VtM - The Prodigal Son

[Toilet Cobra]

The sun sinks low, slinking away behind the monolithic skyscrapers like a tiger after an unsuccessful hunt. Mortals conclude their labors, finish their meager meals, and lull themselves with television before scurrying to their beds. Those who crave more excitement than the daylight can provide instead prepare themselves for the twilight. Bracing themselves against the January chill, they doll themselves up one way or another before sending their texts and piling into taxis. As the sun fails completely, a thousand thousand cold lights begin to illuminate the city in its place. Unknowingly, the mortals have prepared a most pleasing feast for the predators who walk among them.

Night once more holds its daily court in the ‘City of Brotherly Love,’ and across the metropolis those predators begin to awaken.

Lucas is one of the first to arise. Freshly fed, he still feels the slightest twinge of growing hunger, but sets it aside. There’s only so many hours in the night, and he has plenty of business that needs to be attended to…

Welcome to The Prodigal Son!

We’ll assume Lucas starts topped off on Vitae (minus the one point he just lost as he awoke), so no need to hunt right now unless you so desire. Please feel free to describe Lucas and his Haven in as much detail as you like, and then the night is yours!

[Angmarred]

Night. Morning. Dusk. Dawn. So much has changed so fast, Lucas Davis still isn't quite comfortable with his new routine. He sits, the lights in his small sleeping chamber already rising on a timer to give a dim illumination. Despite what Lucas is, he still can't change what he was, so the first thing he does is check his phone. No new texts, some spam e-mail, and one e-mail of substance, a message from Rosa Villa, the day manager of the gallery. Two complicated purchased had finally been processed today, adding a not insignificant sum to the gallery's accounts. Cassandra would be pleased.

Rising fully, Lucas exits his sleeping chamber into the bedroom proper. The bedroom was pristine and neat as it rarely saw use. He locks the door to his secure and custom sleeping chamber behind him: from the bedroom it appeared to just be a normal closet. Lucas walks over to the desk and flips his computer on before moving into the living room. The living room and small kitchen, like the bedroom, look like a newly renovated apartment, ready for showing. In truth, Lucas spent little time here, using his "home" as a place to sleep with the occasional "special guest." Lucas opens the curtains, taking in the lights of the city. Lucas had always felt like a night person, it wasn't until he met Cassandra that he understood why. Returning to the bedroom, Lucas checks his schedule. Beckett was managing the gallery tonight. His sales were down last month, and Lucas' wanted to discuss that with the young man. Some Tremere that Lucas had never met was throwing a party of some sort in University City at the stroke of midnight, and Cassandra had gently suggested that her childe attend. Lucas decides that tonight was a good night to run. He would stop at the gallery early, then run for a while before returning home to change before the party.

Lucas begins to don his parkour gear, loose navy pants, tapered at the ankle, a pair of exceptionally expensive grey training shoes, a fitted black t-shirt, custom back sheathe and tanto, and a designer black hoodie. He throws a few cans of spray paint, his phone, and wallet into a small, sturdy backpack. Pulling his hood up, Lucas leaves his apartment and heads into the night.

[Toilet Cobra]

Lucas begins his run with a slow jog. The nightlife of the neighborhood was only just stirring; soon these streets would be packed with well-heeled funseekers, but for the moment Lucas had no difficulty picking a path on the relatively empty sidewalk.

It wasn't very far to the gallery, but Lucas paced himself anyway. His thoughts began to wander a bit, but only a few blocks from his front door he saw something that instantly grabbed his attention: an enormous metal sculpture, in the shape of a fluttering banner, adorning the roof of a two-story bank. It hadn't been there the night before; they must have just completed installing it that very day.

Something in Lucas' stomach churned at the sight of the installation. Not only was it a pointless piece of corporate art, the abstract sculpture was one of the single ugliest pieces that Lucas had ever seen. There was no message, no meaning to it, and no skill either; it was little more than a big lump of curved metal. And such an awful thing was only a stone's throw from his own front door!

But then, maybe he had a solution. The 'banner' was relatively flat, almost like a curving bronze billboard. And what luck that he had several cans of paint in his pack...

Lucas is an alternative artist, and not exactly a snob... but this is just plain offensive to the eye.

If you'd like to ignore it and continue on to the gallery, you can. But if you'd like to take a crack at putting your own twist on the piece, give me a Dex + Athletics (difficulty 6) to climb to the roof,
and follow it with a Wits + Crafts (difficulty 7) check to add your own artistic statement.

Don't forget that in the Vampire system, individual dice results matter, so use the [rollv] tag instead of the normal [roll] command.

[Angmarred]

Lucas paused, what was left of his heart racing. What was this feeling? Was it the stirring of a deep flame that Lucas worried had been snuffed out? Feeling a spark of inspiration, Lucas examined his task.

However much the Embrace had strangled Lucas' artistic flair, it had enhanced his ability at parkour by that much and more. He was able to plot paths more clearly, and perform maneuvers he had only dreamed of before. Starting with a jog, Lucas broke into a full out sprint and began to climb, spring, and flip up the structure. Scaling a building looked as easy as climbing stairs.

Once he reached the top, a picture began to form in Lucas' mind, and he set to work. All thoughts of other obligations disappeared as the paint began to splatter across the canvas, which, to Lucas, was anything even remotely flat. Red, black, orange, green, Lucas was blur, his hands moving faster than a mortal could even comprehend. After almost an hour, Lucas stepped back, to admire his work. A stylized bat raced across the flag, claws tearing a deep gouge in a fleeing wolf. A traditional Hopi pattern surrounded the beasts, and, to a discerning eye, the words "Fear the Night" could be seen worked into the pattern. Lucas smiled, pleased, the work was better than he usually did, and the image should please the werewolf hating Elders. As Lucas turned his critical eye over the mural, his opinion soured. The whole theme was reminiscent of a piece he did on a wall at his high school in Flagstaff at the age of 16. And the wolf, at second glance, maybe appeared a little too noble, compared to the scavenging bat. These interpretations were deep and he doubted that anyone outside his clan would catch them. Not quite satisfied, but knowing he could do no more, Lucas gathered his things. Checking his watch, Lucas figured he still had enough time to visit the gallery before the "party."

[Toilet Cobra]

It seemed Lucas couldn't help but notice the flaws in an otherwise satisfactory piece. Ah well... if nothing else, his art was a bold statement to those on the dark side of the Masquerade. And he wouldn't have to look at this ugly sculpture for a few nights, which was a plus.

Lucas had finished his work with preternatural speed, but it had still taken long enough for a few mortals to notice. Glancing down at the street, he saw several people standing in clumps on the sidewalk opposite, taking pictures with their phones. Not wanting to push his luck, Lucas quickly descended the opposite side of the building and quietly resumed his trek to the gallery.

He arrived a little later than usual, but he could see the movement in the office from street-level. That would be Beckett, waiting patiently (or not) for the owner to arrive. Otherwise the gallery seemed just about deserted, which was no surprise for this time of night. Lucas quickly crossed the street to circle to the back entrance and head inside for a word with the manager.

Take a moment to describe the gallery in as much detail as you like, including any current art pieces you'd like to mention. Then we can have a conversation between you and Beckett if you desire.

[Angmarred]

Lucas slipped in quietly through the back door. He liked surprising his mortal employees, keeps them on their toes. He stowed his bag in the small office and entered the gallery proper. The gallery was small, but furnished on the cutting edge of style. Lucas had met an up and coming young designer shortly after his Embrace and he was shocked at how eagerly she offered to share her newest ideas. She had already renovated the gallery three times in the past 2 years, never letting the decor fall a week behind the trends. Lucas looked over the current showing and sighed. He had a found a young Finnish immigrant with a lot of potential for the current display. His pieces were visually stunning, but the theme was something akin to "the forgotten middle class." They sold well, but Lucas was surprised even the kine couldn't see threw the bull****.

Lucas coughed gently, startling Beckett. So pretty, but so, so dumb, Lucas thought. "Beckett, why is there no one here? You only have this job because you give off an air that you're stylish. You certainly don't know anything about art. You need to convince your hipster friends that bars are passe and the cool thing to do is hang out here. Then, when the gallery is full of pretty people, the people that actually matter, you know, the ones with jobs and money, then they will come here too. And they will buy things. And then I'll be happy. And then you get to keep your job. Do you understand?"

I didn't have any specific tasks in mind at the gallery, just maintaining Lucas' Resources,
and killing time until later in the night for more appropriate vampire stuff :)

[Toilet Cobra]

Beckett offers a few sputtering excuses, muttering about a couple patrons who seemed "very interested" in a few pieces... though apparently not enough to purchase them. Lucas listens for a moment before waving the man away.

Beckett, properly chastised, takes the first opportunity to make himself scarce. He hurries off to find some work to do, only mentioning in passing that a "Miss Tanaka" had called shortly before Lucas had arrived at the gallery. He mentions that she asked for Lucas to call back at the first opportunity.

Lucas recognizes the name immediately. 'Miss Tanaka' is one of Sachiko's aliases, and a code word as well. It was the name she allowed her ghouls to address her by; so using it now, she was indicating that she had something to ask of her brother-by-blood.

Lucas pauses to consider. He doesn't have anything particularly pressing at the moment, but Sachiko wouldn't contact him for a minor favor she could have just given to her ghouls. Likely she would need his whole night, or at least the majority of it, and he had looked forward to attending the Tremere's soiree.

Lucas' has received a not-quite-urgent message from Sachiko. He can choose to ignore it, or call her back to see what she wants. It would be very poor form to refuse a request from her, but if he doesn't actually get the request it can't be held against him. Mortals are notoriously unreliable, after all.

If he does decide to return her call, he should use the phone in the gallery's office; it has some minor encryption to prevent eavesdropping, and is a great deal more secure than a cell phone.

[Angmarred]

Lucas paused, lost in thought, Sachiko... Now there was a muse worthy of immortality in art. If Lucas hadn't been entirely bewitched by Cassandra, he likely would have fallen madly in love with the second Vampire he ever met. Perhaps Lucas had just been on an irreversible path to damnation at that time in his life.

The Tremere were fun, in a manner of speaking, and a party was always a chance to maneuver in the game he had only just realized he would be playing for eternity, but Sachiko was family. If she needed him, he would be there. Stepping into the office, he keyed in a security code faster than the eye could follow, and dialed Ms. Tanaka.

My intention was that Lucas doesn't actually work in the gallery, he just sort of pops in and out, leaving Beckett and the other as yet undescribed employee to actually be there for the minute to minute.

[Toilet Cobra]

Sachiko answers Lucas' call on the first ring. This is not unusual for her.

"Good evening, brother," she breathes. She speaks quietly, quickly, and with excessive formality; that is also normal for her. "I beg your pardon for my rudeness in calling you so abruptly, and to my shame I must impose on you further. I have need of someone trustworthy to accompany me this evening, and I dare not involve my assistants in this matter. Would you consider escorting me on a brief excursion? I sadly cannot elaborate at this time."

Lucas is not surprised to be asked to assist in Sachiko's business; in the whole city, she is probably his most trusted friend, and they have relied on each other often in the last two years. Sachiko is a real up-and-coming Tremere, and is often called upon to handle business not only for Cassandra but the rest of the clan in Philadelphia. Nor is Lucas surprised that she doesn't want to get into the details of the evening's events on the phone. In these modern nights no communication is 100% secure, and nearly everything Sachiko does is involves the secrets of one or more Kindred.

What does surprise Lucas is that Sachiko doesn't feel she can involve her 'assistants,' by which she means her ghouls. She has three, all of them capable and specialized in a variety of tasks. She relies on them heavily, and they almost never fail to carry out her orders in exemplary fashion.

Still, she must certainly have her reasons for excluding her ghouls. It's hard to imagine what that might be, but Lucas is dedicated to his sister-by-blood and will help however he is able.

Is Lucas available to assist Sachiko? This is a matter of some urgency, so if he agrees she will likely have someone sent to pick him up immediately.

I know you mentioned that Lucas will generally assist Sachiko in whatever she needs, but I wanted to give you a beat to ask any circumspect questions, make any preparations, and otherwise get yourself ready for whatever comes next. Next post will come along a little more quickly.