Strange Place Noir - RPLOG

Participants

• Bleu
• Fenris
• Junes
• Umeko
• Willy

Date

12/2/2023

Log

(Fenris) A young human woman waits to greet arriving operatives at the front desk of the Interplanar studies building. Her nametag reads "Cassandra." She seems in better spirits than other tomes operatives may have met her.

(Willy) Willy As the receptionist sits at the front desk, a burly looking Bear with a big know and stark white fur comes sliding through the door with a smile. Checking his gear for a moment he looks to her. "Hey agian. More trouble with the adventure in a pocket?" he asks.

(Bleu) Bleu pads in with tail awag, and he nods to Willy and the receptionist. "Yeah, hey, I'm here. What's happening *this* time?" The wolf boy bounces on his feet.

(Umeko) Umeko The tall and muscular blue oni stepped inside the building curiously, before giving a wave to Cassandra and the others. "Hey there, I heard there was something strange going on?" She then looked at the other two curiously, tilting her head, "You two have already done stuff with it? Curious what we're in for with this I have to say..."

(Junes) Junes heard about the job and coming into view the chimeric hissah headed towards the group and soon the flurry of nine tails, sizeable backpack and hoodie popped into view before they wave a greeting to everybody "wow didnt expect to see so many familiar people here!" and glancing to the humans name tag said "nice to meet you cass, im junes"

(Fenris) "Hard as it is to believe, there is no trouble at all this time," Cassandra says, "Welcome. Today we are actually performing some observations and tests on a particular artifact that some of you may be familiar with." She turns and leads the way down a few hallways to a long hall of storage lockers and one particular open garage door leading to a storage unit containing only a folding table with a cardboard board game box on it.

Usually, anyway. Today it has all sorts of gizmos and doodads on the walls. some people might recognize them as recording equipment.

(Willy) Willy Chuckles a bit. "Ah, so no accidental activation this time" he says "Good for Fenris then. He's gotten trapped so many times" the Polar Bear says with a low chuckle, before looking to the others. "It's good to see you all by the way." he says "Always good to work with familiar faces, though I think for you Junes this will be a new thing."

(Bleu) Bleu's tail wags a little. "Hey, this is good. I'm glad that we're not facing anything dangerous." He looks over at the others.

(Umeko) Umeko bowed her head slightly to the people that she hadn't met yet, "I'm Umeko, pleasure to meet you all!" She nodded to Junes as well, "Good to see you here as well!" As they made their way over to the table and board game, she looked it over curiously. "So, uh, is Jumanji real now or something? I haven't really been filled in on the details of last time yet..."

(Junes) Junes smiled a bit "new huh? sounds exciting and yeah im glad to see you two, its been so long!" they pat you both on the back and a tail waved to the oni "yeah ive had some jobs with these two but im thinking this is going to be some weird as hell magic or something"

(Fenris) "It is not unlike the old Jumanji idea," Cassandra says, "Only there does not seem to be any real danger with this game, and it effects only those people playing it without spilling out into the rest of the world around it."

She indicates the table and its board, along with all the observation equipment. "Today we are simply asking you to take part in the game while we record and make observations." She steps outside the room and nods at the game. "Good luck," She says.

The game, for its part, seems unassuming. It is a simple cardboard box, slightly worn, painted with swirls of colorful smoke and the title "A Strange Place" emblazoned on the cover.

(Willy) Willy nods a bit "I see. I do wonder how the game looks from the outside, since it is really a world in a box" he says, before he trundles into the game room and finds himself a seat with a slight grunt, picking the third

(Bleu) Bleu wells. "I'm not making the same mistake this time. No abandoned starship full of undead THIS TIME." He still remembers that. "So, shall I touch it first again?" he asks, as he reaches out toward the box.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded at Cassandra while rubbing her chin, "Hmmm, I see... Well, if you say there's no danger and other people have played it just fine, I guess that's pretty reassuring... I'm up for giving it a shot, sounds like it could absolutely be interesting, and there's always been a part of me that almost wanted to try something like that..." She stretched for a moment, before going to join them and took a seat in the 2nd spot. "Eh? A starship full of undead?!" she asked incredulously as she sat down.

(Junes) Junes looked at the box and back to the group "i dont know whether the being that made this thing just likes simple designs or wants to troll us but hey looks interesting enough, oh and no idea what that's about but just supernatural craziness as usual" they took a seat nearby and were about to use a tail to poke at the box before withdrawing "wait how do we play?"

(Fenris) The moment the box is touched, swirling blue smoke erupts from it, quickly filling the room as Cassandra scurries out ahead of it.

Soon everything is obscured by the smoke aside from the four players. Four new little red balls streak into the air, leaving trails of pink smoke, spelling out words before the players' eyes.

Bleu reads "Choose a GENRE."

The smoke in front of Umeko reads, "Choose a SETTING."

Willy sees, "Name an ADJECTIVE."

Junes sees her little smoke writer hesitate just a moment, then write, "Choose a COMPANION."

(Willy) Willy smiles a bit and thinks. "Hmm...that is an interesting one...hmmm" he goes, putting a clawed finger to his chin. "Blissful" he says with a minor grin.

(Bleu) Bleu takes a look at his prompt. "Shoot me later, y'all, but I'm thinkin' of Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Dixon Hill... Genre? Yes, Mr. Smoke Monster, I'm goin' with hard-boiled detective fiction, Film Noir." Visions of Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity flash through his mind's eye.

(Umeko) Umeko sat back and pondered on an idea, curious as to what might be interesting. "Hmmm, perhaps a city full of strange mythical things, paranormal and out of the ordinary."

(Junes) Junes watched the smoke and heard the others speak before taking a moment to think before the choice is made "how about a prideful, but friendly pterodactyl?" watching the mysterious smoke

(Fenris) The smoke swirls about wildly, forming new words in the air. "BLISSFUL FILM NOIR IN PARANORMAL CITY," read the pink letters.

New writing appears in front of each player. "Who is your CHARACTER?" the smoke asks, "What are the GOOD AT? What are they BAD AT?"

There is an unexpected POOF of smoke, and suddenly a burly tanuki wearing nothing but a bath towel appears. "Huh?" the big guy looks around in surprise.

(Willy) Willy starts to say something when he suddenly hears the poof and chuckles "I guess something has you linked to the game" he says "bout to get as big beak...anycase" he then looks back at the smoke. "Since Junes put that as a companion...lets go...hmmm....Raptor detective, good at spotting, but with a minor wild fault for taking eating fresh meat if available.

(Bleu) "The names Spade... Bleu Spade," the wolf boy says, "And I'm a hard-boiled detective. I'm good at catchin' the perp an' chasin' dames. I'm bad at smokin', 'cause of asthma. No cigars here, folks. Also, I can't NOT talk like a cheesy detective in a Film Noir."

(Bleu) Bleu wuffs "The days was lazy, like a dog on a porch in the summer, and I'm gonna talk like this the whole time."

(Umeko) Umeko pondered for a moment again, before grinning a bit, "I'll go with... A big muscular lizardman henchman type who's good at fighting and intimidating people, but is easily distracted and forgetful. Maybe speaks like a mobster too.", she said with a laugh.

(Junes) Junes saw the familiar tanuki and just looked a tad worried "i hope hes alright" before looking to the smoke and responding "my name is...over there and im good at surviving but bad with hmm..." they thought before saying "im bad at hiding, oh and i have an ugly as hell tie that i like" they shrugged

(Fenris) Fenris looks like he is about to say something, then he vanishes in a puff of smoke with an indignant and slightly saurian squawk.

The blue smoke swirls about, filling everyone's vision.

The moment it clears, it becomes apparent that everything is very different. First of all, everything is in black and white. Not a swatch of color to be seen. Like a black tie affair at a skunk convention.

Bleu Spade and his apprentices/Assistants are all standing around a crime scene. A chalk outline on the floor is all that remains of Edmund Widestripe, infamous vampire of the mephit court, here in the elaborite hotel suite where he met his untimely end.

Aside from the detectives, only one nervouse looking hotel concierge is in the room, ready to answer questions.

(Willy) Willy eeps slightly as the scene rapidly shifts, but regathers himself before looking down with a sniff as he tries to gather surrounding smells and scents. "Mmm...looks like a ghastly death..." he says quietly, as he awaits to see what Bleu Spade wants to do in this situation.

(Bleu) Immediately, a voice-over starts. It's Bleu Spade's voice, despite him NOT talking right now. "They say life is too short. But for a vampire, life is too long, by far. The sky hangs thick with fog, like a big gray blanket coverin' the city. There's 8 million stories in the Naked City. This... Is one of them." The voice-over transitions to Bleu speaking, "He was skewered and incinerated like a Christmas Flambe, then decapitated. When you gotta go, go out in a blaze of glory." The wolf boy wearing a trench coat and fedora looks down at the chalk outline. "Take notes," he says around the unlit cigarette clenched in his teeth. The concierge looks nervous. "No, for the last time, I don't need a light. It's *for show.*"

(Umeko) Viktor Moore, sometimes known as "The Viper" much to his chagrin due to not actually being a snake but a lizard, walked up to examine the crime scene as well. He started to pull out a cigar out of habit and almost went to light it before remembering that his boss probably wouldn't appreciate it much, so he ended up doing the same for now. "Yeah you said it boss, got any ideas on who mighta done this? I mean you gots vampire hunters, but then the vampires themselves, never really trusted them much if you asks me, drinking blood and all..."

(Junes) when the smoke was cleared the nine tailed mutant looked down to see a classic open suit to reveal the monochrome tie featuring, a plaid background, fish decals all around and a splatter of some dark liquid that left the tie permanently stained but otherwise they looked fairly clean before looking up and seeing the body and listening as they try to at the scenery around to get an idea for the murderers motive and so like their namesake went...over there, as in backwards, to walk towards the door and spotted a large portrait of the vampire "say, did this guy own the place?" pointing up to the large ornate painting

(Willy) Willy grimaces a little at the strong smell of burning dust and cinders in the air. "Blaze of Glory alright..." he says before taking a jot book out of his pocket and starts jotting down observations. He then works twoards the edges of the room and sees if he can spot things unusual, or scents that don't make sense, making sure his tail didn't make his own messes.

(Fenris) The concierge, nods along as Bleu makes his deductions. "Yes sir," he agrees with the wolf, then looks to Junes, "Mister Widestripe actually kept his residence here most weekends and was responsible for his own decorating. He did not own the hotel, though. That would be his cousin, Ernesto Widestripe."

"All of that happened, just like you said, Sir," he turns his attention back to Bleu, "All very distressing, but all performed under mephit court law. What the family has requested you for is the recovery of a bit of an heirloom that Edmund here absconded with. Perhaps you are ready to meet with Ernesto?"

(Willy) Willy looks up as the conversation goes on, before he returns to the group and awaits to be guided ahead, curious to the Heirloom.

(Bleu) Bleu nods, chewing that cigarette in his mouth. "I was hopin' we'd be interrogatin' a dame with gams," he admits, "Send the grieving relative in here." He looks at Vik. "If 'e pulls any tricks, you know what t' do." Break his knees, obviously. He looks at the concierge. "Send 'im in. Willy, take notes. Junes, ransack the room for clues." He snaps his fingers.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded over to Bleu, "You got it boss." He patted his jacket to make sure he had his weapons in place, including a revolver with silver bullets and a stake, 'just in case'. He started to look around as he spaced out a bit, but Junes smashing a vase quickly made him turn in surprise, "What the hell is going on over there?"

(Junes) Over there listened to the concierge as they spoke but hearing the request got a bit worried but said "oh were you talking to me? cause remember thats not my name its" with a roll of the hands and pointing to the cabinets said "over there!" and it turned out behind them was a winged goblet that crashed to the ground, shattering completely "...whoops. Everything is good but ill take a quick look around" and then went to the pillow to take a pillowcase to hold some loot before searching around, and unsure of the thing decided to plop it inside the case and said "not much besides this!" as they went to the concierge and said "lead the way my good sir!"

(Fenris) The concierge is gone for only a moment or two before the suite door opens dramatically and a very well dressed skunk arrives, looking similar to the one in the portrait.

He looks down his nose and sneers at the group. "I was told they had hired a DETECTIVE not a circus," he says smoothly, raising a cigarette to his lips and taking a long drag. "You can't tell me you expect this... mutt and his entourage of misfits will find my diamond any faster than I can."

(Willy) Willy hears the comments and mutters something under his teethy breath, but nods as he steps up and scraws out something gently upon his paper with an inked soaked claw as he made observations and notes.

(Bleu) Bleu starts hacking and wheezing from the smoke, and he grabs the unattended champagne bucket to toss water onto Ernesto. "Listen...hack-coff...I need you to extinguish...coff-coff-hack-wheeze...That cigarette." He looks at Vik. "Sic 'im." Looking back at their client. "Tell us about the diamond, and make it quick, ya filthy animal."

(Umeko) The lizardman was getting a little fired up from the words but kept quiet until Blue gave the word. "You got it boss," he said before quickly stepping forward, grabbing the skunk by the shirt and slamming him back into the nearest wall with a fairly significant amount of force. "We ain't no circus either, best show some respect if you want that diamond back."

(Junes) Over There was surprised at the act of aggression and in a hushed tone said "calm down!" to the lizard before saying to the skunk "we are doing what we can and will have that precious diamond of yours soon" the pillowcase still in hand "we just need more time to investigate and of course ask around" before showing a hand to spade as if presenting him

(Fenris) The skunk seems almost to teleport, moving across the room in a blur to avoid the thrown water, only to suddenly find himself in the grip of Victor, the lizard man. His eyes widen a bit and his eyes flash uneasily between the menacing lizard man, the wolfy detective and the distant balcony door and the mid-day sunlight filtering through the heavy curtains.

"I may have judged too hastily," the vampire says, carefully extinguishing his cigarette, "I would recommend talking to Hannibal Bannerman. He was an... intimate of Edmund's. He spent nearly as much time with Hannibal as he did here." The skunk produces a slip of paper and writes down an addresson it, still heldby Victor. "The diamond is unmistakable," he says, "The Bliss Diamond has been in my family for nearly a thousand years. We know that Edmund stole it, we just cannot yet find what he did with it."

(Willy) Willy looks to the paper and writes down the description, writing down the various notes on it as he is keeping the other notes. You say he stole it, would mean it would have notes of it original owner...did Hannibal have a favortie perfume or something they used." he saysa nd continues to jot down various notes, including present events and comments on.

(Bleu) The voice-over starts again. "Another name, and yet still not a dame... Unless the dame was named after a Carthaginian general with a kink for elephants. Still, the Naked City was slowly giving up its secrets." The action moves back to Bleu. "Hannibal, huh? Is he a pterodactyl, by any chance? With good gams?" It's a long shot, but hey. He looks at the address on the slip of paper. "The Good Night Moon Club. Huh. Yeah, I've heard of the joint. My gal Sassy Galore sings there on Friday nights... Hey, wait, tonight's Friday." He turns to his other two associates, letting Vik keep manhandling their client. "Hey, did you find anything, Over There?"

(Umeko) The lizardman was still a bit surprised by the speed of the vampire, aware of their abilities though expected a bit less out of a seemingly spoiled rich skunk. Now that they were cooperative he decided to let them down once Bleu finished talking to them. "Much better, no reason we can't get along," he said, giving the vampire a bit of a pat on the chest to brush the dust off and fix their clothes. "For what it's worth, your speed is pretty impressive too, even if it is from vampirism."