Dresden Files Dallas
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Clueless

#20

July 19, 2012 03:42

I was laying face up on my bed, listening to the sounds of the downtown night traffic outside my apartment. Normally, I’m a stomach sleeper, but after my … trip… to Pleasant Grove earlier in the week, my face just couldn’t take the pressure. I’d avoided leaving my apartment much this week as the wounds on my face inflicted by Detective Washington blossomed from red welts into deep purple bruises, and they were only just starting to fade to yellow, leaving me with a jaundiced movie-zombie complexion. I’d emptied a large bottle of Advil over the last few days. The pain was intense, and it seemed to be more than just the bruises – I’d probably overtaxed myself with the lack of sleep, major spell-slinging, and the physical abuse of the kidnapping, but you do what you have to do to survive.

The pain was just starting to fade a bit, allowing me to think about sleep when my phone rang. I pondered ignoring it, but given the limited number of people who had my number, it was probably important. I rolled upright and grabbed the phone, but didn’t quite vocalize as I gingerly placed the receiver to my ear. “Hrmph?”

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Helping Hands

#18

July 19, 2012 02:17
   
I got a call from Barbara late one evening, her cheery Santana ringtone ringing clear as I helped Auntie Em with the dishes after supper one night.

I walked hurriedly to the phone, because running is really stupid when you’re blind, btw. I could walk pretty quickly given that I knew the terrain almost as well as if I had built the place. I picked up the phone with soapy hands and hit the big call button.

“Barbara!”

“Hola, Erica” she replied with less energy that I had come to expect from my aggressive business lady friend. “I need your ears.”

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The Wand

#18

July 18, 2012 00:39

   

Jamie Harper walked down Peach Tree Lane in the outskirts of El Paso, Texas on a hot summer night. He was wearing his grey cloak for the first time on official Warden business, but it just made him feel hot. The houses on the street were McMansions built last decade, but many of them had For Sale signs and some were clearly abandoned. The address he had been given was still several houses away when he heard someone behind him say “What is Harry Dresden’s favorite restaurant?” Jamie stopped and turned on his heel to face a young Hispanic man with a sly smile who looked like he was in his early 20’s. He also wore a grey cloak with black BTU’s and appeared to be armed to the teeth. Jamie responded by saying “A rat infested Burger King near his….home.”

The Spaniard’s smile broadened and he then said “You must be Harper.”

“And you must be Warden Commander Carlos Ramirez.”

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Craiceáilte

Crazy, #19

July 16, 2012 12:02
   “Is that the best you’ve got?”

   The lovely blonde that Conor once considered a “nice girl” was gone, and in her place was something utterly devoid of pity.

   Indeed, she’d become one of the most heartless and cruel creatures known to mankind…

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What Have I Done?

#19

July 13, 2012 13:22
   
Conor scoops up Erica from the floor of the now devastated house in his thick strong arms. As he rushes for the door and to the appropriate joining of the Ways, Erica’s head picks up a bit as she mutters weakly “Did I get him?”

Conor looks over at the massive crumbling hole where a nice suburban bathroom wall had been. “Aye lass,” he replies, and Erica reflexively relaxes at his familiar accent, “I dinna think anyone canna survive that.”

Erica’s slight smile faded, replaced by a frown of worry and sadness. “Oh…” was all she replied before her head dropped down again into unconsciousness.

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Journal Entry, Injuns

#19

July 13, 2012 03:14
   Yeah, Injuns everywhere, and the only bonafide Cowboy is knocked unconscious by one of ‘em! Here was a classic iron vs. arrow showdown—the best in Texas since 1882’s Frio Canyon—an’ a noggin knock puts me down like a boxer’s towel! I’ve been fixin’ to line my Stetson with Kevlar so as to make it as all-purpose as it needs to be…now, reckon I’m out of excuses fer puttin’ that off any longer.

   Anyways, the Good Lord at least blessed me with a Texas-quality skull, so I was able to regain my senses a’fore ALL the action was over. However, I fear I wasn’t entirely my right self comin’ to, as after I helped take out some o’ the Natives in front of the house, their shaman put up a thick layer of mist to high-tail it, an’ like a senseless newborn critter, I go the wrong way to try an’ git a fix on their retreat!

   I tell you one thing: I ‘aint done with ’em, not by a long shot. Believe you, me, it’s personal! We managed to foil their rustlin’ attempt on that box, so I’d bet my bottom dollar they’re itchin’ fer round 2 also. An’ I aim to be ready fer ‘em. In the mean time, I’ll be nosin’ aroun’ fer the intel I need to get the drop on ‘em. Y’all picked the wrong Texas Ranger to mess with.

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Stormy Weather, II

Game 19

July 13, 2012 00:30
Injuns everywhere!

   At least, that’s what it felt like to our heroes, as a mysterious team of Comanche raiders arrived on the scene, hell-bent on retrieving the ritual scroll that the group uncovered in the Keller subdivision of Season’s End.

   While Elena played “gun tag” with a pair of speedy archers and a drum-toting shaman in the backyard, Jamie, Cody, and Conor mixed it up with a pair of coyote-skinwalkers and another shaman in the front yard. As the archers breached the house, Ren and Erica were left to foil their attempts to steal the scroll (which they did, taking advantage of the archers loss of their supernatural abilities in the house, and some very creative sonomancy and water magic).

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Journal Entry, Tough stuff

#18

July 12, 2012 21:45
   Tough stuff goes into the makin’ of a Texas Ranger. I can shoot with the best. That goes fer investigations, too. I can trade fists ‘n feet with the dang good an’ still come out on top. I am a prime reason you only need 1 ranger for a riot. But take it from someone who’s been exposed to the supernatural: I’m still mortal. There aint a man or woman on the planet I’m truly scared of, but I’d be a lying fool if’n I said the same about that other’n group of beings sharing this world with us.

   Which is why I still get stomach knots when I’m dealin’ with ‘em. The threat of Texas law enforcement system don’t always hold the same sway. An’ when you come down to it, I have internal policies and procedures I still got to follow, but using tactics designed to work on humans aint always effective on non-humans. You just never know till ya try, an’ that aint the most comfortable notion at times, ‘specially if’n yer dealin’ with a lot ya aint encountered a’fore.

   This was the case right when I was knockin’ on that Fae door. I jus’ thank God I had this troop of hombres to back me up today. Their intentions is in the right place, regardless of who an’ what they are or the methods that work for ‘em, an’ that’s a big part of what counts in my book.

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An tIdirlíon

The Internet, #18

July 12, 2012 14:00
   “Oh my god Conor I’m not even cute yet!”

   “Sorry Danielle for not callin’ first… an’ you know that’s not true anyway.”

   It was nine in the morning at Conor’s apartment complex. He was standing in the doorway of Ms. Danielle Miller, a “professional student” at SMU. She had started out as a business major, then computer science major, and was now just spending her daddy’s money taking classes. Officially she was now a Music Major with SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. Eventually (according to her) she’d earn enough credits that SMU would just give her a degree or two. Conor had no idea himself, and didn’t particularly care. He knew only a few things about her…

   First, Danielle was extremely attractive and rich. Second, she knew it.

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Stormy Weather, I

Game 18

July 12, 2012 13:00
   Last night’s storm was another doozy – the “spring” storm season has really been hanging on. But there’s something to these really bad ones, that have some folks on edge:

  • Hobbes’ has watched the storms with interest, and finally got Erica to notice last night. Plus, Hobbes’ “Purra-net” has reported some odd stuff going on over towards Keller. Erica drops a dime to Ren to see if she knows anything.
  • Uncle‘s been disappearing down into his lab with each storm that has hit over the last month. Ren’s on a pick-up run when she gets a phone call, telling her to divert to somewhere in Keller called Season’s End and contain a ritual.

   The call from Erica cements the “Odd-stuff-happening” vibe, and she picks up Erica so they can head to Keller together.

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