(IC 2) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Ladorak]

'Nope' said Lilith flippantly 'I'm with her, let's burn this sucker down, it's not like gas is cheap.'

[Bennosuke]

Karl moves onto the property, walking down a single row of well manicured bushes. Despite being dead for over half a century, the Mekhet can feel every hair on his back, neck and forearms dancing alert for any sign of Prince Gorman or his traps. Images of the Prince's mad red eyes, fangs bared force themselves into Karl's mind as he moves closer and closer to the tall brick mansion that stares down at him like the face of a mummy, eyes dead but mouth open and hungry.

Sure enough, as Karl approaches the door, the stench of death fills his nostrils. Stepping up to the door, it is like the entire house is filled with human blood. The coppery smell was relatively fresh, maybe not hot, but warm enough, and Karl could hear the Beast in the back of his skull growling as it fought to decide whether to flee or move forward. The front door was ajar, but Karl heard absolutely no movement from within. And so with no better action in front of him, and no immediate signs of danger, Karl silently, and invisibly let himself into the house.

Karl steps into a grand fourier of sorts, which has become a blood bath of sorts. Alabastar marble floors, wet with now browning puddles of blood lead up to a single white staircase that sweeps up from the left. Collapsed over the banister is a man in a server's uniform, his head apparently smashed in (with a corresponding splatter of gore on the cracked plaster wall). On the right is a large portrait of a family done in the style of Rembrandt, a father and mother stand illuminated in the shadows, each resting a hand on the shoulders of their son, whom they loom over ominously. But the eyes appear to have been burned out of the canvas, so that only the boy stares out from the portrait, cold blue eyes looking down on and judging Karl. Beneath the painting is the collapsed body of a man in what initially looks like a police uniform (though Karl quickly realizes it is a security guard). The man is seated against the wall, his legs awkwardly pulled up to his chest, his head back and cocked to the right at an awkward angle, clearly due to the massive wound torn into his throat, reaching all the way from his adams apple to his spine. A pistol lays at the man's feet. The dead man's eyes are open wide, their blind stare reaching up into the ceiling, the mouth comically agape. The wound in the man's neck was too ragged to have been done by a blade. Looking about the room, Karl could also see a pair of bullet holes punched into the plaster wall across from the downed guard, likely the product of the dropped weapon that sat at his feet.

Karl's mind races as he takes in the scene. Perhaps this was the reasonable, investigative part of his brain, or perhaps it was just the mad certainty of the Beast, but deep down, Karl knew Prince Gorman had done this. The Prince had crushed and smashed and torn the life out of his own servants, of this Karl was somehow certain; and it certainly didn't look like The Prince had stopped to feed. The Beast was now howling at Karl, begging him to turn away, fighting him for control in a frenzied thoughtless fear.

Karl can smell more death in this house. Fresh death coming from the hallway to Karl's right that appeared to lead into a living room. Fresh death to Karl's left, a hallway that led into the kitchen. A man's feet and well dressed shoes were just barely visible at the end of this hallway. But there was death from the upstairs as well, old death; the smell of rot and maggots and decomposition.

Spoiler: OOC

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Don't forget that Anna and Karl have the Shaken Prince Gorman condition. Somewehre deep down, they know how terrible, mad and powerful the Prince is. They have tasted that power, though they don't remember everything that happened that night, and it has left them shaken. This condition may be resolved by choosing to fail a roll, before actually rolling dice, for a beat.

[Daishain]

Karl grits his teeth, thinking, "Just a little further, need to pinpoint where the bastard is holed up, just a little further."

He moves onward, slowly and carefully, trying to remember as much as he can about what he had gleaned of the secret passages in this place.

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeah, if events inspire a roll against turning tail and running like hell, I think I'll go ahead and commit to failing that.

[Bennosuke]

Is Karl going up the stairs, towards the kitchen, or down the hall by the ominous painting?

[Daishain]

Karl heads right, towards the living room. The fresh trail was down here, and whatever the prince's mental state, it seemed unlikely he'd be hanging about in the servant's wing for long.

Before moving on, he pauses to call those waiting at the gate, informing them in a low voice of what has been found thus far, "It appears the prince alone remains here, no traps or reinforcements in evidence. This building is riddled with secret passages though, he could hunt us like mice in this place if we don't know where to go. I'm attempting to pinpoint his location."

[Bennosuke]

The living room is a small well lit room filled with several luxurious looking velvet lined chairs and a longer leather couch. The room has clearly been involved in a similar struggle. Ornate lace shaded lamps sprinkle the room with a low yellow light, though one of the lamps has been overturned, one of the bulbs shattering glass across the cream marble floor. On the near wall is mounted a massive plasma TV, its black mirrored surface covered in a spider web of cracks spreading from several points of impact. By the downed lamp is a trail of dark blood that has nearly dried, which smears its way out of the living room into a hallway across from where Karl stands.

On the wall across from the TV screen is a large oak bookshelf. The contents of the books are a mixture of Christian literary studies, modern Psychology texts, books on the history of The Holy Roman Empire, and textbooks on modern American History. Hanging over the squat but ornate bronze cross. Painted in the center of the cross is a severe looking portrait of Christ, one hand raised to bless the viewer, with pictures of The Passion depicted on each spoke of the cross, each spoke capped with an ornate jeweled crown.

[Thundercracker]

Anna stayed a decent distance behind Karl but still within line of sight, and kept her eyes open for where Miho’s mirror might be hidden.

[Bennosuke]

Anna follows the trail of blood left by Karl, the pungent metallic scent marking a path for her as she follows her companion deeper into the abandoned home.

Karl in turn, follows the smear of blood across the ground from the living room into a a narrow and unlit hallway. His preternatural vision prevents him from stumbling over another corpse, this one similarly fresh. Her server's uniform has been torn open at the abdomen, producing a tail of viscera that hang coiled around her feet. Her hair appears to have been wrenched from its bun in clumps, and the freed section by which she was likely dragged is tangled in clotted blood. Her face is a veritable mess of gashes and chewed flesh, one eyeball clearly having been punctured, and the other swollen shut from the damage to the surrounding tissues. Her body is left at the foot of a spiral staircase, with steps both climbing up and down.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

What had happened here, why had the Prince attackedhisniwn servants?

Had he been consumed entirely by the Beast? Or did he simply frenzy when he heard about his failure to kill most of his rivals at the Opera house? Anna hoped it was the former, she didn’t know how they would be able to contend with Gorman’s dominate if he could still use it.

[Bennosuke]

As the group approaches the stairwell, deciding whether to go up or down, the corpse suddenly jerks wildly, arms and legs flexing then extending in a rapid uncoordinated motion. Like a marionette, the woman sits upright, her mangled face looking nowhere, head tilted laxidazicly to one side. Then she stands up, and a hunk of cheek covered in clotted blood falls from her face to her feet. The thing moans as it takes a step forward.

None of the Kindred standing before the corpse were strangers to the supernatural, but necromancy was not something that anyone was likely familiar with.

(OOC: So an Intelligence + Occult Roll at -1 can be used to avoid a Frenzy check by helping to identify how the body may be reanimated, otherwise, please give me a frenzy check of Resolve + Composure +1

Also, Ladorak, is Lillith following suit as well?)

[Thundercracker]

Spoiler

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occult + int -1 :(2d10)[8][10](18)
Resolve + composure +1 (7d10)[8][8][5][6][5][3][6](41)
10 again: (9d10)[4][6][10][9][7][3][6][9][1](55)

Anna Wu

Anna jerked back, out of immediate range of whatever it was that was shambling towards them, and quickly conveyed to the others what she suspected it was as she brought out the combat knife Julian had given her.

[Ladorak]

As Anna jumps back Lilith narrowly avoided skewering her new ally on her new Bowie knife, which would have been as embarrassing as it was ruinous. Thankfully she was able to turn her wrist at the last second, leaving Anna to rebound harmlessly from the flat of the blade. She hisses, more in frustration then anything else. If the Prince thought an animated corpse was going to dissuade them he obviously hadn't thought very deep about the nature of his subjects.

Spoiler

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Intelligence+occult-untrained-1
4+0-3-1 = A chance dice
(1d10)[9]

[Bennosuke]

Though neither vampire had ever seen the power used in practice, both Anna and Lillith were familiar with the rumors of Theban Sorcerers using their blood magic to animate corpses before... though there were rumors of even stranger Disciplines tied to Bloodlines of myth that allowed other necromancer powers! The realization prevents either Kindred from succumbing to the primitive fears of The Beast!

Spoiler: OOC

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Great rolls! Waiting on Daishain now.

[Daishain]

Karl startles back as well before composing himself. Grateful that none could see his momentary loss of dignity, he states, "I've heard such things were possible, but I've never seen anything like it in play before. Do either of you know of any particular method of disrupting the technique? I suppose we could try a stab to the brains, though that would require getting much closer than I would care for."

If the corpse is moving with any real speed, Karl will pick up a chair and use it to pin the thing against the floor or a wall.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rolled 2 8s in the OOC thread.

[Bennosuke]

The salvaged corpse stumbles forward, its single eye seeing nothing, its shredded lips agape in a twisted silent scream. The thing's steps are like that of a drunkards, but its hands are raised in fists at eye level in a bad parody of a boxer's.

(OOC: Okay then nice rolls all! The thing means you all harm. If you plan on combating it, please roll initiative)

[Daishain]

Karl hesitates only another moment before saying, "I I think we can safely assume that the whole house is going to be filled with these zombies. They definitely complicate matters, especially when it comes to scouting the place quietly, let's get out of here and report back to the gate."

Assuming the others agree, Karl will retreat out of the house the way they came in. If the zombie manages to interfere somehow, he will act to distract or impede it before slipping around and getting out himself.

[Thundercracker]

Anna nods and follows Karl back to the front.

[Bennosuke]

The trio turn around and begin to make their way back down the hallway. They make it back to the living room, where they are met by the dead guardsman with the torn out neck. His face is still screwed up in that wide eyed open mouthed stare, his head still thrown back and canted to the right. He shambles towards the Kindred, making a wheezing noise through the gash in his neck, his eyes staring off towards the ceiling.

[Ladorak]

Lilith nods silently and falls in behind Karl. As they make their way back out she mutters quietly 'It's safe to say most of my assumptions about the Prince have been false, but I can't imagine him killing his own like this, not on this scale anyway.'
When she sees the guardsman she slings her rifle and takes hold of her huge knife with both hands 'Let's try to do this quietly.'

Spoiler

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Retreating with Karl
Use 'Where the bodies are buried' merit: Does the Prince have any enemies capable of this sort of magic?

Edit: You ninjaed me :p I'll roll init in the OOC

[Daishain]

Karl looks for a clean way to get around the thing rather than engaging. If no such opportunity arises, he'll look around for something to engage the dead man with rather than just his bare hands. A heavy piece of furniture to knock the thing over or pin it with while the group gets out would be ideal.

Spoiler: OOC

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Need a roll for operation "shove the zombie around with a chair?"

Initiative (1d10+9)[18]

[Daishain]

Karl grabs hold of a heavy chair, starts to tug, and realizes he's not well suited for this, looking to the other two he asks, "Can you give me a hand with this? We just need to knock the thing to the side and get out of here. I don't think we want to get bogged down trying to kill the dead."

[Thundercracker]

Anna grabbed a chair and tried to pin the zombie so the other two could get by.

Spoiler

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wits + brawl: (6d10)[4][2][6][9][9][9](39)
10 again: (6d10)[8][8][2][2][10][1](31)

Does Anna have any idea who could have created these things?

[Bennosuke]

Anna pushes the chair into the approaching corpse, pinning the body with the seat's long legs. Surprisingly the nearly decapitated body barely budges, and she finds that though she has cleared a path for her companions, she likely won't be able to get by without risking getting hit or grabbed by the corpse.

(OOC: I am assuming Karl let Anna go first, so he can act now, or continue waiting. If he is going to wait, I am going to act for the zombie)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“There’s only one Kindred in there besides us, probably Father Calavera, based on the number of these things running around,” Anna said.

[Daishain]

Karl slips past, then levels his rifle at the zombie, "I'll shoot it if need be, but it would be better if someone gets it with a knife."

[Ladorak]

Cloaked all in shadow save the silvery glimmer of the blade's edge Lilith moved in with a wordless nod to Karl. She carried the Bowie knife before her as if it were a crucifix and could ward off evil. Well, wasn't that true in a sense?

The blade came up and then came down with a sickening thunk.

Spoiler

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Attacking all-out
Melee+Strength-untrained+all out+vigor
0+3-1+2+1
(5d10)[3][5][7][7][3](25)
10again
(5d10)[1][8][8][2][9](28)

[Bennosuke]

Lillith's muscles become filled with a monstrous and unholy strength as she angles around Anna and the chair to take a swipe at the zombie. But wood splinters from one of the chair legs, as Lillith's Bowie knife hacks out a deep furrow in the chair's thick wooden leg. The corpse lets out a wheezing hiss from its gashed throat at the near miss, it's hands fumbling with the chair legs to try to find a way to get around to Anna.

As Anna wrestles for control with the dead security officer, a dark silhouette fills the door frame leading back to the house's main entrance. The older man, dressed in a black butler's outfit, has come to the party. His forehead slopes awkwardly due to the collapsed ruins of his skull, and blood and brain tissue stain the back of his neck and shoulders. He moves towards Karl, though seems to see nothing.

Almost simultaneous to this arrival, the lady servant, dressed in a similar outfit, and with the shredded cheek and face comes through the doorway leading back to the stairwell the trio had just left. She moans slightly as she approaches, coming around the leather couch towards Anna and Lillith.

(OOC: So start of round two. Technically this goes back to Karl, but TC please go ahead and roll Str + Brawl/Weaponry for your grapple turn. I'll let you use weaponry since you could argue the chair is an improvised weapon.)

[Thundercracker]

Anna pinned the zombie against the wall with the chair, leaving it completely open for attack by the others.

“Let’s finish all three of these off here, so we don’t have to fight them later,” she said.

Spoiler

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zombie loses defense.

[Bennosuke]

The reanimated corpse hisses and squirms against the chair, but Anna twists the legs, suddenly off-shifting the thing's arms, and allowing her enough torque and momentum to drive the thing back, pinning it against the wall. The thing's head slams against the wall, snapping it forward, so that now the zombie is lazily staring down at the ground as it flails about.

[Daishain]

Karl curses as things get even more complicated. Certainly not going to wrestle with the butler, can't worry about the noise anymore. No doubt the prince knows they're there as it is. He steps up, if he can slide around the creature to the far side without it reacting he will do so and then point the rifle point blank at its head before firing to bring it down and clear the path.

If it does react to his presence, he'll do the same from the front, firing from just out of arms reach before backing off a bit.

In the aftermath of the gunfire he calls out, "No, we're not staying any longer than we must, get past them by whatever means are needed and keep moving."

Spoiler: OOC

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Either way, not firing from an angle from which a stray bullet might hit the other two
dex+firearms+short burst (5d10)[2][3][10][1][10](26)
ten again (5d10)[7][10][8][2][6](33)
Damn, that's a nice roll.