[nWoD] Campus Vigilantes 3: The Root of All Evil

[Enoich]

The sickening sound of spilling ichor blending with the ear-ringing of combat made the fencer slightly queasy. At the same time, a stirring pride churned in his being, the satisfaction of his weapon of choice actually being used in combat. Fencing had been, for hundreds of years, an alternative to actually killing people and a gentleman's sport. The modern age had rendered fencing as impotent as a mule, but at one time, rapiers could actually kill. The ichor dripping from his blade was evidence enough. Flicking the weapon to the side, the thick black blood stained the ground as he just barely sidestepped a furious thrust of claws aimed straight for his jugular. "Vicious animal, though the same could be said for any metalhead."

Returning to his ready stance, Conrad felt more ready to fight than ever. Things were going well, and it was evidenced that pure offense wasn't nearly as effective as proper training and discipline. "What a pitiful excuse for a supernatural creature you are. Such stupid claws and hardly a healing factor. What kind of werewolf are you trying to be anyway? You'd be more convincing with a rubber wolfman mask." Clearly Conrad had not been on the job for long, but most signs pointed towards this fella being some kind of lycan. The type that hunt prey in the night, not the folks who stalk deviantart, commissioning furry crap. Honestly, both of them could burn in a fire... Pausing to shake that silly idea out of his head, he thrusted yet again, thinking that if it isn't broken, why fix it? Like quicksilver, his blade pushed towards his foe, furious in its pursuit of justice over all things perverse... Excluding himself.

Spoiler

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Normal Attack.
(9d10)[7][10][7][2][8][10][3][4][10](61)
(4d10)[2][8][5][5](20)

Total Damage: 5 Lethal Damage
Damn, I'm lucky.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah closes his laptop and sighs. "Bah, nothing useful. Looks like we're going in blind..." he grumbles to himself, before turning his head towards Kristin and raising an eyebrow. "Hm?"

He looks up and down between her and the chessboard a few times, before it fully registers that he's being invited - or perhaps challenged - to a game. His eyes light up a bit, and he flashes a wry smile. "Ah. Sure. I'm not expert, but I do enjoy the occasional game."

The scrawny scholar moves across the room to take his seat at the board, taking another sip of wine as he gets himself comfortable. "My sympathies about you recent drought of entertainment. Slim pickings can be such a shame. Of course, all that stuff isn't really my cup of tea. I'm much more interested in the Pursuit," he muses as he observes the table, familiarizing himself with the board.

"The Abbey isn't just about doing and experiencing," he muses aloofly. He's not trying to sound arrogant or talking down to her; just sharing his insights on the matter. "It's also about witnessing and knowing, and having knowledge that can be later used to our advantage. What good is it if somebody lights a vampire on fire if nobody records how best to do it? Or what amount of silver per pound is needed to drop a rampaging Lycanthrope? Or how the psychotropic qualities of vampire dust compare to more mundane substances? I hear the dust is waste of time, by the by," he adds with a small smirk.

Jonah then looks back down at the board, and starts to run his fingers along the tops of the pieces in front of him. "So, perhaps instead of rushing from one thing to the next, you should take a little more time to savor each experience? Analyze the details, record them to memory or some other medium, and use this knowledge to your advantage. Use it to improve your future experiences, or show it off as testament to your abilities and skills? Who knows, you may find the Pursuit to be a fun rush all its own..." he thoughtfully observes, before looking over to the other Abbey members, holding out a hand, and grinning cheerfully.

"Blindfold please."

Let the games begin.

Spoiler

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Jonah has Eidetic Memory.

Int squared (9), +3 from Willpower Point: (12d10)[2][8][9][4][7][8][10][5][4][9][9][4](79)

[-Sentinel-]

Leon and Jacob entered the alley just in time to see Conrad drive his blade straight through his assailant's lung and give it a sharp twist. Jacob winced; nobody could possibly survive that...

Wrong. The fat guy yanked his chest backwards to get the sword out of his flesh, as if two feet of steel through a vital organ were barely a hindrance. Seeing the two newcomers arrive as reinforcements, he seemed to realize he was in over his head. Without missing a beat he turned to the wall right behind him, dug his claws into it and started climbing frantically.

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Round 3 begins. I rolled Initiative for Jacob and Leon in the OOC thread, and they both strike before the enemy. Metallica Guy's climbing action is only cinematic for now, in order to showcase his supernatural abilities for plot purposes, so you can still attack him in close combat. I'll resolve his climb test when/if we get to his turn.

---

1

Jonah

Jonah's little speech elicited an eyeroll from Kris. "Overanalysis just makes things boring," she replied. "And we want things to stay challenging, anyway. That's the reason why I joined the Abbey: there was nothing left to challenge me. The only things worth knowing about monsters, as far as I'm concerned, is where to find them."

"Blindfold please."

Kris blinked at him, then grinned. "Hah. I'll allow you a second try without the blindfold after I kick your ass, 'cause I'm feeling generous. Use one of your socks, that's what I'm doing."

The game played out in silence as Jonah proved to be a much stronger opponent than Kris was expecting. After just a few moves, Kris was no longer slouching flippantly in the sofa; she sat upright, her brow creasing in concentration. Étienne was the one moving the pieces for them, mostly for the benefit of the spectators.

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Kristin has Intelligence 4 and Eidetic Memory.

(16d10)[6][6][8][6][8][8][5][4][10][3][10][3][2][2][9][5](95)
10-again: (5d10)[7][7][10][4][9](37)

It proved to be a much longer game than either of them expected. After half an hour, almost all pieces of both sides were gone, and both players realized that with what few pieces were left, a checkmate was technically impossible.

"Uh. I believe that's a tie," murmured Kristin in bewilderment, removing her blindfold. "Been a while, I must admit."

[Lycan 01]

Jonah removes his own blindfold after the stalemate is called, and looks the board over with a bemused smile. Though a bit mentally drained from the endeavor, he hasn't broken a sweat. "Well that was fun. Good game," he nods with a cheery smile, as he reaches out to start putting his pieces back in their respective starting places. "So, are there any monsters you're particularly interested in finding?" the scholar idly inquires as he goes about his task of resetting the board. "Or ones you're curious to know actually exist or not?"

He turns to the other members. "The rest of you are free to chime in, if you wish."

[-Sentinel-]

Jonah

Kristin's eyes lit up. "Y'know, I've been wondering... if angels and demons and the likes really existed. Wouldn't it be awesome to fight something straight out of Heaven or Hell? Or... capture it alive, and play with it, see if we can break it." The idea genuinely seemed to excite her.

Pedro turned a bit pale and crossed himself. "Don't... suggest things like that, Kris," he murmured.

"If Hell exists, I'm already going there anyway," said Kris cheerfully.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah doesn't laugh. He doesn't smile. His expression goes somber, his eyes taking on a look of grim seriousness. "I can't tell you how to find them, and quite frankly, that's best for both of us. But I can confirm that, yes, credible evidence exists to confirm the existence of demons, devils, fiends, or whatever moniker you wish to call them by," he says factually, his voice measured and grave. The scholar sets down his wine glass, and leans forward to fold his hands together. He's entering teacher mode! "Whether they are fallen angels or creatures born of sin and shadow is uncertain, but the fact remains that there are dark entities which can be found within this world - though they most certainly do not naturally hail from it. While there's no evidence that angels or some other 'light' entities exist, these dark entities - we'll call them demons for simplicity - do in fact draw power from sin, vices, and other 'bad' things, which can make them all the more dangerous to fight, especially for Abbey members," he states warily.

Jonah leans back a bit, and gives a small waving gesture of his hands. "Supposedly, demons vary in form and power, and can possess things both living and nonliving. Animals, people, buildings, weapons... They can also be summoned up or even locked into deals, though the things they ask for in exchange can be... strange. Almost nonsensical. At first glance, at least. But what's inconsequential now may merely be a simple cog in a greater plot orchestrated by an entity that sees beyond the realm of flesh, matter, and time itself."

After letting his words sink in for a moment, a small smile plays at his lips despite the gravity of the information he has just imparted with his fellow Abbey members. "I'd highly suggested against trying to 'break' one, if you ever even have the misfortune of encountering one. There are more fun and less dangerous things to play with, like vampires and Changelings..."

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If possible, Jonah would like to indulge a bit in getting to show off his occultic lore, and feed his Pride Vice to get that Willpower Point back.

[Enoich]

Like a tempest in a bottle, Conrad swiftly impaled his opponent who, without the benefit of armor or wits to dodge, had taken a normally fatal blow of sword-through-lung, or as most physicians would call Ferrum Per Pulmo. The rush of victory was quickly overcome with the fear of, well, murder! Conrad had never turned his blade to such an degree where he actually ran an enemy through. The blur of blood rush had dulled his sensitivity and as his body was scant inches from the greasy werewolf bastard before the realization hit... He had stabbed someone in the lung! He was a monster!

Before the trauma could truly set in and beyond all imagination, his opponent slowly dragged his body back from the weapon, spurts of oily sickening blood spouting from the wound, though less intense than the previous gut cut. Conrad could see, even feel the desperation in his foe's eyes, the realization of defeat and the instantaneous flight mechanism that whirred through the lycan's mind. Almost as swiftly as he attacked, the metallica-man ran towards the nearest wall and began to climb with reckless abandon.

"Well... When all you have is a hammer..."

Without any sort of elegant grace or aplomb but instead with a renewed desire to put this beast down, Conrad chased after his enemy, throwing his entire being into this attack. It was truly a crude example of a fencing maneuver, but hastiness rarely had good bedfellows. A finishing move, ideally, was to be completely badass, but it seemed smarter to finish the job instead of fail awesomely. It all took one good pinning thrust that would allow this poor fool to give up the ghost.

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All-out attack against (presumedly) no defense: 13 Dice
(13d10)[7][7][5][4][10][3][1][3][3][4][2][8][7](64)
(5d10)[2][5][5][8][9](29)

also, since Oden corrected me on the proper dice I have, since I'm a dumb.
(2d10)[10][5](15)
(1d10)[9](9)
Looks like 4 successes.

Goal is either to do enough damage for this guy to Torpor out or at the very worst, pin him to the wall... Man I'm going to need to sharpen my swordcane after this.

[-Sentinel-]

Jonah

The other Abbey members' expressions to Jonah's explanation ranged from unease to interest.

Kristin was in the second category: "Deals, eh? You really can make deals with them? Like, you do something for them and they give you a million dollars, or eternal youth, or Mark Wahlberg naked and covered in honey, and they're not trying to screw you over? Wow. You're right, Jonah, knowledge is useful."

[Lycan 01]

Jonah scoffs. "They're always trying to screw you over, whether you realize it or not. Ever read Doctor Faustus or Young Goodman Brown? There's no winning in a deal with a devil. They may be subservient, submissive, polite, or even friendly to you, but even if you make a deal that seems perfect, you've only just been given enough rope needed to hang yourself," he says with a small, dour frown. "I'm warning you, Kristin, demons are something you should never underestimate or consort with, both for the Abbey's sake, and your own."

"Besides," he shrugs, "Most of the reliable records on dealmaking are at least four centuries old, and only detail the deals themselves and the services exchanged, rather than the rituals required for the summoning, binding, and beseeching of the demon. For the best, I say. There are some things even the Abbey aren't meant to know..."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon charges down the alley toward Conrad and Metallica Guy, pulling his knife out of his pocket as he runs. He closes in and swings, not taking any chances on the obviously-inhuman escaping.

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Attacking with knife: (6d10)[2][8][7][10][10][4](41)
10-again: (3d10)[4][4][5](13)

[savior indra]

Jacob raised his pistol and took aim, if they weren't moving around so much he could have already gotten the shot off, instead he was aiming to try and find Metallica Guy's center of gravity so he could aim at the point that was moving around the least and get a solid shot.


"Stop... moving..." grunted Jacob in annoyance as cold sweat trickled down his brow.

[-Sentinel-]

Conrad and Leon struck at the same time, their blades respectively stabbing the creature between the ribs and slashing his (its?) throat. Metallica Guy made a gurgling sound as his claws lost their hold on the wall and strength left his limbs. He crumpled and collapsed in a pool of black blood, his skin taking on a pallid, rumpled appearance. His body almost immediately went into rigor mortis; something that, Leon knew, should have taken hours.

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For the record, Leon is the one who struck the killing blow, but I wanted to spare Enoich the trouble of editing his post.

The fact that he clearly has Resilience, as well, further evidences his nature.

Another thing: the guy did not have Resilience, just a high Stamina.

Jacob's eyes slid down to the dead man's claws. They did not appear to be some sort of crazy body modification, or something that could be put on and taken off; they were, as far as Jacob could tell, part of Metallica Guy's body.

---

1

Adam

Half a block from there, Adam, breathing hard from running to his Jeep and grabbing his bow, found a passable hiding spot between two parked cars, where he could stay in the shadows and keep an eye on this exit of the backstreet. The boulevard was an important one, with a significant nightlife, and it would be only a matter of time until a passerby noticed the would-be ninja hiding there with his bow.

No sound came from the backstreet. Adam nocked an arrow just in case...

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a car door opened right next to him. A young woman (Erin, as it turned out) had stepped out of one of the cars Adam was hiding by, prompting the archer to point the arrow straight at her and draw the string by reflex. She showed her empty hands:

"Whoa, um... don't shoot. You with Jacob?"

---

1

Jonah

"Now you're talking like Dr. Freeman," laughed Étienne.

"Could be that the Catholic Church or something made stories up to scare the gullible," added Kristin. "Why would demons go out of their way to screw people over? It'd just give them a terrible reputation and drive all business away. Also, the morons who make deals with the Devil in stories are always making dumb mistakes like selling their immortal souls or leaving blatant loopholes in the deal or not even reading the fine print. You just have to be smarter."

Jonah should have guessed that advising against doing a thing would only make some Abbey members more interested. After all, wasn't the Abbey all about exploring the forbidden and breaking the rules?

Thankfully, Pedro had a bit more common sense: "The matter is strictly academic until and unless you actually find a demon, if they even exist. If they wanted to be found, everybody'd be making deals with them."

[Odentin]

Adam mutters under his breath and releases tension on the bow. Taking a look at the alleyway (presumably he can see the body?) for a quick moment, he replies, "Jacob? The guy with Talon? Fight with the v-@$$hole in the bar? No. And you should probably get back in the car and wait for your boyfriend."

Whatever her reply, he takes a look at the space between him and the alleyway and attempts to gauge if he can make it there without his bow being seen, and if not, if there's a rooftop route or some such higher elevation route that he can take...

[savior indra]

"S***, he's dead! What the hell.... What the... I can't be here." said Jacob half to himself, half to the other people in the alleyway. He hastily switched the safety on his gun on and slid it back into his holster. Looking up at the other people he said in a somewhat panicked voice. "I was never here. I didn't see anything." Before starting to back away.

[Enoich]

Conrad would never admit he didn't strike first. Though he knew in his heart of hearts that Leon's blade was several instants quicker than his, the rocky stubbornness of his mind refused to believe it. As his rapier plunged slightly left of the creature's sternum, the distinct sound of metal on bone gave a symphony to the fencer's ears and as the last remnants of combat drained the color from his skin, he realized where they were; In a dark alley, three guys and a dead werewolf... Half-werewolf? He didn't see the furry wonder, but perhaps werewolves didn't work like that... Shaking the offhanded thought from his mind, Conrad's eyes widened, pulling out the blade and grabbing a small hankerchief from his coat jacket, now stained with fresh blood. Methodically, almost in a trance, he cleaned the dark ichor from his weapon. "Holy crap... The guy's actually... I mean I expected him to get back up again after all the punishment, but... Oh shït."

Real life dawned again, the real life which had the flashing sirens of Chicago P.O. and lifetime in jail spending a hot quarter-century under a three hundred pound muscleman, the only consolidation in life being the eventual return the society as a bitter, broken individual. Jail time certainly did not appeal... He had to do something quick. Glancing at Leon, his voice came out clearer than he was expecting, less hesitant and more confident. "Your lucky day. You've a pet project to examine it seems. I'm guessing you have a car we can haul this bastard in, or do we have to take the bus?"

Turning to the new guy, the aforementioned hero who he had played inadvertent wingman to and failed his date rather miserably. Frankly, the kid looked more a Jersey Boy than anything, and not the singing and dancing kind either. Chicago was hardly the weather for tans so it threw him rather off-guard. Still... Couldn't let the boy walk out of this without a proper talking to. "Sorry it didn't turn out ideal. Didn't realize this bastard would be a furry-ass spawn of hell itself. Thought he just liked terrible music... I'd let you go to your girl, but since this..." He gestured, around with a morbid stare, almost detached from the situation, "Happened... I want to make sure we're on the same page in the end. Not gonna hurt you, but if you pull that pistol on me... Well you did see someone disemboweled..."

Almost as soon as he finished, the wound he sustained finally reared its ugly head. Like a pissed-off girlfriend, the high pitched shriek of pain richocheted through his body in a way that caught him off-guard. Clearly the adrenaline that kept his blade moving also blocked the sheer amount of pain that was warning his body. Sheathing his weapon quickly and with some difficulty, he let out a low growl of frustration, hand faintly touching the wound but quickly recoiling as sensitive nerves exploded. "Also... Fücking Hell, he hurts like a sombitch... Might... Need to sit down for a bit..."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon stoops down next to the now-torpored vampire, wiping his knife clean on the guy's shirt and stowing out of sight once more. He pulls out his cell phone and shoots a text to Adam: "Got another research subject. Do me a favor and bring your jeep around. We're in the alley behidn the bar." He then began taking pictures of the claw that had replaced the guy's hand. As Conrad spoke up, Leon interjected: "This guy isn't a wolf. He's a vampire; look at the blood, and the state of rigor mortis already setting in. The claws are new, though... I'll want to have a look at those in the lab." As Conrad drops from the pain, Leon stops examining the vampire and moves to assist his friend. "Let me see that arm, Talon." Leon examines the wound closely. "Very deep, almost to bone. My guess is this is going to take a while to heal up, and it'll probably leave a pretty nasty scar. We'll have Adam take a closer look at it when he gets here."

[-Sentinel-]

Conrad examined the injury on his forearm more closely. For a wound so shallow, it bled profusely. The cut was incredibly clean, as if the claws had met no resistance whatsoever; they must have been sharper than razorblades.

Leon could tell that carrying the body even a short distance would be no easy task. For one thing, the guy was significantly overweight. His black blood soaked the snow around him and would make quite a mess in Adam's trunk, provided Adam would even accept to have this thing in his car.

---

1

Adam

"And you should probably get back in the car and wait for your boyfriend."

Erin gave Adam a dark scowl. "Like hell. Been waiting too long, and I'm worried." She purposefully began heading towards the backstreet, then paused and gave the archer a suspicious look. "...the fµck are you doing with a bow, anyway?"

The mouth of the backstreet was not far. Adam knew he could make it from his current position without being seen with his bow by anyone else in the street, if he was quick. But he could not see more than a few feet into the backstreet itself; it was too dark compared to the street itself and the angle was wrong. He could not hear anything that might going on in there over the thumping of the music coming from the nightclub.

His cellphone vibrated, informing him of a new text message from Leon.

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I wouldn't want Erin to become a source of annoyance, but I'm having trouble writing the kind of female character who just meekly stays in the car when some stranger tells her to.

[Odentin]

Adam reads the text and swears under his breath, then reaches out and grabs her shoulder firmly, to stop her, "Look. You do NOT want to see what happened. Your boyfriend is fine, but it'd be best for everyone if you don't actually SEE what happened back there, ok? Just...I'll send him to get you, alright? Just wait here..."

He tries his level best to give her pause, to give her just enough doubt to NOT walk into that alleyway. For fµcks sake I don't want to have to explain this to two strangers.

Regardless of her reaction, he makes a quick sprint into the alleyway. He looks at the assembled men and the torpored vampire and frowns, fixing his gaze on Leon, "We're best off burning this one. No evidence. I don't want to have to explain a vampire body if we get pulled over."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon frowns. "Do you have a hatchet? I don't care about most of the corpse, just the mutated arm. I've got some pictures, but having the whole thing to take apart would be better."

[Odentin]

Adam scowls,"I might have a machete. Here."

He tosses the keys to Leon before stepping up and firing his stake arrow through the vampire's heart, just to be sure. Following that, he steps up to Conrad to examine his arm...

[Lycan 01]

Jonah sighs, shaking his head. "If anything, the Church is part of why this information is so hard to come buy. They've put untold ages of knowledge and lore to the torch in the name of salvation, fear, or other ulterior motives. Not that that's entirely a bad thing. Like I said, some of this stuff is probably best left unknown," he muses.

"And yes, if they were easy to find, there would no doubt be a lot more more known about them. But like I said," he idly waves a hand, "From what I've been able to research, you have to actual perform some esoteric rites and rituals to conjure them up and bind them to this realm, or at least get them to play nice long enough to discuss making a deal. And before you ask," he frowns, "No I don't know how to do it, no I don't know where to find the information, and no I don't feel inclined to ever do so."

"Now," Jonah sighs, leaning back in his chair, "Any other monsters you wish to know about? Changelings? Poltergeists? Dullahans? The Jersey Devil?" he quips.

[-Sentinel-]

"Look. You do NOT want to see what happened. Your boyfriend is fine, but it'd be best for everyone if you don't actually SEE what happened back there, ok? Just...I'll send him to get you, alright? Just wait here..."

"How do I even know whose side you're on?" Erin shot back as Adam sprinted towards the alley.

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Roll in the OOC thread: Adam has unsurprisingly failed to convince Erin. I'll give you guys a moment's grace before she comes in, because she's not as fast as Adam.

Oh, by the way. In case you forgot about it, Jacob has just had his very first encounter with the supernatural and is badly shaken... He might even be about to run away. And you guys (except for Conrad) are ignoring him while you talk about "research subjects" and "getting rid of the evidence" and "oh, I have a machete". YOU ARE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB.

---

1

Jonah

Kristin stretched on her sofa and asked the newest member of the group, Dean, to pour her a small glass of Baileys. On Dean's first day in the club, last fall, Kristin had managed to convince the poor kid that it was a newbie's duty to play barkeep whenever requested. No other member of the Abbey had bothered to tell him otherwise, not even Dr. Freeman, and so a tradition was born.

"So, Jonah... Can you tell me about rogue ghouls?" Kristin asked, as soon as she had her glass in hand.

The others looked up with interest.

[savior indra]

Jacob's panic only increased as the other people in the alleyway nonchalantly started to talk about "research subjects", "getting rid of evidence", and potentially being shanked by the injured one only increased his panic even more. He started to slowly back away as they continued conversing and once he had managed a decent distance from himself and the group turned and started running for his car.

[Odentin]

Adam points at Jacob abruptly as he starts to back away, "You. Jacob, right? First time seeing a vampire, yeah? Your girlfriend is worried about you. I'll explain what happened, but I'd rather only explain it to one person, you know?"

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CONRAD should really be the one doing the calming. He's he only person here (that a CV) that's not social tertiary!

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon catches the keys in the air and seems to notice Jacob for the first time. "A witness. Great. You guys deal with him, I'll be back with that machete. You want me to grab one of your road flares? This thing will go up like dry tissue paper, so we won't need any accelerants." Leon sprints off in the direction of Adam's jeep without waiting for a response.

[Enoich]

The pain was intense, no doubt, but after examination, Conrad realized that his wound was hardly one to bowl over, more like extremely deep paper cuts than that of a gashing claw. Something abnormal drove the pain as opposed to the utter rending of the nervous system, which was in the end a good thing. All-too-many fencers found themselves incapacitated by the barest bit of nerve damage that rendered their reactions too sluggish or too distracted by pain. Not that he was in the competitive scene, but this fight gave a small ego boost... Perhaps trying to compete a little might be worthwhile? He tended to hate the almost militaristic focus that high-level sports brought, the focus on nothing else except the sport itself... Still, the rush was something to look forward to.

However, there was something more important. Despite his warnings, young Jacob seemed to be more fazed by the arrival of a Vampire than he expected. Perhaps he had been better girded by the group and had already been exposed to a prior supernatural event... Denial was probably natural in these situations. Glancing about, Leon and Adam seemed more focused on burning the body, or keeping it for experimentation. Frankly, Conrad could care less, since a dead body was more a liability than anything. Someone had to deal with the actual people... Alas, such weary jobs he had to deal with.

Making sure his cane looked like nothing except a cane, he girded himself and walked towards Jacob, smiling as charmingly as he can, "Come on. Is that any way to treat someone who helped you ou..... Damn it..." Before he could finish his confidence, the young man broke into a run towards a car. He couldn't do anything except follow, keeping his pace somewhat slower. Even if he got into the vehicle, it would take some time to start up. No need to look like a freak by chasing after him. Honestly there seemed only a couple options to this scenario: He would be able to catch up and explain the story, or he won't and Jacob would be able to drive away. Neither really gave him considerable loss. It would be up to Jacob if he'd be willing to listen and understand the truth. "Hey... Hold up!"

[Lycan 01]

Jonah grins, practically beaming. "Certainly. Vampires and ghouls are my specialty."

He picks up his wine glass, and holds it up in front of him, swirling the crimson contents for the others to observe. "You see, a ghoul is a mortal who has been fed the blood of a vampire, either by force or as a reward for services rendered. It makes a mortal into something between a human and a vampire - stronger, more resilient, no sickness, no aging... so long as they have the blood."

He takes a thoughtful sip of the wine. "You see, the ghoul has to imbibe the blood at least once a month to maintain their blasphemous state of being. Not only that, but the blood is highly addictive... and it also has a rather fascinating psychological effect."

He sets his wine glass down, and folds his hands thoughtfully. "If a vampire directly feeds a mortal their own blood, the mortal doesn't just become a ghoul, but they also become bonded to that vampire. The more blood, the stronger the bond. If a vampire feeds their ghoul blood on a regular bases, they essentially have a mind-controlled fanatic who will never question their master."

"Now, rogue ghouls? Those are interesting. They are typically formed when a vampire is destroyed, and their ghoul is left orphaned, and still in need of blood to maintain their ghoulish state. Alternatively, a mortal imbibes the blood of a dead or dying vampire, and soon becomes addicted to its taste and the qualities it gives them. Rogue ghouls are often willing to go to great lengths to get the vampire blood they need, killing not just any vampire they can manage to corner, but any mortal who tries to get in their way. Cunning and clever, and able to shrug off much more than a normal human, they should never be underestimated."

Jonah then smirks softly. "Of course, enhanced endurance and agility or not, they're not too good at shrugging off a shotgun blast or crossbow bolt to the vitals. Might not kill them immediately, but they're still much easier to drop than a normal vampire."

[-Sentinel-]

As he sprinted out of the backstreet, Jacob ran headlong into Erin, who was about to enter. The two of them fell into the snowbank that ran along the sidewalk. Thankfully, none of them was hurt.

"Jacob!" exclaimed Erin. "My God, are you alright?"

She struggled back to her feet and lent Jacob a hand. Then she threw a suspicious look at Leon, who had just exited the backstreet. "...Who the hell are you?" she asked the biology student. "You with the guy with the bow?"

---

1

Jonah

"Do you know if their bodies burn up easily, like vampires'?" inquired Kris. "We wouldn't want to get accused of murder if we manage to corner the ghoul that's been stealing our kills..."

[Lycan 01]

Jonah frowns, and shakes his head. "No. Ghouls are still mostly mortal. You light them on fire, they'll burn like a mortal, and leave the same nasty mess. If you properly kill a vampire, they crumble to dust. If you properly kill a ghoul... you've usually just got a dead body. But their 'true' age catches up with them. If the ghoul has been in that state for years or decades, you'll suddenly have an older dead body. Ancient ghoul? Pile of dust," he nods.

He then leans back in his chair, and looks thoughtful. "So, as for the ghoul that's been stealing your kills, if you try to handle them directly, you'll be facing 1st or 2nd degree murder charges. But if I had a say in things, I wouldn't handle them directly..." he muses. "A waste of potential..."

Hopefully they bite, and ask for his thoughts on the matter. Letting the Abbey think murdering the "rogue ghoul" is the best option can only lead to problems down the road. But if they could be convinced the ghoul might be useful as more than a potential bullet sponge or plaything...

[savior indra]

"They just killed him... They were talking about dissections and research. I don't know who they are but we should probably get out of here." said Jacob in a shaken tone as he helped Erin up.