Session 25 - To Wake a God | Newcastle Requiem

Session 25 - To Wake a God Mar 11, 2024 0:49:38 GMT -6

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Post by Cassian on Mar 11, 2024 0:49:38 GMT -6

continuing from the early morning hours of January 4, 2005…

The Haven, Marshall Manor, Marshall Campus District
2:10 a.m.

Cassian says to Jack Sr., “Okay, old man. Tell us everything.”
Jack Sr. says, “He met me outside a bar. He called to me, and I met him.”
Cassian (making a successful Wits + Insight roll) doesn’t detect any deceit from Jack Sr.
Jack takes the recorder from his father and plays the tape. The audio is muffled, but the vampires can make out the voices.
There’s some small talk between Jack Sr. and Balthazar. Jack Sr. expresses that he wants a new place to sleep.
Balthazar responds, “I’m sorry to hear that. You know I’d never ask you to reveal your haven. I’m not that man. You’ve never told me where your son’s haven is, and I respect that.”
Jack Sr. is persistent and asks if he can sleep where Balthazar sleeps.
Balthazar says, “You can stay at one of my secondary havens. I revolve havens every three nights. I will be staying at one of my secondary havens in two night’s time. It is an old private hangar at the Pat Gleason Airport. Hangar #101.” Jack Sr. thanks Balthazar and the recording ends shortly thereafter.
Jack Sr. says to his son, “See… I did it. Balthazar’s a good man. He actually thanked me for being trustworthy about that house where you were.”
“I’m sure he did,” says Cassian. “Perhaps you can celebrate in our hunting ground… on your own.”
Jack Sr. says, “Oh, I see. Getting rid of me again so you guys can have another one of your little ‘talks’ without me.”
Jack says, “I said we will celebrate. I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you, son. That’s the boy I know.” Father and son leave for the club district in the Lambo to hunt.

Pat Gleason Memorial Airport
2:39 a.m.

Harri and Cassian decide to scope out the private hangar. They arrive in the Escalade and find the airport is still busy and active at this hour.
They drive past the access road to the private hangars and see a security gate with a guard booth.
Realizing that there are cameras everywhere, they decide to switch vehicles. They park the Escalade in the long-term parking lot and Harri starts looking for a car to steal.
The parking lot is busy with foot traffic, security patrols and shuttles. It takes Harri two hours to find and boost a car (2 successes). The time is nearly 5 a.m. before the vampires make their way back to the hangar security gate in their stolen car.
Cassian is driving. Harri uses Cloak of Shadows to conceal himself in the back seat.
Cassian uses Mesmerize and commands the guard to open the gate and leave to get breakfast. The guard complies and the vampires drive into the hangar area.
Hangar 101 is one of the furthest hangars from the entrance to the area. As he drives, Cassian sees several hangars with their bay doors open, technicians and mechanics busy fueling and working on various aircraft.
Cass parks the stolen car between hangars 102 and 101. Hangar 101 is dark and all doors are closed. There is a side door with a dim security light above it.
Cassian focuses on the side door and sparks a Premonition (Messy Crit!): He sees Harri picking the lock and entering. The interior of the hangar is pitch black. Suddenly, he hears the roar of Harley Davidson motorcycle engines. Then, he sees the flash and pop of gunfire.
Cassian snaps out of his vision and is suddenly ravenously hungry. (-2 penalty to any actions other than feeding)
Cass conveys the details of the vision to Harri. Then, Harri hears a growling sound and realizes that it’s coming from Cassian.
“Yeah, maybe we need to get you something to eat now.” Cassian nods slowly.
Cassian turns the car around to leave. As he passes hangar 105, he sees a mechanic working inside and finds himself turning the car directly toward the open hangar bay.
“Cassian… What the hell are you doing?” says Harri. When he sees what Cassian has in mind, he says, “Okay. We’re gonna do this here, then.”
Cassian stops the car just outside the hangar and the mechanic saunters over, wiping his hands on a rag. The name “Rick” is embroidered on his coverall. “What can I do for you fellas?”
Harri leans out the side window and says, “Morning, Rick. My friend here needs to use your restroom.” The mechanic looks suspicious and squints in the car’s headlights.
Cass says, “It’s a chronic condition.” He fails a Manipulation roll (Bestial failure!) and the Beast takes over.
Cassian smashes through the windshield and attacks the mechanic, killing him and earning a Stain!
Harri quickly closes the hangar doors behind them. Cassian looks at his bloody hands and the dead mechanic on the hangar floor and says, “Harri… What have you done?”
Harri says, “I’ll tell ya what I’m gonna do… I’m gonna clean up your Masquerade breach right quick.” He pours jet fuel on the dead body, splashes it around the hangar and pours a trail leading outside the hangar. “Ol’ Rick here had hisself an accident on his smoke break.” (Harri gets 5 successes and a Messy Crit!)
“Ah, Christ, Harri…” Cassian gets in the car with Harri and watches him toss his lit Zippo onto the puddle of fresh jet fuel. The fuel ignites and a streak of fire races toward the hangar.
As Cassian and Harri drive away, two mechanics in hangar 106 exit and see the flame trail. At that moment, hangar 105 explodes and a massive fireball engulfs the two mechanics, roasting them to death! (2 Stains for Harri)

The Haven, Marshall Manor, Marshall Campus District
6:37 a.m.

The sun is about to rise. Cassian races against time to get back to the Haven. Frigid wind gusts through the gaping hole in the windshield, but the vampires feel nothing other than the threat of the coming sun.
The vampires arrive at Marshall Manor just as the sun crests the horizon. Frantic, they make a mad dash from the car and feel the first rays of dawn burn the back of their heads as they burst through the front door. (Cass and Harri suffer 1 Aggravated damage.)
Jack spends the shift working on the salve for his fire blade. He gets one more success.
The vampires sleep for the day.

Desires for the Night:

- Harri: To convince Jenner Lanius to meet with us

- Cassian: To tell Sasha where Balthazar sleeps and strike a bargain with her

- Jack: To sell/return the Lamborghinis

January 4, 2005

The Haven, Marshall Manor, Marshall Campus District
6:01 p.m.

Harri wakes to an email from the assistant to Rachel Rierson: Ms. Rierson requests the pleasure of your company at 10 p.m. tonight at the usual place. The reservation has been made in your name.
Harri goes hunting and then catches a cab to La Maison de Velours.
Jack and Cassian head to Newcastle Lamborghini to return the red Lambo. Jack activates Awe, gets 5 successes and convinces the dealer to take the Lambo back in exchange for the pickup truck that Harri originally wanted.
It takes several hours to complete the trade-in. Jack gets 1 dot in Finance back in 1 week. Jack and Cass return to the Haven close to 10 p.m.

La Maison de Velours, Little Paris District
10:00 p.m.

Harri arrives at the restaurant and is seated at a private table. Rachel is fashionably 15 minutes late. Harri makes small talk and compliments Rachel. She blushes, and Harri can’t tell if it’s a genuine reaction or simulated affectation.
Rachel orders appetizers and wine. When the sommelier pours it, she smells it and describes the vintage and terroir with remarkable and impressive accuracy.
Rachel asks Harri for a favor. “Jack is unhappy with me. I understand. Kindred politics are so silly. But Blakely is causing problems with the D.A. He is trying to torpedo the Ardelino case, which is starting on January 10th. Blakely is Jack’s ghoul, so he must stop this. I know he will want something in return. In exchange for this, I will support your… Tartarus. Take this to Jack in good faith.” (Note boon.)
Harri asks Rachel to do something for him: He wants her to bury the airport tapes from earlier that morning (boon counteroffer). Rachel says, “If Jack accepts, I will keep the entire incident out of the news cycle and off the radar for kine or kindred.”
Rachel plucks a flower from the table centerpiece. It is lavender. “I know you have been turned for only a brief time. Do you miss the sun?” She reminisces about childhood memories… the lavender that grew in the hillsides of her native France, sunrises. “The past is a sweet wine. But it is spoiled. There is only one wine we may drink now.”
Rachel kisses Harri passionately on the lips. “Welcome to eternal night.”

The Domum Carnis, Edge Harbor District
11:00 p.m.

The vampires arm themselves with Dragon’s Breath rounds and head to The Domum Carnis in Harri’s new pickup truck.
There is no sign of life at The Domum. Harri’s K-car is still parked where he left it.
Jack climbs the steps to the front door and knocks 5 times. Nothing happens.
Cassian suddenly has a vision: Jack knocks on the door. The door opens inward. Loose boards bar the threshold. Jack pulls the boards apart and enters. Flames erupt within and consume him.
Cass tells Jack about the vision and says that perhaps he shouldn’t try to enter.
Harri says, “I’ve got this,” and heads over to his K-car and leans on the horn. The noise is unnervingly loud and annoying.
A moment later, a disembodied Venetian female mask appears in a 2nd floor window of The Domum. The window opens and a raspy female voice says, “Welcome to The Domum. What is the purpose of this visit?” The vampires see some sort of flesh tentacle moving behind the mask.
Cass reponds, “I am Cassian Bartolomeo. I am here with two members of my coterie. I have information for Sasha. We are here at her request.”
“Give me the information and I will relay it to Sasha,” says the mask. “I am her Mouth and I speak for her.”
“She asked me to deliver it personally to her. It is time sensitive. She needs to hear what I have to say now.” (Cass has a successful roll.)
“Very well. You are welcome, Cassian Bartolomeo.” The front door slowly opens.
Cassian climbs up the steps, focuses on The Domum and provokes a Premonition (7 successes and a Messy Crit!):
Cassian is standing at the door to The Domum. His friends are gone. He hears a female voice next to him. “We don’t have much time. Is it worth the risk?” He hears a male voice say, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” A white-sleeved arm reaches out in front of him and removes the boards blocking the doorway. He is in the lobby. Walking through the auditorium doors. The stage. Mannequins. Walking through the archway at stage left. The baby carriage. Descending down the stairs. Instead of turning right into the hallway with the dressing rooms, he turns left into a different hallway. This one ends at a door marked “Mannequin Storage”. The white-sleeved hand opens the door. The storage room is lined with shelves laden with mannequin parts. At the end of the room is a large crate. He turns around suddenly and sees a female figure in the doorway — hideously malformed, twisted. Its face half flesh, half exposed bone. A sinewy tentacle protrudes from its mouth. The male voice says, “We’ll be ready soon. Keep the weapon safe.”
Cassian snaps out of his vision and is suddenly famished. He feels a compulsion to feed again. (-2 penalty to any actions other than feeding)
“You okay, Cass?” asks Jack as he removes the boards blocking the door.
“Yeah,” Cass says. “But I need to feed. Now. Bring me a rat. Or a dog.”
Jack grimaces. He slits his own wrist and offers it to Cassian. Harri grimaces. Cass drinks the vitae and the compulsion passes.
Cassian turns to Jack and Harri. “If I’m not out in 30 minutes… light it up.”

11:07 p.m. (5 minutes inside Domum)

Cassian makes his way to the dressing room without incident and finds Sasha there, same as before.
She and Cassian verbally square off, each trying to gain some leverage over the other. At one point, Sasha dissolves the flesh wall next to her and the slatchta that grievously impaled Cassian emerges through it. Cassian draws his pistol. “There’s no need for threats,” she coos.
Cass responds, “You’re the one making threats, Sasha. Stop playing games.” She laughs and calls off the creature.
Cass negotiates for the body of Vulpa, the Spear and Viktor. Sasha is slippery with the terms of the deal. “The body of the Roman is already claimed by someone else. And the intruder, your priest, is quite… comfortable with us. But the Spear… well, that depends on the information you provide.”

11:17 p.m. (15 minutes inside Domum)

Cassian finally tells Sasha about Balthazar’s hangar and its specific location. Sasha smiles and says, “That wasn’t so hard now. The Spear is yours. Take it. But know what will happen when you do…” Cassian tells her to show it to him.
“Very well, Cassian Bartolomeo.” Sasha summons the slatchta back into the dressing room and fuses her body to it. “Follow me.”
Sasha leads Cass down the hallway to the Mannequin Storage room.
Cassian sees the crate he saw in his premonition. He feels the same dread and power emanating from it as before. He opens the crate and sees the body of Cassius Vulpa with the Spear in his chest.
Turning his back to Sasha, he puts his left hand on the splintered haft of the spear. With his right hand, he secretly draws his pistol (4 successes).
He looks back at Sasha to see how she reacts. “Go ahead. Take it,” says Sasha. Cassian uses Insight > Motives to read Sasha’s intent. A successful roll reveals that she doesn’t believe Cassian will pull the Spear.
“Who claimed the body of the Roman?” asks Cassian. “I am not at liberty to reveal that,” responds Sasha.
Realizing he’s fucked, Cassian tightens his grip on the Spear as if to pull it, then raises his Beretta and fires a Dragon’s Breath round at Sasha.

11:22 p.m. (20 minutes inside Domum)

From street level, Harri and Jack hear the muffled thump of a gunshot far below The Domum followed by a bestial scream.
“That’s our cue,” says Harri as he runs for the parked K-car. Jack draws his pistol and enters The Domum.

11:23 p.m. (21 minutes inside Domum)

The shot hits Sasha and rips a burning hole in her body. She instantly transforms into the hideous form Cassian saw in his vision. She releases a bestial scream and the slatchta separates from her body with a grotesque ripping of sinew and flesh.
Sasha turns and flees. The slatchta charges at Cassian with sword-like claws extended.
Cassian tries to pull the Spear from Vulpa’s chest, but the Spear continues to resist his efforts (2 successes).
The slatchta rips into Cassian’s back with feral weapons causing 7 damage and 2 Aggravated Wounds!
Cass brings his pistol up under the slatchta’s head and fires another Dragon’s Breath round. Magnesium ignites inside the slatchta’s maw driving it away from the wounded vampire. Another bestial scream is heard from somewhere in the bowels of The Domum.

11:25 p.m. (23 minutes inside Domum)

Harri floors the pedal of the K-car, smashes through the front door of The Domum and crashes into the bar!
Jack moves through the lobby and is attacked by the second slatchta with snapping, toothed-mouths for hands.
Harri puts the K-car in reverse and tries to ram the slatchta, but it dodges out of the way.
Jack levels his pistol at the slatchta and hits it for 2 damage. It slashes back at Jack and inflicts 2 damage.
Cassian, now thoroughly pissed, turns and shouts, “Release the Roman and let us go, and this all… stops… NOW!” (3 successes)
The slatchta continues to burn. Another scream from elsewhere is heard. The slatchta suddenly springs forward, snatches the body of Vulpa and turns to flee the storage room.

11:27 p.m. (25 minutes inside Domum)

Harri grabs his shotgun and aims at the slatchta engaged with Jack. He waits for a clean shot.
Jack shoots the slatchta again and sets it on fire (Aggravated Damage). Jack then mends his wounds.
Cassian empties his clip (8 successes and a Messy Crit!) and lights up the fleeing slatchta. It bursts into flames and explodes in a mess of writhing body parts and gore. Cass hears another scream from Sasha.
The body of Vulpa falls to the floor with the Spear still intact in his chest.

11:28 p.m. (26 minutes inside Domum)

The maw-handed slatchta leaps up at Jack. The vampire draws his sword, dodges the attack and slices the creature (5 successes) for 3 damage.
At that moment, Harri blasts the slatchta with a Dragon’s Breath round, taking a huge chunk out of its abdomen, setting it on fire from within, and leaving it impaired. It leaps up to the balcony above the lobby.
Cassian suffers a Dominance compulsion. He grabs the haft of the Spear and uses it to drag Vulpa’s body away from the burning, dead slatchta and out into the hallway. “Sasha!” he screams waving his pistol in a slow circle above his head like a halo. “You fucked with the wrong church-boy!” (30% chance spear comes loose – rolled a 71)
A wail of rage and pain rings out, followed by a bestial voice: “You’ll never leave the opera alive. Slatchta awaken! Avenge me!”

11:30 p.m. (28 minutes inside Domum)

Harri enters the main theater with his shotgun. The mannequins begin to slowly animate and then shamble towards Harri. He runs for the stage.
Jack enters the theater and shouts at Harri to stop. Jack then fires a Dragon’s Breath round into the dilapidated, tattered curtains of the proscenium, setting them ablaze!
At the end of the long hall in front of Cassian, he sees another slatchta burst from the double doors to the room with the flesh pillar. It charges.
Out of ammo, Cassian turns to the body of Cassius Vulpa, grips the Spear and pulls it free! (3 successes)
Vulpa’s eyes instantly open. They are bloodshot. He slowly rises unnaturally as if his feet are a fulcrum, and a low, guttural groan begins to reverberate from him.
The charging slatchta stops dead in its tracks, turns and flees. Cassian, spear in hand, bolts for the stairs leading back up to the auditorium level.

11:31 p.m. (29 minutes inside Domum)

Harri fires the shotgun at an attacking mannequin (Bestial Failure), but the mannequin’s swing knocks the shotgun barrel and the Dragon’s Breath round hits Harri in the leg! (Aggravated Damage)
Jack mends 2 more points of damage and charges the mannequins that are surrounding Harri. (3 successes).
Cassian barges into the burning theater and takes in the scene. He locks eyes with Harri and Jack, holds up the Spear, and yells, “Let’s get the fuck outta here!”
The guttural bass drone rises in volume and intensity — and suddenly all the mannequins drop lifelessly!
The vampires bolt out the front door and rush to their pickup truck. Behind them, The Domum is a blazing pyre.
As they pull away, the vampires see Sasha standing in the flaming entryway. “What have you done?” she screams before collapsing into a burning sludge.
Cassian floors the truck. In the rear cab, Jack uses his knife to dig out the burning slug from Harri’s leg.
An explosion from The Domum lights up the night sky. Cassian glances at the Spear of Longinus on the passenger seat next to him.
The bass drone continues uninterrupted, reverberating all around them.

The vampires earn +3 Experience.