Session 8 - VII: Deadly Sins

• In response to Sheriff Fakkir’s summons, the neonates arm themselves: Jack takes a longsword and long knife; Cassian takes two 9mm Berettas and a Remington hunting rifle; Harri takes a 9mm pistol and a set of brass knuckles.
• The coterie travels via cab to Kellogg, a slum on the northeast side of town, and arrive at an abandoned, burned police station.
• Fakkir leads the neonates to a broken down strip mall and into a 2-story, boarded-up dental office. He takes the group up to the roof.
• On the roof are a series of odd, oblong cones of ash intentionally arranged to form the shape “VII”. The ash fragments are the charred body parts of a vampire who was tortured, dismembered and left to burn in the sun.
  
• Fakkir identifies the victim as a young man named Carter who the neonates remember vaguely as one of Alanna’s tribe hanging out at Elysium.
• Harri recognizes the “VII” from graffiti and tagging he has seen on the streets in different neighborhoods.
• Cassian learns that Kellogg is part of Duke Almengore’s domain. Would the Duke have sanctioned the killing of a Carthian vampire in his domain?
  
• The Sheriff explains that VII are vampires and a recent arrival to Newcastle (last year). They are highly secretive and their agenda is unknown — most Kindred believe they are a myth.
• Fakkir tasks the coterie with investigating the incident and removing any evidence of Kindred activity to protect The Masquerade.
• Any details or findings are to be reported directly to the Sheriff by sending an email to: lonegun@geocities.com. No details in the email. Simply put “The numbers are counting up” in the Subject line.
• Cassian uses Premonition to examine the ash remains and has a harrowing vision:
  

Carter running harried in the moonlit street, his face and body covered in tiny, bleeding wounds. He is terrified, as if being pursued… Carter strapped in a rickety, old dentist chair. Three figures emerge from the shadows. Each figure wears a different mask: one is a president of the U.S., another is a plague doctor, and the last is a smiling painted clown. They chant repeatedly in unison: “The intensity of the wish gives me power over another, said the First. Though the wish is unexpressed, said the Second.” The figures converge around Carter.

• The vampires split up to investigate the premises. Cassian searches the dentist chairs and locates the exact chair where Carter sat. There are bite marks in the leather straps. And strangely, despite the many small bleeding wounds that Cassian saw on Carter, there is no blood anywhere.
• Jack searches the stairwell to the second floor and finds a tiny scrap of red rubber. He gives it to Cassian to analyze back at their haven.
  
• Harri searches the roof. From the edge, he sees a vagrant petting a mangy cat across the street. Harri approaches the vagrant and strikes up a conversation, attempting to manipulate him. (messy Crit!)
  
• “Gary” the Vet vagrant relates that he saw a young man running by last night. As the man approached the dentist office, a voice called to him from the darkened opening of the front door. The man turned to the sound of the voice, entered the doorway as if drawn to it, and disappeared into the darkness.
• Harri feeds on Gary, gives in to the Beast, and kills him! Harri gains a Stain and absorbs Melancholic Resonance from Gary’s blood.
• Nav steps away from table for 10 minutes.
• Harri tests his Compel ability on Jack by ordering him to imitate Cassian. Jack resists.
• Nav returns from brief table absence. Assholes.
• Harri receives a message from Kimber: She needs his help. She’s gotten in trouble with The Syndicate.
• The neonates clean up the dentist office scene and call another cab.

• The neonates arrive at Kimber’s brownstone apartment and see that her light is on.
• Cassian’s awareness allows him to notice a car peeling out of a nearby alley. He spots Kimber in the back seat with two other men.
• Jack pays the cabbie $50 to follow the car, but the cab driver, Frank, starts to lose them on the freeway.
• Harri locks eyes with Frank and uses Mesmerize to force Frank to ram the back corner of the car they are pursuing. A massive collision on the freeway!
• The car with Kimber crashes into the concrete Jersey barrier. Two stunned gangbangers tumble out of the wrecked car and pull weapons.
• Harri gets out of the cab and leaps to the front of the gangbanger’s car, dodging a hail of bullets.
• Jack gets out of the cab and calmly draws his sword. He makes a Soaring Leap to the top of the gangbanger car and cleanly slashes off a cholo’s arm at the shoulder.
  
• Cassian draws his pistols, braces behind the cab’s open car door, and fires on the second cholo, dropping him.
• Kimber is in the back seat of the car with a third cholo who has a gun to her head.
  
• Cassian unslings his hunting rifle and tries to line up a head shot on the last cholo.
  
• Frank panics and begins to back the cab away from the scene. Frustrated, Cassian dives into the back seat and uses Compel to make Frank stop the car. Then, Cassian feeds on Frank.
• Harri uses Obfuscate to fade into the shadows, stealthily opens the gangbanger’s car door and grapples the gun away from him. Harri then rips into the cholo’s throat with his exposed canines!
• Kimber sees Harri inflicting violence like a beast and is horrified and shocked. (another Stain!)
  
• Jack cleans his sword and extends his hand to Kimber saying, “Look at me. Harri called us to help you. It will be alright. Come with me.” Kimber obeys.
  
• Cassian tosses Frank on the side of the highway and commandeers the cab, motioning to his companions. The sound of sirens approaches.
• Jack gets in the driver’s seat and Harri convinces Kimber of a fake story to explain his actions. She calms down, but can’t stop trembling.
  
• The neonates take Kimber to Harri’s haven.

• Jack slips into Morgan County Medical to check on his father. Jack Sr.’s eyes open for the first time in months. When he sees his son, he weeps openly.
• Father and son touch hands briefly. Jack is instantly reminded of his surgery as a child.
• Then, Jack Sr. says, “You’re so cold, son…” and falls back unconscious.
  

• Harri and Cassian research “VII” in Virginia Marshall’s library and hit the mother lode!
• In a rare collection of apocryphal books titled The Gospel of Ephesus, Harri and Cass discover the “Legend of the Seven Sleepers”: Seven young Christian men persecuted by the Romans for their faith. The Seven were pursued and hid in Turkey. They were found and walled up alive in a cave to die. However, instead of dying, they fell into a deep sleep and awakened hundreds of years later. The 27th of July is their Feast Day.
• Cassian receives an email from Fr. Rhegga’s assistant, Brother Ishmael, instructing him to meet Bishop Antrobus at St. Jude’s Cathedral at midnight.