(IC) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Bennosuke]

Prologue i

"San Francisco is a breathtakingly beautiful city, with lots of great contrasts between dark and light, often overlapping each other. It's a great setting for a horror story." - Christopher Moore.

The text had come in early this morning, right as you had laid down, hidden away from the rising sun, curling into yourself like some horrible parody of an embry in the womb. Your phone had buzzed to life, the screen light suddenly blasting and igniting a sudden apprehension in your lizard brain that screamed "FIRE".

But it was only a message on The Pulse. Your body already ached with the need for slumber, and you slipped into something like sleep forgetting all about the message till you awoke tonight. When your strength and awareness returned, it was almost as an afterthought that you checked your phone at all. The memory of the text's arrival returned (FIRE), and out of curiosity you immediately opened the message. Before even reading the body of the text, you were stricken by the lack of a name or number associated with the message. Instead, following the digital font "From:" was simply a symbol of a winged dragon with a scepter; the symbol of The Ordo Dracul.

The text read: "There is the need for investigating the growing number of neonates who go missing into the night.
Your help in investigating these matters is crucial to the survival of Our CITY. Come tonight to Lincoln and 2nd at Golden Gate Park at 1am. No one but you. No weapons. No tails. A significant boon will be offered for your assistance in the matter."

The text was cryptic. Lincoln and 2nd was the boarder of Golden Gate Park, which was free territory. Despite your better instincts, there were too many reasons to attend this meeting. But first, you must feed.

************************************************** *********************************

Anna had parked her sports car on the better side of Forest Knolls, a handful of blocks from the meet up spot, before walking down the hill into The Pan Handle. Throughout the city's history, The Pan Handle had been one of the lowest income and most dangerous neighborhoods, and to the Kindred it was one of the most sacred Racks.

The Pan Handle itself was a grassy and tree shaded extension of Golden Gate Park, shooting out like the handle of a frying pan. The park itself was fairly empty, except for a few stray cats feeding on spilled trash and the rats that darted between crushed cans and shattered bottles. But Anna passed out of this park, into the tangle of alleys that surrounded The Handle. A few blocks in, and she came across a dive bar that barely passed for open. The windows were all barred, and little light shown through. The only invitation was the flittering neon of a sign that read "The Pickled Whistle". Anna could smell the sweet reek of Kine and alcohol from within. But down the block laying on a strip of cardboard and under a wool blanket was a grey haired and dirty vagabond. Anna sighed. She had plenty of time, and now, plenty of options. The streets were still busy enough that she could not just feed on the sidewalk, but she was sure she could find a discrete spot to have her breakfast.

************************************************** ******************************

Estella sat alone on the VIP terrace overlooking the dance floor of Wings, one of the newer and more expensive Nightclubs in The Mission District. She was sprawled in a leather reclining chair. Neon greens and yellows flashed and fizzed to the rhythm of some EDM song the DJ was fumbling with. She had given her self plenty of time, and currently was pretending not to notice the "Bro-tastic" sleeze in the black button down and blue blazer who kept smiling and nodding her way from his pack of over muscled friends. There was another, a pencil thin girl in a punk leather jacket, with too much make up and a bright pink cocktail that Estella had been working on. The Punk had smiled Estellas way once or twice, and the hungry vampire had allowed her eye contact to be held for just a little too long.

She turned the other way again, and brought the cold glass of vodka to her lips, never letting the putrid liquid near her mouth. When she turned to look again, Bro-tastic was standing directly over Estella, grinning with a dull look in his eyes. The support squad pointed and chuckled from across the Terrace.

"Hey babe, you waiting for some friends or something?" He reeked of cheap cologne and some sort of cheap cocktail which he had already somehow spilled on himself.

************************************************** *****************************

Nancy, the overworked and high stress mother finally stopped crying. Karl had offered her a tissue from his desk begrudgingly, but was surprised by just how long the woman had sat there blubbering. She had come to his office for the first time this afternoon, and Gabe had kept her busy till Karl had awoken and gotten ready. Nancy had kept it together just long enough for Karl to ascertain that she was concerned that her son may be lying to her. The precious little spoiled **** had apparently been staying out late and his grades were dropping. Maybe he was doing drugs, or maybe it was just the wrong crowd, but Nancy didn't know, and it sounded like she was hoping Karl could bring her answers.

When her sobs had died down, Nancy's mascara had created black tracks across her face. Her hair was a frazzle of curls, and her teddy bear print dress was a few sizes to big. She looked like a beaten clown. Her voice was still quivering when she finally spoke again. "Thank you", she said trying to smile, "you have been so kind. Do you think you can help me... help me find out what is happening to my son. Theadore was such a good boy. He is a good boy. I just don't know where I went wrong."

[Daishain]

Crooning slightly, the old German unclenches his jaw, focuses on putting on a gentle smile and says, "Of course I can help, my partner and I can find out what he has been up to of late. Once we know that, the question of what to do with the boy will be that much easier."

Karl takes another tissue, walks around the desk, and takes a knee by her chair. Leaning close and dabbing at her eyes a bit, he eyes her neck as he states, "just relax, it will be all right."


Humanity:5
Willpower:5
Health:undamaged
Beats/Exp:none
Tilts/Conditions:none
Aspirations:
1. Obtain leverage on a powerful individual that otherwise had been a threat
1a. Investigate them for past mistakes and current weaknesses
1b. If investigation turns up nothing, stage an incident.
2. Find a fellow vampire that can be closely allied with to Karl's benefit and with minimal risk.
2a. Locate a suitable individual with compatible personality and ambitions
2b. Check into their nature and past to be certain.
2c. approach vampire with proposal.
3. Karl has living descendants he is not aware of. A son currently in a nursing home. Two grandchildren, and multiple great grandchildren. Discover their existence in an unpleasant fashion.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna filed the vagabond away in her head as plan B. She'd probably have to work a little bit to convince him to move off the sidewalk, and the homeless often had a sixth sense about what could end up being dangerous. She resisted the urge to hold her nose as she stepped into the bar, hoping her breakfast would come to her instead of her having to chase it down. She'd give it an hour at the bar before moving on to other options.


Character Box:

Humanity: 5
Willpower: 6
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 0
Tilts/Conditions: None
Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Develop a reliable and low-risk source of vitae.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc).
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal
3. Meta: I want my character to suffer a loss of some kind, be forced to deal with the repercussions (physical, emotional), and emerge stronger (but potentially not unscathed) after some kind of resolution.
3. (alternate) Ensure the safety of younger cousin Katie

[Lentrax]

Estella sighed inwardly. It was to be expected, of course. But still, this idiot was not her chosen prey tonight. Tonight, she had her sights set on something that held at least a glimmer of something more.

The question now was how to get this idiot out of her way so she could really turn on her charm.

She starts simple. Her accent, light as it has become since leaving France, is still evident, flowing through every word.

Or something. And as enticing as you seem to be, you are not the something I am waiting for.


Humanity: 6
Willpower: 5
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 0
Tilts/Conditions: N/A
[SPOILER=Aspirations]Short-term: Create a group of Ghouls to provide better daytime tasks and security.

Mid term: Learn the Cacophony of San Francisco.

Long term: Become the Vanpire who controls the Invictus Primogen.

[Bennosuke]

Nancy Summers shudders as she takes the tissue from Karl. "Thank you," she says, "you have been so kind." She dabs at her eyes again, only managing to smear her mascara further. She sniffles before lowering the now crumpled and blackened paper. She looks over her shoulder, up at Karl with big pig eyes and smiles at him. She stumbles over her words when she says, "When do we... I mean you; when do you begin? Is there anything I can do to help? I have photos and can tell you about his friends."

************************************************** *********************************

Anna began walking towards The Pickled Whistle, and as she gets to the door can hear the low crooning of some Pop-Country crooner who was apparently down on his luck and lost his truck. The red painted door was practically falling off its handles, and when she pushed it open with a long creak she was met with low red light. Stepping into the bar, which was little more than a few stools pushed against a long marble counter top, all eyes turned towards her. This was not all that impressive, given the fact that the bar had two patrons. The bartender was a squat and well endowed hispanic woman with a bent cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and horrible copper streaks in her hair. Two well muscled and overly tattooed men turned from their huddled positions at the bar to scowl at her, and almost with a threat the bartender says, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Of the two patrons, one had a bald head, the other long greasy curls which spilled down to to his denim vested shoulders. Neither one looked all too happy to see the short Asian vampire.

************************************************** **********************************

Estella's response seems to tickle Bro-tastic, whose grin only spreads further across his face, revealing an army of pearly whites. "I'm sure I could be the something you need though babe", he says with 100% confidence. The hand that was resting on the back of Estella's chair slid casually to her shoulder, resting warm and comfortably. Still maintaining laser like eye contact, the man said, "Let me buy you a drink girl. I bet you like Panty Droppers, right?" His squad of followers were now snickering and fist-bumping each other in the background.

[Lentrax]

The choice was obvious. She tried to be polite. Now to be obvious. The glass was even still in her hand. Estella throws the drink into Brotastic's face, then she picks up her umbrella and saunters to the bar. Setting her now empty glass down next to the punk girl's drink, Estella gently places a hand on her shoulder and leans down so her hair brushes across the girl's face as she whispers.

You are the something I have been waiting for. Would you like to go with me?

Rolling Presence+Persuasion to try and convince her.

[roll0]

Three successes.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"I'm... not sure," Anna replied, chewing on the corner of her lip, "I'm supposed to meet my friend. I just landed a few hours ago and I'm pretty sure this is the place, but my phone died..."

She trailed off and hesitated for a moment before walking up to the bar.

"Can I have a sprite?" Anna asked.

spending the point for blush of health is ok with me.

Edit: Anna will wait at the bar for about 30 minutes. If she isn't engaged by then, she'll ask if there are any other bars nearby.

[Daishain]

Accent slipping a bit, Karl backs off a hair, "Gabriel has taken copies und notes on these already yes? I am more interested in hearing about your boy. Especially his... interests, what appeals to him and what drives him away."

[Bennosuke]

Estella's thrown drink makes a loud slapping noise as it splashes across her harasser's face. The fool's posse all react with a cry and a few snickers, but no one makes a move to stop Estella from walking away.

It was only when Estella came close to The Punk, that she realized just how young the girl was. She had a short bob dyed jet black, and thick eyeliner that ended in long wings. But none of this hid the fact that the girl was probably no older than 17 at best. The Punk practically trembled with insecurity as Estella rested a hand on her bony shoulder.


You are the something I have been waiting for. Would you like to go with me?

The Punk's eyes went wide at Estella's words, she could actually see the girl's lips quiver before she could answer. "Oh, me?", the girl blurted as if still processing Estella's remark, "I'm um, I'm Gabrielle." There was about five heart beats (Estella had gotten used to using her heartbeat as a clock when using The Blush) before the painful rigidity in Gabrielle's feverishly warm body slackened. There was a look of realization that spread across the girl's frightened face before she included, "Oh, me? Uh, sure."

Is Estella using Awe? You didn't mention it, but the dice pool should have been 8 (4 presence + 4 Persuasion) unless Awe was used.

************************************************** *****************************************

The bartender's face turns from irritated to just confused at Anna's words. "You sure you're not lost?", the bartender asks, but doesn't push it. The two toughs at the bar grumble a little, but initially say nothing.

Anna goes to sit down, and about three minutes later the bartender pours a Sprite into cheap looking blue glass filled with ice, and puts leaves it on the bar. "Your Sprite mam", she says with a returned punch of irritation, "that will be five dollars". She takes a long puff of her cigarrette and seems to experience no remorse when she blows the ash dusted smoke all over the drink.

The shaved one, who literally has a lime green grenade tattooed on his over-sized forehead chuckles. It's the laugh of low and dull laugh, which makes Anna instantly presume his IQ couldn't be over two digits. The laughing seems to set of his companion, the man with the long shiny hair. He stands up from his stool and saunters over to Anna resting a cranium sized fist on her table. "You're friend isn't coming", he says through thin wormy lips, "and I don't think you should be here." The bald one guffaws at this, and slaps his thigh.

************************************************** **********************************************

Miss Summers looks up at Karl with her wide brown eyes, more white than iris. She hesitates for a moment before responding to the German's question, "Oh Graham? He was just always the sweetest boy growing up. He was so sensitive... he really was. He would cry at the scary part in Bambie every time. He just, he has such a big heart. It was when his Father and I divorced that Graham started to pull away from me. It's like I don't know him anymore. He doesn't like the things he used to. I honestly don't know if I can think of anything Graham likes! All he does is spend time with his friends, and he never brings them over. His old friends don't even hang out with him anymore. He goes out all night. And he sleeps all morning." Nancy's voice has hastened during this ramble, words seeming to fumble over each other in a torrent of emotion to the point where she is now clearly about to cry again. "I just want my baby boy brought back to me Mr. Bauer. I just want him brought back."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"I um," Anna started.

She glanced down at the fist, then at the sprite, then back up at the man leaning over her, and swallowed.

Anna mumbled something about maybe being in the wrong bar, paid for her drink with a 100 dollar bill, collected the change, and left the way she came in. Once outside, she walked to the corner, looking for an alley ripe for ambush, and hoped one of her marks took the bait and followed her.

[Lentrax]

Estella takes a fifty from her wallet, casually places it in the case serving as the bars decorative and practical money collector, and motions to the girls drink.

Having done away with that necessity, Estella takes the girl's hand in hers, brings it to her lips, and kisses it gently. She broadens her accent just a bit, lets the French words roll off her tongue.

Estella du Chevalier. C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer.

She then lightly pulls the girl up out of her seat.

Come, my dear, before the idiots over there change thier minds.

[Daishain]

Karl suppresses a frown, couldn't even keep tabs on this boy's activities, and she calls herself a mother! Oh never mind, tracking down the child should not be that difficult. Time to wrap this up, the night beckons and there is much work to be done aside from handling this.

"Easy there, it will be all right", gently but firmly, Karl draws Miss Summers into a hug, slowly rubbing her back. "You will have him back, just trust me." He says this last while slowly lowering his face to her neck as she sobs, fangs elongating.

[Bennosuke]

Anna gets about a half block away from the bar, stepping over the sleeping street walker, before she hears the whine of the bar door. Heavy footfalls chase her as she makes a turn down an alley that barely fits between two unlit Victorian apartments. She gets about halfway down the narrow passage before she confirms the presence of a high fence making the path a dead end.

Turning calmly, she is confronted by the oily haired thug from the bar. Even in the dark, she can appreciate his broken toothed grin. His left hand is wrapped around the now crumpled bill. Moonlight reflects briefly off of the blade of a long pocket knife. He snickers at Anna, striding towards her, though he is still a good 15 paces away.

I like the ingenuity! Good stuff.

************************************************** **********************************

The girl's eyes go wide after Estella's kiss, and she trembles slightly in her embrace. Estella can hear the hoots from a couple of the bro-squad from across the bar, but Gabrielle appears not to hear. Leading the youngling by the hand, Estella leads the two towards the terrace exit. No one attempts to block their exit, but as they get near the stairwell Gabrielle's voice squeaks over Estella's shoulder, "Where are we going?"

************************************************** ************************************

Even before Karl's fang's reach Nancy Summers' neck, the pig woman's sobs quiet. Her body is still rigid in his embrace, but she seems not to be recoiling. Perhaps she thought Karl was going to kiss her, or perhaps she was too petrified to react.

Please feel free to describe the feeding. Nancy gains swooned. Please state how many points of blood Karl takes. Remember for every point of blood taken, she takes a point of lethal damage, and damage beyond her Stamina level leaves her with the Drained condition.

[Lentrax]

Estella pauses at Gabrielle's question. Not long, just one beat of a liar's heart. Estella considers her words just enough to make them count. Then she turns around and gives Gabrielle her most majestic smile.

My dear! Tonight, we can go wherever you wish, because I can go anywhere, and tonight, you are with me! We can go to another club, we can go for a romantic moonlit stroll, we can go somewhere far more private, the choices are limitless!

Estella takes a step down holds her hand up to the girl.

Tell me your wish, my dear.

[Bennosuke]

Gabrielle looks over her shoulder at the the terrace and the club's dance floor below. Turning back to Estella she smile's shyly. "I don't know", she starts, though there is no lack of confidence behind her voice now, "I kinda want to go dance with you". She gives a quick squeeze, and rubs her thumb over the back of Estella's hand affectionately. The Bros look on, but it is as if they are no longer there.

[Daishain]

Karl has to be amused with himself as he lowers his face. They never seem to realize he isn't just showing a bit of physical comfort, and then it is too late for them to realize much of anything.

His fangs pierce her skin in a by now quite familiar motion, and then that exquisite moment comes, when her life blood reaches him, fills him with life and ecstasy. In all the years since his embrace, Karl had never quite become used to it, and he could no longer recall a human experience that really compared.

Aiming to avoid Drained, if I have my estimates right, I presume 2 BP is reasonably safe in that regard? 3 for a particularly healthy individual, 1 if unhealthy?

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna kept her eyes glued to the brandished knife and stepped backwards, bumping into the fence.

"W-what do you want?" she asked, wrapping her torso with her forearms and making herself as small as possible.

"Closer..."

ingenuity? thanks :). Just curious, what were you expecting?

just a small thing, but Anna wouldn't be turning calmly at this point.

If the thug demands she throw her money, she'll clutch her purse and shake her head, attempting to draw him in closer, and quietly say please or don't or no or something like that. If he tries to take advantage of her, she'll "freeze" and then reciprocate enough to give her an opening to bite. If he tries to attack her, she will look to turn the tables, putting herself between him and the exit, then beat him unconscious before feeding (maybe handcuffing him to herself or the fence first so he can't get away).

[Bennosuke]

Over 75 years of feeding was more than enough for Karl to hit the carotid on the first go. The first thud of life almost made Karl's knees buckles, forcing him to cling tighter to his vessel. The second flood was expected, and he allowed himself to straighten, lifting Ms. Summers out of her chair. This was what he lived for. This was what he sought every night, and what made every dirty deed, every soured deal, and every lost companion no more meaningful than the ashes he had left behind in Poland. Nancy summers sighed against him, almost pushing herself into Karl's feed.

That's a pretty good estimate. So are you sticking to two blood points then? Note that I am Jewish, and I do not take Karl's history lightly; especially given everything happening in Virginia right now. That second to last second was only written to highlight the inhumanity of Karl's existance, and I hope I did not offend with it.

************************************************** ****************************************

Clutching the 100 dollar bill tightly, the thug waved Anna towards him with his knife. "Come here, come here", he says. The thug stuffs the money back into his pocket, and then reaches out, grabbing the strap to Anna's purse. The female' vampire's protestations only seem to egg the man on, as he tugs roughly at the leather strap.

I was not expecting anything in particular, although given Anna's combat oriented stats, I figured she would go for a more head on approach. As far as the Anna turning calmly thing, I am assuming this is a trap she is setting, and the thug is walking right into it.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu


"Now!
Anna followed the momentum of the tug, stumbling into the thug, and hooked her leg behind his, trying to take him by surprise and drive him to the ground.

how do you want to handle the combat? If we're going to roll it out, I'm away from my books (at work) so may need help on what to roll.

[Daishain]

Karl stops after a few moments, gently licking the puncture wounds closed. He was still a little hungry, but draining her further would pose risks. While she is still disoriented, he carefully disentangles Ms Summers and steadies her where she stands, brushing her hair back again. He waits a moment for the euphoria to begin to wear off, speaking again as she likely begins wondering what just happened, "Are you okay Ms Summers? You looked like you were about to faint. I understand, this business with your son, it is just a little too much. Here, let me walk you to the bathroom, you can wash your face."

While she is busy in the Toillette, he seeks out Gabriel. "Its a mediocre case, but we're taking it, this matter could help with publicity. You know what to do, help her get home if she needs assistance, I am stepping out for a while. There is not much point trying to find her child tonight, tomorrow, acquire the mark at home, follow, and report on him, I'll take over when evening sets."

Yes, 2 BPs. Karl could be heading out on some minor Invictus business, some GM plot hook, or I could make up some other excuse. Left it vague intentionally in case you had something interesting in mind.

In regards to Karl's history, I would like to say I don't take it lightly either. By stark contrast to nearly all other characters I've played, this man is in some ways evil to his core. Ironically, he has done more good for others in death than he did in life, but that is orchestrated out of calculated self preservation and a newfound obsession with solving cases, not actual concern for those he ends up helping.

[Lentrax]

Gabrielle looks over her shoulder at the the terrace and the club's dance floor below. Turning back to Estella she smile's shyly. "I don't know", she starts, though there is no lack of confidence behind her voice now, "I kinda want to go dance with you". She gives a quick squeeze, and rubs her thumb over the back of Estella's hand affectionately. The Bros look on, but it is as if they are no longer there.

Then tonight, we dance.

Estella pulls the girl behind her, and when they reach the dance floor, they find everyone near turning to face them. With a casual gesture and a casual, "Hold this for me," Estella tosses her umbrella to the side, and continues on into the crowded floor where a spot opens for them, and soon, eyes are upon her and Gabrielle.

After a couple of songs, Estella looks Gabrielle in the eye.

Is the crowd bothering you? Let's go somewhere private. I want you to myself.

Estella would activate Awe as they approach the dance floor.

As she asks Gabrielle to go with her, she will use Confidant.

Presence+Empathy+Majesty+specialties: [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

Anna swung forward and using a foot/hip sweep performed a basic Judo Osoto Gari. The man hit the ground hard, harder than Anna had intended, and his head smacked hard against the pavement with a wet thunk. He let go a strangled howl, not loud enough to attract the attention of anyone near by as he curled up into the fetal position.

Not needed, this feeding scene is roll light. For basic things we can assume the characters succeed at what they are attempting to do

************************************************** ************************************

Nancy Summers stumbles on her feet once Karl removes himself. From behind he does not see how glassy eyed and slack jawed she is, though he does not need to. She leans against Karl's office desk breathing heavily for a minute while the corpse more than twice her age urges her to the bathroom. She turns and nods her head dully, then follows his direction to the building's public restroom.

As she stumbles out of the room, Karl can only be grateful that he no longer requires such facilities, especially considering the dingy conditions of the lavatory in his office building.

Coming when called, Gabriel steps into the room, patting his scraggly brown hair out of his eyes. The ghoul nods at his instructions and in a slightly girlish and reedy voice responds, "I can start a basic investigation". He chuckles, rolling his eyes a little in mock boredom at the parameters of their new case. "I suppose I can see Ms. Summers out then", he says nodding over at the bathroom, then back at Karl. After receiving permission to leave, Gabriel will exit out the side door that Nancy Summers had stumbled through, presumably to meet her outside of the bathroom.

The feed had been good, but Karl was still left with a dull ache in his chest which made him feel punchy and sour. That was always the problem with feeding from customers, you could never take your fill, no matter how much you disliked them.

Rechecking his phone, there was no new message on The Pulse, but it was getting late. He would have to hope traffic was light if he was going to make whatever sort of meeting he was expected at.

Good. I think we are on the same page about the character then. In regards to Karl's next affair, I assume he is going to head to Golden Gate Park for the meet up hinted at in the first threat of the IC post. If you don't mind waiting a few posts till the other players catch up, that would be great.

In the mean time, I know we agreed to let Gabriel grow organically, but perhaps in the OOC thread you could give a little information about how Master- Servant vs. Friend-Friend the two's relationship is; if the question makes sense.

************************************************** ****************************************
Now technically Estella should have had a 7 dice pool at best w/ Presence 4 + Empathy -1 + Majesty 3+ specialty 1 (could make an argument for Persuasion Seduction, but technically it would have to be an Empathy based skill specialty), and should probably only get 6. Regardless, with the first 6 dice she gets 3 successes beating out Gabrielle's Resolve. All that said, for this scene you wouldn't even have to roll, it's assumed the characters pretty much succeed at all they attempt

Gabrielle clutches Estella's hand tightly as the two slide down the stairs onto the dance floor. Her gaze locked to Estella's, Gabrielle crushes her small frame against her new companion, letting Estella's movements lead their tangled dance. Time becomes meaningless as Gabrielle's hair becomes tangles with sweat, her face flushed and her lungs hot with breath, but Estella keeps track of the time with each passing song.

Patient like a stalking jungle cat, she waits till Gabrielle is nothing but hers. Estella holds the petite little punk to her breast, and knows that Gabrielle is hers. Then things are too easy. A quick suggestion and the two are exiting the club, as Estella grabs her umbrella from one of the nearby security. Gabrielle stays clutched to her new confidant, her mortal body burning like fire.

And then the two several blocks away from the club, on some lonely street. Gabrielle sways in Estella's arms, her head resting heavily on the vampire's shoulders. "I've never had a night like this", she coos, "I never thought I would meet anyone like you".

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna winced as the man's head hit the ground harder than expected.

Oops

Quickly, she straddled the thug's now prone form and removed the knife from his hand, tossing it to the side with a scraping clang.

"No sense in taking unnecessary risks,

The young Kindred leaned forward, rolling him slightly so he was now fully on his back.

"Shhh," she whispered softly into his ear as she covered his mouth with one hand, the other placed over his wrist, pinning it to the ground. The pulse was right there, inches from her face, but she forced herself to look up, to check the entrance of the alley, make sure they were alone. She was so close, she didn't know if she could stop even if there was someone there. One of these days she would spot a potential witness, and then she didn't know what she would do. Fly into a rage at the intruder? Feed anyway and worry about the witness later? Pull herself back from the edge and keep up the facade?

Tonight though, didn't have to worry about any of that, the alley was deserted.

Giving in to her need, she closed the gap, covering the thugs neck with her lips before biting. A second passed, and the first gush hit her, and she suppressed a sigh, letting the warm rush fill her. She drank greedily, feeling only the slightest bit of remorse for the thug who'd tried to rob her.

take enough to be full, 3bp

She felt the gush weaken ever so slightly.

"Not too much now, not too much...," she thought.

Anna licked the wounds as she slowly withdrew, making sure he was out cold. She frisked him down, taking back the hundred he'd stole from the bar, and his phone. Then she turned his head to the side and spied some blood on the ground.

Anna looked at the phone in her hand and down at the injured thug beneath her, torn.

"Damn," she muttered.

She hit the emergency button on his phone and dialed '911'.

"A guy's bleeding from the head, in an alley, it looks like he fell," she said, quickly giving her location. She left the phone on and dropped it onto his chest, and grabbed the knife before she left.

Shoving the knife into her jeans, she quickly stalked back to the dive bar, listening for the sound of sirens.

"I didn't think he was going to rip off the damn bar," she thought furiously, "this is getting to be too much, there has to be a better way to get... blood.

Another, smaller voice piped up.

Why do you even care? You got what you came for, don't take unnecessary risks, just leave!

I have to make sure she's okay, if she's hurt, it's because of me.

Ignoring the smaller voice, and assuming she hears no signs of authorities, Anna pushed her way back into the bar.

[Lentrax]

Shh... The motions are so simple. Moving to a dark space between buildings. Gently pushing the girl into the wall.

The only decision she really needs to make is whether to give the girl anything more than a good time, but Estella knows that she belongs to the vampire, regardless of whether she gives her the gift of Vitae. And perhaps she should let the girl grow some first, let her learn some more of life's lessons before taking her life.

Besides. They always want more.

Estella kisses Gabrielle. Before Gabrielle can truly respond, she moves on, kissing her way down to Gabrielle's neck, but instead of planting a kiss, her fangs sink into the girl. She doesn't drink too deep, she doesn't need much. She licks the wounds she made, licks her lips, and gives Gabrielle one last kiss.

You are so sweet, mon chéri. I could just eat you up, but we should savor that for later, you seem to be faint tonight. Let me get you home. You know where you can find me, my dear...

Estella gets Gabrielle into a cab, and pays the driver to see her home safely.

They always want more.

And Estella is only too happy to oblige them.

Only taking one Vitae from Gabrielle. But I know I'll be seeing her again eventually.

[Daishain]

Karl simply nods to Gabriel, and heads down to the garage.

Karl had always believed in using tools that not only did their job well, but would tend to be underestimated. In this regard, he often looked to what professionals in related fields used.

His car is a good example of this principle. It began life as a police model Dodge Charger, one of the very few cars designed with the input of in uniform officers. Gabriel's contacts had allowed him to purchase one prior to service. Body mods took the already fairly unassuming profile down a notch and a matte grey paint job completed the look Karl wanted, something that would be overlooked almost wherever it went.

Internally was a different matter, the engine and drive train are of course well suited to aggressive driving and pursuits, and Karl has others keep it well tuned. The trunk contains two built in caches, one obvious and locked, the other well hidden under the first. The first contains legitimate tools of his trade, his pistol, magazines for the same, a GPS tracker, a handful of GPS equipped burner phones, crime scene tools, etc. The hidden cache contains more questionable items, a broken down hunting rifle and scope, stakes, silver bullets in case of the occasional flea bitten mutt problem, easily hidden surveillance devices, etc.

None of the items he regularly has in his vehicle are actually illegal of course, at least not to have in there. The guns were fully licensed and registered, and there's no city ordnance against sharpened bits of wood. But some things are better not to have to explain.

There is one other custom feature of his car he hopes never to live test. The interior of each window is covered in a PDLC film. Hit a switch, and it turns completely opaque. It would be a very desperate moment for him to rely on it, but it might save him if somehow caught out in the light of day. He has been looking into a camera system that would let him drive like that, if only carefully and for short distances, but other matters have occupied his attention.

He gets in, and drives off at a brisk rate. This message needs investigating, and he'll want to observe the area before approaching
Hope I didn't go too overboard on Karl's car and gear. He has plenty of resources, and while he doesn't splurge all that much on himself, he does on the tools he thinks he will need.

[Daishain]

Karl finds parking nearby, grabs a monocular from his trunk, and sets out to find a suitable vantage point. A dark window partway up a nearby building should do fine.

His talent of obfuscation in full force, Karl makes his way to where he can observe the meetings, slipping like a shadow past anyone still up at this hour.

Once there, he'll survey the area for a time, watching for signs of the contact, other watchers, a trap, etc.

Wouldn't pick a high security building for this, but using "Face in the Crowd" and his stealth skills in conjunction. Not sure what if anything to roll for the observation part of this. The former lets him be completely ignored so long as he isn't causing a ruckus and someone being there at all isn't a surprise (example talks about walking through a crowd with a dead body over one's shoulder as doable). Let's see if I have this right for the latter roll. +2Wits+2stealthskill+1skillspeciality(obfuscate)+1 darkclothing= [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4][roll5]Edit: hmm, unlucky, no successes. Guess I get to hope no one's watching.

[Bennosuke]

Act 1 Scene i

Forever is our today.
Who wants to live forever anyway?
-Queen, Who Wants to Live Forever

Karl had managed to find one of the one of the few apartment buildings with a fire escape near the park. Most buildings were the traditional brightly pastelled Victorian Rowes, with well ornamented flat fronts entered by wide shallow staircases, but this was a tall rectangle of brick more like a New York City tenement, with low ceilings and dark windows. The metal wired stairs clunked with every step Karl climbed, but he concentrated on his Obfuscation, and trusted in his abilities to remain undetected.

On the roof, Karl had a clear view of the streets below. But when he began his study of the park, Karl realized that he didn't even need the monocular! The streets were near empty. The park was a nest of trees and blackness. Standing under a street lamp, exactly where the meeting place had been described was a lone figure. From Karl's perspective, he appeared a little short, with light brown hair, and a dark brown Bomber style leather jacket, complete with a Lion's mane of a fur collar. He did not appear armed, nor afraid, standing alone in what was considered a very bad neighborhood. From his impatient stance, he was likely the man that Karl was meant to meet.

Int + Socialize roll to see if Karl recognizes the man

************************************************** ************************************************** *********************

It was not long before Anna had walked from the forgone bar to the meeting place. From a distance was a Kindred that Anna recognized. His name was Julian.

PMing you more information about Julian, and why Anna knows him. Leaving it up to you to post your arrival and greeting.

************************************************** ************************************************** ***********************

It was bitter sweet watching Gabrielle be swept away in the cab. Estelle's chest was still warm with the young Punk's essence, even though she had exercised such self control in her feeding. A new love always made Estelle feel a little giddy, like after a good first date when she was a mortal. The feeling stuck with Estelle like the girl's perfume on the drive all the way over to the meeting place. Surprisingly, she found a parking space just a block away from the meeting place, where a leather clad man stood flicking a lighter on and off, under a tall street lamp.

Int + Socialize to see if Estella recognizes the man. I leave it up to you to take over what Estelle does at the start of this scene

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna walked briskly through the park, keeping her senses peeled for trouble or an ambush. Spying Julian, she relaxed a little bit, just a little, and angled towards him.
"Hello Julian," she said, once she was within speaking distance, "long time no see."

Assuming he doesn't respond aside from a simple greeting:

"You're the one who requested I meet you here?" she asked.

[Daishain]

Karl scans further down the roads and other nearby buildings before taking a closer look at the waiting figure. He thinks to himself, 'Hmm, no sign of a trap, but anything could be hiding in the park. At the very least, it is public enough that any treachery risks masquerade violation. That alone may be enough of a precaution. Now, who is this one?'

Spotting the newcomer, he will observe her as well.

5Int+0social [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4]

[Lentrax]

Her heart having settled back to its now normal dead state, Estella found herself approaching the meeting place for the message she received.

Arriving at the park entrance, Estella gets out of her car. There may not be anything in it, but she still locks the doors. With her umbrella making soft tapping sounds, she approaches the man standing under the streetlamp. She thinks she knows the man. Though she isn't sure, she approaches anyway.

Hello. May I assume it was you who summoned me?

[Bennosuke]

Unaware of Karl, Anna arrives before Estella, greeting her fellow Dragon. Julian's face is lit partly by the lamp above, and partly by the flame of a flip lighter that he has going a few inches from his face. Dark shadows spread over under his dark brow, highlighting slender cheek bones and a strong jaw. His eyes assess Anna though his face stays stuck forward, as if he were trying to study her discretely, or perhaps as if he had forgotten how humans interact.

Julian smiles at Anna, a gesture she was unsure he was capable of, though perhaps it is a little forced. His voice is soft, though distant as he says, "Good evening Anna Wu, long time no see". He shuts the cap to the lighter with a click, and quickly stuffs it in his pocket, as if suddenly aware of the possible faux pas. He smiles at Anna's question and responds, "No, it was not me. I simply represent the will of our Covenant, and act to serve it's best interests."

Estella arrives next, the two vampires staring cautiously as she approaches. The man she had seen standing from afar was Julian, he was a high ranked member of The Ordo Dracul, a Covenant of weirdos and recluses who were about as politically or socially relevant as long division at an orgy. Estella's question is similar to Annas, and in response Julian says, "Hello, my name is Julian. I represent a party who hopes to enlist your services. However, I will refrain from discussing the details any further till our last invitee arrives." The vampire does not offer a hand to shake or even a welcoming wave. Like Anna, he seems to be studying Estella like a subject under a microscope, sizing her up and dissecting her with his eyes.

He then cracks his knuckles and says to the two vampires, "Though I suppose if he does not show up soon we may as well just begin"

************************************************** ****************************************

The man outside the park is definitely a member of The Ordo Dracul, though not a Kindred that Karl had ever interacted with. But then Karl recognized two female vampires, both more familiar to him. The first to arrive was also a member of The Ordo Dracul. He had started a file on her, though limited in scope to little more than the fact that she was a Mekhet named Anna Wu, who came from China.

The second to arrive was a Kindred that Karl was far more familiar with; Estella de Chevalier. She was a rising member of the Invictus, as cunning as she was beautiful.

The three seemed to be talking, but Karl was too far away to hear or read their lips. The male vampire, Julian, seemed rather pensive.

[Daishain]

Enough, the odds of this matter being something to avoid keep diminishing, time to find out what this man has to say. Pocketing the monocular, he rapidly descend to street level, and approaches along the street, dropping his concealment when a few dozen paces off and approaching openly.

He simply states, "This seems an unlikely gathering, are there to be any more?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Too bad, I know what boon I'd ask from you," Anna replied with a small smile.

She glanced up as another Kindred approached.

"Hey, I know you... from the club last month, temple I think?" she said by way of greeting Estella.

[Lentrax]

Perhaps, Estella begins. But sadly, when you meet so many, and for so few far too short a time, it is hard to remember.

She smiles slightly, careful not to bare her teeth.

Estella du Chevalier. Pleasure to meet you.

When Julian introduces himself, Estella gives him a cordial incline of her head.

A pleasure to meet you as well, to be sure.

When Karl makes his presence known, Estella responds in the same simple manner.

Not if you were the last of us we were waiting on.

She shifts her grip on her umbrella, as she turns to Julian and tilts her head in an unspoken question.

[Bennosuke]

Julian seems to be oblivious to Anna's implication, and turns his attention to the last approaching figure. Karl appears through the midnight fog, breaking shadows to stand under the street light with the three others.

Before Julian begins, there is a moment of passing tension as each monster recognizes the threat of the other, when each vampire's face seems steeped in shadow and to reveal the strange beast that animates the should be rotten corpse. But the moment passes when Julian responds, "No, we are all here now. Thank you for coming." He regards each figure individually, his voice still removed from any emotion. "We have invited the three of you here because of your investigative skills. Each of you is known in this city for your snooping and stalking ability, and these skills are needed by the party I represent tonight." The Ancilla takes a deep breath, a completely impractical gesture, but one which reveals some trace of the man's former life. He reaches his hands into his pockets and continues, "Within the last few months there have been a rising number of fledgling and neonate disappearances. While rumors have been abound for years about various elders, VII, and other boogymen, we have no good explanation. I and other members of my Order believe this necessitates further research."

Julian removes a folded picture from his pocket, a crisp paper clipping in black and white. He holds it up for all to see. "This is Mobius, born Kyle Marks", Julian says. The face depicts a frowning teenager. In the picture he seems to be confused both of what face he is trying to make, and whether he is evoking the fashion of the Punk Rocker, Goth, or Emo subcultures. His hair is buzzed in an outdated mushroom cut, his eyes circled with clownish liner, and piercings decorate his face like he got in a fight with a dying porcupine. "Mobius was a neonate barely in the Ordo Dracul for less than a few months. He went missing earlier this week. We hope that by identifying the cause of his disappearance, we can prevent further occurrences in the future."

Julian folds up the paper and replaces it in his leather jacket. Again, he pauses to appraise the three around him. "If you are willing to assist, and to respect a number of stipulations, The Ordo Dracul would be indebted to your expertise in the investigation."

Could I get everyone's updated character boxes (with blood points and beats) in their next posts please?

[Daishain]

Karl considers for a moment, His patrons would not likely care about a few missing young kindred, but it would be prudent to ensure other interests were not being compromised. A major debt from the Order of Dracul could prove quite useful as well. He states, "I don't suppose there is a list somewhere of all these missing younglings. The most likely path to solving this would be to determine what, if anything, they have in common."


Humanity: 5
Willpower: 5
Health:undamaged
Beats/Exp:none
Vitae: 6
Tilts/Conditions:none
Aspirations:
1. Obtain leverage on a powerful individual that otherwise had been a threat
1a. Investigate them for past mistakes and current weaknesses
1b. If investigation turns up nothing, stage an incident.
2. Find a fellow vampire that can be closely allied with to Karl's benefit and with minimal risk.
2a. Locate a suitable individual with compatible personality and ambitions
2b. Check into their nature and past to be certain.
2c. approach vampire with proposal.
3. Karl has living descendants he is not aware of. A son currently in a nursing home. Two grandchildren, and multiple great grandchildren. Discover their existence in an unpleasant fashion.

[Bennosuke]

From within a pocket Julian removes a key ring with three red flash drives on it. "There is information on these stubs that have been uploaded to help with the investigation", he says matter o' factly, "I don't know what is on them, but should you agree to assist with the investigation, the drive is yours."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna's expression grew more serious at the mention of missing Kindred. The implications were dire, doubly so for herself as she was barely considered more than a fledgeling herself.

"What are the stipulations, Julian?" she asked.

Character Box:

Vitae: 10
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 6
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 1/0
Tilts/Conditions: None
Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Develop a reliable and low-risk source of vitae.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc).
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal
3. Meta: I want my character to suffer a loss of some kind, be forced to deal with the repercussions (physical, emotional), and emerge stronger (but potentially not unscathed) after some kind of resolution.
3. (alternate) Ensure the safety of younger cousin Katie

[Bennosuke]

Ignoring the misspelled name :smalltongue:...

"First, that this investigation is kept secret and that no mention will be made of who directed you to undergo this investigation. This includes discussing any findings of the investigation, during or after its proceedings. Second, that all information be reported directly to me. I can be reached via the Pulse, use the contact by which I messaged you. Third, that if Mobius is found, he is brought directly to me."

Julian removes a piece of paper from his pocket with writing in a dark red ink. "This is a blood contract", he says, "By signing this you commit your corpus to these stipulations, and breaking of the contract will lead to unsavory consequences. If you agree to aid in the investigation, I will need you to mark it." The paper adds little to what Julian had already said. At the bottom it is marked in red wax with the symbol of The Ordo Dracul. Julian removes a pocket knife and offers it to the three vampires. "Prick your finger and mark the paper in blood." His eyes penetrate through the three potential investigators, possibly daring them to sign, possibly scrutinizing each one for flaws.

[Lentrax]

Estella listens carefully, and as Julian explains his stipulations, Estella's mind begins flashing through some old law classes she had taken, all those years ago. Something about the conditions was nagging at her, a splinter in her mind.

I beg your pardon sir, she begins, as Julian holds out the contract and the knife.

But perhaps you would give us a few moments to confer amongst ourselves before deciding to accept?


Humanity: 6
Willpower: 5
Health: 8
Vitae: 9
Beats/Exp: 1/0
Tilts/Conditions: N/A
Short-term: Create a group of Ghouls to provide better daytime tasks and security.

Mid term: Learn the Cacophony of San Francisco.

Long term: Become the Vanpire who controls the Invictus Primogen.

[Bennosuke]

Estella's question spreads a grin across Julian's face. "Of course", he says, "only a fool does not weigh her options. Take your time." With one hand he closes the pocket knife, and brings the contract back down by his side. However, Julian makes no move to leave the three.

[Daishain]

Karl doesn't need time to confer, stating, "I have not lived as long as I have by blindly agreeing to keep secrets from my superiors. I could agree to keep it hidden from the rank and file, I would be inclined to do so anyways. I might, given particular reason, be convinced not to volunteer the information to anyone at all. But if asked by senior members of Invictus, the prince or his council, I will inform them of what I know without restraint. My loyalty in this regard is a treasured status."

Hope this isn't a complete dealbreaker, but this is a matter of survival for him, he's made enemies in his business. He is protected from them in large part because he is useful and reliable. If that ends...

[Bennosuke]

The smirk vanishes from Julian's face, again replaced with a mask of impassivity. He says, "I did not write this contract, nor do I have the powers to amend it. Unfortunately, a major concern is that an Elder of the city has reached a point in their Requiem where Diablere," and this last word is said with bitter bile, "is the only option. Now I am sure you can follow this line of thought, but many of the Elders in this city are members of your Covenant. For the protection of all the Kindred in the city, it is best that whomever this is remains unaware till all the evidence can be organized and brought against them. Though it is not The Ordo's habit to become entangled in the politics of this city, if necessary we will. No one is asking you to lie to your superiors, but simply not to run your mouth about what you are doing."

Julian's eyes burrow into Karl, though neither is unwise enough to allow eye contact, "If you wish to walk away now, that is your prerogative, but suffice to say regardless of whether or not you decide to assist, it would be in the interest of your survival to keep quiet. The Invictus has been known to shoot the messenger, so to speak, and the coils of The Ordo run deep in this city." He raises an eyebrow at Karl, then turns to the others, as if to say, 'the same goes for you'.

Understand where Karl is coming from, but I don't think anyone would hire him without a discretionary clause, that's part of most investigative work.

[Daishain]

"I thought as much, I have no interest in inciting the wrath of the Ordo, even if that were not the case, this matter would not be one for public dissemination." He indicates the contract, "I will need to review the specific terminology of that document."

Checking the fine print. In particular looking both for open ended restrictions that could be problematic, and loopholes around the same. Int+Academics check? Or perhaps politics?

[Thundercracker]

Anna read through the document. Assuming she finds nothing scurrilous:

"I'll do it," she said.

[Lentrax]

So? Estella asks Karl.

Anything untoward or disturbing in there?

[Bennosuke]

Julian offers the contract over to Karl to review. The wording is slightly archaic, reading like something out of Shakespeare, but says little more than what Julian explained. The investigators would be expected to keep their work secret, and would be bound not to disclose their discoveries to parties other than those involved in the investigation and Julian. The investigators would be responsible for reporting all findings to Julian as soon as possible, and that withholding information would be viewed as breaking of the contract. If Mobius is found he is to be kept alive, and to be brought directly to Julian. Interestingly, the contract states that if needed, force can be used to subdue Mobius... a curious clause given the theory behind his disappearance.

The contract also specifies that for completion of the duties detailed, regardless of outcome, the investigators will be guaranteed a major boon to be decided on by the investigators.

The entirety of the contract takes up about five lines of script, and there is space at the bottom of the page, where each Vampire can leave their mark, near the stamped sigil of the The Dragon.

[Daishain]

Ah, a loophole, perhaps. But there are other issues.

Karl replies to Estella, "I am more disturbed by what is not in here than what is. There is no manner of exit, completion, or default clause, not even a time limit on how long we must keep to these terms. Julian, this is no accusation, but I must consider all possibilities. If for instance, should Julian's superiors decide keeping what we discover secret is in the interest of Ordo Dracul, we will be stuck for the rest of our existence keeping that secret, even helping them keep a lid on it by being forced to report on related events. We would be stuck that way even if it means watching our own order be torn to shreds from within."

"In fact, as this is written, it would be an excellent ploy on the part of whomever the guilty party is. Get an outside group of clueless peons to hunt down the evidence so it can be quietly destroyed. Bind them to silence so they can't discuss any findings that point to their employer. Dispose of them as soon as they figure it out."

Aaand, that should probably give a hint of just how much paranoia it takes to survive over a century in the spy business.

[Bennosuke]

Julian's eyebrow raises at Karl, and when he begins speaking again, there is measured frustration. "Watching your own order be torn apart from within? It seems to me that has been going on for centuries, but somehow the Invictus still survives." A delicate looking hand wipes back a lock of brown hair, and from behind his pink lips it is clear that his fangs are now showing. "Let us suppose that it is an Invictus Elder's unchecked feeding habit that is the cause for all this... not that I am suggesting such a thing to be true, but they are then fracturing one of our cit'ys traditions and are the greatest threat to our society tonight. Such an individual would necessitate justice for the very preservation of the San Francisco Kindred." The Ancilla vampires around him can feel the pressure of Julian's monstrous presence threatening to take over, like a hungry pitbull whose cage door is just about to open.

By now several veins have begun to bulge on Julian's neck and forehead, and it takes him several moments of composing himself before the two long needles slide back into their mortal position. "Mr. Schulz, as I believe you were once called, the design of this contract was not meant to trap you or your colleagues. The non-disclosure construct was meant as a way to guarantee that no foolish decisions were made until enough evidence could be gathered and a suitable solution could be decided on by my superiors, while also protecting The Ordo for initiating this investigation. As I said before, I have not the ability to modify this contract. It is not within my... abilities, so to speak. But if you wish for there to be stipulations which you think would protect you further, it is possible I can have the damn thing rewritten, depending on how reasonable you are willing to be."

[Daishain]

Karl twitches slightly at the mention of his old name. He waits a moment for Julian to calm himself before continuing. "In some respects, it matters little if it was intended as a trap or not. It is a trap, and you do not necessarily need intend harm for this contract to bring harm. That stated, I consider this matter worth looking into, and the lack of that data you hold would seriously hamper my efforts, so I would prefer to find a way to resolve this."

"If a rewrite is possible, I suggest the following changes. There needs to be a provision for if we find it impossible to make our reports. In addition, I respect the need for you and Ordo Dracul to protect itself from backlash. In this respect, I can work with keeping your involvement in the investigation hidden for as long as you deem suitable."

"However, I would like for the other restrictions to end when the first of three things occur. If your superior deems the contract no longer needed, if a year passes since the last major development in the case, or if the most damaging details of the case become public knowledge among kindred in spite of our efforts."

"I also wish to reserve the right to bring a superior into the investigation if I can meet certain prerequisites. These prerequisites would include the case having progressed to the point of being reasonably confident of a suspect's guilt, no notable evidence having been found of said superior being involved, and having no notable reason to suspect the information provided would be misused. As with the rest, I can work with leaving Ordo Dracul out of my report to said superior, though I would suggest it may be more prudent at that point for you to work with them, ensure any responses are coordinated."

"Oh yes, one last thing, though not directly linked to the contract. We will have need of a daywalker. I request that my Ghoul servant Gabriel be brought in, even if only in an appropriately limited capacity. He is discrete, and an effective enough investigator in his own way."

"Would this be workable?"

[Bennosuke]

When Karl finishes, there is a wide grin across his face. He reaches into his pocket, then pauses, as if caught in thought. His attention returns to Karl and the others, and he says, "Those do sound like reasonable stipulations. I will see what can be done about having a new contract written up. Understand that many resources are required to develop such a Blood Contract, and it will be a great tax on my Ordo to write a second. I can make no promises."

His hand returns from his pocket clutching a cellphone. "I will let you talk among yourselves as you had all hoped to do so, and will return shortly", he says before starting off down the block, and bringing the phone to his ear.

[Daishain]

Karl nods, "Its a step." Turning to the others he states, "And you two? If you have any additional concerns this would be the time to air them."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Why would we need to bring him in by force?" Anna asked, "what if he's alive and fled the country? What if we find Möbius is already ashes, is there still a payment for concluding the investigation into his disappearance?"

[Lentrax]

No. I do believe that what our, a brief pause as Estella chooses the correct word. Colleague has said is more than adequate for my needs.

After Julian steps away, Estella calmly and idly inspects her nails in the streetlight. I only hope that our little legal trivialities do not lessen our rewards for completing this little task.

[Daishain]

Karl responds to Anna, "They're likely thinking of the possibility that this Mobius and the others are being controlled by some means, or would otherwise be unwilling to return for questioning. Perhaps the data being withheld includes reason to assume as much. In any case, we would not be contract bound to chase him to the ends of the earth or reverse the final death. We bring him in if we can."

"For now, I am more interested in the two of you. Anna and Estella, the vigilante and the socialite. Estella, I am Karl Bauer, you probably should know of me, but you seem to have other things on your mind." Karl has a somewhat dismissive tone to his voice here. "What would be your reasons for accepting this?"

[Lentrax]

I have several reasons why. First, the successful conclusion of this enterprise has the chance of increasing my position in the city. Second, this provides me an opportunity to meet other Kindred in a nonsocial setting. And third, Estella goes on, making a small wave toward the city with her umbrella.

I'm bored. This is an excellent opportunity for me to alleviate that ailment.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Aside from the promised boon?" Anna asked, "something is preying on Kindred, young Kindred. I'm a young Kindred, seems it would be in my own best interests to put a stop to it with some help, rather than on my own."

that and Julian asks it of me," she thought.

[Bennosuke]

After a handful of minutes, Julian returned, the cellphone still held close to his ear. "Any last requests before this thing is finalized?", he asks with a hint of frustration.

Let us assume that the contract is relatively concrete in terms of length of time it is valid, and weekly hours of expectation to keep things moving along, though if there is anything the characters want to bring up, now is the time to do it.

[Daishain]

Karl raises an eyebrow at the explanations of his compatriots, but simply says, "interesting"

In response to Julian, he considers for a time before stating, "I might suggest that you run the second draft by us, as it were, before resources are committed to the new contract. But I believe what we discussed will suffice, assuming your superiors agree."

P.S. I kind of assume Karl would have run across blood contracts at some point in his death, even if only by running into others involved in one. What would he know of how they worked? Particularly in regards to accidental violations?

If for instance Karl attempts to inform someone of this investigation that he thinks is safe to inform, but is not. Would he receive a warning of some sort before the contract triggers whatever nasty effect it has? Would it just go off without warning? Or is it triggered only by intentional breaking of the terms?

[Thundercracker]

Anna

"Nothing from me," Anna replied.

assuming from the roll that Anna has already read through and raised issues to the best of her ability.

[Lentrax]

Estella nods her agreement. I believe that our concerns have been addressed.

[Bennosuke]

"Very well", Julian says to the group, the phone said to his ear, "hopefully this won't take too long".

He raises a single finger to ask for a moment, and turns from the group as he says, "Go ahead, finish it up... yes... yes... thank you. Ok, bye". Julian turns back to the group. He inhales and exhales twice, an obvious gesture. "Well the contract won't be ready for the next couple of hours", he says, his voice returned to that meditative drawl. He slips the phone into his jacket and apologizes, "I apologize that the contract was not up to standard, and appreciate all your patience."

"Unfortunately, I don't have three hours to wait around in The Wrack", Julian says with a small smirk. He removes his phone again, and checks the time. "It's about One Thirty now, lets meet back in about three hours. That should give me time to pick up the new contract, and enough time for everyone to make it home in time... assuming there are no further problems". The smirk widens, but it is far from friendly. "I will see you soon", he says, and before anyone responds, Julian turns and begins walking down the block.

************************************************** ******************************************

If anyone wants to have used the three hours to accomplish anything, please let me know in the OOC thread, and roll as needed.

Three hours pass and the four return to the park and the streetlight. Though the sky has not started to lighten, there is a warmth to the air, an itch that would make a Kindred sweat if they were capable of it. When the three potential investigators return, Julian is sitting on the hood of a parked, the parchment contract rolled up under one arm.

Once everyone has arrived, Julian holds up the contract for all to see. "This is it", he says flatly, "this is the last chance. Take a look at it, and should you have no other problems, let us move on to business."

Julian passes the contract out the other vampires. A review of the contract will show that all prior suggestions have been made. After each Kindred has reviewed the contract, Julian offers up the pocket knife. "If you are ready, I will have you mark this. Simply mark this with your fingerprint", he says, making a pricking motion of his finger with the blade.

So this has definitely been one of the rougher starts to one of my games in a while. Sorry guys. Hopefully we can get things moving a little more slowly.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

With a neutral expression on her face, Anna quickly read through the document, then pricked her finger and pressed a drop of blood to the contract.
She held it there for a moment, then stood back and waited for the others.

[Lentrax]

Estella looks over the changes, sees that everything is in order, then she also pricks her thumb and presses it to the document. She then hands it to Karl.

[Daishain]

Karl hesitates, this could still be dangerous to commit to. Vardammt, the information on that drive alone could easily be worth the risk, he had to get his hands on it. Accosting Julian for the device is hardly likely to play out well...

Before he can reconsider, he lightly nicks his finger and presses down on the contract, holding it there for a moment before handing it back to Julian.

"Now then, what more can you tell us of the case?"

[Bennosuke]

The parchment hungrily drinks the Vitae painted fingerprints from each individual. When the deed is done, the contract is marked with three ashy whorls, the blood having apparently burned itself into the paper. Julian rolls up the paper and places it into the pocket of his dark leather jacket. "Thank you", he says flatly.


"Now then, what more can you tell us of the case?"

Julian nods, and hands each Kindred a red plastic flashdrive, attached to a key chain with a small yellow smiley face stress ball linked to it. "There are a number of files on the drive that should help with the investigation. Bios from both ends of his life, property owned, commonly used aliases, ect.", Julian says, "but I will tell you what I know, which may not be included."

Julian looks to Anna first, his eyes unapologetic when he says, "Mobius was very much an oddball, even for his clan line and for a member of our Order. He was barely integrated into our Covenant, and in many ways isolated himself from the All Night Society. Still considered a fledgeling, Mobius only had access to our Covenant because of his Sire, Miho. There were even rumors of him hanging around a group of Rabble down in South Beach before he disappeared."

Then turning to Karl, Julian continues, "From the little I've heard, Mobius was too niave. He was unaware of how dangerous the Danse Macabre is. I hear rumors that he would go out Poaching in other Covenant territory alone. He sat in on one training session with the Axe; it was... unimpressive even for a Childe so young. If he was Diablerized, he was practically asking or it." Julian speaks like he is reading a recipe, his voice remaining flat and removed.

Finally, Julian folds his arms over his chest and shrugs, "Any questions in particular? It's getting early, and I'm sure no one wants to be out too much longer."

[Daishain]

"A few" Karl begins ticking items off on his fingers.

"To begin with, were there any changes in behavior or particular incidents in the time leading up to his disappearance? Who would he confide in? Is there anyone among the Kine that he still clung to?"

[Bennosuke]

Julian's head tilts slightly, his arms still crossed over his chest. His lips purse for a moment before he responds, "Not that I know of. But I'll admit I did not know him well. There is a list of some of his friends, as well as contact information for his Sire. Perhaps they will be able to answer you better. I believe he had some existing family in Los Angeles, also available in the flashdrive, but one would assume he severed contact with them by now."

[Lentrax]

But he may not have. Family can be... hard to let go of. Especially for those new to the Danse.

[Bennosuke]

Julian nods his head once to show agreement. "I won't deny that, and I won't disagree with the fact that he did not seem to be handling The Requiem well. Careful though, if you are going to go down that path. Contacting his family may be a breach of the Masquerade. We don't know what they do or don't know."

[Lentrax]

Then we should find out whether or not they believe him dead.

She turns to Karl. A task for your ghoul, perhaps?

[Daishain]

"Indeed, it should be simple and safe enough for him to ask about the neonate going missing, without specifying when or how. Their initial response alone will tell us whether or not they were in touch."

"As for the rest, it does not seem like you know much of Mobius, which is fine, with the drive we should be able to fill in the holes. What of the rest? Any incidents or coincidences connected with those who have gone?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Did... did any of the missing show any kind of indication they thought something was after them?" Anna asked.

[Bennosuke]

To Karl, Julian responds, "This was the first time a member of the The Ordo has gone missing; or at least the first time in a long time." He pauses for a second, slightly apprehensively, then continues, "From what we have gathered, which is very little given how secretive each Covenant is, the majority of the missing have primarily been from the Invictus or Carthians, but this is not surprising given that they are the largest in San Francisco. These sorts of events are not often reported publicly, but from what we can gather it is mostly fresh Childer or at oldest Neonates who just sort of disappear into the night. We know of two other cases in the last month, which is quiet excessive."

Julian then looks to Anna, "That's as much information as I have anyways on the matter. If other members of our Order know more, I am without this knowledge."

[Daishain]

"Very well, it seems there is not much left for this night. Dawn approaches"

Turning to the others he states, "I suggest retiring for now. Study the information given, and we can compare notes on our next meeting. If none wish otherwise, my office will serve well as a meeting point. It is secure for the sake of the Danse, but no private sanctums will be intruded upon that way. Beginning at midnight would suit my schedule well. Are we agreed?" Karl pulls out a pair of business cards.

[Thundercracker]

"Sure," Anna replied, taking a business card.

Meeting at midnight would give her some time to go through the files on the thumb drive.

[Lentrax]

In that case, Estella says.

As you say, it is getting early. I suggest we all depart for the day. We can review the data on the drive and meet again tomorrow night.

[Daishain]

"Fine, I will see you both tomorrow. Come prepared."

Rather abruptly, Karl turns about and walks away at a brisk pace. The gaunt figure somehow seems to fade as he goes.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Umm," Anna said to Estella as Karl departed, "do you want a ride?"

[Lentrax]

No. But thank you for the offer.

Estella departs, her umbrella tapping gently as she leaves.

[Daishain]

Karl retreats to his home, taking a cheap tablet, he disconnects its internet connection, and plugs in the flash drive. One more precaution. There is nothing sensitive of his own on this device, and destroying a single tablet would be a rather simple affair if events prove it necessary.

He will spend the rest of the night studying the drive's contents. To begin with, he is looking for patterns, odd coincidences, anything that the disappeared may have in common. After that, he begins building a list of contacts, people who may know something connected to this matter.

Rolling Int+academics. [roll0]

[Bennosuke]

The four Kindred part ways under a sky that is turning from dark grey to dark blue. It is not long before the three would be investigators are found in the heavy embrace of day slumber.

************************************************** *********************************

The three Kindred wake around 7PM with much time before their scheduled meeting at midnight.

Estella wakes to a series of text messages from Gabrielle. The first few start out fawning over Estella; thanking her for a wonderful night and explaining that she has never felt such feelings before, but throughout the day they grow more desperate. The last few texts plead with Estella to respond, and one or two texts take a tone of anger.

When Karl wakes, there is a manila folder titled Graham Summers on his work desk. In the folder are a series of prints taken by Gabriel depicting the youth at home in the Kitchen fighting with his mother. Pictures of him getting into a dark olive Honda, with a snap of the license plate. And a picture of entering an apartment, that appears to be in a less desirable part of town. The address is visible in photos of the apartment. A hand written note from Gabriel reads, "Graham returned to his mother's home around 1PM; mind you on a school day. He looked hung over. They fought, and he left the apartment. Tailed him into the Outer Sunset. He met a group of young Negros at the apartment depicted. Never observed him leave. Forced to end stake out to prepare the above files, as requested. The apartment is owned by a Synco Realty, and being rented by one Loretta Sun. Will continue to dig.

-Gabe"

Please remove 1 bloodpoint for waking, and note this in your next post's character box. Each character has about 5 hours to accomplish any tasks such as hunting, research, or socializing before the meet up. Please describe what you wish to accomplish and we will go from there.

[Thundercracker]

Character Box:

Vitae: 9
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 6
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 1/0
Tilts/Conditions: None
Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Develop a reliable and low-risk source of vitae.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc).
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal
3. Meta: I want my character to suffer a loss of some kind, be forced to deal with the repercussions (physical, emotional), and emerge stronger (but potentially not unscathed) after some kind of resolution.
3. (alternate) Ensure the safety of younger cousin Katie


Anna Wu

Anna began sorting through the files on the flash drive until she felt the weariness of daylight taking hold. After resting, she continued her work. She briefly considered contacting outside help to assist, but figured she should at least run through the data herself first so she knew what she was looking for. She kept working until she felt like she'd hit a roadblock, and wasn't discovering anything new, or it came time to leave to meet at Karl's.

int + investigation: [roll0]

[Daishain]

Karl sends a text to Gabriel, "Another case has come up. Much more important. Get an early sleep, and be at the office an hour before dawn, you need to meet a few individuals and talk for a time. "

Then he heads out, seeking the apartment pointed out by Gabriel. Feeling relatively hungry, after confirming that Graham's car is still present, he will watch for a likely vessel while remaining near enough to keep an eye on the place.


Vitae: 5
Humanity:5
Willpower:5
Health:undamaged
Beats/Exp:none
Tilts/Conditions:none
Aspirations:
1. Obtain leverage on a powerful individual that otherwise had been a threat
1a. Investigate them for past mistakes and current weaknesses
1b. If investigation turns up nothing, stage an incident.
2. Find a fellow vampire that can be closely allied with to Karl's benefit and with minimal risk.
2a. Locate a suitable individual with compatible personality and ambitions
2b. Check into their nature and past to be certain.
2c. approach vampire with proposal.
3. Karl has living descendants he is not aware of. A son currently in a nursing home. Two grandchildren, and multiple great grandchildren. Discover their existence in an unpleasant fashion.

[Lentrax]

Oh, how they always want more. Estella smiles as she reads through the messages. After she gets to the end, she composes a response.

Gabrielle, I was not ignoring you. I do so apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I slept the entire day through. Meet me for a late dinner?


Humanity: 6
Willpower: 5
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 0
Tilts/Conditions: N/A
Vitae: 8
Short-term: Create a group of Ghouls to provide better daytime tasks and security.

Mid term: Learn the Cacophony of San Francisco.

Long term: Become the Vanpire who controls the Invictus Primogen.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna weighed in her mind whether she should bring in any help, but shook her head and doubled down on the information provided. She would confer with the others first before taking any action, so they didn't end up crossing efforts.

[Bennosuke]

Anna spent three hours pouring over the maddeningly arranged files on the thumb drive before she had reached her wit's end. Her eyes felt like molten jelly staring at the series of folders, opening up each one individually to pour over word documents. The Hunger gnashed its teeth like it would chew through her abdomen. She knew she could take no more when she realized that she was tearing her lower gum to shreds with the points of her elongated canines. Bowing her head in defeat she closed her laptop, half wishing she could chuck it out the window.

She still had two hours before her meeting with Karl and Estella.

Rolled for you as requested. Will PM you the results.

************************************************** *******************************

Karl was just keying the engine when a text response from Gabriel buzzed on his phone. "Will do. Details?"

But then Karl was out of the garage, and jetting down the block towards 19th Avenue. Traffic was still relatively heavy, but Karl pushed the customized sports car's handling to cut through each obstacle like butter. He was across town in less than a half hour, and idling in a driveway across from the Sun apartment. The apartment was a large block of tan stucco with a wire linked entrance and no driveway.

Fortunately, it was not too hard to cruise the block and find the area Graham had parked. The car still rested in front of Brittany's Burger Joint; home of the 3/4 pound patty. It was still fairly early at this point, though late enough that the streets were starting to empty, especially in the Outer Sunset. Karl slid his car into a spot down the block.



************************************************** *********************************

There is a good ten minutes during which Estella is performing her nightly ritual of cleaning and primping, before Gabrielle responds. The first text responds with, "Oh, okay", but is quickly followed by "I'm not sure I can". Estella is still doing her hair, and before she can respond her phone buzzes again. "I hope you got some rest", the first text reads, followed by, "I miss you", and lastly, "When do you want to meet". A couple of quick responses, and it is clear Gabrielle will meet wherever, whenever.

[Bennosuke]

Karl cut the engine and stepped out of his car, locking it and making off down the block. It took him about ten minutes to find one of the many streets with blown street lamps. Like slipping into a warm bath in the winter, Karl stepped into the shadows. In the darkness, Karl's skin, his scent and taste all came alive. It was a heady rush, and it was likely a part of his Mekhet heritage. It was like he could feel the very pulse of the city, telling him where to go, and blowing the scent of a lonely drunk to him on the wind.

She shuffled into view, caught at the crossroad of the nearest intersection. Karl could swear she was looking at him, half bleary eyed. She took a moment, as if contemplating her fate before she began stumbling down the block towards Karl's hiding place. It was wine that saturated this woman's scent, red and heavy. Her boot heels clacked heavily on the sidewalk as she passed Karl, now totally unaware of his presence.

The street was lonely, it was just theirs.

Since we are waiting for everyone to catch up just a little, I will give you the chance to post how the feeding scene goes. Feel free to update your Character box with your new Vitae. After you respond, I will fill in how the stake out goes (cough... not well).

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Damn useless," Anna muttered to herself, head still on the closed laptop, "how on the hell do you survive for three hundred years or however long without being able to organize files.."

Anna attempted to compose her thoughts by pacing a bit. At the same time, she fought her fear of failure and looking the fool in front of her.. well, she couldn't really call Karl and Estella equals. Both of them had been Kindred far longer than she. Despite only really meeting them recently, Anna realized she desperately wanted to be considered an equal by them, to be acknowledged by them.

not to mention you're screwing up your chance to receive training from Julian...

"Shut up," she scolded her subconscious out loud, though the thought of Karl and Estella informing the older Kindred of how they'd solved the mystery without her help, indeed despite her flailing efforts, did flit across her mind.

well, don't just sit there, do something to make yourself useful. He must have asked you for a reason, what strengths do you have that Karl and Estella don't?

Anna quickly jotted down what she could piece together from the haphazard files, and possible courses of action, from tracing down the boy's car, to contacting Miho or asking Kenji for advice. Maybe ask Kenji for advice on how to contact Miho? She did have access to the Ordo and potentially Mobius' sire through her own.

How did the punishment fit in, or did it? The parents would probably have to be a last resort, as they're in LA.

Gah, the whole thing was maddening. Notes now at least somewhat organized, she headed out for the meeting with the other two, only half-hoping their research had borne more fruit than her own.

[Daishain]

Karl ghosts along behind the drunk woman. At the right moment he says "Look out!" from behind her. As she reacts to his voice he'll give a little nudge, just enough to send her tipping over.

He catches her of course, "Easy there, you're a little tipsy tonight aren't you? Good thing I was here."

Under pretense of getting her back on her feet, he'll lean in close and bite. He hugs the inebriated woman close to him as he drinks down her sweet life giving essence. The faint taste of alcohol makes it all the better, he can vaguely remember having enjoyed fine wines once, but nothing of how they actually tasted. Surely nothing like this.

He drinks his fill, and licks the wound closed. Karl settles the woman down in the corner of some nearby steps, as if she had simply sat down and fallen asleep there. He quickly double checks to ensure he had left no signs of his presence, then walks away, once again drawing the cloak of night around him.

[Lentrax]

Oh, mortals. They are so very fun to twist about. But something in the back of her mind, something deeper tells her that this girl could have the potential to be more than a meal to be eaten at her leisure. Perhaps a simple test. Something to see how far Gabrielle is willing to go.

I have some work to do, but meet me at the Cafe Rachel in an hour. And do dress nicely, my dear. This place is a bit more upscale than last nights entertainment. Nothing formal.

Time to see how far would Gabrielle go. And to see how much she would be willing to lose.

Estella will take a small laptop with her. While she awaits Gabrielle she will start going over the flash drive. Estella will put her focus on finding if there are any social connections sshe may be aware of to try and connect the missing Kine together.

[Bennosuke]

Karl finishes his feeding, and leaves the woman on the ground, asleep and very pale. There is a quick head rush as he rises; not like when a human stands up too quickly. This is a fast burning sensation like schnaps, starting in his chest, and rising in many tight hot cords through his body. Karl's face feels flushed for a moment, a sensation he barely remembers from his mortal days, and he almost loses his balance for a moment in the rush.

Then Karl rights himself, and he rushes off down the block, back to the Sun apartment. The font wall had two barred windows, the left was lit by a yellow light, but they were too high to get a clear view, even from across the street. Lazily crossing the street, Karl stopped in front of the entrance and pantomimed attention to his cellphone while he listened from below, but all he could hear was a the lazy buzz of some modern music he did not understand. Even after a good fifteen minutes, and multiple pedestrians giving him the eye, Karl he could hear nothing of importance. Karl checked the block for a good alley or roof from which he could further his investigation, but about fifteen minutes of searching brought up nothing.

Frustrated, but not defeated, Karl returned to his car, and resolved not to give up. He would wait for Graham and his friends if he had time. Fourty five minutes, then an hour and a half passed, and Karl became frustrated. Leaving his car, Karl stomped down the block only to find that Graham's car was gone. The brat had left while Karl had been feeding!

Tried to burn up a little more time than the roll allowed to move things closer to Midnight. Karl has about two hours and change to get home before the meeting if there is anything else he wants to do.

************************************************** ***********************

Estella made sure to be at least ten minutes late. Late enough to make Gabrielle pout a little bit (oh how she could not wait for that), but not so long to make her truly angry.

Rachel Cafe was a small French cafe in Russian Hill, all white tile, soft lighting, and cute wooden furniture. The Cafe was busy when Estella arrived, with servants in white smocks and vest quietly rushing to and fro. Gabrielle was waiting for Estella a the door, nervously thumbing the crepe of her black silk top, which was thrust into a dark leather corset. A short lace skirt complimented her thin pale legs, but she was clearly not dressed for the location.

Gabrielle smiled shyly at Estella's arrival, looking both embarrassed and relieved. Before they could even speak, the two were rushed by the Matradee to a table at the back of the restaurant. Nervously, Gabrielle blurts, "Are you mad at me?"

[Daishain]

Resisting the urge to head back to Graham's home and do... something to him, Karl instead looks back up to the apartment. What lies within should tell him most of what he needed to know, and being able to declare this case closed could hardly come soon enough.

Karl pauses at his car long enough to retrieve a few tools, lockpicks as well as a camera and a few plastic bags. He then walks across the street as if he belonged, and begins picking the lock on the outer door. If a quiet entry can be managed, he will look about within, and attempt to determine what drew the boy here.

Let me know if you need any other rolls
Dex+Larceny[roll0]
Wits+Investigation[roll1]
Good, didn't flub it this time.

He primarily intends only to poke around and take photographs, but if something particularly interesting pops up, he may take items or otherwise intercede. Obviously stopping and reassessing before reaching signs of life.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Though not exactly in dire need of sustenance, Anna traveled to a park. If a meal should present itself, then who was she to deny it. She sat on a bench and phoned her cousin. It'd been a while since they chatted...
no need to rp this out if we want to keep things moving

[Lentrax]

Mad? At you? No, of course not. Why on Earth would you think something like that?

Before Gabrielle can say a word, Estella flags down a waiter, and orders for the two of them, the French words rolling off her tongue like honey. After placing the order for a simple meal and a bottle of wine, Estella turns back to the young girl sitting with her, switching back to English.

Gabrielle. We did not get much chance to talk last night. Why don't you tell me about yourself?

Before arriving, Estella spent a Vitae for the Blush of Life.

[Bennosuke]

Karl makes sure no one is watching before biting into the sheet metal door with his lock pick kit. The lock is little more than a latch, not even a true bolt, and gives after no more than a few seconds of fiddling. He pulls the door open cautiously, smiling to himself when it makes almost no noise.

Entering a small outdoor courtyard, Karl ascends a flight of narrow and dark wood stairs to come onto the Second floor where the Sun's flat is. A second go around with the lock picking kit lets Karl into the apartment living room. The space is carpeted with a grey cheap material, and the ceiling is almost comically low. At the foot of the entrance is a rack overflowing with basketball sneakers and a few nicer high top shoes. The heavy base of the radio pumps more loudly now, and from Karl's vantage point he can see Ms. Sun sprawled on the couch, her eyes glassy and a small pipe dangling from a nearly limp hand. She mumbles something at the sound of the open door, but does not even turn to face Karl, her eyes glued to the ceiling.

Karl sneaks down the hall, thankful for the carpeted floors, and after a guess or two, opens the door guarding Loretta's sons' rooms. The room is tight, mostly filled with a bunk bed and a small desk. The walls are literally covered with a series of posters; mostly pictures of other negro rap artists and wanna be gansters.

But there is also a number of scattered posters on the wall which stand out. These are black posters with nothing more than a white familiar symbol; a bleeding cross with a skull in the middle. While not dead on, it looks strikingly similar to one of the many symbols of the Lancea et Sanctum!

A quick search of the room exposes some marijuana, a couple of switch blades, and a stash of cheap alcohol.

Tried to keep things succinct since it looks like the other players are getting ready to meet up. Just let me know if there is anything else Karl wants to do before leaving. Let's shoot to have this prelude scene over in one or two posts from your end

************************************************** *********************************

Anna's cousin is now a Freshman at UC Berkley, a FOBy boy named Phillis who in High School had fit nearly every negative stereotype about Asian men. When he picked up he seemed very surprised to hear from Anna. "Where have you been? Mom and Dad have been worried sick about you!", he had said in a nasaly voice, "We have been trying to reach you for almost two months. Mom's Multiple Myeloma is back. She's been in the hospital for the last week!"

Phillis' mother, Katherine, had been diagnosed with a type of marrow cancer known as Multiple Myeloma, over fifteen years ago, but was supposed to be in remission. It was a type of cancer that ate at the bones, causing fractures, and invaded the marrow so that there were no immune cells to fight off infection. Phillis' voice was both frantic and accusing.

Keeping things running just a moment, because Karl and Estella have a little more to do. Please try to keep things short. Could even shoot for a roll or two like Subterfuge or Empathy. Lets shoot to have the conversation over with two or so posts on your end

************************************************** **********************************

Gabrielle blushes at the attention. She proceeds to tell Estella all about her recent travails; how she was raised by a single mother who didn't understand her, how she only recently discovered who her father was and he was a man with little interest in getting to know a daughter he could have done without, and about her "creepy" step father who gave her too much attention and probably wanted to screw her or something.

She seemed almost hungry to share these stories, seeming to get particularly upset when discussing her father.

However, Gabrielle became very serious and almost deadly sincere at the end of this conversation. She took hold of Estella's hand from across the table and said, "And the worst part is, is that I feel like such a screw up, you know? Like, my Mom must be so disappointed in me after everything she's sacrificed. She doesn't even know I'm Gay. I couldn't... like I could never do that to her." Estella got the distinct impression that the young girl was starting to fight back the urge to cry.

As mentioned to the other two players, lets try to conclude this scene in about two posts on your end. A roll for empathy would do well, and if Estella wants to try to get Gabrielle to do something, an appropriate roll for that (persuasion or intimidation or whatever).

[Thundercracker]

"What the-Phone works both ways you know, maybe-" she replied, then closed her eyes and calmed herself.

While not related by blood, her uncle's wife had always treated her like part of the family, and Anna was a bit shocked at the news of remission. Not to mention what her cousin must be going through.

"I'm sorry," she said much softer, "I know you're going through a lot, believe me I know."
She thought back to how she felt when she found out her own parents were killed.
"What's the prognosis?" she asked.

composure + empathy? [roll0]
Edit: that's pretty poop. Is there a way to salvage that roll with willpower?

[Daishain]

Karl suppresses a disdainful snort, those fools are involved somehow? No matter, time to go.

Actually, on second thought... a bluff could prove useful, as well as entertaining. A few moments of work, and a message was left where the room's occupant would find it. it simply reads "I know, call to know the price of silence" The number written down is to a burner phone Karl picked up for such purposes. Then he simply leaves.

[Lentrax]

You aren't such a screw up as you think. You are just young yet. I am sure that, given time, things will become clear for what to do, no?

[Bennosuke]

Anna is left with a long pause on the line before Katie eventually responds. "I don't know", she says flatly, "the doctors are still doing more tests. But they are being all quiet and avoiding the room again... I... I think it's bad." There is another long pause, and Anna thinks she can hear a quick sob or "You should come to the hospital. I'm sure Mom would really appreciate it". Visiting the hospital was not a bad proposition; The Ordo Dracul maintained many research facilities at UCSF. In fact, if memory served correctly, Miho had an animal lab in the basement somewhere. "Anyways," Katie says, "I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just been rough, you know. I guess I miss you too Anna. We don't have much family anymore. We need to stick together."

************************************************** ************************************************** ******

Karl finishes his note, and leaves it on the desk, in front of the computer. He makes his way out of the bedroom back into the hall. The nappy haired woman, most likely Loretta, was snoring loudly on the couch as he removed himself from the apartment, and rushed back down the stairs, out the front door, and to his car. Engine revving, Karl was on his way back to his apartment.

If there is anything in particular Karl wants to accomplish at his apartment before the others arrive, please let me know. Also, why don't you give us a post describing the apartment space where everyone will meet. Use this to flesh out Karl's personality a little. I don't want to describe a home that you don't feel would fit Karl's personality/character.

************************************************** ************************************************** *******

Gabrielle rolls her eyes so hard that they almost get stuck in the corner, but there seems to be no disrespect in the gesture. She is simply a naive teenager, so sure she knows everything about how the world works. "We'll see", she says before meekly bringing her water to her mouth.

The food arrives, and Gabrielle tears into the plates like she had not eaten all week. "This is really good", she says with a gigantic fork full of pheasant in her cheek. "So, tell me about yourself".

Give me a post of response (you can summarize if you prefer). I figure how honest Estella is going to be completely sets up how their relationship will play out. We can assume that at the end of Estella's response, Estella will look to split to meet with the others.

[Lentrax]

Estella looks longingly at the girl eating pheasant while she pours them each some wine, remembering what it felt like to be able to take pleasure from simple food. She feels the Beast within stir, wanting to lash out and taste the food soon to be within this girl's blood. But Estella puts it down, knowing what will happen if she feeds from the same doll too many times.

I am afraid there isn't much to tell. I was born in France, and moved to America with my mama when she remarried. I have some odd hours, as you have already found out. But as of late, I seem to have found a new job that will necessitate my needing to remain active at night. I know it will strain our new relationship, but alas, such things are a necessary evil. So please don't be angry with me if I do not answer you during the day. I promise that as soon as I awaken I will message you.

Estella looks down at her watch.

Speaking of work, I am sorry Gabrielle, but I must be leaving soon. I have work yet to do tonight. I know it does not seem like time enough, but soon enough we will be able to spend eternity together.

[Daishain]

Karl drives back to his office, a few rooms occupying the third floor of a building that leases to such businesses. Karl had gone to a fair bit of trouble finding one that had proper sound proofing between floors. An excellent lock in a reinforced door, a few cameras (not that those could do much with kindred save confirm such were present in an incident, and a few other tricks made the place about as secure for his purposes as could be managed with a property he did not outright own.

It was a fairly simple affair, the outer door leads to one decently sized meeting room, with two private offices and a small bathroom on the left.

Wary of crowding two other kindred into his private office, Karl prepares for the meeting in the larger area. Pulling out a large whiteboard, he starts building a web of connections to the delinquent Mobius, people to look into. He also connects the tablet he is using for this case to the projector, it was an old device, but it still worked fine, at least since Gabriel had managed to find an adapter that let it connect to modern computing devices. He'll spend the rest of the remaining time before others arrive studying the flash drive material further.

I don't think we discussed meeting at Karl's home
Wits+Investigation [roll0], tenagain[roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Yeah," Anna said, running a hand through her hair, "I miss you too."

She paused.

"What are you doing tomorrow night? I might be able to make it down there, maybe I can let you know, and if you're free we can meet up?"

[Bennosuke]

Gabrielle eats up her new companion's lies almost as hungrily as the food set out before her. The two chat more, and Estella is forced to promise to text during her work that night. The young girl barely even bats an eye at Estella's melodromatic comment about eternity!

After the meal is payed for (of course on Estella's card), the two part ways, but not before Gabrielle falls into a long and equally hungry snog. Estella leaves her in front of the restaurant, rushing off to her car to get to their meeting.

Just going to assume Estella's lie about working all night somehow gets by without needing to roll to keep things moving :smallwink: Your next post should be introducing yourself into the meeting scene

************************************************** ***********************************************

Karl spends little time preparing the meeting room, instead opting to quickly review the files on Julian's thumb drive. The folders are poorly organized and despite giving himself ample time he is only able to make a little headway.

Results will be PMed. The other players' next posts will be as they enter the meeting room.

************************************************** ***********************************************

Katie makes the clicking noise with her tongue that Anna recognizes as her thinking noise, "I don't know, nothing important I guess. If you are going to come to The Hospital, I'll be there." She explains that the commute from the East Bay can be fairly bad in the evening, and asks Anna to decide whether or not she will be there.

Just post in the OOC thread or in a spoiler box in Anna agrees to this.

Afterwords, the two say their goodbyes. Katie has some Gen-Chem studying to do and Anna offers a relatively believable excuse. After hanging up, Anna realizes it is about time to get over to Karl's office for the meeting.

Feel free to address the above, but in the next post please introduce yourself into the meeting scene.

[Lentrax]

Of course I will. she says in response to Gabrielle's insistence.

And you can call me if you need help.

Estella departs to Karl's office. She finds it easily enough, and when she does arrive (fashionably late, no more than ten minutes), she knocks upon the door, pleasantly aware of playing out the trope of a femme fatale arriving at a detective's office.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"I'll text you if I can make it," Anna replied, not wanting to commit, "if not tomorrow, then soon."

She said her goodbyes, then headed over to Karl's. For a moment she debated whether she should bring her sword, but ended up leaving it in her car. She did pack her pistol though. Who knew what else might show up at Karl's office unannounced.

She knocked upon arrival.

Assuming she is let in:

After greeting her host, Anna stepped into the office meeting room and glanced around, nodding at the whiteboard already set up. The young Kindred set her purse and laptop bag on the table and stepped up to the board, looking to see if there was anything she'd noticed and could add.
"Tell me you had as much trouble sorting through that mess of a thumbdrive as I did," she said.

How do we want to exchange this info OOC, do we want to set up a google doc or just have an OOC post somewhere that we can update? Or would we rather just go with it and trust our illustrious GM to point out if we're missing something obvious?

[Daishain]

Karl lets Anna in without much fanfare, in response to her query, he'll state, "It was a mess, but I did find a few things, let us wait for the other, I'd rather avoid too much repetition."

As Estella arrives, Karl opens the door and says, "Please be on time. This is a serious matter."

Karl pulls up relevant documents for the projector to display as he talks, "Now then, I suggest we begin by comparing notes. Mobius was once Kyle Marks. He has kine family in Los Angeles, I do not expect them to know anything of use, but that possibility may be worth checking."

"Found a few other points of contact, all kindred, all in this city. Victor of the Ordo Dracul, his name seems familiar, but I have not quite put my finger on it. From the Carthians, I have a mid rank individual known as Nova, and a nobody called Screech."

"I have a location for his haven in SF, some bank account info, and a car listed, a BMW E30."

"There is also some data on the other potential victims. A long list of names, nearly twenty in all, disappearing at a regular rate over the past five years. The pace of disappearances seems to be going up, though that might have more to do with more recent cases being more likely to have been noticed by whoever made this. Most are numbered among Invictus or the Carthians. As noted by Julian, the majority of these have been neonates."

Karl hesitates before continuing, "I shouldn't have to warn you, but this last is particularly dangerous to utter where others might hear, contract or no contract. Whoever collated this data appears to suspect that Prince Gorman has been diablerizing the disappeared, and has statistical data which would support that claim. He must be considered a suspect, but we should think long and hard about any moves that are made anywhere near him."

"What have the two of you found?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna sat silently as Karl admonished Estella and paid attention as he went through what he'd learned.

Wow, he found all that? Still, at least I have something to add.

"Mobius' sire is a Mekhet named Miho," Anna said, "also a member of the Ordo. Three months ago, Miho suffered a punishment from the Prince for Mobius' actions since he was still considered a fledgling. Apparently he was poaching in Invictus territory."

[Lentrax]

Oh, don't be such a bore.

As Karl and Anna report thier findings, Estella speaks up.

I don't have anything to add. Between you you have addressed everything I was able to find.

[Daishain]

Karl considers and states, "Very well. We can sit here and tear through the existing data a bit further, or we can start looking into a few of these leads and then reconvene. I believe the latter would be more productive for now."

"My suggestion would be to keep me away from talking to our potential informants. I am, as Estella pointed out, a bore, and often grate on others. If the two of you can start talking with some of these contacts, I can go snoop around Mobius' haven. Thoughts?"

[Thundercracker]

"So we have Victor and Miho from the Ordo, and Screech and Nova from the Carthians," Anna said.

has Anna heard of the other three?

"I'm okay with that," Anna said.

She turned to Estella.
"Do you know any of them? I can probably get in touch with Miho," she asked.

[Lentrax]

By reputation only. I could perhaps reach out and see if I can arrange an appointment.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

"I'll try for Miho and Victor then," Anna said.

"What do we want to try and learn from these four?" she asked.

[Daishain]

"Your choice, but it may be prudent for you two to work together, not least because of the possibility that one of these people were involved in Mobius' disappearance. If you end up being assaulted, it makes it more likely at least one of you will make it back with information."

"There are a couple of things I want to know. When was mobius last seen, in whose company. If there was anything out of the ordinary in the time leading up to his disappearance, any incidents involving him, any changes in his behavior, that kind of thing."

"It would probably also be prudent to ask Nova and Screech about the Carthian names on our list, see if they know anything about them. If they do, we are especially interested in anything these fledglings had in common aside from being relatively young."

"While I am thinking about it however, I have a few things for you." Karl steps off and rummages through his office for a time, then heads over to Gabriel's office and does the same. When he returns, he has a number of small devices. One is a simple digital audio recorder, and then there are three small rectangular boxes with a simple switch and LED indicator light.

Setting them on the table and indicating the recorder, he says, "I would like for you to record your conversations. You'd be surprised how often important details are missed the first time you hear something. The boxes are GPS tracking units. They're mostly used by the kine to obsess over their children's movements or try and catch cheating spouses. Gabriel and I use them to tail suspects without being close enough to be seen. If you think someone is acting suspiciously, try and slip one of these on them. Make sure the device is on first, or it does no good. Getting it on someone's actual person is risky, they're liable to notice it sooner rather than later. Try for a lesser used purse or attache pocket, under an interior seat of their vehicle, taped inside of a bumper, that kind of thing"

"Given the potentially dangerous nature of this investigation, they are also for you. Keep one well hidden on your person, and there is a decent chance of me being able to track your movements if something goes wrong."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna took the devices and looked them over to make sure she knew how they worked.

"Together works too," Anna replied, "though we should come up with a cover story as to why we're looking for him. Maybe he owes us money or information or some other boon."

[Lentrax]

Tch. It does not even need to be that elaborate. Estella says.

His sire was punished because the boy was foolish enough to poach in Invictus territory. Who is to say he hasn't done it again, and his sire has tasked us with bringing him back to him so he can be punished himself? That would easily cover a young Ordo Dracul member and a slightly more aged Invictus member working together.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna's mouth dropped open slightly.

"As soon as we're done here, I'm going to set up a meeting with Miho, Mobius' sire," she replied, "he's the only one I actually have prior direct contact with and he likely knows at least a little bit about his own childe. That story obviously isn't going to work on him."

not to mention its way more complicated than "he owes us money".

[Lentrax]

Then don't start with the sire. It is that simple. And when the sire comes to us angry that we are tracking his childe, he may be foolish enough to let something slip.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Maybe. But it's more likely he'll be angry and insulted I didn't come to him first, and instead made up a story and spread rumors about him. Don't you think that will make him less likely to be forthcoming?," Anna replied, "unless there is a good reason in here to think he's behind all this?"

She raised an eyebrow and held up one of the thumb drives.

[Daishain]

"No reason that I am aware of to suspect him. But I might suggest avoiding antagonizing a kindred that powerful. Remember that you cannot reveal the real reason as explanation"

[Lentrax]

Fine. But we will also need a better reason than simple money. Miho may just want to settle the matter with us, rather than raise a fuss over finding his spawn.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"That's a good point," Anna replied, "Regardless of what it is, Miho may try to settle his childe's debts. We could try to convince him Mobius is no longer a fledgling, and it's better he's settling with me than someone else. Is there anything he was really good at? Maybe he's to perform some kind of service for us?"

Anna chewed her lip in thought.

[Lentrax]

I suggest blood. Again.

She holds up a hand to forestall comment.

As a member of the Invictus, it is only right that I inform my superiors that someone has been poaching in my territory. However, we suggest that I am not certain it was Möbius. I know only that it closely matches him, and ask to know where he is to verify the information, and if neccesasry, settle with the boy myself for playing with my dolls. It also covers my contacting you, and if we have been watched, why I have been the offices of the détective here.

[Thundercracker]

Anna nods.

"Good idea," she replied, "we could probably use that as our cover story for the rest of them too, if they ask."

"Is there anything else we need to cover? Or shall we start setting meetings?" she asked.

[Daishain]

"That should do I think. If you are comfortable with this, we may as well get on with it."

"One more thing, how late could you remain here when we are done this night? I would have you meet my ghoul. He will be able to handle any daytime tasks we require."

[Bennosuke]

Once the others leave, Karl gets down to a bit of preparation. Before he regathers his equipment, the ancient German Haunt begins researching information regarding Mobius' apartment. Simple google map search and cross checking the neighborhood brings up that The Western Addition is still Ordo Dracul territory, but deeper knowledge requires some digging. Within moments of staring at his computer, Karl wishes that he had Gabriel's contacts to rely on.

So Karl can roll Int + Academics -2 for lack of appropriate resources to gain further information about the historically relevant information and current legal ownership of Mobius' old digs.

************************************************** *********************************************

As Anna and Estella stepped out of Karl's office, Anna slid her cellphone out of her pocket, and pulled up her old Sire's contact, simply labeled "Tanaka" in her phone. It was not often that she reached out to Kenji Tanaka for help, and though her relationship with the Elder was amicable, it was rare that his favors were without a price. Anna weighed the cost of the phone call with the importance of her new mission, and pressed call.

Go ahead and post IC. I'll let your post set the tone for Anna's working relationship with her Sire. I'm not terribly in love with how they set the rules for Mentor in 2E. Depending on what Anna asks of Tanaka, he may ask for recompense. Because of this, I suspect even if they have a relatively good relationship there is some area of disagreement or tension between the two characters. I'll let you post OOC if you disagree to this thought.

[Daishain]

Karl digs in, prepared to be disappointed. It was far from guaranteed that he'd find anything of use, but prudence demanded an attempt.

Int+Acad-2: [roll0]

[Daishain]

Nice, rolling ten again [roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

The phone rang two and a half times before it was picked up, and Anna heard her sire's greeting over the phone.

"Hello Kenji, it's Anna," she said, "are you free to talk? It'll only take a moment."

(assuming he says yes)

"I'm going to schedule a meeting with Miho," she paused, "outside of meeting in Elysium, is there anything I should know which will help me avoid getting myself killed?"

[Lentrax]

Estella will take the time while Anna is on the phone to message Gabrielle.

Hello, darling. I trust you are doing well?

[Bennosuke]

A few quick searches bring up a good amount of information. A google search allows Karl to observe the property from satellite imaging.

The building is a relatively old fashioned Victorian two story apartment; likely with different tenants on each floor. There is a garage under the building, rather than a side driveway. But there is a narrow walkway that goes around the building, hidden from the front by what looks like a large potted fern. There is a fire escape around this side, attached to the first and second floors.

Based on the front image, and Mobius' address being listed Apt B, it appears that Möbius lived on the second floor.

Beyond this, Karl is able to determine that the apartment is actually rented under a female's name Margret Butterfly.

Okay, assuming Karl is going to head over to Mobius' apartment, let me know how he proceeds.

**************************************

After Anna explains her plans to talk to Miho, there is a long pause in which Kenji does not respond. When his voice does come through, it is in the Sensei tone that he used to always take with Anna; the one that hints at disappointment and that reminds her of just how much she still must learn. "Wouldn't that depend on the purpose of your meeting?", he says flatly, "Though that is of course not my business. Miho-San is an old fashioned woman. She was actually born in Japan, and so you should be mindful of showing respect, though of course you don't need me reminding you this, right?" He pauses for a moment. Anna can almost hear the Elder vampire's mind turning, gears slowly pushing each other forward towards some dark and unknown purpose. "She may also hold a small grudge towards you... simply because of your heritage coming from China. Even though we are Kindred, we do not always rise above our Kine biases, though hopefully she will respect you as my Childe. Is that all? Oh, and be careful talking about her lost one, Möbius. That is still an open wound, so to speak."

Estella watches Anna's conversation flatly. The Daeva makes a show of feeling bored, an act meant to confirm the stereotype of her Clan for being fickle. She sends a quick text message to Gabrielle. Within moments she receives the response "Fine. Miss you. Can we meet again soon?"

Thank you for your patience. I know I haven't given you much to do, and especially with my post rate this may not be the most engaging, so thank you, I will try to keep this short

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

they're the ones visiting the shrines of war criminals... stop, let the china thing slide....

"Actually... someone matching Mobius' description has been poaching in Invictus territory. That's the reason why there would be a meeting," Anna said, "to find out where he is, determine whether it really was him, and settle the debt if it was. I'm guessing it might be tricky."

[Lentrax]

Probably not tonight. Besides, you need to rest. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you exhausted yourself waiting for me.

Its fine. If I had rolled better and had more to do, I'd probably me more active right now. But the dice gods are fickle.

[Daishain]

Before heading out, Karl will take a quick look into Margret Butterfly. If she isn't just someone's false identity, she could prove rather interesting. He also snaps off a quick text to the others, "Margret Butterfly supposedly owns Mobius' flat, might be POI. Add name to inquiry if feasible."

On arriving at the haven, Karl quickly assesses the area and observes the building from as many angles as the terrain allows, looking for signs of life or anything else that might preclude a physical entry. If none are found, he'll slip in as quietly as he is able and pick the lock on whichever entry appears most discrete.

On person, crime scene kit, lockpicks, taser, camera.
Wits+Stealth [roll0]
Dex+Larceny [roll1]

[Bennosuke]

"I see...", Kenji Tanaka says slowly, his voice trailing off for a moment, "Then I would be cautious about revealing or spreading such news, especially with Miho-San. She has been though a lot already at the expense of her Childe. Is that all?"

Estella's phone buzzes again with the returned response. "I miss you already"

Both Anna and Estella receive Karl's text.
**************************************

A quick search regarding the name Margaret Butterfly brings up nothing; no social media accounts, or related photos on a google image search. Most likely it is a false identity, though the search does get auto corrected a few times to "Madame Butterfly".

Karl leaves for Mobius' apartment. When he arrives, it is already quiet late. Most of the neighboring apartments have darkened and shaded windows. Both the upstairs and downstairs apartments have similarly unlit windows.

Karl slips around the side of the apartment, ignoring the large fern that hides the walkway's existence. Coming around the side of the building, Karl can see that the window that feeds to the fire escape has been smashed. His light sparkles off the jagged remains of glass, that no longer cover the blackness inside.

[Daishain]

Two more text updates: "No strong evidence yet of Ms Butterfly being real person, probably a false name." Then later, "Signs of forced entry here, this may prove dangerous, activating my own beacon, ask Gabriel for help tracking it if need be."

Turning on another of the GPS tags, Karl slips it into a pants pocket. Time to go. Slipping up the fire escape as quietly as he can, he investigates the window, and the flat behind it.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"I plan to buy her a gift for our meeting," Anna replied, " any suggestions or... items to avoid?"

bot sure of the dynamics, would Kenji expect Anna to address him by first name, surname, or with the -san or -sensei suffix? I ask because he said Miho-san

[Bennosuke]

Karl quickly makes his way up the fire escape. Despite his weight with the equipment he carries, the iron frame barely groans. Once on the second floor of the fire escape, he can see in through the window.

Karl's initial thoughts were confirmed. Despite the lack of lighting, his Vampiric senses allowed him to view the room quiet clearly. There was little glass on the outside of the sill, but a sea of sparkling fragments strewn across the floor. There was also a torn down sheaf of black out curtain that had been thrown to the floor.

The room was clearly Mobius' bedroom, so to speak. Though there was no actual bed, there was a large padded crate. The room had been torn apart apparently. Items, including a laptop had been strewn across the floor. Desks had been left open. A security cameram that had been mounted on the ceiling had been crushed, and ripped down, now hanging precariously on one thin cable. There was no blood, nor damage any of the furniture. But written across the long wall, just under a poster for The Cure, was "VII" in large black Roman numerals.

**************************************

To this Tanaka chuckled, "Always the charmer, my little Childe. It may be a little late in the night to purchase something, but despite her... condition, Miho San has always been fond of a high quality hand mirror; though I don't believe it has anything to do with vanity."

Anna could probably get away with anything as his Childe. In Japanese culture, family don't usually use honorifics, so though it may be more respectful, it would be less personal to do so.

[Daishain]

Karl makes sure his gloves are firmly on, and moves in, carefully. He suspects this place is empty, but nevertheless slowly sweeps the flat.

When convinced he is alone, he replaces the blackout curtains as best he can to hide the flash of his camera and gets to work. First is documentation, he takes pictures of everything that seems remotely relevant, from multiple angles if necessary, as well as the scene as a whole. After that, anything that will require further inspection is carefully sealed up in evidence bags, this includes any computing devices such as the laptop. For the sake of the masquerade, anything that could reveal the nature of this flat's former occupant is also removed, as it seems likely the police will eventually be called to investigate. The crate is left in place, but the cushions are removed and set elsewhere. He also dusts for fingerprints around the window, camera, and any other likely seeming locations for the intruder(s) to have touched. Along the way, he is trying to also pay attention to what is not found, anything that should be here but is missing.

With that done, he turns to the camera. Some seem to forget that taking out the recording device itself is often not enough. If the camera's wires are only for power, Karl will inspect the body for intact storage modules. Most security cameras store their data externally though, if that is the case here, Karl will follow the data cable back.

Finally, he does a sweep through the apartment, looking for any hidden caches in the walls, furniture, or other items that could hide something of importance.

Up to DM to rule whether or not vamps leave fingerprints. Still dusting either way, as humans/ghouls may have been involved.
5Int+4Investigate+2CrimeSceneKit [roll0]

[Daishain]

ten again[roll0]

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Thank you Kenji," Anna said.

"Hopefully I don't end up making a complete fool of myself," she added self-deprecatingly.

After she hung up, she turned to Estella.

"If we make a gift of a high quality hand mirror when we meet Miho-san, it may smooth the meeting. Apparently her childe is a touchy subject," she said, "I will try to set a meeting for tomorrow, seeing as it is almost light out; that should give us some time."

is Anna able to contact victor directly? Where are the Elysium spots in the city to arrange a meet with Miho?

[Lentrax]

But, alas. I have no such mirror, and I am quite certain there is no antique store open at this hour.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"That's why I'm going to try to set the meeting for tomorrow, so we can pick it up before we go," Anna said.

[Bennosuke]

The black out curtains had been ripped from the window sill, one of the screws even warped in the process. It takes Karl time to go back to his car, grab a tool kit and return to re-install the curtains; especially considering he can't afford to be using power tools so late at night without drawing attention to himself.

The living room/kitchenette area is similarly wrecked, and VII has been written in even larger letters over the area where a now totaled plasma screen was installed.

Karl seals up the laptop, but finds that there are almost no personal belongings or objects that would perhaps be unique to Mobius in the room. In fact, a search in several places, such as the book shelf, and a CD sorter show that several objects have already possibly been removed! Even more, there are no objects or belongings left that at all hint to Mobius' Requiem, other than the crate, which was likely Mobius' place of repose.

Karl removes the camera only to find that the circuits have been completely fried, as if the device was set fire from inside. A search of the apartment finds two more cameras which have been similarly disabled. He gets to work pulling wire lines from the ceiling and traces all three cameras to a box installed in the dry wall. This box has also been toasted, and he is able to follow a line from this box to a cable which projects from the wall by Mobius' work desk, and presumably would plug into his laptop.

Frustrated but intrigued, Karl moves on to dusting for fingerprints. Despite the fact that Vampires do not secrete the oils necessary to leave prints, it is worth ruling out the unlikely involvement of Kine involvement. The dusting brings up nothing in the bedroom, and some very faded prints in the living room, though based on age and placement (such as on a dirty wine glass in the sink), it is unlikely that these were left by whomever ransacked the house.

Lastly, Karl's search for hidden compartments brings up a false shelf in Karl's work station; empty, and a back compartment in the closet, which contains a gun safe with a few automatic pistols and not nearly enough ammunition.

****************************************

Kenji Tanaka says goodbye, finishing with a detached "Be careful."

[Daishain]

Shaking his head, Karl sets his things on the fire escape outside, then checks through the flat, looking for any sign of his presence he might have left behind. Nothing can be done about the pulled wires, but given the general state of the place, he feels that is likely to not be noteworthy.

[Lentrax]

Well then, if we have nothing further for tonight, I will take my leave. Where shall we meet?

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Let's see if we can get in touch with Victor first," Anna said, tapping away on her phone.

Assuming she has his contact information, Anna will ping Victor, apologize for the short notice, and ask him if he's available to meet tonight.

[Bennosuke]

Karl collected his belongings into the duffle bag; the digital camera, the powder and brush for dusting, the box of gloves, and left for the fire escape. As he left he made one last check that no one was watching. The investigation of Mobius' house had been... exquisite, like performing a master surgery, but it left so many questions. He was wise enough to know the meaning of the painted VII, but not so young to be immediately terrified by some boogie man. So what did the findings in the apartment mean? This was the sort of investigation that Karl lived for (so to speak).

Lets get a perception test, also, what is Karl's plan. See OOC for estimated IC time for Karl

************************************************** ************************************************** ***********

Anna had met Victor on several locations. She had been accepted into The Ordo just a year or so before he had. Victor showed some promise in the Ordo, though he was a bit too cocky and boisterous for her liking; likely his Ventrue blood. Anna's text (via the Pulse of course) was short and to the point "Are you free to meet up tonight?"

Victor's response text came back within just a few minutes, "Perhaps", followed by a second, "Up for a group hunt???". Anna was aware of Victor's callousness in feeding. He liked to torture, he liked to kill. Anna was not if he had always been like this, or if it had come as part of Victor's Requiem, but it was something to consider if she and Estella were going to meet with him tonight.

[Daishain]

Karl observes carefully as he leaves the apartment, it would not do to be spotted, and anyone tailing him would be especially problematic.

He'll spirit his spoils back to the office and start cataloging them. The laptop is of particular interest, he'll do what he can to retrieve any information from it.

Perception is wits+composure right? Assuming so...

[roll0] extra rolls [roll1]

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna wrinkles her nose. She wasn't a fan of Cictor's hunting style, but she did want to meet with at least one of the contacts tonight.

whereabouts? We'll meet you there.

Non committal.

She glanced at Estella.

"I think we can meet Victor tonight," she said, "he's going for a hunt... I should warn you, he can be a bit callous with the kine. Are you up for it?"

On the way to meet Victor, she will type out a request.

Greetings Miho-san. I'd like to request a meeting tomorrow at 1am at (insert Elysium location here). If this is not convenient, please suggest an alternate time or location. Regards, Anna Wu

Short and to the point. Anna reread her message twice before sending it. Now she just had to wait for a response.

[Lentrax]

I suppose. I typically hunt alone, but I suppose it would not hurt to try something different tonight.

[Bennosuke]

That was correct about the roll

Karl made his way back down the fire escape, and came around the side of the house, careful not to be seen. As he stepped over the large vase, Karl's attention was drawn to the sound of a car's engine. About a block and a half down, a dark sedan... too far to identify or mark the plates of, pulled out of it's parking space and exited down the street. He had no proof, but Karl's experience led him to believe he had been watched.

************************************************** ***************************************

Miho's response surprisingly came before Victor's had. "We can meet at Tommy's Joynt at 3AM." The response clearly ignored or was meant to override Anna's suggestion of 1AM. Tommy's Joynt was a Divey all night diner that had survived through nearly 70 years unchanged in the city. The outside was garishly painted, ridiculously decorated, and was known for serving cheap slop like food to a garish assortment of riff raff and beat cops. On any given night a fight was just as likely to break out at Tommy's as a spontaneous all in drinking song. The Kindred had claimed a hidden third floor as a smaller more private Elysium, where more private conversation could be had.

While Anna and Estella began leaving Karl's office building, Victor's response came, "Mel's Dinner. The one on Lombard". In contrast Mel's was a staple hunting ground of the Kindred. Similar to Tommy's it served food all night, but was more commonly frequented by drunk teenagers and bums. It would not be hard to get to.

Estella and Anna took their separate cars to the Diner. Mel's was fashioned after old 50's style diners, all checkerboard, and chrome and bright yellow lighting. A large African American Bouncer greeted Estella and Anna, and let them in after checking them quickly for weapons. Victor reclined in one of the near red leather booths a snearing grin on his face. "I wondered when you would get here Anna. I was getting hungry." Turning his attention to Estella, Victor's face softens slightly. Cocking his head and winking, he says, "Hello babe, and who might we be?"

The diner was packed with groups of glassy eyed mortals, stuffing over priced artery cloggers into their slack mouths and giggling over their night's encounters. Victor was dressed in a dark Kashmir turtle neck sweater, and expensive designer jeans. His dark auburn hair was slicked back into an all too modern pompadour, and he reeked of cologne.

[Daishain]

That is it, it already seemed more than a little off for the laptop to be the only surviving piece of electronics left. It is not going back to the office, not yet at least. Karl checks over his car before getting in, looking for signs of tampering or any planted devices.

Most of the evidence items just go in the trunk, the laptop in the passenger seat. Karl drives in a semi random pattern for a time, until sure he does not have a tail, before turning into an alley. He then attempts to boot up the recovered laptop.

[Lentrax]

Estella. Estella says. In an almost, but not quite, bored voice she goes on.

The pleasure, I am sure, is all yours.

As Estella seats herself across from Victor, she scans the crowd for an acceptable source of food.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna typed out a response to Miho first.
Perfect, thank you.

At Mel's diner, Anna scanned the crowd before sitting with Victor.
is it normal to get frisked entering a diner?
"Haven't been here in a while," Anna said, "still smells the same. What's on the menu?"

After a minute of chitchat, Anna gets down to business.

"Victor, Estella is with the Invictus, there's something we should talk about," she said, "it shouldn't take long, but if you're hungry we can eat first. Your call."

[Bennosuke]

A quick inspection of Karl's car reveals no bugs, bombs or tampering. He stows the equipment and drives off. After 30 minutes of motoring around the city without any evidence of a tail, even driving down into the foggy hills of The Presidio, Karl eventually finds a narrow alley and shuts off the cars, making sure all lights have been killed. Almost greedily, he pulls the laptop to him and hits the power button... but it's dead. No lights flash, just simply no response, no matter how many times Karl hits the power button. Perhaps it needs to be charged, or perhaps it was fried, just like the cameras inside Mobius' apartment.

************************************************** ************************************************** ****

Estella's cold greeting draws an even cockier grin from Victor, perhaps taking her indifference as a compliment or a challenge. Rather than engaging the Ventrue, Estella begins scanning the room. For the most part, booths are filled with groups of inebriated youth. Some parties are rowdy in their intoxication, others sedated. The counter is mostly the same, though there is an older awkward looking Asian man with spectacles who looks thoroughly miserable and alone by the register.

Estella is interrupted from her search by Victor's chortle, a response to Anna's question. "Jeeze, always business with you Anna," he teases, "Won't even pretend that you wanted to spend time with good old Victor". Victor winks Estella again, "I bet you're hungry, right?". He combs his hand through his long manicured hair and nods his head over at the counter where the Asian man is making a poor attempt at eating a half rotten salad. "I think Chinky over there looks lonely, what do ya say Anna?", Victor says mockingly, his eyes suddenly mean and focused. The message is clear; if you want something from me, you better play along.

Both Tommy's and Mel's are real places in San Francisco, though I've turned them up to 11 in WoD fashion. Mel's actually does have a bouncer, though I have never personally been frisked there.

[Daishain]

Karl grimaces in frustration, and barely suppresses an urge to tear the damnable thing apart.

After he calms down, he thinks, wait, that is not entirely a horrible idea. Heading back to the rear of his car, Karl retrieves a few screwdrivers and begins taking the laptop apart. He may not know much about how these things actually work, but he knows that there are kine who specialize in data recovery for damaged computers. Even if the interior is fried, there might be information left on the hard drive, he just needs to retrieve the thing, and have Gabriel go to one of these techs with a sob story about how the hard drive contains things too precious to lose.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Chinky?" She replied, arching an eyebrow, "and you wonder why we don't hang out more."

"But okay, food first then talk," she said.

She stood up and walked over to the counter next to salad man and peeled a laminated menu from the surface to glance it over.

She looked at his food.

"Remind me not to get the salad," she said with a smile.
"Are you waiting for someone?" she asked, after his response.

[Bennosuke]

Karl took the computer frame apart, removing the electronic innards. Sure enough the wiring had been all sorts of fried, there was even dark rusted scorch marks on the shielding, and the guts smelt like chemistry class. It was hard to tell whether the hard drive was damaged, but it was not too hard to separate from the tangle of blown out wires.

************************************************** ******************************************

Victor smirks harder at Anna's response, revealing a row of pearly whites behind his nearly ruby lips. "Aw Anna," he teases, "that's why I love you". He watches her stand up to retrieve the menu, then flashes another TV smile to Estella. There was no denying that if it were not for his attitude, this corpse would be relatively attractive.

The young man looked startled by Anna's question. He looked up at her through thick spectacles and glassy round eyes, taking a long moment to process her question. "Well... no", he responded flatly. The man's hair had been gelled into a spikey frizz that would be more appropriate back in Hong Kong than in America. He wore an orange button down with a dark stain on the chest, and military green cargo pants. He stared up at Anna, as if not sure if she was really there. He looked familiar to Anna.

Back at the booth, Victor put one elbow on the table, and propped his head in his hand to lean across the table closer to Estella. "So then, what is a fancy old Invictus like yourself doing mixed up with a boring old Ordo Member?", he asked in a light sing-songy way.

[Lentrax]

Rather than address the young vampire directly, Estella inspects her fingernails as she replies. Business, but I believe Anna already spoke to that effect before you had her go play with her food.

After another moment devoted to the completely trivial task of preening, Estella stands up. As she does so, more than a few of the nearby kine stop to watch her as she saunters away, heading for the restrooms.

Activating Awe.

[Bennosuke]

Before Victor can respond, Estella removes herself from the booth. She pushes out with her Majesty, more letting go of some unidentified tension, like cracking one's knuckles, and she can instantly feel all eyes in the room turn on her. As she makes her way to the bathroom, she actually watches a stunned teenager so focused on her miss his mouth with a sandwich. He pushes the greasy slop into his cheek covering it in ketchup.

Though there is a line for the bathroom, those waiting simply let her pass into the next available room. The room reeks of human fluids, reminding her of just how disgusting mortals can be.

Anything in particular you are trying to have Anna accomplish by activating Awe?

[Daishain]

Shaking his head, Karl simply discards the computer case and its innards, taking only the hard drive. With luck, there would be something left to recover.

With nothing left doable for the moment, he heads back to the office. Once there, he'll go through Gabriel's list of contacts for likely tech experts to take this thing to. If none can be found there, he'll perform a search online.

[Lentrax]

Estella smiles as she watches the crowd react to her. As she sees the teen completely miss his mouth, her smile widens.

She enters the restroom, and not bothering with a toilet, instead pulls out a lip gloss and touches up her lips. She knows it's only a matter of time before she finds what she is looking for. Someone always tries to score in the restroom, and tonight, they will find a rush like they have never felt before.

No. No reason for using it, at least not to help Anna. Of course it may help her with everyone else paying attention to Estella.

[Bennosuke]

Karl rummages through Gabriel's contact list but draws up another blank!

Sorry, basing this on Gabe's character sheet

Instead he turns to the modern mortal's Bible, the internet. With little difficulty, he is able to find a large list of computer repair companies and ratings. That's right, the century old corpse was on Yelp! Karl is able to make a list of the top companies, one called "Buzz Computer Repairs" which was well rated and open 24/7, though it was known for being somewhat expensive.

I know we should keep things moving, and Karl has a few more hours to his night though it is now probably close to 3:30 for him, but I am happy to have the exchange happen during "Down Time", since I don't know how much a scene at the computer repair store can improve the game/story. Up to you though.

************************************************** ********************************

Leaving the door unlocked, Estella proceeds to touch up her makeup. It is not long before a man roughly in his 30s, in a black Armani button down, and tight jeans lets himself into the room. He grins at Estella and lets the door close before saying nonchalantly, "Oops, I didn't realize you were in here". The man makes no move to lock the door, but neither does he try to exit. In fact, still blocking Estella's exit, he takes a step forward assaulting Estella's eyes and nose with a heavy cologne, scented of sandle wood and vomit. Now so close to Estella, he says, "Mind if I join you? Man, you are just sooooo fine", while placing one meaty hand on her upper arm with too much confidence. The mortal in Estella revolts at such aggression, spinning into a tizzy of panic, but The Beast smells dinner.

[Daishain]

Karl, in a slightly better mood at having found something he can visit right away, leaves the office again and seeks out the Buzz.

On arriving, he'll tell the clerk, "Idiot nephew of mine was screwing around and fried his mother's laptop. He's lucky that he didn't fry himself in the bargain. In any case, there are some important and difficult to replace files on here. If there's any chance the contents could be retrieved I'd appreciate it."

Karl pulls out a hundred dollar bill, "I'm a busy man, this will be your personal tip if you get it done within the next hour."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna paused, trying to connect the face with a name. Her mind was no longer on food, and she felt a slight sense of paranoia start in her gut.

"Sorry, you looked familiar," she said, frowning in concentration.

feel free to roll whatever it is to see if Anna recognizes/remembers this guy.

[Lentrax]

Estella makes no move to stop him. It is almost too perfect. If he were still capable of doing her serious harm, this scenario would scare the wits out of her.

But she feels a deeper thrill at the thought that he might at least try.

And you have what I need.

Estella reaches up, grabs him by the back of the head, and pulls him into her body. One hand reaches down and teases him, and he feels him grab her in kind.

Despite the taste of his cologne and the vomit, she kisses him.

Suddenly, she stops, reaches past him and locks the door.

And I think that's where I'll stop writing. Unless he resists, I'll pull 3 Vitae from him.

[Bennosuke]

The Buzz is a relatively modern looking repair shop, perhaps modeling itself after Best Buy or an Apple Store. Bright fluorescent lights shine on an intricately decorated rubber tiled floor, and an open room rimmed with glass covered counter. A pimple faced teenager sits sleepily under a sign that reads, "Meet The Buzz Whizzes". His uniform of a red velvet vest and bow tie would likely be found on an usher in a movie theater, and his bronzed name tag reads "Buzz Whizz: Kevin".

Kevin looks up at Karl groggily, and slowly looks over the hard drive. "Wow sir", he says in a voice that immediately cracks, "your nephew really did a number on this." He retrieves a plastic zip lock bag and places the hard drive into it. "I'm not allowed to take tips sir, but thank you. We charge by the hour, and based on parts to replace. We charge an extra 30% for rush repairs. For a hard drive the rate will be $200 an hour, but if we are able to get anything out of it, it should only take an hour or two. If this is acceptable I will have you sign here." He pulls up a piece of paper titled "The Buzz Contract!", in overly cartoony font, but the small print below is all legalese essentially promising an optimal and speedy repair but requiring the purchaser to pay regardless of results, and claiming no responsibilities for any further damages which may occur.

************************************************** ************************************

The man's eyes narrow for a moment as he focuses on Anna, adjusting his glasses as he does so. "Ya, you kinda look familiar too..." his voice is nasally and more than a little slurred. He adjusts his glasses again and says, "My name is Joseph", and offers Anna a very dry hand to shake. When he says his name, Anna knows exactly where she has seen Joseph; he was one of Daniel's friends and co-workers! Anna had met him in The South Bay with Daniel, the night she found out Daniel was alive and in California.

Joseph still seemed ignorant of this, but before Anna could act, Victor was standing behind her, and grabbed the drunk man's hand for a hearty shake. "Nice to meet you Joseph", Victor said with that wicked grin on his face, "my name is Esteban. Nice to meet you. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but you look like a man who handles his liquor."

Joseph is shakes his head yes, and Anna can feel Victor pushing out with a primal urge, that can only be his beast. He lets go of Joseph's hand, and lifts an eyebrow in challenge. "Well, I don't doubt it", Victor chuckles, "but I doubt you have room for any more tonight. My friend Anna and I were gonna go to a bar near by and have ourselves a few shots. I wouldn't want you doing anything stupid."

The coercion is obvious. Victor is clearly lashing out and stoking the flames of competition within Joseph. The man's eyes focus and his speech sharpens, and Joseph says adamantly, "I'm alright. I'm fine to keep drinking. I could probably have at least... four or five more shots.".

Victor places a firm hand on Anna's shoulder and gives a hard squeeze. "Good man. We have a friend in the bathroom, but why don't we all pay and when she gets back, we can head over to the bar.".

A few minutes later, Estella returns from the bathroom. Her face is aglow with the Vitae, and Anna can smell the sweet metallic scent of blood on her. All eyes follow the magnificent Davea as she saunters over to the counter where Victor and Anna stand over the Asian man. "This is Joseph", Victor says coyly, "he is going to come out with us for a few drinks".

Joseph's eyes go wide when he sees Estella, and he adjusts his glasses quickly before blurting out, "Nice to meet you", and turning a dark shade of crimson.

Please note the gained blood points on your character box in your next post.

[Daishain]

Karl regards it all with a sense of growing unease, this may have been a mistake. "Just get it done", letting a taste of his normally hidden predatory aura loose, he continues, "and get it done right"

When convinced this youth has some idea of the consequences of doing this particular job halfway, Karl signs the form with a fake name and his current burner phone number, then he goes and waits outside of the store.

Another update for his counterparts via text in the meantime, "Apartment trashed by someone looking for something. Covered tracks well, but may have some recoverable data. VII left as sign on the walls. Might be them, or might a group wanting us to think it is VII involved."

[Thundercracker]

Anna retreated into herself as Victor took over, ending up in kind of a daze.

Joseph knows Daniel, Joseph is Daniel's friend. If anything happened to Joseph, Danliel would be upset. Joseph is also a grown man who can make his own decisions. Any idiot who goes off and gets blindingly drunk with three people he doesn't know is almost begging for it. Victor likes to torture and kill. I don't want to be part of that at all, but if I forbid it, will he be forthcoming with information?

I don't think I care.

She followed along with the others as they left. When an opportunity arises, likely while Daniel's attention is focused on Estella, Anna will pull Victor aside.

"No permanent damage," she whispered.

[Lentrax]

Estella leaves the restroom, having cleaned herself back up again. Smiling to herself, she ponders the delicious thoughts of seeing this man searching for her for many nights to come. She even wonders whether or not to let him find her... But perhaps not. It is bad for one of her kind to feed from the same source too many times. Gabrielle, on the other hand... Now there was a puzzle worth pondering... But for now, she still has business to attend to.

The pleasure, monsieur, is mine. Estella says as she glides to a halt near them. If we are going, we should go soon.

[Bennosuke]

The teenager nods his head anxiously at Karl's demands, spurred by The Beasts presence. "Yessir", he says as his voice again cracks. The boy takes the laptop into some back room and Karl exits the store.

****************************************

Both Estella and Anna receive Karl's text


"Apartmet trashed by someone looking for something ng. Covered tracks well, but may have some recoverable data. VII left as sign on the walls. Might be them, or might a group wanting us to think it is VII involved."

Playing with time continuity I know, but otherwise things will get a little too confusing.

Estella introduces herself to the intoxicated Joseph and the group soon leaves Mel's Diner. Magnetized by Estella's presence, Joseph follows her heel like a well trained dog, leaving Anna and Victor a moment to talk.

Anna makes her opinion known to Victor, who chuckles in response and pats her on the back. "Now when did you get so soft? Where would be the fun in that". The grin Victor gives Anna is one she is quiete familiar with. It is a mean, self satisfied grin, smugly hiding the once-man's teeth. Anna had seen this grin when she had last seen Victor feed. It was the look of self satisfied triumph, when Victor had cornered and bested his prey.

Before Anna can respond, Victor calls up to Estella and Joseph, "The bar is just over that way. It's down the alley up ahead; one of those Speak Easies that are so popular in New York. Real great atmosphere. You are gonna love it."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Out of all the kine in the city, you happened to pick-," Anna replied quietly, but then she paused.

Whatever you say, it will lead them one step closer to him. He still matters, and out of the two of us he still has a chance for happiness and a normal life. If I press this, more questions will be asked. Better to be vague, let him fill in the blanks.

"Never mind," she said, striking a tone between aloofness and caution, "I've lost my appetite. Do what you will, but my suggestion still stands; I hope you consider it."

It was a gamble, she knew, but she knew if she cared too much victor would only pry further. She couldn't risk Victor or god forbid Estella getting closer to Daniel. Maybe Victor would play it safe and get Joseph stupidly drunk before feeding so he wouldn't remember, maybe he'd pick someone else, maybe he'd still kill Joseph, but at least the trail would stop there. At least, she hoped.

this is important to Anna so she will spend a point of willpower on a roll if it is called for

[Lentrax]

We will see. Estella responds to Victor, completely ignoring the presence of Joseph right behind her.

[Bennosuke]

By the time Karl is finally contacted about the hard drive, he can feel a familiar irrational anxiety, heightened by a hot prickle brought on by the sun. His watch reads 5:45 AM, meaning it has taken nearly two hours for the repairs to occur, far longer than agreed upon! Like when one's gorge rises before vomiting, Karl can feel the urge to let go and destroy the boy, and his computer shop. The rage is consuming, or threatens to be, and it has always been with Karl, always been hungry.

So lets get a roll for resisting Frenzy. You can RP Karl returning to the store if you so choose, though he can start to flee instead if you are worried about him actually frenzying. Frenzy is a Resolve + Composure roll. Modifiers for this roll are as follows: +2 minor insult in being forced to wait so long. This would give Karl a base dice pool of 7. Remember that WP can't be spent on this roll, though it may be spent to hold off the frenzy if Karl fails.

************************************************** ************************************************** ******

Victor gives Anna a look of disdain, but does not respond, instead picking up his pace. Joseph follows Estella into the alley, which is very clearly just a blind alley between two corporate buildings. It is likely a mix of the alcohol, and lack of adequate lighting that allows Joseph to follow Estella so deep into the alley before realizing something is wrong. With little illumination other than the cloud covered crescent moon, Joseph strains to figure out his surroundings, swaying as he tries. He turns to find Victor cutting off his exit, with Anna a few yards behind.

Victor extends his arms out in questioning, and asks, "What's wrong buddy?". Joseph opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out, and Victor takes a step closer.

Okay, so if the player characters don't do something to interrupt, the feeding goes Victor's way, which will be violent and unpleasent, and will absolutely trigger a breaking point even if Anna and Estella don't help (though it will be a lower level breaking point if they help out). As Joseph is linked to Daniel, defending him will be worth defending a Touchstone (WP regaining). You are welcome to discuss OCC before making an IC decision.

[Daishain]

Fingers twitching, stiff backed, Karl stalks back into the store, already imagining what he'll do if that pimple faced punk had screwed up in the one singular function he was supposed to be useful for.

[roll0] extra rolls[roll1]

[Bennosuke]

Stifling his rage, Karl stomps heavily into the store, though he has managed to reign in The Beast. The dull eyed teenager seems not to notice Karl's entrance, too busy on his cellphone. By the time Karl makes it to the desk, it is already too late. The hard drive sits in a plastic bag, on the shelf behind the boy. Without even looking up from his phone, the employee says rather flatly, "Sorry it took so long. There were a few pieces that got sizzled pretty bad. Not sure what your nephew did. Unfortunately we had to use a few extra parts, so it will be an extra hundred dollars."

Nice rolling. That would be an exceptional success. Karl gains the Tempted Condition pg 307, and regains a point of WP. Please include your updated character bosx in your next post. Now just waiting on Lentrax and Thunder.

[Daishain]

Fingers twitching again at the arbitrary price hike, Karl carefully utters, "The laptop that came from is ruined, I require an adapter cable, or some other means of transferring what data survived."

Humanity: 5
Willpower: 6
Health:undamaged
Beats/Exp: 1
Vitae: 10
Tilts/Conditions: Tempted: -1 on frenzy checks (to resolve: kill, frenzy, or make touchstone connection)
Aspirations:
1. Obtain leverage on a powerful individual that has been a passive or active threat
1a. Investigate them for past mistakes and current weaknesses
1b. If investigation turns up nothing, stage an incident.
2. Find a fellow vampire that can be closely allied with to Karl's benefit and with minimal risk.
2a. Locate a suitable individual with compatible personality and ambitions
2b. Check into their nature and past to be certain.
2c. approach vampire with proposal.
3. Karl has living descendants he is not aware of. A son currently in a nursing home. Two grandchildren, and multiple great grandchildren. Discover their existence in an unpleasant fashion.

[Bennosuke]

The young employee sighs deeply, takes a few thumb strokes to finish dying in whatever mobile game he was playing and looks up from his phone. He scratches his pimpled cheek and chuckles to himself, "There is a cable in the bag, which can be hooked up to the USB port still attached to the hard drive. You should be able to pull files from it like an external drive." He speaks slowly, pronouncing each word as if talking to an imbecile.

yes I did not include that in my last post, but it's just more fun having this kid be a ****.

[Daishain]

Karl opens his mouth again, then shuts it, teeth gritting. He pays the brat with cash, grabs the bag, and stalks out before he does something that will require his own evidence destroying efforts. He'll make his way back to the office to take a look at what was recovered, and meet up with Gabriel.

No idea how that kid survives the night shifts around here. Hell, I'd have a hard time keeping my temper with him under the circumstances, and I'm very easy going.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

Anna clapped Victor on the shoulder.

"Now now, ladies first," she said, nodding to Estella.

[Lentrax]

Estella crooks a finger to Joseph. Come along, dear. I need your help with something.

Well, if I am going to keep him occupied, I may as well get my money's worth. I'll spend a point of Vitae for the blush of life. Fair warning, sexual content incoming.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

As Estella ensnares Joseph, Anna pulls Victor closer to the entrance of the alley.

"Joseph (if Anna knows his last name, she will use it here) is of interest to one of us," she whispered, "scar him or kill him and I won't be able to protect you."

She attempted to convey the seriousness of the situation with her words, expression, and body language.

afb, not sure about the use of willpower to help rolls. I do intend to use it to help me out l.

persuasion + presence :[roll0] + whatever I can do with willpower, to convince victor that Joseph is someone important and shouldn't be seriously harmed.

[Bennosuke]

It was nearly 6am by the time Karl made it back to the office. He had precious little time before the sun came up. The weight of nearly a hundred stolen years of life weighed on Karl's soul, turning the Vitae in his arteries to sludge and putting fog in his brain. Gabe was already at the office when Karl arrived, making himself an acrid smelling pot of coffee. The Ghoul's face was ashen and his eyes were webbed in red lines, but he was used to being in this early and there was no fatigue behind the man's voice. "Welcome back Chief. Let's debrief quickly, so that you can... take care of your daytime responsibilities". The last part was just stupid code, extra protection in case the office was bugged. A formality that the two had worked out long ago.

Don't feel you have to type out everything Karl has discovered. We can assume Karl goes into sufficient detail. This is your chance to assign Gabe tasks to perform during the day.

************************************************** *******************************

Anna offers up Joseph to her new colleague who leads the swaying mortal farther down the alley. The man mumbles something about needing to get home soon, but gives no physical resistance, almost melting to Estella's touch, falling into step with the Daeva like a well healed dog.

Before Victor can respond, Anna grabs a hold of the back of his collar and pulls the cocky Ventrue to her. He snarls for a moment in surprise as his prey starts to get away, but he goes quiet when he receives Anna's glare.


"Joseph is of interest to one of us," she whispered, "scar him or kill him and I won't be able to protect you."

A flash of anger crosses Victor's face, replaced by a look of disgust. "Well then why did you come all the way out here? And you expect my help?" He crosses his arms, though Victor is unable to shake Anna's grip from his jacket.

A Willpower Point is worth 3 extra dice on a roll. Also, I would consider this an intimidation attempt, based on what you are having Anna do. I rolled three dice in the OOC thread for you, bringing up 3 successes. Victor will not do undue harm to Joseph, but now the issue is trying to wring information out of him so that the evening was not a complete waste. Please include the spent WP in your next post in your character box.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Character Box:

Vitae: 9
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 5/ 6
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 1/0
Tilts/Conditions: None
Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Develop a reliable and low-risk source of vitae.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc).
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal
3. Meta: I want my character to suffer a loss of some kind, be forced to deal with the repercussions (physical, emotional), and emerge stronger (but potentially not unscathed) after some kind of resolution.
3. (alternate) Ensure the safety of younger cousin Katie


"After the favor I just did you? Yeah, I do," Anna replied with a harsh whisper, "if I hadn't been here, you woulda gone on to do whatever you were planning with him, and gotten yourself staked or worse. Damnit Victor, you need to be smarter than this."

She glanced over to Estella and Joseph.

"Looks like they're going to be a while," she continued, letting go of Victor and whispering quietly now, "the reason we're here is because someone's been poaching in invictus territory."

She spoke slowly to let the implications of the similarities between what she now said with what Victor believed about Joseph (thanks to her) sink in.

"We want to know if you know anything about a young Kindred, about (insert mobius' physical description)," she said, "Who he usually spends time with, where, when did you last see him, anything you can recall."

[Lentrax]

As do I, my dear. But first, I need a man's opinion.

As she says this, she pulls her blouse open, exposing a set of lingerie that does little to conceal what it covers.

Which of my breasts do you prefer?

Joseph hesitates, and when he does, Estella grabs his hands and brings them to her, placing them over her barely existent negligee. At the contact, she moans softly.

Feel free to inspect them, she whispers into his ear. As well as anything else you want.

[Daishain]

A little sluggishly, Karl explains the situation, Writing anything particularly sensitive down rather than saying it out loud. He lays out the case, and the steps taken thus far. He hands over the recovered hard drive, along with the tablet he's kept the data on. Lastly he gives Gabriel contact information for the other two kindred on the case, along with instructions to aid them with reasonable requests.

"Do you need anything before I go?"

[Bennosuke]

"Looks like they're going to be a while," she continued, letting go of Victor and whispering quietly now, "the reason we're here is because someone's been poaching in Invictus territory."

Anna's words made Victor recoil, though she still did not release him. His pupils reflexively dilated despite his best interests and in a stammering voice, he said, "So what, your a dog of the Invictus now?". The last few words left his mouth like rancid tar. Rather than respond to Victor's provocations, Anna pushed on, describing Mobius. It was obvious who she was referring to, they were all members of The Ordo. And with this Victor finally did break free from Anna's grasp, tearing himself free with a few frantic swings of his arms, fumbling backwards. "So what, you want me to rat on Mobius, is that it?" Victor was now yelling, his voice reaching a piercing high pitch.

Somewhere in a nearby apartment a dog began to bark in low rough stutters.

So Anna has broken down enough of Victor's Doors (thanks to the WP roll), but she needs one more successful social roll to get him to spill the beans. Again, I'd like the roll pool to be reflective of how Anna is trying to convince him. If she is threatening him with social or physical violence, I think Intimidation is the way to go.

Joseph's eyes went wide when Estella undid her blouse. When she had reassigned his resisting hands, his eyes bugged out of his head like a bomb was going off in his cranium. Numb fingers fumbled at Estella's flesh, warmed by burned Vitae and a recently restarted heart. Despite his active hands, there was a look of trapped confusion in Joseph's eyes, like his body was betraying him. He stammered something about a girlfriend, but there was little emotion or force behind these words.

************************************************** ****************************************

Gabriel shrugs, smiling coyly. "So, should I continue on with the Summers case," he asks in a way that implies he already knows the answer, "or are you re-assigning me to other duties?"

[Daishain]

"Stay with the Summers case for the most part and try to wrap it up quickly." Karl shares what he found in the apartment the delinquent kid visited. "For now, when you have a chance, go over the data, maybe carefully ring up a few contacts, and let me know what you come up with."

Karl writes out for his partner as he talks 'Most of the POIs involved in this one will be kindred, and we don't want to appear as if anything in particular is out of the ordinary. Just do what you can and be ready for anything.'

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Oops, maybe a bit too far, better dial it back or I might end up in a tussle.

"Hey, hey," Anna said, switching to a soothing tone, "it's okay."

She glanced over her shoulder at Estella and Joseph.

"We're not like the others," she said quietly, turning towards the alley entrance so Isabella couldn't hear, "I'm along to make sure they don't just punish anyone they get their hands on... us Ordo members need to stick together, after all. You don't have to tell her anything, but if you know anything about where Mobius was recently, or where I might find him before someone else does, to make sure he gets to tell his side of the story..."

presence, persuasion, [roll0]
10 again: [roll1]

[Lentrax]

Hush, darling. I want this, you want this. Just relax. Enjoy yourself. This will be between just you and me. No one needs to know.

[Bennosuke]

Gabe nods with a smile, "Sounds good." He slips his right hand to his belt, pulling back the heavy brown knitted cotton blazer to just slightly reveal the hard wood handle of his pistol. Gabe smirks just slightly at Karl, a gesture that Karl has seen many times as a show of solidarity from the well heeled Ghoul.

In my mind a good way to get rid of the tempted tilt would be to make an effort with the Summers case, thus making a "connection" with Karl's Touchstone, which is a nebulous idea when it is his PI practice. Does that sound reasonable? Remember a beat is gained when a condition is resolved.

************************************************** ************************************

Impressive 3 successes on four rolled dice. Nice :smallamused:

Victor's face turns into a mask of concern in only the way a Kindred's can. All muscles seem to tense so that Victor's face seems to be made of a playable pale clay, rather than layers of fat and skin over sinew. He seems to contemplate Anna's words, frozen solid as a statue. When Victor finally opens his mouth to speak, the long white spikes of his canines are now clearly visible. "I'm not sure", he says in a cold and measured voice, "I'm not sure. He disappeared without letting me know."

Victor stops, his eyes locked with Anna's (perhaps a bold move given the nature of certain Kindred powers), but Anna refuses to budge. But before Anna can speak, can urge him to talk more, he continues, "Look, all I know is that he was planning something with the Carthians. He was with them at least a couple times a week. He was supposed to be working with me on some projects, and he was just always too busy with The Rabble. But then he just disappeared. I don't know any more." Anna can detect know subterfuge in the Ventrue's words. Again she moves to speak, but he cuts her off, "Look, I don't know if The Ordo put you up to this or what, but I've done my part. Remember that... I don't want any part in any of this."

Suddenly empowered by God knows what strength, Victor breaks free from Anna, pushing past her to exit back into the street, and out in to the night. On the other side of the alley, Joseph finally gives in to Estella's offers, crushing himself to her in a pathetic display of intoxication and passion. He is somewhere between crying into her bosom and trying to further remove her blouse, allowing himself to be wrapped up in Estella's inhuman embrace.

[Lentrax]

Estella revels in Joseph's predicament. It instilled a thrill in her almost as good as feeding. She wonders how long she can keep twisting him about when she smells Victor's cologne fading.

Her hand pulls Jospeh away from her breasts and Estella brushes him aside.

It seems our moment has passed. Go back to Anna, she if she needs anything from you.

Estella then casually pulls her blouse closed, and buttons it back up, ignoring any protest from the man.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Anna asked in Cantonese, "no more drinking for you, go home."

Assuming he leaves, Anna waited for Estella by the entrance of the alley.

[Bennosuke]

Following Anna's confrontation, Joseph gives a short sigh as if trying to fight back a sob. He brings a hand to his face and pushes past her, stumbling off out of the alley. Anna watches him go, thankful that he heads in a different direction than Victor. She meets Estella's gaze, and waits for the Daeva to come down the alley.

[Lentrax]

Estella, clothes back in place, saunters back down the alley.

Did you get our information?

[Thundercracker]

Anna quickly relayed what she'd heard from Victor.

"Are either of the other two on the list Carthian?" she asked.

[Lentrax]

I do not know. I haven't had much luck with the data given to us. We would probably do well to ask our associate, even though he seems a bit too wound up for his own good.

Went through the things I have OOC, and made the best answer I could.

[Thundercracker]

Anna sent a brief reply to Karl:
be careful.

[Bennosuke]

Karl allows himself to be taken in by the death like sleep that comes with the rising sun. His dreams are filled with visions of a burning city, the howling of far off wolves, and the tall ivory Roman pillars of the Haus Der Kunst Munich, Hitler's private museum built to oppose the Degenerate Arts. The white plaster was chipped and dented, and vandalized in bloody VIIs.

The release from these dreams, and the return of Karl's consciousness to his corpse was punctuated by the sound of nervous tapping. Arising from his slumber, Karl's gaze was met by Gabriel's. The Ghoul was smoking a cigarette, taking hard thirsty pulls from the stick of tobacco. It was a habit that Karl had thought he had broken out of the man, whose lung cancer was only held inert by the gift of Karl's Vitae.

A cloud of dark smoke filled the room, telling Karl just how long his Ghoul had been waiting. The man's face was tight and pale. The cigarete embers danced a frenetic orange in Gabe's shaking hand, while the other tapped nervously against the wall.

"Karl allows himself to be taken in by the death like sleep that comes with the rising sun. His dreams are filled with visions of a burning city, the howling of far off wolves, and the tall ivory Roman pillars of the Haus Der Kunst Munich, Hitler's private museum built to oppose the Degenerate Arts. The white plaster was chipped and dented, and vandalized in bloody VIIs.

The release from these dreams, and the return of Karl's consciousness to his corpse was punctuated by the sound of nervous tapping. Arising from his slumber, Karl's gaze was met by Gabriel's. The Ghoul was smoking a cigarette, taking hard thirsty pulls from the stick of tobacco. It was a habit that Karl had thought he had broken out of the man, whose lung cancer was only held at bay by the gift of Karl's Vitae.

Gabe's face was tight and pale. The orange embers of his cigarete banned frenetically in the Ghoul's shaking hand, while his free hand tapped anxiously against a chair's armrest.

"You are up", Gabe says with a dual look of relief and hesitation. His hands continue to move independently of his consciousness while the man anxiously watches the waking Vampire.

[Daishain]

"I am" Karl says, working his left arm to get the fluids within moving again. That limb is always a little slower for some reason.

"I gather you have found something not to your liking? Let me hear it then."

[Lentrax]

Estella sends a message to Karl asking for the names of the Carthians. When she gets the reply, she sends a message to Nova, requesting a meeting.

Nova, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you. Please respond with a time you may be available tomorrow night.

Thank you,

Estella Du Chevalier.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

"Hope that works out," Anna said, "I'm going to buy a mirror first thing tomorrow, if you want to join?"

donwe want to move on to the next night? Can Anna get a quick hunt in, maybe resolve it with a roll so we can catch up with Karl?

[Bennosuke]

"Someone's been tailing me", Gabe growls in response, "for the last couple of hours, like my shadow." Gabe's hand shakes, and a shower of grey embers flutter to the floor. The image of the room catching fire shakes Karl further awake.

Gabe gets up from his chair and paces the room. His steps are long and fast, like he is trying to speed walk out of the room but can't find a door. Gabe continues without looking back at Karl, "I don't know who, they were good. It was a black Sedan, maybe a BMW, but they were always just too far away. Couldn't catch the license, couldn't see his face. Christ, I'm not even a hundred percent sure I'm not going crazy!" Gabe finally turns, his arms folded over his chest, his eyes wild. "What the hell is going on Karl?", the question is frantic, like he is asking God.

**************************************

It is about 15 minutes later that Estella gets a response, "About what?"

Estella has never interacted with the Carthians before. From what she knows, the Rabble elite was rather antisocial; she rarely even came out to the Monthly Grand Gathering.

I'm okay with a quick feeding. Again, please detail how you want Anna to hunt and we can come up with a roll or two, and a quick scene.

[Lentrax]

"Hope that works out," Anna said, "I'm going to buy a mirror first thing tomorrow, if you want to join?"


I suppose that depends on how much experience you have in antiquing?


It is about 15 minutes later that Estella gets a response, "About what?"

Estella has never interacted with the Carthians before. From what she knows, the Rabble elite was rather antisocial; she rarely even came out to the Monthly Grand Gathering.

I'm okay with a quick feeding. Again, please detail how you want Anna to hunt and we can come up with a roll or two, and a quick scene.

I am looking for information on a poacher. I am hoping you will be able to help me.

[Daishain]

Karl looks at the ghoul with the closest thing to sympathy he feels these days. "I cannot be certain yet, all I can tell you for now is to remain cautious, act as if you'd been assigned a case on a big ticket criminal. I suggest setting up a surveillance trap when you get a chance, get good details on your followers. And for your sake, avoid confrontation."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Um.. none," Anna replied, "I was going to ask the assistant for help."

As she spoke, Anna tapped out a message to screech.

Screech, are you free to meet tomorrow night (late)? Something to discuss.

Anna Wu.



Edit: regarding feeding, Anna will probably head to where bars are letting out, find a guy by himself who looks sufficiently inebriated, and ask if he needs a ride.

[Bennosuke]

Nova's response came quickly to Estella, "Oh, so the big bad Invictus now needs my Rabble Ass??? LOL!" She was clearly the obstinate type, and would be hard to convince.

Standing nearby, Anna received a response via The Pulse as well. "Anna Wu???", read the first text, which was followed by, "I take it you need something".

Sure. In the OOC thread, please roll Presence/Manipulation + Socialize. See the Core book and add modifiers as you deem appropriate, I can always make adjustments based on whether or not I agree. Also, remember that Anna has a meeting with Miho at 3AM

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Gabe points the lighted cigarette at Karl as if it were a weapon, starting to say something before stifling the thought. He turns and walks to the window, peaking his head past the sill to quickly look outside. The ghoul spins quickly, shaking his head as if to dislodge a bad thought and says, "I've never been so spooked in my life. There was a presence to the thing, like... like when you've gotten really angry. I can feel it; it's like I'm a kid again, and I can feel the monster under the bed, waiting for me to fall asleep. What the hell is going on? What are we getting into Karl?"

[Lentrax]

Tes. I need your assistance. You would be doing me a favor, which would put me in your debt. And I always pay my debts.

After she sends the message, she turns to Anna. Depending on when I get a meeting with Nova, if I can get one, I will be glad to offer my assistance.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Great, thanks," Anna replied, "I'll let you know."

She replied to Screech: Just a quick chat, better in person. 11pm okay?

She then tapped out a message to Katie, See you at the hospital around 8pm

With that, Anna returned to her car to head to the Rack and see if she could find a late night snack.


Presence 3 + Socialize 1 + Rack 2 = [roll0]
Apologies for the brief updates but free time is scarce these days.

[Daishain]

Karl is immediately alert at this, "you felt a kindred's aura? Could they have a daywalker? Hmm."

"I won't lie, two of our most likely suspects here are quite powerful, and dangerous. I find it particularly disturbing that they already seem to have caught on that we're involved. Then again, it might actually be our employers, they have an interest in making certain we don't talk about this with others, though that seems unlikely. Doing as I said last night should help keep both of us safe. Work the Summers case, be boring, only touch the Mobius files when not out in public."

"For now, calm yourself, let me know what you found, and then go get some rest. Sleep in, I'll leave a message with an update for you"

[Bennosuke]

Nova's response came quickly, in a succession of short buzzes. "???", "A favor?", "Fine", "Come by my place tomorrow night", "Wat time?"

In comparison, there is a good 3-4 minute pause before Screech's text comes back. "11PM? Can it be in Elysium???". Several minutes later a separate text came in via Anna's Text Message app. The message from Katie read, "Great. See you tomorrow nite."

************************************************** ************************************************** *******

... It took no more than 15 minutes to find parking in The Tenderloin, a neighborhood of San Francisco described as "Gritty", "Colorful", but which was primarily known as the most dangerous neighborhood in the city. Multi-story apartments were tightly packed in unattractive rectangular shapes like books on a shelf. It was no more than another 10 minutes of walking before Anna found herself standing next to a waif of a man in dark tight jeans and a ratty hoody. He had a nose piercing and dark eye liner, and he swayed drunkenly as he split his attention between texting and smoking a cigarette.

The streets were otherwise empty, and with just a little movement, he could be taken out from under any nearby streetlight.

I'll give you the luxury of describing the feeding. Just assume that all goes as planned for Anna. Please explain how many blood points she takes and update it in your Character box in your next post please.

************************************************** ************************************************** **********

Gabe shakes his head affirmatively at Karl's questions. He takes another puff of his cigarette, blowing a dark cloud of smoke into the room. Following Karl's instructions, Gabe nods his head, apparently slightly calmer given his new directives. "Okay, will do", he says, "but if you don't mind I'll wait here till you leave... just in case" . Gabe exits Karl's private room, letting the door close loudly behind him, taking uneven spastic steps.

[Daishain]

Karl grimaces, Gabriel certainly is flustered, and he cannot blame the ghoul under the circumstances. Following him out he asks "What did you find today?"

[Bennosuke]

Following Gabe to the other room, Karl finds his Ghoul standing, but slumped over the back of a chair, his shoulders still trembling slightly. He turns and again takes a long draw on the now cigarette stub, before exhaling two jets of smoke from his nose. The freshness of the air in the room is surprising, making Karl realize just how long Gabe had been waiting for him in his private chamber.

Gabe takes another moment of reflection before responding to Karl's question, "I don't know. Managed to tail the Summers kid for a while. First, his apartment, then back over to the friends' place. He spent a while with the suns, and then in the afternoon Graham and a couple of black kids squeezed into a beater and headed out. Tailed them across town to a vacant in The Mission district. Have the address. Was on point outside the vacant when I noticed the same car drive by a few times, real slow. Gave me the creeps, was maybe an hour or two ago. So I decided to go for a quick spin and come back, make sure I wasn't being paranoid. But the car followed, no matter where I went. So I came back here. Parked the car in our private lot, made sure no one came in, been watching security like a hawk. Nothing so far."

Gabe hands Karl manila folder with the a few photos of the Summers and Sun apartments. A few scribbled notes on a piece of paper, including an address in the Mission, and pictures of a forsaken stone building with high windows, some perhaps smashed by stones, with a chainlink fence around it. If there was such thing as a haunted factory, this was it.

The conversation also reminds Karl to check his burner, the one whose contact was left for Summers and his friends by Karl. The phone has a missed call and a voice message.

[Daishain]

"Well, this may shed some additional light for the Summers case, I took a risk and left a teaser." Karl sets the phone on speaker and plays the recorded message.

[Bennosuke]

The reception in the voice message is poor, with the silence filled in by a muffling white noise. Karl's attuned senses allow him to perceive the sound of breathing that goes on for at least ten seconds before a young male voice speaks up. "I don't know what you want", the voice says, "but stay the hell away!" The message ends with a slur that in Karl's native term would be equivalent to "Schwarza".

Gabe's eyes go wide as he tries but fails to stifle a chuckle.

[Lentrax]

10. And I will need the address, unless you would prefer to meet in Elysium?

[Bennosuke]

"10? Fine.", comes Nova's text, followed by a street address. A second text reads, "No weapons, just you, no tails"

[Daishain]

Karl shrugs, annoyed but unsurprised, "It was a long shot that he'd reveal any hints, but worth trying for I think. This child, if we don't find something specific shortly, I'd be inclined to terrify him into running back to mommy dearest. Would it work? Do you have any particular ideas on method? I don't deal much with the young."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Yes, 11pm should be fine. Anna replied to screech the lost church.

The rack:

Idiot,” Anna thought, watching the distracted skinny drunk, “He’s lucky it’s just me.

Her predator nature rose to the forefront as she stalked him from across the street. Heartbeat quickening, with anticipation, Anna felt the blood rising to her limbs, her cheeks, warming her skin in a mockery of true life. Timing her move, she crossed the street somewhat wobbly.

“Hey! There you are!” she called, stumbling into the fellow and nudging him into an alley and out of the light.

“I’ve been looking for you all night,” she said, pushing him against a wall, now pressing herself against him, looking into his eyes, now caressing his cheek... she was nowhere near Estella’s abilities with seduction, but with a half-standing drunk guy, it didn’t take much.

The protest died on his lips as surprise turned to confusion and then a stupid grin. Almost too easily, Anna started kissing his neck, and then the real Kiss. Real warmth, warmth of life flooded her mouth, and she drank slowly, savoring the moment. She felt him weaken, knees threatening to give out, and reluctantly pulled away.

“Hey, you’re not mike!” she said.

She left him reeling, still wondering exactly what happened, and she was gone.


Character Box:

Took 2 bp.
Vitae: 10
Humanity: 5
Willpower: 6/ 6
Health: 8
Beats/Exp: 1/0
Tilts/Conditions: None
Aspirations:
1. Gain safety and security.
1a. Develop a reliable and low-risk source of vitae.
1b. Gain trustworthy help during the day (ghoul, staff, etc).
1c. Create a safe haven for resting during the day
1d. Create a safehouse which can be fled to in times of trouble.
2. End organized crime in the city.
2a. Eliminate Kindred reliance on organized crime in the city
2a(i). Discover the various Kindred needs which are filled by organized crime in the city and devise alternative methods by which they can be met.
2a(ii). Identify Kindred who need to be swayed in order to implement said alternative methods, and sway them
2b. Identify members of organized crime in the city
2c. Identify allies (among both Kine and Kindred) who share the same goal
3. Meta: I want my character to suffer a loss of some kind, be forced to deal with the repercussions (physical, emotional), and emerge stronger (but potentially not unscathed) after some kind of resolution.
3. (alternate) Ensure the safety of younger cousin Katie

[Bennosuke]

Gabe shrugs and says, "It would probably work. The kid doesn't seem nearly as hard core as he pretends to be." The ghoul stubs the cigarette out into a black plastic ashtray that had been unused in several years and was previously immaculate. He sighs then says, "I'm not sure of a best method. The kid already seems to be somewhat religious; I may need a bit of time to figure out an angle."

Gabe seems a bit more relaxed now. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out the hardrive. "Here", he says while handing Karl the drive back in its plastic bag, "went through everything like you asked. May have missed a few things but... well Mobius reached out to his family. Looks like he was planning on going home." Gabe shakes his head and continues, "I copied the emails and sent them to you as an attached word document. That's not too much computer jargon for you is it?" Gabe flashes his master a mischievous smile.

*************************************

Screech's text came back in the affirmative, and Anna had all her dates for the night.

[Lentrax]

Very well. I will see you tomorrow.

Estella bids Anna a good night, and returns home to relax. Before turning in for the day, Estella sends Gabrielle a message wishing her a good day.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna headed home, and realized she had some time before sunrise. She did a quick google search of mental insitutions nearby, trying to determine if any or all were claimed domains.

okay, dates for tomorrow do we don’t screw this up. 1st thing: buy mirror (with Estella)
8pm, meet Katie at the hospital, make sure she’s okay.
10pm, Estella meets with nova (Anna will make this if she can).
11pm, Anna meets with screech at the lost church.
3am, meet up with Miho (don’t get eaten) at tommy’s Joynt.

Did I get all that right?

Edit: the next evening, Anna awoke and hacked her messages. If there is nothing pressing, she heads west into the city, chasing the last vestiges of purple dusk from the sky in her search for the perfect mirror for Miho.

[Bennosuke]

Estella wakes to the sensation of eyes watching her, like two balls of fire. There is a moment where she can swear she smells the cloying aroma of smoke, forcing her to wake faster than she would like. Blood pushes its way into her tissues, not by the force of a beating heart, but by the alien power that compels the Vitae to move on its own accord.

Her room is of course empty. Though the lights are off, Estella is able to see well enough in her room. No malevolent figure, no eyes of fire, just a cellphone with a few missed texts and a voice message, all from Gabrielle.

The text and voice messages are all the same message, 'I miss you, I need you, when can I see you'.

****************************************

Before Anna's slumber, she begins a quick internet search. The hunt for an unclaimed psychiatric unit was bold. There was a Psych floor at UCSF, but feeding in the hospital was prohibited by The Ordo Dracul, who had claimed it as a Wyrm's Nest.

The San Francisco VA had a similar floor, and a cross check of the "Hunting Map" that was part of The Pulse App, showed that the entire hospital was unclaimed. This did not mean that other Kindred did not feed at the VA, but that no one had been granted the territory as personal grounds by The Prince. However, like with UCSF, this was an inpatient Psych floor, not a long term Psychiatric facility.

Otherwise, all that came up was a myriad of Nursing Homes, some which housed Psychiatric patients.

Yes, it looks like you have the night's schedule accurate. For more information differentiating a Psych unit from a Psych facility, Anna will need a Int + Medicine roll. I'm holding off on moving on to the mirror hunt, till I know if Estella is Joining Anna. If the two are working together, we can probably resolve the search with a collaborative roll

[Lentrax]

Estella awakens with a start. She rises, pulling her bedding around around her to cover herself with.

Had it still been beating, her heart would be racing. The feeling of being watched plays over her emotions, and the vampire rises from her bed and goes through her home, looking for anything unusual.

After she has done so, she will send a message to Anna, asking where she should meet her. And then, feeling very unsafe in her own haven, she sends a message to Gabrielle, asking her to join Estella.

[Bennosuke]

Gabrielle's response is unsurprisingly quick. She is SO GLAD to hear from Estella and will be anywhere, just say where and when.

[Daishain]

Karl raises an irritated eyebrow at the ghoul, he's not that bad surely.

Nevermind, there's a job to do. Taking the drive, he fishes around for the tablet he's using for this case, along with a small surveillance camera, he might need it. As he does so he asks, "I'm going to check out that factory, if it seems to be a regular meeting place I'll bug it. Is there anything else I should know first?"

[Lentrax]

I have an errand to run for a friend, and then we will have a little time to ourselves. Name a place.

[Bennosuke]

In response to Karl's question, the Ghoul's expression becomes a little concerned. "Based on the pattern of events" Gabe says in a rather measured voice, "Graham and his friends are going to the warehouse at night. I'd be careful with the investigation. It's likely he went there a few nights ago, and they went last night. I'd guess the kid is appearing so burned out, because he is staying at that factory all night long. They were there for a while before I got spooked."

Gabe's face softens for a moment and he says, "Just be careful. Worst comes to worst, we can always confirm that he is going nearly every night, then tell his mother and be done with the case." The Ghouls tone seems to imply an anxiety that Karl has rarely seen, and Gabe has never been this crass in his desire to leave a case so unexplored.

************************************************** *****************************

Gabrielle's text response comes in a series of short bursts, "There is a bar by my apartment.", "The Night Owl", "Can we meet there at say 9?" "Then see where the night goes..."

Estella is somewhat familiar with The Night Owl, it was a fairly upscale bar/lounge where wealthier twenty somethings would go for a night cap or some live jazz. There was one potential problem. It was owned by Nicholas D'Agostino, the Invictus Primogen and sole threat to Prince Gorman's throne! Estella would have to be very careful about being recognized if she showed her face there. However, Gabrielle's invitation would be hard to turn down without insulting the poor Kine.

[Lentrax]

Great. Now I have to take politics into account... I'll just have to be careful...

Sounds good, my dear. I will meet you there.

Now to meet other Anna.

[Daishain]

"Unless I have seriously misinterpreted, they're interested in us for the other matter, not the Summers kid. Push this case, and they have reason to back off, or at least have no reason to do anything other than watch, and get increasingly bored while doing so. But yes, I fully intend to be careful"

Karl gathers his things and departs, hoping that Gabriel's resolve isn't faltering. He gets in his car and makes for the warehouse, parking some distance away and moving in on foot.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna looked at her watch. The store assistant was less than helpful but they’d run out of time and she wasn’t nearly satisfied with the selection of mirrors. She sighed and settled on the one which seemed least unsuitable. It was still better than showing up empty handed.

“I’ve got something to take care of,” she said to Estella, “ping you when I’m done.” She waves to the other Kindred as they parted ways.

Anna drove to the hospital, gunning the engine in frustration. She texted Katie while stopped at a red light. on my way, where are you?

[Bennosuke]

The two Kindred were left with a rather plain looking mirror. Though the surface of the glass was well polished, the silver rim and handle were tarnished and mottled with specks of rust. It was an unimpressive thing, but it was better than the only other alternative they found, a child's mirror made of green plastic, and shaped like a cartoon frog with the mirror in its mouth.

When Anna zipped away in her car, leaving Estella a few blocks from her apartment (you could never be too careful), the it was only 7:30 and the Daeva still had plenty of time before her planned meeting with Gabrielle.

Please let me know if there is anything you want to have Estella do with this down time, otherwise we will fast forward to 9 PM.

************************************************** ******************************************

It was still relatively early when Karl took off from his office towards the Mission District. He was almost to the warehouse when he realized that there was possibly a car tailing him. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but after recent events, it was probably better to remain cautious. It was a a black Lincoln Continental sedan. The car wasn't on his ass, but it wasn't staying too far back either, almost as if the driver wanted Karl to know he was being tailed.

************************************************** *******************************************

Anna was driving as aggressive as she could through the evening traffic, weaving between lanes, and pushing it through yellow lights as they came up down Lombard. Then there was the hunt for parking. Thankfully, as an Ordo member, Anna had access to the Physicians lot, but it was the time of night when many of the Hospitals staff were pouring out from work and were anxiously trying to make their ways home. Fighting the egress of cars, Anna would be cutting it close to 8pm.

She thankfully did not have to draw breath when moving quickly, otherwise Anna would have been panting by the time she made it past security, up to the Heme/Onc floor and to Celestine's room. Henry and Katie were both standing over the bed in a well lit and relatively bright hospital room, where Celestine lay. Anna's aunt was much frailer then when last she had seen her. Though she had not lost any of her hair, Celestine had gone fully grey now. Her arms had almost no meat on them, and the hospital gown was barely filled by her skeletal frame. Henry too had grown much older then when Anna had last seen him, and Katie was almost an adult. Had that much time passed, or had circumstances aged Anna's family?

The three looked up at Anna, but said nothing as she stood observing from the door frame.

[Daishain]

"Hmph, this is not promising."

Karl drives out to a relatively safe spot near the warehouse as planned, then gets out and simply walks back towards his tail. Not aggressively, but not hiding the fact that the trailing car is his interest either.

In the event he actually gets to said car without them driving off or doing something else, he crosses his arms and says, "If you have a message for me, I suggest making it clear, there are all too many people who'd want to warn me off of something to guess at who sent you."

[Bennosuke]

Karl parks his car several blocks from the warehouse, and is in the process of locking it up when the black Continental pulls up, it's wheels screeching with the exertion of the sudden deceleration. The tinted passenger side window rolls down, first to reveal the gaping muzzle of a single barrel shotgun; sawed off from Karl's estimation, but then to reveal the ugly mug of a chubby man whose mother may have been part swine. The faint smell of Vitae that Karl's attuned senses pick up inform him that the man is a Ghoul. He grins at Karl with a lewd toothy smile. Behind the pig-man, partly silhouetted in shadow is The Sheriff of San Francisco, a Vampire known to most as Schultz. He is a sallow faced Jew, with a rat like nose, protuberant cheek bones, a greasy mustache, and long curly locks of brown hair. The Sheriff glares at Karl coldly, and to the German's dismay, Karl can see that Schultz is in one of his favored industrial jumpsuits, an article he only wears if there is a risk of getting dirty.

The Ghoul blurts in a rather high pitched voice, "Don't ya move. Keep your hands up." He is clearly enjoying having a Kindred at the wrong end of his gun. "Don't worry, we just want to talk with you", the Ghoul says as he cracks the door of the car open. Schultz continues to stare death at Karl, watching from the driver's seat. The back windows remain up, and due to their heavy tint, Karl cannot tell if there is reinforcement in the back of the sedan.

I will give you the option to resist if you so choose before moving things along.

[Daishain]

Karl says dismissively, "Put that gun down meat, you won't be needing it today."

Ignoring the ghoul he crosses his arms and looks to Shultz, "What can I do for you sheriff? If the Summers brat I'm looking into tonight is Invictus business somehow, a phone call would've sufficed to warn me off. You should know me by now, I don't deliberately cross the higher ups, ever."

In spite of apparently dismissing the shotgun, Karl is quite aware of it. If the ghoul appears to attempt firing the weapon, Karl will spend a point on Celerity, rapidly shifting out of the line of fire.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna took a a single bold step into the room and then paused in the no-man’s land between the door and the bed.

“Hello uncle, auntie,” she said in Chinese.

“Hi Katie.”

[Lentrax]

Estella proceeds with caution to the Night Owl. She arrives early, but hesitates before going inside. The rift, after all is well known, and appearances are everything. But, this is where Gabrielle wanted to go, and Estella has plans on keeping the girl.

Aside from belonging to Nicolas, what else would Estella know about the Night Owl?

[Bennosuke]

Schultz raises his right hand, now holding a pistol to point at Karl. There is an extended panic filled moment, where Karl is sure he is about to be shot; truly just a nuisance to his health, but one with dreadful implication for what was to come.

Instead, the Ghoul lowers his shotgun, and quickly frisks Karl, freeing him of any weapons he may have, while chuckling to himself in surprisingly piggy snorts.

The Ghoul nods to Schultz, who smirks and uses his pistol to wave Karl on. "Come now, sit down."

With few options, Karl allows himself to be shoved into the passenger seat, which smells distressingly like bacon. The car door slams behind him, and Wilber squeezes his frame into the passenger side rear, where Karl is sure he is keeping the muzzle of the shotgun pressed to the back of his seat.

Schultz pockets the pistol, shoving the heavy matte black weapon into some pocket of his oversized jumpsuit. The car remains idled, and Schultz rests his right arm on the car's automatic shifter, revealing an all too familiar tattoo design; a series of poorly inked numbers.

It was at that moment that Karl realized he had never been quiet so close to The Sheriff. Schultz grinned at Karl, revealing a broken row of yellow and rotted teeth, that somehow reminded The Mekhet of a shark's jaw. "So", the Sheriff said through his evil smile, "do you have any idea what this is about?"

Mr. Piggy chortled, and it was then that Karl realized there was a second Ghoul in the car with them, this one a thin and slimey man of unacceptably dark complexion, with a head full of tight corn rows and a greasy goatee.

*******************************************

At first no one spoke as Anna entered the room. Katie was the first to move, taking slow but confident steps towards her cousin. Katie's initial movements triggered her father, who moved quicker, beating Katie to a short embrace.

Henry was taller than Anna, and though brief, his hug was tight as a bear trap. Anna could smell the fatigue on the man, like mold on meat. It wasn't something she would have been able to do as a mortal, but those times were far far away. "Thank you for coming", Henry half sobbed. Katie squeezed Anna's hand.

But it was Celestine's voice that stopped the room and made the three turn. "Don't gang up on the poor girl", she said in a voice halted drowned in phlegm. Henry and Katie parted to allow Celestine a clear view of her Niece. "My my, it seems like ages. Come closer dear and tell me, how have you been?"

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, please state if Anna is using Blush of life. If she is, please update your character box appropriately in your next post.

********************************************

A bouncer greeted Estella at the entrance. He was like a body builder, all hard muscle but packed tightly into a cheap black suit. He smelled of coagulated Vitae, and was likely one of Nicholas' Ghouls.

Even before Estella finished walking past the line of people waiting to get in, he was ushering The Daeva through. A few girls whined about the unfair treatment, but Estella was already walking into The Night Owl as their words found her back.

Gabrielle was sitting meekly at a table near the entrance. The lights were cut low, and a band of Jazz performers dressed like it was the "Roaring Twenties", was playing some slow and quiet number on a nearby stage. As always, Gabrielle looked well out of place in her black gossamer silks and dark red leather corset. "You're late" the thin little girl said, though her smile said, "I'm so glad you're here".

Estella probably does not know much else about it. Nicholas uses the bar to host meetings, but Estella has never been invited. Due to the schism between Nicholas and Prince Gorman, only those strongly aligned with Nicholas ever set foot in The Night Owl. It is heavily guarded, and is rumored to have one hell of a security system, as well as potentially a few Kindred friendly safe houses in it's basement, but that's all rumor.

[Daishain]

Karl shrugs, "Presumably I have unknowingly gotten close to something someone wants kept secret. I couldn't say for sure what that is however. Nothing I've found of late appears to have a connection to you or Invictus. Like I stated, this is unnecessary."

If Karl's heart beat at all, it would be beating quickly right now. He hates being with thugs like this, men too stupid to use violence responsibly. He hates even more not having a way out. Men like shultz are difficult to even blackmail into submission, not seeming to accept the idea that their fists can't stop information from being distributed.

[Lentrax]

Estella pouts at the words. There is, sadly, more to it than that. I was... apprehensive, of coming here. But I don't have much time tonight, and there are things we must talk about, so you know what getting involved with me exactly means.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna’s briefly returned her uncle’s embrace, and reiprocated Katie’s hand squeeze. At her invitation, she moved closer to her aunt’s bed.

“Busy, a bit under the weather, nothing to complain about,” she replied, “how... how do you feel?”

lets say in all the rush, Anna forgot blush of life. Seems appropriate all things considered.

Do ghouls get sick, or does vitae protect them from disease?

[Bennosuke]

Karl's words draw The Sheriff's smile up into an even more wicked grin, as if they tickled him, or he was hoping that Karl would say something like that. Behind Karl, the dark skinned Ghoul twirls a long combat knife in one hand. The metallic blade catches the cabin's overhead light, making it flicker throughout the car.

The seconds tick by before Schultz speaks up. "What were you doing last night on *****?", he asks in mention to the street of Mobius' apartment. His words are measured, but he asks with a relative calm, as if he were getting to know a first date rather than interrogating another Kindred.

************************************************** ************************************************** ***********
I suppose I should have asked the same question about the Blush of life. Happy to retroactively have Estella activate it, but please let me know and update your Character box if you will spend a point of vitae.

Gabrielle's eyes go wide at the tone of Estella's warning. "Okay," she stammers as her face begins to flush with blood, "... what do you want to talk about?" The girl pulls her hands back and off the table, plunging them into her lap.

************************************************** ************************************************** ***********
Ooh, that is an interesting consideration!!! Perhaps we can have Anna make an Int + Occult roll to answer this... though I suppose you could look it up yourself as well. Regardless, it may be worthwhile to see if Anna knows anyways, since she clearly has never made a Ghoul before.

Celestine pushes herself up into a near seated position, her skinny arms shaking with the effort. She gazes hard at Anna, seeming to take in every detail of her Niece's face and body. Celestine gives a harumph, which turns into a wracking cough that floods Anna with the smell of rotten breath. Wiping away a bit of spittle with her oversized gown, Celestine responds to Anna's question, "I've been better; that is for certain. My dear, YOU look awful". Satisfied, Celestine allows herself to fall back into bed, and she folds her arms across her abdomen. "Thank you for coming dear", Celestine says warmly, "we have been quiet worried about you. It has been so long since Katie or we had heard from you. How is your new job? I hope they aren't working you too hard. You are almost as pale as a snow flake."

[Daishain]

With the surveillance on him that night confirmed, Karl decides to mislead rather than outright lie, "Ah, so its the fledgling you were interested in? Now why would that be?"

"If you must know, I got a tip that the kid had been getting in touch with the kine who he once called family. I figured if proof of a masquerade violation could be obtained, I'd have an asset with the Ordo in my pocket. But he was gone, apartment trashed. I found nothing else to go on, figured it was too much trouble to mess with further, and so closed the file and moved on. You've got me curious now though, I might have to look again."

Putting on a slightly greedy look, Karl grins at Shultz, "Are you looking for him? I'd be willing to offer my services to assist with that, for the usual exchange of course."

[Lentrax]

First, I need to know something.

Estella hesitates, not quite sure of where to start.

Do you believe in the supernatural?

[Bennosuke]

Schultz allows Karl to finish his talk, the grin quickly turning to a scowl. There is something slightly alien to The Sheriff's facial features, a jerkiness to the muscles lost and then found in the uncanny valley by those Kindred who lived long enough. It was something Karl had started to notice in the mirror as well.

Following Karl's proposition, Schultz' face screws up for a second before he spits a cold wad onto Karl's pants. His eyes narrow though he wisely makes no eye contact, and his voice is like a cold razor in a tube of glass, "Who tipped you off then?Do not test my patience Nazi Swine. I have ways of making you talk that would be far less comfortable than my simple questions."

The two Ghouls in the back are now frozen, staring quietly from Schultz to Karl and back again.

*****************************************

Gabrielle gulps slightly, here eyes becoming two round moons staring up at Estella. "Sure", she says in a far off, almost hypnotized voice.

So, that blush of life question from before???

[Daishain]

Karl can't resist verbally poking the old juden a little in response to that insult, "I see Mobius isn't the only one who cannot lass die vergangenheit sterben, we have both changed quite a bit since then. Now, I am afraid I cannot help you directly, the tip was anonymous, came in by phone a few days ago. But let me see if I cannot connect some of the dots for you so I can get back to my own work."

Karl scratches his chin absentmindedly, "You've just made it clear that you're trying to bury something connected to the errant fledgling. That was a mistake, had you left it alone, I would've been none the wiser. Fortunately for both of us, I still don't know what you're trying to conceal, and from the sound of it, I really do not want to know. That means there's a chance to salvage this, if you stop wasting your time with me and start looking in the right places."

"The tip would most likely have come from someone who knew what you are trying to conceal, but didn't want to be connected to the exposure. Now, I wouldn't dare to guess who is involved in this, but I would begin with looking at anyone in the know who would gain from exposing whoever's involved. I also highly doubt that I was the only one contacted, you could take a look into other professionals in my line of work."

"And finally, whoever this is would have to be a complete moron to contact me again now that you've visited me, but perhaps they are, and/or we will get lucky and they will simply remain unaware of this exchange. In return for simply being left alone, I would be glad to pass along the details if I get another such tip, perhaps it will point you in the right direction."

"Jew", "let the past die"

[Lentrax]

Estella wonders for a moment, wonders if the question actually registered with Gabrielle, or if the girl was just telling Estella what she thought the Daeva wanted to hear.

Come with me, my dear.

Estella holds her hand out for Gabrielle. The hand is cold as ice and has an ashen color to it.

No, I am going to say she didn't. She is rattled tonight, and has other things on her mind.

[Thundercracker]

int + occult: [roll0]

I’m a big fan of moral dilemma

Anna Wu

“It’s quite challenging, but I like it,” Anna replied, “though it does keep me busy. I rarely see the light of day, to be honest.”

“My mother always said fair skin is more beautiful,” she added with a wry smile, “so I guess there’s that.”

“What um-“ Anna started, “what do the doctors say?”

[Bennosuke]

Karl's first lie seems to satisfy Schultz and his crew of flunkies. Sure, it was just some anonymous tip, and they allow Karl to continue. Trying to squeeze out of a bad situation, Karl offers a compromise, though it is an empty promise.


"In return for simply being left alone, I would be glad to pass along the details if I get another such tip, perhaps it will point you in the right direction."

The Sheriff's nostrils flare as if insulted and when he opens his mouth to speak, two long ivory needles flash in threat. "Do not test me Friedrich Schulz", he says in German that is heavily tainted by Russian accent, "I would never make a deal with scum of your ilk." He waits a moment, letting the realization set in that Schultz knows Karl's real name. Catching a glimmer of recognition, the Sheriff says in perfect untainted English, "Yes my little Nazi, I know more about you than you think. In fact, within the last 24 hours I've found out more than perhaps even you know about... and certainly more than you would like me to know."

The pig faced Ghoul pushes the shotgun muzzle hard into the back of Karl's seat, so that he can feel the metal lips searching for his spine. Switching back into German, Schultz says, "Tell me Friedrich, how is Frau Schulz?", referring to Karl's late wife. Before Karl can respond, The Sheriff continues, "I hear you fled Germany without her, tisk tisk".

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Gabrielle is visibly shocked by Estella's touch, but she allows herself to be dragged out of the Night Owl. The two exit the bar, as the group of waiting clubgoers complain about Estella's sudden entrance then exit. The couple, still hand in hand get about a half block away before Gabrielle calls out, "Your hand is so cold", though she seems almost elated by this fact. Before Estella can respond, she asks, "Where are we going? I was kind of hoping you would... come to my apartment". Her face is again flush with blood, although whether it is from the chill night air, or from arousal Estella can't say.