Session One: Meetings
A body washed up at 6am on the beach of Thunder Bay, or at least that was when it was found. Murder in Alpena, before a good decent breakfast. Something that rude could only be the work of EVIL.
Malcolm saw it in the Alpena News on the way out of his motel room in Graling. That could only mean one thing... there were sinners, and they needed to be smited. He got into his pickup truck, and a few hours later, barring farm equipment and actual people on US 23 he arrived, looking for people to smite. But he ended up faced with Methodists. He didn't smite any of them, though.
Star didn't see the Alpena News. As she stepped off the bus, she saw a a man being hussled into a black sedan. But that wasn't important, because she saw a giant love fest going on called Church in the Park. Star needed to give free love, so she did so. Alot. So much the Man needed to come out and move her along. She was approached by a very unpleasant man with bad teeth who gave her a pamphlet. She threw the pamphlet away.
Dana also didn't see the Alpena News. She was too busy being disappointed that someone else had gotten to her quarry before she did at the bus stop. She decided to go to this Church in the Park thing anyways to clear her head.
Maxwell did see the article in the Alpena News. He was intrigued, but he didn't get very far very fast. It seems like the cops aren't that interested in enlightening the population as to what is going on. He returned to his shop, where a very angry looking ruffian was buying up chains and metal O-rings and some tools. He bought his stuff quickly and left. Maxwell got the license plate of the car before he left, though. Eventually, Maxwell makes his way to the big festifal, but not before he stops at the Police Station again, this time to get the car looked up in the DMV. This time, he gets somewhere.
Jered doesn't like crowds or large groups of religious lunatics. Nor does he like to get directly involved in the affairs of humans, staying in his comfortable library and using his servant instead, even though he read the newspaper that morning. But an unpleasant man with bad teeth came in, got some books out, tried to talk to him, gave him a pamphlet and left. Jered did a little research, and found this man to be Garrett Hall, a local shop owner, who didn't usually do this. And Jered didn't read the pamphlet. He has a servant who can do legwork for him, though. She goes off to do some research on the murder.
In the downtown area Malcolm runs into Star and Dana. Unbeknownst to each other, they're all angels. They hit it off, surprisingly, considering their Superiors aren't too keen on each other. On the side, they're watched by Maxwell, who is also an angel, and it's hard to miss, because he's carrying a big sword. Who says opposite's attract? They all eventually end up at Maxwell's hardware store, but no real information is shared. Eventually, after some equipment is sorted out, they go their seperate ways.
Jered is tracking down the man with the Ice Cream store. He goes there, and snags some ice cream to hand to his servant to go analyse. He eventually makes it to Garrett Hall's place of residence, but it's closed and no one is home. Returning to his library, he hands over the ice cream sample and gets Claire to go get it analyzed. Claire informs Jered that the line is that the body was mauled by a bear... and thrown into the lake. Jered wonders where he can get another servant, but she does give him the name of the dead guy. And then he does some investigating.
Maxwell goes home. It's peaceful.
Dana goes to the Holiday Inn, where she has a room. She sees some soft porn on Showtime... but it has a moral. Maybe humans can be taught.
Malcolm gets a motel room on the waterfront. He does not have Showtime, so he can't watch any soft porn. After furiously listening to the radio and watching TV at the same time, he goes out. He runs into a gang of five oogly mooglies, who accost him and inform him they don't like his kind or the look on his face. There are words, threats, and eventually, Malcolm gets pissed off and decides these guys are clearly sinners. Thus, they need to pay. He smites one. It doesn't do a whole lot of damage, but they do decide not to fuck with the black guy who can spit fire out of his hand. Then Malcolm tracks down Maxwell because it seemed like the thing to do.
Jered goes to the Holiday Inn to check out the victim's belongings. He skates a thin edge of being a Seraph for a bit, getting into the closed room on the authority of being with the Library. "He's got library books in there I need to retrieve." Jered learns the victim was a tourist from Dearborn. Then he goes home to touch base with Claire and ponder.
Star goes to sleep in the campgrounds. She happily works on a hat for a bit, using a little bit of resonance juju and tokes on a joint. Late, when she's very relaxed, she hears sounds outside her tent. She sticks her head out and says, "Hello?" Whoever is moving stops dead. So she tries it again. "Hello?" They don't like this, so they decide to grab her. A 2x4 later, and her body is unconsious. But with an act of will she not only got a bead on these guys, but she gets to go celestial. Only the main guy notices her, and decides not to do anything about it. They wrap up her body and get a move on. Later, she'll be happy that the demons that were about decided not to just take her out while in celestial form.
Star zips around, trying to figure out what is going on, freaking out a few bystanders. In celestial form, it's easy to perceive a ripple in the Symphany, so she follows the ripple Smite did to it's source. But the source is long gone. She decides to go find the only people she knows in town. It doesn't take her too long to find Malcolm's truck, which has since arrived at Maxwell's place. She zips inside, and not only notices that Maxwell's sword is more then a bit celestial, so are the two people inside. Maxwell and Malcolm see the Mercurian (who, in Celestial form, looks alot like Star but with better hair). Then they take off looking for her body.
Dana notices alot of celestial activity. She dumps her body and goes to investigate. She also scares some poor humans along the way.
Jered hears a commotion outside. It looks like some men are manhandling a large package into the trunk of a black sedan. He goes outside to confront them. There are some threats, and the package makes it into the back of the car. Jered tosses a Song of Shields to make it perfectly clear he isn't screwing around here. The main guy decides to back up, and get into the car. It's time to go.
As he starts pulling out, Maxwell and Malcolm show up in Malcolm's pickup truck. Star shows up in celestial form, as well as Dana. The four flunkies, seeing this, suddenly get God and lose their tiny little minds. Dana sings a Song of Light, but it doesn't do too much. Maxwell jumps from the pickup onto the hood of the sedan and shoves his arm right through the glass to grab the driver. The driver, not being really all that human anyways, extends his fangs and plunges them into Maxwell's hand. This does not have the desired effect, and Maxwell grabs the demonic servant, rips him through the windshield, and tosses him into an alley. Malcolm, not to be out done, grabs a big container of gasoline from the back of his truck, runs over, screams something about purifying the sinners, and lights it right over the servant, Karl. Both Karl and Malcolm go up in a big fireball. More of the Symphony is disrupted. Malcolm gets flung to the side by the force of the explosion - but is unhurt.
The demon the rooftop looks on amused, where he is perched like a gargoyle. With a quick song of motion and a stretch of wings, he comes down, lands, gives a bemused eye at Malcolm, grabs his servant, and flys off.
Eventually the cops and fire department start to show up. The car is broken into and Star's body is retreived. Jered makes a very sly exit, and the others retreat to their bodies or Maxwell's home. Star is taken care of. People finally get some sleep, knowing that Alpena has a minor infestation problem.
Jered, in the night, gets questioned by the cops. He tells them the Truth. Just enough.
In the morning, Jered calls his Archangel. Yves, surprisingly, shows up. He makes some commentary about making big splashes in the Symphony and why it isn't such a good idea. He informs Jered that there are, in fact, eight Celestials in the area - besides himself, of course. He bids Jered a friendly farewell, and takes his leave.
In the morning, the Alpena News comes out. There are two stories - one about some sort of explosion in the downtown area, and another one about a chewed, mangaled body in the same Campground Star was in.
Dana, in the morning, goes to the Public Defender's office to offer her services. He notes that the place is usually pretty quiet, but it might pick up with the rash of murders. Then she returns to her room, where there is a note on the bed. "You are running out of time."
