Campus Vigilantes

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Taking a second to catch his breath, Leon offers the salient details, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard. "In the interest of not causing a panic, I'll keep this brief and quiet. The club has vampires on the payroll. At least, as far as I can tell. One tried to hypnotize me, it didn't take, he said something about a "Masquerade," whatever that means, and then tried to take me to VIP room, presumably to exsanguinate me. Can we head back to base now? I'd rather not be here without stakes."

[Misaat]

" I dunno about vampires but yeah there was something seriously wrong with that guy... Let's just get outta here man . We can keep this conversation at Campus!"

Matthew says still following the group around.

[-Sentinel-]

Christian took a deep breath. "Vampires? You sure of it?" The rookie cop's eyes went back and forth between Matthew, Leon and the nightclub. "Alright, as long as we're quick. I want to see this place again tonight, while the owners are busy answering questions from the cops. I bet there'll be police tape around the building until morning, but I think I can get in with my badge."

---

1

RPG Club headquarters, 10:52 PM


Christian filled the coffeemaker with enough coffee and water to wake an entire graveyard with the fumes alone; it was going to be a long evening for everyone. The rookie sat facing Matthew and Leon, his brow creased with worry. Neil and Lillian were too high-strung to take a seat. Even the normally exuberant Max looked rather grave.

"Start with the beginning," said Christian wearily, claiming the first mug of coffee. "How'd you end up getting hypnotized by vampires?"

[Misaat]

"You got this one Leo. I gotta call Vishaka... Oh Damn! They have my cellphone! "

Matthew realizes hitting his face with the palm of his hand.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

"That's... less than optimal. Please tell me you didn't have any important information in there, like your address or name."

Leon takes a breath before continuing. "Yes, I'm quite sure it was vampires. I suspected as much when Vishaka said she'd been drowsy, nauseous, weak, and short of breath. All symptoms of partial exsanguination. She lost blood. Since she didn't appear injured, there had to be another explanation. Either she was dragged off to give blood after she was drugged, or more likely, she wasn't drugged at all. Instead, she was hypnotized like that thing attempted to do to me, and then something fed on her. My suspicions were confirmed at the bar. Short version, the bartender led Matt and I into the break room, called in the bouncer to watch us, then called that thing calling itself Gregory. He tried to hypnotize me, trying to find out how I knew about Karen's disappearance, and then tried to make me forget what her letter to Vishaka had said. He tried to implant the idea that she had gone to a completely different bar, and then tried to put me in a trance keyed to the word 'Masquerade.' I'll bet that's important to him for some reason. Anyway, he made some motions with the bartender, gesturing at my neck, and she told me he could do whatever he wanted, after dealing with Matt. I played along with the hypnosis and followed him toward the VIP door in the club, until I saw you guys and figured that was my best chance to get away. Then you shot up the disco ball, everyone panicked, and we ran away. I don't know what happened after Gregory led me out of the break room, but I want to put a stake through his unbeating heart, get a look at the VIP room, and finish my damn rum. I left it in the break room at the bar."

[-Sentinel-]

OOC:

Spoiler

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Note that, if you read carefully, nobody took back Matthew's phone between the end of Vishakha's call and Matthew's escape. That was an involuntary omission of mine, but since it feels wrong to retroactively add a detail to the players' detriment, I can accept my mistake and allow Matthew to keep his phone. The choice is ultimately Misaat's.

The others listened closely to Leon's tale.

"So... they do have something to do with Karen's disappearance," said Christian at last. "That simplifies things. It means we don't have to chase after some random patron."

Lillian's eyes widened suddenly. "The patrons... Wait. One of the VIP's tried to buy me a drink. They say not to accept drinks from strangers, but if some guy asks the bartender to give you a beer and never touches it himself... you wouldn't think the bartender would spike your drink, would you? I turned down the drink, but only because I had to stay sober."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon shakes his head. "I don't think they're spiking drinks. I think that's just what whoever attacked Vishaka wanted her to remember. Gregory was nearly able to hypnotize me just by staring me in the eye, I don't see why any other of them couldn't do the same to a drunk person with even greater ease. the only question, of course, is how to go about finding Karen, the VIP room is a great place to start, but I don't want to go back there without being armed. Do we have any blacklights?"

[Misaat]

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Let them have Matthew's cellphone. It makes things more interesting XD . Plus it's more realistic ^^

" Wait. First things first. Can anyone let me borrow their cellphone so i can check to see if Vishaka is okay? Then we'll see what we can manage... "

[-Sentinel-]

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Let them have Matthew's cellphone. It makes things more interesting XD . Plus it's more realistic ^^

Thanks.

"Do we have any blacklights?" asked Leon.

Christian shook his head. "No. But I think... I hope we can manage this without a fight. If I go in as a cop, and there's other cops around, they can't attack us without asking for a sh!tload of trouble. Still doesn't hurt to bring weapons..."

"Wait. First things first," said Matthew. "Can anyone let me borrow their cellphone so i can check to see if Vishakha is okay? Then we'll see what we can manage..."

"Sure," said Christian, handing Matthew his service phone.

Matthew dialed Vishakha's number. She answered almost instantly, her voice breathless:

"Yeah, yeah, I just got there. Where are you?"

[Misaat]

" What do you mean you are there?! We are at the RPG Club thinking what we are gonna do. Listen. You need to come back here . It could be dangerous over there. This are ... some really dangerous guys... "

Matthew says hesitating to say the word " Vampires " on the phone.

[-Sentinel-]

There was a pause. When Vishakha spoke, her voice was suddenly worried:

"Wait, are you kidding me? Then who just called me and told me to meet behind the Starbu--MMMMMM!"

Then there was a loud, very close clattering sound, as if she had dropped the phone. It must have resisted the impact, because Matthew could still hear faint noises, among them Vishakha's weakening protests.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon turns to listen when he hears Matt say that Vishaka is at the club. "She's where?! Matt, put her on speaker, I want to know what's going on."

[Misaat]

" VISH! VISH! What happened!? Are You Okay?? "

Matthew yells at the phone while putting it on speaker mode.

[-Sentinel-]

After a brief moment, things grew quiet on the other end. Christian motioned everyone but Matthew and Leon to remain silent. Meanwhile, Matthew's mind raced, trying to figure out how they had gotten to Vishakha. He abruptly remembered that his cell phone, still in enemy hands, kept a call history... It must have recorded her number when she called him earlier, in the employees' room.

As he feared, Maria's cold, deadly voice spoke through the phone:

"Hi. I suppose you're one of our runaway guests?"

[Misaat]

"Technically we where never invited... but yeah... i see you still have my phone..."

Matthew says trying to keep a normal voice.

[-Sentinel-]

"Listen carefully, young man. Things are really quite simple. No matter what you know or believe about us, truth is, we don't like to kill people. It's sloppy and it brings unwanted attention."

Maria's voice turned even colder, which was no small feat.

"What we like even less, though, is people who know too much. So here's the deal. You and your two friends are going to come, alone and unarmed, to the closed Starbucks at the corner of Adams and McFarlane, just two blocks from the Rasputin Bar. The back door is unlocked. Gregory will do his business, and the four of you will be allowed to keep living your short, pointless lives in blissful ignorance."

Christian grabbed a pen and the nearest piece of paper (a Pizza Hut leaflet) and wrote for all to see: They don't know about the rest of us. Only Matt, Leon & me.

Maria spoke again: "If you're not here in half an hour, we will start hurting her."

[Misaat]

"Wait! Don't touch her! We'll be there... "

Matthew says with a defeated tone.

[-Sentinel-]

"You certainly will."

Maria hung up. The vigilantes traded meaningful glances.

"I didn't hear Karen mentioned anywhere," Lillian pointed out. "I guess she's not part of the deal, provided she's even still..." Her voice trailed off uncomfortably.

[Misaat]

" We need a plan... Quick... "

Matthew takes his laptop and starts to search for a map of the street where the Starbucks is located.

Spoiler

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What time is it now in the story? No hardware store open at this time right?

[ToySoldierCPlus]

"We do have one advantage. They're not expecting six of us, only 3. We could probably coordinate something with the police; Matt, Christian and I go in, and then you guys call in the cops. The distraction would be more than enough to get ourselves and Vishaka out of there. That only serves to buy us time, though. I'd rather actually deal with them, but they've got at least two vampires, a hostage, and we don't have UV lights or stakes. Actually, I have a better idea. We'll need to sharpen up a couple of stakes ASAP, but then Matt, Christian and I can go in a provide enough of a distraction for you three to take them out. They probably can't handle all three of you at once and still control Vishaka, Matt, Christian and me. We'll need a backup distraction, though. Do vampires like fire? Some molotovs should be child's play for Matt to whip up, and we can use those as a backup distraction if things go south."

[-Sentinel-]

"If you're going with the molotov plan, better keep the cops out of it," Lillian chuckled dryly. "I don't want to solve a kidnapping only to get arrested for arson."

"They're going to expect you three from the back door of the Starbucks, right?" said Neil. "I can pick locks... Maybe the rest of us can use the front door and take them from behind."

Christian nodded distractedly. "Hey, I've been thinking... If the barmaid and at least a few of her goons are at the closed Starbucks, that means there's not a lot of employees left at the Rasputin Bar, what with the police all over the place."

Meanwhile, Matt's research on Google Maps revealed that the Starbucks was, as Maria had said, only two blocks from the Rasputin Bar, on the busy Adams Blvd. It was stuck between a convenience store with a gas station and (according to Google Street View) a large, cheap-looking apartment buildings with graffiti-covered walls.

Spoiler

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What time is it now in the story? No hardware store open at this time right?

It's nearly midnight, so nope. The club does have some equipment other than the one your characters carry, though. I haven't established a list of it, but just ask - if it's reasonable, I may rule that you already have it.

If it's stakes you need, you can have a couple. No monster-hunting team should be without stakes.

[Misaat]

"There's a Gas station nearby... it might be dangerous to use Molotovs. Maybe i can make some smoke bombs to cover our escape though... All right let's grab some stakes... They are close but we need to get moving in less than 10 minutes if we dont wanna make them angry... "

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Can i make smoke bombs in less than 10 minutes? And if so what's the DC?

[-Sentinel-]

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Can i make smoke bombs in less than 10 minutes? And if so what's the DC?

Sorry, but I'll have to say no:

Home-made smoke bombs are usually created in two ways. The first way involves cutting up ping pong balls, placing the small pieces inside an aluminium wrapping or canister, and igniting them. This practice is widely recognised to be a health hazard. Mixing the chemicals KNO₃ (potassium nitrate) and sugar while lightly heating the mixture until it comes to a peanut-butter-like consistency can also provide fuel for smoke-bombs.

While it's easy in theory, it requires either ping pong balls (not something vigilantes posing about an RPG club will have) or potassium nitrate (often found in fertilizers; again, not something you would have).

There are (d5)[5] stakes available.

While Matthew looked inside one of the lockers for stakes (there were five) and anything with which he might make a smoke bomb (no such luck), Christian went over the plan like a sergeant:

"Right, so Neil unlocks the front door beforehand and waits there. Then we come in through the back door, as they expect. When I start shooting, Neil and the others barge in and take them from behind. Our priority should be whoever's closest to the hostage."

His jaw tightened. "We might have to kill them. We never fought vamps before, but I doubt they turn to dust like in Buffy. If they don't, we need to get the hell out fast before the cops arrive. Everybody, tell me when you're ready."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon pats his back pocket, making sure his knife is present. Not sure how much good it'll do me, but what the hell, right? Taking a deep breath, he nods. "I'm read-- oh, wait! One more thing." He dashes over to the main desk in the room and rummages through the drawers, finally coming up with a black marker. "We should put crosses on ourselves. Hands and necks, I'd say, so they'll see 'em if they go for our throats. Vampires don't like crosses, so this seems like a good back-up plan if things go awry." With that said, Leon puts a small cross on either side of his neck, and on each palm, then offers the marker to the others.

[Misaat]

" Brilliant! "

Matthew says taking one of the markers and drawing a cross on both sides of his neck. Then he tosses one stake at each of the members of the group.

" Let's roll!"

[-Sentinel-]

None of them spoke as they geared up. It was, Leon realized, the first time they prepared for battle knowing exactly what they would be facing, when and where. All their previous skirmishes with supernatural creatures had happened unexpectedly and been won more by luck and wits than skill or strategy. Matthew and Leon each picked a stout, sharp stake. Christian had his trusty service pistol, while Lillian and Neil each had a knife and a stake. Max, ever the eccentric, opted for his rapier.

They must have made a strange sight in the streets, as the stakes and rapier were too large to be easily concealed, but most people they met paid them little attention: by this time of the night, anyone out on Adams Boulevard was either drunk or had important matters to attend to (such as freeing two girls from a bunch of vampires). On their way they passed in front of the Rasputin Bar, and as Christian had predicted, there was police tape all around the place. Cops busily went in and out, questioning the few employees and patrons who still lingered there.

“But surely you have security cameras, right?” a sergeant was asking the shaven-headed bartender.

“Maria's the manager,” said the bartender, shrugging. “And she ain't there.”

“Where's she, then?”

“Ask around. I don't get told everything.”

The Starbucks was two blocks from there, away from most of the bars and nightclubs. On the front door was a sign reading: “Renovating—Back in October!”. The windows were obscured by black canvas, but at least the doors were not boarded up. Neil walked over to the front door, drew a bit of copper wire from his pocket and started working on the lock as silently as he could. Lillian and Max stayed not far behind, ready to charge into the building as soon as the fight began.

Christian glanced down at his watch. “Right... Time to go.”

He, Matthew and Leon circled the building and found a pitch-black backstreet, no doubt the place where Vishakha had been captured. A well-built man leaned by the back door. Matthew and Leon recognized him as Fred, the bouncer who had been with Maria in the employees' room. He nodded to them and jerked his chin towards the door.

“Don't you try anything stupid,” he warned. “You're outnumbered, and we don't wanna have to kill the chick.”

“No worries,” said Christian in a falsely meek tone.

The rookie opened the door and led the others inside. The bouncer closed it behind them and remained outside the building. It was almost too dark to see, but their eyes gradually got used to the darkness.

Maria was standing in the middle of the room, scowling at the three vigilantes. By her left stood another big, thuggish-looking man, and by her right was Gregory. The former was armed with brass knuckles while the latter negligently held a revolver. By contrast with his allies' dour faces, Gregory wore an expression of mixed boredom and amusement.

Vishakha was bound and gagged in a chair right in front of Gregory, facing the vigilantes. Her clothes and hair were in disarray from her scuffle with her captors. She was not struggling against the ropes, having probably realized the pointlessness of it by now, but Matthew could see defiance in her eyes.


OOC:

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I'm rolling Neil's lockpicking test in secret, as you guys don't know when he will be done. This is an extended test. You can try to stall for time, but even then, you cannot be sure when Neil will have succeeded.

If and when you attack, you get a surprise round before initiative is rolled, but don't forget that you need to take an action to draw your weapon unless you have Quick Draw. (Christian does.)

I am not making a combat map. For the sake of simplicity, all enemies are within reach of your characters' Speed stat.

[Misaat]

" All right all right... "

Matthew says while looking at Maria.

" You said you wanted to talk... Let's talk... What do you guy's want? "

[-Sentinel-]

"To be left alone," said Maria coolly. "We don't hurt more people than necessary, but we just can't allow you to live with what you know. Either we wipe your minds, or somebody else will silence you in less gentle ways sooner or later."

Her gaze shifted to Christian. "You. Keep your hands where I can see them," she said, her voice dripping with venom. She was clearly not about to forgive him for emptying her nightclub.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

"The fact remains that you hurt people at all. What I want to know is why? I know you need blood to survive, but why not just get it from animals, or rob a blood bank or something?"

[Misaat]

" I don't get what this whole secrecy thing is supposed to accomplish. We are not messing with you because you are vampires. We are doing it because you did something to a friend of ours and we wanna know what it is. If you where just human's that kidnapped Karen. We would have come after you all the same. "