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World of Darkness: Balance of Power - Meta 1a [Vamp]: Turning Night in to Day


Daven_OOC NPCRM #1

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Jan 31st 9:00 P.M.

All kindred are at full willpower and down one vitae for waking that night.

In a industrial district just north of the river three kindred stood outside a warehouse. Moira watched as Aftiel paced back and forth. Guillermo stood like a sentry in front of the door. Moira could feel both of their beast flare from time to time. Aftiel had received a call not long after waking that night. He had appeared at Moira's apartment and told her to come with him. The two had arrived at the warehouse about a half hour ago and Moira had been told to guard the door while Guillermo took Aftiel inside. Even from the door she had felt her cult leaders beast. Twenty minutes later they had come back out and Guillermo had taken up his post at the door while Aftiel paced. For ten minutes no one had really said anything to anyone else. Aftiel muttered to him self every once and awhile in a language Moira did not recognize.

"Who did you call?" Guillermo always spoke in a low even tone. It gave him the appearance of a man who could not be shaken up by anything. Tonight though he looked shaken.

"The prince, the sheriff, and Theo. I assume that will lead to pretty much the entire city showing up. Although I still wonder if it was smart to call any of them." Aftiel stopped pacing long enough to speak then was back to it. "Puck should be here soon. I don't know if it is a good idea to let him see this."

"You would with hold this from the leader of a circle?"

"I would with hold this from the crone if I could. Bloody hell, Guillermo."

Moira spoke up. "Can I see what this is all about?" In unison and with the same finality both spoke "No". Something was really bothering them. A few more minutes passed in silence. Moira thought she heard Aftiel mutter something about "taking her down". Other than that there was only the sounds of cars on the near by highway.

Click to reveal..
The next people to arrive will be Puck, Craig, India, and Sam (Assuming Puck brings them). After we get through a few post with them will the Prince show up with the rest of the city. Currently when you show up you are free to interact with the environment but Guillermo currently will not allow access to the door.
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A sleek and expensive black sedan pulled up outside of the warehouse, several small beasts making their presence known to the monsters already gathered. Puck and his small entourage stepped out of the car; the others hung back by the vehicle while the last cult leader joined his colleagues. He nodded to both of them, his demeanor unusually serious and calm as he took in the tense atmosphere. "Guillermo, Aftiel. Moira. What's going on?"

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Sam followed Puck warily. This was the first time she was meeting vampires outside of his trusted circle and she was understandably nervous. She remained behind Puck, feeling very much an alien and out of place. She tried to resist, but she put her hand out, touching him in the small of his back, taking comfort from the subtle touch.

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Her gaze flickered to Puck for a moment, and he could tell the Irish Kindred was aggravated about something.

"Ah don't know. I haven't been told."

She turned back to Aftiel then, an expression of annoyance on her face.

"Look, if ye won't let me in, at least tell me what's goin' on, Aftiel! If it's that terrible, I should know before goin' in, don't ye think?"

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Craig stayed by the black sedan, he looked at the redhead who must have been Moira. The fiesty attitude could have been fun if Aftiel and Guillermo were just teasing her but there was some kind of tension between all three of them, maybe even fear and suspecion.

"Sometimes it is better not to know" he tested, hoping that the foolish quiet comment the he knew most of them could hear would help defuse the tension or at least bring things out into the open.

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Guillermo cleared his throat and motioned to Puck. "It is best that you simply see it. The rest of you may enter once the city officials arrive. For now, guard the door."

Guillermo and Puck entered as Aftiel walked to the door. He stopped and turned, fixing them all with a predatory stare. "If this door opens and anyone but the prince or the sheriff is on the other side I swear I will remove all your arms."

With that the door shut with a slam. Before anyone could think of anything to say they all felt a beast rear. Someone inside just frenzied. Out of no where another beast flared, this time from the car. India was out of the car and already looking for something to attack.

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Sam stood not far from the door. When Aftiel issued his rude command, she looked away and rolled her eyes. Were the threats of bodily harm really necessary? Still, she didn't let him see her disdain. That would be bad.

Leaning against the wall to the warehouse, she waited for Puck to return. Though she didn't like to admit it, this was the closest she could get to Puck right now. It was a comfortable feeling.

India's surge out of the car didn't alarm her, not instantly. Sam was used to vampires doing things differently than people. But something about the young Daeva's stance scared her and the human pushed off the wall, nervously.

Click to reveal..
Init: 8 total

1d10=4

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Craig turned as he felt India getting out of the car beside him, her beast stirring from its slumber must have been a mirror of whatever was happening to Puck inside.

Puck trusted these two kindred enough to go alone into a warehouse with them.

He pondered of the threat of bodily harm to whomever was to approach the door as he watched the enraged India, what the two Kindred were doing to Puck inside probably already happened and even if she was to interfere, Puck is down and its two against three so probably not a very good idea.

If India was going anywhere near that door he was going to stop her, for her own good if needed.

Click to reveal..
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Craig wasn't carrying a stake on him , he looked into India's eyes and there was no mistake, her beast took over. Craig felt his blood flow quickening, he could move inhumanly fast and in an instant he slipped away from India, facing her from a somewhat safer distance.

In this state there is no point in trying to reason with her and yet he didn't want resort to killing if it could be avoided.

Her beast would spare nothing at going after him even killing him if she could.

Craig eyes met India's , for all her rage he knew he had to take control in order to sabdue her, he willed his beast and mind to look at India, letting himself feel taller ,stronger and commanding. He felt no need to guise what he was doing, "Leave" Craig looked deep into India's eyes as he uttered the single word.

Click to reveal..
Celerity active

Initiative mod = 6+2 = 8

Speed = 30

BP = -1

,,

Dominate roll(contested):5d10 → [8,9,9,1,1] = (28)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2519619/

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India seemed to blink for a moment then started to turn down the street of warehouses.

Click to reveal..
The dominate effect hit, if Sam and Moira still want to take action before it gets to India's turn and she is running off than let me know. If there has been no post tomorrow than the combat is over and I will move things on.
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They watched as India ran off and ducked around a warehouse. A moment later the door opened and Aftiel and Guillermo came out, carrying a torpored Puck. They set him down against the wall and Aftiel pulled the stake out of Puck's chest. He turned and slid it in to his jacket.

"Who frenzied out here?"

Moira spoke up. "India did, Craig here sent her off to cool down."

Aftiel nodded and gave Craig an approving look. Guillermo closed the door, resuming his position. "If she isn't back soon we will go out and find her. For now we will wait for the prince."

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Sam gasped as she saw Puck's condition. Only the fact that she'd already been told that he'd be fine kept her from throwing herself at the vampires carrying him in an ill-conceived and unnecessary rescue attempt. The moment they stepped away, she cradled him to her, her eyes worried. She didn't say anything; she just watched and waited fearfully.

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In the movies vampires always start awake, usually taking an entirely unecessary gulp of air. Puck came to with a violent shake, but no sharp intake or heavy breathing. He looked up at Sam and she could feel the inhuman rage behind those eyes, kept back by only the thinnest shred of willpower. They stared at each other, predator and prey, until he finally looked away and ran a trembling hand over his face. "Call home, Sam. Get ahold of a Zach and tell him to track everyone down. Get them back to the complex and keep them there until I come back." His voice was flat and emotionless.

He stood up in a fluid movement, palming a large stone as he moved and crushing it to powder in his hand. "Where is India? Craig! Go track India down and bring her back here or take her home. No one is to be out on their own until...until this is...resolved." He plucked at the hole in his shirt, the bloodless wound beneath it already healed over. "Guillermo, Aftiel, why are we waiting for the prince? This is our matter. I...we don't need them interfering."

His eyes were hot now, a sheen of red around the edges; he was standing still, staring at the two other cult leaders but every muscled in his body was tense with the need to lash out. "They took our people! For all we know it was one of them!" His bones creaked as he clenched his fists, "I wouldn't put it past that Lancea monster or his pet apprentice!"

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Craig noded and headed down the street to the direction India went to. On his way he thought about Puck's words that hinted at what has occured inside the warehouse. Involving the First Estate, it did seem like a strange move so early on before facts have been established

who knows..

He had to find India, he could only hope her frenzy faded when she got further away from Puck.

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Aftiel's words snapped like a whip. "Don't be an idiot Puck. Both the Invictus and the Lancea have far harsher penalties for killing mortals then our own covenant. Even if they didn't did you even look to see who the other bodies were hanging up there? One of them was a servant of Lord Ezekial. One of them worked at Gregor's estate. Hell! One of them is one of York's priest! You think my concern is that one of them is involved? Right now my greatest concern is that York and Gregor don't frenzy like you did and kill half the city before we can calm them down. This was an attack on all of us. Every covenant is being sent a message in there."

His voice became louder and more aggressive with each sentence. He stopped him self and closed his eyes, looking to try to keep calm. Of the three of them Puck could possibly be the calmest right now and the last thing this situation needed was another person losing control.

"Right now we are letting it do exactly what it is supposed to. We are getting so mad we are attacking each other because we lack anything else to attack. I swear to you Puck, if the prince will not take the proper action in response to this then you, Guillermo, and I will. I swear by Lillith we will find who did this to your family member, and to Kanti."

Now Moira could understand why he was so mad. Kanti was Aftiel's ghoul, the leader of his mortal cult to Lillith. She had been with Aftiel longer than Moira, or any of the kindred that were in his cult.

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Moira watched the entire scene unfold, aggravation flickering across her face as Puck was allowed into the building that she had been denied access to. But as she felt the rage of frenzy not only once, but echoed a second time in Puck's childe, her expression - though still somewhat frustrated - became one more of impatience instead, as her curiosity and a certain level of dread began to climb. Whatever was going on, not knowing was always a harsher sentence in Moira's mind, especially considering the scale of the reactions of those present.

But then Aftiel spoke, and knowledge of the situation was all it took for Moira to adjust her attitude. Instantly, her mixture of irritation, frustration, and impatience was pushed aside, replaced with a look of concern and a flicker of pain. She stepped up next to Aftiel, just slightly behind him, and he felt her hand rest softly on his back.

"Aftiel..." She paused for a moment, sure that she should say something to try and calm him, but the words didn't come. After a few seconds, without any of the usual nervous mortal gestures to fill the silence, she spoke again, her voice reflecting a detachment that those nearby were hard pressed to tell if she was feigning or not.

"Is there anythin' you need, anything I should do? Tell me what ye' require of me, an' I'll see it done."

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It didn't take Craig long following India to catch up with the southern beauty. She stood in the middle of a dark alleyway, blinking slightly and looking slightly bewildered. She glanced up at the approaching noise, and after a moment she recognized the approaching figure.

"Craig? Craig, what happened, I feel so.. William. Where's Will - I mean, Puck? Is everything okay?"

Her concern was written plainly on her face, and he could hear a faint note of panic in her accented voice. She stepped toward him, reaching out to the other Daeva for comfort and reassurance.

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Craig embraced India, gently placing his hand the back of her neck and black hair to comfort her allowing her head to rest against him. The rage was gone from her eyes, replaced by confusion, Craig knew the feeling, the total loss of control and the consequences can be scary for any kindred. He held her there for a moment, reassuring her as his eyes glanced towards the far end of dark alleyway

"Puck is okay and now you are okay too, we can talk about the rest later but for now we must go, its not safe here"

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India nodded shakily, letting Craig lead her back towards the group. The majority of her hedonistic 'life' had been spent nowhere near any sort of danger that might cause a frenzy, and as a result she had experienced them only a couple of times. It was always a frightening feeling, the loss of control and confusion when you returned to your normal self.

As they approached the group, India's eyes rested on Puck as she measured the depth of his anguish and despair. Inwardly she felt a tremble of fear as she contemplated what had happened the last time she had seen him this upset.

Oh please don't let that happen again, I can't handle another seventy years without him... I'd want to just curl up and sleep myself, and then who would keep the family together?

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Several cars came around the corner and approached the warehouse slowly. As they pulled up the three Lancea hounds as well as Mel and York stepped out and surveyed the scene. York had a hand on his sword and the whole group looked ready for a fight. Once he had a look around and appeared satisfied York turned and nodded to the second car. The doors opened and first Lord Ezekiel stepped out. Walking around the car he offered his hand to the Harold who was followed out by the Prince. From behind them the rest of the Invictus got out and in moments the entourage had assumed a formation that seemed proper to the covenant. Other kindred were getting out of the mismatched cars that had come with the Prince's group. Sammy came riding up on her motorcycle and moments after getting off a large raven came down and landed on her shoulder, screaming at Sammy and the other there. Everyone could feel the tell tale signs of a beast coming from the raven that revealed a kindred skin riding it. Soon it seemed almost the entire city had arrived.

Click to reveal..
For those who are playing unaligned within the city Aftiel gave enough calls to random people that you would have gotten word of this and been able to arrive with the group.

Prince Von Gruskov III approached the warehouse door and Guillermo. "Aftiel's phone call sounded rather dire. What is going on?" Guillermo looked at all those gathered.

"I caution anyone who does not have a strong control of their beast to remain out here. We have already had one Kindred frenzy and do not need half the city to be trying to subdue the other half." With that he opened the door and lead the group in to the warehouse. Craig and India came up to the building in time to see the large group walk in.

Across the warehouse on the far wall someone had set up a disturbing scene. All around the floor and the wall was writing in strange characters. Anyone with any knowledge of ancient languages could quickly see there were many different languages being used and every Vampire immediately identified that it was all written in blood. Arrayed across the wall were eleven bodies in different states of torture and dismemberment, but all of them had their heads and faces completely intact to make them easy to identify. Below the center body sat a golden throne that another corpse had been pinned to. Several braziers were around the scene that were lit with a fire that gave off no heat.

On the floor in front of the throne there were circles and other shapes drawn with more symbols in them that looked like a archaic ritual of some sort. In the middle circle a pile of ash rested. As the observers looked at the bodies it became clear who they were to those who had met them. On the throne sat one of Gregor's top mortal servants. Above her hung Ezekiel's right hand ghoul. Two of the bodies were recognized only by the chrone but any who had spent time with Puck recognized his family member on one end. Theodore Hatcher had a dark look in his eyes when he saw one of the partners of the law firm he owned in the city. Everyone recognized the head priest and his assistant from York's church to the right and left of Ezekiel's ghoul. Sammy saw the leader of her largest biker gang and both her and Mel saw the Sergeant and a Lieutenant from the precinct they had contacts at. Twelfth body was the head hand servant of the Harpy Lavinia Foscari, who those in the inner circle of the city leaders knew had been missing for a couple nights now and out of contact. York had spent all his time awake searching for her and having the hounds do the same.

Beyond just the utter horror and depravity of the scene there was an air to the room. It felt like an act had been committed here that made even the soulless creatures gathered seem good in comparison. Still the first response in all gathered was not fear. It certainly wasn't nausea as none here were capable of really feeling that any more. It was anger.

Click to reveal..
Alright, here comes the fun part. Everyone is required to roll frenzy checks. To try to not clutter up the thread please send your checks to me in a PM. Please roll your Willpower in dice, if you get at least one success but not enough to stave off frenzy then continue rolling, once you get the required number success or get a roll with no success send me all the rolls. Your frenzy check will be modified as explained below.

Puck, Aftiel, and India do not need to roll for having either already seen the place or recently frenzied. Moira, and Craig only need 2 success to start for having an idea already of what to expect.

Base number for success: 7

Number of success needed: 3

If you are one of the people who has a personal connection to any of the dead you need 2 more success.

Virtue modifiers:

Faith: Base number for success -1

Fortitude: Base number for success -1

Hope: Number of success needed -1

Justice: Base number for success -2

Prudence: Number of success needed -2

Vice modifiers:

Pride: Base number for success +1

Wrath: Number of success needed +2

Try to get me those rolls as quick as possible, people are allowed to respond to this only after they have sent their frenzy check, if you do frenzy please wait before responding. At the latest I will put up a post for frenzy on monday.

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Beast flared in the room and the Kindred looked to the others around them. For a minute there was no sound in the room except for the screaming of the raven on Sammy's shoulder. When it seemed that no one gathered was going to lose control Aftiel relaxed the grip he had on a stake. Guillermo turned to the prince.

"Two days ago one of my people went missing. We have been searching for him. Tonight someone got a scent of his blood and called me. I followed the scent to this warehouse. I called Aftiel and Puck. Aftiel recognized your people hanging up there and called all of you."

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While the Prince and the others managed to control the anger of their beasts, the Prince's childe's reaction was all the more startling for its contrast. Twin tracks of blood tears made the way down Madelaine's cheeks, one hand over her mouth in horror while the other tightened on the hilt of her sword. She was the first to retreat from the room, stepping just outside while she regained her composure.

When she returned, the streaks of red were gone; she had retrieved a pad of paper and a pencil from the car and stepped carefully around the room, making quick sketches of everything. "Whoe-" she took a breath and started again, "whoever did this knows the court fairly well. They were able to identify mortals that associate with or are employed by us and manage to...to acquire them for...for whatever this is." Her voice was quivering,caught between horror, grief, and a deep anger; her beast was still, but the cold hardness in her voice hinted at the turmoil that was stuttering her words.

She finished her first skectch of the bodies and the arrangement of the symbols in the room and regarded the three Crone members, her voice bittle and flat. "Do you recognize any of this iconography? Or signifigance in the arrangement of the...the bodies?"

"And is anyone here capable of identifying what or possibly who that is?" she asked the room in general, pointing to the center circle and the neat pile of ash.

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Mel stared for a long moment, as he wrestled down the raging beast with firm control of a Hound's nature. Goldsman was a pawn yes, but he honestly did not deserve to be tangled up in vampiric power struggles, or messages like this one. "I think that can be at least partially answered, Lady Madeline." Mel growled with anger.

"Obviously there's more, but this is a message of ill intent to say the least, selecting our servants and contacts as they did. Can't deny that."

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There was a soft sound behind everyone; the sound of innocence shattering did have a sound. It was a choking noise as Sam clamped a hand to her mouth and turned from the scene Several people glanced at her as Puck's ghoul leaned over in a corner, throwing up. Sam managed to keep her feet, and only vomited a little on her shoes. The too-human reaction seemed out of place in this den of death and dismemberment.

She felt hands pull back her hair, then an arm loop around her. Puck's soft voice, soothing and calm, whispered in her ear, and Sam felt her gag reflex abate. It didn't matter what he was saying, as much as it mattered that he was there.

"Thanks," she murmured to her regnant and straightened. Her face was bright red from embarrassment; this was the first time most in the city had seen her and she'd been losing her lunch. Still scarlet, she spat once in a futile attempt to clear her mouth.

Steeling herself, she faced the room again. It's not a body. It's just a piece of meat. And this is just a crime scene. The lie helped her regain some control. Starting with the first piece of 'art', she started to examine everything in the room. Years of doing exactly this came in good now as she began to study the crime scene.

Click to reveal..
Int + Investigation: 1 sux

1d10=4, 1d10=3, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=6, 1d10=7, 1d10=5

Int + Occult: 1 sux

1d10=4, 1d10=7, 1d10=10, 1d10=6

Reroll 10:

1d10=3

Not the best, but she's shaken and upset. Maybe later.

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Gregor looked at the ghoul. Sam saw an understanding in his eyes. Her embarrassment lessened a bit more when Theo spoke up. "Well, I think all in the room are probably wishing they could follow the young ladies example. This does seem like something that should be emptying our stomachs, I know mine wishes it could empty right now." Next to him Sammy nodded and the Raven screamed.

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Anticipating the worst, Moira stepped forward with all the others. The expression on her face remained blank as she internalized the gamut of emotions that rushed through her at the scene laid out in front of them. Finally, at the sound of Madeline's brittle questioning, she glanced away from the grisly display and back to the other Kindred present.

Originally Posted By: Mel Ganker
"Obviously there's more, but this is a message of ill intent to say the least, selecting our servants and contacts as they did. Can't deny that."

Moira glanced at Mel, arching a delicate red eyebrow at him. Her expression was neutral, and to those that didn't know her, it might be hard to pick up the sarcasm in the bland, unaffected-sounding voice.

"What a perceptive observation. If ye' don't mind though, I think I'll be takin' a more detailed look..."

With that, she stepped forward into the room, past the others, ignoring them completely. Aftiel, and to a certain extent, Puck, knew her well enough to recognize that she had gone into "analytical" mode. Right now, Moira wasn't looking at bodies, she was looking at a scene, a moment in time, though admittedly a more recent one than she normally dealt with. In the quiet horror of the night, the beautiful undead worshiper of Lilith seemed, disturbingly enough, to be in her element. She wandered carefully through the room, studying the archaic symbols etched on the walls. Finally, she turned back to the other Kindred gathered and began to speak, focusing mostly on the Prince's Seneschal.

"There are a great deal o' things goin' on in this room, Lady Madeline. I'll try ta' explain them all as best as I can, startin' with the most obvious."

Moira turned around, gesturing to the layout of the room. She motioned first to the figure in the throne as she spoke, then to the other bodies before moving on to the symbols and the pile of ash.

"Th' first thing ta' note is that the scene is set up as a representation o' the book of Revelations. The figure on the throne is symbolic of God.. while these four bodies here are representatives of the four horsemen o' the Apocalypse, an' these other seven bodies are representative of the seven seals. The pile o' ash most likely represents the observer, one who watches the end times unfold. As far as the languages, there are several in this room. The most prevalent language is identifiable as being unable t' be identified."

At the annoyed expressions she saw flicker across several faces in the room, she held up a hand to stifle their protests, and continued.

"What I mean when I say that is not that I don' know the language - it's that no one really knows this language, or at least no one knows anyone who knows, and knows about it. This language is somethin' that many archeologists and historians have come across before. No one of learnin' has been able to identify it's origin, or translate it's meanin'. It's rumored to be a cursed language. Those who have delved too deeply, or engrossed themselves in pursuin' it further have.. well, disappeared, mostly. There are rumors of a few who didn't disappear, who merely.. forgot. Their pursuit, their research.. sometimes even their entire lives. They remember.. nothin'. So by now, people are hesitant to get anywhere near it. There are rumors, o' course.. many o' Christian faith, or at least Biblical inclination, believe it to be the first language.. the language of Babylon spoken by all o' mankind before they were cursed by God for their vanity and arrogance an' forced to speak many languages instead o' one."

She motioned then to the symbols then, and the writings on the walls, along with all the other ritualistic paraphernalia, with a slight shrug.

"As far as the rest of it goes, I confess to a little less understandin' on my part. I'm incredibly versed in rituals and the occult, but I fail to recognize this ritual, nor can I necessarily identify any signature 'style' to it that might give us any clue as to who performed it. Other than the language I've already explained, there are several others here.. Hindi, Arabic, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Latin.. those are the ones I know, and can spot, anyway. It would take me.. months, probably, to figure most of it out. With the assistance of others of equal knowledge of the ancient world and it's languages, we might be able to do it in a few weeks. The one thing I can tell ye' is that the writer - whoever it is - seems to actually know them.. all o' them. It's.. hard to explain, but it's in the way it's written. It's not someone who's learned them historically, thousands of years after their origination. It's someone who lived 'em, spoke 'em, knew 'em. I could never write in Mesopotamian, Latin, or Sumerian like this, neither could anyone who learned 'em as I did. Modern understandin' of those languages is purely academic. This is a true speaker of not only one.. but several ancient languages, some o' which haven't been spoken casually in thousands o' years.. at least not by mortals."

Having finished her description, Moira turned and took another long look at the room again. Then she stepped over, slowly and carefully picking her way through the remnants of the ritual without disturbing any part of the gruesome scene. Finally, she reached the center and knelt down. Delicate, pale fingers with graceful, crimson-colored fingernails reached down towards the pile of ash. Her eyes fluttered shut, preparing for the horror she was about to encounter. But as her hand moved down to close the last few millimeters of space between her fingertips and the ashy remains, she felt an iron grip clamp around her delicate wrist and jerk her to her feet. Her eyes startled open, and she looked up at Aftiel in stunned surprise.

"What?"

,,
Click to reveal..
List of Moira's Rolls:

Int + Occult (Base 8): 7d10 → [5,1,5,8,2,5,4] = 1 suxx

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2545220/

Extra Die for Specialty [Mesopotamia] if Applicable: 1d10 → [2] = 0 suxx

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2545223/

Int + Academics (Spec: Archelogy)/(Base 9): 9d10 → [2,9,10,3,5,2,10,4,4] = 3 suxx

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2545228/

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Aftiel stood listening to peoples reactions. He had his own suspicions in his mind but he would bring them up with the other crone later and not say them in mixed company. He kept glancing at the two who did not speak, the two supposed powerful leaders of the city. As far as he was concerned the death of his ghoul was on their hands if the true killer was not found. When Moira moved forward he watched her carefully. He listened to her analysis and nodded in agreement to it. What she said made sense to him. Then she started moving to the center. As soon as she reached the pile of ash Aftiel saw her intent and did not bother worrying about disturbing anything. In a flash he ran across the room and grabbed her wrist just in time.

"What?"

Aftiel glared down at her. "You stupid girl. You want a feeling of the psychic impressions of this!?" He waved his hand across the scene. "I can give you that with some knives and a baseball bat and a hell of a much smaller chance of any personal harm to you!" With barely controlled anger he pulled her to her feet and whispered very quietly in her ear. "What ever did this could have laid a trap on the very obvious thing that we would want to open our mind to. One of the hounds can spirits touch, let York risk one of his little pets. We have already lost family here." From his cold eyes she could see that he meant it.

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Moira stared up into his cold gaze, eyes wide for a moment as he pulled back from the whispered command. Then she nodded, his angry pronouncement having apparently jarred Moira from her clinically evaluative state. Her gaze softened as she looked up at him, and she moved closer to him, as if for comfort.

"Aye.. ye're right, I'm sorry. I did'na think. I was just tryin' ta figure it all out."

That was Moira's problem, of course, Aftiel found himself thinking. She was always trying to "figure it all out", it's how she'd found him - and the cult - in the first place, the nosy little brat. Her inquisitiveness and persistence was a trait that made her a valuable presence in his cult, but tonight it might have been her undoing. At least she seemed genuinely contrite, as opposed to merely annoyed that he was insisting on telling her what she shouldn't do - the gruesomeness of the scene must have affected her somewhat, despite her apparent air of detachment.

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Mel mentally snorted off the arrogance of Moira, although he did have a bit of his own. In his mind, he ticked off the likely and unlikely opponents. But the apparent references to God, and hellish entities seemed to point in one direction.

"Ancient languages, bloody and painful rituals, and the biblical-slash-Satanic references? Are we talking the possibility of a rather old Brood of Belial?" He asked, out loud, knowing this possibility would be quite unfortunate if true.

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Gregor winced slightly at the mention of the brood. The last thing they needed was those kind of rumors. York spoke without revealing his emotions about the area, if he had any. "This seems oddly quiet for them. They like to announce themselves with their army at your door step. Also they don't tend to create religious symbols and put in puzzles that need to be solved, such as unknown languages. Subtlety would be a very new idea on their part." He looked around at the gathered kindred. Those nearest Madeline heard her mumble. "The evil that pumps your gas."

York looked to the pile that was quickly becoming the center of people's attention. Drawing the attention of his hound, Natalie, he pointed to the pile. The woman approached the pile cautiously, eying it like a cat might a large dog. She obviously had her own reservations about spirit touching anything in this place. As she stepped up she glanced slightly at Aftiel and Moira. Then she knelt down and stuck her hand in the pile of ash. She closed her eyes and waited. After a few seconds Aftiel, Moira, and Madeline saw her eyes fly open and her eyes roll up in to her head. Only a moment later all the in room heard the blood curdling scream and the frenzying beast. Everyone had felt Natalie's beast and knew how small it was but it seemed as she screamed it grew larger, as if a cornered animal was bulking up to make it self more intimidating. Above her head a strange symbol appeared in the air and everyone heard dark whispers in the room. As Natalie screamed she fell back on the floor and writhed.

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Puck pulled Sam back from the flailing vampire, tucking her behind him with a look that brooked no argument on the matter. He muttered, "Write that symbol down, and anything she says if you can hear it."

He crouched down just out of reach of the flailing vampire and the circle with the ash, and called out, "Natalie! Can you hear me?" He glanced up around the room, "Anyone here able to calm her Beast? We need her talking."

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Moira swallowed slightly, her eyes wide at the Hound's reaction to the spirit touch. Almost distractedly, she murmured to quietly to Aftiel, even as she was studying the symbol to see if she could recognize the symbol. Then, quietly, she murmured to Aftiel, letting him do with the information as he wished.

Click to reveal..
Int + Archaeology roll for Symbol/Difficulty 10: 8d10 → [8,1,6,10,10,7,2,3] = 2 suxx

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2576353/

"It's a Gamorran symbol. As in Sodom an' Gomorrah, the two cities destroyed by God in th' book o' Genesis."

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Sam blinked as the woman began to convulse. Her impulse was to help, but this was a vampire, and keeping her from choking on her tongue was probably unnecessary. That belief was confirmed when Puck pulled her back behind him rather than moving to assist this Natalie.

Instead, Sam began to scrawl the symbol, even as she wondered what the flames were burning off of, and why was no one else reacting to it. Maybe this was some normal vampire thing. She wrote down what Moira said, though she wasn't sure that was right; hadn't those cities been myth, not real?

Tensely, she waited for anything else of note.

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Mel dispassionately studied the way Natalie's Beast acted, and noted something odd. A Beast that was trying to be more intimidating was probably scared, and would break down if a strong force wore it out.

Thus, he strode forward calmly toward the writhing body of the other Hound, and surprised everyone, by the boldness of the action, but also how quickly he acted.

A knee pinned down one arm with iron impact, a foot steely struck down the other arm.

Leaning over Natalie's head, Mel Ganker stared down at her face. "Natalie, your beast is scared. What's gotten in on the fritz?"

His voice was icy cold and firm, but steady, since he could wait all he had to.

Click to reveal..

Str+Brawl to grapple, since she's writhing on the ground, I don't see the need to subtract defense. If I'm wrong, let me know and I'll edit.

7d10.hitsopen(8,10)=5

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  • 2 weeks later...

The moment Mel's hands made contact he felt like he was on fire. Pure force of will kept his own beast from taking control. As minutes passed, time going well beyond what a normal frenzy should, Natalie continued to writhe. Finally the door opened and a fairly disoriented Jimmy Dumass came in. He opened his mouth to speak and instead cawed like a bird. Quickly closing his mouth and shaking his head he glared at the bird now departing from Sammy's shoulder. Moving through the kindred he pointed at Natalie, suddenly her beast calmed. As the frenzy ended the voices stopped and the symbol faded from the air. Jimmy moved back to the door and leaned against the wall, still cocking his head like a bird would.

Natalie laid on the ground breathing hard. Tears had actually streamed down her cheeks. After a few moments she suddenly shook her head and just stopped breathing. It was as if it took her that much time to remember she was undead. Coldly, she stood up and stepped away from Mel, managing to give him a slight nod of appreciation. She walked slowly to York and looked him straight in the eye.

"Arch Bishop York, I regret that the Bishop Lavinia Foscari has been murdered by a will worker."

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Mel staggered as he got off Natalie, and then looked disoriented, as the effort of resisting the urge to rage had shook him all up. When he straightened up, he glanced at Dumas and gave him a quick nod too.

Then he heard Natalie's words, and he would have spit, were it not for his undead state.

The Bishop was someone he disliked, a politician to the core, and rather arrogant and annoying. Unfortunately, the older Kindred was in her own way powerful and a member of the court, and this was an attack on everyone.

This, coupled with the murders before them... they were war. He kept his focus on Natalie, anxious to hear the further details.

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Sam's eyes widened and she looked to Puck for clues on how to take this news. She'd heard about Lavinia, mostly in passing, from the other vampires in her house. Despite that, she knew one thing: someone had killed a vampire and there would likely be blood in the streets over it.

She also wanted to ask what a will worker was, but sensed that this Really Wasn't The Time. Instead, she took another look around the room, looking for more clues - and something to do to keep her from spending too much time considering the gore around her.

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Click to reveal..
Willpower roll to resist frenzy: 1d10=7, 1d10=3, 1d10=8, 1d10=3 2 suxx
1d10=8, 1d10=6, 1d10=5, 1d10=4 1 suxx
Puck went still, shock clearly evident in his expression. Lavinia was- had been a pain in the ass and an arrogant bitch, but she'd also been Daeva. Family. He'd lost two family members tonight to whoever had done this, and his blood was screaming for revenge. His Beast clawed at him, demanding satisfaction, demanding blood for blood from whatever petty little spell-slinging human who thought they could get away with taking his family.

He fought it down - barely - and pulled his mind far enough out if its own personal hell to watch the other predators around him. He wouldn't be the only Kindred fighting his Beast over Lavinia's death, and he had still living or undead family present to protect.
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