A Tale of Sins and Sinners. (VtM RP)

[bearonthecouch]

The rush of blood ignites the hunger Molly has been trying to avoid and ignore. It makes it hard to think straight, and it takes way longer than it should to fight it down. Everything about the scene she's just witnessed rattles her; the utter creepiness of Kim, the blatant violence... She glances at Jermaine, nervous and uncertain. And then she glances at Kim, who right now doesn't *look* scary. She just looks like someone bleeding on the floor. Someone who needs to be protected. She moves between Kim and Vincent, ready to fight him off. She wants to fight. She's barely thinking. "Leave her alone, asshole," she spits.

[LordofDorkness]

Aiden

Weber looked about, idly rubbing the back of his hand in a nervous gesture as he leaning in closer to Aiden.

"No Aiden. They do it if they wish to." Weber told him in a low voice, "Abraham is not the benevolent sire he seems."

He glanced about as if he feared that somehow, even here... his sire would hear his words and come to punish him for them. Despite his age, the man looked frayed and harried. Aiden didn't realize kindred could show so much stress. At least, kindred not named Benjamin Reed.

"Tow the company line Aiden... or they will force you to. No matter what he tells you, any freedom he gives you is only to see what you do with it." He said quickly, in a hushed voice, "Daniel didn't listen to me, and now they own him... They own you either way."

-------------------------

Molly: The Double Down BRUJAH RUMBLE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5uTkt5zgBQ

Vincent glared daggers at Molly, his thick fists balled tight and shaking, even as Larson tried to hold him back. While he might seem slow-minded and loutish, he was certainly an intimidating sight when he was teetering on the verge of frenzy... And Molly had already seen how fast he could strike.

"Who's gonna make me? You?!" He growled through grit, bared fangs, staring Molly down fiercely.

"Us." Jermaine added in, moving shoulder-to-shoulder with Molly and pounding her fist into her palm.

Vincent's anger slipped a bit, replaced by a long, deep laugh that echoed off the bar's empty walls.

"Oh please... Do it! We've been looking for an excuse to get rid of you all for MONTHS!" He said, shaking off his partner's grip and rolling his shoulders. The man was clearly not afraid of a fight.

"Don't make it go like this." Larson said, the plea clearly directed at the two women rather than his fellow scourge.

"C'mon then! You can die for that little frea-" Vincent said with a sadist's grin before his expression shifted right back to angry as he cut himself off mid-sentence, "WHERE DID SHE GO?!"

It didn't take long to notice what he was riled about. In the brief moments when all eyes were firmly fixed on each other, Kim had disappeared... leaving behind only a few splatters of blood where she had been.

"Mother FUCKERS!" He shouted, "She got away because of you! You're BOTH going down now!"

(Karen! Roll for init, and tell me what Molly will be doing in the first round of the fight, at least in vague terms. For instance "I'll try to block/dodge and back off" or "I'll punch him in his face and then try to block" or "I'll pump my strength then nut-kick him" yadda yadda. If you don't remember how split actions works, stick to one action or just use celerity for a blood point to roll at your full pool for both. If you need any help/explanations let me know.)

[evendel]

((Karen, I vote burst strength and then bust-a-nut!))

[evendel]

Weber's words stir up a certain amount of anger that anyone would besmirch Abraham, who had done so much to nurture Aiden's gifts and brought him into this world of...of...what? Darkness? Some of that anger leaves like air from a deflated balloon as Aiden remembers the man responsible for the Chantry, so docile and almost dead. And Weber had a point that Daniel did seem particularly deferential to Abraham in all things. How much of what he was doing was because Abraham told him too and not because he felt it was right? The uncertainty, and the stale anger brought up by Weber, unnerved him.

"I always prided myself on being my own man." he says quietly, looking at Weber. "I worked for my grades, I did my own investigations where people told me there was nothing left to investigate. I didn't let death bring me down, I finished my schooling and excelled in the study of ancient things. Perhaps too well since it seems to have brought me to this point in un-life. I believed this clan, these fellow kindred, would be an aid in studying the deeper mysteries that modern archaeology probably...no, definitely isn't ready for. And you're telling me they only seek to control that, not nurture it?"

[bearonthecouch]

Nut-kick with Potence was my first thought.

... How do you roll initiative in Vampire?

[LordofDorkness]

(You roll a d10 and add your Dex + Wits. So if your dex is 3, your wits 2 and you roll a 6, you'd have an initiative of 11. Since she's spending blood this turn to boost strength, she can't spend more to celerity, so she's either splitting or not reserving a defense. If you're going full offense kick in the stones, roll me Dex + Brawl Difficulty: 7 as well. If she hits, she'll do Str + 1 die in damage. If she's splitting she'll have -1 die in her first pool (the punch) and -2 dice (for the dodge/block) In fact, for combat to make things flow easier, make every roll that might come up as a result of your actions. So we might want to go with something like this.

"Molly will pump her strength, then try to kick Vincent in the man-berries. She won't split her dice pool.

Dex+Brawl = 2 successes
Damage = 3 successes counting potence"

Obviously make all the rolls yourself. Or if you don't wanna go through all the trouble of rolling and posting out all that... or if you just forget to post a roll for something that you wanted to do, I'll make all the combat rolls myself based on what it was you said you wanted to do. This is kinda a practice run at how we'll do combat for this game, so bear with me.)


Aiden

"Can you imagine it Aiden? Your mind... the only thing that is well and truly you... altered to suit someone's whim so easily. Dominaton... the blood bond... Can we even say we're the same people we always thought we were. What do you trust when you cannot trust your own thoughts and feelings?"

Weber's voice had taken on a dark turn, the look in his eyes suggesting that this was a fear that he held VERY close to his heart. It was like watching a man discuss his deepest held fear. The worry that kept him asleep at night. His eyes flit about the room idly, before he would continue again in a quiet voice.

"You won't be a drone like Marco... No. But the bond forces... feelings. Obsessions. Daniel used to debate with Abraham about the morality behind some of the actions our clan takes... and now he endorses everything with fervor. Neither of them will admit to what happened, and I am not fool enough to ask questions and make myself a target... but I understood the message. Do not question the clan. Daniel went from embracing Rousseau to espousing Hobbes, for god's sake."

(Go on. Google them. I dare you!)

[bearonthecouch]

I got initiative 9. Not exactly stunning, but you know... not awful. . Going full offense to kick him in the man-berries, no splitting. I got two successes, 1 was a 10, on that roll to hit.
Damage is, in fact, 3 successes counting potence.

(And Google what? Rousseau and Hobbes? Philosophers waxing philosophical about society. Rousseau believes people are basically good and inclined to help each other, thus building community because that's what people do naturally because we're social beings invested in a greater good.
Hobbes thinks people are inherently selfish and brutal and that society only forms when some authoritarian leadership is strong enough to hold it together and scare people enough that they won't rip each other apart in a Lord of the Flies style anarchic collapse. No Google needed.)

[evendel]

"I think personally I tend more towards Locke's views on the nature of humanity, I feel that Hobbes was influenced a great deal in his lifetime by the attitudes and actions of major power structures and in turn felt that humanity itself revolved almost solely around the individual, or individuals, strong enough to impose their will. But I see your point Anthony. In this new world of the night it is safer at least to espouse support for the reigning power in public lest they make that support truly compulsory."

Aiden reaches out to lightly lay his hand over his fellows, hoping that it is seen as a small sign of familiarity and comfort and not one of aggression or coercion. Even with deadened nerves the sense of touching someone felt like a positive influence.

"Someone once told me that we are all just sharks who have learned to lie." Aiden's mouth twitches in the slightest gesture of a smile as he tips his head to look over the frames of his glasses at Weber. "But I would like to think that some of us don't need to lie all the time. That maybe there can be a measure of trust. We were human once and that part of our nature doesn't disappear the instant we are reborn as...this. It's actually what I really called you here about kind of." Reaching back to pick up the book he holds it up.

((Assuming Weber doesn't have anything to say that would stop him before proceeding...))

"This book is useless to me in figuring out historical context amongst our kind. Especially when it comes to specific individuals. Molly had a rather frightening encounter with Nathan's childe the other night and it got me thinking that I don't really know much of anything about anyone with regards to the history of this city. Sure, some of the younger of us still have viable records that are relatively easily searched, but the elders? I wonder how many times they've changed their names since the embrace. And when it comes to our Under-Prince and his progeny..." He shrugs. "I was just hoping that you might know a way to either reassure me that Molly is in no real danger, or allow me to warn her away from certain places by helping me understand HIS nature."

((And yes, my assumption would be he wanted us to learn. I never really needed to remember much about particular philosophers so it was interesting to at least skim their ideas via Wikipedia and Google searches. Sometimes learning is fun :) ))

[bearonthecouch]

(( I know learning is fun, moron, I'm a teacher :p

Did you know they both have pages on tvtropes? http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... auWasRight

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... esWasRight ))

[LordofDorkness]

(Of course I do. TV tropes is an amazing tool for writers and gamers to dredge for ideas. I learned about the two of them from there and didn't really look into them until afterwards. TV tropes is muh baby.)

Molly: The Double Down Round One: Fight! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euxJvqnzKgk

Vincent lowered his head, his fists raising in a boxing stance. Stepping in to take a swing, he cocked a meaty fist back and leaned his weight forward on a hard right hand. Everything seemed a blur of motion. Molly barely saw the fist coming. She raised her foot in a hard defensive kick and felt it connect just as Vincent's fist crashed into her jaw. The blow sent her reeling back from force alone. Vincent's strength was immense, even by Brujah standards. Apparently being built like a pitbull had it's perks. The satisfying crunch she felt under her foot would have to be comfort enough as she was nearly thrown to the ground just like Kim before her.

(Molly strikes Vincent but is struck in turn. Karen, roll your soak. Vincent did 4 levels of damage with his punch, since brawling damage is halved vs kindred, she'll take one level of damage if she manages to roll at least 2 successes, and two levels if she gets one or less. For the record, that means all halves in this game will be rounding up. Since Molly can't possibly soak all 4, she'll be taking 1 level no matter what. Oh and In case you didn't remember Karen, you only re-roll 10's if you have a 4 in either the stat or the skill you're using. :-) )

Vincent paused for only a moment to give a look of surprise and pain after Molly's kick, but it was enough. Giving out an indecipherable shout of anger, Jermaine bolted forward into him. She certainly had less technique than Vincent, but the distraction of pain was enough to slow his reactions. He tried to get his arms up to block too slowly, at least by Brujah standards, and Jermaine answered his aggression on Molly with a wild punch to his thick head. He staggered under the force and there was an audible crunch as the blow connected, though whether it was his head or Jermaine's fist was uncertain until he stumbled back a step and put a hand to his head.

"Molly? You ok?" Jermaine asked, getting herself between Molly and the thuggish Brujah.

"You bitch." Vincent all but spit on the floor, "Lars? You just gonna watch?!"

"I ain't that fuckin' fast, man!" Larson said defensively, jagged claws tearing through the tips of his fingers to leak a few more drops of blood on Ophelia's floor as he rolled his neck and looked to the two women, "Man... why'd you have to make us do this?"

(Karen! Declare your actions for the next round. Alex! A write up for you in a bit, I gotta run out or I'll miss my movie tonight. More to come soon!)

[bearonthecouch]

(Thanks, Chris. I have completely forgotten practically all of the mechanics of this game.

I got one success on the soak roll so that means I'm taking 2 damage. Ow.)

"I'm fine," Molly lies to Jermaine as she attempts to get her feet under her. She glances at Larson. "Are you gonna waste your time beating the crap out of me, or do you want to find the crazy bitch?"

(I'm going to save my action for defense and/or running away, if possible please)

[LordofDorkness]

Aiden

"Aiden. I'm just trying to warn you here." Weber told him, the old tremere's voice gruff but sincere, "I don't want to see you end up like Daniel, but I'm not about to throw myself in the fire over you either."

He didn't pull his hand away at the light contact, in fact his tone softened slightly.. from that of a paranoid teacher to perhaps just a worried father or uncle who was nervous of the mistakes his family was making.

"Nathan's child is a monster. Nathan himself is a monster... he just hides is better." Weber explained, "The boy though... I don't know what Nathan did to him to strip his humanity from him so completely, but I'm pretty sure Nathan uses him as an attack dog. All I know is the boy is a neonate. Nathan introduced him about... 10 years back? A little more maybe. Unless Nathan embraced him in the undercity and kept him hidden for years, he's barely older than you are. It doesn't mean he's not dangerous... He is still a Nosferatu. He could appear in front of you and rip you apart from nowhere. But I doubt he has many tricks beyond that at so young an age."

There was a brief pause before Weber gave a curiously mortal-seeming sigh and looked to Aiden with a sincere tone in his voice.

"Honestly Aiden. Why is the brujah girl of any concern to you? Why stick your neck out to help her? If Nathan wants her dead, her only real hope is to seek shelter with another of the elders willing to stand up against him. And that is... not many of them."

--------------------------------

Molly: The Double Down The Battle Continues! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbW3AmaVPgk

Vincent spit blood on the floor, rolling his neck and giving the two women a sadistic grin with blood-covered teeth.

"I'd rather beat down the two dumb whores that can't disappear." He told Molly with a cruel laugh.

Then in a flash of movement he was coming at them. Balling his stocky body tight, he stepped forward into Jermaine deflecting a wild swing she took at him with his left arm, ducking in and bringing up a powerful uppercut as he rose that connected with her jaw with a dull crunch. Jermaine lurched back and stumbled on the rough floor but didn't make it far. Vincent's hand gripped her shirt tight, pulling her back into his fist a second time straight on. A second crunch and a squelch of blood sprayed from what had once been a perfectly functional eye.

His grip on her kept her from falling and despite her mangled face she did her best to swing for his head again but this time she had far less power behind her punch. Her fist glanced off the scourge's thick skull as he held her in place and it was clear she was hurting. It looked like her eyesocket had been crushed, leaving half of her face a bloody, mangled mess.

Larson was not nearly so fast, lacking both Brujah celerity and apparently the will to get in and scrap. He stepped up to Molly haltingly, as if giving her the chance to flee if she wanted to take it. He seemed less keen on just ripping her apart than his bloodthirsty bruiser of a partner. He took a tentative swing at her that she easily dodged, and he seemed more concerned with keeping her out of the fight and away from helping Jermaine than he was in actually hurting her.

"Just let it happen." Larson told her as he tried to drive her back, flexing his claws, "I'm not real good at stopping people without killing them."

(Molly dodges a swing from Larson, who is trying to force her out of the fight. Jermaine has a REALLY bad round, failing to strike with one punch, and failing to do any damage with another. She is struck twice for a pretty good chunk of damage total and looks hurt. She's kindred and can heal, but right now she's in a bad spot. Vincent heals one of the levels done to him and is looking forward to beating the holy hell out of Jermaine next round while she's sitting on wound penalties.

What do, Karen? Things are looking mighty dicey! She can run if that was her plan, since Larson isn't penning he in at all, just trying to drive her back... but I didn't wanna assume she'd abandon Jermaine and say she did already.)

[bearonthecouch]

Unfortunately for Jermaine, abandoning her is exactly what she's going to do. She's going to break and run, as fast and as far as she can, leaving the bar completely if possible. She also really really needs to get some blood soon - if I've been matching right over all these days, she's at 3 dots now. And hurt, though not terribly. If she can get out of this shitty situation, she will. If celerity is the only way to run fast enough, she'll use that too, although that will knock her down to 2 dots of blood, and that's not good at all

[LordofDorkness]

(Since Larson doesn't seem keen on following her and Vincent is preoccupied with his hate crime, she won't need celerity to flee. Also, I've been talking to my friend Sean from out ill-fated time in Chicago about the possibility of filling in for Steph as our third player and he's making up a character now. We may have a new player in a week or so.)

Molly: The Double Down Ambiance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FPELc1wEvk

Molly bolted for the door. Behind her she heard another sickening crunch as Vincent continued his brutal beating of the once defiant woman. She swore she heard her mutter weak and desperate but it was lost under the sounds of Vincent's meaty fist connecting with her face again... and again. Molly threw open the doors to the Double Down and rushed out into the night. Small blessing, at least, that Larson did not seem interested in following her. She rushed down the dirty sidewalk, under the flickering glow of too few streetlights, desperate to put more distance between herself and the bar.

(She's out! What's the plan from here? Find food in a hurry? Keep going? Call someone? Leave town?)

[bearonthecouch]

Find food in a hurry. That's the plan.

[evendel]

His mouth opens and closes a few times as he seeks the words to explain his reason for attempting to help Molly...both to Weber and himself. Aiden leans back into his chair and strokes his beard gently before opening his mouth again, this time to speak.

"My first thought is that I feel connected to her as a cousin of sorts. We are family by virtue of our kind, if not by actual blood, and by our age. We are similar in age physically as well as in regards to our embrace. Together we are new and there is some desire to find companionship against the plots of our elders, both monstrous and mundane." Aiden forces a sigh and places his hands back on the armrests, resisting the urge to tug on his beard. "I suppose there is an element of the romantic as well, I don't think there are many men who would willingly step aside when a woman asks for help. Especially when I have some vague idea of the danger she could be in, and from appearances I don't suppose she has much actual violence in her."

With a shrug he leans forward again. "The least appealing reason, but perhaps the most honest, is that if I can figure out what he wants and prevent him from getting it then Molly will owe me some small favor. I know it would not be as potent as a favor from someone even as low on the relative totem pole as Ophelia, but a man has to start somewhere. And perhaps if she trusts me enough for this then I may garner small favors from what friends she might introduce me to. It is an element of Abraham that I think should be emulated at least in part. He always seems to be approachable in public settings, willing to smile and offer some small token of assistance if he can. How better to shape our new society than by making them like us rather than fear us?"

[LordofDorkness]

Aiden

"I suppose if you explain it as currying favors, the most he can think is that you are poor in your choice of targets." Weber admitted with a weary nod of his head. "If you're THAT determined to help the girl, that is. Right now he's much too concerned with the Maleficar to worry about your dealings... or mine, I hope. Just watch yourself with the Quaesitori around. Their words rank higher than even Abraham's."

------------------

Molly

Molly darted into the night, seeking a quick meal for herself to stop the pounding of the hunger against the insides of her mind. Eyes darting around the crisp night air, she was startled by a man's voice.

"Hey? You all right?"

The speaker was an older black man, fairly well dressed for the area. He seemed like one of the luckless locals forced to dwell in the pits of the city, rather than it's usual sort of thug and gangbanger. He was likely fresh from work... his car keys still in his hand. She could practically hear his pulse tempting her as he stepped up to her, clearly concerned why she was bolting through the streets in the middle of the night.

The only other mortal within sight was a homeless man, who was passed out in one of the alleys nearby. He was asleep, or just passed out on booze or drugs.

(Choose your prey, Karen!)

[evendel]

He nods slowly. "Is there any way you can think of for me to gain more information about Nathan's childe, short of having to speak with the Nosferatu myself essentially? I'm interested in keeping Molly around for a bit longer if possible, but not suicidally so. And have the Quaesitori actually arrived in the city? I am now equal parts terrified and intrigued to actually meet them."

[bearonthecouch]

I want the nice guy. Even though I feel bad about it. I'll try not to kill him. The other guy is probably on drugs and right now I definitely don't need that.

... Also, I apologize for not being able to write like I should. With description and awesomeness. I can't get into it right now for some reason. Hopefully the mojo will come back at some point

[LordofDorkness]

(I'll give you a day or two to find your mojo, rather than just assume you jump the guy in the open street like a turd. Just don't disappear on us like Steph. I'm still sad about that.

On less sad news though, I will have at LEAST one person joining us soon. Sean's character is done, pending a little more background info from him and I should be able to add him in soonish. My friend Cassie has also expressed an interest in playing, but she's yet to commit to it so I'm not certain how that will go.)

Aiden

Anthony Weber was not a particularly well-connected kindred. As far as Aiden knew, his brisk manner and disinterest in court dealings had left him with very few contacts outside the clan. While current revelations suggested this might be as much out of paranoia of being judged as much as anti-social tendencies, it did little to help in the situation. Weber put a hand to his chin and pondered for a second with a low, grumbled sound of obvious pondering.

"... the Ventrue perhaps? The Prince is the only kindred other than Abraham who deals with Nathan on anything close to an equal level. I doubt the prince would give you his time, but one of his childer might. They may know nothing, but it's all I can really think of unless you want to speak to Abraham about it... and I wouldn't suggest that."

There was a lengthy pause as he seemed to think over his next words... and if he should even speak them or not.

"Or you could simply try to contact Nathan on her behalf. He's not trying to harm YOU, after all. And I doubt he'd harm you unless you did something exceptionally foolish to provoke him." He said at last, seeming torn even as he spoke on if he should put the idea in your head or not, "I would avoid his childe though. And the undercity in general, in fact. You can slip word to someone at court that you want to speak to Nathan and hope he spares you the time... Or you can give this whole thing up and not stick your neck out for young women you barely know. This isn't high school, after all."