City of Mist Stuff

Hook 0
Murder of Viktor Von Essel

Viktor Von Essel was an extremely wealthy and powerful businessman, whose sole specialization in the industry was pharmaceuticals. Starting his company from scratch at a young age, Viktor's shrewd business acumen and ruthless tactics allowed him to ascend quite quickly in the business world. Backdoor deals, cut corners and a willingness to do whatever was necessary catapulted Viktor to wealth almost overnight. This of course left him with quite a few spurned former workers, colleagues, lovers and so on, but the immense power that he wielded afforded him a level of arrogance and confidence that ensured he never stressed about it. He fathered two sons, each with a different mother/wife at the time, but both being suitable heirs to his empire whenever he passed away. He drafted a will that named one of his children as the heir to his company, Vessel Pharmaceuticals, and all of it's stock.

Tragically, Viktor was found to have passed away in the middle of the night... or so the public thinks. Potential ways for the PC's to become involved with this case. One of the brothers is a friend of the PCs, and knowing of their investigative nature, decides to hire them or call in a long overdue favor to help them. The death of the pharmaceutical tycoon will be all over the news, and will surely bring about quite a bit of coverage. Flashes of the estate across the screen during the time of death could prompt the crew to investigate for themselves, perhaps trying to secure a nice sum of money for their work.

Hook 1
Von Essel Estate

A massive and sprawling estate on the edge of the city, the Von Essel mansion boasts 10,000 square feet of space and is in the Classical style, a la 'The Great Gatsby'. With grand ballrooms, tall ceilings and columns, the mansion is quite sturdy and superbly crafted. The inner deco style is updated and modern, with plenty of monochromatic hues to provide an almost sterile aesthetic to any and all that manage to find themselves as a guest within the mansion's walls.

And yet... something is amiss about the mansion. While everything that exists within the mansion seems to have some sort of purpose, some level of function to go with the aesthetic, there are parts and pieces of the mansion that look like they were knocked askew quite recently. Paintings hung with precision are slightly tilted, an errant flower petal from the vases that line the hallways on their pedestals littering the otherwise pristine and highly polished ground. Not too out of the ordinary for the average person, but to the keen eye, they tell a different tale...

What Happened Here:
Sandra Ludbrock (Rift of Nixie - German shapeshifting water spirit), is a well known socialite that travels in the same circles as Viktor. It is not uncommon to see her around the man, vying for his attention and trying to work her way into his good graces, or at least that is what the public seems to believe. She managed to secure an invitation to Viktor's mansion after learning that he'd just divorced his fourth wife only last week, and he was feeling lonely. After plying the older man with booze at a function she made herself available and arrived at the estate that evening to spend the night with Viktor. Once inside, Sandra took the liberty of 'playing mother', pouring the both of them a large helping of an alcoholic beverage that was curiously quite watered down, though Viktor's drunken state didn't allow him to notice this, before she made her move. Amorous attentions inbound, their trip from the kitchen toward the bedroom resulted in a chaotic smattering of paintings as their passionate frenzy left them with little regard to the law and order of the pristine mansions upkeep, causing quite a mess in their wake.

Once inside of the bedroom though, Sandra shifted tactics. The drink she'd given to Viktor was not poison, but the level of water in it would have caused anyone else to be concerned. This is whenever Sandra activated her Mythos, pulling the water directly from Viktor's stomach up into his throat and then forcibly guided it down into his lungs. Knowing that once he was attacked or threatened that Viktor would attempt to defend himself, he launched himself across the room from Sandra toward a self portrait that swung open on greased hinges to reveal a safe. He entered the combination and retrieved a gun, a snub-nosed .38 special with hollow points. He opened fire as Sandra was ducking out of the room, wasting two shots. She lured Viktor out of the bedroom, and just as he appeared at the doorway, she grabbed his wrist to send the gun-arm skyward, causing Viktor to loose three more shots in rapid succession, though the life was fading from him and his strength was draining as the water in his lungs slowly asphyxiated him. Wresting the gun from his grasp, she fired the remaining round into his chest after he'd already died. She then pocketed it and stepped back into the bedroom. Her real goal was the extensive will that had been drafted and kept safe and secure inside of Viktor's personal vault. She also stole a variety of other valuables to cover her tracks, and took the liberty of trashing the bedroom as much as she could to disguise it as a frantic robbery.

Clues to Find:
1. Vault in bedroom is open, but haphazardly emptied. Stacks of cash, gold bars, an expensive engraved watch, a revolver and Viktor's will are among the missing effects.

2. The trashed bedroom at first appears to be the frantic overturning of a thief trying to move quickly, but with the owner of the estate dead with no alarms triggered, it seems more likely to be a cover up of some kind. The extensive vandalism suggests pre-meditated thought rather than emotion or greed.

3. Bullet holes in the wall across from the safe, and in the ceiling outside of the bedroom indicate that Viktor retrieved his gun and fired the first five shots. The last and 'fatal' shot was from the thief/attacker.

4. Viktor's cause of death seems like a gunshot wound to the chest but the discoloration in his face and eyes, as well as froth around the mouth and nose indicate that he drowned. The gunshot wound is a cover up of the real cause of death.

5. The estate does have security cameras, but the footage from 9PM to 11PM has been erased... however, the thief's disabling of the cameras seemed to have failed as there is footage showing Viktor's personal car being driven away, and the front gate camera manages to get a good quality picture of the driver... a raven haired woman, who under careful scrutiny is revealed to be Erica Nurstadt, Viktor's personal aid and secretary.

6. Viktor's safe contains a rolled up schematic hidden behind the rest of the other stuff, and once unrolled reveals the details for a hidden and private study that can be accessed beneath Viktor's bed. Trigger is to twist the right side headboard posts skull motif pommel, causing the bed to slide back into the wall and reveal stairs that lead down to his private study.

Sub-Hook A:
Secret Study
A lengthy flight of stone steps hidden beneath Viktor's bed leads down to a subterranean area that lights up as soon as the PC's cross the threshold of the last step. The entire room is a love-letter to modernity. While the house is classical in style and keeps that aesthetic with an updated paint scheme, this secret 'study' is made entirely of highly polished and clean glass. The room is completely sterile in appearance, with soft but strong white lighting, and state of the art equipment that rings the entirety of the room. A large obsidian desk dominates the northern wall, and a bookshelf filled with tomes both esoteric and modern adorns the eastern shelf. The western wall is devoted to shelves upon shelves of organs in various states of decay, suspended in a mysterious green fluid, many with small leads and wires attached to them. The entire study gives off a very creepy vibe, and in the center of the room is a large metal table with straps at various sections, designed to restrain a human... a very large human at that it would seem like.

What Happened Here:
While no crime was committed in the secret study, it does have notes that hint at the depravity that Viktor was delving into in his spare time. Viktor's genius was often underestimated due to his company being largely based on drugs and their manufacture and sale. He hardly ever pioneered new medical techniques or brought anything new to the table to the medical field. And yet...

1. Bookshelf is filled with books of various ilk, but most tend to fall into two categories. Occult books with guides and diagrams for spells, potions and the like. And medical texts that attempt to reconcile the brain and the spirit. There is the occasional book about alchemy, anatomy and psychology as well but they are hardly touched. Curiously, Viktor also has a copy of 'Journey to the West', a 16th century Chinese fantasy novel. The PC's can find that two of the books are more used, and have more pages tabbed than any others. An occult guide on 'eternal youth' and an ancient medical text that speaks of 'divine fire' within every man.

2. The jars filled with organs are labeled with names and dates, and the wires that plug into a few of the organs lead to a machine that has a readout that measures their vitality and function. Those specific jars have organs that are still working, seemingly in perfect health despite being outside of a host body. Some of the notes that litter one of the shelves reveal that the fluid is called 'Persici' (peach in Latin, a reference to the peaches of immortality in Journey to the West, a book that is found on Viktor's shelf).

3. The computer has an extensive amount of information on it, too much to sift through at once, but it is easily accessible. Viktor's vanity would never allow him to think that anyone would be able to access his secret study, and therefore he never took the precaution to lock it with a password. On the computer, there are files about Persici that showcase it's regenerative properties as well as files on the people that the organs came from. Some of them are still alive, patients that had organs removed due to various illnesses and such while others are corpses. Most of the experiments failed, but eventually the formula was perfected, which allowed Viktor to rejuvenate living tissue, perfectly.

4. The table shows evidence of wear and tear on it. The cuffs are a thick band of leather that are sheared in torn in some places. There is a faint coating of the Persici fluid in a few spots on the table as well, hinting at something having been created recently. The size of the table and positioning of the straps indicates that whatever was on the table was quite large and extraordinarily strong.

5. The desk that holds the computer has a few drawers, mostly filled with office supplies and stationary. One drawer contains papers with Viktor's company, Vessel Pharmaceuticals letterhead on them. A thick folder of those papers contains a heavy amount of e-mail traffic between an anonymous e-mail outside of the company, and Viktor's personal assistant Erica Nurstadt. The e-mails detail that Erica is a whistleblower within the company and has been covertly gathering evidence of illicit activities in order to bring Vessel Pharmaceuticals down. She is scheduled to meet her 'contact' that evening on the roof of Vessel Pharmaceuticals, away from prying eyes and with less ability to be surrounded. Erica seems paranoid and scared in these emails, fearing that she is being watched and monitored.

6. A copy of a textbook about psychology can be found beneath the table, covered in a few drippings of the Persici that stains the pages. The book has fallen open onto a particular page about 'psychic driving', a conditioning technique wherein the psychologist has a series of phrases and statements played on repeat, hundreds of thousands of times, to alter the behavior of the subject. There is also specialized equipment that creates a pulse of light that can be altered for speed, useful for hypnosis. Combined together, it would appear that Viktor was trying to 'rewrite' the personality of something on the table.

Hook 2
Vessel Pharmaceuticals

A fifty story building ensconced in mirrored glass at the center of the city, Vessel Pharmaceuticals is another monolith to modernity. Viktor Von Essel's pride and joy, he oversaw the production of the building and the features that it possesses. To the public eye, the building is something of an eyesore, reflecting the sun in all directions and being quite distracting to those that are driving by it due to the reflective nature of the windows. Yet the level of impact that it has had on the medical community is second to none.

An office building, a distribution hub, and a laboratory all reside within the walls of this one building, and there is plenty of foot traffic and employees that come in and out of it on a daily basis. They specialize in a few treatments above others, but they are also producers of generic drugs as well. They do have the right to boast however, as they have created several treatments that have shown great promise across the globe. Their pride and joy is an Alzheimer's drug that seems to actually regenerate brain tissue, which has a whole host of other benefits and is being researched thoroughly for potential use as a treatment for dementia, as well as severe nerve issues.

Not everyone is fond of Vessel Pharmaceuticals though. Word of illicit experimentation, exploitation of workers, cut corners and illegal activity have circulated the company for the past year or so, and the noose seems to be closing in. Teams of lawyers work tirelessly to try and spin the almost daily bombshells about the company that are dropping, and the anonymous source has yet to be rooted out. Due to this coverage though, a large group of protestors has taken to storming the streets in front of the building, picket signs waving and chants for Von Essel's arrest being heard up and down the block...

What Happened Here:

Erica Nurstadt has been a whistleblower for nearly a year now, and has carefully insulated herself from suspicion. However, lately she has felt like she is being watched at all hours of the day, and feels a constant sense of dread. She is panicked, paranoid, and more than a little guilty. Employees are being assaulted by the protestors, people who had no idea what was going on and were just showing up to do their jobs, and she knows that she is responsible for this. But she feels justified at the same time as she is working to end a corrupt organization... at the expense of possibly millions of lives lost due to interrupted drug trials. Her conscience is ever conflicted, and she wants a way out. She has one final packet of information to give to her contact, and she's supposed to meet them on the roof that evening...

Clues To Find:

1. Entering the building without a pass is borderline impossible... from the front. With some careful investigation they can find a service entrance that will allow them to bypass most security measures thanks to the janitorial staff being quite careless. They can find this either through exploration of the area around the building, or can overhear it from a group of overly zealous and violent protestors that want to 'teach them (Vessel Pharmaceuticals) a lesson'.

2. The PC's will discover that Erica Nurstadt was nowhere near the Von Essel estate the night of his murder. In fact, there is footage of her at a gala event with plenty of attendees that can confirm that she was indeed there as well. An airtight alibi for her that places her nowhere near the estate. Additionally, she has photos on her phone that show Viktor with Sandra Ludbrock at the party he was at across town, seeking approval for posting them to their friendly news outlets as Erica handles Viktor's PR at times.

3. Erica finds it rather odd that Viktor was spending time with Erica since she is seen as a frequent companion to one of Viktor's sons, though she is known for moving in social circles quite fluidly. Her suspicions seem to stem from a lack of trust as she views Sandra as 'just another gold digger' trying to get a piece of Viktor's fortune. She mentions the son in question, Zane, and states that if he knew she was moving around with his father he would be furious. Seems that Zane and his father are quite combative with one another.

4. If they manage to interrogate Erica Nurstadt or find her personal computer, they will be able to discover that there is an off-site laboratory that Viktor was keeping off the books and quite secret, named Black Site Lab Theta. They will also learn of it's location. This was the final bombshell that Erica was going to give to her contact. Curiously, she has an invite from Zane to attend an event at one of his penthouses in the city, a 'charity event' to raise awareness for a new disease that affects the plasticity of skin.

5. The PC's will learn that the Black Site Lab has been unusually active as of late, and Erica fears that they might be gearing up to move out and find another and more secure facility to do their business in. The constant stream of information that she's been feeding to her contact has made Viktor paranoid and as such he's ordered the entire Lab to pack up and ship out to a different location.

6. There is quite a commotion from the protesters at the front of the building, namely because the arrival of Zane stirs the crowd up. They bombard him with questions, accusations and chants that he can't seem to handle. Instead of heading inside as originally planned, he gets back into his vehicle and is driven away, though the crowd is taking pictures of the entire affair. A savvy player can get a license plate and make/model of the vehicle for future searching.

Post-Scene

Erica goes to the roof of Vessel Pharmaceuticals to meet with her contact to deliver that last of the information and get herself out of the way of the fall out. She manages to hand off the information, and feels a bit better about her place in the universe... but she is approached by none other than Viktor's creation (Rift of Frankenstein's monster), who summarily throttles her and throws her off of the roof. The creature escapes, confused and scared, its mission complete and now without guidance from it's creator it starts to follow a compulsion that it can't quite explain and heads toward Black Site Lab Theta...

Sub-Hook
Zane's Penthouse

The center of the city boasts high rise buildings that cater to the elite. Towering pillars of glass, steel and modern design, they soar above the other apartment buildings in a trio of towers known as the Tri-Spires. Few can afford to live in these towers and most consider them to be an eyesore, as each tower is ringed with a strong series of flood lights that forever draws attention to them, especially at night. Private security patrols the lower floors, a secure and private parking garage as well, it even boasts in-house restaurants on the ground floor.

What Happened Here:
After the disastrous attempt to visit his father's office building, Zane has decided that he can't deal with the pressure of a social media spotlight on him and has intentions to retire to his penthouse for the evening. Repeatedly doing small bumps of coke to keep his high going without burning through his stash too quickly, Zane is more than a little amped up for the evening ahead of him. However, as he gets to his penthouse he finds that he has an unexpected guest... Sandra Ludbrock.

She has come to collect the cash payment that she is owed for assassinating Zane's father and retrieving his will for the younger brother. She has the will with her, and is holding it hostage while Zane collects his things. Unfortunately, Zane has made quite a few bad financial choices and is in dire straights. As he heads to the safe, he retrieves his gun... and starts firing.

Zane Von Essel *
Hurt or Subdue 2/Convince 3/Threaten 3

Cocaine High: Zane has quite a bit of the powder in his system at the time of confrontation. While not enough to push him over the edge like PCP or something stronger, it does take a bit of the sting out of punches and hits. Reduce melee attacks by 1-tier while Zane is high.

Frantic: Zane is in a panic currently and can't quite think straight. Any attempts to deceive him gain a +1-tier status.

Pistol (gunshot-3)
Wild punches (punch-2)

Sandra Ludbrock (Rift Nixie) ***

Hurt or Subdue 4/Pay Off 5/Convince 4

Shapeshift: Sandra can shapeshift at will and will use this to her advantage, such as shifting into members of the party to attempt to disorient and confuse them. Investigation attempts against Sandra suffer a -2-tier.

Water Control: Sandra has fine control over water in the immediate area. Normally she tries to use the water in someone's system against them but she is just as capable of using water from other sources, such as the sink, bathtub, shower or toilet, to harm someone.

Water whip (sliced-2)
Suffocation bubble (asphyxiate-2)
Water blast (bludgeoned-3)
Blood bind (immobilized-3)
Dehydrate (disorient-3)
Create new water based attack (Give a Status)


Sub-Hook
Black Site Lab Theta

Near the eastern side of the city by the docks is Black Site Lab Theta. Unlike the rest of Viktor's accomplishments, this site is clandestine in nature. Hidden among the shipping containers and the various bits of industrial equipment, the laboratory is subterranean as well and can only be accessed by those that know of it's location and the passcodes to get inside of it. The entrance is heavily fortified, and it is nearly impossible to gain entrance with a direct assault. Two teams of four guards are constantly on patrol, though they are disguised as dock workers. They are armed with pistols and have body armor beneath their baggy clothing.

Gaining access to the lab, one would be greeted with the sight of an extremely sterile and terrifying environment. There is no such thing as shadow within the black site as every surface seems to be illuminated. The walls and floors themselves are the sources of the light, preventing anything from being able to stealth its way around inside of the lab. It is vast, far more than one would expect it to be, reaching some 15,000 square feet. The main purpose of the lab is the mass production of Persici, the rejuvenation formula that Viktor created, and the testing of it on subjects of all kinds. Vats and tubes are filled with fresh corpses and submerged in the fluid, stuck with electrodes to stimulate current and life through the muscles and veins and bring the corpses to life. They struggle and rail against their thick glass prisons, but they are just bodies. They have no autonomy. They are experiments and nothing more. Savage. Feral. Violent.

What Happened Here:

Erica Nurstadt's contact works for a major news network. They reveal the sensitive documents that give definitive proof that Vessel Pharmaceuticals has been experimenting on people, engaging in illegal activity such as extortion, bribery, murder and human trafficking to continue this agenda. The revelation of the Black Site Lab Theta causes the protestors to be whipped up into a frenzy, unlocking a desire to destroy everything to do with Vessel Pharmaceutical. (The Mist of the City senses that there is an unbalance and is working to fix it. It transforms the protestors into a temporary Rift of the Mob from Frankenstein). They split up their numbers and half make their way toward Black Site Lab Theta...

Viktor's creation, having been using the sewers and sewage pipes as a means of moving around the city undetected, has shown up to the Black Site. The esoteric and ephemeral pull of the place is the psychic pain of his fellow creations, all crying out for help but finding none. A side effect of the formula is that it links their spirits in a vague hive-mind of sorts. Viktor knew this and used psychic driving and conditioning to help strengthen his creation's solitary thought processes and allow it to function free of the group. Whenever the creature showed up though, it met the heavily armed guards and a firefight broke out. The creature managed to tear through the guards quite quickly, leaving most of them mangled and broken, and then went on a rampage within the lab.

Scientists and lab techs alike were taken down by the immense strength and brutality of the creature. At the same time, it showed compassion to those that were like it. Unable to free them, he did the only thing he could think of and started to shut down the facility. Operating on instinct, he ruined the lab and destroyed the banks of computers that kept the place functioning. The critical shut down procedure, known as 'The Purge' activates a series of high yield explosives that will completely destroy everything within the lab. The creature lumbers out, stealing a Vessel Pharmaceutical's jacket to cover itself up...

The mob manages to get to the lab just in time for the explosions to go off. While none are seriously hurt, they are confused. Their rage is still fully realized however, and they need an outlet for it. Lo and behold, they see a long Vessel Pharmaceutical's worker lumbering away from the explosion. Thinking that he just destroyed evidence to cover up the companies crimes, they give chase. The monster, no longer wanting to hurt anyone now that the psychic anguish of it's brethren is finally over, flees from the mob and heads toward the lighthouse near the north part of the docks where an outcropping of rocks happens to be.

Clues To Find:

1. The debris, ruin and state of the lab is going to hint at total destruction. This was not done by someone in a short amount of time, this was a contingency plan that was put in place during the labs inception. There is no hope of recovering any evidence to tie Viktor to the site, save for what is already on screen.

2. The dead bodies of the guards are easy enough to find. Their bones were crushed, skulls pulverized, and guns have run empty. Shell casings are everywhere. The large handprints indicate a huge being, with immense strength and resilience. The nature of the attacks and deaths suggests primal savagery rather than skill. There is a curious splattering of green-blue fluid that seems to stain various cargo containers and forms small puddles on the ground however.

3. The lighthouse at the northern part of the docks has its beacon lit, but it is not rotating. In fact, it is pointing right at the lab, but it seems to be flickering...

4. The sound of shouting is distant, but very audible. There is a chant rising, the scent of smoke, rhythmic stomping in an almost tribal like fashion can be heard...

Hook 3
Showdown at the Lighthouse

When the PC's arrive they have a choice to make. Do they help the mob take the monster out and hope it appeases their bloodlust?

Or do they see the creature, alone and afraid, trying to do its best to escape without hurting anyone else and decide to help it by attacking the mob?

As they arrive they see that there is a group of people attempting to force their way inside of the door that will lead into the lighthouse to allow them to get to the creature. The creature is lumbering around at the top, confused and unable to find a way to escape and is screaming in a panicked fury and frustration. The mob grows more and more violent, tossing whatever they can find toward the creature at the top of the lighthouse... including flaming torches.

The Mob ***

Hurt or Subdue/5
Break Apart/6
Mind Control/5
Convince/3

Collective: Has a large group of people with a size factor of 2.

Frenzy State: Reduce all attempts to convince the mob by 1-tier.

Swarm: Multiple members surround the player and attempt to hold them down. Restrained-2.

Hit with Baseball Bat/Crowbar: Makeshift weapons have been found. Savage attacks ensue. Battered-3.

Makeshift Molotov: Tossed whenever a player is in the open. Ignited-3.

Trample: Mob proceeds to savagely stomp and run over the player. Trampled-2.


The Creature ***

Hurt or Subdue/6
Mind Control/3
Convince/3

Pain Immunity: Reduce status of physical attacks and their effects by 2-tiers.

Immense Strength: Reduce effectiveness of grapples/binds/restraints. Remove 3-tiers of status.

Primal Bellow: Instill fear in target. Scared-2.

Savage Beatdown: Broken-4. Mutilated-4.

Regeneration: All attacks that are not fire related, remove 3-tiers.

Throttle: Choke slam. Strangled-3.

Aftermath: