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

[Haval]

"It would probably be best if one of us covered everyone, actually," Anna said, "were you able to get a hunt in?"

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its one bp per use, regardless of how many ppl covered, if i'm reading the sourcebook correctly.

'I did. But I've never had the knack for using Obfuscate on others. Unsurprisingly I'd say a pair of Mekhet would have more skill with it.'

Spoiler: ooc

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Rachel only has Obfuscate 1 for the record

[Bennosuke]

Victor points up at one of the windows where the light is on. "Looks like someone is home," he says with a grin, "Wasn't the plan that some of us were going to try to distract him while the others entered through the back? I'm sure you Shadows know more than I do, but I thought your powers wouldn't hide the sound of a door closing, or floorboards creaking. God forbid those keypads make beeps or anything" He turns to Anna and says, "Rachel and I can try to distract him while the rest of you try to break in through the rear?"

[Haval]

'I suppose we could see how loud their car alarm is. Anything to get anyone inside watching the front of the house.'

[Thundercracker]

Victor points up at one of the windows where the light is on. "Looks like someone is home," he says with a grin, "Wasn't the plan that some of us were going to try to distract him while the others entered through the back? I'm sure you Shadows know more than I do, but I thought your powers wouldn't hide the sound of a door closing, or floorboards creaking. God forbid those keypads make beeps or anything" He turns to Anna and says, "Rachel and I can try to distract him while the rest of you try to break in through the rear?"

"I was actually thinking you might be able to convince him to stake himself as a plan A, with filling him full of holes as a plan B," Anna said.

[Bennosuke]

Victor shrugs a little nervously. "I can try," he says, "but if he's smart he won't make eye contact... and what's our angle anyways? Rachel and I go knocking on his door, Saul is probably gonna be on high alert, especially if he's waiting for his Ghoul to come back after committing arson on another Kindred's Haven. He might be more likely to stake one of us out of precaution than he is to allow me to get the drop on him."

[Haval]

Victor shrugs a little nervously. "I can try," he says, "but if he's smart he won't make eye contact... and what's our angle anyways? Rachel and I go knocking on his door, Saul is probably gonna be on high alert, especially if he's waiting for his Ghoul to come back after committing arson on another Kindred's Haven. He might be more likely to stake one of us out of precaution than he is to allow me to get the drop on him."

'Exactly. Fun as it might be to make someone do that most of us have more sense if they've been around for any time at all. How worried do we all think he might be if I show up and offer the Circle's help in dealing with the Spear? I can't say I've ever met Saul but if I wasn't involved with the rest of you I might be on his side. At the least I ought to be convincing.'

[Daishain]

"Chances are by now at least some of our foe is well aware that you're running with us. It could work, or maybe he already knows if you are here we will be too." Karl thinks for a time, "All right, so what I'm going to suggest is that everyone gets past the gate and in a good position to breach the sanctuary. Anna and I slip in further to find out if we can just what Saul's up to, and plan from there. If we are caught while assessing, you'll be in a good spot to rush in and assist us, if not we'll coordinate to take the target."

[Haval]

"Chances are by now at least some of our foe is well aware that you're running with us. It could work, or maybe he already knows if you are here we will be too." Karl thinks for a time, "All right, so what I'm going to suggest is that everyone gets past the gate and in a good position to breach the sanctuary. Anna and I slip in further to find out if we can just what Saul's up to, and plan from there. If we are caught while assessing, you'll be in a good spot to rush in and assist us, if not we'll coordinate to take the target."

'Fair enough.' To Victor, 'How is your Obfuscate anyway?'

[Bennosuke]

"Sounds good to me," Gabe says dutifully, in reply to his Sire's plan, though he's smart enough to turn his attention to Anna and wait for her reply. He adds, "I can provide covering fire, if necessary," indicating his military grade automatic pistol.

Victor shrugs at Rachel's question. "Shadow tricks aren't really my thing," he says uncomfortably, but adds, "but I'll do what I can to stay quiet."

[Thundercracker]

"Chances are by now at least some of our foe is well aware that you're running with us. It could work, or maybe he already knows if you are here we will be too." Karl thinks for a time, "All right, so what I'm going to suggest is that everyone gets past the gate and in a good position to breach the sanctuary. Anna and I slip in further to find out if we can just what Saul's up to, and plan from there. If we are caught while assessing, you'll be in a good spot to rush in and assist us, if not we'll coordinate to take the target."

“Or we could cover everyone with Obfuscate,” Anna said.

She turned her senses towards the compound.

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anna will use auspex: “how many kindred are inside?”
Not sure what the roll is as I’m on my phone, but feel free to make it for me.

[Haval]

"Sounds good to me," Gabe says dutifully, in reply to his Sire's plan, though he's smart enough to turn his attention to Anna and wait for her reply. He adds, "I can provide covering fire, if necessary," indicating his military grade automatic pistol.

Victor shrugs at Rachel's question. "Shadow tricks aren't really my thing," he says uncomfortably, but adds, "but I'll do what I can to stay quiet."

Rachel muses, 'Maybe I should get a gun at some point just to have it. It feels like everyone in America seems to have one.'

And she'll grin at Victor, 'Works for me. At worst you might draw attention from the rest of us.'

[Bennosuke]

anna will use auspex: “how many kindred are inside?”

Anna allows her vision to cloud as she rouses The Beast, calling on its preternatural insights for help. A low rumbling fills her ears, like both the growl of a dire wolf and the winds of a might storm. The Beast shows her the vision of two walking corpses inside the house. They are no more then skeletons with peeling skin and rotting flesh, but their dry lips are pulled back to show fangs. The two creatures appear to pace about inside a well furnished house. The vision fades before Anna can gather anything further from it.

(OOC: Anna got two successes and can ask the Beast one more question)

[Thundercracker]

Anna allows her vision to cloud as she rouses The Beast, calling on its preternatural insights for help. A low rumbling fills her ears, like both the growl of a dire wolf and the winds of a might storm. The Beast shows her the vision of two walking corpses inside the house. They are no more then skeletons with peeling skin and rotting flesh, but their dry lips are pulled back to show fangs. The two creatures appear to pace about inside a well furnished house. The vision fades before Anna can gather anything further from it.

(OOC: Anna got two successes and can ask the Beast one more question)

"How many Ghouls are inside?"

[Bennosuke]

The vision of the two corpses returns, though now The Beast’s focus shifts to just one of the corpses, still pacing about. The figure stops its jaw moving lips peaked back as if it is talking to the other. Anna realize that one of its sockets is filled with a dark, glossy wriggling mass. The thing in the socket is alive, shifting and squirming till it finally crawls out of the eye hole, a fully formed and very plump brown rat. Its tail comes out last, squiggling like a worm, pink and plump. The rodent crawls down the rotting flesh of the man’s face before stopping at its chin. Tiny claws dig furrows into bloodless yellowed flesh. The rat lifts its head, beady black eyes staring directly at Anna as its lips curl back to hiss.

(One ghoul, clinging close to its master)

[Thundercracker]

"Chances are by now at least some of our foe is well aware that you're running with us. It could work, or maybe he already knows if you are here we will be too." Karl thinks for a time, "All right, so what I'm going to suggest is that everyone gets past the gate and in a good position to breach the sanctuary. Anna and I slip in further to find out if we can just what Saul's up to, and plan from there. If we are caught while assessing, you'll be in a good spot to rush in and assist us, if not we'll coordinate to take the target."

"Two Kindred and one ghoul inside..." Anna whispered, "let's go."

[Bennosuke]

The coterie has decided they will sneak around the back of Saul's haven to enter through the back. This will require walking around fence that wraps around the front and side of the house, stopping near the rear corner, and entering a known key code into a back door in the fence. They know that they will then have to enter a separate code to enter into the back of the building, as described by Ignacio.


My understanding is that from here, Karl and Anna will enter the house proper, while the rest of the Kindred hang back. Please let me know who is activating what powers, or if your character is going to do anything special/specific/particular.

[Haval]

Rachel will take some time to activate her own Obfuscate, although it would be of limited value if she was seen skulking around in the front of Saul's house in the middle of the night. Once inside the fence she intends to approach the front of Saul's house, if only to draw attention from her associates.

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Just realised that Obfuscate 1 doesn't mean invisible. I suppose Rachel will take help if it's offered but otherwise she'll wait for the others to make a move first.

[Daishain]

Karl mentally collects himself before addressing Victor and Rachel, "Stay close, and move slow. Don't think too much about where your feet are going, or you might stumble over nothing. The sense of vagueness can be a little disorienting. Lets get in and assess the situation."

[Bennosuke]

Karl and Anna will lead the group around the back of Saul's property. Before they go, Rachel activates Face in the Crowd (OOC: No cost).

Spoiler: OOC

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Confirming before I move any further, because no one answered my last post. Karl and Anna both activate Cloak of the Night (each spending 1BP). They each also activate Touch of Shadow, so that they can apply cloak to Victor and Gabe, costing each an additional BP. Presumably, Anna touches Victor to apply the Discipline to him, and Frank touches Gabe.

This will bring Anna to 4BP and Karl to 5.

AGAIN, PLEASE CONFIRM

Around the back of the Haven, either Karl or Anna will use the code provided by Ignacio to unlock the gate's back door. The backyard is a well manicured grassy lawn, through which a cobblestone path winds. Around the periphery is a well maintained garden with roses, and bushes, and clusters of other sweet smelling flowers. The lawn itself is dotted with small statues that might be made of actual marble, most in the Grecian tradition. Off to the side of the lawn is a small garage that accesses the back alley. The garage door is closed, though tinted windows along its side might allow one to see into the garage, and a back door leads directly into the yard. Security cameras are planted into the ground, interspersed between the bushes and roses along the garden. Though none would pick up on any vampire in the yard, it is possible they might pick up the back door moving if Obfuscate isn't being applied.

The walkway leads up to a small porch, where a trio of Aderondak style lawn chairs and a hanging rocking chair rest. The back door appears to lead into kitchen, as described by Ignacia.

Will pause here both to await replies and to see if there is anything additional anyone wants to do before entering the house.

[Haval]

Rachel will roll her eyes at the sight of the statues and wonder how much they cost. How old was Saul anyway? She has a knife in one hand with the blade laid flat against her arm. She'll go and get a closer look at the tinted garage windows.

Spoiler: ooc

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Will take higher level Obfuscate if offered but will stick to Face in the Crowd otherwise. It's better that Victor and Gabe get help if neccessary.

[Thundercracker]

Anna offers to let Rachel keep a hand on her so her obfuscate can extend to her as well. No need to take unecessary risks.

She takes whatever appears to be the most commonly used path towards the home, intent on getting inside first and then messaging Saul.

[Bennosuke]

Spoiler: OOC

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Will give Diashain one more day to reply, then will spend the BP for him to move things forward. For both Karl and Anna, remember that the extended obfuscation only works if they maintain touch. So for example, Anna can't have a hand on Rachel, and on Victor the whole time, while also say texting on her phone or inputting a security code.

EDIT: Anna is now down to 4BP.

[Bennosuke]

The two Shadows use their powers in Obfuscate to hide the coterie in shadows created only by the blood. Once the ritual is completed, the group will enter the backyard.

Rachel takes a moment to glance into the garage, where she can barely make out an expensive looking black BMW sedan. Despite the darkened windows, the thing looks like out of an advertisement, like a wet dream of the bat mobile. She sees no signs of life inside the garage though, though she picks up the faintest scent of old blood.

Anna leads the group across the yard via the stone walkway. The stairs are wood but make almost no noise as the group ascends. The backdoor is key coded, and again Ignacio's information is all she needs to gain access. The lights are off in the kitchen, though there appears to be light trickling down from a stairwell in a hallway right past the kitchen. You can also hear the faint sound of movement coming from upstairs. The kitchen is pristine, and appears to be functional, though minimally used.

As far as you can tell, the movement from upstairs is not in response to the back door opening. Instead it sounds like at least one person might be pacing upstairs.

[Haval]

Rachel assumes the old blood was from the BMW and likely wasn't worth mentioning. The car did make her curious what might happen to Saul's stuff if there was ever a point where he no longer needed it.

Inside the house she'll take a moment to see if she could make out what the group upstairs were talking about. It was entirely likely they were expecting some sort of retaliation.

Spoiler: ooc

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Wits 3 + Composure 3 + Acute Senses 1
(7d10)[3][3][1][1][7][5][7](27)
Any 10s
(7d10)[9][2][6][1][2][1][9](30)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna messages Karl - "See if you can pinpoint where the two kindred and ghoul are."
She also prepares a message for Saul but does not send it yet: "Saul, this is Anna of the Prince's Hounds. We need you to come in for questioning. Please acknowledge."

She leads the way towards the stairwell. She wants to get sight of Saul as soon as possible.

[Bennosuke]

Rachel can't get any sense if those upstairs are even speaking. She can hear the footsteps, but even those are hard to place.

Karl gets Anna's message.

The group are able to move through the kitchen to the base of the stairs without any clear detection.

[Haval]

Rachel will let Anna take the lead and will be on the look out for any cameras inside the house.

[Daishain]

Karl moves through the house, keeping a hand on his charges as he tries to locate the occupants. He quickly checks the downstairs for any signs of people before moving to follow Anna on the stairs.

Spoiler: OOC

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wits+composure (5d10)[10][2][2][8][8](30)
ten again (5d10)[4][3][5][5][10](27)

[Bennosuke]

At the base of the stairs, both Karl and Anna pick up the distinct sound of metal on stone. It is a prolonged almost dull slapping noise, most commonly created when someone runs a blade across a whet stone.

Then someone says, "They aren't coming. Something must have gone wrong... we should leave now." The noise stops, as does the sound of pacing, but there is no immediate reply.

[Haval]

Rachel is going to get closer and at right angles to the bottom of the stairs just in case someone chose that moment to come down. Whoever it was it was always better to take someone by surprise if she could. Without speaking she'll gesture to Anna and point towards the stairs with a questioning expression. Whatever happened she wasn't going to go up first and risk blowing the whole thing.