Episode II: The Hunt BeginsACT I, SCENE I:
The PC's arrive in Elkhorn and unload at All Thumbs, aiming to take a little break before asking around town about the Beast. While the others fetch a drink and stretch their legs after the long drive, Angelita starts right in on the locals. After her first inquiry she's directed right on over to Karen Witten, the bartender who apparently works part time at the local newspaper as well. Karen, she's told, knows all about the Beast and has written several articles on the subject. Felicity and Dusty are on hand to get the details, though they let Angelita run the interview. Angelita meanwhile fronts herself as an author, researching the Beast of Bray Road for an upcoming novel. (Angelita is in fact a published author, although of the heaving bosoms romance variety.)
Karen is very forthcoming and the conversation goes on for a short while. Right away there's an notable oddity in that the creature described doesn't match the lore the PC's know about werewolves, as they typically don't run about on all fours. It would seem they're dealing with something other than a werewolf, perhaps some other form of animal shape shifter. Angelita and the other PC's quickly pick up the name Stan Cleary as the victim of the Beast's latest assault, as well as LeeAnn Robinson, the witness to the attack. The Beast is also supposed to have chased some local girls since then, after they came upon it hiding in a garage. Again the descriptions of the Beast in both instances don't match up well. The girls describing it as a "hairy man" and LeeAnn Robinson describing it more as a "scrawny bear".
The interview with Witten is cut short when a bald-headed, tattoo-sporting motorcycle type barrels through the door of the bar, yelling at Karen Witten and accusing her of infidelity. When he shoves Angelita out of the way to yell at Karen Witten more directly, Dusty steps in and the man swiftly turns his attention to him. With Karen screaming that "Tugg" is crazy and is going to get her fired, it's clear the PC's are looking at some kind of domestic disturbance.
Luther is on his feet in the background, ready to intervene. Felicity isn't about to have any part of a bar brawl, expecting that Angelita will be able to diffuse the situation. Randy's off to the side, ready to jump in if things get physical between this "Tugg" fellah and Dusty. Angelita attempts to calm Tugg down and prevent a blow up between he and Dusty, who's still in the man's personal space, but Dusty's Crude manner quickly pushes the already furious Tugg over the edge.
Tugg throws a swing at Dusty and, due to the first combat roll of the session being a Fumble on Dusty's part, he's not only hit but knocked straight backward, landing on his butt atop a table behind him. Which then promptly flips over and deposits him face down in a very awkward position. People start laughing and everything. It's pretty embarrassing.
Luther has the Initiative for the first turn and stalks right up behind Tugg to grapple him. Tugg hears him coming and dodges, leading to the two grappling a bit before Luther finally has a good hold on him. Felicity, in the face of all the juvenile bar room brawling, isn't having any of it and backs off, tossing her hands up in the air in disgust. While Dusty is working hard to reorient himself (unable to otherwise act this turn) Randy's got himself good and angry over his drinking buddy's treatment. He takes advantage of Luther's hold on Tugg to lay a jaw-cracking haymaker on him, instantly knocking the fight out of Tugg and leaving him KO in Luther's arms.
Unfortunately the info gathering is over for now at the All Thumbs, as Karen's reduced to cursing and tending to her drunken loudmouth hubby. The PC's collect Dusty and shuffle out before they can do any further damage.
ACT I, SCENE II:
With the names of Stan Cleary and LeeAnn Robinson to work with the PC's split up to do some rooting around. A quick check with the local white pages via Angelita's wireless laptop gives the addresses and the PC's head off. Going first to the local library, Angelita and Luther drop the other three off to do research on werewolves and the Beast of Bray Road while they head first to LeeAnn Robinson's home, intending to hit the school at the final bell.
From Mrs. Robinson, Angelita gets the basic information on the incident with Stan Cleary easily enough, leaving she and Luther with lots of spare time before school let's out. She hits the internet again and gets several possible addresses for Stan Cleary, leaving the two to ask around town a bit. Angelita gets the street name on her first inquiry, matches it with her list and the two drive over to interview Stan's mother. It's clear near immediately that the mother didn't have a lot of involvement in her son's life and they aren't able to get any significant info out of her. Luther and Angelita then head for the school to wait for the last bell, lacking any other avenues just yet.
At the library Dusty's Personal Haunting kicks in with his ghost making a fuss after the first half hour. Without Angelita on hand to do the talking they fail to convince the librarian it isn't them making all the noise (especially with Dusty's bruised mug giving him such a dubious appearance). They do manage to convince her to boot only one of them out though rather than the whole group. Dusty then ends up on a public bench across the street, cooling his heels (which is fine with him as it gives him the opportunity to be Lazy). Felicity and Randy continue their research, digging up a lot of info on the Beast in the process.
ACT I, SCENE III:
At the school, once the final bell has rung, Angelita and Luther catch a small group of football players as they leave. Angelita is able to get a wealth of info from them concerning Stan Cleary as they all seem smitten with her to one degree or another. They now have indications that Stan Cleary was the overly jealous beau of Leah Hartley, one of the cheerleaders supposedly chased by the Beast after Stan's death, and that he was involved in the beating of another classmate as a result, one Dwayne Ward. He was apparently involved in three other fights prior, similarly instigated. They also meet Jim Whitmore, Stan's best friend, who doesn't seem especially disturbed at his friend's gruesome death.
In the process of her interview with the teens the two Hunters gain the attention of one of the teachers, who intervenes on the student's behalf and more or less shoo's the two off the school grounds. They do spot an odd looking tattoo on the teacher's arm which both of them recognize as a design with roots in one of the local Native American tribes. They also spot a trio of cheerleaders watching them from the sidelines as they leave.
Driving around to the library they pick up Dusty outside, lazing about after being booted from the library. Felicity and Randy soon join them and they head out for the local PD. There they find the officers politely decline to discuss the case with anyone, even with noted romance novelists. Angelita picks out one of the more attractive officers to pour the charms on with and snags a few small details, which seem to support an animal attack of some kind. From the descriptions the officer provides it would seem to be an unusually powerful creature. Sensing the officer is still a bit shook up from the incident, Angelita pushes a little more, providing assurances of anonymity and lots of flirting. Deputy Bill Rogan eventually confides in her that he caught a vague glimpse of something difficult to describe bounding away from his headlights as he approached the scene.
The PC's leave the PD before they bring any further attention to themselves there and head off to find a hotel room to crash in while in town. Angelita makes a point to try to get the Deputy's phone number before she leaves but finds out he's married, leaving her a little miffed. At the hotel Dusty drops a salt line at the door and windows of the hotel room, hoping to keep his haunting at bay for the night.
ACT II, SCENE I:
Later that evening the PC's hear police sirens fly by the hotel to some point just a few blocks away. Stepping outside to take a peek they can spot flashing lights and a lot of activity down by the school. After consulting for a moment they load up and drive down to get a better look. Around the corner from all the commotion they unload and approach as close as they're able, as the police are already cordoning the area off around what's clearly the site of a violent incident of some sort. Paramedics are on the scene recovering a body and blood splatters are clearly visible around the bench the police are milling around. Overhearing some radio traffic between cops on the scene and their dispatch it would seem the young lady involved in the incident, who apparently called police to the scene, can't be found.
The PC's all flub Alertness + Perception checks and Randy, the last in the line to roll, drops 2 PP on his Alertness + Survival/Tracking. He spots faint tracks, both human and animal, leading off in one direction from the scene. Moving discreetly the PC's try to pick up the tracks again further away, hopefully where they won't come to the attention of the officers working nearby. Randy picks them up again and follows them, loosing the trail intermittently, until they're several blocks away. Finally he loses the trail completely.
When Randy proves unable to pick up the trail again, they return to the scene to let Angelita try to get something from one of the cops there. Dusty drops 3 PP to spot Deputy Bill Rogan working and points him out to Angelita. She then gets his attention and drops 3 PP to get him talking (scoring an Extraordinary Success). From him they learn that Leah Hartley made the call and that the dead kid is none other than Jim Whitmore, who she claimed was attacked by the Beast. He did indeed seem to have been savaged by some animal or another. They're having trouble locating Leah though, who apparently made the call from her cell phone while on the run from the Beast.
Heading back down the road they try to pick up Leah and the Beast's trail again but still have no luck. Eventually, when it's begun to look like a lost cause, Felicity drops 3 PP to find Leah's jacket having been dropped in the bushes as she fled. She then reluctantly confesses to the others than she sometimes has visions when handling objects familiar to other people. The PC's then jump on her immediately to make the attempt with Leah's jacket. She drops 2 more PP on the attempt but fails to get anything.
Felicity proves extremely reluctant to use her Clairvoyant powers and requires encouragement for a second attempt. When that fails as well Angelita makes a stirring speech to convince her to try one more time for Leah's sake, who may be in mortal danger. Felicity finally gets a vague image of Leah and another cheerleader friend huddled in a garage somewhere, smoking a cigarette and whispering. The PC's immediately fan out, moving quietly and listening at all the garage doors nearby until Luther detects faint sounds of the two frightened girls talking in hushed tones inside one just down the block.
ACT II, SCENE II:
Gathering around the garage door Angelita tries to contact Leah through the door to talk her out. The PC's soon detect the sound of the side door opening around the corner and when they scoot around to look, spot Leah and her friend sneaking out the back. Once they've been spotted both squeal and dash for the neighbor's backyard.
Luther immediately runs forward to grapple one of the girls, hoping he's nabbed Leah. He grabs her easily but her frightened scream prompts the Beast, watching from the woods nearby, to leap out and jump Luther.
Luther manages to keep his feet when the Beast slams into him but Leah is knocked free and onto the ground. Following up with a vicious bite the Beast drops Luther immediately after all, with a -2 step Wound penalty and a badly gashed left leg. He's forced to make an Endurance check to keep from passing out right away, though he pulls it off.
Randy promptly turns and runs for the SUV, springing the back hatch and grabbing the first rifle he can lay hands to (hoping it has silver bullet's chambered). Felicity, realizing the extreme danger that Luther's in, drops her last PP in a desperate attempt to frighten the creature off. She swings Leah's jacket around and yells at the Beast (making use of her Faith asset for a Willpower boost) but doesn't faze the Beast in the slightest.
While Mandy and Leah are freaking out and screaming their heads off, Dusty makes a daring running tackle on the Beast. He makes the grapple on the fly and rolls with the Beast in his arms, getting it clear of Luther but now open to attack by the Beast next turn. Angelita dashes for the back of the SUV alongside Randy to grab something to shoot with.
On the following turn Luther still has Initiative but is too badly wounded to help out in the fight much. He simply does his best to roll out of the way and flubs his second Endurance check in the process. He's KO as well as taking more damage from rolling around while bleeding. The Beast then turns his attention to Dusty, who's grappling him and now an Easy target. It lays in on him, scoring two vicious bites that knock Dusty KO right off the bat.
Randy finally has a rifle shouldered and luckily picked the one loaded with silver rounds. He fires off three shots at the Beast, dropping all 4 of his remaining PP on the first two shots. The first two shots hit the Beast hard but the last fumbles...hitting Dusty and putting him in danger of dying.
Felicity drops Leah's jacket and rushes to Luther, the only one of the two wounded men she can get to. She slaps pressure on his wounded leg to stop further bleeding, administering First Aid. Dusty's now KO and can't act, so Angelita's Initiative point comes up, the last in line before the Beast acts again. She fires off three shots and hits the Beast twice, though she wasn't lucky enough to grab a silver-loaded rifle.
On the last turn Luther's out cold so the Beast takes his Initiative and wisely runs for the wounds, visibly limping and badly wounded but still moving quickly enough to get out of the sight before anyone else can shoot at him. Angelita drops her rifle to run over to Dusty, administering First Aid to him as well while Felicity continues working on Luther.
With the Beast gone, Felicity and Angelita work on the two fallen men and Randy uses his cell phone to call for an ambulance. Angelita manages to calm down the two cheerleaders a bit while working on Dusty and the PC's discover that Leah's convinced that the Beast is Dwayne Ward.
When the police arrive moments later they discover the sheriff has announced that a "rabid coyote" is on the loose, terrorizing folks and has called on local hunters to help put it down. Luther and Dusty are soon whisked away by paramedics to the local hospital and the PC's follow once the police finish questioning them.
ACT II, Scene III:
After assuring themselves that Luther and Dusty will be alright in the care of the hospital personnel, the remaining PC's put their heads together and eventually decide to load up and track down the Beast before any local hunters get themselves mauled. The trio head out to the SUV and back to the spot where Luther and Dusty were attacked. There they grab their backpacks, handguns and rifles, loading each with silver rounds. Randy then leads them into the woods, following the tracks and blood trail the Beast left in its wake.
Randy finds the Beast's trail Easy to follow until it enters a stream about ten minutes into the wood. There he loses the trail and spends a significant amount of time trying and failing to find it again. In the distance the three PC's can hear sounds of other hunters here and there out in the woods, apparently searching for the Beast as well.
The PC's quickly bump into Joey Brown, who calls them over to show them the tracks he's trailing. After consulting with him a bit they agree to pool his and Randy's tracking skills so as not to get in one another's way, since the hunter seems to be fairly level headed. Joey Brown is convinced they're tracking a large wolf of some kind rather than a "rabid coyote", which the PC's can readily attest to.
ACT III, SCENE I:
After about an hour tracking the Beast/Dwayne's tracks, the PC's hear movement on the trail up ahead and spot a huge wolf that steps out into sight and stops. Everyone has rifles trained on the creature instantly to fire but find Joey Brown holding them off. At which point all three suddenly notice other huge wolf shapes moving about in the woods all around them, baring their teeth and growling faintly.
Presently the PC's have the tale concerning the mahwêwatoni from Joey Brown and know he's the pack leader. They find out about the curse that's come over Dwayne Ward as well. When Joey Brown attempts to convince them to help him capture Dwayne, Angelita pushes him, insisting they won't help capture him alive without knowing what the pack has in mind for the kid. Specifically the insist on some assurance that Dwayne won't pose any further threat. Joey Brown finally confesses he intends to end the charm allowing the pack to take human form, and thus remove the curse that accompanies it, once they have Dwayne. Presented with a non-violent solution to the mess, Felicity agitates for acceptance of the plan and the PC's then agree to help.
ACT III, SCENE II:
With Joey and the rest of the pack on hand, the PC's are hard on Dwayne's trail again. They quickly spot him in a field nearby, as it seems he's doubled back toward town again.
Though Dwayne has since shaken off all the Stun damage from the fight with the PC's, he's still sporting the Wound damage from the silver rounds Randy hit him with. He's visibly wounded and still limping, so the PC's all hold their fire (though they Cover him) to give Joey Brown a chance to take him down. Though Dwayne sprints straight for Joey after taking the first hit, he drops before reaching him when two more darts tag him on the run.
Randy, Felicity and Angelita are on hand to witness Joey Brown change form to that of a large wolf, then stand over Dwayne while he changes fully as well (seeming to indicate Joey Brown has ended the charm over the pack). Once he's recovered and is on his feet again, the pack leader sends him off the rejoin the rest of the pack nearby, dips his head in acknowledgment to the PC's and lopes off to lead the mahwêwatoni out of the area for good.
WRAP UP:
The PC's head back to the hospital to watch over Luther and Dusty, catching them up on what's happened once they're able to sit with them. After a couple of weeks both men are released from the hospital and the PC's are aware that no further sightings of the Beast of Bray Road have occurred in the interim. They load up and head out of town, assured the mahwêwatoni won't pose any further threat to humans or themselves.
The PC's arrive in Elkhorn and unload at All Thumbs, aiming to take a little break before asking around town about the Beast. While the others fetch a drink and stretch their legs after the long drive, Angelita starts right in on the locals. After her first inquiry she's directed right on over to Karen Witten, the bartender who apparently works part time at the local newspaper as well. Karen, she's told, knows all about the Beast and has written several articles on the subject. Felicity and Dusty are on hand to get the details, though they let Angelita run the interview. Angelita meanwhile fronts herself as an author, researching the Beast of Bray Road for an upcoming novel. (Angelita is in fact a published author, although of the heaving bosoms romance variety.)
Karen is very forthcoming and the conversation goes on for a short while. Right away there's an notable oddity in that the creature described doesn't match the lore the PC's know about werewolves, as they typically don't run about on all fours. It would seem they're dealing with something other than a werewolf, perhaps some other form of animal shape shifter. Angelita and the other PC's quickly pick up the name Stan Cleary as the victim of the Beast's latest assault, as well as LeeAnn Robinson, the witness to the attack. The Beast is also supposed to have chased some local girls since then, after they came upon it hiding in a garage. Again the descriptions of the Beast in both instances don't match up well. The girls describing it as a "hairy man" and LeeAnn Robinson describing it more as a "scrawny bear".
The interview with Witten is cut short when a bald-headed, tattoo-sporting motorcycle type barrels through the door of the bar, yelling at Karen Witten and accusing her of infidelity. When he shoves Angelita out of the way to yell at Karen Witten more directly, Dusty steps in and the man swiftly turns his attention to him. With Karen screaming that "Tugg" is crazy and is going to get her fired, it's clear the PC's are looking at some kind of domestic disturbance.
Luther is on his feet in the background, ready to intervene. Felicity isn't about to have any part of a bar brawl, expecting that Angelita will be able to diffuse the situation. Randy's off to the side, ready to jump in if things get physical between this "Tugg" fellah and Dusty. Angelita attempts to calm Tugg down and prevent a blow up between he and Dusty, who's still in the man's personal space, but Dusty's Crude manner quickly pushes the already furious Tugg over the edge.
Tugg throws a swing at Dusty and, due to the first combat roll of the session being a Fumble on Dusty's part, he's not only hit but knocked straight backward, landing on his butt atop a table behind him. Which then promptly flips over and deposits him face down in a very awkward position. People start laughing and everything. It's pretty embarrassing.
Luther has the Initiative for the first turn and stalks right up behind Tugg to grapple him. Tugg hears him coming and dodges, leading to the two grappling a bit before Luther finally has a good hold on him. Felicity, in the face of all the juvenile bar room brawling, isn't having any of it and backs off, tossing her hands up in the air in disgust. While Dusty is working hard to reorient himself (unable to otherwise act this turn) Randy's got himself good and angry over his drinking buddy's treatment. He takes advantage of Luther's hold on Tugg to lay a jaw-cracking haymaker on him, instantly knocking the fight out of Tugg and leaving him KO in Luther's arms.
Unfortunately the info gathering is over for now at the All Thumbs, as Karen's reduced to cursing and tending to her drunken loudmouth hubby. The PC's collect Dusty and shuffle out before they can do any further damage.
ACT I, SCENE II:
With the names of Stan Cleary and LeeAnn Robinson to work with the PC's split up to do some rooting around. A quick check with the local white pages via Angelita's wireless laptop gives the addresses and the PC's head off. Going first to the local library, Angelita and Luther drop the other three off to do research on werewolves and the Beast of Bray Road while they head first to LeeAnn Robinson's home, intending to hit the school at the final bell.
From Mrs. Robinson, Angelita gets the basic information on the incident with Stan Cleary easily enough, leaving she and Luther with lots of spare time before school let's out. She hits the internet again and gets several possible addresses for Stan Cleary, leaving the two to ask around town a bit. Angelita gets the street name on her first inquiry, matches it with her list and the two drive over to interview Stan's mother. It's clear near immediately that the mother didn't have a lot of involvement in her son's life and they aren't able to get any significant info out of her. Luther and Angelita then head for the school to wait for the last bell, lacking any other avenues just yet.
At the library Dusty's Personal Haunting kicks in with his ghost making a fuss after the first half hour. Without Angelita on hand to do the talking they fail to convince the librarian it isn't them making all the noise (especially with Dusty's bruised mug giving him such a dubious appearance). They do manage to convince her to boot only one of them out though rather than the whole group. Dusty then ends up on a public bench across the street, cooling his heels (which is fine with him as it gives him the opportunity to be Lazy). Felicity and Randy continue their research, digging up a lot of info on the Beast in the process.
ACT I, SCENE III:
At the school, once the final bell has rung, Angelita and Luther catch a small group of football players as they leave. Angelita is able to get a wealth of info from them concerning Stan Cleary as they all seem smitten with her to one degree or another. They now have indications that Stan Cleary was the overly jealous beau of Leah Hartley, one of the cheerleaders supposedly chased by the Beast after Stan's death, and that he was involved in the beating of another classmate as a result, one Dwayne Ward. He was apparently involved in three other fights prior, similarly instigated. They also meet Jim Whitmore, Stan's best friend, who doesn't seem especially disturbed at his friend's gruesome death.
In the process of her interview with the teens the two Hunters gain the attention of one of the teachers, who intervenes on the student's behalf and more or less shoo's the two off the school grounds. They do spot an odd looking tattoo on the teacher's arm which both of them recognize as a design with roots in one of the local Native American tribes. They also spot a trio of cheerleaders watching them from the sidelines as they leave.
Driving around to the library they pick up Dusty outside, lazing about after being booted from the library. Felicity and Randy soon join them and they head out for the local PD. There they find the officers politely decline to discuss the case with anyone, even with noted romance novelists. Angelita picks out one of the more attractive officers to pour the charms on with and snags a few small details, which seem to support an animal attack of some kind. From the descriptions the officer provides it would seem to be an unusually powerful creature. Sensing the officer is still a bit shook up from the incident, Angelita pushes a little more, providing assurances of anonymity and lots of flirting. Deputy Bill Rogan eventually confides in her that he caught a vague glimpse of something difficult to describe bounding away from his headlights as he approached the scene.
The PC's leave the PD before they bring any further attention to themselves there and head off to find a hotel room to crash in while in town. Angelita makes a point to try to get the Deputy's phone number before she leaves but finds out he's married, leaving her a little miffed. At the hotel Dusty drops a salt line at the door and windows of the hotel room, hoping to keep his haunting at bay for the night.
ACT II, SCENE I:
Later that evening the PC's hear police sirens fly by the hotel to some point just a few blocks away. Stepping outside to take a peek they can spot flashing lights and a lot of activity down by the school. After consulting for a moment they load up and drive down to get a better look. Around the corner from all the commotion they unload and approach as close as they're able, as the police are already cordoning the area off around what's clearly the site of a violent incident of some sort. Paramedics are on the scene recovering a body and blood splatters are clearly visible around the bench the police are milling around. Overhearing some radio traffic between cops on the scene and their dispatch it would seem the young lady involved in the incident, who apparently called police to the scene, can't be found.
The PC's all flub Alertness + Perception checks and Randy, the last in the line to roll, drops 2 PP on his Alertness + Survival/Tracking. He spots faint tracks, both human and animal, leading off in one direction from the scene. Moving discreetly the PC's try to pick up the tracks again further away, hopefully where they won't come to the attention of the officers working nearby. Randy picks them up again and follows them, loosing the trail intermittently, until they're several blocks away. Finally he loses the trail completely.
When Randy proves unable to pick up the trail again, they return to the scene to let Angelita try to get something from one of the cops there. Dusty drops 3 PP to spot Deputy Bill Rogan working and points him out to Angelita. She then gets his attention and drops 3 PP to get him talking (scoring an Extraordinary Success). From him they learn that Leah Hartley made the call and that the dead kid is none other than Jim Whitmore, who she claimed was attacked by the Beast. He did indeed seem to have been savaged by some animal or another. They're having trouble locating Leah though, who apparently made the call from her cell phone while on the run from the Beast.
Heading back down the road they try to pick up Leah and the Beast's trail again but still have no luck. Eventually, when it's begun to look like a lost cause, Felicity drops 3 PP to find Leah's jacket having been dropped in the bushes as she fled. She then reluctantly confesses to the others than she sometimes has visions when handling objects familiar to other people. The PC's then jump on her immediately to make the attempt with Leah's jacket. She drops 2 more PP on the attempt but fails to get anything.
Felicity proves extremely reluctant to use her Clairvoyant powers and requires encouragement for a second attempt. When that fails as well Angelita makes a stirring speech to convince her to try one more time for Leah's sake, who may be in mortal danger. Felicity finally gets a vague image of Leah and another cheerleader friend huddled in a garage somewhere, smoking a cigarette and whispering. The PC's immediately fan out, moving quietly and listening at all the garage doors nearby until Luther detects faint sounds of the two frightened girls talking in hushed tones inside one just down the block.
ACT II, SCENE II:
Gathering around the garage door Angelita tries to contact Leah through the door to talk her out. The PC's soon detect the sound of the side door opening around the corner and when they scoot around to look, spot Leah and her friend sneaking out the back. Once they've been spotted both squeal and dash for the neighbor's backyard.
Luther immediately runs forward to grapple one of the girls, hoping he's nabbed Leah. He grabs her easily but her frightened scream prompts the Beast, watching from the woods nearby, to leap out and jump Luther.
Luther manages to keep his feet when the Beast slams into him but Leah is knocked free and onto the ground. Following up with a vicious bite the Beast drops Luther immediately after all, with a -2 step Wound penalty and a badly gashed left leg. He's forced to make an Endurance check to keep from passing out right away, though he pulls it off.
Randy promptly turns and runs for the SUV, springing the back hatch and grabbing the first rifle he can lay hands to (hoping it has silver bullet's chambered). Felicity, realizing the extreme danger that Luther's in, drops her last PP in a desperate attempt to frighten the creature off. She swings Leah's jacket around and yells at the Beast (making use of her Faith asset for a Willpower boost) but doesn't faze the Beast in the slightest.
While Mandy and Leah are freaking out and screaming their heads off, Dusty makes a daring running tackle on the Beast. He makes the grapple on the fly and rolls with the Beast in his arms, getting it clear of Luther but now open to attack by the Beast next turn. Angelita dashes for the back of the SUV alongside Randy to grab something to shoot with.
On the following turn Luther still has Initiative but is too badly wounded to help out in the fight much. He simply does his best to roll out of the way and flubs his second Endurance check in the process. He's KO as well as taking more damage from rolling around while bleeding. The Beast then turns his attention to Dusty, who's grappling him and now an Easy target. It lays in on him, scoring two vicious bites that knock Dusty KO right off the bat.
Randy finally has a rifle shouldered and luckily picked the one loaded with silver rounds. He fires off three shots at the Beast, dropping all 4 of his remaining PP on the first two shots. The first two shots hit the Beast hard but the last fumbles...hitting Dusty and putting him in danger of dying.
Felicity drops Leah's jacket and rushes to Luther, the only one of the two wounded men she can get to. She slaps pressure on his wounded leg to stop further bleeding, administering First Aid. Dusty's now KO and can't act, so Angelita's Initiative point comes up, the last in line before the Beast acts again. She fires off three shots and hits the Beast twice, though she wasn't lucky enough to grab a silver-loaded rifle.
On the last turn Luther's out cold so the Beast takes his Initiative and wisely runs for the wounds, visibly limping and badly wounded but still moving quickly enough to get out of the sight before anyone else can shoot at him. Angelita drops her rifle to run over to Dusty, administering First Aid to him as well while Felicity continues working on Luther.
With the Beast gone, Felicity and Angelita work on the two fallen men and Randy uses his cell phone to call for an ambulance. Angelita manages to calm down the two cheerleaders a bit while working on Dusty and the PC's discover that Leah's convinced that the Beast is Dwayne Ward.
When the police arrive moments later they discover the sheriff has announced that a "rabid coyote" is on the loose, terrorizing folks and has called on local hunters to help put it down. Luther and Dusty are soon whisked away by paramedics to the local hospital and the PC's follow once the police finish questioning them.
ACT II, Scene III:
After assuring themselves that Luther and Dusty will be alright in the care of the hospital personnel, the remaining PC's put their heads together and eventually decide to load up and track down the Beast before any local hunters get themselves mauled. The trio head out to the SUV and back to the spot where Luther and Dusty were attacked. There they grab their backpacks, handguns and rifles, loading each with silver rounds. Randy then leads them into the woods, following the tracks and blood trail the Beast left in its wake.
Randy finds the Beast's trail Easy to follow until it enters a stream about ten minutes into the wood. There he loses the trail and spends a significant amount of time trying and failing to find it again. In the distance the three PC's can hear sounds of other hunters here and there out in the woods, apparently searching for the Beast as well.
The PC's quickly bump into Joey Brown, who calls them over to show them the tracks he's trailing. After consulting with him a bit they agree to pool his and Randy's tracking skills so as not to get in one another's way, since the hunter seems to be fairly level headed. Joey Brown is convinced they're tracking a large wolf of some kind rather than a "rabid coyote", which the PC's can readily attest to.
ACT III, SCENE I:
After about an hour tracking the Beast/Dwayne's tracks, the PC's hear movement on the trail up ahead and spot a huge wolf that steps out into sight and stops. Everyone has rifles trained on the creature instantly to fire but find Joey Brown holding them off. At which point all three suddenly notice other huge wolf shapes moving about in the woods all around them, baring their teeth and growling faintly.
Presently the PC's have the tale concerning the mahwêwatoni from Joey Brown and know he's the pack leader. They find out about the curse that's come over Dwayne Ward as well. When Joey Brown attempts to convince them to help him capture Dwayne, Angelita pushes him, insisting they won't help capture him alive without knowing what the pack has in mind for the kid. Specifically the insist on some assurance that Dwayne won't pose any further threat. Joey Brown finally confesses he intends to end the charm allowing the pack to take human form, and thus remove the curse that accompanies it, once they have Dwayne. Presented with a non-violent solution to the mess, Felicity agitates for acceptance of the plan and the PC's then agree to help.
ACT III, SCENE II:
With Joey and the rest of the pack on hand, the PC's are hard on Dwayne's trail again. They quickly spot him in a field nearby, as it seems he's doubled back toward town again.
Though Dwayne has since shaken off all the Stun damage from the fight with the PC's, he's still sporting the Wound damage from the silver rounds Randy hit him with. He's visibly wounded and still limping, so the PC's all hold their fire (though they Cover him) to give Joey Brown a chance to take him down. Though Dwayne sprints straight for Joey after taking the first hit, he drops before reaching him when two more darts tag him on the run.
Randy, Felicity and Angelita are on hand to witness Joey Brown change form to that of a large wolf, then stand over Dwayne while he changes fully as well (seeming to indicate Joey Brown has ended the charm over the pack). Once he's recovered and is on his feet again, the pack leader sends him off the rejoin the rest of the pack nearby, dips his head in acknowledgment to the PC's and lopes off to lead the mahwêwatoni out of the area for good.
WRAP UP:
The PC's head back to the hospital to watch over Luther and Dusty, catching them up on what's happened once they're able to sit with them. After a couple of weeks both men are released from the hospital and the PC's are aware that no further sightings of the Beast of Bray Road have occurred in the interim. They load up and head out of town, assured the mahwêwatoni won't pose any further threat to humans or themselves.