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

[Bennosuke]

"Thank you Anna," Katie replies dryly, "Again, I really appreciate everything you have done. She does her best to smile and adds, "I'm glad I have you in my family, and I'm so glad you came out to San Francisco."

Finishing her work, Katie begins to heap a plate high with food. A mound of steamed rice sits next to ground pork and eggplant, prawns and peppers, and egg and tomato; a bounty of food that makes Anna's stomach turn, though she could eat it if she wanted. Katie hands Anna a plate to fill for herself, before pouring herself a glass of water from the sink, using her old wine glass.

(OOC: Okay to move on to after Anna has left, unless there is anything else you want to explore)

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

Quickly, almost anxiously, Fred replies, "Do you need any help?" He chuckles, almost surprised by the offer he had just made, before offering sheepishly, "I mean, no pressure, but I would be happy to help if I can. I suppose I'm going to need something to do with my... days, while I'm staying with you."

Fred's reply leaves Gabe with a grave scowl on his face.

[Thundercracker]

Anna stuck around to eat, then after visiting the bathroom to dispose of all the food and drink by way of the toilet, she made sure her cousin was settled in alright, passed a spare key to her, and headed to the Ordo's library. She'd been meaning to research the Dark One ever since they'd destroyed the spirit at the hospital, but had always gotten side tracked.

Finally, she'd hopefully get to the bottom of what it was, and what it was doing there.

Spoiler

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int + occult: (3d10)[3][8][7](18)
any bonus dice for the library? (3d10)[5][3][9](17)
10 again: (4d10)[6][8][9][2](25)

[Daishain]

Karl nods, "There will be much to be done, and I would be glad to have you with us. Fair warning, it is likely to be quite... different." He glances Gabriel's way with a disapproving look. He couldn't make his childe like his grandson, but the neophyte could at least learn not to wear such problematic emotions so openly.

[Bennosuke]

The food had flavor, one might even say it tasted good, but Anna no longer had a pallet for mortal food. The flavors were familiar, muted, bland, and the textures so unappealing relative to warm viscous blood. The act of relieving herself later was purely mechanical and was over with mercifully quickly.

Katie seems anxious to let Anna leave, but eventually relents, and soon Anna finds herself retreating to the Octavia Street Wrym's Nest. The old painted lady loomed like a castle in shadows cast by the streetlights in the late night San Francisco fog, and the wooden stairs of the porch creaked and groaned as Anna rushed up them, removing her key swiftly to let herself into the small mansion.

Anna spent the next hour pouring over texts pulled from the dusty shelves of the nest's library.

Spoiler: OOC

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So for this roll, I'd say Anna's access to the library's tomes is directly related to her status (Ordo) divided in half and rounded up, which is unfortunately one dice. I'd have said you could alternatively use Academics instead of Occult if it gave you more dice, but I see it wouldn't have changed anything. Interesting choice going off to research this.

The most obvious explanation Anna could find, reading through old scrolls and leather bound books on the occult, was that The Dark One was some sort of spirit, an entity not tied to any human soul, but instead "created" by the resonant energies related to strong human emotions or experiences in the hospital. Based on the behaviors of the spirit, and how powerful it was, Anna would guess that there was a serious amount of human suffering occurring at the hospital.

As Anna was returning books to the shelves, the door to the library opened, bright light from the hallway flooding into the somehow perpetually dim reading room. Lady Miho stood in the doorway, a shapeless but somehow regal long sleeve black dress hanging from her stout form. "Little Anna," the Sworn of the Light said pleasantly, though her face remained cold and hard, "it has been several nights since you returned to the nest. What brings you in tonight? When will we return to our studies?"

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

"That's fine," Fred replied hastily, perhaps not truly understanding the meaning behind Karl's words, "I'll just be glad to have something to do." The conveyer belt had started up mercifully, turning out bags from the evening's flight. Fred paused for a moment saying, "That's my bag," before bending down to struggle with a massive black rolling suitcase. Finally hoisting it off of the conveyer belt he says, "That's all my things. I'm ready to go when you are." He rolls the suitcase over to Gabe and tries to hand it to him. "Can you manage this for me? I've already go a lot with this bag," he says, referencing the duffle under his free arm.

Gabe scowls and looks to Karl as if to say, "You have to be kidding me, right?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Good evening Lady Miho," Anna replied, "I am doing a bit of research on the spirit we fought at the hospital, I wanted to know more about what we faced. I would definitely like to return to our lessons, maybe later tonight or tomorrow?"

[Daishain]

Rather than try to negotiate that mess while still in the crowded area, Karl simply steps in and takes the luggage himself before waving the pair on towards the outside.

[Bennosuke]

"Happily," the elder vampire says, though her face remains a dead emotionless mask, "I have some research with Summer, and some other responsibilities to finish up tonight... but I can make time for you tomorrow. Shall we meet earlier in the evening, to give ourselves plenty of time?"

While she waits for a response, Lady Miho crosses into the room, a dark regal shadow. She moves to a nearby bookshelf and retrieves a small unornate black book, and walks to Anna to put it firmly down on the desk before her. "Why don't you take a look at this before tomorrow? It has a good review of some intricacies of the Beast's Coils."

Following this, Lady crosses back to the door, opening it halfway before pausing. Without turning back to Anna she says, "Oh, by the way my dear Anna, were you ever able to find anything more about that mirror I lent to your... colleague?"

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

Karl's action only causes Gabe to scowl harder, but the neonate does nothing to truly protest.

"Thank you," Fred says firmly, a scowl on his face rivaling Gabe's.

The two follow Karl to an elevator in silence, taking it floors down so that they can return to the parking lot. As the three walk back through the tunnel, they are greeted by the ghoul sentry Tito. He grins at Karl and Gabe, and eyes their new companion. "Take care of everything you needed to?" he asks, hand stuffed into his black and orange and gold Giant's jacket.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“I believe I have a lead but it is delicate,” Anna replied, “I will try to confirm it and ensure it is returned.”

“Sure, how about 10pm?” Anna asked, “How is Autumn, has she fully recovered?”

[Daishain]

Resisting the urge to snap at the pair, Karl heads for the door. As Tito approaches, he nods curtly, "Yes, all done here."

[Bennosuke]

"Very good," Lady Miho replies flatly, a cold mask of a smile on her face. She follows, "10PM will be fine. As always, make sure you are fed." She pauses for a moment before saying, "Perhaps we will go out for a little... field trip I believe it is called."

In regards to Autumn, Lady Miho replies, "Oh, she needed a lot of my blood. Her body is fine, but her spirit... well mortals handle interactions with the supernatural differently. I am giving my Princess Autumn a little break to recover." Though there was no emotion behind the elder vampire's voice, there was a certain surprising openness. A Kindred would not normally admit that their Ghoul was "out of action", as it was admitting that one's defense was down.

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

The two clearly don't pick up on Karl's poisoned glances as they return down the tunnel.

The ghoul sentry grins, flashing a smile with a few metal capped teeth. "Sounds good papi," he says, "have a good night."

(OOC: So that I don't railroad you, I assume you are going back to the Seacliff Haven? Or somewhere else? And is there anything specific you want Karl to accomplish with Fred?)

[Thundercracker]

Anna

“I hope she recovers quickly,” Anna said, “let me know if there is anything I can do in the meantime.”

Spoiler

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what time is sundown ? Trying to gauge whether there is time to see Katie and hunt before meeting Miho.

Anna will use the remainder of the evening to do an inventory of the armor and weapons at the haven, and read through the book Miho lent her.

[Daishain]

Karl ushers the other two on to the car, and indicated for Fred to take the front passenger seat, staring Gabriel down if need be.

Once in, he sighs, finally able to speak freely, "I don't know if I ever properly conveyed my sympathy for your loss Fred. I'm sorry."

"I've pulled a few strings, and we should have a much better idea of who actually did it shortly. Whoever actually did it, I suspect it was at the orders of a Kindred called Schultz, and I think they were supposed to kill you instead. Schultz was the one who told me that my wife and daughter survived the war, and that you existed. But then in the same breath he threatened to harm you."

"For what its worth, Schultz died that same night, him and his boss. There was something of a brief insurrection, that's why I tried to get you and yours out of harms way. The, uh... political landscape here has changed a fair bit as a result since you've been gone. I've gained a good bit of influence in the process, enough that I should have little trouble keeping anyone from targeting you again."

[Bennosuke]

"She will be fine," Lady Miho says almost indifferently, then with a mirthful grin, "I don't think we will need to be admitting her to your little psychiatric hospital or anything." Finishing the conversation, Lady Miho steps out of the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Anna in the low light of the study.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sundown is probably around 6:30-7PM, so Anna should have ample time to hunt and see Katie. I just wanted to confirm, before mistaking, you were hoping on boosting Coils of the Beast, right? I can retcon in to be appropriate to a different coil if you were planning on gaining something else.

Also, are you sure there is nothing else you want to do with Anna's relatively still young evening?
-Go see Daniel or Celestine, or Gabrielle,
-Go after Miho's mirror/research Estella's murderer
-Do more for the psych hospital
-Investigate MS-13 further
?

I can otherwise fastforward you to the next night if you would like.

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

At that point, Gabe says nothing and offers no fight in letting Fred sit up front, though the fledgeling does wear a sour face as he gets into the back seat.

Once in, he sighs, finally able to speak freely, "I don't know if I ever properly conveyed my sympathy for your loss Fred. I'm sorry."

Fred's face softens slightly, and he turns to look at Karl, perhaps studying the lines of the vampire's face. "Thank you," he says earnestly, "I... uh, I wasn't sure how you felt, so... thank you."

Karl winds the car around and around through the dark parking lot, rolling the car down level after level till they have exited the structure and escaped into the open air; a dark sky shrouded in fog. The bright lights struggle against the engulfing grey, dying back as Karl pulls the car out onto the 280, to drive back into San Francisco.

"I've pulled a few strings, and we should have a much better idea of who actually did it shortly. Whoever actually did it, I suspect it was at the orders of a Kindred called Schultz, and I think they were supposed to kill you instead. Schultz was the one who told me that my wife and daughter survived the war, and that you existed. But then in the same breath he threatened to harm you."

Fred does not say anything. As Karl speaks, his expression shifts from fond gratitude to anxious discomfort. His silence allows Karl to continue.

"For what its worth, Schultz died that same night, him and his boss. There was something of a brief insurrection, that's why I tried to get you and yours out of harms way. The, uh... political landscape here has changed a fair bit as a result since you've been gone. I've gained a good bit of influence in the process, enough that I should have little trouble keeping anyone from targeting you again."

"Alright then," Fred says still very uncomfortably, "I guess that's... a good thing." He lets Karl drive on in silence for a good minute, his eyes fixated on the passing strip malls and overly modern towers meant to be offices for tech firms. Without shifting his gaze, Fred says, "I think you are going to have to give me more information. I don't think I have a choice but to know more about... well vampires and your society, or whatever it is you would call it. I mean, I don't want to, but I don't think I have a choice, right?"

Gabe chuckles from the darkness in the back of the car.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Once Anna has finished with the book Miho lent to her (as she won't have time to read it before tomorrow night's session), she will return to the haven to work out the next step in wholly securing the hospital. Now that the corporate entities were set up, she needed to identify the current owners and make them offers to take over their stake in the hospital.

[Bennosuke]

Ann cracks open the book handed to her by Lady Miho. The small black tomb has no writing on it's covers, but the first page informs her that this is a printed transcription of the journal of one "Master C. Tillinghast", whom the author/editor describes as one of the first Dragon scientists to reach pinnacle attainment in the Coils of the Wyrm. Furthermore, this Master Tillinghast was apparently a Sworn of the Dying Light, Kogaion, and was for a brief period before his destruction The Prince of Belfast.

Following the introduction, written by god who knows, Tillinghast's journal is laid out primarily in the design of scientific study. He details various experiments, mostly performed on his various childer by the looks of it, meant to identify by which the Beast is triggered, and how it can be fought. Tillinghast still finds ways to wax poetic through the heavily formatted scientific design of his journal, and Anna can practically hear Tillinghast's egotistic self-adulation in every sentence celebrating his many scientific breakthroughs. Despite whatever feelings she may be harboring towards the author, there is no doubt that the results of his research are certainly informative, and Anna can't help but feel a sudden sense of driving burning excitement as he pours over the pages.

When she is finished, Anna returns to her haven to begin work on developing a shell corporation through which to complete her takeover of the hospital. This of course would require much communication with Victor, though such interactions had been less unpleasant of late.

(OOC: Why don't you give me a Manipulation + Politics +3 roll as part of an Extended action towards success goal of 10 involved in creating a shell corporation and buying out the hospital. Starting this action will freeze Anna's Resources for the rest of this "scene")

[Daishain]

Karl sighs, a greedy part of him not wanting to point out the obvious, "You do have a choice Fred. You could cut yourself off from this, walk away, do your best to forget it all. If you feel like that's impossible, I could even arrange for someone skilled with mental manipulation to make it so that you actually do forget about me and everything else. But you'd stay ignorant to the nature of this world, we'd never be able to get to know each other, and you would stay as vulnerable prey to the others of my kind, and worse, there's more than just vampires haunting the nights."

"If you don't want to do that however, then yes, you'll need to learn. I can provide more protection now than I could a week ago, but this is still a dangerous world, and its only made all the more dangerous if one were to enter it blindly."

"So, what will it be?"

[Bennosuke]

Spoiler: OOC@Daishain

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Still want to know where Karl is driving

Fred speaks up immediately, answering without any hesitation or doubt. "I'm not walking away, there's no point," he replies shaking his head, a look of desperation in his eyes. Before Karl can speak he continues, "I mean, I don't think I can just... ignore everything I've seen. And besides, I was just in another country trying to get away, but that didn't do me any good." There's venom in the last bit of Fred's words, anger and pain.

[Daishain]

Karl nods, that greedy part of him glad that Fred didn't want to take the safer option. "Right then, the main thing you know is that you're being allowed into a secret that is maintained through force. Especially as a full human, you'll be watched to ensure that you don't speak to others about it. Kindred society is based on a number of rules, many of which are related to maintaining the masquerade. We keep hidden, avoid killing wherever we can, and police our own."

"Our society is organized a bit like city-states. Major population centers like San Francisco have a prince, with an inner council. Our jurisdiction doesn't extend much beyond the city limits. There's a sheriff, who enforces the laws with the help of deputies called hounds. When we first met, Prince Gorman ruled, and his sheriff Schultz kept the law. But Gorman had grown insane in his old age, and Schultz was a bully. The prince's behavior had grown erratic, and it was suspected that he was guilty of diablerie, the crime of..."

Karl continues to describe in general terms the events that led up to the current political situation, keeping it relatively simple and clean to avoid overwhelming Fred all at once.

Spoiler: OOC

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yes, heading back to the haven

[Bennosuke]

Fred stays mostly silent, doing his best to follow along without giving Karl a read; though a mortal could never really do so. The car enters San Francisco, Karl navigating the many hills of 19th before dropping down to Golden Gate Park, and pulling West along the Southern edge of the park. Dark forest passes by on one side of the car, low income flats on the other. Coming out past the park, Karl nudges the car North up to Vista Del Mar. These neighborhoods are more luxurious, each property a mini-mansion; a hodge podge of discordant architecture styles. And eventually, Karl pulls into Seacliff, a near gated community of well separated houses of similarly high income families.

When Karl pulls in, he can see that Anna's car is already in the garage. Gabe of course makes no move to help Fred with his bags as they get out of the car. When the three enter the house, they are almost immediately greeted by Aisling, who slinks out of the shadows of the well lit hallway, a heavy book under one arm. "Welcome home," she says cheerily in her youthful girl voice. When she sees Gabe she greets him with similar excited warmth. "Anna is upstairs," she says offhandedly, pointing to the stairway, "She's been busy so I haven't bothered her." Then Aisling lays eyes on Fred, and her eyes light up. There is the hungry excitement of a predator whose meal has just entered their cave, but their is also a delighted curiosity. To Karl she says, "Is this... who I think it is?"

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

Upstairs in her room, Anna hears the mechanical garage door open and Karl pull in. She had perhaps heard Aisling padding around downstairs while she had worked, but Anna is surprised to hear the Gangrel greet Karl at the door; she had made no attempt to even acknowledge Anna's arrival when she had come home.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna comes downstairs to investigate.

"Hi, Aisling, I didn't know you were here," Anna said, "quick question, how's Gabrielle doing?"

"Oh hi Karl," she added, then she caught sight of Fred, "oh, who's this?"

[Daishain]

Karl sets his shoulders as he makes the introductions, "Aisling, Anna, this is my mortal grandson Fred. Fred, Aisling and Anna. They are the other two kindred in my coterie, which is a bit like an adoptive family. Believe it or not, Aisling there is technically a lot older than I am."

"Fred has chosen to stay with us, at least for the time being, please treat him well."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Oh, really?” Anna said as she studied Fred to see if she could see any family resemblance, “why?”

The tone in her voice suggests she is asking why in the world a mortal would want to live with them.

[Daishain]

Karl hesitates before responding, "Let's just say that if I'm right, shortly before we got rid of him, Schultz gave him every reason not to ignore our world."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Oh, well. That sucks, I guess," Anna said.

She turned to Fred.

"There's a whole lot of... umm. Look, the world is a messed up place," she said, "tell us what you want to do, and we'll try to help you out. Umm, and I'll try to not have to ask you to ignore stuff you see."

She turned back to Karl.

"Do we even have any food?" she asked.

[Bennosuke]

"Hi, Aisling, I didn't know you were here," Anna said, "quick question, how's Gabrielle doing?"

Aisling smirks at Anna, a glint in her eyes like the one a pup may give it's owner right before it decides to chase after a rabbit. "Sorry," she says with an impish shrug, "I guess I'm just kinda used to prowling around here on my own." In reply to Anna's question, the Gangrel says, "Honestly, I don't think she is doing too good." Serious concern spreads across Aisling's face, but only after she adds, "That was uh, one of the things I wanted to discuss with you guys when you were both around." Something about the look in Aisling's eye says that she wants to speak in private, her gaze lingering uncomfortably on both Gabe and Fred.

Karl sets his shoulders as he makes the introductions, "Aisling, Anna, this is my mortal grandson Fred. Fred, Aisling and Anna. They are the other two kindred in my coterie, which is a bit like an adoptive family. Believe it or not, Aisling there is technically a lot older than I am."

"Fred has chosen to stay with us, at least for the time being, please treat him well."

"A pleasure to meet you Fred," Aisling purrs. She pulls at the hem of her dirty white dress to give the man a quick curtsy.

Fred smiles nervously at both Anna and Aisling. There is a look in his eye, that says he realizes he's walking into a lion's den, and it takes him several seconds to steel the courage to offer both ladies his right hand to shake. "Nice to meet you both," he says, voice quivering, "Fredrick Rugg"

Oh, well. That sucks, I guess," Anna said.

She turned to Fred.

"There's a whole lot of... umm. Look, the world is a messed up place," she said, "tell us what you want to do, and we'll try to help you out. Umm, and I'll try to not have to ask you to ignore stuff you see."

"Uh, thank you... I guess," Fred replies, doing his best to pull a smile onto his face. His eyes dart back to Karl, as if to ask, "is everything going to be okay?"

With the introductions over, Aisling speaks up again, "I guess once our new guest gets settled, I'd like a moment with my coterie mates, if that's okay." The statement is actually directed to Gabe, who offers a hesitant shrug in reply.

[Thundercracker]

Anna nodded to the others, but she glanced at Karl as if to ask if Gabe would be okay with Fred, alone.

[Bennosuke]

Seeing that Karl may not be getting the hint Aisling says with a veneer of courtesy, "Uh, Karl I believe we have a bedroom upstairs that isn't being used if you want Fred to... stay there, and well Gabe, I guess make yourself at home?"

[Daishain]

In response to Anna's question, "Not much, but I believe there is some stocked up for Bernardo and Gabrielle. That will be easy enough to fix even if not."

In response to the prompts to get Fred to a slightly more secure spot, Karl nods and shows Fred the way to the spare room, making sure his grandson wasn't going to go into a panic attack before returning to speak with Anna and Aisling. He pauses as he realizes there was still a barrel of dead gangster in the basement... best to dispose of that after Fred goes to sleep tonight. Could probably work that in as a lesson on corpse disposal along with the early morning hunt he'd already promised Gabe.

[Bennosuke]

As Karl starts to lead Fred upstairs, Gabe speaks up, "Uh, so where should I... be?" He shrugs, pointing the attention of his question first to Karl, then Anna, then lastly Aisling.

Upstairs, Karl takes Fred to Gabrielle's old room. The space isn't much more than 600 square feet, big enough for a full sized mattress sitting on the floor. Gabrielle's black bedsheets still cover the mattress, a matching pillow still slightly curved from heavy use. A few posters have been taped to the walls, all advertising rock bands or musicians Karl has never heard of. A small dresser of dark unpolished wood sits near the entrance corner, on top of which rests a few scented candles and a box filled with Gabrielle's cheap jewelry.

Fred shrugs and says, "I guess this will half to do," though it's clear he is more than a little uncomfortable with the situation.

Once Karl returns downstairs, Aisling leads the two to the small windowless room that she had been using as a bed chamber. A handful of dresses lay strewn about the floor, complimenting a number of oversized throw pillows. Otherwise the only object in the room is the large tomb which lays open on the floor. Aisling invites Karl and Anna to join her sitting on the pillows; three had been laid out in a neat little triangle. "We need to talk," she says nervously.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

If Karl doesn’t say anything, Anna will suggest Gabe hang out with Fred while Aisling is delivering her news.

“You can fix this room up Fred, we’ll get you some different sheets and whatnot.”

With Aisling, Anna also took a seat on one of the throw pillows.

“Go on,” she said.