Tempête Subtile Session 18 April 21

**Session 3 - Where she runs but can't hide from The Coffin**

Tempête stands in front of house, the door is wide open swinging in the wind, someone has unlocked it. It’s very dark, after 9pm. Nobody is on the street, which are partially lit with street lamps every 50ft. The puddles of darkness between the light are sneak-able. She backs away from her home and heads two streets over, to see if there’s anyone around her, hiding. *Spooky Vibe (Insight)check at disadvantage due to exhaustion: 15*. The neighborhood is mostly Tabaxi as they tend to live together in small communities. All Spooky Vibes are remnants of terrible night - a squirrel makes her jump, she’s on edge.

She walks away for about 5 mins, towards **Maxime**’s home, and then melts into the shadows between the lights. She changes form into a black as night human: Black skin, eyes, teeth, tongue, clothes - Black as the night. *Stealth check with advantage: 21*. She slinks into the darkness, her bones softly creaking and cracking as her body slowly shifts to a coal-black humanoid.

Slinking between shadows, she avoids all the bright spots of lamp light. she is searching for a 24hr Dépanneur on the way to **Maxime’s** house. One is on the Main Street, but is obvious, and the other is off the Main Street in a less obvious place. She is wary of the assassins as they can do incredible, strange magic. Her Spooky Vibe check is keeping her wary of all creatures and people but feels she might need to take a chance in order to get a phone. She decides to take the risk, and transforms herself into the plainest looking human male that ever walked the earth. Completely forgettable. *DM - “So Shane?”.* She walks into the Dépanneur and talks to the teenage woman at the counter. She wants to buy 2 burner phones. *Performance check for manliness: 12. DM - “So you ARE Shane” Much love to Shane ensues, everyone drools over how beautiful he is.* She whips out an Irish accent. 17 gp for 2 SIM cards/phone. She looks behind her, the counter lady is checking her out. She winks at her, ad carries on to **Maxime’s** house.

In another pool of blackness, she is Back on Black. She fire’s up her first burner sim, and calls **Maxime**. The phone rings ONE time, and is immediately answered. They discuss that they planned for some shit but never planned for this type of intense shit. She wants to leave the city right freaking now, she has a car stashed somewhere. He asks where the car is, she makes him tell her the first thing he said at Bounty Hunter school. “I told you I had a big package, and you punched me in the face!” She instantly knows that it's him. His breathing is irregular, and wants to know where she wants to go. She says Chicago. He's not enthoused, he thinks Americans are barbarians who can’t cook and he hates visiting the South. She tells him she's on her way and she’ll pop in his window, he wishes her bonne chance.

She snaps the SIM card and stomps the phone, and heads to his place. She climbs up to her ‘normal window’, and looks to see if he’s alone. *Perception check 17.* Maxim’s is 2d floor of an apartment bldg. His place is plain like a bachelor pad. As she peeks in, he’s watching “inappropriate videos” on a very large screen tv, even though he know she’s coming. She ignores the tv and sks if he packed, he turns his head and she sees a massive bruise. He says of course he’s ready to go, and gestures to his ‘go-bag’. She asks what gear he has for her, and he looks at her coal-black self and jumps. She grows horns as a joke. He gets a short sword, tosses to her, *dexterity throw: 12*; and she catches it. An additional Long bow and 12 arrows are given to her from Max’s marvelous closet of weaponry. He also gives her 2 health potions. Maxim flirts with her nonstop. They grab 6 days of rations, but he has no water skin because he’s not a peasant, he only drinks vodka, whiskey, and Cointreau. She asks for waterproof bags, he hands her a single ziplock and she rolls her eyes. She wants to get the burner car she has under a second identity, he says they should to grab their passports and take the train, the most crowded one, to Chicago.

She changes into 27 yr old female human tan skin shoulder length hair, attractive but nothing spectacular. They must pretend to be a couple, which makes Maxim absolutely delighted. He will not stop hitting on her, even though he knows he’s not her type and it will never happen. He offers her his elbow in a style of old, and then go down. **Maxime** says his disguise name is Chuck. Her disguise name is Luna. Chuck says not to take a taxi, instead take a nice midnight stroll. Although he’s teasing, he’s also serious. *Deception check for both as a couple: 11* . Luna feels fine, she’s done this before. But Chuck still looks like Max.

They get to the high-speed train that connects all the nations capitals: Montreal, Toronto, Austin, Minneapolis, Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, Tampa, Sand Diego and Sacramento. It used to connect to Salt Lake City until it became an absolute shit show. The train leaves in about 32 minutes to Toronto, and then Chicago. Luna wants to make sure Chuck is wearing a cap. *D20 - nope, his hair is too glorious*. Luna goes to the Dépanneur and buys him a cap to his his hair, face and giant bruise. He brags about how his face is so beautiful and takes work, and exercise, moisturizer, and water to stay so beautiful. She shoves it on his head. He looks like Max, with a cap. Train leaves in 26 minutes.

Luna buys one more burner phone and a paper - 6g 2 copper. The paper is dated Wednesday Aug 2nd, 2250. She asks Chuck if he left his phone at home or if he has one. He says he’s so pretty he doesn’t need one, she gives him the burner, gets 6 gp from Chuck and buys one more burner. The person selling them is looking at her suspiciously. Luna wants to find a place to sit by the train, but safely. *Investigation check: 8 Perception check: 19.* Didn’t choose the best spot, but as she’s sitting looking at the people coming off the Midnight Train they seem preoccupied with their own lives, they’re not paying attention to Luna and Chuck.

8 minutes to board, 12 minutes until the train leaves. She cuddles up to Chuck pretending to be his girlfriend - a routine that they've practiced many time. He tells her that at least 7of her 9 lives are in love with him. Chuck notices an old man, top hat, glasses, chubby, says to kiss him on the check and look at the man. *Perception check: 22*. She can see the split second he looks at her. He’s wearing an white Abe Lincoln top hat and a beige suit. Chuck says he’s been looking at her more than necessary, even though she’s a “pretty lady” (actually so plain). Chuck says it’s not the eyes of sex, it’s the eyes of ‘I want to kill this woman in her sleep”. *(His insight check was at is Nat 20)* Chuck talks about how it’s a look of murder and not a look of skeeze. *History check: 13* - there have been times before that people can see who she is, but usually it’s a spell that sees through the disguise. They can’t see the disguise, only the person under it, using True Sight. They don’t know she can change, but they can see her through the changing.

Luna kisses Chuck and looks for others, but can’t see any. Just the top hat, beige suit, and glasses, reading the paper. The train boards in 4 minutes. Chuck says “Fuck it, lets get on the train, pick a public spot, and if he sits next to us, we think about killing him, but damn, it’s public...”. Luna debates taking out Beige Man here, but worries they’ll miss the train. Luna is worried about fighting in close quarters, but Chuck looks at his sword and and is not at all concerned. They decide to get on the train and ‘hope they don’t fucking die’. They get on the suuuper long train, Chuck on the aisle seat with his hand on his sword, and winks. He can’t wink w his Left eye, so he turns his whole body to wink with his Right eye. They decide the Beige man looks like Popeye dressed like Colonel Sanders, as he comes and sits on the train. The magnetic levitation train takes off, and is soon going 200 mph.

Luna takes out the newspaper and pretends to read it, casually looking at everything else. Headline reads DEBATES PERSIST OVER ELECTRIC BORDER WALL. Luna glances at the top story of each section. Sports - METS STILL SUCK Politics - AN ELECTION COMING UP BETWEEN A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY-PRESIDENT AND A SOCIALIST (in 3 mos in New America - the Anti-gun people Freedom Figters, Eastern seaboard). Both parties are anti-gun, guns are bad mmmkay. Arts - NEW MUSEUM BEING BUILT IN BOSTON FOR W3, W3 stuff being brought from Ger, Fra, China.

*Perception check: 17.* Luna looks around, Chuck rests his hand on the long sword. A train employee comes up and checks passport - every single person who ever takes this train EVER has their ID scanned to track them. She hands over her alternate ID for Luna LaLune. Passes the scan. *Perception check: 15* - She can hear the names being said as the train person scans IDs. Luna sees a young, busty women she recognizes. *History check: 19.* She remembers her as one of the porn actresses Maxime was watching on his TV when she arrived at his pace. The name that scans is NOT Lovechild Miranda, and Chuck knows that is the wrong instead they hear “**South Paw**”. They look at the fake porn actress, who smirks at Luna and Chuck.

They enter the tunnel that goes under Lake Ontario, and all the lights go out. As the lights slowly come back on, across from Luna, there is a black Tabaxi with a white mark on his left cheek, who’s eyes are always darting around planning his escape, next action, etc. Next to him, a smaller figure with a hooded cape, that swallows their features, like a black hole of nothing. **South Paw** says hello, suggests next time she runs away she doesn’t wear the same glamour studded armor. He can see through the glamour, not the changeling. They greet each other in a standard Tabaxi greeting from Standing Rock, and he gives her the customary signal that she has the power in the conversation for the next few minutes. He says it seems like she has a problem. She looks around, and every single person in the car is wearing a black cloak. He says he doesn’t want to kill her, she’s family. There must be some way to come to a resolution.

He gives her a big bag of money: 7,000 gold (We find out through another session that this was taken from **Bolts**). He want her to take this to Standing Rock. If she does, he will see to it that whatever stupid thing she’s done to **The Coffin**, goes away as long as she doesn’t stir up trouble again. He picked her because she is family and he knows her and will always know her, and calls her by her name Tempête. He will personally make sure that **Camille** - who is on the train car - won’t put her at the end of her knife. He suggests she visit a place in Detroit that has good Milk and Kahlua. If she captures anyone else of The Coffin, their full wrath will be on her. He asks her to take the gold to **Mother** at Standing Rock to help take care of their people. She asks what happened to her mother’s body, she wanted to take it to Standing Rock as is customary. He looks over at one of the cloaked figures, it looks like it’s sleeping and slumped over. It’s her mother’s body. He says to consider it collateral. If she does what he wants, her mother will get the traditional Standing Rock ceremony.

They can feel the train start to slow down as it nears New Chicago (they did not stop at Toronto. TBD). Tempête has about 3-4 minutes before they arrive. She stares at **South Paw** and his silent, hooded faceless companion in. He puts his hand out to signal she no longer has control of the conversation. He puts his hood up, and she can see the magic effect blur out his face until it’s a dark void. *Insight check w disadvantage: 15* - she sees this short person, 4’7”-4’8”, turns and looks hat her, she can feel their stare lingering on her, and then stares at Maxim. They have a very ornate, very long, longbow on their back. They don’t know who it is, but she realizes that she just met Two of The Five leaders of **The Coffin**. As the train come out of the tunnel, all the assassins disappear, leaving Max and her alone on the train with only one other person, who is shocked at what just happened. Tempête smiles at him, and he vomits as they pull into the train station in New Chicago.