Unspent: Cracks Strike Back!

Here's a link to a listing of the Unspent posts, if you're a newcomer to this.

So, things have been starting to get more complicated for the Unspent group, even as they finish the Angel arc. At the moment, they're starting to get involved with some interesting new characters, including Leona, whom they just got a phone call back from...

Lunch With Changeling
On the phone, Leona made reference to getting the group "in touch with the rest of us." George, on the phone, got nervous about talking casually with this stranger, and asked the opinion of the rest of the group. Ivy (I think?) advised him to invite her to lunch. Leona readily agreed, and then went to a restaurant that I whipped up a name for and have long since forgotten the name of. Oops.

They kept a lookout for her, Leona having promised that they'd know her when they saw her. Well, she was certainly unmistakable. Leona pulled up in a red Jeep, and hopped out of the car in a lavender tank top, jean skirt, and black boots. (Further visual details, since I had some fun coming up with her appearance: she's short, with auburn hair with black streaks, and green eyes. I really want to sketch a picture of her and color it.)

They had lunch, and Leona proved to be rather talkative. She explained that herself and Bryce had both been kidnapped by the Fae, and, to that regard, she simply said "I guess you could say...it happens." She and Bryce apparently had known one another for a long time, part of a group who traveled around the country, not always together, but always in touch. Besides Bryce and herself, Leona mentioned three others: Edwin, Joel, and Hawk.

Gone Missing
After lunch, they invited Leona back to watch movies at George's place, while George went to have drinks with "the guys". I believe that, before leaving, George played an impromptu session of Three Black Crows, Three Dead Men with everyone, by houseruling in a fourth crow. (We didn't actually play it out, due to lack of familiarity with the system, but it's an interesting idea...) I believe then, when George went off, the rest of the group popped in Raising Arizona, though my memory may be a bit faulty.

At some point in the middle of things, Leona went to the bathroom. Shortly after, they heard a knock on the front door. It was Leona, with a friend she had picked up. This friend had a katana with him. (Note: there were no windows in the bathroom. This fact proved to be a mite unsettling.) The new guy, Jake, was being played by George's player. (I will reveal here that George's player had forgotten his character sheet over Christmas break, so he remade one of his old World of Darkness characters, who had tangled with the Fae.) Jake, unfortunately, was suffering from some memory loss. He'd woken up in Oklahoma, and was wandering back to Illinois, though he found himself drawn to Shrewsburg for some reason.

By this point, George should have called in, so they gave him a ring to find out what was up. There was no reply, not even an answering machine. They dialed the number, and got a blank silence. There was utterly no sound. That suitably panicked them, so they decided to try and hit up bars. Leona suggested "Jack's Bar and Grill", and they went to investigate. Leona, going to infiltrate the place, turned into a shadowy figure, slipping under cover. At this point, Sharon realized that she was the figure seen in the forensics lab. Upon questioning Leona, they found that she'd taken that evidence for safekeeping. There went the conspiracy theories of Mages. (I laughed.)

Slipping Through Cracks
At this point, everyone was a bit nervous. Leona led them to the apartment that Bryce was living in at that time. They broke in, and found nobody. Jake, still with katana, moved to the bedroom. He saw Bryce, out cold, slumped back in a chair, and a faint design fading from view. Leona ran in, saw Bryce, and started breaking down. Ivy saw more writing on her notebook, "Ivy Help"...and, comparing it with the handwriting samples the whole group had taken earlier, saw that it matched George's handwriting.

Bryce woke up, and tried to piece together what had happened. He said he went "out like a light", and saw a Fae Keeper, a lord of the Fae powerful enough to kidnap humans. He also examined Jake's drawing of the design that he'd seen, and suspected that it was the visual representation of a Fae crack in the prison. At that point, under that stress, Jake started freaking out, recovering memories.

Of dying, or at least being mortally wounded.