The World of Darkness is full of many mysteries and many twisted things lurk in the shadows. While the default focus is on local events and urban locations, people still need to get around. In this series of blogs, I will present some of the cars, bikes and other vehicles that have appeared in my World of Darkness Chronicles.
The Demon Train L
Testimony of Roach, Guardian of the Veil and Provost of Councilor Alys of the Chicago:
I was at the 47th street station to deal with a potential who needed to be eliminated. Normally we try to steer undesirables into a Labyrinth but this one had come to the attention of the Seers. You know how desperate they've become after the war.Anyway, Joseph Brown was minor crook with a bit of drug problem. It wasn't hard to make sure he ticked someone enough to want to kill him. Get him deeper in debt, prod his loan shark a bit, and let the problem take care of itself.
So Fat Tony's thugs cornered our guy at the 47th station. I was following close behind, cloaked of course, to make sure nothing went wrong. The Seers were not likely to come to the rescue and I'd cursed Brown's luck to hell, but you never know.
So the thugs beat Joe to pulp and were looking tired of it. It looked like I might have to finish things myself. Then the train came.
It fit the description we'd heard about. A battered old train covered in gang tags with two blazing red lights at the front. Damn unsettling. Trains are not supposed to feel angry but this one did.
The legbreakers they looked at each other and turned pale. They had heard the stories too. Then one of them, I think his name was Billy Freeman, said he heard the train took sacrifices.
Joe got really scared but he was in no shape to resist. The two thugs picked him up and threw him on the tracks in front of the train.
I was keeping an eye on people's auras at the time. I mean I needed to know if they would go through with it. And I could tell the train was happy.
Well next thing you know the train starts moving, crunching Joe's body very slowly. I thought it was odd that he kept screaming for so long until I realized I was hearing his ghost.
The goons were gone by this point. No stomach to watch their handiwork. I looked over the edge and saw Joe's ghost being ground down by the wheels of the train. Eventually there was just a smear of ectoplasm where he was. There was something like a slurp and it was gone. As if the train swallowed up what was left of Joe.
After that the train took off to parts unknown.
So we have a killer train that likes to eat ghosts. Sounds like a resource to me.
The Demon Train L is an urban legend in Chicago, a train to hell which roars along the elevated tracks after midnight. Covered in foreign gang tags in red paint, this battered train seems decades out of date. Those who enter its charnal scented interior are rarely seen again.
Learning More
Here are some mundane skills that could help in learning more about the Demon Spirit L:Academics: The L is, by area, the region of highest crime in Chicago. After sunset, gangs and other criminals have a free reign of the train system. A history of violence and murder stains these tracks.
Occult: There's a train that arrives at Grand and State at 12:33 every night. It looks old and battered. Don't get on it. It's a ghost train. See, in the 30s there was a nasty crash, dozens of people died. Now they take this train around the city every night. Occult turns up many legends about the L. Some say it is a ghost train, others that if you pay a phantom conductor in dollar coins, the train will take you to the afterlife or hell. Some say those who take the train simply are never seen again.
Medicine: This red paint...it isn't paint. When the L materializes it often brings with it stains of its former victims. Blood spray congeals into gang signs while corpses settle into seemingly sleeping vagrants.
Streetwise: Be careful which train you get on at night. One of them is claimed by some gang or something. You get on that one, they will find your parts strewn around the Loop. I heard tell though, if you leave someone for them, someone for them to mess with, that they send some sort of reward the next day. The thugs that use the L know something is up but only enough to avoid trouble...usually. They can identify the tags belonging to the L (actually demonic symbols).
Unseen Sense (Spirits): So you've woken up. I'm sorry for this. But It promised to get me that promotion if I gave it a sacrifice. Here comes the train. To those who can see spirits, the truth is obvious, this is a monster not a form of public transit. These are the people most likely to hear the L speak. Whether they are more fortunate for the opportunity to make a deal is debatable.
Secrets
The Demon Spirit L is not just haunted. It is possessed by a demonic spirit that seeks to corrupt and torment the people of Chicago. It uses rules from World of Darkness: Book of Spirits and World of Darkness: Inferno.The Demon Spirit L was once a simple spirit of trains. It grew strong as the elevated rails began to dominate Chicago’s streets and image. But at some point the violence and blood that was also a part of Chicago's heritage tainted it. Becoming a dark spirit of train fueled violence, it fed on the evil within the city. Chicago's ley lines fed even more strength to it.
In the 1930s, its predation attracted the attention of a pack of werewolves called the Steel Riders. But the L was more cunning than them and devoured the spirit of the Black Line, a train to the Underworld.
With Death and Violence united with an unstoppable mechanical engine, the werewolves were no match for the L. Decades passed and as the city was corrupted by crime and decay, the L completed its transformation by becoming a demon.
The Demon L became a fixture of the city. Too powerful to ignore and to useful to destroy. Recent events have freed it from the spells limiting it and the demon hungers for souls.
Durability: 4, Size: 50, Structure: 54
Acceleration: 6 (8 mph/turn), Safe Speed: 81 (55 mph), Speed: 102 (70 mph)
Handling: -4, Occupants: 1+400
- My inspiration Daredevil #263
The Demon Spirit L
Quote: <<the clatter of metal on metal intermixed with screams>>Description: In twilight the train resembles a heavily vandalized train covered in graffiti and blood stains. Its forward lights blaze red about a twisted tangle of metal curled in a frozen sneer. Inside the train dwell ghosts and the desiccated forms of long dead passengers.
Infernal Rank: 4
Attributes: Power 10, Finesse 10, Resistance 8
Willpower: 18 Essence: 40
Initiative: 20 Defense: 10
Speed: 35 Size: 20
Corpus: 28
Influences: Death 3, Trains 2, Violence 3
Malapraxes: Trains, Wrath
Numina: Animate Dead, Ghost-Eater, Greater Influence x4, Materialize, Speed, Threshold
Demonic Abilities:
- Dragon's Tongue: the L can understand all languages
- Soul of Sin: the L knows every instance of Wrath in the life of someone with that Vice.
- Lord of Lies: the L is a perfect liar and no power natural or supernatural will allow one to tell if it is telling the truth or not.
- Keeper of Secrets: the L is immune to mind reading.
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