Dawn of Heroes

[X] Hold irregular meeting to keep on the same page with each other, but work independently.

You and Sergeant Brown decide to hold irregular meetings in the hand. Neither of you are comfortable working too closely with each other right now, but you both agree that you need more coordination than just meeting up whenever anything big comes up. Using the pub as a meeting place, you agree to arrange meetings as needed rather than sticking to a schedule. At your suggestion, Sergeant Brown will mention to Lydia when he will be visiting here and she will be able to reliable pass on the information to you, letting you know when to meet Sergeant Brown here.

Before the two of you part ways, Sergeant Brown made sure to share what information he had with you. Given how extensive and complete it is, you can see why Sergeant Brown was desperate enough to come to you for help if what he had so far wasn't enough to take down Anna Lucas and the Dragonsteeth.

The Dragonsteeth engage in a number of crimes from protection rackets to smuggling to fencing their contraband and stolen goods from other gangs that had begun to form in the Night's absence and had yet to properly establish themselves. From what Sergeant Brown can tell you, you are certain that there has to be corruption in the ranks of the local law enforcement to allow Anna Lucas to escape the consequences of her actions. Given what you have found out about the Consortium's influence in the country's government, you have no trouble believing that they also have influence in the city's law enforcement.

On the bright side, you got plenty of opportunities to take down Anna Lucas and the Dragonsteeth. Sergeant Brown is limited by both his need to stay within the confines of the law and his own human limitations. You have neither of those because as you are a vigilante, you don't need to obey the technicalities of the law and as the daughter of the Queen of Faeries, you are not restricted to mundane limits.

For all of the information that Sergeant Brown has gathered, he lacks two things. The first is something which ties it back to the Dragonsteeth. He has the details on their operations, but only circumstantial evidence when it comes to pinning them with the responsibility for the crimes committed. He needs you to find the proof which links his evidence to Anna Lucas and her gang.

The second thing that Sergeant Brown lacks is info on where Anna Lucas lives and what her regular habits are. While he has been able to collect extensive information on the Dragonsteeth via various means, their leader has managed to elude him. He has some information on her, but nothing concrete and barely anything personal. If you details on Anna Lucas, you will need to dig them up yourself.

You could go after one of their criminal operations, hitting it up for evidence to link it back to the Dragonsteeth and either leaving it for the police to deal with or shutting it down yourself. From Sergeant Brown's information, you can pick out a few prominent targets.

The first is the main smuggling dock that the gang uses, either bringing foreign goods or getting them out of the British Isles. It isn't a major dock, but it does make up a decent portion of their known income so while it wouldn't cripple the gang, shutting it down would make the Dragonsteeth bleed.

The second is their fencing operations. Spread across a few different locations, the Dragonsteeth have a rightfully earnt reputation for being reliable fencers for illegal goods. Not only do they fence their own contraband, but they offer their services to other gangs for a small fee and to cement their influence and prominence. Knocking out their fencing operations would not only hurt the pockets of the Dragonsteeth, but it harm their reputation and influence with the other gangs.

A third target is a gambling den where the gang provides less than illegal venues of gambling where they regularly cheat their guests alongside some perfectly legal venues of gambling where they regularly cheat their quests. Decently profitable for the gang, it also provides them with a cover for some other illegal activities such as money laundering.

Another possible route of attack is by going after the people. Beyond herself, there are a few prominent and influential members of the gangs whose absence would be sorely missed. Taking out one or two of them would definitely hurt the Dragonsteeth thanks to the resulting disruption to their operations and powerplays amongst their members.

The first of these targets is the chief enforcer of the Dragonsteeth, one Levy Porter. A lean, but deadly thug, the man has racked up several unproven murders on his record. Yet you are certain that he is no match for a warrior of your calibre. Taking him out would not only leave other members of the gang fighting with each other for his position, but removing such a dangerous asset would weaken the gang overall.

The second target is a sub-boss, an elderly man by the name of Marco Hoffman. While no fighter, Hoffman has a head for numbers and with his seniority and authority within the gang, he handles much of their finances. If you were to remove him one way or another, it would leave the Dragonsteeth's finances in shambles.

The last major person to target within the Dragonsteeth is Anna Lucas herself. The leader of the gang, Anna Lucas is not only a ruthlessly effective leader, but she has proven herself a dangerous fighter over the years. You are confident in your ability to take her, but she would be no pushover. Of course, you would need to find her first and find enough incriminating evidence for her to be arrested. This is something of a difficulty as unlike the other leaders within the Dragonsteeth, Sergeant Brown has little on Anna Lucas. You will need to acquire this information on your own.

Sergeant Brown has also found a couple of other opportunities for you to take advantage of. The first is that there is a disloyal sub-boss in the Dragonsteeth. Cliff Gregory has his own ambitions and seeks to seize control of the Dragonsteeth from Anna Lucas, but has yet to build up enough support. If you were to take out enough street soldiers loyal to Anna Lucas whilst leaving Cliff's own supporters untouched, the sub-boss would make his own move, plunging the gang into infighting. This would not only weaken the gang, but it would provide more opportunities for Sergeant Brown to nail the Dragonsteeth and its leaders on his own.

The last option open to you is to sneak into a party that Anna Lucas is covertly throwing. It is coming close to a year since the Night vanished and Anna Lucas is throwing a little party to celebrate. Several influential members of the Dragonsteeth are invited and there will also be prominent members of other gangs attending as well. There might even be a member of the Consortium in attendance.

Sergeant Brown can get you an invitation to it, either on your own or as someone's date. You wouldn't need to worry about your identity thanks to your shapeshifting while Talatine and Torlyn can be summoned to you at will. If you don't feel like attending as an invited guest, you can always crash it as an uninvited guest.

Regardless of how you enter the party, it would be a symbolic statement on your part should you reveal yourself. The Night might be gone, but the scum and lowlifes of London still need to worry about the Fairy Knight. There would be plenty of guards and a good many of the guests would be capable fighters, but few of them could pose a threat to you and it would certainly hurt the reputation of Anna Lucas and the Dragonsteeth. The only downside is that is it unlikely to provide any incriminating evidence or hurt the Dragonsteeth beyond their reputation with the other criminals in London.

What do you do?
[] Go after their operations. Hit them where they make their money and they will fall apart from the inside.
-[] Shut down the smuggling dock. Without it, the finances of the Dragonsteeth will bleed and they will be scrambling to find more coin.
-[] Hit their fencing operations. The Dragonsteeth gain both coin and influence from their fencing operations and you wish to deprive them of both.
-[] Strike their gambling den. The gambling den provides a legal cover for the Dragonsteeth to shift their funds about undetected by the rightful authorities.

[] Go after their people. Taking out their leadership will leave them disorganised and vulnerable.
-[] Eliminate Levy Porter. The chief enforcer of the gang is deadly asset for the Dragonsteeth and his absence will result in the street soldiers of the gang fighting each other to take his place.
-[] Remove Macro Hoffman. An elderly man, taking him out would destabilise the finances of the Dragonsteeth.
-[] Move on Anna Lucas. Go for the leader of the Dragonsteeth herself to deal with the problem at the very top.

[] Ignite infighting within the gang. Take out enough of Anna Lucas' supporters that Cliff Gregory feels confident enough to launch his coup.

[] Attend the party and show the criminals of London that there is a new hero to look after its people.
-[] Go on your own as an invited guest.
-[] Go as someone's date as an invited guest.
-[] Go as Fairy Knight as an uninvited guest.



Sergeant Brown got a very nice crit and as a result, you a ton of information about the Dragonsteeth and a good number of targets to strike. With the targets, none of them are trap options and all of them are valid ways of hurting the Dragonsteeth. This is more choosing what sort of adventure you want to have and how you will hurt the Dragonsteeth (if you succeed).

You got limited intelligence on Anna Lucas however as despite his successes on first role, Sergeant Brown failed the second one.

Just so you know, the party option is a limited time deal so if you don't pick it now, it will become a missed opportunity as it will get held without getting involved.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to. Feel to ask questions for more details and information.

[X] Attend the party and show the criminals of London that there is a new hero to look after its people.
-[X] Go as someone's date as an invited guest.

You decide to go the party, taking up Sergeant Brown's offer of getting as the invited date of an invited guest. You don't know much about the man except he is a criminal who leads a minor gang and Sergeant Brown has enough blackmail on him to force him into taking you as his date.

While there are other targets, crashing the party is an option with a limited window of opportunity. It will be thrown soon and by the time that you have dealt with another target, the opportunity will have passed as Anna Lucas will have finished throwing it. You can go after other targets later, but you will only have this chance to harm the reputation of the Dragonsteeth and improving your own this once.

Your plan is simple enough. Attend the party as in a disguised form, using an invitation to get in. Once inside, you can gather what information you can before crashing the party as the Fairy Knight. You don't need to worry about going in as an unmasked and unarmed guest as you don't have an identity that you need to keep secret while Torlyn and Talatine can be summoned to you the moment that you need them.

Beyond getting you in, Sergeant Brown will be waiting nearby with his trustworthy subordinates, due to an anonymous tip of a big fight breaking out that night. Once the sounds of you crashing the party reach him, he'll move in with constables. As part of his cover, Sergeant Brown will try to arrest you as well, but you are both confident in your ability to get away anyway, something that the detective admittedly in a reluctant manner.

While Sergeant Brown gets things up on his end, you spend your time setting up some wards around the pub, the Old Victoria Inn. Beyond it being the place where Lydia works, you have realised it would make for a good meeting point for you to make use of. It is nearby to where you live and easily accessible while your efforts have left the place secure and free of unfriendly eyes and ears.

You just need to take some measures to ensure that no hostile group is able to infiltrate the pub and you do so rather the wards. Linked to power source you will need to regularly recharge; the wards will detect anyone with hostile intentions towards you or are aligned with those that are hostile to you. The wards will then give you a remote warning of their presence whilst you remain within the city.


Your date is a slim man by the name of Thomas Horton. The man is nervous about you and even though you haven't revealed your identity to him, you suspect that Sergeant Brown might have. Despite leading his own gang, the man is a small-timer and not worth catching, hence by Sergeant Brown has left him active to make use of.

You personally don't mind his nervousness as you find it preferable to unwanted attention from a lustful man. You are more than capable of dealing with unwanted advances but doing so would almost certainly break your cover.

While Thomas Horton dresses up in a suit with a bowtie and a fancy hat, you go for attractive and distinctly feminine form. Basing it off of your usual fighting form, the body you choose for the party has a bit less muscle in exchange for a slightly fuller figure. You properly arrange your facial features and remove imperfections. You don't usually go for that level of detail as your face is usually hidden, but tonight, your head will be on display for all.

When it comes to your attire, you go for a sky-blue dress with a loose skirt that goes down past your ankles and a tight bodice with a small V-neck that barely shows a hint of your cleavage. The shoulders are puffy, but the sleeveless become loose at the elbow and beyond. Your blue eyes are chosen to go with your dress while your hair is black and long, held back in a braid.

The two of you arrive at the party in a technological-powered carriage known as a car that your date owns. The guards at the front gate let you in after the servant successfully checks Thomas' invite.

Things start to go wrong once you are inside. There are a good many people inside, mostly men though you spot several women amongst them. You attempt to engage a few in conversation, but it quickly becomes apparent that you are not fitting in with these criminals. You grew up with court intrigues, but those schemes and manoeuvring are a different beast to what you find yourself encountering tonight.

Partway though the proceedings, Thomas Horton takes the opportunity to ditch you, sneaking off without you realising that he is gone or where he went. As you try to think about how to salvage this situation, you get some unwanted attention.

"Hello miss," says Anna Lucas as the gang leader and hostess of this party approaches you.

Anna Lucas is not a pretty woman. She is stern old woman who projects vibes of "do not mess with me" as her black hair begins to grey and her face has no small amount of wrinkles on it. As she speaks to you, her brown eyes meet your blue ones.

"Greetings Mrs Lucas," you greet her.

"You seem a bit lost my dear," says Anna Lucas as the two of you stare off, "I must say that I don't recognise you or remember inviting you."

"Well, I wasn't exactly invited," you explain, "I was able to convince one of your guests to bring me along as their date. I would also be surprised if you recognised me. I am new to the scene and I doubt I have done anything yet to draw the attention of someone like yourself."

"And just what brings a novice like you to an affair like this?" inquires Anna Lucas.

"I am more than a pretty face and wish to let others know it," you answer, "I thought attending here and getting to know some of the people here would help with that."

"A woman after my own heart," says Anna Lucas as she gives you a smile, "Most men don't appreciate the likes of you and I. They prefer us to stay in what they consider to be our rightful place. Well miss, you have come to the right place. I might have thought you a pretty floozy when I first saw you, but to have entered like you have for the reasons that you have, you got potential. The sort of potential that I look out for in fact."

"May I have the honour of getting your attention then?" you ask and Anna Lucas lets out a chuckle.

"Indeed, you do miss...hmm, I don't believe I got your name," replies Anna Lucas.

"Taylor Lowell," you tell her promptly, "And I already know who you are."

"Of course, you do," agrees Anna Lucas, "Now Taylor, if you would do me the favour joining me, I can show you around. I believe you and I might be able to help each other."

"I would be honoured," you reply as you follow the gang leader's lead.

Anna Lucas begins to lead you around the room, introducing you to some of the guests and giving little bits of advice. As you do so, you take the opportunity to look about, hoping to spot anyone of interest.

One of the people that stands out to you is a pudgy man in a black suit and a rounded hat. The man doesn't particularly stand out, but this is not the first time that you have seen that man. You have viewed once before, watching him via magical ritual as he gave orders to Windstrike to kill you on the behalf of the Consortium.

"Miss Lucas," you ask, "Who is that man over there?"

"Who?" replies Anna Lucas before noticing you who are referring to, "Oh him. Don't worry about him dear."

"Really?" you inquire, "He seems like an important fellow."

"Well, he is, but not one you need to concern yourself about," says Anna Lucas.

"Is there any reason that you can't tell me why he is important or am I better off not knowing?" you ask.

"I suppose it can't hurt to tell you," concedes Anna Lucas, "That man you spotted is Mr McAllister, a member of the Consortium. I'm sure a clever lady like you has heard of them. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mr McAllister is the most important and powerful person here tonight. But less you are willingly to offer up that pretty body of yours up to him, he will be no use of you. Under my guidance, you might rise to enough prominence to draw his attention, but until then, the only way that he will care about you would if you warm his bed."

"I have no attentions of doing that," you say firmly.

"I thought so," says Anna Lucas, "That path is not for women like you and I. Nonetheless, you have a good eye to pick him out from the crowd. That sort of sharp eye will serve you well."

As the night goes on, it becomes clear that you will get no more information from attending the party. You attempt to slip away, but Anna Lucas always seems to have an eye on you. Either it is because she doesn't actually trust you or she wants to keep you from suffering unwanted attention from someone else here. Regardless of her intentions, it stops you from getting away undetected.

Fortunately for you, your own efforts aren't your only chance to get away.

"Ah Miss Taylor," says someone as they stride up to you and Anna Lucas, a young man with sharp blue eyes and blonde hair like your own, "I was hoping to see you here. I was half-expecting you to show up here, but I wasn't certain you would show your face."

"A friend of yours?" inquires Anna Lucas as both of you look over this newcomer.

"We met only once before and it was brief," answers the man promptly before you can answer, "Yet despite the briefness of our encounter, Miss Taylor left quite the impression on me and I would like to someday include her in my circle of friends. I am quite certain that a talented young woman like her will become someone that will be rightfully recognised regardless of her sex."

"I hope she will as well," agrees Anna Lucas.

"As do I," you also agree, peering at this man as you try to figure out how he could possible recognise you.

"Now if you wouldn't mind Mrs Lucas, I would like to have the honour of the dance with Miss Taylor."

"I would take this honour if you don't mind Mrs Lucas," you say to the gang leader, happy to take this opportunity to have a chance at slipping away."

The two of you split off from Anna Lucas and the man begins to lead you in a dance. Dancing isn't one of your specialities, but one does not grow up in the Court of the Faeries without learning how to dance with some proficiency. You are no expert, but you are not an amateur either.

"Might I ask where you recognised me from?" you ask your dance partner.

"You are not the only knight who is here undercover," answers the man and realise who this is.

"You do have enemies here," you muse quietly, "But how did you recognise me then?"

"I prefer to keep my tricks secret," replies the Golden Knight with a smile before getting serious, "Especially when it comes to you and all of your tricks."

"Fair," you acknowledge as while you would like to know how the Golden Knight recognise you, he is right when you got more numerous and more powerful tricks at your disposal than he does.

"I presume that your targets tonight are those in attendance?" inquires the Golden Knight.

"Correct," you answer.

"Marvellous," says the Golden Knight, "How might I help you in your endeavour?"

"Give me a chance to get to a place where no one can spot me fix up my attire," you tell him, deciding that the Golden Knight will help you against the Consortium as they are a mutual enemy that you both share.

"Bathroom," answers the Golden Knight promptly, "Go off there and you will be able to gain some measure of privacy."

"Thank you," you tell him, "You may wish to leave me be while I get ready. I'm planning for there to be more than one surprise tonight."

"I'll keep that in mind," the Golden Knight assures you.

With some help from the Golden Knight, you make your way to a bathroom where you are able to find a stall. Rather than relieve yourself, you take the opportunity to transform into a spider.

Sneaking through the walls, you look about until you can find the room that Anna Lucas pointed out to you as her office. Eventually you find what looks like the right room with a desk and several draws and bookshelves.

You bypass the locked door via your spider form whilst the fact that room is locked means that you have it all to yourself.

With your amateur investigatory skills, you begin to shift through the room looking for what might be useful.

You go through the desk first, looking for anything that might be of interest to you, placing at the front of the desk Once that is done, you switch to cabinets and bookshelves, finding even more incriminating documents in them.

By the time that, you have no small amount of evidence regarding the misdeeds of Anna Lucas and the Dragonsteeth. You just need to give Sergeant Brown the signal he needs to move in with his constables whilst giving Anna Lucas and anyone else away from the office.

Time for you to make your proper entrance.

You take a spider form to get outside the office before shifting back into your combat body outside of the doors leading into the main room. With Torlyn summoned and Talatine in hand, you push open the doors into the main room, striding into the full view of the gathered criminals. The room falls silent as the brigands become aware of your presence, everyone staring at your gleaming armoured form.

"I am Fairy Knight," you declare for all to hear, "The Night is gone, but do not mistake that for London going unprotected and your criminal ways going unchallenged. I shall-"
You don't get to finish the sentence as Anna Lucas interrupts you.

"Shoot her!" yells Anna Lucas as she draws the same type of gun that Sam Carson had and fires it at you.

The bullet hits your armour with a ding but fails to even dent it as it bounces off. You have improved the defensive capability of Torlyn since you took down the White Devils. Anna Lucas might be using the same gun as Sam Carson, but it will be harder for her to hurt you.

As the guests begin to panic and flee, another man opens fire on you. In another call back to your fight with the White Devils, this man uses a larger gun akin to the same one that Sam Carson's guard did.

The spray of metal projectiles bounces off of Torlyn in a series of loud dinks. It will take more than mere bullets to hurt you now and that is something that the Dragonsteeth are learning the hard way tonight.

The battle is joined and you need to pick your first targets for the night. Anna Lucas is one obvious target, but the man with the larger gun looks like he is a notch above the other guards here. And speaking of the other guards, they may pose little threat to you, but there are a good number of them here. You might want to thin their numbers before going after one of the bigger threats.

Who does Fairy Knight target?
[] Anna Lucas, leader of the Dragonsteeth.
[] The man with the shotgun.
[] The numerous guards.

Fairy Knight is unharmed.
Anna Lucas is unharmed.
Levy Porter is unharmed.
6+ Dragonsteeth Thugs remain.



This update took ages to write or at least it felt like it did. I was going to have the battle play out for a bit, but Fairy Knight's first turn felt like a good stopping point for a vote and this update is pretty long.

You got into the party and had mixed success. You stuck out like a sore thumb before managing to get into Anna Lucas' good books. You failed to slip away, but the Golden Knight bailed you out. You also found plenty of incriminating evidence and just need to make sure that Sergeant Brown is able to stumble across it.

Now you just need to win the fight.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to. Feel to ask questions for more details and information.