EL POLLO LOCO
An adventure seed, ideally
for servitors of Animals
By Prodigal
The Archangel Jordi is Not Happy.
Specifically about the ad campaign that El Pollo Loco has been running. It's a Mexican fast food place whose ads show a chicken frantically trying to get a number of thinly-veiled versions of rival restaurants to accept it for use in their recipes, only to be rejected because it's too good for them to use. Only El Pollo Loco has standards high enough to accept it.
"Our food is so bueno," the ads finally say as the chicken makes its smiling way into the kitchen, "You'd have to be loco not to want it!"
It's one thing for the humans to kill or otherwise
exploit huge numbers of other animals for their food, but to make it look like
the other animals enjoy it? That's way up there on Jordi's list of Things You
Just Don't Do.
So that's where the group comes in. They're
dispatched to stop this, one way or another. The Archangel of Animals makes it
plain that he would shed no tears to see the restaurant destroyed, but will
settle for the owner to be persuaded to pull the ads.
As the group draws near to El Pollo Loco, however,
they hear the disturbance rolling through the symphony. Upon their arrival,
they notice the customers and staff fleeing in terror, none of whom are able to
deliver a coherent account of what happened. All they can determine for certain
is that one of the staff was killed while on the way back in from taking the
trash out.
If they go to the back of the restaurant to
investigate, they will find the aforementioned staffer lying dead in the rear
doorway, a number of the restaurant's products (including a half-eaten cup of
flan) embedded in his back and head. The only clue is a trail of clay dust,
leading to the garden supply shop across the ally.
What's going on:
El Pollo Loco was opened by a servitor of Haagenti,
who some months prior to the adventure's beginning caused Jericho (a Malakite
of Stone) to go into Limbo. Jericho has finally managed to gain enough Essence
to return from there, in a vessel formed from one of the Lawn Gnomes on sale,
in search of vengeance.
Unfortunately, as happens to celestials that spend
too long in Limbo, Jericho is not exactly well-balanced anymore. While he was
able to escape from Limbo, it was at the cost of acquiring a healthy dose of
the Paranoia discord. While he still wants to get revenge on the demon that
sent him there, anybody in an El Pollo Loco uniform - or who looks like they
might stand in his way - is fair game. Which wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't
for his having originally served Eli, and still having his original attunement.
And did I mention that there are nearly 100 gnomes
in the area of the store where Jericho took refuge? Or that David will Not Be
Happy if he finds out that a group of angels inflicted vessel death on a
servitor he's been trying to track down?
Jericho
Malakite of Creation IST Stone
Corporeal Forces - 2
Str: 5
Dex: 3
Ethereal Forces - 3
Int: 5
Pre: 7
Celestial Forces - 3
Wil: 8
Per: 4
Vessel: Lawn Gnome/1
Skills: Dodge/6, Escape/3, Fighting/6, Move
Silently/5, Running/4, Singing/4, Small Weapon (Improvised)/6, Throwing/4
Songs: Entropy (Cel)/3, Motion (Cor)/4, Motion
(Cel)/3, Thunder/3
Attunements: Kyriotate of Stone, Malakite of Creation,
Malakite of Stone
Discord: Berserk/2, Paranoia/4
Apollonius
Impudite of Gluttony
(Who is Not There when the action starts, but your
players will probably want to beat him into submission and/or vessel death if
they learn what's up, so here you go)
Corporeal Forces - 4
Str: 7
Dex: 9
Ethereal Forces - 5
Int: 11
Pre: 9
Celestial Forces - 5
Wil: 12
Per: 8
Vessel: Human male/4, Role "Harvey Wiley,"
Manager of El Pollo Loco/6, Status/3
Skills: Acrobatics/2, Cooking/6, Detect Lies/ 3,
Dodge/6, Driving/2, Emote/3, Escape/1, Fast-Talk/3, Fighting/4, Knowledge
(Advertising)/3, Knowledge (Restaurant Management)/6, Language (Spanish)/2,
Lying/3, Ranged Weapon (Pistol)/3, Running/4, Singing/3
Songs: Charm (Cor)/5, Charm (Eth)/4, Charm (Cel)/4,
Entropy (Eth)/4
Attunements: Impudite of Gluttony, Devour,
Insatiable, Knight of Banquets, Captain of Cannibals