Hell's Invasion Prologue (Renata Hodges) [IC]

[perrinmiller]

GM: Post your character application in the next post right after mine so it will be easier to find later on for reference and updating. Then post your 1st IC post in the next one after that.

Renata was probably going about her business on D-Day. Where was she and what was she doing when the first gate to hell opened near her?

 

[Shayuri]

Renata Hodges. Youngest of three children of Senator Thomas Hodges and his wife Isabella and the only girl of the pack. Loud and rambunctious as a child, she grew into a shy and reserved adolescent, feeling overshadowed by her brothers. In high school a series of painful events shattered that reserve, and she started getting into a lot of trouble. Her father, sensitive as ever to the political consequences of having a problem child, swiftly arranged for her to go to a sheltered private school...hence avoiding serious consequences for her misbehavior. It was there, at Dalton Academy, during her senior year of high school, that the demons came.

Struggling as she is with questions of identity, of truth and integrity in the face of consequences, and of changes in her relationship with her family members, Renata is often moody, temperamental and quick to take offense. But what so often comes across as stubbornness is a strength of resolve and conviction that propels her relentlessly forward no matter the cost, or the apparent odds of success.

Renata's a fairly pretty young woman with a strong jaw and chin, light skin, large blue eyes and dark hair she's taken to cutting short. She's just a smidge taller than average, and her formerly slightly stocky build now slimming to more athletic over the past year as she's taken up more exercise.

Attached NPCs -
- Thomas Hodges: For Buffy fans, think the Mayor of Sunnyvale. He's a charming guy, an astute politician...a Republican Senator of Massachusetts (Ren's from Boston, but Dalton can be anywhere in the US) who's managed to balance the demands of the conservative wing of his party with the more purple-blue of his constituents. He's got an uncanny ability to get people set on 'no' to 'yes.' Some have joked that he's made a deal with the devil for his talents.

It's not quite so funny now.

Isabella Hodges: Beautiful and elegant and every inch the entitled heiress that she is, Isabella is as devoutly high society as she is Catholic; these two things are the first things anyone notices about her. The cynical might posit that her marriage with Tom is a little too perfect to be real...they complement each other wonderfully. His position and ambition suit her craving for the finer things in life, and she brings the couple the necessary religious appeal to give him credibility with his base. She's also the consummate social artist, managing fetes and soirees with grace and a keen eye for detail. Renata and Isabella have had an especially troubled relationship...she has high hopes and aspirations for her only female offspring, and Ren seems grimly determined to thwart every...single...one of them.

Bradford Hodges: Renata's oldest brother, Brad's trying hard to out-dad their dad. Tall and blond and chiseled, he prides himself on going and getting what he wants rather than complaining about how he doesn't have it. To his credit, he really is smart and ambitious and driven to accomplish. To his detriment, he's also sanctimonious, patronizing, and something of a bully when he thinks he can get away with it.

Theo Hodges: When the three Hodges kids were younger, Theomore was the great peacemaker. He brokered legendary agreements between Brad, who didn't want his bratty little sister hanging around, and Renata who insisted resolutely on hanging around. As time went on, these crises ebbed as Renata withdrew and eventually Brad went to the first in the long line of prestigious colleges he attended. Of quieter and more intellectual demeanor than his brother, Theo loved sitting with his dad and discussing various issues and ideas. Eventually he too went off to school, and while his holiday cards are substantially more heartfelt than Brad's, he rarely comes to visit anymore.


Renata has…
Strength: d8
Agility: d10
Health: d10
Perception: d12
Wisdom: d12
Luck: d20

Renata’s Skills/Powers
1. Climb d20
2. Intimidate d20
3. Knowledge Civics d20
4. Knowledge Popular Culture d20
5. Perform (Guitar) d20
6. Stealth d20
7. Survival d20
8. Swim d20
9. Unarmed Combat d20
10 .Firearms Weapon Skill d20
11. Enhanced Strength d20
* Arcane energy in her heritage makes her much stronger than she appears. Unlocks improving Strength to d6

 

[Shayuri]

"How do you do that..." Mari was wrestling with the controls of a video game machine as her computerized avatar lurched unsteadily around on the big LCD screen across from the two dorm beds. "...that thing where you spin sideways."

Renata laughed from where she was lying on her stomach on the bed farthest from the door, watching her roommate play avidly. Mari was a scholarship kid, and hadn't had one of the next generation consoles at home. Her wide-eyed awe of what it could do...along with the big screen TV and stuff Ren had brought...were a constant source of secret glee for her. And of course, she kind of sucked at most of the games. It wasn't that Renata felt superior or anything because she was better than Mari.

Well, okay, maybe a little. It was fair. Mari was better at all the classes.

Mari, an adorable latina girl two years Renata's junior glanced back over her shoulder to give her a quick squinchy-eyed tongue poke-out before returning her attention to the game.

"You gotta tap the stick twice fast," Renata explained, still chuckling. "The one you move with. And if you hit the X button while you do that, you can counter..." She stopped when she felt the phone in her back pocket start to vibrate, and fished it out.

"The what button?!" Mari wailed. The image on the screen shook and blood dripped down from top as 'YOU DIED' appeared. "Awww! Okay, one more time."

Meanwhile, Renata answered her phone with a sinking heart, swiveling around with the unthinking agility of youth to a sitting position. "Hey dad."

"Hey there, champ!" enthused her father. Thomas Hodges, who insisted on being called 'Tom.' Perky and courteous and as devious and sly as anyone Renata had ever known in her short almost-eighteen years. But then, to be a Republican Senator in Massachusetts, you kinda had to be. "Happy birthday! How's my girl?"

"Not my birthday yet, dad," Renata sighed. "I'm fine."

"Working hard?"

She glanced over at Mari, who was wiggling around as if the game would somehow read her shoulders and legs and take that into account when controlling her on-screen character.

"Yeah. Mari and me are studying up a storm. So what's up?"

Tom laughed, and when he laughed there was a thing where you could sort of see his mouth wide and grinning, and his teeth all white and polished in your head. The information was transferred through his voice in a kind of subliminal advertisment sort of deal. "Studying up a storm! That's good! Oh, your mom and I have been missing you something fierce, sport. You are such a cut up."

Renata scowled. "Pretty sure mom's not missing me."

"Aw, don't be like that. She loves you! I know things have been rough, but that doesn't change anything. Hey look, okay, I have some news for you. It's good news."

"Yeah?" Renata scratched her chin uncomfortably. Her dad sometimes liked couching things he knew she wouldn't like as 'good news.' But not always. He was careful not to be too predictable. "What is it?"

He chuckled again. "What would you say about the idea of your old man angling for a promotion?"

"Uh...how would that work exactly?" she asked. "There's no such thing as a 'senior Sen...' And then she trailed off. Because there was at least one way to be 'promoted' out of the Senate. "You're kidding me."

"Well you know, nothing's official yet bunnyhunch," Tom replied jovially. "But we're looking into how to make me..." he deepened his voice for comic effect, "...the most powerful man in the free world!" Then helpless giggles overtook him, and she could imagine him wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

Renata found her tongue almost sticky with dread, like she couldn't move it off the floor of her mouth. "What...what am I gonna have to do?" she asked.

"Nothing bad, I promise. Me and your mother will be under some scrutiny, but I expect the kids, especially you...well, you'll hardly even notice."

She shook her head. "I don't see...how is that even possible? Dad, with all the sh...the stuff that's happened. That's all going to come out. Like, on TV it's going to come out." Renata felt like the dorm room was spinning around her. Dizzy. Mari was looking back at her now, her big brown eyes wide in concern.

"Hun, it's okay! Look, I know it seems like everything's going to be different...and I suppose a lot of things will be. But you know what won't be? Family. So...look, we've got a lot to talk about. I'm going to bring you home, and we can go over everything."

"I need a little time," Renata said, fighting back the urge to throw her phone. "Not this weekend. I...I'll give you a call."

"Actually, the driver should be there any minute. This is important stuff, champ."

Renata let a curse drip from her lips and immediately hung up before her father could reprimand her. Mari was looking at her with real fear now.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a small voice.

Ren shook her head. "I...I don't know."

 

[perrinmiller]

There was a scream from outside Renata's window to the courtyard below. It was a girl's scream of terror, not a squeal of glee or excitement.

Mari took her eyes off of Renata and looked over at the window, "What was that?"

She stood and walked to the window and gaped. Renata joined her and looked down at the courtyard. There was a ring of fire suspended in the air a few feet from the ground. They two girls were looking down on its side from two stories up and the angle was such they could barely tell it was a ring. They did not have the angle to see through it, but there appeared to be black in the center and they could not see through the ring.

There was a pair of students that had just walked outside from the building across and were staring at the supernatural phenomena. They were only pointing at it, and not the source of the scream.

Mari was in awe, "That is so weird."

GM: Please include the avatar picture of Renata at the beginning of every IC post. Thanks.

 

[Shayuri]

View attachment 71139

"Are they retarded?" Renata asked rhetorically as she stared out the window. "There's some kind of gas leak and people just stand around looking at it?"

She rolled her eyes and went over to get her phone.

"I'll call nine one one."

 

[perrinmiller]

While Renata was dialing, Mari stared out the window. She laughed, “They are actually taking selfies now.”

The call was answered and Renata was on hold, <“Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and we will be with you momentarily.”>

Her wait was interrupted by a scream from outside that she could hear even through the glass of the shut window.

Mari exclaimed, “Oh my god! What is that?”

Racing back to the window, Renata could see there was a red skinned creature with large bat-like wings where the two girls had been standing. One girl was trying to run away and had stumbled to fall flat on her face in the grass about 20 feet away. The other girl was still there lying underneath the red thing and Renata could see her legs sticking out.

The red-skinned creature had a humanoid body about the size of a stocky teenager, but also had a serpentine-like tail. From the back of its head protruded some horns. It was on top of it victim on all fours.

A nasally sounding voice came from Renata’s phone, <“9-1-1. What is your current location and the nature of your emergency?”>

 

[Shayuri]

Renata stepped back, nearly stumbled back from the window, her brain shattering into a thousand little spinning pieces.

"I...I'm at Dalton," she replied dazedly to the phone. "Dalton Academy. There's...a fire in the air, and...something's attacking people." All the mental prepwork she'd done before calling, the rehearsing what to say so that she wouldn't sound like a panicking moron like most 911 calls she'd heard...down the drain. "I don't know what it is."

Her mind seized on the words...they PERFECTLY captured the situation. "I don't know what it is," she repeated to her cellphone. "I don't...I don't..."

Panic was a vortex. A whirlpool, like the one at the end of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. For a second Renata felt herself being dragged down it, as the mantra I don't know what it is was the only thing she could think, and each time she did it became shriller and more hysterical.

As fortune had it, she picked that moment to look back to the window, and Mari was there staring at her with dawning horror...and she couldn't let her see her like that.

Renata reached out and took hold of Mari's arm. You don't have to know what it is. You just have to know it's dangerous.

"Come on, it's not safe here."

Then, remembering she was still on the line with 911, she added, "I can't stay on the line, we have to move. There's some kind of fire at Dalton Academy, but something's attacking people too. Don't just send firemen. Send police or...I don't know, the national guard or something."

 

[perrinmiller]

Mari put her hands over her face and was nearly sobbing, "Oh no. It... oh, god... she's... ripped apart."

"RUN!" she screamed at the window, her hands on the glass.

The creature had eviscerated the first co-ed and had leaped into the air to fly in pursuit of the other stumbling one. It had caught her and landed on her shoulders, driving the victim face first into the turf. It stayed on top, but its body and wings were obscuring the view of the girl underneath and what was happening to her.

The nasally voice of the dispatcher told Renata, <"Miss, please remain calm. Are you in immediate danger?"

"From the fire or the assailant? Is the fire spreading?"> The voice on the other end was bland and almost bored sounding.

 

[Shayuri]

"Yes!" Renata snapped. "The fire's spreading! We're in immediate danger! Just send people! It's a SCHOOL! There's a bunch of kids here! Are you insane?!"

She reached over and grabbed Mari's wrist to pull her away from the window. "Seriously, we have to find someplace safer."

Ren had no idea where to go, with Mari's wrist in one hand and her cellphone in her other. Down was all she had. Once other kids started seeing what was happening, started texting and calling each other, the halls were going to fill with people. The stairs were going to clog. They could get trapped, and Ren had a feeling THAT would be very, very bad.

So she headed for the staircase at the end of the hall, hoping the fire hadn't come from the building.

And that there weren't more of those red things around.

 

[perrinmiller]

Mari was reluctant at first to tear her eyes from the scene out the window, but once she was moving along there was no more hesitation. She kept saying, "This is bad... very bad."

She went along with Renata out into the hall and by the time the pair reached the nearest stairs, most of the other dorm room doors were spilling out their occupants too. The hallway and stairs was becoming chaos as girls were either screaming in terror, sobbing in fright, or yelling hysterically as they wanted to flee faster but could not.

There was no smoke in the building, though. In fact Renata did not even smell anything burning.

The ground floor was becoming packed as there were about 15 girls crowded at the double doors to exit the middle front of the building to the courtyard where the ring of fire was. No one was prepared to open the doors and go out that way, stuck staring through the windows at the scene outside.

Farther down the central hall that ran the length of the building, the fire exit was open and a few girls ran out that way. But that way was also the same direction the girl that had been pounced on tried to flee.

From the central exit, one of the other girls in the crowd screamed, "EEEEEE! There is another one!"