Realistic or Modern Werewolf: the Apocalypse Quest Interest Check

[wonderandawe]

You beat the shit out of your ex-boyfriend. You broke up with him and he decided to betray you. Scott posted those pictures you sent him on Facebook for everyone to see. This betrayal enraged you, so you put him in the hospital. Now your mother stares at you in fear. She says you both have to move back to Kirksville, TX. The small town she stole you away from when you were five. You don’t want to leave Austin or start fresh at a new high school but frankly you are lucky not to be in Juvie. Yet as you settle in Kirksville, you discover the secret of your family's heritage.  A secret that will change the rest of your life.  

Because soon you will change. Soon you will know the true meaning of rage. 


About the Quest


Brave Enough is a Werewolf: the Apocalypse quest set in small town Texas.  You, the Player Character, are a sixteen year old girl about to start your Junior year of high school.  You have just moved back to your hometown of Kirkville, TX after living in Austin, TX for as long as you remember.   This quest is a coming of age story.  You will have to adjust to small town life, deal with high school bullshit, make new friends, reconnect with family, pursue or ignore potential love interests, and deal with ramifications of your family's secrets.  As a player, you will vote on who the Player Character is, how she relates to those around her, and how she grows as into an adult.  This quest will encompass a six month to one year span of the player character's life.  A relatively short time period, but one that will define the rest of the character's life.  


The quest will start on Monday, February 13th, 2017 and barring work difficulties, updates each Monday.


Setting


Kirksville is a fictional town in Texas Hill Country.  It is not far from Fredericksburg and has a population of just less than two thousand people.  The Player Character's ancestors settled in the area in the mid 1800s.  A good third of the population is related to the Player Character and her mother.  Kirksville consists of a single main street of businesses, a small neighborhood of houses, and is surrounded on one side with cattle ranches and other a wildlife refugee.  The refugee protects an old growth forest.  A single granite monolith rises above the old growth forest.  The locals refer to this monadnock as the Crying Rock.  


The quest is set in the World of Darkness, which is a dark, horror-driven reflection of our world.  Warning: this quest may have curse words, references to sexual situations, illegal drug use, bullying, child abuse, gory violence, and more gory violence.   If you fucking have a problem with teenagers talking about smoking pot and sucking dick, beating the shit out of each other, getting the shit beaten out of them by their parents, and getting ripped apart by angry werewolves, then perhaps this quest isn't for you.  


This quest is designed so you learn about the Werewolf setting as the player character does.  However, some players may be familiar with the setting already.  I ask those players to use spoiler tags for discussing any WtA details.  I will do the same.  For example:

Spoiler

The quest will go from the player character's pre-change difficulties though her first adventure after her Rite of Passage.  
 

Your First Decision


I would like this quest to be more crunchy than my last quest.  The majority of the early character creation decision will give the player character mechanical benefits.  For example, there will be a decision point where the players must decide what "social group" the player character belongs to (Nerd, Jock, Social butterfly, etc).  This will decide what attributes/abilities the character will have.    


My question to my future players is this:  Do you want to know the mechanical benefits before you make a character creation decision?   


Tell me your decision in the above poll. 

 

[wonderandawe]

Music Time!  I'll be posting music each day until the quest starts.   Just to get everyone in the right mood for the quest.

Spoiler

Shinedown - Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)



I am the shadow, and the smoke in your eyes,
I am the ghost, that hides in the night

Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!

Wait, wait a minute take a step back
you gotta think twice before you react
so stay, stay a little while
Because a Promise not kept is the road to exile
HEY! whats the circumstance
you'll never be great without taking a chance so
wait, you waited too long
had your hands in your pocket
when you shoulda been gone

Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize

I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes

Damn! damn it all down
took one to the chest without even a sound so
What! What are you worth?
the things you love or the people you hurt
Hey! it's like deja vu
a suicidal maniac with nothing to lose
so wait, it's the exception to the rule
everyone of us is expendable

Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
One push is all you'll need
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
A fist first philosophy
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
We watch with wounded eyes
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
So I hope you recognize

I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I know that I'm alive
I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes

Every night of my life
I watch angels fall from the sky
Every time that the sun still sets
I pray they don't take mine

I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to regret

I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regrets
and now I know that I'm alive

I'm on the front line
don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes
and now I see the world through diamond eyes

Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!

Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
Boom-Lay Boom-Lay BOOM!
 

 

[wonderandawe]

Another day, another video.

Spoiler

There's another world inside of me that you may never see
There's secrets in this life that I can't hide
Somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find
Maybe it's too far away, maybe I'm just blind
Maybe I'm just blind


So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone
Everything I am and everything in me
Wants to be the one you wanted me to be


I'll never let you down even if I could
I'd give up everything if only for your good
So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
You can hold me when I'm scared you won't always be there
So love me when I'm gone, love me when I'm gone


When your education x-ray cannot see under my skin
I won't tell you a damn thing that I could not tell my friends
And roaming through this darkness I'm alive but I'm alone
Part of me is fighting this but part of me is gone


So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone
Everything I am and everything in me
Wants to be the one you wanted me to be


I'll never let you down even if I could
I'd give up everything if only for your good
So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
You can hold me when I'm scared, you won't always be there
So love me when I'm gone


Maybe I'm just blind


So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared and love me when I'm gone
Everything I am and everything in me
Wants to be the one you wanted me to be


I'll never let you down even if I could
I'd give up everything if only for your good
So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong
You can hold me when I'm scared, you won't always be there
So love me when I'm gone


Love me when I'm gone, whoa
Love me when I'm gone, when I'm gone
When I'm gone, when I'm gone

The poll is tied.  If it stays that way, I'm leaning towards including the metagame consequences.  

 

[wonderandawe]

And now for something a bit different...


Nosy waits just inside of the tree line. The scents were old. No one has been here for a long time. Not since last autumn when the largest wolf she ever saw came to her mother. His grey furred body was covered in scars. Her mate was dead, the sept alpha told her. Nosy’s mother already knew. The pack heard the Howl of the Departed echo from the caern. The grey wolf left Nosy’s mother with her grief and her pups.

Nosy waited until moonrise and approached the house. Another memory surfaced. It was summer. It was hot. No water could be found. Nosy’s mother lead her young pups to this house. She left them hiding in the bushes and scratched on the door. A human opened. There was no gun in his hand. No rake or bat. He was unsurprised by the wolf at the door. He went around the house and did something with a green snakelike tube. Water, precious water, poured out of the green snake’s round mouth. He filled a shiny tub with water. Nosy smelt him. He was Garou, those who walked on two and four feet. A protector of Gaia. And though the scent was faint, Nosy could smell the father of the pack. This Garou was her father.

The mother of the pack denned the pups under the Garou’s house during the drought. Each morning and evening, the tub was filled with water. The Garou would run on four legs with Nosy’s mother and bring back meat. Nosy looked up at the entrance of her father’s den. The stairs were as tall as she was. She waited that evening until her father refilled the water tub. She followed stealthy, close at his heels into his den. The Garou was deaf and dumb when he walked on two legs. He never noticed Nosy at his heels. The door shut behind her.

In the here and now, Nosy raised up on her hind legs and dropped her paws on the door handle. The door clicked open. Nosy nosed her way into the house. The kitchen was in disarray. The cupboards emptied and left hanging open. Nosy sat before a closed one- a large white one, almost as tall as her father when he stood on two legs.

More memories. Nosy watched her father hum to himself and retrieve things from behind the white door. Nosy sniffed at the door. The air was cold and smelt of food. She pawed and nosed at the door, trying to open it. Footsteps rumbled on wood floor. A shadow blocked the light from above. Nosy felt herself grabbed by the scruff of her neck. The Garou raised her into the air and met her eye to eye.

“You're a Nosy one, aren’t you?” her father said. He relocated her under his arm, holding her by her chest. He carried her over to the kitchen counter. All sorts of delicious smells. Vegetables, Meat. Nosy strained closer to sniff at the food. Her father reached out with his man hands and picked up something off the counter. He offered it to Nosy. Nosy sniffed it. Carrot. She licked it out of his hands with her tongue and swallowed the carrot whole. Her father ruffed up her fur in a pleasant manner. “I’m not suppose to give you human names or treat you like pets.” He set Nosy down on the floor and smoothed out her fur. He crouched down to look at her. Nosy put her front paws on his knees and sniffed at him, checking his mood. Amused, her father was amused. “We will keep this between you and I. It will be our little secret, Nosy.” He scratched Nosy behind the ears. “Though I think you’ll earn your own name when you are older. You are certainly more curious than the rest of your litter.”

All the smells were gone. Nosy mourned them as she mourned her father. Before he died, she would visit her father in his den. She would stealthily follow as he ran with his pack of Garou. Nosy would wait for him as they would run far into places she could not follow.

“Go,” Her mother growled. “Wait for Gaia.” She still remembered the pain when her mother drove her out. It was fresh, just this morning. Her siblings surrounded her, growling. Each one of them beared the marks of Nosy’s anger. She was a disturbance to the pack. As dangerous as the spring rains which brings the floods. For a moment, Nosy considered taking the pack over. Forcing them to keep her. Yet, Nosy had no desire to become mother of the pack. Nosy allowed herself to be driven off. She ran all day until she found herself at her father’s den.

Nosy went into the sleeping room and curled up on the soft dusty bed alone. She missed her pack as much as she missed her father. Nosy was scared of what was to come. She knew of course. Only homids with their disconnect from Gaia were taken by surprise. She was going to change. To walk on both four feet and two. To hunt in both the physical world and the spiritual one. To fight and die for a world that grew more and more alien with each passing season.

Nosy hide her nose under her paws and waited for Gaia.

 

[wonderandawe]

Spoiler

Denying the lying
A million children fighting
For lives in strife
For hope beyond the horizon


A dead world
A dark path
Not even crossroads to choose from
All the blood red
Carpets before me
Behold this fair creation of God!

My only wish to leave behind
All the days of the Earth
This everyday hell of my kingdom come

The 1st rock thrown again
Welcome to hell, little Saint
Mother Gaia in slaughter
Welcome to paradise, Soldier

My 1st cry never ending
All life is to fear for life
You fool, you wanderer
You challenged the gods and lost

Save yourself a penny for the ferryman
Save yourself and let them suffer
In hope
In love
This world ain't ready for The Ark
Save yourself a penny for the ferryman
Save yourself and let them suffer
In hope
In love
Mankind works in mysterious ways

Save yourself a penny for the ferryman.
 

 

[wonderandawe]

I hope I have all the football stats right. I know nothing about Football and had to look up some high school players.

Franklin Kirk. Eighteen years old. Starting Quarterback for the Kirkville Raiders. 5614 Passing Yards and four Hundred Completions this year alone. Future Florida State Seminole with a full ride Football Scholarship. Frank knew who he was. Where he was going. What he was going to do when he got there. But Caroline changed all that with one sentence.

“I’m Pregnant.” She told him. And Frank’s future became less certain.

Frank shifted gears in his 1964 Cherry Red Ford Mustang as he drove the endless Texas country roads. He had no clue where he was heading, both on the road and in his life. He didn’t know if Caroline was going to keep the baby. She asked him to say something, but what could he say? He felt trapped. He couldn’t talk to her right now. He had to get out. He had to drive.

Frank had wore the Red and Whites of the Kirksville Raiders for four years. Three of them as Quarterback. To be honest, he’d rather have been be a Running back. To take the ball and strive for the end zone. Those moments, when all his teammates were unavailable, and he could run the ball, those moments he’d live for. Yet Frank wasn’t a spotlight hog. He was a good team player. As quarterback, Frank relied on his team and threw the ball most of the time. He had good judgement, the coach said. The ability to scan the field and decide the best course of action made him a top ranked quarterback.

The empty road stretched out before him. The rising full moon illuminated the white reflectors beyond the Mustang’s headlights. Frank received many scholarship offers. Colleges sent recruiters and flew Frank in for campus visits. Franklin Kirk may be the first Raider to actually go all the way to the NFL.

Yes, there was the annoying snag; Frank’s Kinfetch hadn’t abandoned him yet. The old raggedy raven still haunted his every step. “They televise Seminoles Games. What if he goes through his first change on national TV?” Grandpa Grief asked. Frank knew Grandpa Grief still hoped Frank would become Garou and join the Sept. The old Garou had that hope for all the kids in Kirksville.

But Frank knew his family would let him go. Football was as much of a religion in Kirksville as Gaia. To Frank, Football was more real than Gaia. Football he could see, touch, and feel. Garou, Gaia, the war for the soul of the world. This was diner talk for adults. It had little or nothing to do with Frank’s life.

But now, with Caroline’s news, Frank’s whole future was thrown into chaos. Could he even go to FSU now? He was going to be someone’s father. And for the first time in his life, Frank was going to be responsible for something -for someone- outside of the football field.

Headlights distracted Frank from his troubling thoughts. It wasn’t until it was too late Frank realized the headlights were on his side of the road. An old pickup truck swerved into his lane. Frank flew through the windshield as his Mustang crashed into the old truck. He soared through the air.

And when he landed, Frank wasn’t quite human anymore.

A raven cawed and took flight. Frank’s claws dug into the tar of the road as he changed. He tore through the truck door, like it was paper. He ripped the drunken fool out. Blood. Flesh. Rend. There wasn’t much left of the drunk after Frank was through with him.

Unspent rage sung though Frank’s veins. He lifted his muzzle to the full moon and howled. Frank knew who he was now. Silver moonlight burned away his doubts and fears.

Frank took off, leaving the wreck of his car and his old purposeless life behind.

 

[wonderandawe]

More Music!

Spoiler

I can see
When you stay low
Nothing happens
Does it feel right?
Late at night
Things I thought I'd put behind me
Haunt my mind


I just know there's no escape now
Once it sets it's eyes on you
But I won't run
Have to stare it in the eyes


Stand my ground
I won't give in
No more denying
I've gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground


It's all around
Getting stronger, coming closer into my world
I can feel that it's time for me to face it
Can I take it?


Though this might just be the ending
Of the life I held so dear
But I won't run
There's no turning back from here


Stand my ground
I won't give in
No more denying
I've gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground


All I know for sure is that I'm trying
I will always stand my ground


Stand my ground
I won't give in, (I won't give in)
I won't give up, (I won't give up)
No more denying (ah)
I've gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will


Stand my ground
I won't give in
No more denying
I've gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground

 

[wonderandawe]

If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman?

Spoiler

I took a walk around the world to
Ease my troubled mind
I left my body lying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do, yeah


I watched the world float to the
Dark side of the moon
After all I knew it had to be something
To do with you
I really don't mind what happens now and then
As long as you'll be my friend at the end


If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite


You called me strong, you called me weak
But still your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times I
Never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head, if
Not for me then you'd be dead
I picked you up and put you back
On solid ground


If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite


Oh whoa whoa


If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite


If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well, will you be
There holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite

 

[wonderandawe]

Spoiler

When leaves have fallen
And skies turned to grey
The night keeps on closing in on the day
A nightingale sings his song of farewell
You better hide for her freezing hell


On cold wings she's coming
You better keep moving
For warmth, you'll be longing, nightingale
Come on just feel it
Don't you see it?
You better believe


When she embraces
Your heart turns to stone
She comes at night when you are all alone
And when she whispers
Your blood shall run cold
You better hide before she finds you


Whenever she is raging
She takes a life away
Haven't you seen?
Haven't you seen?
The ruins on our world


Whenever she is raging
She takes a life away
Haven't you seen?
Haven't you seen?
The ruins on our world


She covers the earth with a breathtaking cloak
The sun awakes and melts it away
The world now opens its eyes and sees
The dawning of the new day


On cold wings she's coming
You better keep moving
For warmth, you'll be longing, nightingale
Come on just feel it
Don't you see it?
You better believe


Whenever she is raging
She takes a life away
Haven't you seen?
Haven't you seen?
The ruins on our world


Whenever she is raging
She takes a life away
Haven't you seen?
Haven't you seen?
The ruins on our world

 

[wonderandawe]

Quest starts tomorrow and the vote is in a three way tie!  


Last song before we kick off the quest...

Spoiler

Am I brave enough?
Am I strong enough?
To follow the desire
That burns from within
To push away my fear
To stand where I'm afraid
I am through with this
'Cause I am more than this
I promise to myself
Alone and no one else
My flame is rising higher


I am the fire
I am burning brighter
Roaring like a storm
And I am the one I've been waiting for
Screaming like a siren
Alive and burning brighter
I am the fire


I've been sacrificed
My hearts been cauterized
Hanging on to hope
Shackled by the ghost
Of what I once believed
That I could never be
What’s right in front of me?


I am the fire
I am burning brighter
Roaring like a storm
And I am the one I've been waiting for
Screaming like a siren
Alive and burning brighter
I am the fire


I don't believe I'll fall from grace
Won't let the past decide my fate
Leave forgiveness in my wake
Take the love that I've embraced


I promise to myself, me and no one else
I am more than this
I am the fire


I am the fire
I am burning brighter
Roaring like a storm
And I am the one I've been waited for
Screaming like a siren
Alive and burning brighter
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire
I am the fire

 

[wonderandawe]

Brave Enough has started!


I decided to go with giving metagame details about your choices, except for certain situations where only one decision option has a choice.  Or if the decision point is choosing between Merits and Flaws.