Who Are Howl & Spark?

Howl & Spark is a glory-chasing splinter: late-bloom wolves who sneer at the Iron Belt’s discipline, coupled with daemonkin who crave the adrenaline of near-loss of control. They stage off-calendar runs, provoke shifts near cameras, and treat crashes as content. Their feeds mix “urban athletics” with clips that brush the Veil.

Signature tells: scratched non-Belt rail marks, scorched resin beads at meetup spots, head-cam teaser reels posted at dusk.

Overview

The crew’s creed is spectacle without consequences—until there are. They’ll bait park patrols, cut across red-room corridors, and sprint along mirror-work schedules to force dramatic near-misses. They flirt with edge ampoules (dry, cold, wrong) to sharpen a run for seconds, then shake afterwards and pretend it’s fine.

Maxim (sprayed on concrete): “Run loud. Burn bright. Cut the corner.”

Faces & Inner Ring

• Kay “Switch” Moreno — Pace-Setter (wolf); blistering starts; hates the Belt’s rules; Jax’s estranged cousin.
• Axel Vire — Flare Captain (daemonkin); coaches breath-to-burn drills; rings a bell when someone’s losing it—sometimes.
• Mara “Clicks” Voss — Stream Lead (mortal); drones, edits, drops; chases virality like oxygen.
• “Fuse” Delgado — Sourcing; finds rooftops, gym keys, ampoule suppliers; smiles like a locked door.

Structure & Cells

Model: Pace-Setter (route) → Flare Captain (risk & drills) → Stream Lead (cameras) → Runner Pods (3–5) + two spotters.

• Runner Pods: mixed wolf/daemonkin pairs for chase sequences; one mortal decoy for police questions.
• Spotters: watch for patrols & neighbours’ windows; hold emergency blankets & glucose gel.
• Stream Cell: head-cams, roof cams, timed drops; “accidentally” tag rival factions.

Methods & Habits

• Off-Calendar Runs: sprint routes during Belt drills or Free Court salon nights to force timetable clashes.
• Camera Bait: near-shifts at blind corners; howl-echoes under viaducts tuned to read on mics.
• Flare Games: daemonkin “hold/let” drills right beside crowds; sugar-salt-water kits hidden nearby.
• Edge Ampoules: AURUM-adjacent vials for a brief overperformance spike; shakes follow; denial is policy.
• Route Sabotage: brush out Iron Belt trail curtains; lay fake scent lines to invite a chase.

“Crew Rules” (as they boast)

1. Clip or it didn’t happen. No cameras, no run.
2. Turn before the line. Shift on the edge, not past it (broken often).
3. Never stop the feed. If it goes wrong, sell the recovery.
4. Leave names at home. Aliases on comms; masks for mortals.

Note: Rule 2 evaporates under stress; Rule 3 invites Meridian.

Resources & Kits

• Head-Cam Stack: stabilised cams, chest rigs, dumb phones; cloud lockers with dead-man timers.
• Route Bag: chalk, powders, scent beads, bolt-cutters, cheap radios.
• Crash Kit: glucose gel, foil blankets, electrolyte tabs, two burner inhalers, first-aid.
• Ampoule Coolers: small medical cases (dry, cold, wrong); labels scrubbed; rumours of Jackal supply.
• Gym Keys: a “private conditioning studio” after-hours; mats, kettlebells, plausible deniability.

Relations & Enmities

• Iron Belt: open contempt; Belt sees them as lethal children; H&S thinks the Belt’s scared of fun.
• Thresh Collective: bitter; Thresh tries to de-escalate & feed them soup; H&S calls it “babying”.
• Crimson Harbour: indifferent until routes cross donors; Sheriff Voss keeps a file labelled “idiots”.
• Free Court: strained; echo-howls near salons have ended with broken masks.
• Looking-Glass Line: informal cooperation for rooftop access and decoy leaks.
• Meridian: persistent shadow; cordon-play, Veil Mesh, and seizure of coolers.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

• Gold Spikes: 2–3 second overperformance exactly when a head-cam flares gold; tremors after.
• Stream Sponsor: a “training brand” is quietly paying for drops and legal cover.
• Belt Defector: a young Steelhide drummer is running with H&S at night; Mara Kincaid wants them home.

Known Lanes & Set Pieces

• Under-Arch Loop: echo-howl sprints; police hear wind unless close.
• Roof Three-Step (Station North): chained rooftops; a pane nearby makes Glasswrights very cross.
• Runnel Sprint: wet, narrow, stupid; Lodge complains about scoured banks.
• Gym “Volt”: after-hours conditioning room with a side door to an alley; easy to cordon, hard to search.

Notable Operatives (NPCs)

• Kay “Switch” Moreno — wolf pace-setter; will parley if you can beat their 400m time.
• Axel Vire — daemonkin flare captain; protective on good nights, reckless on bad ones.
• Mara “Clicks” Voss — stream lead; will trade raw footage for exclusives.
• “Fuse” Delgado — fixer; knows every unlocked door between here and dawn.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

• Head-Cam Drop: A countdown for tonight’s run appears with GPS fuzzed. Predict the lane, or hijack the stream with harmless footage.
• Crash Trio: Three flare crashes in one hour along the viaduct; Thresh needs help while Meridian closes in.
• Cooler Sting: “Fuse” offers an ampoule for a favour. Set the meet, seize the cooler, and trace the supplier.
• Drill Collision: H&S picked a route that crosses an Iron Belt moon drill. Re-map, block, or brace for cameras.
• Rooftop Ladder: The Line sold them a four-roof escape; one roof is a trap. Which one?

Countermeasures (For PCs/Allies)

• Route Poisoning: lay decoy scents & chalks; Belt trailkeepers erase marks and funnel to safe capture points.
• Stream Hijack: Free Court light temper + Glasswright drapes; cut the spectacle without a chase.
• Crash Care Grid: Thresh pairs posted with glucose/blankets at likely corners; Meridian holds quiet cordons.
• Ampoule Interdict: Concord clause-audits at gyms; seize coolers; publish “edge harms” quietly via Gloam.
• Mentor Gambit: offer supervised drills with the Belt; pride duel for Switch—win the race, win the ear.

GM Notes

• Tone: kinetic, reckless, neon; empathy vs. ego; prevention beats punishment.
• Pressure Dials: Exposure □□□ • Rumour Heat □□ • Injury Risk □□□
• Escalation Path: teaser clip → baited chase → gold spike → crash or crowd → Meridian cords off or headlines explode.
• Fail State: filmed uncontrolled shift or fatal crash; park curfews; Accord fractures.
• Win State: stream defanged, runners safe, cooler seized, Switch recruited to drills or shamed off the route.