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

[Bennosuke]

Epilogue

The next evening when you wake up, The Pulse is wild with conversations. Lady Stardust announces from her account that Prince Gorman is dead and that Nicholas D'Agostino has been anointed the new Prince of San Francisco. Her declaration accuses Gorman of multiple counts of Diablerie, forcing Blood Bonds on unwilling Kindred, and reckless disregard for the Traditions of the city including the attacks on Elysium that occurred the night before. The post reads as an enthusiastic piece of propaganda; and it also provides a list of deceased Kindred from the prior night's attacks. The list is surprisingly small, but includes Gorman and Schultz. However, the list of the truly deceased does not include Frank Beato.

The Pulse is spilling to the brim with reactionary posts from Kindred of various circles reacting to the news. You receive multiple contacts from colleagues within your Covenant, and other undead allies, and the general shared feeling among posters is "Can you believe it? I knew it all along! Gorman's death could not have come soon enough". Supporters of the ex-Prince are decidedly silent on The Pulse.

************************************************** ***********

The coterie now sits together in a booth at Mel's Diner, the garish throwback tourist trap that also serves as a frequent open hunting ground for the Kindred of San Francisco. When Karl, Anna, Aisling and Lillith had entered the room, their eyes locked on a pair of vampires that they recognize as Carthians. There was a moment of bristling glares between apex predators, before the two Revolutionaries exited their seats and quickly rushed out of the diner. Perhaps the two knew they were simply outnumbered, or perhaps rumors were already spreading about the coterie's involvement in the previous night's violence.

It was still early, no later than 7pm, and though may booths at Mel's were filled with families of tourists, there were still plenty of booths with too-drunk college kids, or the lone vagabond who had scrounged up the few dollars for a hamburger and a hot cup of coffee. The coterie had the diner to themselves, and it would not be too hard to select an appropriate meal; and the vampires were oh so hungry.

Spoiler: OOC

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If you have not yet, please take a look at the OOC thread. This is going to be a hunting scene primarily flavor and the establishment of a group cohesion. I will not be requiring rolls, and I am leaving everything incredibly open ended to allow you to play out this group hunt as you want. Feel free to make up your own prey and have fun with this scene.

As it is a new day, each character has spent 1 vitae to rise, which I am reflecting in the character boxes. However, some characters have lasting damage, which their body would try to spend vitae to heal, which can only be prevented with the cost of a WP. Please see below:

Anna has 1 bashing damage and would spend one additional vitae, dropping to 2 vitae.
Karl has 3 bashing damage and would spend 2 additional vitae, dropping to 4 vitae
Lillith has 7 bashing damage and would spend an additional 4 vitae, dropping to 1 vitae!

Please let me know if you are spending the WP!

[Thundercracker]

Spoiler

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Anna will keep the WP. I didn't know we needed to spend it to avoid healing.

Anna Wu

"I'm starving," Anna said for the third time, "I don't care what anyone says, I'm gorging tonight. First I'm going to buy some booze for that hobo over there and his buddies and get them to drink until they pass out so I can get a good buzz. Then I'm going to find out where those kids are partying and see how many falling down drunk college students I can drink from."

"Dunno if they'll let you into the party though, old man," she said to Karl.

"Unless anyone else has any better ideas?" she asked, looking around at the others.

[Daishain]

Karl tries not to let his hunger show, but there's a definite edge to the way he looks at the kine in the diner. "Hobo appetizers may not be particularly appetizing, but it seems as good a plan as any. We can take turns stalking them as they depart, with another watching for observers to be sure. If you three want to then get yourselves invited to a frat party, yeah, I probably would be tough to fit in. Go ahead without me, I'll just snag an extra loner for myself."

[Thundercracker]

Karl tries not to let his hunger show, but there's a definite edge to the way he looks at the kine in the diner. "Hobo appetizers may not be particularly appetizing, but it seems as good a plan as any. We can take turns stalking them as they depart, with another watching for observers to be sure. If you three want to then get yourselves invited to a frat party, yeah, I probably would be tough to fit in. Go ahead without me, I'll just snag an extra loner for myself."

"why don't we smuggle some out for you?" Anna asked.

[Bennosuke]

Aisling raps her nails against the table counter, the tap tap tap is audible enough to those in the booth, but otherwise drowned out by din of the diner. Her voice is a low raspy purr, "Are we killing tonight? If not we may want to be... selective in our prey." This is followed by a shrug and Aisling adds, "Not that I am opposed to the more simple solution if everyone is hungry."

Spoiler: OOC@Daishain/Ladorak

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I do need a response to my prior question in the OOC spoiler about whether or not you are curbing your overnight healing with a WP

[Thundercracker]

Aisling raps her nails against the table counter, the tap tap tap is audible enough to those in the booth, but otherwise drowned out by din of the diner. Her voice is a low raspy purr, "Are we killing tonight? If not we may want to be... selective in our prey." This is followed by a shrug and Aisling adds, "Not that I am opposed to the more simple solution if everyone is hungry."

Spoiler: OOC@Daishain/Ladorak

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I do need a response to my prior question in the OOC spoiler about whether or not you are curbing your overnight healing with a WP

"Uh, I hadn't planned on it," Anna said, "I generally try to avoid bodies if I can. Too complicated."

[Daishain]

Karl states, "Lets still try to avoid that, especially at this party you're talking about. We can probably push the loners a little more than normal though, if there's a mistake the kine will still be too distracted by the big fire last night to notice."

[Thundercracker]

Karl states, "Lets still try to avoid that, especially at this party you're talking about. We can probably push the loners a little more than normal though, if there's a mistake the kine will still be too distracted by the big fire last night to notice."

“Okay, let’s go,” Anna said, “hobo appetizers first, then the main course. We can meet up again later for dessert.”

[Erulasto]

Aisling slipped from the booth, stretching languidly as she did so.

”That is acceptable.” She said. "Though...preferably one who is not quite so filthy."

[Thundercracker]

Aisling slipped from the booth, stretching languidly as she did so.

”That is acceptable.” She said. "Though...preferably one who is not quite so filthy."

“Let me know if you find one,” Anna said, “as for me, I’m taking the first one I can get.”

[Ladorak]

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry took me ages to find that question about healing. So it'll leave me on 1 BP, wouldn't I use that to wake up? If so that's auto-frenzy right? Probably best to Wp it then

Lilith grins, the warping mask of obfuscation hiding the ruins of her face but leaving the ugly leer just as it was 'Do as you will sisters, is the whole of the law. At least until we have law makers and enforcers again. If you ever felt the need to leave a body on the floor this is your big chance.'

[Daishain]

Karl nods at one just finishing up, "Anna, I think you're up, take this one and I'll run interference."

Spoiler: OOC

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Lets move this along a little.

[Erulasto]

The Gangrel allows her gaze to wander about, looking appraisingly at all the tasty morsels spread out for them. How did the old saying go? Something about a kid in a candy store?

Spoiler: OOC

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Wits 4 + Composure 3 for Perception

(7d10)[9][5][3][6][4][3][5](35)

Looking for someone who might be a bit easier to target.

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: Apologies for the delay. As previously stated, this is much more in the player's hands. Don't worry about rolling, and feel free to take more control, though I will be happy to provide setting, characters and reaction based on how players post. Also, characters can "share" a meal, its not like each character has to take their own prey out of the diner... that may be a little suspicious.)

Anna was the first to rise from the group's booth, moving quickly to the diner counter, where a man in an oversized and dirty sweatshirt and torn jeans was collapsed face first, snoring loudly. His hair and bears were turning from a sandy brown to a dirty grey, and were stained with blackish soot. Resting next to the man's head was an untouched plate of cold scrambled eggs and sausage that were soggy from the puddle of grease that had been extruded by gravity. It was a good thing Anna did not need to breath, as the man's stench had likely driven away nearly every other customer to the other end of the counter. Even the overweight hostess with the hairnet seemed to avoiding this side of the bar. The man continues to snore, completely unaware of the vampire's approach.

As Anna strides away, Aisling's eyes come to rest on a pair of frat boys in the booth adjacent. One with feathered blond hair sits turned away from Aisling so that she cannot see him, but the other; a boy of barely twenty with buzzed brown hair and bright blue eyes flashes a winning and flirtatious grin her way. She can see that several pitchers of beer sit empty at their table, and "Mr. Charming's" baby blue polo shirt is stained in several places from sloppy drinking.

Spoiler: OOC: Daishain:

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Still waiting on your reply man.

Spoiler: OOC: Ladorak

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I had factored in the BP to rise, so Lillith would have one BP after fully healing and spending to wake up. I figure you still want to burn the WP?

[Thundercracker]

Anna would have very much preferred to dine on the college kids, but she was so damn hungry and more prone to making a mistake, and there would be questions. With a hobo or a bunch of hobos, they had used up their family and friends before ending up on the streets, so they were less likely to be missed.

She whispered into the homeless man’s ear, about how she was doing research for a book she was writing, if he was interested in being interviewed. There was a few shots of booze in it for him, the whole bottle if she would introduce him to his homeless buddies.

The homeless guy, always up for a free handout, scarfed down some of his food and then Anna led him outside next to a dumpster where she plied him with alcohol until he couldn’t see straight, then she went for the jugular, sucking greedily until she wasn’t starving anymore. The blood was warm and tinged with gin, enough to give her a good buzz. Much as she wanted to continue, she held off, some sense of morality still guiding her actions. Still, the dirty man was completely unconscious when she sealed his wounds. She washed her mouth out with a swig of gin and poured some on the man, before leaving the bottle by his hand.

Only somewhat satiated, Anna returns to the diner and went straight to the restroom to wash the stink of homeless man off her face and hair, and added a touch of lip gloss. She spritzed some perfume on herself as well for good measure, then followed up with Aisling to see if she could get invited as a tag along, the old man’s blood pumping through her veins and keeping her from looking like Death.

Spoiler

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erulasto why don’t you make a post and then I’ll jump into the scene.

[Erulasto]

The shy, awkward type was easy enough to accomplish for Aisling. The Gangrel was still struggling to adapt to all the ways the world had changed in her long slumber. She ran her hands across her dress to smooth out some of the crumpled look and glanced curiously to Anna as she approached.

After a moment of thought, Aisling picked her way across the room towards the duo of young men and approached their table with the best attempt at a charming smile of her own.

”Hello.” The Gangrel said a bit stiltedly. ”Having a pleasant night?”

[Bennosuke]

The boy with brown hair flashes another winning smile as he looks up at Aisling and replies, "I am now."

The blond one, who Aisling can see is much more drunk, his face flushed and eyes glassy and bloodshot, stares up at her with numb curiosity.

Brown hair scoots over to offer Aisling a seat, saying, "Here, come sit with us. My name is Chase."

(OOC@TC: How much blood is Anna taking?)

[Thundercracker]

The boy with brown hair flashes another winning smile as he looks up at Aisling and replies, "I am now."

The blond one, who Aisling can see is much more drunk, his face flushed and eyes glassy and bloodshot, stares up at her with numb curiosity.

Brown hair scoots over to offer Aisling a seat, saying, "Here, come sit with us. My name is Chase."

(OOC@TC: How much blood is Anna taking?)

Anna

"Hey Ais, mind if I join you?" Anna said, sliding in on the opposite side of the table from her.

"Hi guys, I'm Anna. Is there a party tonight?" she asked, "my friends Lilith, Aisling, and I were ditched and we're looking for someone else to hang out with now."
She looked at the guy next to her with barely disguised hunger. No doubt he would misinterpret it as something else. If they could get these two idiots into a room, the three of them could have their way, taking turns with them. Oh, that would be fun. The guys would probably enjoy it too, assuming they survived.

[Ladorak]

Why not have a little fun? was a central tenet of Lilith unlife, even starving as she was she felt the need to pick her food apart. She had been under such pressure recently, it would be good to unwind.

Aisling had created an opening for her, and she always appreciated such little courtesies, but for the game she wanted to play a little distance would be best, lest she spoil their hunts.

Lilith made her way to the bat and scanned the room for the guy that every room like this had, the quiet one on the edge of the crowd, the one who had plenty to say but never got a chance to say it, always one step behind the conversation, closed off from the inner circle by a ring of backs. Sometimes it took a while to spot them, but they're always there if you watch long enough.

Once Lilith has her mark and a glass of wine in her hand she wastes no time, she conspires to brush against him, as if simply passing in the crowd, but as soon as she makes contact she unleashes the power of the blood, Majesty and Nightmare unfurl, bombarding him with waves of desire and disgust in equal confusing measure. Recoiling from the contact she starts to apologies, then stops as their gazes lock, her eyes widening in artificial surprise. After a few moments she simply says 'Oh' quietly, almost to herself.

[Bennosuke]

The drunk blond boy barely looks up as Anna pushes in on his side of the booth, simply allowing himself to be rolled over. The boy with the brown hair named Chase has already got an arm around Aisling. He leans across the table towards Anna and says, "I'm sure we can find something fun to do, ain't that right David." Chase's beer breath hits Anna like a semi on ice, but David simply groans in response to his companion's statement.

Chase reclines back, pulling Aisling in close. He says in a low near whisper, "Damn girl, your skin is cold. Stay close, I'll keep you warm."

The man Lillith spies is locked behind a laptop screen, sitting at the diner counter on the far end from where the homeless man had been. A half eaten hamberger and soggy fries slump ignored next to the computer. His freckled round face and scraggly beard are lit by the glow of his computer as he thoughtfully types away at the keyboard. Every once in a while the man stops his typing to take a swig of a dark looking beer, as he peers out around the room, perhaps looking for inspiration for his next short story or novel. Lillith approaches with her three dollar diner wine, and the writer looks up from behind his computer, watching as she approaches.

(OOC@Ladorak: So Lillith is described as sporting a pretty obvious disfigurement. I recognize I've put her in this position, so I won't hold it against you/her, but what is she doing to hide her Nosferatu-ness???

Also, I had factored in the BP to rise, so Lillith would have one BP after fully healing and spending to wake up. I figure you still want to burn the WP?)

[Daishain]

Karl keeps his own feeding simple. After Anna is done with her appetizer, he follows the next loner out, a gruff looking man who'd already had a bit too much to drink. He ghosts along behind his prey, waiting until they enter a poorly lit area. In a move perfected through long years of practice, he trips the drunkard, and latches on while the man is still disoriented from the fall. Within a few moments, Karl moves on, leaving the man lying where he fell on the sidewalk. He should wake shortly with a bad headache and a muddled understanding of what just happened. Slipping back into the diner, he looks for the next likely opportunity.

Spoiler: OOC

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Taking 3 BP, so up to 7. Another 3bp feed would get me up to full, but I can stop here without too much trouble. Karl would be fine doing a brief hunt tomorrow night instead of trying to force it now if there isn't something real easy to handle.

[Bennosuke]

The man's blood is hot in Karl's throat, hot as it enters his bloodstream; filled with a fiery anger that seems to have been stoked by the heavy taint of whiskey, rather than blunted by it. Karl's own beats rises to this heat, growling and purring hungrily in Karl's chest as he feeds, only to rise in a roar when Karl forces himself to remove his mouth and break the feed. The blood was good, but Karl is far from satisfied, his fists clench in frustration as the man drops unconscious to the abandoned sidewalk. He forces his feet to turn and walk away from the collapsed blood bag. 'still could have had some more' roars The Beast, but Karl's conscious mind registers a separate thought; the drunk man had been off to go hurt someone. Maybe the rage was intended for a wife, or a rival, but he had left the diner with the planned intent on causing someone harm.

(OOC: Will updated Karl's character sheet. I leave it up to you if he investigates the man further, or joins the others. If Karl goes back into the diner, he finds Anna, and Aisling seducing the two drunk frat boys)

[Ladorak]

Spoiler

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OOC: Obfuscate 1 is how she's in the bar not making a scene. In regards to her prey, she is not hiding the 'scar'. And yes, still burn the blood point.

Lilith reached across the counter and gently brushed her fingers across the back of the laptop. She slowly pushed it closed, leaning in as she did so, giving him a good close look at the two sides of her face and the gash in between, but also giving him a fantastic view of her cleavage. She kept hitting him with supernatural feelings of disgust and confused arousal, elation and fear. She grinned like a murderer but paired it with the biggest pair of come hither eyes she could manage 'Whatever you're writing about, what's about to happen to you is much more interesting.'
Moving swiftly she is around the side of the counter and sitting beside him before he can react. She spiked the sudden movement with enough fear to make him turn white, until she sat down and their hips brushed, then she bombarded him with arousal until he turned bright red 'I'm Charlotte, and you're already trapped in my web.'

[Bennosuke]

(OOC@Ladorak: Just spelling it out to make sure I understood you. Lillith has allowed her body to heal, bringing her to one blood point total, and keeping her WP at 3/5. This is updated in the character box.)

The man looks up from his laptop, his eyes going wide as he catches a glimpse of Lillith in all her glory. He looks like he is about to spit out a mouthful of his stout, but suddenly Lillith is on the other side of him, her cold body against his. As if afraid to make eye contact, the man looks down and makes a hard swallow to clear his mouth for speech. His scent is ripe with mortal vitality and the heavy application of a spiced cologne. The Beast roars with hunger, begging Lillith to strike now, to feed, to take all of him into her till there is nothing left. The hunger is so acute that she can feel her flesh crawl with the fire of the hunger, her fingers quivering and twitching like an addict in withdrawal.

Taking a nervous glance out of the corner of his eyes, the man says, "Uh, hi Charlotte. I'm James." The man is very red in the face, and Lillith can see her powers are having the desired affect on the man as she can smell the vitality rising to the most superficial parts of his anatomy. "Can I buy you a drink or something," James asks before catching sight of the glass of red wine still in Lillith's hand and says bashfully, "I mean... I'm sorry."

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(OOC: No word from Erulasto, so just gonna post for Aisling to keep things moving)

Aisling leans deeper into the man's embrace and coos, "I'm sure you have what I need to stay warm," her voice low and vibrating like a housecat's purr after catching a little mouse. Her words have the desired affect, and his eyes go wide with an excited hunger for a moment, before tightening his embrace.

He looks up at his companion and at Anna and says, "So, uh, why don't we take this back to my place. I have a full wet bar, I can make you both something delicious to drink." He says this confidently, like a car salesman closing a deal.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“That depends, what kind of drinks do you know how to make?” Anna asked, just to make him work a little bit before agreeing to go with him.

[Ladorak]

Lilith smiled, letting just a little of the Beast out in that seemingly friendly expression. Sharks had smiles too, technically, but one was unlikely to mistake it for a friendly gesture. Women and vampires were far more effective hunters, their prey feeling warmth and love until the final strike, and even after it in many cases. Show me the shark whose prey come begging for another feeding frenzy thought Lilith with a smug superiority as she eyed her soon-to-be victim.

'No James, don't be sorry.' Lilith causally reached out and tipped the glass of wine out onto the floor 'You really should buy me a drink first.'

[Erulasto]

”That would be lovely.” Aisling said, a light purr coloring her voice and making it a bit huskier. It wasn’t social graces that inspired such, but the over-libidinous Beast hiding just below the surface of the Gangrel’s mind.

”I am not as…particular…as my friend Anna hear about what I drink.” She teased, with a small wink to Anna.

[Bennosuke]

Chase leans across the table, flashing his perfect white smile at Anna, though he keeps his arm tight around Aisling. "Babe, I can make anything you want," he says, the statement forming a sort of challenge, before saying to his friend, "Ain't that right David?"

The drunk blond boy beside Anna gives an affirmative grumble, not even able to lift his head which is now resting on the table.

Chase leans back into his confident recline and then says to Aisling, "What's your friend's drink, beautiful? She's a gin and tonic drinker, right?" But he doesn't even wait for a reply, as he rises from his seat, giving Aisling a nudge so that both will exit. "I'll order us an Uber," he says, giving the two a moment to resist or offer to drive.

************************************************** **********************

Though Lillith thought it was not possible, the man's face turns even brighter red, his eyes becoming perfect circles as he looks from Lillith, to her spilled drink, then back to the Nosferatu. Stammering to get his response out, James says, "Um, ya, sure. What can I get you? Do you want another glass of wine?"

Lillith chances a glance behind her and sees the table where Anna and Aisling are seated with the two frat boys. The less drunk of the two has risen from his chair, and it looks like he may be looking to leave with the group.

[Daishain]

Karl hesitates as he starts to leave. He should do something. Wait, why? Why care what his food was up to?

Turning back and acting on impulse, Karl fishes out the man's wallet just long enough to snap a picture of his driver's license. He'd check in on things later. As he goes back into the diner, Karl mutters to himself, "Damnit, I'm getting soft for some reason."

Back in the diner, Karl sees that the others have things in hand, and so finds a quiet corner and calls Fred.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Gin and tonic?” Anna said, also standing up, “better be one hell of a gin and tonic.”

She will let him uber them.