Emisiones de partículas

Every Pure pack in Seattle has at least one member who is a Predator King. None of the Pure suspects it, but this is by design. All of Seattle’s Predator Kings pay homage to a powerful Werewolf they call the Fang Prophet, who has promised to lead them down the true path of strength and unity with the spirit of Father Wolf. With his help, they have insinuated themselves into the city’s other packs to disseminate his teachings and guide the other Pure – insofar as they are able — to enlightenment.

Unbeknownst to the Predator Kings, they are also being manipulated. The Fang Prophet is actually a Bale Hound in thrall to a powerful spirit of hate. Whenever any of Seattle’s Pure packs kill an Uratha or run a hapless human to the ground, it is a sacrifice to the Fang Prophet’s patron and the Bale Hound’s ultimate plan comes one step closer to fulfillment.

“Well, it’s just you and me now,” Virgil muttered. “You and me. Me and you. Here. In the dark.” He shook his head. “Creepy motherfucker.”

Beside him in the darkness, the blanket-covered shape expanded and contracted, as though it was breathing. But Virgil knew that it wasn’t. It wasn’t sucking air into its lungs — as far as he could tell, it didn’t even have lungs. It was woman-shaped, but as hard and cold as stone. It was nothing more than a curiosity.

And the God-Machine wanted it, which meant that they had to keep it.

Virgil heard a heavy metallic clang from somewhere down the hall, then the sound of metal scraping on stone. That meant that the warrior angels had made it past the outer perimeter, which in turn meant that Marcy was dead, and probably Ghul as well.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” Virgil muttered to himself. “Oh, son of a bitch, I’m not cut out for this.” He turned to the blanket-covered shape. “Every fucking thing I’ve done since I decided that I wanted to keep on being me, I’ve done to stay alive. And here I fucking am.”

Virgil could hear footsteps in the hallway. There were four of them, maybe five.

“Wow… the God-Machine wants you bad,” Virgil said. “I wonder why.” He laughed and shook his head. “I guess I’ll never know.”

He drew his pistol, checked it the way Marcy had taught him, braced himself, and aimed at the door. He’d fire when it opened. His target would be right there, standing in the light streaming in from outside. There’s no way he could miss. He’d take at least one of them down with him.

“The stupid thing is, I wasn’t even sure I wanted it. I’ve never been sure. And here I am.”

The door opened, Virgil pulled the trigger, and time seemed to slow down. At first, Virgil just thought he was imagining it. It took him a moment to realize that the world around him really was moving too slowly compared to the speed at which he was thinking.

A hand fell on Virgil’s shoulder, heavy and comforting. He turned to see the thing under the blanket, the woman, standing there with her hand on his shoulder. Her dark skin seemed to shine with an impossible inner light.

“None of us are sure,” she said. “But I can show you the deeper mystery, the Cipher within the Cipher. It will be no compensation for what you have lost, but perhaps it will make it a price worth paying. Do you accept?”

“What are you?” Virgil asked.

“I am nothing that I can explain to you in words, but you will come to know me,” she smiled. “In time. Do you accept?”

“Yes.”

The warrior angels opened the door. They had no sense that this was their second time doing so; for them, nothing had changed.

Beyond the door was small dark room, empty except for a ratty red blanket and a large pistol, smoke still rising from the muzzle.

The Seattle that we have presented in this book is a varied place with room for many different kinds of stories. In this section, we present Storytellers with options for chronicles that are, if not ready made, definitely only a few preparatory details away from playability. These story seeds could easily become part of an ongoing story or form the basis for an entire chronicle.

Some of these stories could also be used for other kinds of games set in Seattle. Although they are designed to appeal to demons and Demon players, some of them can easily be adapted for other games. Mages could find a use for crystal balls containing apocalypses and vampires might be concerned when communicable sociopathy makes their herds unmanageable. Almost anything in this section could be inspiration for a story about hunters or ordinary mortals, trying their best to understand the terrifying world that they live in.

deep freeze

A wide variety of theories surround the origin of the Seattle Freeze. Some sociologists point to Seattle’s weather and northerly latitude — the days are short during the winter, which can aggravate Seasonal Affective Disorder. Of course, some Seattleites insist that the Seattle Freeze is just a myth and new arrivals in every major American city — especially those arriving from college, where dorm life provides a framework for many friendships — feel this way.

Whether or not the Seattle Freeze is a real thing, it certainly isn’t dangerous. People either find a way to make the connections they need, or they don’t and end up leaving the city behind.

the proBlem

It’s no surprise that the Seattle Freeze is at its worst in January, February, and the early days of March. The days are short, the weather is cold, and even the most extroverted Seattleites are sick of being cooped up with each other. It’s cold and it’s snowy; the winter has entirely outstayed its

welcome. The holiday season is entirely over and all that’s left is the long, cold trudge towards spring.

This year, however, the Seattle Freeze takes on a more sinister quality.

Instead of just being hard to get to know, Seattleites forget how to relate to their fellow humans. The Seattle Freeze has become a sort of communicable sociopathy. As the winter drags on, human society starts to come apart. Violent and antisocial behavior gradually escalates as Seattleites harm and retaliate against each other.

d

f

(p

)

Your character is infected with the Deep Freeze. She has a hard time relating to other human beings. Over time, this could escalate to violence or antisocial behavior, but in the meantime your character just comes across as a bit of a callous jerk.

Your character has a –3 penalty to all Empathy rolls and cannot regain Willpower except through Beats (see below).

Beat: Your character does something callous or hurtful.

In addition to gaining a Beat, your character regains a point of Willpower. This is the only way your character can regain Willpower while under the effects of this Condition.

Resolution: Another character willingly suffers serious

harm (three or more Health points lost) or undertakes serious effort (three or more Willpower spent on related tasks over the course of a scene) for your benefit.

Special: The Deep Freeze is contagious. If an uninfected

character interacts with an infected character for more than a few seconds, the uninfected character’s player rolls Resolve + Composure to avoid infection. The Storyteller should levy dice penalties based on the intimacy of the relationship (–1 for friend all the way up to –5 for lover or close relative) and length of contact (–1 for a short conversation to –5 for a several hours long debate). Because of the way the Deep Freeze subverts a person’s identity, Willpower cannot be spent to augment to this dice pool.

The cause of the problem is a piece of malfunctioning Infrastructure in Madison Valley. Whatever its original