Session 9 - Into the Rat’s Nest

Session 9 - Into the Rat’s Nest Jan 11, 2023 21:46:37 GMT -6

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Post by Cassian on Jan 11, 2023 21:46:37 GMT -6

December 19, 2004
Marshall Manor, Marshall District

5:02 a.m.

The neonates wrestle with how to feed The Beast and pay off their debt to him.
The vampires discuss how to analyze the rubber scrap found at the scene of Carter’s final death.
Harri leaves a message with a contact at Hohenheim College inquiring about any graduate chemistry students interested in getting paid for a side job.

NOTE: Harri is at Humanity level 5, which means -1 die for all social interactions with humans.

NOTE: Jack is awarded +1 Experience for correctly intuiting The Beast’s favored “type” of bloodbag: miserable women.

December 19, 2004
Marshall Manor | Marshall-Mitchell Museum of Natural Science, Marshall Campus District
7:05 p.m.

Jack’s phone rings. It is Balthazar, again insisting that he’ll take care of Blakely in exchange for a boon. When Jack refuses, Balthazar says, “You’re being played.” Jack declines and hangs up.
Harri receives an email from a college Resident Advisor who says he has a student who will analyze the rubber sample for $100.
Bones begins acting strangely, pacing in the kitchen. Cassian uses Auspex and detects a presence outside the kitchen window.
Jack and Cassian exit the house from opposite sides to investigate. Just below the kitchen window they discover a gutted cat surrounded by tiny, bloody animal tracks in the snow that spell “I HUNGER”.
The coterie decides to contact D’Angelo to ask him if there are alternate ways to appease The Beast’s appetite. Harri realizes he has no direct line to D’Angelo. He only has Julio’s phone number, so he calls it.
D’Angelo answers Julio’s phone! In the background is another male voice, desperate and pleading in anguish. Is it Julio?
D’Angelo breaks from the conversation with Harri a few times to admonish the other male. “Quiet down! You’ll get what’s coming to you.”
D’Angelo is impressed that the coterie has treated with The Beast on its own. He offers to bring another victim to Graves Island as a boon. Harri refuses.
The coterie members reluctantly agree that their best course of action is to take a female socialite from their own hunting ground and deliver her to The Beast. They choose to hunt in a museum in their own domain and put together a plan: 1) Find the mark. 2) Separate her from her partner. 3) Deliver the package.
At the local Museum of Natural Science, Jack locates the mistress of an obnoxious wealthy male patron. She looks despondent and shows signs of abuse.
Cassian approaches her, locks eyes, and uses Mesmerize to force her to excuse herself and walk out to the back parking lot with him.
Harri distracts her male partner from the ruse.
Jack, surrounded by his bloodbags of choice, feeds on a random young man that he separates from the crowd. Then, he exits and gets into his car.
Cassian and Harri put the woman between them in the back seat of Jack’s car, and they drive off.

December 19, 2004
Graves Island District

9:03 p.m.

Cassian and Harri use manipulation and lies to distract the woman, telling her that this is all a surprise set up by her date.
After some difficulty navigating the maze of access roads on Graves Island, the vampires find the grate they are seeking.
Without speaking, they tie the woman’s arms to the bars of the grate with neckties. Fear sets in her eyes and she resists.
A green fog emerges from within the grate and the vampires return to Jack’s car and sit silently.
The woman screams. The fog thickens. The chittering of thousands of rats is heard. And, suddenly, waves of rats cover the car for what feels like an eternity.
The rats disappear. The green fog lifts, and the woman is gone.
On a nearby hill, the vampires notice the glowing red eyes of a multitude of rats staring down at them. Their chittering rises and, within the chittering, a monstrous voice speaks. “I know of their plans for Blakely. Do you wish to know more?”
Harri refuses, to which the voice responds, “You know where to find me...”. And the rats disappear behind the crest of the hill.

All three vampires acquire Stains!

December 19, 2004
Marshall Manor, Marshall Campus District
10:13 p.m.

The neonates plot to grab A.D.A. Blakely near his home in Roosevelt (Invictus territory). The plan is to lure him out of his home, stage a car accident, and then kidnap him in a stolen ambulance where they will be disguised as EMTs.
Harri steals an ambulance from the nearby hospital car pool and changes the call numbers on the vehicle. He contacts Petey to secure EMT uniforms and radio jamming equipment.
Cassian prepares his sniper rifle and pistols.
Jack searches on Ask Jeeves for a blacksmith who can make a custom sword (a gift for Masuko).
Cassian receives an email from Brother Ishmael asking if Cassian is willing to do what the Bishop asked (i.e., steal the journal from Alanna Belko).
Cassian discusses this with Jack, confiding in him that he has no interest in being a pawn for the Bishop, or for any other vampire clan.
Cassian replies to the email and says that he agrees to do what the Bishop asked, but he needs two more days. A quick response from Ishmael says that the Bishop grants Cass the two days.
Cassian uses Mesmerize on a valet at a nearby museum to steal an Escalade. He then feeds on humans in the herd and gains Phlegmatic resonance, slaking two hunger.
Shortly before midnight, Harri calls Jack and Cass and says that Petey has come through and all is ready.

NOTE: The coterie has now used its Herd bonus for the week.

NOTE: At midnight, the vampires recover Willpower and state their desires:

- Jack desires to make A.D.A. Blakely his ghoul.

- Harri desires to pay off his debt to Jack (for saving Kimber).

- Cassian desires to ensure Papagenno is not being targeted by kine or Kindred.

December 20, 2004
Blakely Residence, Roosevelt District
12:05 a.m.

The neonates stake out Blakely’s property. The ambulance and the Escalade are in position.
Cassian phones Blakely and convinces him that Papagenno has awoken from his coma and is insisting on backing out of testifying. Blakely agrees to come to the hospital.
Suddenly, while still on the phone, shots are fired in Blakely’s home! Flashes of gunfire erupt on all three levels of the house.
Cassian grabs his sniper gear and climbs up a tree, giving him a better view of the house.
Jack and Harri bolt for the front gate and see a dead guard with his neck snapped.
Jack sees four motorcycles parked near the gate entrance. He quickly cuts all the fuel lines.
Cassian looks through his scope and sees two dead guards by the front door to the house. The door is smashed open. He sees broken glass and an impaled body in the shards. Muzzle flashes continue to light up the house.
Jack uses Soaring Leap and jumps up to the second floor with his sword drawn. Once inside, he hears security radio chatter.
Jack moves into the darkness, tracking the sounds within. Gunfire is heard all around him. He sees a severed head roll out of the doorway of a room ahead.
Jack enters the room and sees a large vampire biker holding a bloody cleaver.