OPERATION: La Chasse Commence

[Requine]

What to Pursue

Melanie and Nicodemus

The Strix has been successfully purged from the body of Brittany Duval. The malevolent spirit can be questioned while in Inquisition custody.

Brittany Duval has survived the extraction of the Strix. Her memory over the last few months is faulty, she was working with Nicodemus and Melanie while possessed. She may know more about this nefarious duo. She's under the medical care of Halette Narcisse and can be questioned.

The Safety of Paris​

The tavern known as La Tour, operated by The Rook was recently raided by Old Guard Templars in the Parisian government.. Details are sparing, but the rumour has it that various contraband was found. The raid seems to have been more-or-less a successful operation, with resistance from the proprietor and patrons overcome, though some of the Templar assisting suffered minor injuries.

The Templar Healing House should be a place of comfort. But there have been too many mysteries and too many unsettling encounters with the place. Knight-Captain Havelock is asking interested parties to investigate before someone else falls into their clutches.

A rather worrisome development is the recent publication of photos taken under the city, by two University students: Victoire Sampene and Yasmeen Issawi. Sampene published an expose of the trouble under Paris on her web-log, and mirrored it on several other local news sites through unknown means. Mlle. Issawi seems to have worked through ‘social media’. We are presently unclear as to the spread and impact of her call for revolt from the citizens of Paris, but there have been reports of young people gathering and milling about, making a ruckus.

Neither Sampene or Issawi could be reached for comment. More recently, it seems they have gone missing shortly after their expose went public.

A Note, concerning various relics taken from under the city:
Under Venetian law, any relic claimed from the city’s underground is property of its finder while the city is under martial law. Please analyze any relic you have found. Halette Narcisse is holding the volatile and/or dangerous relics in a safe cell where they are neutralized. Any non-dangerous relics can be held in personal storage. Please be sure to responsibly analyze and understand your new relics.

Choosing a Future

Savoy is dead, and of the two Crown Regents, Havelock is not a viable long term option. We must look to the future.

There are only a few candidates to rule the city. Speaking to them may shed more light on how they would choose to govern.

Arnaud Blanchette is Savoy’s most obvious successor. The Patriarch of an Old Templar family, he has the support of the Old Guard in the city, and the wealth, experience and prestige to make a very strong contending for the role if he chooses. He has ruled before, and seems to have managed the city perfectly well when it was left unmolested by outside influence. He is, if not the most progressive Crown Officer, a solidly competent one.

Brittany Duval does seem competent, and she was a lawmaker and enforcer before she was possessed by the Strix. She’s not the most obvious option, but there was a reason she was promoted to one of the highest offices in the city despite her lack of Old Guard family or resources.


Red and White are two witches who are at the head of the Coven of Paris. They’ve come out of semi-retirement with the intent of helping to rule. After centuries of conflict with the Old Guard, they managed to win the city over somehow, and spent still more centuries helping to govern before retiring. They’re masters of magic, and adept at dealing with conflict - but there’s a second coven in the city. The Coven of Lights are led by a witch named Aubrette, who claims Red and White are sellouts who don’t care for the little people of the city.

Halette Narcisse has been running the medical needs of the city for anyone who can’t access the Healing House, as well as experimenting with science. She’s given countless hours of her time to helping those in need. That’s a quality Savoy lacked - perhaps it’s one the city’s next leader should have?

Landers Brausser was eight years old when the Black Plague of the 1500s ravaged Paris. His father, desperate to save his son, entered a pact with a demon to give his son immortality. The elder Brausser’s fate is best not discussed, but his son is now forever eight years old. Despite this age-related impairment, the boy is a genius who has run the Administrative Office since 1841. He has done, by all accounts, an incredible job. The boy is a genius - if you can ignore the occasional temper tantrum.

Laroux was exiled from the Templar Order three years ago. She has worked tirelessly to defend the people of Paris - to the point where she struck a deal with Phoenicians to get innocents out of the catacombs before a massive gas explosion would have destroyed their homes and taken their lives. Savoy’s predecessor deemed this treason, and sent her to live in the catacombs she had worked to save. She’s made the most of her situation, living and working in the catacombs and continuing to protect and defend. Most recently, she coordinated the evacuation of the Sewers. The question is whether she could rule Paris - the Old Guard of the city despise her, and despite a sound grasp of policy, she’s never ruled anything officially. The Old Guard similarly disapproves of her ties to Phoenicians.

​

 

[Requine]

Phase Three of Paris is now open, and players can submit their actions!
A quick reminder of how it works:

Fill out THIS FORM. Also, please elaborate upon your action (what you're doing, who you're talking to, etc.) in this thread.

Make sure you're following @RequineRP on Twitter!

The DMs will post on Twitter each day when they are active and taking scenes. Just hit the DM up, and they'll run your scene for you!

Thanks!​

 

[Russell K. Kobayashi]

Russell, at long last, pays the Administrative Office a visit, as much to evaluate Brausser as to try and use its records to learn more about what other horrors lurk below Paris. Right now... he hasn't said this to anyone, but he thinks some kind of power-sharing arrangement, some kind of council or committee, might be the kind of government Paris's secret world needs. Not that he has any kind of expectations about that being easy to implement.

He would also be investigating and researching the relic that Astrid and Eleanor recovered, meeting with both them and the Council's archivists.

Valerie Xi's abrupt absence from the scene is something of great concern to him. Naturally, he'll take it upon himself (and anyone else who'd be interested) to find her.

Finally, he'd be trying to track down Victoire Sampene and Yasmeen Issawi, primarily to keep harm from befalling them (and possibly recruit them; Lord knows Venice could use some decent propagandists). However, keeping anything else they've written from leaking to the public is a very close second priority. (Perhaps the two should be reversed... but it's Russell.)

And finally... he's hitting the nearest coffeehouse. Looks like he'll need it.

 

[Velvet Silk]

Jinnra is acting as eyes and claws for Laroux. Her bees are all across the city - watching all signs of dissent, every gunfight, every argument, every kiss. On the streets, at least.

On Laroux's word, one of those things might sweep in with a toxin or a bomb on a poor someones' neck. Or, god forbid, she might send in Jinnra personally.

 

[sam4books]

Charles is...understandably disappointed. Extremely so. In the actions of the old guard. In terms of the new to-be ruler of Paris, the old man had already ruled out anyone that would be obviously favored by the old guard. He would instead draw his attention on the remaining canidates: Duval, Red and White, Narcisse, Brausser, and....as much as he fucking hated it---Laroux. He would personally feel a bit of bias towards Narcisse, given what he'd read up on her track record. But he tried not to let bias get in the way of negotiations. He wanted to be there to make sure nothing else happens to Paris, and he wanted to trust that there was going to be no more fuckups. No more chaos. He was too old for this shit. He would also be interested in meeting the two university students causing up a ruckus on social media.

If anything...He wanted to discuss more with people about the possibilities of adding more safe houses to the roster. And maybe...perhaps maybe. He could see if he could come up with some sort of portal system to make getting around much easier. He was pretty unsure about things himself, didn't want to make it too easy for people to be attacked. Anyone with experience in terms of warding or portals would be much appreciated in their assistance in this endeavor....or any discussion as to whether or not it could be done at all.

'I'm going to need a god damn drink after all this' Charles thought, chugging down some bourbon as he read over the Phoenician report again.

'Make that twenty'.

 

[Atrus]

Atrus just had a lovely chat with Anastasia, the half-demon girl who had become Vincent Stillman's adopted daughter. Not only the girl knew of the Archon, but she had Melanie's phone number too. He, Marsyas, and Vincent, they were planning to make that a very interesting phone call. They could get a tracker on her phone, or possibly even lure her out in the open. The woman had important knowledge and, even more importantly, Nicodemus' phylactery.

Aside from that, Atrus would still be running errands for Cass, peroring the Romani cause, and glaring hard -since he's unfortunately not allowed to maim them- at anyone involved in the raid at the Rook.

 

[Marsyas Stathakis]

Not only Father Joseph was weak of the flesh, but he was also involved with the Archon - and seemed terrified at the possibility that the Archon found out about his daughter. A daughter that was now excitedly roaming the streets of Paris. He'd have to keep an eye out for that man and his church, in case demonic or supernatural presences decided to pay the priest a visit.

Marsyas would split the rest of this time helping the refugees at the Rook and visiting museums and art galleries.

 

[The Mereland]

Grace finally can be found aboveground with some level of regularity, having spent a good amount of time policing the sewers to minimize risk for others, regardless of faction.

Though, avenues frequently used by Red or Purple seemed perhaps a tiny bit clearer. That's all relative, of course. Anything with opposition described as "teeming" and "swarming" isn't exactly a few-day job.

She's back again, though, for two reasons. One: Speak with the nice witch lady, Narcisse. And two, investigate the healing house. She's heard enough about it for it to register on her radar.

 

[Willow]

Willow has appeared to have left the city of love for this week. Though she is still in contact with Nikolai in regards to the Fae. There are others sworn to have a voice for the Romani in the city >cough cough Ian “Atrus” Pertwee cough cough< in regards to finding a leader for the Templars who will be fair and just to ALL the people in the city.

People who need her have Willow's number.. contact her if you want her.

 

[Amous]

Amous would like to pursue Sampene and Issawi. He sees value in their particular brand of chaos.

He will be tracking down their most public places and talk to people they have known. Families, friends, teachers, co-workers, etc.

He will begin to narrow down his search to their more secret hiding places.

 

[MMahamati]

Over a breakfast of as many pastries as would fit in a single grocery bag, Maya Mahamati reads over the latest reports and frowns.

She had been too occupied studying the remnants of the creatures on Narcisse's lab to think about the bigger picture. Paris was Templar territory and change was not something the organization was known for, no matter who took over the city. The Strix was very interesting, very few of those around, not well documented, it would make sense to visit it.

And yet, she found herself worrying about the fate of Valerie Xi.

"Could this entire thing be some sort of allergic reaction?" She mutters, in the half-sentence tone that Jacobi Cross must know by now means nothing but trouble. "Say, if you think of Paris as a living organism being attacked from within, the supernatural creatures, the strange sightings, couldn't they all be just an immune system overreacting?"

Maya takes another bite of a jelly-filled brioche and chews slowly. "What do you think about infiltrating a Templar Healing House, ms Cross?"

 

[Widow]

Edith sips at the coffee and looks over the remains of her breakfast. "Busy days..." she muses. She looks at the notes she's been making about the shifting situation in the city. At the top of page is a list of names in her neat lettering. Cass, Hannibal, random Phoenician, Alice, Blake, Anna, then in darker ink and underlined Angelique then lastly KLAUS. It was going to be a very busy next few days. She turned on her phone and began typing on the small keyboard.

 

[Sverin]

After the assassination of Savoy, Vincent has had his hands rather full making sure all of the safe-houses are warded. That, and, of course, making sure the wards do not hurt the people they are supposed to protect, keep out demons without harming people on their side (or himself, for that matter), etc. It has been tiring, but he can revoke access with a snide remark and a glare, which has him rather pleased with himself. Nothing like magically punting someone out of a building for not playing nice.

Vincent has, of course, reluctantly agreed that perhaps it is best to get Anastasia more involved, since she seems to know many of these mysterious players in this Parisian mystery. At Ian's behest, he has agreed that perhaps Anastasia should call that phone number she has-- with at least one responsible adult present (that would be Ian; Vincent will be present, but he wouldn't consider himself responsible).

And then there is that matter of a potential demonic army to fight the forces in the sewers that he really wants to explore-- and command.

 

[Voltigeur]

Tobias will be delving into the underground tunnels once more to investigate the dragon nest that Victoire has pointed him to. He's put up a little notice in Council of Venice channels just in case anyone is interested in joining him. If he gets no response, he'll likely call on Bergdis.

Tobias will also take a closer look at the statue that he, Bergdis, and Cass have found in the tunnels earlier in the month.

----------

Ivan will check in quickly with Tom, just in case he or his shapeshifter buddies have any new leads -- especially about Melanie's or Nicodemus's whereabouts. If Ivan learns anything juicy, he'll pursue it; if not, he'll give Aubrette a visit.

 

[Astrid Archer]

Astrid, having used up her one and only lead on ANYTHING happening in Paris, will remain near one of her few longtime friends who are tangled up in this mess - Russell Kobiyashi, learning what she can as things develop. With Willow's absence, Astrid is the Phoenix Group's only visible asset in the situation. Plus, she has no idea what else to do. Perhaps over the next few hours a direction will appear for her to follow, but for now, learning what she can about the relic and the rest of the Paris Clusterf@&*! becomes her primary objective.

 

[Rhoswen]

Rhoswen Evans has been largely spending her time aiding Laroux and the refugees from the sewers, much more openly now that the woman’s exile has been lifted and she’s been reinstated as a Templar. She was previously focused on keeping a low profile to avoid Savoy’s notice, but following his assassination she’s equally relieved and confused about what to do next.

She will continue to aid the refugees, which she has been doing chiefly by healing as much as she can with her blood magic and guarding/warding safe areas.

She's also come to believe that Laroux is the best person for Savoy’s old position, and the only one who will truly have the interests of the people of Paris at heart. She'll be supporting Laroux in any way she can, emboldened by the removal of Savoy.

She’s also heard stories about the Healing House, and wants to investigate and, if necessary, destroy it. The Templars need to be protecting the people of Paris, not menacing them.

 

[Catelyn]

Catelyn Eames isn't terribly concerned about who ends up leading the Templars in Paris, if she’s being perfectly honest. She’s been occupied with some independent work for CACHE with her colleague, Nikoe, that has kept her busy over the past week or so.

The news that Valerie Xi is missing will certainly send her into action. She'll want to find her new friend and rescue her if necessary. She's more than happy to work with anyone with the same goals.

Given what she, Nikoe and Xi found at the Healing House, and that Xi was their captive, the Healing House and the people behind it will be her first guess--she’s been meaning to investigate it anyway.

As a lesser concern, once her friend's safety is assured, she'd like to take a look at the dangerous artifacts Helette Narcisse has for safe keeping. Her unique talents might be useful there.

 

[Ms. Zhuge]

Gillian is busy this week, going to strange places to meet with unknown people, taking no seeming interest in those who follow her. Reports on precisely who she is meeting with are, of course, confidential.

 

[Llenne]

After the raiding of La Tour, Ariel kits out and goes off to look for a few fights. She's got two leads from names and a willingness to kill, leaving the warding and protection of safe-houses in the hands of others.

 

[Bloody-M]

Anna's too roughed up - physically and mentally - by her time in the catacombs to consider going back down there. There's initiative, then there's suicide. She's lost two men down there anyways.

She couldn't give a damn who runs Paris after the dust is settled. She just hopes that the blood she's shed down there was worth it.

She arranges to meet with Narcisse, so she can get the samples she took from the lower catacombs analyzed, perhaps gain some insight into them, and pass it onto her people, then Laroux - hopefully with intel from the former meeting in hand, so she can, maybe, warn her about what's down there - and maybe strike a deal.