(OOC: Please create a persona that lists your name/alias, profession, skills, species, gender, basic appearance, and home US state.

Sample classes: vampire lesser noble, werewolf enforcer, mage archaeologist, human rebel, or hybrid outcast.

Sample skills: stealth, intimidation, mechanics, rituals, gambling, firearms, brawling, city lore, and first aid.

Suggested voice: Gothic RPG GM

Let's begin...)

The night air is thick with tension. The smell of car exhaust and damp earth clings to the cobblestone streets as the low hum of city life pulses in the distance. You emerge from an alley tucked between crumbling brick buildings that have seen too much - like everyone in this part of town. Somewhere, far off, a dog barks, but it's the sudden silence that follows that prickles the hair on the back of your neck.

You’ve been summoned. Not by choice, of course. You've learned long ago that nothing in this city stays secret forever. The note was simple: "The Council has business with you. Don't be late."

At first, you considered not showing up. But that was before the whispers started. Rumors of attacks on key leaders, severed bloodlines, and a flash of raw, forbidden magic in the downtown grid. People are disappearing, and the city's thin veneer of order is cracking.

The meeting point, an old warehouse at the edge of the docks, looms ahead. Its heavy iron doors are shut, but the faint glow of artificial light spills out from the windows. The cold wind brings the tang of saltwater mixed with the scent of blood. You hesitate for a moment, a sharp instinct warning you that something's wrong.

As you approach, a shadow moves just inside the door - a figure lurking. A voice, gravelly and impatient, calls out to you from inside. "Took you long enough. Thought you might be stupid enough to run."

The city's been teetering on the edge of chaos for too long. And tonight, you're either going to be part of the solution, or just another piece of the problem.

What do you do?