SAVING BOSTON PART 1: The Search for Spellbound

“Great, this definitely won’t stand out in a crowd.” Warden thought to himself, looking over his “fixed” helmet. He slid the helmet back on anyways, not wanting to be rude, as she did fix the dent for him. “Thank you.” He said, giving Sage a bow of his head.  

“I don’t suppose any of you are interested in looking into this vampire matter more deeply? See how the locals live, and perhaps find clues to their whereabouts. If they are truly the ones in power, then it might be the key to restoring Boston to normal and think of all the obscene power, resources and wealth their positions afford them…”

Warden then watched as the Steampunk man made a small scene, batting a gemstone off into the distance.  

“Keep your riches...” Warden stated to Sage. “The safety of Boston is top priority here.”  

He looked over the maps the woman in magic armor pulled out. “Sounds like your typical high table...” He explained. “Top dogs of the criminal underground, run everything from the shadows, sending orders down a chain of command...” He pulled out his own maps and various other papers, walking over to a nearby bench with a table, setting them down for the others. “They have eyes and ears everywhere, and are damn near impossible to track down...” He set some drawings down over the map, depicting various sketches of people, as well as names and information. Each paper also had a large red X plastered across each of them. “Every time one manages to find a loose thread, they are quickly taken care of, leaving no trace of their existence, and the thread is quickly burned, making it useless to follow.”  

Warden waited for a moment, letting the difficulty of their situation sink in, before devising his own plan. “Back when I was in the Special Forces, we had to hunt down a former KGB assassin, who had taken refuge in central America, hiding in the jungle...” He pulled out a piece of charcoal, marking areas on his map. “The Army had spent months trying to track him, and lost an entire battalion of men in the hunt...” He crossed his arms, looking over his new notes. “Me and my unit ended up finding him in two weeks.”

“How did you end up finding him??” Victoria asked, looking over his map, comparing it to hers.  

Warden looked up at them. “Simple, we burned the jungle down, until he had nowhere else to hide.” He nodded to his map. “I’ve marked down every criminal operation I currently know about, drug storage, weapons cache, cash drops, the works...” He looked back to the map. “We torch each facility, taking nothing, leaving them nothing to recover...” He paused. “Eventually, they will be forced to withdraw whatever is left, until they lose enough ground, that the big bosses have no choice but to either cut all ties with Boston, or come after us...” He looked up to the group. “And if they leave, they lose the powers they were given from this place, so odds are they will make a final stand.”  

He looked among the group, knowing he just asked them to participate in burning down an entire criminal operation, and the risks that come along with it.

James demonstrated his ability on Sage’s offered gem, charging it with energy then sending it flying over a populated area. The inhabitants of the city will likely think little of it as no more than another supernatural weather phenomenon, small matter considering they were in Eugenia.

“I hope that didn’t wake anyone up.” Sage said simply, only slightly worried it might draw undue attention, watching as the lit gem fade from view.

Sage took a moment to study the maps provided by Victoria. Some of the areas had been built up, and would have been a place where a blood thirsty vampire would conveniently lair, at least, based on her knowledge of the blood suckers. “Were you able to probe any hidden chambers, any underground tunnels? Perhaps my talents would merit a second investigation.”

After that, Warden proposed a bold plan to move against the vampire’s assets directly. Sage offers one of her tried and true methods of ruining other people’s business.

“I have a favorite trick that almost never fails to rile up tempers.” Sage volunteers, and procures a gold coin from the purse hidden within the many folds of her robe. She lets it dance along her fingers, and, when it returns to between her thumb and index, it was now a piece of lead. “For any civilized society that relies on precious metal, economic sabotage becomes a trifle matter. Whatever valuables they have, I can liberate.”

“The plan will certainly disturb the hornet’s nest.” Sage studied the map of the towns, making studied guesses based on population density, traffic and the potential for commerce. “I recommend we start with this one… a large tavern, surrounded by a larger slum area. Concentrations of life, and discreet wealth are usually found near such businesses. And I can scout underground to confirm the presence of illicit activities… One of you can accompany me, while the others observe what happens on the surface. Does any wish to oppose this plan of action?”

Victoria chose to ignore the homerun swing James did and was thankful her helmet hid the fact that she was rolling her eyes.

'He is going to draw a lot of attention to us for sure...'

“Were you able to probe any hidden chambers, any underground tunnels? Perhaps my talents would merit a second investigation." The reptilian wizard asked.

Victoria nodded as she pointed an armored glove to various small red circles with exclamation marks inside them. Some had more than one.

"There are a few noteworthy areas here, here...and here."

She pointed to circles with 3 or more marks.

"Most of these are in what used to be sewers and spillways. It seems that when Boston changed it turned all of them into these weird death traps. I think people called them dungeons..."

She shook her head over the silly name.

"Regardless, each of them had a lot of monsters or demented people living in them. I scouted where I could and found some hidden places but nothing that gave clues on where to find Eugene."

"However..." She traced her finger on some connecting red lines between the various circles.

"Of the dungeons I searched they all had hidden corridors connecting them. The whole thing is a sprawling underground network of monsters and traps."

"Maybe we could travel using these if we are trying not to get noticed?"

She looked towards Warden.

"I'm not sure going openly against the vampires is the right call. Logic and physics no longer make sense here and there is all this magic nonsense. You are right though. Our best bet is to see what the vampires know."

Victoria looked towards everyone appraisingly.

"If we are going to work together we need to know what we all bring to the table. I can't work with someone I have no idea what they can do."

She jerked a thumb towards herself.

"I'm very fast and my armor controls gravity. Outside I can't keep up my speed for long but Eugenia did something to me so I'm not sure if that's still the case."

She looks inquisitively at everyone.

James was coming down from his home-run high when the conversation finally caught up with him. Hearing “If we are going to work together we need to know what we all bring to the table. I can't work with someone I have no idea what they can do." Snapped him back in, causing his eyes to dart directly to the suit lady. After she finished her pitch, he waited a moment for someone else to speak up. When no one did, he took a step forward. He chuckled to himself as he looked back at the sky and then back to her.
“Not sure if my little record-breaking hit was much to show but I’ll do my little pitch anyways.” He spun his club one more time before he popped it into the holster he was so glad was still on his back. He took two steps forward and cleared his throat before he spoke up.
“In case I didn't introduce myself but I got by Gearhead back home. Though If you can blow smoke and stab people good, I guess you call me ‘Gear-boy. ’ He chuckled to himself a little before stopping himself and continuing. “I might not look it but I’m a pro with a hammer and wrench, which means I’m great for improving, repairing, or destroying any equipment or object you need.” He removes the hammer from his belt and gives it a little to his club. The clank echoes around the square before he slips it back on his belt.

“I’m really good with electricity if it wasn’t obvious by now but I can use it for many things. This means I can go from this:” He calmly touches the air as little sparks buzz and fizzle out with every touch “to this” He suddenly punches the air three more times, with every punch landing, a massive flair bursts off his fists in quick succession. With a throat clear he looks around before finishing with “The club is just there for extra damage.”
He looked around at his new companions a little before flashing a bit of a cocky eyebrow raise.
“None of that impresses you huh? Fine, I have the cherry on top.” He pulls out a pen & paper and starts writing something down. “I’m considered very intelligent-minded outside there in the real world.” He continues to jot something down before he stops and looks around at his new friends. “Strategy and planning is a massive plus, especially if it has anything to do with systems and mechanisms.” He finishes his notes before he pulls out a tiny bit of metal and wood from his bag. He starts mixing them all together until a cloud of magic explodes from his hands. He holds out his new invention to reveal a tiny device. Upon hitting a tiny switch on it, the machine roars to life as gears and pulleys move and twist until a scroll in the top slowly unravels revealing a crude drawing of the square around them with four sharp figures standing around a statue. “I could do more but I’m running low on materials.”

He starts putting everything away as he finishes up his pitch before he walks over and sits down on the bench with his eyes looking around at the skyline in the distance.
“This isn’t really about me personally but I still think it’s important to mention. I have an ally running around here who might be smart to use his help if we ever bump into him.” He cracks his knuckles a little bit as his eyes start to look back around at the group. “His name is Puff, Don’t ask, and you will definitely recognize him for several reasons. The Small of Sulfer coming from him, His fiery personality, The fact he looks like a guy with his hair on fire.”
He leans back and looks over at Victoria. “Not sure if any of that really answers your question but I certainly did my best.” He flashes her a little smile before turning his head to look at the other two.