Day fades. The humid warmth of the sun’s rays give way to the brisk night breeze.

Alleyways echo voices

and the steel track of a passenger train screeches at a distance.

(To Drew) You are lying on pavement in a confined alley. Brick, mortar, dumpsters, and a narrow
passage of dim light are all your blurred vision can make out. Your hair is damp from the puddle your
head had been lying in. Your nostrils are assailed by the smell of wet trash. You struggle to recall even
the vaguest details of the cause of your present situation. You reach for your cell phone to contact help
and realize, you have none of your belongings on you.

(To Keith) You awaken in a haze. As the blur escapes your eyes, you realize you are lying on your back,
looking up at stars blanketed by a soft, hazy fog. As you stir, a mild ache in your back surfaces. Turning
your attention toward your feet, you can make out a tailgate and find you are lying in the bed of a
rusted out pickup truck. You can feel dry stains on your shirt, but there isn’t enough light to examine it.
You grow more anxious as you realize your pockets are completely empty.

They should begin to get up and walk.

[Perception (Wits + Composure)] to see if they see each other’s silhouettes as they walk.

You momentarily catch a glance at movement. A vague silhouette in the darkness. It moves slowly, and
indeliberately. It’s a person to be sure and you cautiously consider whether or not this could be friend or
foe.

Eventually they will find one another.

[Perception] to see their surroundings.

You are on a street surrounded by dilapidated brick walk ups and chain link fencing. Darkness envelopes
both directions of the street. A solitary working streetlamp, itself in dire disrepair and maybe more than
100 yards away from you, is your lone local light source. It stands at the far end of the street. In the
distance, the gentle glow of a city skyline rouses your attention.

[Knowledge (Intelligence + Investigation)] to determine where they are.

You’ve seen this before. This is unmistakably the Chicago skyline.

A train in the far distance screeches across metal rails, giving you a distant and solitary feeling. Suddenly
a sound emanating from up the street quickly makes you feel less alone. Somewhere beyond the
streetlamp is the sound of a man wailing. It begins as something startling, and grows into something
deeply concerning. Then quiet.

The passing of another train masks the local sounds and has given you cause to concentrate on the lone
light source. As the train fades off you are now hearing sounds that could not be mistaken as anything
but an approaching animal. In certainty, it is a large animal. A shadow over the street slowly grows
across the glow of the streetlamp. A ferocious figure, on all fours, approaches the lamp. You briefly
consider what you are seeing may be a bear. It stands up on 2 feet, and it now looks very much unlike
any animal you have ever seen. It raises its nose and bobs its head, in a gesture that clearly signifies it is
sniffing at the air. It leans back and fills its lungs before it makes a ferocious threatening roar. It lurches
forward and begins a dead sprint in your direction.
The 2 are unarmed so they have to run.

[Run (Stamina + Athletics)]… [Jump (Strength + Athletics)]… [Climb (Strength + Athletics)]

Give the guys time to run for their lives. The animal will continually draw closer.

The creature seems to be playing a game with you. It pursues you bounding back and forth in a
serpentine pattern. It nips at your heels and swipes at your clothing. Just as it seems it may pounce on
you, the sound of a painful tumble echoes behind you. Peering backward, you see the attractive figure
of a young woman, sporting long auburn hair and clad in a tight fitting leather getup, standing over the
temporarily stunned beast. With her back to you, she speaks without turning to face you.

Girl: Go! Keep running! The pack will be upon you.

The temporarily stunned creature struggles to its feet. The girl sprints away into an adjoining alley and
the creature roars in anger as it gives her chase. Far off in the distance you hear the sound of multiple
howls. In the other direction you sight the end of the street. Its conclusion is an entrance to an industrial
complex of some sort.

[Run]

As you approach the street’s end, the silhouette of a human body lying on the pavement becomes
apparent to you. It is dimly lit by the indicating light atop a stack on the industrial complex. The body lies
completely still. You are also overcome by a salty, metallic smell in the air.

Wait until they choose to approach.

As you step forward, your feet splash through murky puddles. As you cross the dim light’s reach you
now realize the dark nature of the puddles. This isn’t simply water. A great deal of blood is saturating
these puddles, and it covers a very large area. The body lies face down in the center of this pooling.

[Examine Scene (Wits + Investigation)]

You are looking at a white male. The telltale signs of expanding lungs reassure you that you are not
staring down a homicide victim. His clothes are tattered and he has many lesions across his body.

[Medicine (Intelligence + Medicine)]

Though lesions mar this man’s body, the blood from his wounds appear dry. His wounds are most
certainly not the source of the great deal of blood surrounding him. In fact, his body as a whole, does
not contain the amount of blood he is lying in. His position is a strong sign that he is completely
unconscious. Especially considering that he is currently inhaling the puddle along with some air. Leaving
him here, in this position, will likely lead to him drowning.

Provided the guys choose to move the mysterious man.

As you turn the body over you are shocked and disillusioned to find that the man is your friend, Tooley!
Your shock quickly turns to concern as I make a gargling sound and suddenly stop breathing.

[Surgery (Dexterity + Medicine)] to beat the water and blood out of my lungs.
Blood and water spray from my mouth as my body forcefully vacates it from my lungs. Deep gasps
follow to fill the lungs back up with air. Though I appear to regain some semblance of consciousness, the
moment is fleeting and I again drift into catatonia.

Hopefully the guys choose to carry me away from there.

[Lift (Strength + Athletics)] to carry me

[Perception (Wits + Composure)] to find a direction to go

There is a seam in the chain link fence leading to the industrial complex. Beyond the complex, you can
hear the sounds of car traffic. The left and the right directions lead into darkness along the very long
surrounding fence.

The guys enter the industrial complex.

[Combat:Unarmed (Strength + Brawl)] to break in

This building appears to be abandoned. Most of the space is empty aside from shards of broken glass,
various tools, and manufacturing resources lying about. A cat walk leads up to what once appeared to
be offices and working restrooms. Don’t get comfortable, as you hear a rattle at the chain link fence
outside.

[Perception] to find a weapon

 Fail – Iron Pipe

 Success – Monkey Wrench
 Major Success – Sledgehammer

The guys likely prepare to fight.

You hear a dog’s bark near the door.

Guy1: ‘Ey. He’s sniffing him out in here.

Guy2: Let the dog loose on him.

The guys will have to fight off the dog. After a couple rounds, bring in the other 2 guys. This should be a
tough fight.

Guy2: We just want him (pointing at me). Just get out of the way.

You might have characterized these two as vagrants if you saw them on the street, but they appear to
be skilled combatants. Both sport stiletto knives that gleam brightly in the moon light, brighter than
what you might expect from a steel blade. Beneath their long coats and loose clothing are various metal
plates they have armored themselves with.

As they near the end of the battle, it should be looking bleak for the guys.

Suddenly, with a thunderous clatter, all of the windows throughout the complex burst inward. A
calamitous scatter of glass shards rain down upon you. In your momentary reaction, shielding your face
from the falling glass, you feel briefly weightless before you realize you are clutched within someone’s
grasp. Then darkness comes over you again.

Awaking in a strange place has become a tiring pattern for the both of you. Your arms and your legs are
bound and mouths are gagged. You are being dragged across the floor by a couple of cloaked figures. A
third figure takes a bound and still comatose me into what appears to be a metal refrigeration room and
leaves me in there as he shuts the large, sealed door behind him. Maybe you’re in a butcher’s shop? You
turn a corner and find yourselves in a room with dim candle-light at the center. 2 chairs are set back-to-
back. You are abruptly seated in those chairs by the cloaked figures and they silently walk away.

A well-groomed man in a very expensive suit enters the room. He has an aura about him that emotes
power and influence. Though he appears young in age, maybe late 20’s, he is dressed in classic, formal
garb. His maroon suit jacket with coattails seems custom-tailored and his shoes shine with authentic
black leather. He smells of a unique blend of expensive perfumes and spices.

Man: The filthy beasts made you prey in their hunt and yet you survived. That is a first. I detest the filthy
beasts. Moreso, when they WIPE OUT AN ENTIRE SQUAD OF MY COTERIE! (pause) Tell me who you and
your unconscious friend are and what you saw of my brethren.

He removes your gags.

The guys won’t have a good answer here.

Man: You are mortals and you have witnessed our world beyond the masquerade. You are to be
silenced by way of death. Take them.

The man quickly takes his leave and the hooded figures return to the room and drag you back out to the
hallway. The 3 figures remove their hoods and reveal what look to be hideous facial disfigurements.
Then they flash their long, razor-sharp teeth and prove themselves to be truly terrifying.

Suddenly, the demeanor of the 3 changes. They inquisitively look at one another and sniff the air. They
almost appear worried themselves. You faintly hear something of a snarl behind you. The sound is
emanating from the cooler. Then, a terrible crash. Like a car slamming into a brick wall. Then another
and another. The cooler door is swelling with repeated collisions. One last thunderous slam and the
door flies off the hinges. The hooded figures have readied themselves but are still knocked off their feet
by the creature that blasts out of the door. They scramble to their feet and scatter about to find combat
advantage. The creature then turns its gaze on you. It appears enraged.

[Perception (Wits + Composure)] to determine if this is the same animal

To be certain, this creature is of the same type as the one you evaded earlier in the night, but it’s fur and
markings seem different.

The creature begins to stalk towards you.

[The cloak of wooded areas is ideal for a natural creature of the night, but the anonymity of a bustling
city is ideal for the real creatures. The city of Chicago has long held comforting shadows for those
seeking to escape the light. The money, the politics, and the darkness have provided a banquet for
hungry heathens. This is the invisible underworld, and its power dwarfs those that dwell during the
daylight.]