Night had begun to fall on Scyon City and, as darkness encroached, it brought with it a heavy blanket of clouds to separate the lights of the city below from those of the emerging moon and stars above. As the night deepened, winds blew in from the ocean to the east, gusting along the rivers and channels that wound through the city and, soon enough, drove the rains evoked from the clouds through Scyon City’s streets. The showers pattered against the pavement, hastening the cooling of the city’s surfaces brought on by the overcast night, and conjuring a veil of fog that seeped slowly through broad boulevards and litter-choked alleyways alike. From above, where Samael winged his way over the Scyon River, the rain and mist filtered the city’s lights, lending an ethereal aspect to the place that, somehow, tugged at the frayed thread of a memory which he could no longer call clearly to mind.

“A recollection of Arcadia, perhaps,” he mused, blinking at the otherworldly vista below as he soared over the Opera House and then St Mary’s Park. Samael sighed softly and shook his head, trying to make the memory either coalesce or dissipate entirely. He wasn’t sure that Arcadia was (or had been) a real place or if, instead, it was simply a cruel fiction planted in his mind by Anatashia’s torture. Either way, he had chosen to stop looking for the place, even when fragments of fractured memories taunted him to do so. He lifted his pale eyes from the hazy sprawl of Midtown’s streets and turned them, instead, to the glass and steel monolith that was the headquarters of Syncorp Enterprises. Perhaps Aly would still be in her office, there; the rains having forestalled her motorcycle ride back to the Palisades from the city.

Samael banked westward toward the towering skyscraper and climbed higher into the rain streaked sky, hoping to avoid the gazes of anyone still in the building’s offices. When he was close enough to be able to see in the windows, he glided in a wide spiral around Syncorp’s upper floors until his eyes found the narrow balcony outside of Alyeria Synclar’s suite. The windows beyond were dark, though, so if Aly was still in the building, waiting for the rains to pass, she wasn’t biding her time in the office that bore her name. 

“No chance of a visit, here, then,” he decided, spiraling higher toward the building's roof.

He lit on the roof’s edge for a moment, perched between the neon glow of the Syncorp logo and the winking lights of the twin helipads which surmounted the tower. His gaze swept the city, piercing the veil of rain and fog in a conscious effort to not succumb to the disjointed memories of the unplace, Arcadia, stirred by the unearthly filtering of light. His fingers curled tightly around the haft of his spear and his bare toes, too, flexed to grip the rain-slick ledge of Syncorp’s roof. Sirens wailed in the distance, drawing his eyes southward to where several sets of blue and red lights flashed atop the SCPD squad cars racing toward the edge of The Fens. For an instant, Samael considered following those lights in order to see if there might be something he might do to help, but, no sooner had the thought entered his mind than the appearance of a blue-white streak of light surged with impossible quickness through the streets of The Fens…

“The Dragonfly,” Samael murmured, transfixed by the lightning fast trail of energy. He chuckled, then, and shook his head as he pushed a rain-soaked shock of hair from his eyes. “It will be over before I get there,” he told himself, reluctantly letting his gaze slip away from the Fens and turn northwest, instead, toward the Palisades, “and it has been too long since I’ve visited Aly.”

...Samael let himself fall from Syncorp’s roof, then, and, after a few stories, his wings unfurled to catch the air, reeling him around the building once more before he soared toward the wide swath cut by Queens River and, beyond that, the Synclar estate. A short time later, he found himself circling above the expansive grounds of Aly’s family home and, following a wary pass or two to insure he had not been seen by private security patrols, Samael descended toward the sprawling manse and came to rest on the very terrace from which he had left all those months ago.

He stood there for a moment, his wings folded around himself like a cloak against the rain, and marveled at the fact that the noise of the city was completely lost, here. It was quiet, still, peaceful, and Samael almost lamented ever having left it behind. “The peace of it would be lost, though, if he ever found me here,” Samael reminded himself with a sigh, turning his eyes from the bucolic spread of the grounds and toward the mansion, itself. 

He padded across the terrace toward the board set of French Doors set in the stone walls of the manor and, pausing just outside, reached out a hand to rap lightly on a leaded glass pane as he peered through another. 

On the other side of the door, the soft tapping sound stirred Alyeria from the impromptu slumber into which she had slipped and, lifting her head from where it rested on the desk, she blinked in mild confusion, rubbing at her eyes as consciousness came creeping back. When her gaze fell upon the terrace doors and the dark shape that stood just beyond them, though, the confusion vanished and a smile found her lips. “Sam?” She made her way from behind the desk and across the floor, her smile blossoming fuller as she pulled the door open.

“Hello, Aly,” Samael smiled as he set his spear aside.

She looked at Sam, confusion in her eyes for a moment before she felt her feet carry her towards the winged man. Wrapping her arms around him in a hug she couldn’t hide the tremors racking through her body.

“I thought you were too busy to come to see the likes of me..”

 “I could never be too busy for you, little sister,” he said softly. His arms and wings folded around her, holding her close against her own trembling. “What’s wrong?”

Aly shook her head relishing in the warmth Sam’s wings gave her as her shaking subsided,

“Exhausted, dealing with a company by father left to me… that’s being employed by morons who can’t tell what shipping container goes to which bay..” She trailed off, she had often spoken ill of her workers to the winged man. 

Samael nodded faintly, not that he had any idea about the strain running a company might put on a person but he had heard her complain about this before and knew, also, that it often burdened his friend with a good deal of stress. “I wish I could offer some sort of advice where that’s concerned, little sister,” he said, “but I know nothing of such things.”

After lingering in his embrace for a moment longer, Aly asked; “What brings you here though?” 

“It’s been some time since I’ve seen you,” he offered a smile and a faint shrug as he let her go, “or even heard from you for that matter. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Aly returned, waving a hand almost dismissively against his concern, “just tired and overworked.”

Sam nodded, again; feathers rustling as his wings folded against his back and Aly stepped back toward her desk. “I’m happy you’re well,” he said, turning his eyes toward the doors and watching the rain fall on the grounds beyond, “My visit might have been poorly timed, though. Perhaps I should go and let you get some rest?”

Aly shakes her head and smiles kicking her feet up on the corner of her desk and leans back, “No, no I have a bit of work to do. Orders to approve and what not. I’m glad you came. I drove past the cathedral earlier but decided against it wasn’t sure if you were in or not.” She pauses then and looks at her window smiling at the rain dotting the glass, “How’s the crime fighting going? Anything of import come up?”

Sam blinked at the question, his eyes going a bit wider as they turned from the rain-spattered glass and fell on Aly where she sat behind her desk, then that faint glimmer of astonishment melted into something of a sheepish smile. “You know about that?” he asked, the surprise not gone from his voice as entirely as it was from his face.

“Of course,” Aly giggled, gesturing vaguely at the distant lights of Scyon City, “with all the stories in the news about a birdman or an angel coming to the rescue of some random citizen, how could I not? It’s not as if I know of any other winged man that would fit the bill, is it?”

“I guess not,” Samael admitted with a chuckle of his own. 

“Anything of import,” he repeated, casting a glance over his shoulder at Scyon City’s skyline and, then, shrugged faintly as his gaze returned to Aly, “I suppose not. I mean, compared to what Dragonfly does, my contributions are... minimal… but I can’t help but try.” 

Aly’s grin had begun to fade. “Are you sure that what you’re doing is safe, Sam,” she asked, “I mean, aren’t you afraid of drawing his attention?”

“I can’t let myself see it that way,” the winged man sighed softly, “He’ll find me eventually. He always does. Until then, though, simply hiding away doesn’t seem the right thing to do…”

Apologies for the lag on my part, folks! Been a helluva few days at my place (medical procedures for me, dog attack and emergency vet visits for my pooch, etc). Things are beginning to settle down and, hopefully, I'll be able to grab a few minutes to finish up the collab Silent and I have been working on and finally get it posted then get another post going to get things moving with some kind of forward momentum.

If I don't get a post tacked up tonight, look for one tomorrow morning.

*Happy Eol dance*

Well worth the wait!

Silent is supposed to have an update to our collab coming my way, soon. Hopefully a post will come of that sooner rather than later.

Mmmmmhhmmmm... Took you all of a couple of hours, Hammer. I don't know how I lived through it.

Good stuff, folks! Very interested to see all these characters come together.

With a little luck, I'll have some time this weekend to actually get the map finished up.

Hmmmm... Sounds like that might be a dowtown sort of venue. Possibly in the Lantern Hill area? Say on the corner of Moses Blvd and Lunar Ave?

Nice to have something to read in the middle of a workday!

Speaking of posts - I've got a collab in the works with Silent and C2P, I'm sure has something epic in the wings, as well, so there should be more coming soon!

Nice post, Espatier!

Not at all creepy...

Give a fella a nudge and BOOM! post!

I love it!!! Thanks, Espatier! And welcome to the asylum!

Thanks for the links, sir!

Also, totally digging Scarecrow/Candyman. Creepy AF, as the whippersnappers say! Should be an interesting addition to the tale(s) that we spin, here.

As I mentioned in a PM to you a couple of days ago, any major rural/farmland regions are going to be found west of Scyon City proper - over the Queens river, past the Palisades, and out yonder in the boonies. That said, there are certainly numerous clusters of "people of color" that live in the city, itself, and would likely be reasonable spots for "It" to be encountered.

1. Scyon River Island (better known as "The Fens") is one such spot. It's one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city and very much culturally diverse. (Also, home to Zareena Reed/Dragonfly).


2. West Hanover and Lantern Hill in the Downtown region also support sizeable communities of "black" (African-American, Haitian, Jamaican, etc) and hispanic people. Many of these folks would be dock workers and the like. Possibly even some who "commute" west to work the farms and such.


3. Bay View Island, too, might be a center of folks who'd know of/encounter "It."

Just a few options/ideas for you, of course, and by no means "set in stone." This is freeform, after all, and we're all kind of building this together, so feel free to improvise and such. As always, if you have any questions or need a nudge one way or another, you all know where to find me!

Working on a post, today, and, hopefully, will also get a decent map at least started, as well.

Looking forward to seeing some posts!

Okay, I've reserved three additional spots in the characters thread just in case we manage to recruit any other players. I think 8 PCs is a decent "max capacity" for a game such as this, right?

Also, I've copied the "Notable NPCs" post over to the new thread and "stubbed in" a new entry, there, for "The Inspectre!" Thanks, C2P, for such a nifty concept and an awesome way of padding some of Scyon City's superhero lore.

People of Scyon City

• Madison Watts - Mayor of Scyon City
  
  
  
  • Early in her first term as Mayor.
  
  
  • Caucasian woman in her late 40's with hazel eyes and strawberry-blonde hair.
  
  
  • 5' 6", 145 lbs
  
  
  
  


• Elliot Booth - SCPD Chief of Police
  
  
  
  • Has been SCPD's Chief for the past 5 years
  
  
  • Distinguished looking African-American man in his mid-50's with greying hair and deep brown eyes.
  
  
  • 5' 11", 185 lbs
  
  
  
  


• Father Thomas Chapman - A priest at St Sebastian's Cathedral
  
  
  
  • Has been a priest his entire adult life and a resident of Scyon City for 30+ years
  
  
  • Eldery caucasian man in his mid to late 60's, grey-green eyes and white hair (balding)
  
  
  • 5'8", 140 lbs
  
  
  • Friend of Samael
  
  
  
  


• Eugene "Gene" Wayne Morrison (aka "The Inspectre") - A masked vigilante from 1950s/1960s era Scyon City. Retired.
  
  
  
  • Born in 1940
  
  
  • A non-powered human who used gadgets, his own wiles, and a ghost theme to spook the crooks and criminals of 50s-60s era Scyon City into submission.
  
  
  • Hunted as a vigilante up until his retirement, but is now remembered fondly for his contributions to stopping the reign of terror of the dreaded Hydra mafia.
  
  
  • Now a retired old man in his 80s, living in the city, watching and reading about Dragonfly and this new Archangel.
  
  
  • Runs a network of spycams to keep tabs on his city from his nursing home bedroom.
  
  
  
  


• Ellsworth Walsh - An eccentric and wealthy new visitor to Scyon City
  
  
  
  • 
  
  
  • ((More details to come))
  
  
  
  

((Descriptions to come... along with more people, as well.))

For potential new PC

For potential new PC

For potential new PC

Okay, gang, I've copied all of the character backgrounds and such to their own thread for ease of access/reference! As before, each character entry has been assigned to their individual player so you don't have to rely on me to perform any updates or edits.

Link to the new thread: Scyon City Characters

This is the thread for character sheets and backstories for Stories from Scyon City.

Approved players/characters for this game, so far, are:

• Alyeria Synclar/Penumbra - played by SilentOne


• Samael/The Archangel of Scyon City - played by Eol Fefalas


• Zarenna Reed/Dragonfly - played by CameToPlay


• Preston Smith/Disturbance - played by Hammer


• ???/Scarecrow/Candyman - played by Espatier

Can't wait to see Dragonfly zipping through Scyon!!!

Also, I think I'm going to create a characters thread at some point today and move the character descriptions/backstories/etc there, so, watch for that a bit later.

Sorry I didn't check in more often but I was having too much fun on vacation and barely looked at my phone, let alone fire up a computer or log in to the Inn.

Nice to see some posts on my return, of course (looks like Aly might need a visit from Sam to improve her mood, eh?). Also, super excited to welcome Espatier to the game! Looking forward to seeing the "Candyman" concept unfold and see the character in action!

I've got to catch up with work, this morning, but, once I do that, I should be able to get back to work on maps and posts and all that happy horseradish!

As I said, I'll be pretty sporadic in the coming days, myself, and I think we're still waiting for first posts in game from Silent and C2P, as well, so... no rush!

...I'm thrilled to see a new game starting up and, hopefully, bring some activity back to the Inn! Good on ya, Nomad! Kudos!

...I'm leaving on vacation to visit my oldest daughter and her husband in Louisiana this Friday. You probably won't hear from me much at all on Friday or Saturday as it's almost an 18 hour drive from door to door. It's possible I'll check in from time to time when we stop for gas/food/potty breaks (the wife LOVES those) but I wouldn't exactly count on it. I may pop in more frequently starting on Sunday but it will most likely be at night and, honestly, it'll probably depend on my level of sobriety. I'll be in Louisiana until at least Wednesday and taking a leisurely cruise back homeward at the end of the week (I've got some surprises in store for the wife on the return trip as next Friday will be our 28th anniversary   ). Anyhoo, I'll be fully back in the saddle, so to speak, late next weekend and, as I said, briefly checking in when I can.

That said, you guys feel free to post away, shoot me PMs, and all that good business in the duration and I'll reply as fast as is Eol-y possible.

Also, as this is freeform and, in my opinion, a collaborative storytelling effort as opposed to a game (role play vs roll play) I'd like for all of you to feel comfortable in contributing to the "worldbuilding" behind the scenes. C2P has already asked about "Chinatown" and "Little India" neighborhoods, for example, and I've given her free reign to place those things in the city as she sees fit. I'm guessing that Hammer was asking about outlying areas in order to solidify an appropriate spot for the secret holding facility and/or a base for Disturbance and his supporting cast - brother, feel free to improvise and insert as you will (especially if it's outside the city proper). As for me, I hope to have a few nights in which I can work on an actual map or two (and, possibly, expand on the details of Scyon City found on page 1 of this thread) while I'm away and, upon my return, get it all posted up for everyone's reference.

Anyhoooo... Now that the work day is done, I've gotta go drag the canoe off the rack, get it all cleaned up and strapped to the truck, and ready to go so I can paddle some gator infested waters!!! I'll check in again, soon!

Love and Light,

Eol

Sounds about right, bud! lol

I hadn't decided on a specific state, tbh, but you're most definitely in the right area! New Jersey, New York, Connecticut... right in there somewhere!  I don't see why it couldn't be Connecticut, so I'm cool with that if that's the way everyone else wants to go.