Open Stories 03/25/15

1) "...like Dresden"  - The vampires have asked to hire the Wizards to help them discover who is trying to sabotage the opening of Vendetta

2) "Crystal Thingie" - The Cabal must determine what the Crystal truly is and why it's so important.  They must experiment on it, research using resources available, and possibly request the help of other mages, possibly even those outside the Concillium.

3) "Cartographer" - The Cabal assists a Geomancer named "Magellan" in mapping downtown Tampa.  He leaves it up to them the order in which they visit, but many of them are dangerous, including:

• College of Tampa
• Curtis Hixon Park
• The Castle
• Central Avenue (site of Summer 1967 riots)
• Davis Island Yacht Club
• Circulo Cubano de Tampa (Smokers Sanctum) 
• Old Lutz Elementary School
• S. H. Kress and Co. Building
• Tampa Theatre
• Ybor Factory Building

4) "Manacles of Silence" - The Cabal must decode the grimoire and determine why it was in Count Tanzler's collection.

5) "Payment Due" - The Cabal (specifically Cerberus) still owe EWF for his little 'intrusion'.

6) "The Omens" - Are the omens prophetic signs or a cabal of Seers?

7) "Pennies from Heaven" - Roc's lawsuit against Pasco County could be very lucrative (since they have a $1.3B annual budget), especially if the Cabal enlisted the help of their friendly neighborhood vampire lawyer...

World of Darkness 3/01/15

TAMPA - A recent crime statistics report made public shows a significant decrease in drug-related arrests year over year.  Per Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor, "The programs we began a few years ago and continued pressure we put on the importers and wholesalers of illegal substances is finally bearing fruit." .  A year over year decrease of 5% "...may not seem like much," says Chief Castor, "but those arrests are no longer street level dealers but instead individuals at the higher levels of local drug cartels."  In related news, the increasing scarcity of black market drugs is pushing many former addicts to seek substance abuse support from Tampa charities and government agencies.  Chief Castor comments, "We are doing all that we can to enforce the law, but we also need our citizens to help those in need and shrink the demand for these substances as well."

World of Darkness 2/26/15

ST PETERSBURG, FL - Daggers, swords and antique guns worth about $100,000 were stolen from a home in St Petersburg last week.  St Pete Police detectives said that the burglary took place between Feb.18-20 at a home on the 4600 block of Neptune Drive when the residents were out of town.  According to SPPD, the stolen antique guns were single-shot flintlock variety from 17th-18th century. The total value of the stolen guns, swords and daggers is estimated at more than $100,000.  If you have any information on this case, please call the St. Petersburg Police at (727)893-7780 or use the anonymous Tip-411, text "SPPD" and your tip to 847-411 (Tip-411).

After Action Report

This report is for Adamant Arrow distribution only.  
Date: TBD
Arrow: Cerberus
Area: Tampa Bay
Awakened Deaths: 0
Sleeper Deaths: 0

Report:
While consoling my cabal member over the loss of his mundane job there was a loud noise heard coming from the ward’s (sleeper) bedroom. Upon opening the door I saw her being dragged out the hole where the window was (window was destroyed in a previous incident on the property). I followed the girl out the window, but could not make out the manner of creature that was taking her. I activated night vision, and immediately recognized the assailant as the mentally deficient neighbor boy. At this time the ghost-guards on the property became involved. I attempted to Control the first to prevent it from harming the boy. Unfortunately this is when everything got out of control. The owner of the property, possibly reliving the way he lost his wife and daughter many years before, lost his composure. He ordered his guardians to “Kill him” and was able to overpower my control. I attempted to knock some sense into him, so he could get his emotions under control. When that failed I attempted to threaten him with my weapon (9mm semi-auto). Unfortunately there was no reasoning with him. The guardians were beginning to harm the boy and I had to make it perfectly clear that I was serious. I am not proud of this choice, but at this point I, carefully, fired on my friend aiming for his shoulder so as not to harm him seriously. This use of deadly force got the message across and he called off the ghosts.
This is where things became odd. He chose to “play dead” at this point, leaving me to deal with the impending police arrival. Left with no easy way to explain why I shot my friend I decayed my weapon, tried to calm the retard, removed any evidence that I had fired a gun, and try to come up with a good explanation for what happened. 3 out of 4 isn’t bad… the police did not believe my story. I strongly believe that was due in part to me not being able to remove my holster before they arrived. I got to spend a night in jail…yay. With no physical evidence linking me to the shot, no reliable witnesses, and nothing to hold me on, I was free to go. Cabal mate extricated himself from the morgue at about the same time I was being released.
In the end no one was hurt, permanently, and the lie is still in place. I need to have a more urgent conversation with my friend about the use of vulgar magic very soon. I also need to replace my lost weapon.

On Awakening

While my soul was asleep, the world was my dream. Nothing was real, everything was ephemeral. Colors were dull, joy edged with sadness, my place uncertain. Now I am Awake; and though I had to die, I have never been so alive. I have Awakened to a world that I hardly understand. Yet it is the same world I used to sleep in. I now understand that the uncertainty I once felt was my soul longing to break free from the dream world I was trapped in and experience the world as it truly is. I don’t know what caused me to trip that night in the cemetery, but I strongly suspect a ghost was involved. The doctors said I was clinically dead for 5 minutes. They had ceased resuscitation, knowing that after that length of time permanent brain damage was guaranteed. But then my heart started to beat on its own. I was in a coma for 3 days after that. They told my parents that it was unlikely that I would ever wake up, and even if I did they said I would be a vegetable for the rest of my life. If only the doctors knew just how wrong they were.

What I experienced in those 5 minutes; or 3 days, depending on who you believe more (quack mystic, priests, or neurologists), can only be described as Rebirth. Not the fake rebirth of modern religions, but a true remaking of my soul. I saw a great tower made of lead on the horizon. For days I traveled across a field of marble accompanied only by the shades of the deceased that call that place home. When I finally reached the tower I had to climb the endless steps to the top. Days I climbed, never needing food or rest. At the top sat a throne of bone and gold, empty and waiting. Along the walls there were statues that looked almost alive in their realism. A name I could not read carved in to the base of each. At the end of the hall a blank block of stone waited, and I felt that it was waiting for me. I picked up chisel and hammer and began to carve a likeness of myself into that rock. As the days passed I realized that I didn’t need any tools; that my will and hands were all I needed to shape the stone. After a week of working, my offering to the tower was complete, and I carved my name into the base. The trip to the base of the tower took only moments now that I understood that the size of the tower was a projection of my will. I exited the tower and Awoke in a hospital bed. The doctors were confused and elated by my miraculous recovery. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I met someone that could explain the truth behind my strange dream.