Red Sky at Morning

AVAST YE LAND LUBBERS!

Things did not go Well.

Aside from the obvious problem of having no REAL idea where Legba was, we also had the problem of NOT KNOWING HOW TO FUCKING SAIL A SHIP. We are a Clown, a Luchadore, a Martial Artist, a Maniac, a Faux-Voodoo Witch Doctor, an Elvis Impersonator, a Slasher Villain, Darkhorse, a Mime, a Devilishly Handsome Walking Death Machine and Nightscream. NONE OF US HAVE EVER EVEN BEEN ON A BOAT BEFORE.

So we had to outsource some help. Captain David Jones Junior and his crew of Proxies, aboard the luxury liner and Proxy controlled Murder Ship... Actually, you know what. I am not telling you the Ship's name. Let it be a surprise for any of you who decide to take a cruise. ANYWAY. These guys specialize in catching Runners and Norms and subjecting them to Father's Glorious influence. Trapping them on the ship after they get Father's attention. Little hard for Runners to run when they are trapped on an, admittedly large, cruiser.

A Good Operation really. They are clever and capable Proxies... So I cannot really blame them for shit going wrong. The Plan was fairly simple. Luxury Cruiser sailing into where we suspect the Pirates to be... Miles out at sea. No real rescue could happen.

BUT OF COURSE IT TOOK THEM NEARLY A GODDAMN WEEK TO TAKE THE BAIT.

When they did, it was a simple matter of not getting shot while the Pirates come aboard to collect their Booty. I love Seafood. We then hijacked their boats and had the traumatized survivor tell us where home base is. An utterly inconspicuous Cargo Ship. Security was pretty lax too at first. Sailed right up and boarded and GUESS WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED?

EVERY. SINGLE. YAR HAR FIDDLE DEE DEE FUCKING PIRATE ON BOARD HAD A SWORD OF THE GROVE. A FETTERED BLADE.

Do you know WHY? I saw the Goddamn reason. When the Pirates noticed us, Papa Legba came out. Liked the suit. Very Classy. HATED the Red Tie. Beside him was a Person in a Silver Plague Doctor Mask and Black Robe. The Black Queen again. It fucking HAD to be.

Clearly The Plague Doctor is slipping. The last time I saw The Black Queen, she was being chased down by The Plague Doctor and Magog's Oathbreakers in the HEART of the Crumbling Castle. HOW THE FUCK DID SHE ESCAPE THAT???

Things immediately went to hell. Our People on the Pirate Skiffs started riddling the place with Machinegun Fire, and I ran the fuck away from Pintel, Ragetti and their fucking DEATH SWORDS. Thank GOD we had Jones' Crew there as Meatshields. No causalities among the people that mattered, but we may need to up recruitment here in the Caribbean.

Which brings us to our current state of affairs. The last thing we did before retreating is using up the couple of RPGs that the Skiffs had laying around. I named them Final Fantasy, Dragon's Quest and Ultima. So, that floating hunk of junk is in pretty bad shape.

Now for the bad news. We left someone behind. GUESS FUCKING WHO? I don't know what happened, or WHY Nightscream got left behind, but when we started hauling ass out of there Screamer was NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. If Screamer is ALIVE I am going to KILL IT when we start the Second Assault... Which, at the time I am posting this, should be an hour ago. Just to be safe.

We think they had to haul their crippled asses over to a nearby island to make repairs. We are going in heavy this time with a special surprise that had good Old Proxy Bob quaking in his boots. Even the Hallowing couldn't erase that instinctual fear. That delicious dread that only months of being stalked and hunted can cause... Ladies and Gentlemen. We are leading a force of Pale Men to massacre Legba's Pirates. I expect a glorious slaughter that should serve as a reminder for that Big Red Moron who he is dealing with. White Knives and Black Coats will be stained a deep shade of crimson tonight, and the Caribbean will be alive with the sounds of absolute agony and sheer terror. The Perfect night if you ask me. Ta-ta for now.

David Banks is a Fucking Asshole

Stupid, annoying FUCKER. But at least now he knows the truth. A little quality time with Screamer and everything has been cleared right up. Heheheheheh. Maybe now we can focus on our WORK instead of trying to kill each other. Who knows. Maybe Banks will come in handy sometime. The Man's got some... Useful skills, as Redlight knows.

A few new developments my dear friends. Good and Bad. We'll start with the Bad.

When Dear Old David kidnapped Sam, I tried calling in MARCUS for help. A refresher. MARCUS is a Thoughtborn. He can manifest himself in basically ANYTHING electronic, be it a Computer or a Jackhammer. He was supposed to be the Manufactured Newborn's contribution to this ongoing Crisis. BUT NOW WE CAN'T FUCKING FIND HIM. It is extremely bothersome... Not to mention worrisome, given Redlight's new strategy of indoctrinating the shit out of notable Cultists... I am hoping we get an update from MARCUS soon, because if he has been Redlit... We have a Serious Problem on our hands. 

The Good News is that we found the location of Papa Legba, The Redlit Apostle. Turns out he is the Leader of a Group of Pirates that work between West Africa and the Caribbean. Our informant happens to be the Apostle Xiuhtecuhtli, who shall be henceforth known as "Apostle X" because CHRIST is that name hard to spell. Apostle X tells me that Legba works off of a Pirate "Mother Ship," which keeps him mobile. 

Now, I know there are some young'uns reading this. Modern Pirates AREN'T like Blackbeard or Jack Sparrow. No. They don't use Big Galleons or have Codes of Honor. They tend to use Small... Skiffs that harass larger and more vulnerable target ships with machine gun fire or rocket launchers. In this particular case, the Skiffs deliver any loot to the Mother Ship. Therein lies an opportunity. 

Nightscream, Myself and a small strike team will hijack one of the Pirate Skiffs and board the Mother Ship with it. Once on board, I will soak up any gunfire and give the others some breathing room to pick off the pirates one by one. I hear they aren't actually Timberwolves. Just Pirate Norms. Good place for a valuable Apostle to hide. But there is no hiding from us. Heheheh. I hope we catch another member of the Legion of Doom while we are there. Need to start actually DAMAGING Redlight's Power base, as opposed to just making them run away.

Oh. One other thing that I found curious. Papa Legba is a Haitian Bokor. Do you know what that means kids?

I tried dabbling in their specialty once. Didn't work... Actually I need to go find that Grave. Poor Fucker is probably still buried there.... Dead by now, but that is kind of the point isn't it? HAHAHAHA. 

BANKS

DAVID YOU STUPID PREDATORY PIECE OF FUCK, GIVE SCREAMER BACK NOW OR WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND TEAR YOUR BODY APART IN WAYS YOU NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE!!!!

Don't fucking test me. If I find Nightscream has a single fucking SCRATCH I am going to inflict the same to you times a THOUSAND.

MARCUS, GET ON HERE, GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME FIND SCREAMER GODDAMMIT. IT IS CRITICAL FOR ANTI-REDLIGHT OPERATIONS. CRITICAL. GET ON TO ANY SECURITY CAMERAS, I NEED TO FIND DAVID FUCKING BANKS NOW!!!!

Pied Piper

A Couple days ago... We dealt with our little Nest Problem. If you have been paying attention, we found out that Redlight's influence is affecting other Cults now. In the case of the Nests that serve the Bird God, that which you name "The Convocation," Redlight has assumed control of a notably dangerous and psychotic Nest called The Glutton. So called for his firm belief that he is in fact a crow and as such, tends to eat people. I am told by my counterpart among the Nests, who sadly is away in Africa, that The Glutton is more of a... Pet to the Local Nests than an actual member. Low Mental Functionality. Mentally Handicapped.

But who am I to discriminate against the Mentally Disabled? No reason for me to give one of them special treatment. He DIES all the same. And he did Die... But not by my hands. Though I did dispose of the body thoroughly. Tasted like chicken. Heheheheheh.

When Redlight took control of The Glutton, he went on a rampage in the local Cult Town. Massacred all the Nests. Left a trail of bodies all the way up to The Glutton's nest. The Nest's nest. HA. I like that. The Team came with us for this one, as Screamer is not at 100%. Need to pick up the slack somehow. Crouching Tiger accompanied us to the Lair of The Glutton, while the others stayed behind to guard the town. A Courtesy to the Nests as a whole. Politics, politics... Heh. Glad I am a neutral agent now.

So, here the three of us were... Stalking through the woods looking for an 8ft tall Psychotic Cannibal who thinks he is a bird. When all of a sudden I see something weird in the distance. Purple. Purple Renaissance Fair reject's clothes adorned by a Man with a Flute pressed to his lips, playing a tune. About FRIGGEN Time I run into a New Member of the Court. I was getting tired of knocking around Morgan all the time.

Now The Piper's exact powers are a little unknown. I mean. He could put people to sleep, but I am not people, so I had no idea if it was going to work on me. Other than that... No idea. Probably a Crafter like Black Queen was. But since he saw me, and I saw him... I had no other real choice but to charge him.

Fun Fact about Maenads people. They are invariably VERY strong. Brute Animalistic Strength. I forgot this. So when I charged him, intending to feast heartily on his jugular... I didn't expect him to stop me dead in my tracks and then tossing me into a Tree. If I had a spine, I can assure you, it would have been broken. FORTUNATELY it wasn't. Meanwhile Tiger and Screamer were having some... Difficulties of their own. The Glutton showed up and was trying to eat Sam's neck. Tiger in the middle of us all wondering who to help. When I heard him yell "MAGNIFICENT STALLION KICKS DODO" I knew I was pretty much going to be on my own here.

My distraction at Nightscream and Tiger proved... Unpleasant. The Piper pinned me down and started doing something weird. His eyes turned... I do not know to describe it. His mouth had some pale blue light coming from it and I just felt my mouth open as well... Like some kind of spooky supernatural kiss. Then I felt all the air in my body just... Being sucked out. I began coughing and sputtering and trying to breathe... But it was all just going into HIM.

Of course what we both forgot is that Lungs are optional for me. So when the last gasp of air left my body... I lunged up and bit a chunk of meat out of his cheek. His blood was FILLED with Azoth... Ah... That is the best taste. I wanted MORE. So when he unpinned me to try nursing his cheek, I grabbed him and tried to have my fill. Warm Bloody chunks... Flowing Red, specked with Black. Black. Black. Heheheheheh.

Didn't get a second bite right away though. He punched me in the face, and you remember what I said about Maenads being strong? Cracked my skull for sure. Practically disfigured my face for a bit. So I rolled off him to readjust my form manually. Had to reset my jaw and nose. Piper was up as well and seemed to be cursing himself for forgetting I wasn't just a run of the mill Proxy. So he pulled a Dagger out. The color of the blade, combined with common sense told me it was one of THOSE blades again. So I pulled out my own little blades.

Knife fights are fun, but they are over FAR too quickly. Usually anyway. I slashed, I stabbed. He parried, he thrust. Then he pulled a second dagger when I wasn't looking at his free hand and slashed my throat with it. I confess... That had me kind of scared. He then jammed his other blade in my heart and grinned at me. Then he decided to "Kiss" me again. Since there was nothing I could do about it... Especially TALK... he finished and started talking to me.

"Tis almost a shame to kill you Little Star. An eternal food supply for me, that I can feed on every time you fill you lungs with lovely delicious air. Alas, my friend... God has marked you for death. For too long you have been a thorn in our sides. Interfering with God's Grand Designs. You death will be a message for those False Angels and the Weak, Pathetic Gods they serve... There is only one True God. The King wrapped in Crimson, and from beyond the Threshold of Quiet in the Garden of Eden, he shall claim the power so carelessly sealed away by those False Deities, and with this power he shall cast down"

They talk too much. They ALWAYS talk too much. So once I had recovered my senses a bit, I lunged at him again while he was too busy spewing that idiotic bullshit about Redlight's "Divinity" and managed to bite into his throat myself. This bite tasted of something else... Something more than Blood, meat, bone and Azoth. He grabbed the dagger in my heart and twisted it, forcing me to back off for a time while he held his throat. The fluid coming out was a mixture of black specked red and a thin, light blue liquid. He began choking and sputtering. It was really quite hilarious.

To his Credit. He charged me again hoping, perhaps, to take me down with his last breath. I quickly pulled the dagger from my own heart and jammed it into his throat, through the hand that he held there. I heard those oh-so familiar gagging noises... And he fell to his knees before me. How Ironic? Spending his last living moments on his knees before the Chosen of an Angel. Granted, I couldn't stay up much longer due to the Azoth pouring out of the hole in my chest. But no matter. He died and I lived. That is all that counts. And his flesh, blood and bone filled me and became one with my Azoth. Replacing the meat he destroyed with that dagger.

After my meal was done, I entered the Rickety Building... Some sort of old Textile Factory I think... That The Glutton had chased Nightscream and Tiger into. I found Sam standing over the corpse of The Glutton with Tiger. A hole blasted right through the hideous Crow's Head. Screamer's glock came in handy I see. Heheheheheh.

Ah... Mission Accomplished, but there is always more work to be done.

We know of ONE other noteworthy Cultist who has been Redlit. A Man going by the name Papa Legba. An Apostle of the Archangel. TIME FOR HISTORY. The Apostles have been the leading faction of the Archangel's Cult. The Timberwolves make up the body, and the Apostles are the Brain. There are ONLY 13 Apostles at any given time. Each controlling the activities of the Timberwolves in certain areas. Papa Legba is the Apostle who coordinates the Caribbean Timberwolves. The Bad news is... That is the extent of our knowledge about him. His Alias is Papa Legba, and he lives in the Caribbean. BIG HELP.

To make matters worse, The Apostles and Archangel have generally been unhelpful in regards to the Redlight situation. Which is FUCKING ANNOYING. So right now I have to sit on my ass and WAIT for an arrangement to be made with one of the other Twelve Apostles. They HAVE to know where Papa Legba is. But this isn't our only current concern. Oh No.

Those of you clever little apes paying attention, will have noticed some rather RUDE comments from everyone's favorite Serial Rapist, Serial Killer and Serial Asshole, David fucking Banks. Due to David's own GUILT complex from LETTING SCREAMER DIE, he refused to believe that Screamer is back. He thinks it is an impostor. He is of course giving NO thought to obvious things like... Oh I don't know... THERE IS NO FUCKING REASON ANYONE WOULD EVER PRETEND TO BE NIGHTSCREAM. It makes NO GODDAMN SENSE. What would the POINT be? And furthermore, I have been IN THE SAME FUCKING ROOM AS SCREAMER. Does he SERIOUSLY think I don't know what Sam looks like, sounds like and acts like?

Of course there is no reason to bother convincing him of the truth. I expect him to come find us, and when he does I am personally going to see to it that his long and storied history comes to a violent end. I am going to dump his body in a shallow grave of trash and filth and let it rot away to dust. He will be dead, gone and forgotten. And No One will Care.

Training

Combat Training. Two words which are spoken in hushed tones, with feelings of dread and fear by Proxies everywhere. There is a very good reason for this, of course. Heheheheheh. We are not known for our restraint, you see. So I can only imagine what is going through Screamer's head right now.

You see ladies and gentlemen... Nightscream has been cooped up in that Castle for a LONG time now, suffering such terrible tortures... Bottom line is that Screamer's body is weaker than it should be, and it's reflexes dulled. Since we do not want Screamer to DIE again, we have decided to put Screamer through some... Refresher courses. Courtesy of myself and my good friend Crouching Tiger. We are starting out easy, of course... No weapons. But I must say, it feels good to punch... Nightscream in the face, and have it be utterly unable to do anything about it. Quite the role reversal. Screamer was one of my first combat instructors, teaching me how NOT TO GET MY ASS HANDED TO ME. Very educational stuff, that I will not be revealing on here for obvious reasons.

Tiger assures me that Screamer will be up to par within the Month. Who am I to doubt a man who can break a person in half with his bare hands.

Tomorrow we will be arriving in Enemy Territory. The Glutton's nest. Formerly Nest territory, the nest and all it's Nests were wiped out by The Glutton, himself a former Nest... Who, according to all reports, is not currently showing signs of Redlight Manifestation. Unfortunate, really, but we are not about to leave this thing unchecked. If Redlight will not appear, we will kill off all his possible bodies one by one. And when he has none left, he will be trapped forever in that Godless Realm. Heheheheheh. Death might be more merciful than that.

The hunger has been bad lately. I need to start KILLING more. All I can think about during my down time is delicious, delicious meats and gravy... Roast and grease and fats and raw bloody marrow and hot chewy red bloody meat... The Glutton will be a good meal. Poultry plus Long Pork... Ah... But how should I prepare him? Grilled? Fry him up? Baked maybe? I don't often eat baked food... Or should it be raw again... I never get tired of that taste and texture... The feel of hot, red blood running down my mouth...

No. No. NO. I have it. It needs Cheese. TIME FOR A TRIP TO THE STORE.

A New Party Member

Well. Miracles have happened before... A Lot of miracles actually. Should have seen this coming... I mean, if someone like ME was brought back, surely Nightscream would be too. I mean that would only make sense. Screamer was always better at... Basically anything not involving leveling a building. So it makes sense for Screamer to be brought back which, of course, is why they did it. Otherwise it would just be fucking unfair, right?

Welcome Back Screamer.

And just in time too... For you see my friends, Redlight is branching out. The Redlit up until this point were purely Proxies or Runners or unlucky Norms. The Other Cultists were fairly safe from.. Scarlet Fever. Heheheheh. But no more... We have a confirmed Nest, and Apostle among the Reds. Nasty ones too...

The current problem was born Adrian Corby. We know him as "The Glutton." Born in 1955, with several unfortunate physical deformities... He was cast out and left in the wild to die. Then we have no idea what happens for a while. Then he became a Nest, and one of the more dangerous and psychotic ones. At least of the ones I am aware of anyway. Apparently he thinks he is a Bird. Specifically a Crow. POP QUIZ. What are the implications of a man thinking he is a Crow. Here is a hint. Think on his Diet.

Now, the REASON this a problem for us, is that we suspect Redlight might try to... Manifest again. This time in the body of something with actual defenses. As you might have guessed, this is not a Good Thing. So Proxy Bob, Nightscream and Myself will be going out to DEAL with this little problem. I of course will not be letting Screamer off a tight leash, since it looks like Screamer is a BIT rusty and... Well. Not mentally back to normal yet. An indeterminate amount of time suffering total agony in the Castle of a God of Disease will do that to you. But I am sure this will be GREAT practice. Screamer will be back to 100% in NO TIME. Pity we can't get new pet Ravens for it though... Then again, I never really cared for the old ones. Annoying, mean spirited little flying pests.

But AH. Where are my Manners here. Most of you are NEW, young and ignorant. Practically have the Attention span of Goldfish. You don't even know who Screamer IS do you? WELL let me educate you.

Nightscream, AKA Sam Freeman, AKA Sam Prescott. Former History Teacher turned Psychopathic Killer Proxy. My Mentor in the art of killing and torturing, though I confess I was never as good as Screamer at either art. Screamer was a MASTER of Psychological Torment, manipulating countless of you adorable little Runners to a painful death. Sometimes worse. Heheheh.

Unfortunately all that went to waste after Redlight reappeared. He took a liking to Screamer, which I assure you is NEVER a Good Thing. At the end of it... Redlight had tortured Nightscream to the point of suicidal insanity. David Banks decided to take care of Nightscream, since I was dead at the time, but naturally failed, and let Nightscream die...

Then, during my little visit to the Castle, I ran into an Afflicted who was wearing the remains of Screamer's signature Bladed Gauntlet. Screamer had pissed off the Plague Doctor a while back, manipulating circumstances to force a confrontation between Father and The Plague Doctor. We thought the Doctor backed off after that but... You can't defeat a God. One way or another...

Doesn't really matter anymore does it? All the matters now is that Screamer is back. Back, smiling, plotting and in the game once more. I can only imagine what kind of corpses the Feds will be finding soon. I am good. But Screamer is an artist. This is going to be so much FUN.

WHAT THE FUCK...

... IS THIS?

BRB GOING BACK TO AMERICA TO KICK SOME HACKER PRETENDER'S ASS.