The Harbinger of Ferocity

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

From the way the weight of the rifle sat in the hand that held it, gripped around its neck between forestock and magazine well, it was less a roughly eight pound weapon and more like a toy; as if it weighed nothing and was casually nothing to be worried about. It contrasted the disquieting scene that said something, somehow, someway, had gone wrong, illuminated only by the lights of the vehicles in the area and the rumble of their idling motors. Had it been back to the dead of night here, all of this would rightfully have been more uneasy than mysterious as it now was. Yet, none of that seemed to play into the handling of the weapon or how it came along with its bearer back and away from the resting place of the disabled vehicle.

November's feet carried the rest of him up the incline of the trench, boots wandering the final path the truck took before it landed where it was now; tire marks were where the search would begin from then work backward. This was by no means a special talent of the one following them, rather it only was a reasonable place to start. It was obvious the "accident" occurred somewhere prior to this place, with the where likely providing a clue to the what.

Passing by both humans, the judgmental look November provided was perhaps unnoticed as they kept busy with their angle - whatever it was. Should they have caught it, it would have been that same experience of being watched by something that merely did as it was told, even if its desires laid elsewhere. Which was true in this circumstance, as November was by no means thrilled. If this is what the Division of Occult Global Security deemed priority enough, either this war was soon to be lost or there was substantially more they were not sharing; November only prayed the latter held true. This could be lived with, accepted, expected, the alternatives could not be.

Faintly puffing, steam rising from his nose, attention shifted back again to the roadway and its pavement. Despite the darkness, some amount of evidence was still here in the bit of scattered light from the vehicles, and while vision was not as acute as it truly could be, that opportunity was denied for the time being. Again, another expectation simply accounted for - November had ways around this. Paying no mind to the conversation drifting in on the still air in between the odd breeze, the words "... close off this road while my team does their investigation", the tracker made the way further and further apart from the ditch. Suitably far enough away that it was becoming increasingly dark to more mundane eyes, a knee fell to painted lines on the pavement and a hand caressed the gritty surface. It would take some time, nothing substantial, but November intended to read the rough approximation of what caused these tracks in the first place.

Psychometry was a supernatural talent through and through but it was hardly foreign.

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

I will have a post here tomorrow, should no one else post in the interim. I have yet to start anything for it, so by all means, if one has something they wish to put forward, do so and I will be able to work with it. I return to my more normal hours of activity on that day otherwise, meaning my presence will be consistent again.

Post a random fact about yourself.

There have been a few times I have seen unusual things happen with light duty vehicles, which included a deer strike that flung the deer five to six meters into the air, yet another where a burrowing owl was struck by a vehicle and caught on the windscreen, another time where a vehicle was struck during a movement by lightning, one that caught fire due to dry brush being pulled into the engine compartment, one wherein the emergency brake was left on and set the running gear of the vehicle on fire, and lastly one that ended in a near rollover due to the vehicle skidding out of control, leaving it to drive for an extended period on two wheels.

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

How fares the life of the Game Master, @StormWolf? Still with us and with a plan to start this thread in the near future? I ask only out of concern for a general timeline, just something to inform myself and reasonably others what and when we an expect this to begin.

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

No apology required, @Klumsykrow357. Assuming anyone would try to fight November as part of their backstory, with actual harm involved, his intent would be to kill - a character like Clint who November has to defer to, having authority by proxy, would be the way to prevent him from going to the full length to do so. So I am not particularly comfortable with making that determination yet. If the Game Master has something for that, absolutely, I would have no issue with it, because then November would simply obey but obviously have a radically different standing with that character. It would be something interesting to explore because it begs the question, "Can you really trust November, knowing the moment this is over what is going to happen?" Could other characters trust him that he simply wouldn't let Wendi die if a situation arose where his action or inaction made that kind of difference? Not saying this will be the case but it plays into the idea. Of course, I know the answer for the character and it is fairly obvious out-of-character how and why he would behave, but to the characters that is asking a lot about something they themselves do not actually know. Even if Wendi was in the wrong as by starting the fight, it is probably much harder to believe November isn't conceptually sharpening his knives, and in a way it gives her a sort of self-validation. Again, Game Master's intent permitting.

@WaywardK, I have to admit, the idea of a character wanting to be friendly to November is entertaining too. I will absolutely have to write a general overview here in the next couple of days based on what everyone else has done for their characters. Particularly since not all these are mutual relationships or understandings between them. November, for example, simply wouldn't have the understanding of Jason's consuming need for approval and it makes for an interesting game of Jason probably putting up with the unusual dialogue expected of a thera zealot.

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

So far I have not seen anything that leans too far out of character with interaction toward November. The character themselves has little interest in the Sentinels or anyone who allied themselves with them circumstantially as well outside of battle. Looking for November is, in a way, looking for trouble and although there exists the discipline not to engage in infighting, getting tangled up with him would be little different than trying to engage the Inquisition in a rational conversation. It is not say, overbearing, but any dialogue with November is not bound to be positive unless one is human, which is well into that realm of understanding that therianthropes need humans; other creatures are just quarry.

So it sort of leaves a situation wherein the character is by no means tight-lipped or reclusive in the traditional sense, rather that November is an exercise in trying to speak with something that generally wants to kill and has no real appreciation of them. Yet instead of doing that, they are content to talk. I find this opens some interesting opportunity because it is such a strange concept. So by all means if anyone wishes to actually interact with him, that door is open.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I have been told I have "familiars" that accompany me. Unfortunately, apparently said familiars were in the storage area and causing a bit of - perhaps well-meaning - havoc, as expected of them, and spooking my subordinates in the supply section such as by activating the motion sensors or air handlers or causing boxes to fall over.

Task Force: Sentinel - Occult Covert Operations

That is probably one of the best collections of character involvement I have seen before, @Naril, both effective and simple. That kind of interaction with November alone is as accurate as it comes. He would not be the type of character to immediately seek out any of the Sentinels and would keep to himself. Not standoffish or hiding, rather that encounters with him outside of missions would be rare.

Post a random fact about yourself.

It is that when I experience nightmares, as I often confront, that I am aware of them as nightmares although not aware of them as dreams and that this lucidity in an altered sense is part of how I insulate myself against the reimagined events or those elaborated upon. There is no small part of me that recognizes the situation and spurs me to combat it, to resist it; to feel nothing as fear and to press forward. However, I live them out as though they were happening in reality, and when I press through them, I seem to walk back into the waking world. Imagine, for a moment, coming back to reality by progressing through these things, only to realize that one is back in reality again and that all of it was just involuntarily imagined. I confess that at least these nightmares are creative and intricate each time, no matter how iterative they are.

Post a random fact about yourself.

When I was much younger, I nearly lost one of my ears. It only healed with time and surprisingly, displayed almost no scarring. The injury was severe enough that had it not healed at the time, I would have been missing a sizable portion of the ear or the ear itself, although it would not have too terribly affected my hearing in theory.