Winged Wicked Thing

Category:Mystery
Winged Wicked Thing is the fifth Mystery in the Saint Mary Vincent Campaign. 
== CONCEPT ==
Just as the town welcomes Veronica Sterling, the first permanent resident of the Sterling Mansion in over 10 years, a series of night attacks plague the town and people claim that these strange incidents are accompanied by sightings of a gigantic, black winged creature with fierce talons and an unusual call. Those who know the town’s history find it eerily reminiscent of a series of tragic events that struck the town back in 1925, just around the time that Veronica’s ancestor, Ada Sterling, moved in to the mansion.
== HOOK ==
(Earlier in the day, just at dusk, a large bird was seen in the trees outside the house of Jamedria Watkins (Dodd House). It began to scratch and peck at the door as if it wanted to be let in, but was chased away by a group of dogs who had broken free from their yards. There was a party going on inside, so no one from inside the house was aware of what was going on.)
Nana Hazard contacts the hunters to check out an accident a short way out of town, tipped off by Erin Diskin. She wanted them to inspect the scene, get some photos of the bodies, and then return to Hazard House to report on the matter. A group of three ran off the road and down a steep embankment. Laurie Houser, Tim Leigh and Freddie Sobrowski were returning home from the birthday party of their knitting club president Jamedria Watkins (Dodd House) when it appears Freddie lost control of the vehicle. It seems at first glance like a case of reckless driving, but the bodies themselves are damaged beyond any reasonable explanation. 
After waiting for her colleagues to return to the station, Erin Diskin contacts Nana to see if she can get someone to take a look at the scene before the coroner arrives.
On the way back from investigating the scene, the hunters run into a second car on the side of the road. The driver (Antonio Loofa) has suffered a heart attack. The passenger (Sammy Loofa) tells them that they were driving along when a giant black bird hit them and bounced down in front of the truck. Without a word, his grandfather ran over the bird, then backed up over it and ran over it again. Everything was fine until he looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the bird was again getting up. The shock and fear caused him to panic, and as a result he had a heart attack.
== COUNTDOWN ==
Day          	On his way to Taffy and Millicent’s apartment, Jarsten Kimblew sees a large black bird that appears to have a woman’s face perched on their neighbor, Natalie Pear’s (Roy House) porch railing. A heavy storm begins. He calls them right away, but are they home?
All of the dogs that were seen chasing the bird the previous night are found dead. Hector, only hearing the story second hand, worries that something terrible has happened to the Hazard siblings.
Shadows 	The heavy winds and rain knock a storm window from the ground floor nursery of Nancy and Joe Shubert family (McKee House). When they go to check on their newborn son Yanni, they find he is missing. The flapping of wings can be heard outside the window
Sunset 	An argument between Alexis Tang and Trevor Huckle ends with Trevor storming out of the house (Bynon House) into the rain. He is promptly snatched up the arms of an enormous bird and taken away. No one believes Shelby.
Dusk 	A baby’s cry can be heard from the woods right outside of Sterling Mansion
Nightfall 	Tommy Katz, the last person to leave Big Chonk Draft House, gets out to the parking lot (Folkes House) and hid battery is dead, and a gigantic bird attacks his car/begins to chase him through town.
Nancy Shubert goes out at night looking for Yanni and attracts the attention of La Lechuza
Midnight 	Veronica is accused of being responsible for the attacks. Though she hasn’t actively done anything wrong, she believes that it is somehow her fault due to being a Jinx. She will try to leave town unobserved.
The giant flow of unfiltered magic through the vent of the Inverted Spring continues unabated, attracting countless of supernatural creatures from all over the area.
 
== THREATS ==
MONSTER
LA LECHUZA
Description: In life, La Lechuza was a woman named Paloma Sandoval, a healer and midwife in the town. As the legend goes, Paloma was a known witch who, after the death of her daughter in 1925, went mad and began terrorizing the town and bringing death to those she had once aided. When confronted by the townspeople, Paloma insisted that she was not responsible, and that it was the work of the newly arrived Ada Sterling, whom she claimed was a blood-sucking monster. When the townspeople attempted to catch her to make her answer for her crimes, she jumped into the river and disappeared, swearing her revenge.
Her body fell through the “Inverse Spring”, a sinkhole in the middle of the river that served as a vent for intense magical energy. The sinkhole was then covered by creating a large dam in front of it to ensure it would fill and the entrance would be covered by running water, trapping her inside.
She is bent on revenge for being betrayed by all of those that she had tried to help. She is now a being a pure emotion and instinct and cannot be reasoned with.
When the stones holding the well become dislodged (by natural or magical means), the Inverse Well is once again open to the world, and La Lechuza is able to free herself and seek revenge.
Type: Torturer
Motivation: to hurt and terrify
Powers: 
Cry-mimics the cry of a baby or sounds like a person whistling; hearing it is an omen of death
Weather-can control the weather, create storms, and dictate where they fall
Immunity to Firearms-cannot be injured with firearms.
Physical-in owl form can fly as fast as a car, even when carrying a full-grown man in her talons
Weaknesses: 
Salt-put on windowsill to deter her; mixed with chili powder and thrown in face
Knots-a rope tied in seven knots and hung in a doorway (non-targets)
Cursing-swearing loudly at her will drive her away (non-targets)
Magical Attacks-if she is attacked with magic outside of the Inverse Spring, She takes damage. If she is unable to enter the spring, she can be killed and will revert to a corpse.
Attacks:  
Talons-2; Beak-1; Fear-0-3
Armor: +1 a dense covering of thick black feathers
Harm Capacity: 12
== LOCATIONS ==
ROY HOUSE (Natalie Pears), MAP LOCATION B
Type: Hub
Motivation: to reveal information
The Roy house will be the only house wholly unaffected by the storm. If the hunters visit the Roy house and talk to Natalie Pears, or if they follow the gossip to Natalie Pears, she will be happy to share with them her prized possession, Paloma Sandoval’s Book of Shadows (er, journal). 
THE INVERTED SPRING
Type: Wilds
Motivation: to contain hidden things
A vent of magical energy contained within a sinkhole in the Hemlock Creek. Since 1925, the vent was sealed using a dam, but just recently the damn broke, whether by natural or manual circumstances is unknown.
As many of the magical vents of the past have been sealed and are inaccessible, it is likely that leaving it open will attract many supernatural creatures from the surrounding area.
This fount of power can also be used my magic practitioners. 
DODD HOUSE (Jamedria Watkins), MAP LOCATION C
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together 
McKEE HOUSE (Shubert Family), MAP LOCATION D
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together 
BYNON HOUSE (Alexis Tang), MAP LOCATION E
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together 
FOLKES HOUSE (Hemlock Creek Draft House Parking Lot), MAP LOCATION F
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together 
STERLING MANSION (Veronica Sterling), MAP LOCATION 96
Type: Crossroads
Motivation: to bring people, and things, together
REFER TO TOWN MAP OF ST. MARY VINCENT
A – KIMBLEW HOUSE
*TAFFY BHATT AND MILLICENT BATTERSBY
=== BYSTANDERS ===
ARCHAMBEAU, SHIRA- 56, MASTER HUNTER, THE PROFESSIONAL, PIE/NIECE, FRANCE
Type: Gossip
Motivation: to pass on rumors
A former CNES agent, left the agency in 2007 after releasing information on UFOs to the public. Lifetime guild member. Suda Squad member and official, if very strict, team mom (and considering only one person on Suda Squad has had a decent and nurturing mother, that’s a tall order). 
DISKIN, ERIN- 32, PATROL OFFICER, POLICE HEADQUARTERS
Crybabies, Fall Foliage
Erin became a cop after moving back to St. Mary Vincent to take care of her ailing mother. Prior to that, she had a budding career as a Forensic Investigator specializing in cold-case files and was rumored to soon be asked to become an FBI task force officer because of some of her groundbreaking work. Needless to say, she doesn’t really fit into the mold of a patrol officer, but being back in town is allowing her to look into some unsolved cases that always nagged at her in her youth.
Bystander: Detective
Motivation: to rule out explanations
Erin has seen her fair share of bad weather and drunk driving accidents, but none of them has even been this brutal. After all, even in the case of extensive injuries, the victims don’t usually have parts missing. Erin doesn’t expect anyone else on the force to do anything except try and wrap things up as soon as possible, but she needs someone with some more obscure knowledge to take a look at things. 
GONOUX, PATH- 24, MASTER HUNTER, THE EXPERT, FILMMAKER, PIE/SMV/STOKHOLM, SWEDEN
Type: Witness
Motivation: to reveal information
Nana’s BFF and, effectively, partner. Polymath, master of disguise, creepily unemotive and not talkative unless he’s pretending to be someone else. Became a famous actor and filmmaker just to lure out a particularly elusive oddities collector. Joined PIE in 2013, Suda Squad member. Has completed his life’s largest goal: to free Veronica Sterling from Constantine Yaruga and bring her home. Not sure what he’s supposed to do next.
Path Gonoux is the alias of Hugo Paxton, Hector’s very strange little brother. 
HAZARD, NANA- 25, COOL BIG SIS*, PIES/SMV
Crybabies, Fall Foliage
Type: Witness
Motivation: to reveal information
The hunters’ patron in PIES. Nana is at Hazard House celebrating the return of Veronica Sterling with her team and the end of her PIES suspension for eating Constantine Yaruga. As such, she is in no state to hunt down a monster and refers Erin Diskin to the hunters, sending along a little help just in case.
KATZ, TOMMY- 28, PROPRIETOR, HEMLOCK CREEK DRAFT HOUSE (Folkes)
Crybabies
Tommy is a cool, laid-back guy who is not bothered by a whole lot, and what he is bothered by usually gets thrown across town by Hector Paxton. He is pretty neutral in most situations, but is willing to help out if you’re a friend of Hector’s. But not free drinks. He takes his business very seriously. Makes really, really good fish & chips. Has a plausible explanation for everything and can only take so much supernatural talk before the drinks stop flowing.
Even if he’s told that his business is likely to be target by La Lechuza, Tommy will still carry on with business as usual. It’s difficult to tell if he’s just that hard of a skeptic, or that easygoing of a guy that he’s just embraced his fate, whatever it is.
KIMBLEW, JARSTEN- 18, APPRENTICE, EMPORIUM OF CURIOUS GOODS (Roy)
Crybabies, Weirdo Sisters, Fall Foliage
Jarsten is the apprentice of Grayson Larson and works part-time for him in the Emporium of Curious Goods. In the past, he didn’t really believe in the supernatural or monsters, but now he’s just wondering if he can find a way to be of some help. Due to his working relationship with Taffy and his strong friendship with Millicent, he’s starting to come out of his shell. Has a lock of Millicent’s hair
Bystander: Innocent
Motivation: to do the right thing
Jarsten is an excellent fortune-teller, especially with tarot cards, and has a large collection of decks. If a hunter takes interest in this collection, he will be instantly friendly to them. He will read fortunes at no charge, but if you make fun of him for any reason he will completely shut down. 
LOOFA, SAMMY- 19, PASSENGER
Type: Witness
Motivation: to reveal information
Had always thought his grandfather, Antonio, was overly superstitious. Now he can’t decide if that strong superstition was his downfall, of if Antonio had been right all along. 
PAXTON, HECTOR, 26, ULTIMATE PEACEKEEPER, MARY VINCENT PARK
Crybabies, Fall Foliage
Type: Gossip
Motivation: to pass on rumors
A bartender at the Hemlock Creek Draft House, and an ally of the hunters.
Hector has just learned that the girl he’s had a crush on since High School is not only a monster hunting werewolf, but that he thought she was a dog he adopted for longer than he’d care to admit. Regardless of what this may mean for his romantic prospects, Hector and Nana do seem to have become good friends, and he’s touched that when she was in real trouble she knew she could rely on him. This is causing him to do some soul-searching.
PEARS, NATALIE-29, The Artsy Olive/Coven of the Golden Hand (Roy)
Type: Gossip
Motivation: to pass on rumors
Current owner of the Roy house and a descendant of Minnie Roy. The origin of the “rumor” that Paloma Sandoval was not to blame for the deaths in 1925 and that Ada Sterling was the real culprit. If confronted, she will reveal that she is in possession of Paloma’s diary, which her great grandmother Minnie hid for Paloma when she escaped into the forest. 
STERLING, VERONICA- 24, Sterling Mansion, actress (Sterling)
Type: Innocent
Motivation: to do the right thing
Veronica has been recently convinced to move back home after the “mysterious disappearance” of her “benefactor” Constantine Yaruga. After many years of being convinced by Yaruga that she is a Jinx and that anyone who shows her kindness is destined to be ruined, she’s understandably cautious about being reunited with her childhood group of friends. It’s her fault that her family disintegrated, after all.
Veronica only wants to help, but being confronted by the rumors about her grandmother and the history of SMV, she may be ready to accept the blame even if she’s truly done nothing at all. 
SHUBERT, JOE – 33, DAD (McKee)
Type: Official
Motivation: to be suspicious
Feels like he is to blame for Yanni being taken because he must not have properly secured the window; doesn’t want to rely on a bunch of monster hunters to find his son, and doesn’t understand why they seem to be doing more than the police are.
SHUBERT, NANCY-32, MOM (McKee)
Type: Victim
Motivation: to put themselves in danger
Inconsolable after the disappearance of her son, Yanni. She will eventually start going out to look for him, and it will attract the attention of La Lechuza. 
SUDA, GORO- 60, GRANDMASTER HUNTER, THE WRONGED, PIE/TOKYO, JAPAN
Type: Official
Motivation: to be suspicious
The sponsor of Suda Squad. A former yakuza who lost his ninkyō dantai to a group of kitsune. Joined PIE in 1990. Goro has seen a lot in his days, but he has never seen a town full of as many freaks and weirdos as St. Mary Vincent. 
TANG, ALEXIS – 45, ANTIQUES ON BROADWAY (Bynon)
Weirdo Sisters
Type: Skeptic
Motivation: to deny supernatural explanations
Having a hard time consolidating his skepticism, having actually seen Trevor Huckle being carried off by a giant owl with a lady’s face. He thinks that he's just hallucinating due to the past trauma of watching a bald eagle steal from his antiques store
WATKINS, JAMEDRIA-51, Hooked on Yarn/Coven of the Golden Hand (Dodd House)
Type: Helper
Motivation: to join the hunt
Devastated by the loss of Laurie, Tim and Freddie. Will begin using various folk methods of securing her house against evil forces as soon as she hears the description of the monster. (Salt on sills, seven knotted ropes on doors) 
YONESCU, WADIM- 297, MASTER HUNTER, PIE/SINAIA, ROMANIA
Type: Helper
Motivation: to join the hunt
A vampire who was transformed in 1750 who appears to be in his early 20s. Trying not to get bored. Joined PIE in 2010. Suda Squad member that the hunters met on the PIE train. He will show up at the accident scene to offer assistance, and because a house full of werewolves is not his favorite place to be cooped up in, no matter how much he love Nana (in an avuncular way). 
== OTHER ==
=== Paloma Sandoval’s Diary, April 1925 ===
4/3
The child arrived Thursday hence. The birth was blessed easy, though I expected as much having hiked over to the Inverse Spring to pray for a blessing only just that morning. She is a lovely bright girl we are calling Maria-Teresa
4/5
Miss Sterling arrived to take over the mansion nigh on three weeks ago now and has yet to attend Sunday Services with the rest of us. Alfonso says she may be poorly from her journey, but she is out of an evening more often than not.
4/6
Delivered Minnie Roy of a healthy young boy late last night. All is well, though the ordeal was frightful, and her hollers even caused a crow to smash into the window. She is calling him Joshua.
4/9
Paul Dodd is still missing. His mother came again today to see if there wasn’t something else I might do. Though I have found nothing so far, I will venture out again tonight to search.
4/10
Mrs. Bynon fears that her John has been enchanted by Miss Sterling. Though I dare not ask why she believes it to be other than the admiration of a pretty young girl, I prepared her a tea to serve him that should be sure to sever any bewitchment.
4/15
Our dear Maria-Theresa has left us for the beyond. She showed no sign of illness but a bite upon her body, and looked as lovely and peaceful as an angel, but frightful pale and bloodless. What it looks like, I dare not say, though I have always taken great pains to safeguard the house against such a thing. My heart is bleeding.
4/16
Minnie mentioned that last week when I was at market with Raul, she saw Miss Sterling stop and chat to Alfonso as he sat on the porch with Maria-Teresa, and that he had briefly invited her into our home. Alfonso said she was merely curious about the windows, as she is looking to hire a builder to add on to the mansion. I am ill at ease. Minnie assured me it was nothing, and that she herself had invited Miss Sterling into her own home just a day ago when she had some question about the gardens. 
4/17
Poor Joshua has suffered from the same malady that’s take our dear Maria-Teresa. Though I did not share my suspicion aloud, Minnie begins to suspect Miss Sterling as well, in her own way.
4/18
Tonight while out, I saw Miss Sterling in the company of a mesmerized Winton Folkes. Feeling that he was in danger, I cried out, loud enough to wake him from his stupor. She was on me at once as a swarm of bats, chasing me through the sky until I hid in the belfry of the church, where surely she cannot go, and I waited until morning to return home.
4/19
Just returned from preparing the body of Esther McKee, just 17 and no sign. I am sure she is yet another victim. I made no mention of having seen her about the pregnancy and neither did they. Just as well, as it looked as though she had already been delivered. Asked if the girl has business with Miss Sterling and found that she was working as the lady’s kitchen maid. I said no more, but perhaps my silence is enough.
4/20
It seems my drunken husband has been complaining of me in public. Now half the town thinks me mad while the remainder are eager to gossip about the culprit. Sadly, it seems none know much about her.
4/21
There is a rumor that Miss Sterling has fallen in and believes I have cursed her. Would that I were so powerful I could curse a soulless thing! I am sending Raul to stay in Crest Hill with family for the time being.
4/22
Minnie Ray snuck over to tell me that there is a group planning to rid the town of me, as they say I am the culprit behind this horror. They are all in their cups, and travelling to everyone who has suffered ill luck of late. Blessed Minnie Roy, may she stay safe.
I will go to the Inverse Spring, I should be safe there. I have done nothing but try to help them and I will make them regret this betrayal.
Category:Mysteries