that's a wrap!

The Day of Broken Glass side story has come to an end. I will be turning in a tally of participants and those who qualified for the random draw prize to David here in a few minutes, since he handles that stuff.

People are free to finish up any storylines they desire, and can feel free to toss a PM my way if they have any specific loose ends that may need tied up, though that is, of course, optional.

Any attackers who escaped have gone very quiet. In fact the whole of the Humanity First movement has basically gone silent on all fronts. There are some rumors circulating that the Lionelli were just waiting for the members of the human group to reveal themselves before moving in for the slaughter. Markaus certainly hasn't confirmed or denied. Other stories abound as well, theories that the human faction is planning something bigger, that they want to recoup their losses and bring in even greater numbers to wipe out the vampire threat once and for all.

The large number of murders and missing persons was noted by the news for about a week after the attack before it was essentially written off by the media as the effect of increased gang presence in Harper Rock. But not everyone believes that. Some people are beginning to see a disturbing pattern.

Uncertain times to say the least.

However at least one thing is certain. Growing human awareness of vampires only breeds danger. A number of the undead died during the attack, dozens even. Some are unlikely to ever return. Will the vampires of Harper Rock find a way to address the new challenges that face vampiric secrecy, or will they collectively ignore what's right in front of them?

[Azraeth]

The winners of the random selection prize were the team that worked on the thread Burn. Participants include: Stryge, Nerissa Clemming, Edenor, and Aaron Hunter. Each person will receive a cut of the 50 karma prize! David should be distributing prizes soon.

Congrats to the winners, and thanks to everyone who participated!