Mayday Plays - Vegas by Night, Ep. 14 - "Hedging Bets"

Episode Date: February 27, 2023

Can the coterie make it out of the Hecata madhouse with what they are looking for? We've got merch! https://ko-fi.com/maydayrp (t-shirts and stickers) Thanks for checking out our channel! We offer a bunch of art, music, and behind-the-screen access including Vegas By Night 1-on-1 sessions on our Patreon; https://www.patreon.com/maydayrp including access to our discord server! We started as a podcast! Listen to us @: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mayday-plays/id1537347277 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5vdTgXoqpSpMssSP9Vka3Z?si=73ec867215744a01 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/mayday-roleplay Here are some of our other socials; Twitter: https://twitter.com/maydayroleplay Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maydayrp/ Website: https://maydayroleplay.com/ Thanks for your support! Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/maydayroleplay

Good morning, Kindred, and welcome to Vegas by Nightmade, a roleplay's Vampire the Masquerade Chronicle. It is honestly amazing to be here live in front of a near 100,000 viewer count and not to be pre-recorded whatsoever. Who would have known that we would be here live in the flesh for this sort of a turnout? Insane.

If at any point we fail completely to chuckle at your very funny chat joke or do not recognize your comment that I named another NPC, Ronald, please bear with us as we have had to pre-record this episode in an effort to keep with our Tradcore schedule, baby. This is so that we can bring you the same schedule, same Saturday, same everything, right?

If you have missed out on any chapter of Vegas by Night, do not fear. You can still check it out on Spotify, Twitch VOD, and our YouTube channel as of right now. If you're wondering how you can get more Mayday in your life, you can catch our stream here every other Saturday for our main show. You can follow us on all major platforms.

I see your hands. Please give me a moment. Mal. Mal. Go ahead. What is it, Mal? What does Tradcore mean? Traditional core.

What is traditional? Our traditional schedule. What more do you want from me? The day we usually- Okay, why don't you just say our traditional schedule a bit? Because I wanted to say Tradwife schedule. I thought it might be offensive.

I was gonna say, he's going for it today. There's more lore. We'll give you the answer off the air. A Tradwife is someone that fetishes, fetishizes the idea of being like a 1950s housewife. And so you call yourself a Tradwife, and I wanted to say, it's okay people, we're okay. If you're wondering how you can get more Mayday

in your life, you can catch our stream here every other Saturday for our main show on our Tradcore schedule. You can follow us on all major platforms as well. Spotify, SoundCloud for podcasting, friendly recordings of all our major shows and streams. And finally, you can donate to us on Patreon and join our Patreon Discord.

The Discord is really where we've had a chance to build a beautiful family that we cherish so much that's built entirely around the things that we've been able to put out because of their donations. We have patrons who have joined each other's games and played in some hosted by ourselves. We've struck up the doom-to-repeat Deadpool now

that season three has begun recording, and there are some spicy takes in there. We have started a thread concerning a patron's campaign set within Cthulhu's terrifying yellow mark universe, and I've spent some time helping to torture their players. And we just dropped the early viewing of our newest Valentine special of our playthrough of Visigoths versus Maul Goths.

We gave you a little second session there. Really excited. If you're already a part of our Patreon, you can view it now. Everyone else will have to wait. So suffer or give us money. That's the deal here, folks. In addition to all that craziness,

you get an opportunity to listen to exclusive Patreon content and behind-the-scenes information. We'd like to give a- You make that movement again with your hands and those rings. What is it? Oh, that is very nice. That needs to be like a GIF or something.

We need that in the emotes. A GIF? Yeah. I had myself muted. You do not have time. We don't have the clinking clanking of the metal, too. Sorry, I keep interrupting. It's been a long day.

I would just like to say that GIF is how the creator named it, and you would not change a baby's name, would you? Yes, my GIF is a mudder. GIF is a GIF. To give you a tangible way, you've helped us in recording the... Let me start this one over again. We'd like to give a shout out as well

to our handler-level Patreon contributors. It's because of your involvement in our content that we can begin thinking of all the big picture ideas we have for Mayday, to give you a tangible way that you've helped us recently, and recording the newest doom to repeat, we noticed an audio issue concerning my mic, and we're immediately able to dip into our funding

to fund the solution, all because you all had our backs. You bought that for us, and now I'm a semi-functioning human being again. So a big thank you to Ankh, to OGPAN, to Bimblewart, to Cameron S., to Eric A., and Jonathan M., Ren, WTF, and Alex Johnson. Thank you guys for making my mic work better.

We really appreciate it. Other than that, please check out our Delta Green Campaign Doom to Repeat in anticipation for Season 3, where we've already begun crying. Our fantasy campaign centered in the island world of Ashoka, where Eli crafts a world so brimming with love that leaks into every recording. And if you get in now,

you can be prepared for future Ashoka content later, where you can understand exactly what we're trying to do this year and years forward. And our old world of darkness campaign using the Orpheus system with the one and only Vince from Black Project Gaming fame, all of which are available on all major podcasting platforms, YouTube, and our Twitch.

Finally, we just wanna give love to our last member, Vince, who's on a little Mayday vacation. And if you haven't heard already, Vince has been signed on to create some incredible expansion material for the new Street Wolves Source Book by TableCat Games. So look out for Dead Hand when it inevitably hits the TTRPG community

and go buy Street Wolves today if you get a chance. Vince does incredible work being a part of his campaigns were some of the most incredible moments I had last year. And now you get that opportunity and you get an incredible opportunity to check out PV's awesome source book for Street Wolves. It's a great time to get into the Vince and PV market like we have.

We love you both. Thank you guys. Vince, come back home soon. Before we get started today, I just wanna remind everyone that Vampire of the Dimash Grade can be a dark setting and as such there are content warnings for any watching. I know we recently in Mayday here

have been working a lot on safety tools and how much consent we can give at the table to make sure that everyone feels safe. That goes for people who are as close as us but also people who have just met each other and starting up a game or just taking in a game like you are now. So please take care of yourself and be aware.

We're going to explore violent themes, plenty of adult language and darker subjects but in specific, this session we'll be dealing with corpses, trypophobia, fear of bugs, arachnophobia and depictions of homicide. If you have any fears of water or any waterborne travesties that might be a situation for you as well.

Just keep yourself safe. Without further ado, we're gonna get started. Humanity was cursed and because of that curse, certain preparations had to be made in the defense of a family long dead and some of our most recent nights in the house of death, the two largest warring factions of the Necromantic Kindred,

now known as the Hakata, found unity in their fear. The family Giovanni and the family Cappadocia laid daggers at the table and shook hands in open negotiation. The rest of the family, each branch growing from the rich grave soil was present and accounted for.

The barons, the gorgons, the flesh eaters, the bankers, the whores, the siblings and the masters of grudges. All of them, struck by the simultaneous suffering bereft upon each of their splintered clans, a great cataclysmic culling of their family tree. Most notably, the destruction or disappearance of the patriarch of all living and unliving Giovanni,

the anti-Diluvian of their ages, the man who ate of the Cappadocia's hope and forged a century of poisoned waters between the two families. With Augustus' mysterious exit from the field of play, new blood was given something to bargain with and something to fear. As the specters and wraiths at Augustus' control

were now released back into the world and with all blame pointing back to the Giovanni who remain. To add insult, the harbingers of skulls saw opportunity in the maelstrom of chaos brought on by the suffering in this new age and sacked the holdings of all Giovanni in the city of Venice, effectively dwindling the clan's claim.

In addition, the truce signed by the Giovanni and subsequently all Hikata with the Camarilla, the promise of 1528 was coming to a close. This fickle document created as an amnesty of arms was made to tie back the hands of those so keen on destruction. It promised that the Camarilla in Giovanni would remain impartial in each other's business

apart from both organizations and in exchange, the Camarilla would prevent the Giovanni's demise in any altercation related to their civil war. With the clock ticking close to the end of this agreement and the burns felt so much strife against each branch, a motion was made. A dinner to celebrate what had been lost,

what had been gained and to host a wake for the dead and the living, something they called the family reunion. A place to sing a dead man's dirge and unite in the familial connection only a funeral can bring about. There was song and dance, conversation and drinking and eating, so much eating.

And in the foyer over dinner with clinked glasses and a southern view of the cemetery grounds that sat beautifully under their ancestral tree, those that tend the garden of the world's most precious flowers were made packed to do so in earnest togetherness, drawing weapons free from the hands of siblings and uniting in a singular purpose

to draw out the secrets of the cosmos within oblivion to navigate the abyss as a combined force of the mages made in death. They named themselves Hikata and made their will manifest. For this, we will bite and scratch until our backs feel the wall. We will insist on the bloodshed of our brother

for the comparison of crop. We will spit in the eyes of any who would call our chart for blood needless. That is until the sun begins to rise and the fear of the end feels so deeply enough that anyone might resemble a friend. Even those who live in death will find that terror seeps into marrow at the thought of it

because there are few things the beast fears more than the ending of our hunger. But that fear will end. We will kill our darlings. Welcome to Vegas by Night. I have to say I did not know that. I did not know that about Baltimore. I'm happy to know it now.

To anyone in Baltimore that is suffering through that, I support you, but maybe just stay away from your brothers a little bit, yeah? Okay. Listen, we need to introduce ourselves. My name is Caleb James Miller and I will be playing your storyteller today. I'm Aaron, I'm Enoch, and, oh, boy.

Oh, you're a little funny. I'm Allegro and I play Mal. I'm Amanda and I play Allison. I'm Eli and I'm playing Niles. I'm Sergio and I'm your resident Ravno, and I'm your host, Burroughs. Mm-hmm. I'm Zach and I play Cybil, aka Kendrick, the snake's mom.

Yes. Oh, Kendrick, I told you, Kendrick. Kendrick is a snake. Don't talk about Kendrick. So, to begin our session, we do have a recap performed by Mal. Mal, whenever you're ready. Okay, hold on.

Sorry, I'm gonna be slow today. Hey, this is Julian. I can't come to the phone right now, so just leave me a message and I'll get back to you when I can. And if this is Mal, our couch quiz and... Our couch quiz and isn't until Thursday the 18th. Tutoring is open tomorrow at lunch in the library.

You've still got time. Hey, this is Julian. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message and I'll call you back when I get a chance. And if this is Mal, don't forget your antibiotics. You gotta finish them out this time. And if this is Mal,

Lydia's homework folder is in my backpack. I'll ride by on my bike before you have to take her to school. And her parents don't like when I drop her off after dark. Or when I drop by after dark. Don't worry, we'll get it there in time. And if this is Mal, our security deposit is in due for another four days. Places are, we just have to get the money together.

Don't worry, we have time. And if this is Mal, take a deep breath. And if this is Mal, take a deep breath. It's gonna happen this time. I can feel it. Hey, baby. Jay. Julian.

I've memorized every answering machine message you had. That sounds desperate, but it's true. I was desperate. I wanted to be like a flower, reaching up from under the dirt, climbing into your presence, warmed by the sun, eventually making my own food to grow. But what did I turn out to be?

A mushroom, spreading and thriving in your shadow. And it felt good there, safe. I wanted to be here because you were here and that was more than I could say for anything else, but Lydia. So I'd call sometimes when I knew you couldn't answer, just to hear your voice.

I still whisper them out loud to myself sometimes before the sun comes up and I die again. I remember that someone wanted me because I was me. It helps me feel real again. But the safety net doesn't feel the same anymore. Because I don't think I can ever hear your voice again. I'm gonna live for centuries and I'll never hear your voice again.

It keeps hitting me how fucked up that is. Even though you're still around and even though I could come to see you and... This second life isn't all it's cracked up to be. What's the point of super cool magic powers if they don't do you any good? We've still lost a friend already. We've still been betrayed by fucking Enoch

no matter what he thinks he's doing for us. Even Allison looked like she was on her back foot about a year ago. I wonder if she'll change her tune if the bloodhunt gets off the ground. I can't believe that drowned Gucci nightmare thought he was saving us. Now, not only have we broken our promise

to the murderous lady of the lake, but drawing this much attention feels like it's putting a target on our backs. Not to mention starting a fucking war apparently and whatever's behind that door and whoever the fuck he was that Lada was talking about, the heartbeat that only I could hear, for that matter, what the fuck is in my basement?

So now, now, Burroughs and Sib are in a house full of Hakata who are connected in a way that I still don't fully understand with Tweedle G-spot and Tweedle Cum. God, I really hope they're getting further than we are here. I mean, the Hakata seems like a solid lead. I...

If it doesn't pan out into another disaster, I don't know. You're never going to hear this, so why does it fucking matter? I still want to tell you. Because meanwhile, Niles and I are out at Bubblegum Manor and mommy ex-wife. Okay, side note, what the fuck is with this group

and mommy wives? What's... why? She wants her little husband to come back to her and, like, sit on the throne next to each other, and they're thinking about going, even though Sis goes on their way to the dam right now. God, why the fuck didn't I go to them first? That would have been the smart move,

but no, I had to go help save this body mod queen of the door. That was a great time to ask about your message. I can't believe how much I've missed already. I'm glad this didn't ruin you getting a little bit, though. I don't know what I would have... You keep her safe, okay? I won't really know, either way, except... except that I know you, so...

I'm not worried. For a long time, I wasn't sure if keeping my humanity was worth it. I'm still not. I am keeping my promise, even if this is just a half-life. It's one of the only tethers I have left. And these people,

the new generation, ridiculous name, they had shitty lives. And now this one is, too. The second time around should be easier, or better, or... not this. These people need a monster who will fight for them.

I couldn't do that my first chance, because I didn't know what it meant to lose, no matter what I thought. And now I do. And these fuckers I've fallen in with deserve better than whatever scraps of shit we're being tossed down from on high. So, um...

you and I... I think we're finally at a time. It's probably for the best if you don't think of me anymore. Let's discuss the only reason you're still here. What our hungers are at? Those.

Two. One. Eight. One for burrows. Three. I have zero, which I'm like, really? Did you kill him yet?

That doesn't seem right. That doesn't seem right. Unless you drained someone completely last session, you would be at one. Which I don't believe we did. Yeah, no, I don't know why that did that. Racking my brain. All of you do quite a bit of killing.

I can't remember last session. I don't know what you're talking about. Exactly. Not much to me, but okay. I'm sure that the woman in the event of a gas station would like to have a few words about that, Enoch. She's okay.

Oh, yes. She's better off than all of you. Let's discuss experience. Would anyone like to divulge to the audience any changes to our sheets that we have made that we can look forward to in the future? I have scraped enough XP together to

unlock bonecraft. Sounds safe. Brad. Just a natural regression of things. It's fine. First comes the flesh, then comes the bones. It's fine. Bonecraft

absolutely will come up. I'm sure. And then we will see exactly the ramifications for Niles in that direction. Does anyone else have anything they'd like to declare on their taxes? No, but it might come up in game. Beautiful.

The last that we left to all of you, we had two members skating to the Hakata mansion on the two motorcycles that one of which just recently learned how to use themselves. After a successful conversation

with the Anarchs, they were competing, well, demanding their impediment of the Camarilla's rush to Lada and the door. Meaning that Niles and Mal will join us shortly

basically on the heels of this gathering here to revel in what is another family reunion of the Las Vegas Hakata at the Rothstein estate at the top of the valley of fire

overlooking a massive canyon that leads back into Las Vegas where you all are in the tombstone manor, the huge brutalist buildings of the Hakata family within Las Vegas where hundreds, hundreds of the Hakata's guests

have been brought in. If any rumors or auspicious monologues at the start of vampire podcasts have to say about the downfall of the Hakata and their rebuilding, this party has something completely different to say.

This party is a reminder that this place is thriving, that these people have succeeded, that they have returned en masse. You have just heard a speech from the very important Shlomo Rothstein Junior

and a man who is equally terrifying as he is albinistic in feature who celebrated the success of a recent ritual that the Hakata had put on in their own namesake, something

they called the Hakatom which, as they put it, was a sacrifice for greater things. In addition, they welcomed the Camarilla openly and publicly within the members of

their guests an auspicious, terrifying second guest, a man they referred to as Curr, the Great Beast. We will pick up back in this the lobby of the Tombstone Manor

with burrows, Sibyl, and Enoch. The only not in attendance is Allison who has managed to sneak their way up to the second floor past some of the armed guards into the third floor, a location

she was uniquely warded against by one of the most prominent members of the Hakata. We'll see if that comes back to bite her. To begin with... Of course it will. Let's come back to the lobby. Burrows,

Sibyl, Enoch, you've just witnessed the entrance of this, you think Nosferatu caved in and pockmarked in these massive caverns that hose infestations as though his body has rotted out to the core and become a home

a haven for insects. This tarantula covered wasp swarmed man has made off with Shlomo Rothstein Jr. to the second floor and gone through a door that if Allison was with you could tell you leads

into a study or library of sorts where a stone slab had been prepared earlier and a masked woman performed a ritual unspoken. Is there anything you all would like to do? Well the big boy

certainly complicates things but I suppose as long as we keep our best behavior we should be alright. No reason to fight him yet but I'm thinking about it. I'm more focused on why Shlomo Sr.

isn't here. How are we going to approach that? I mean he is supposed to be the only people we can trust but he's not here and I'm going to assume it's because the old junior there. Right but he lives here I have an idea but I don't

know how fruitful it'll be. How many of how many blood dolls are still in the room right now? There are still so many circulating that you have to imagine that with more than 100 people on the guest list the need for blood among these kindred

is so vital. Could you imagine a situation where so many of these, whether they're kindred, mortal or gula-like, being subjected to a frenzy that might cause a chain reaction through all of these people. It is clear that the Rothstein family

has prepared for such an occasion. There are many, many mortals with their wrists bared beautifully in front of you, running figure eights of this beautiful trail of viscera along the white marbled floors, enough that you could probably follow the trail of blood

fresh in your nose that gangrel senses moving you forward to find one easily enough that you could grab by the shoulder within a few seconds and turn to see their dough-eyed needy complexions they are desperate to have you

take them. I'm going to find the neediest one and roll for needy. It's my needy score. What kind of flavor of desperation are you looking for?

I'm looking for I want someone who looks like they know the lay of the place like they've been here for more than one day or maybe this is not their first time being here but they are like it is a bad day I'm looking for someone that's having a bad time at this party

and it was supposed to be better than it was You just in thinking of the type of prey you need to bring to mind someone who thought they were getting a good deal and suddenly have learned that maybe this place isn't everything it cracked up to be

you are visited with memories of a man on the carpet of a hotel room he did not expect to die in with his ribcage open and his long hair matted with the blood of his loss of life and that pale

glazed over eyes staring up at you as you steal every last ounce of his dead blood all of these blood dolls look like F to you Sybil all of them look like they're in over their heads but you know what just in the interest of giving you another life

make for your own give me wits plus awareness okay it's a lot of nice old card let's spend a willpower okay that's five successes five successes

you find what is almost like a male model esk platinum blonde thin terribly toned but very skinny individual

pale alabaster skin with this incredible jawline that you imagine can cut even your bones he's beautiful half naked dressed in far too many

belts that have been bondaged across his incredibly toned lower midsection and he is currently talking to someone that immediately catches your eye even more than your first quarry it is a tall six foot five

African American or at least African man with gold eyes these big incredible pulled back dreads that have been laced through jewelry and long painted beautiful chains that come about

he's wearing this almost industrial coat that goes over everything and you can see that he's actually kitted out in many holsters that have been emptied for this event he does not look like he fits the dress coat but he is wearing this slouch

cropped crew neck sweater that is running over multi-colored outfit underneath that looks very like cyber goth you would recognize this as alphons the man that you met so long ago when you were just

circus driver for the Camarilla designed to take people from one place to another and he is chatting up with what you would imagine the scent is just perfect off of this jaded little blonde beautiful piece

okay that complicates things it does doesn't it yeah so she's going to dang yeah okay so she's going to approach them both

first only for the the blood doll excuse me I don't mean to interrupt what's going on nice to see you again she says to alphons the blood doll immediately as soon as he can tell the two of you recognize each other

goes immediately into decorum and shuts his mouth nods and then steps back with his open wrists and his head down to the floor almost without any recognition to the two of you and alphons pivots on one boot to meet your eyes

with those beautiful gold irises cants down his head and gives you a grin that is all too knowing of the last moment you two shared together and the counting of the cash outside of an ATM safe box and the things that came after it

he is smiling at you and he speaks plainly oh why would you ever apologize for coming back into my life to him or to me it's good to see you it's nice to see you too I

didn't expect you I'm afraid I'm here on business otherwise I think it would be fun to continue our conversation well if it's anything like the last business we had I'd say that we can have a little bit of both once this is concluded

we'll circle back I have to say I'm a little shocked you're here why well I didn't think you'd be invited it's a very important guest list

and while I never wanted to be here I'm glad you're here now gives me something to do here yes well I'm disappointed to know that you didn't know that I was this important but no child left behind right

of course I found out after our little spat that circus circus is not exactly everything you made it up to be but you know I'd never put that past you I appreciate it

now I do want to circle back to you but I had plans for him and I'm not a public feeder I see leaving me for another man already and he reaches around

and he pats the lower back of this blonde and sort of moves him towards up to to straight to your eye symbol and then Alphonse puts a hand on your shoulder he says well if you're not looking for me we should catch up later and we can discuss

what you've missed this week and then he moves past in those big jackboots of his cascading through the crowd and you can see the noticeable bulge of a weapon on his back one that was not checked previously

into the room but he begins to cascade through the halls and you're left with this sad little blonde number do you know a private room here sure I could take you somewhere private where do you want to go

anywhere no particular preference just not too far second floor would actually be better sure there's a bedroom a guest room on the second floor it should be pretty private we can lock the door there may be others

in the room but we can get them out good let's do that he takes you by the hand and holds your hand up high almost in dramatic presentation to the rest of the room

and you do get some onlookers as some of them were scoping him out previously and you watch as you are sort of paraded through the rest of the foyer up past those double set of stairs onto the second floor balcony and down the hallway into a room

on the left that is just a few paces from the stairs that Allison fled through just before he takes you inside and the bedroom is actually empty it is a guest room but it is immaculately decorated the floor turns from

that illustrious white marble into this well catered carpet that cascades in a brocade across the room and these decadent vaulted canopies that run over the bed that leads out to the

smell of fresh air that is cascading and pushing these curtains out beautifully into the room it is empty, right? it is empty as soon as the door closes the door with both of them inside and she immediately

just shakes all of that off wonderful how long have you been here? how long have you been here working the party? well, we were sent by slow maybe

a week ago, a week and a half I have been working the last eight days have you seen Shlomo Sr? you mean the pale guy? the one with the cane? you get the sense he is almost describing

Junior here no, there is another one I don't know if it is actually his dad they have a weird thing going on but the one probably Shlomo Jr. someone a little bit older

I haven't seen anyone older than him and he is the only one calling the shots but I don't know I shouldn't and he retreats a little no, listen

I understand what this is I have been in your exact position before I am not going to this isn't a normal I have no intention of hurting you I just want you to be honest and I will be honest too

and then we can both leave this room so this is like a pretty woman thing you are just going to sit here and talk to me for a few hours? it doesn't have to be hours I would prefer if it weren't but yes, sure listen

I would almost prefer you bite me the tragedies kind of stick around longer than the feeling does you people have stories that I just don't like to hear anymore and you seem nice you seem like you are maybe not going to snap my neck in a second

maybe you will and at this point who cares but I would almost prefer it to tell me your life story I don't want another sob story about being a thousand years old please oh no that's not what this is

I do need information from you and I do intend to be civil about it in order to persuade him of this situation that you mean him no harm I think you need to give me a charisma plus persuasion check but go ahead and add your

dots from circulatory system because I believe that a doll would recognize a doll there is a familiar glint of desperation in those times okay sweet that is six successes

six successes it's overwhelming he stops he stares at you he furrows his brows a moment and just for a moment looks back to the balcony in the open window and allows for the cool air to hit his face you can tell that for a moment his guard

is lessening like maybe he's really taking you at your word he turns back to you he puts out his hand and he says I'm Alec Alec

civil nice to meet you it's good to meet you too is civil your real name yes it's not my first name but it's the name I used to go by before yes even before

okay yeah I'll try and tell you everything I can we see a lot we're here a lot I'm one of the favorites around here so okay how can I help you did you notice anything weird I mean if you haven't seen

slo-mo senior have you heard junior talking about where you might have gone or any other weird stuff it's a weird family I understand but go for it there was some conversation among the dolls

after a shift I had earlier in the week I guess they did something everyone the ghouls had to run in the house for the most part by one of junior's men and god the only kindred in the house was that fucking

crows creep with the tattoos on his hands a champagne but while we were all together we got to talking about everything we'd seen and there was this other doll she calls herself anesthesia I don't think it's a real name but

she had been with junior and she said she saw someone really sick on the top floor when she first came in at the start of the party bedridden bad in a bad bad way

and then that night the night that champagne had all of us she said that he was gone that that junior had done something I guess junior was

bragging about the ritual and anesthesia was really shaken up she hasn't come back she's going to be in really big trouble when we get back to the Cirque so she's not here tonight then

no I think she's giving everything up she used to have this big crush on a toreador and she thought that maybe by doll long enough that she might well you know but I think that she just wants to be human again

she made the right choice if she lives through it yeah I don't know I mean you're the exception right the rest of us we don't get to choose and if we do make a choice it just ends and well if you really were a part of us then

you know yeah yeah I don't know if the exception doesn't quite sit right I think there isn't a way to win this there isn't a better outcome but I understand your

perspective you don't feel better off no not at all there's surviving and then there's whatever this is I'm not going to say I was

sorry I was suspended from a man's ceiling for close to 36 hours they only let me down to to change the blood flow and for most of it I wasn't even alive I was

unconscious just waiting to come back and hoping to God it wasn't some sort of coma or something and then when I came to they put me in this and put me on the lobby you don't feel better off you get to do what you want a lot of the time

but you know the cruelty of these kindred that doesn't go away it moves in with you it influences every decision you make and you can't do anything about it

you think I'm not going to be the one to put my boot down by the time you think that there's already on the floor so like I said there isn't a better outcome I'm sorry but

I just I hope you find peace then that's an absurd amount of kindness to have in a hell like this Alec I think we're all on just a different layer

how could I blame you you were just trying to get out like the rest of us yeah well thank you for the information after this is all over if you ever need

a break again is there any way do I know that dolls dolls have like phones right I can like give him my number depends on the doll you could definitely get direct communication through slow but

you know that a lot of the circulatory system works in such a way that these people are cut off from public society for example you were given a phone because you were a VIP favorite you were given a life because you were a VIP favorite you were taken by emric and slow

and decided that you were above the rest so they gave you work for the others that don't have work there are glass cells there are images so there's no telling that alex actually has any information okay

then I will do what I can to see you again I'm gonna hold you to it but um I've met the kind of creatures that make promises before so I'm just hoping you're better it's for that reason I don't promise

I will do my best well I hope you find your old guy me too um as a kindred I order you to stay in this room until you're ready to leave I don't know

I think I can do that one I'm not suspended from the air or anything like that you don't want me to sit in the closet and no no I truly don't even want to feed from you at least I don't

so okay have a good night sounds stupid I'll see you around I'll see you around enjoy the party and so simple leaves and texts

basically bullet points to the group chat about Anastasia super sick person being on the top floor and disappearing and I think also texts who wears Kendrick or specifically does Allison have eyes on Kendrick I believe

because I was going up the stairs to the third floor I had Kendrick try to do a distraction so he'll come up eventually yes if he survived the encounter with the guards he absolutely will I

text I'm basically text that to us so we'll be like he's around I suppose I did not do it last session let's roll for snake um let's see if this fucker's still around oh please do

oh sounds like you're pulling out the coffin die for worlds you're right you're right let me do this right we can get the snake guys do you do we have homework yeah exactly

I didn't ask that he do it I thought he was already rolling from it so I guess I should have just still kept my mouth shut keep my son alone okay uh Sibyl go ahead and roll me an animal ism plus

we'll call it stamina stamina okay got you feels like one solitary snake cries out in pain three successes you hear it why would you say

even as you are texting this uh you can feel that the connection between you and Kendrick has faded um and for whatever reason Kendrick has gone into hiatus until his next album I hate that

okay my boy no well does Kendrick keep killing everything you like I know it's like you're releasing poisonous snakes into a party full of like a hundred vampires who would win

first off it was Kendrick Kendrick is amazing he could do the impossible very true I'm sure he went through at least 75 before they took him out yeah it's not like other snakes so there's a text that goes out into the group chat

asking about the whereabouts of the snake and informing you all of the situation of the elder at the top of the uh building that is suddenly gone on disappearance in the same moment before we return to the lobby crowd we have

Niles and Mal appearing on their motorcycles to the front gate you are let in by Armand Ronald the third um who signs you off the list and checks you in the gate is opened and you are given this

giant view of the hikata estate a party that still rages on they could be anywhere yeah this looks like hell so

I don't even know who should split up yeah would prefer not to split up unless we're reconvening with everybody else but no we start at the bottom and work our way up I guess can I text the group chat

and say here just here you can it will take uh some distance between you and Mal into the wet grass of the courtyard that's made up of this sort of uh deserted uh well curated courtyard um yeah

I'm gonna do that casual I'm gonna walk away to just take a call absolutely you know the good thing that we have to think about is that if Mal's in the middle of everything and shit does go down nobody can call out so at least they're blocking call out

a signal jammer and a shadow so you get out that way what are you texting to the group there Niles here fair hre Alson like the comment

not maybe I'll add where do we go where you at was good I mean I think burrows just text back get in the house find the book it's somewhere above the third floor

Alson's already in there and I'm like really just trying to do that on the side I'm not making it obvious that I'm texting can I see anything from the third floor like is there like a balcony

windows maybe so the the main building is absolutely built in this brutalist function that looks almost like a tombstone stretching out of the desert but there are absolutely you can't be rich and dead without balconies there are plenty of these

balconies on each of the floors they seem to be only limited to some of the bigger bedrooms because there are these big spaces these disjointed spaces that add to the ugly slated material that is brutalism

but definitely enough that they stretch up to the highest point and you can tell that similar to like the way a gravestone might cut in at the center to form sort of an archway out of brick the same thing happens on the top floor and there's only one balcony

in the center I'm going to send spoons above and I'm going to see if he can maybe help us locate a general direction to go maybe that last bit you described

okay are you sending him through into the balcony or is he perimetering around above the building above a perimeter above yeah trying to be as stealthy as possible beautiful go ahead and roll maybe an animalism plus awareness

doesn't sound like a lot of dice oh shoot one success okay go ahead and add your wits because I think we usually have you add your wits to spoons too spoons is pretty pretty

chatty fellow that is three successes now with you adding that beautiful your gorgeous buzz saw bird takes to the air and the sound almost like a whip crack of his wings beating against the wind of the

desert takes off into the sky and some of the party goers do glance up and see that beautiful you know ascension of the bird but is more taken as as beautiful scenery than it is some sort of spied attack

in fact some mistake it for another performance similar to the corpse eating earlier in the evening and they begin opera clapping for it as it takes flight and they begin conversations amongst each other some of them adorning some of

those masks similar to what Countess was wearing before and as spoons takes flight you do absolutely get this familial familist connection within that familiar aura that comes about you whenever he is

sharing control with you and immediately the first thing that comes to mind is a sense of curiosity that then turns to cautiousness as spoons perches at the top of the tombstone and as if dialing into that connection for a second

you feel a primal sort of animalistic fear and there are like blips on a radar you can feel the essence of something that spoons is looking at and grand

mass outside of the west wall of the estate just off the attunement you have with spoons you'd imagine that this is maybe 60 yards from the actual estate itself and whatever it is it's in a grouping of

maybe 40 heartbeats outside of that you would know that the top floor's balcony is open and there is a breeze blowing in fact for whatever reason

each balcony on this building is blowing the beautiful wind through the curtains of each balcony and are open to the estate you can even see some of the guests of this beautiful party enjoying their time on the balcony

someone on the fifth floor is currently disemboweling someone off of the side of the balcony just almost poetically humming and stretching the ribbons of another person presumably immortal or at least you'd hope

across the balcony and ribboning them like garland almost nice I'm gonna before I head back to Mal I'm gonna text all of that information to the group chat in a little

quick spoons report now you get a series of terrible chaotic screams from your cell phone as the group messages continue to go off and there are some folk that stop and look at you as some of those

electronic beeps go off yep hi can have a great night they all sort of whisper amongst each other certainly the way that siblings will talk shit about other people at a party and then begin to drift

off to some of the west side buildings people all this sucks I love that we have somehow confused the dead with the rich I mean it's all the same thing as Net the Hikata are just rich

fucking perverts you've said they're rich like four times I feel like this is rich people energy you don't choose to live in a brutalist it is all by design my friends I'm just glad it's working fuck the rich

to Mao and I was like well okay so I mean the higher the floors are the more weird shit it is it seems like there's people up top but there's like a tombstone towards like the center and that's like

a tombstone? it looks like a tombstone I don't know what architecture is that's it all I know is that I didn't really see spoons didn't really see any writing

you can't really read but you know whatever it is is like sass so yes that's the one I assume that is where we need to head

so I think that's where we should go and maybe yeah I'm gonna drop Shadow Cloak and hide us both if I can okay

I'm gonna try how about you go check out the discipline and see if it can be I'm going to allow it to be extended to another person I only have one arm I have to type oh so sad oh pitiful while you look up your discipline

you poor poor orphan I'm going to go back to the other folk um Sybil Barrow's Allison actually let's pick up with Allison on the third floor Allison you've pressed through to the third floor

you find that after getting through those two guards and coming up to the latest in the brutalist buildings architecture there is an abundance of people armed to the teeth through here

positioned at almost every door on this floor is another large Italian person with an assault rifle strapped across their front they are incredibly tattooed most of them you assume

enhanced in some way and they are long haired hair pulled back in pony tails greased back with palm aid burly fat bodies young and

dramatic shapes all sorts but all of them Italian American or Italian in some descent okay so this is the Italian floor um yeah I guess so yeah there's big spaghetti on the wall

spaghetti's a blood that's what it is some marinara um okay is there is there another stairway or is it just keeps up going up there is a stairway that goes up to the first of the fourth floor excuse me

not the first um Colin Firth is higher up you want to go to the middle of this floor and there is a set single step of stairs that would extend up until uh the fourth floor alright we're gonna just

walk with confidence beautiful towards yeah and you are technically still invisible right technically yes I am yeah as long as I don't make any noise personally like I can whisper little things but I can't

so I'm gonna be just quiet calm and just walk towards that but also take note of each guard okay besides their weapons is there like any numbers on the door like is it numbered or is it lettered or is there any distinctive markers

does not seem to be it's not made out like a hotel these are closed doors no windows in it's made out like a man to know you'd have to go through but each of them look important because each of them have merited another man with an assault rifle caliber uh gun

yes but if I open the door they're gonna know I'm there so that's the only problem they might so let's just go ahead head towards the stairs to the fourth but I want to if there's any like noise

I want to kind of really kind of focus in here anything but I'm just gonna go ahead head towards the fourth floor uh okay yeah go ahead and make a wits and awareness for me come on you can do it yeah yeah okay

okay uh wait seven is passed right or six uh six and above all right I have one success beautiful you do make it to the stairs

no you have a sense that you do hear something as you ascend the first few steps and it's coming from the nearest room to your right the walls must be thin here or they're speaking exceptionally loud but it seems to be

some sort of heated discussion that is taking place on the other side of the walls it is muffled and mumbled through the plaster that is separating you two but there's certainly something going on if you were to go back down the stairs stay on the third floor and enter into the first door

on your right can I go let's go downstairs and is there a way I can kind of lean up against the door by the cracks to kind of hear before I go in go and make a stealth plus dexterity for me

yeah okay it's even small yes uh two successes one's a crit success okay absolutely so one of the two is a crit success

or there's oh just one, yeah just one crit success okay so two successes total yes you do absolutely put your ear against the door without causing the invasion of these Italians

and you can hear on the other side there is a very heated discussion where a booming voice on the other side speaks the phrase I want what is owed to me

and what is owed to me enough I have been here for some time giving you people exactly what you asked for and I believe I am owed what I am do okay look uh do I recognize the voices

you have never heard this voice before in your life okay okay hold on okay I'm going to gonna slightly pull out my phone because even though well wait I don't know if they can see that part no okay they will

see your phone as soon as it leaves your hands yeah that's fair okay um makes you and your person invisible but not your items once they leave I'm gonna hold and stay by the door a little bit longer but just so you know I am going to yeah

that's what I'm going to just kind of do but if I sound if they sound like they're coming to the door I'm going to back up and go up the stairs that's my intention I'm going to stay as long as possible until I would get caught okay yeah um

okay uh yes you continue to listen at the door uh and he continues to rattle on this booming voice about uh receiving what's owed to him uh that they have not given what was his that he has

fulfilled his side of the deal and that it is time to do business uh he goes into detail that he has been researching this for some time and this is his own invention and if they are to be included in what he has found then they will have to do their side of

the business to which another voice on the other side one of which you recognize uh would be the masked woman uh from lower on the second floor she speaks back and gives him uh this information

um it is something we are preparing for tonight yours was made in preparation of the success of our ritual and with that success we can provide but if you cannot be patient in the eyes of junior then i cannot tell you what is going to happen to you

in return uh if you can stay if you can control your emotions and if you can shut that trap of yours i promise that you will see what is owed to you we will have the book in your possession

okay okay interesting i'm going to i'm going to pause for a second and see if the other individual responds back

there is this uh ruffled um panicked breath as he comes down from the high emotion of the scene um you can hear him grunt a few times uh and then he speaks plainly

if that is what must be done to see into abyss then that is must be done we will go forward fine you will have what you will have um and then you can hear shuffling

in the room as if footsteps are coming towards already walking back up the stairs so i can kind of just like just go up as you're moving for the stairs i won't uh take yourself roll away you still have your successes you start to ascend the stairs and then

the door opens and walking out is this very tall individual maybe six foot three six foot four um in a three piece brown suit uh very collegiate or academic uh he wears rounded glasses that are

modern and sleek but are uh make make him look older than he probably should be um he has this almost shoulder length brown hair that has been swept back a very proper uh cut and this very

large bushed beard that comes out in front of him um and has been catered through and is just starting to show a trickle of gray that's climbing up the chin of it um he's uh a more uh portly individual than most he probably has uh what would be

referred to as a dad gut um and he has a vest over that uh with the three piece suit to hide some of that from him his hands are in his pockets he looks noticeably upset uh and he begins to move down the hallway when another

individual begins to come up the stairs uh it was if you were down in the conversation pit for the speech from junior you would recognize who this is but a very fat individual who was built like a truck like a garbage truck

um and uh he has this big horseshoe mustache that sits fully silver on his face with a little bit of sole patch he is tattooed from the end of his jawline

probably down to his feet you'd guess um and he has these very visceral angry eyes that are inset against bushy untapored uh eye eyebrows and he turns

the bit this ill fitting suit of his um and uh he makes direct eye contact with the stranger of which you just saw leave the door and you can see the stranger

immediately uh sees him pinwheels the other direction and goes for the opposite staircase and before you make it half way this newcomer stops him hey where the fuck are you going and you come back

and you can see that taller individual wheel about almost on order and step back to him they are now sort of positioned right there at the base of the stairs in front of you Allison um and the big rings on this fat fingered individual

uh glint off of the the light that hits overhead and the other individual comes to meet him that bulbous tattooed Italian man with his suit collar brought down two buttons too deep to show some of the tattoo

and glutton about him there is a depiction of the mother Mary that sits across that V but she is completely naked wearing only a nun's habit and she is in a prayer need position uh and there is this corona of knives that run across it

um and below it reads uh in uh in poor English uh for the love of the whore um and he uh he grabs the collar of this three piece

individual and brings him close down to his shorter form and he says where the fuck do you think you're going and immediate immediately the professor puts up his hands he sputters in his place I was just have a meeting with the countess you know I was supposed to be in that room

you told me yourself that I could be in there so don't begin to accost me I'm not going to be dragged off to one of your torture rooms and whoever this is pulls him in deeper and kisses him straight on the lips brings him in so deeply with such a strength that he

presses into him immediately and then breaks and he says first of all don't fucking talk to me like that ever fucking again and second of all just busting your fucking balls you piece of shit I'm just making sure you're walking around where I told you to walk around and man you fuckers

you think that just because you spent all that time up in Fremont street you could talk to anybody the way you want huh I'm not going to grace you with one of my rooms you think I'd spent 12 hours removing your intestines like I'd need all that fucking cholesterol you stupid fucking bitch

and he slaps him across the face a little and this large forms almost professor archetype looks completely at the mercy of this man as he continues to barrage him with obscenities and sort of shake him around a bit touch him and crush the shoulders

a little too hard hold his face that kiss still sits with him and eventually the professor just sits through enough of these encounters that he puts up his hands and walks past him and this individual wheels about on his feet and calls out where the fuck you going pussy

you done with me already you can't take a little tit at tat come back I'll give you another kiss you stick around long enough hey stick around long enough I'll show you something else you piece of shit and immediately the professor just desperately tries to get out of the way of this man and whoever this is

he begins to move up the stairs that you're on now yeah just so you know when he was yelling I'm kind of just going to back away and then I'm just going to walk is there another do I see another staircase or is there just doors hallways with in front of me

give me a dexterity plus stealth to get yourself up the staircase before he can be on your heels what is going on in this house I hate this house I I want to go home too no shit I want to go home too

okay one success okay there's no re-roll for will power is there yes there is yes what do I do roll will power

I'm not dying I'm not dying for this good okay three should I spin another will pair I mean out of how many do you have I have like seven listen you cannot re-roll

like you gotta re-roll the failures you can't add on okay cool okay three successes he stops he looks in the direction of the stairs and he sniffs

tastes his lips and then spits at the ground and he comes over to one of the assault rifle individuals at his left he gets up real close to him so close that his fat cheek is pressing against the cheek of the guard and he sits almost like bucking him palace

still while whoever this is does this and he shhh when the fuck did you start wearing Chanel number five damn it my fucker guest and the guard looks down at him

perplexed scared for a moment he says I don't know what you're fucking talking about boss what the fuck do you mean and he looks up at him you smell like one of them fishmongers like those crazy fucks

you ever been institutionalized you gotta smell about you you know that and he comes back in deep you know I love them out cave ins they bleed in such a weird fucking way his blood goes everywhere every direction you know that and he comes in close his nose

brimming against the jaw of this man he says boss I well and truly don't know what the fuck you're talking about champagne I promise sir I promise and he goes that's okay we got no room for liars on this fucking crew and he reaches his hand up and straight

through the jaw into the head and pulls free and the man dies almost instantly as whatever is left of his brain is pulled through his jaw he collides against the wall the gun falls to his side and he falls dead to the ground and he

points with one big fat fingered pointer at the other guard who just witnessed this a few feet away and he says hey do me a favor never wear perfume in this fucking hallway again and he takes the dead body by the hand and begins to drag it back the opposite way down to the second floor

okay with that concluded and our introduction to champagne smashingly successful we'll consider we're going to move back into the foyer of the Hecadas estate the Rothstein estate where the rest of our party are making plans

to take something that isn't theirs something that isn't very uncommon for this group but maybe the worst thing they could possibly imagine to steal you're all here you're in the lobby to this place as I said before

Kerr has run off with Junior into the second floor through a door that only Allison would recognize Sybil I imagine you're just returning from that encounter with the blood doll who so graciously gave you information

and the rest of you are noticing just as Niles and Mal are entering through those main double doors into the beautifully marbled estate of the Rothstein family and its extended guests

I think Burroughs is going to has been near Enoch this whole time and seeing the Rothstein Junior make his way and knowing that's kind of what the Prince had originally wanted us to come here for was to speak to one of the Rothsteins

at least I know that it was Rothstein senior right Caleb yes Rothstein senior was explicitly described the senior was important I'm going to I'm going to see that that Niles and Mal are coming and I don't really want

them to be with us and I'm going to turn to Enoch and I'm going to say hey listen you know you're the Prince's new boy I think you should lead our conversation with old Shloma Roth while assuming

well we're supposed to talk to Rothstein senior and we don't know where the fuck he is that's prior the number one as far as I can see it sure but if we want to talk to senior maybe we got to go through junior know what I mean it's a start anyway okay

I will I will I will go to try to find Rothstein Junior okay I'm casting up through the crowds that lead up to the second floor there are people that are filling in the spaces that junior occupied earlier for his speech

in the same way though a lot of people will try and occupy a stage after a concert there's a certain of energy that surrounds a lot of these people when it comes to junior it's clear that there is a level of hero worship amongst some of these saltier

individuals of the family as they crowd about the door that he had entered through you do notice that the same door that massive Nosferatu creature crawled in through after him is now guarded by two individuals

off either side with these very large assault rifles and at their sides you both would notice this with your pretty measurable awareness skills that they are wearing at their sides

a familiar weapon a weapon you haven't seen since before you truly came back to Vegas those very large revolvers from which Regal took

so much a pain through as you all cascaded out of warehouse windows what feels like a century ago in a Colorado warehouse the barrel of that revolver glows

with a sickeningly red glow that rims out the cartridges where you imagine the bullets might set very dangerous looking apparel I'll probably whisper to Enoch

I guess both sides find that thing useful can't say I completely understand what's going on there but I am anxious to figure it out there's no chance the old inquisition is in some way involved with this

between you and me the prince gave me a little something something that supposedly helps accelerate the process of dealing with other kindred and I'm wondering if that might be something similar

oh so you got your own one of those I'll point to that gun not exactly that's not a gun but I think it's kind of the same thing good to know I think we'll go into we'll certainly approach the guards and say

where are the what are we again the watchman where are the watchmen where are the watchmen we wanted to have a word with rosting jr. if that was possible the storyteller gives a quiet

thank you that you did not introduce yourself as the new generation to be welcomed into this room one of the individuals with those assault rifles and glowing guns puts a hand up to you and then immediately a finger

to the ear but at his side he's a very large individual maybe six foot two six foot three massively built spends a lot of time in the gym clearly he is tattooed everywhere

and he has these beautiful blonde portraits of a woman's face on the base of each of his fists clearly of Italian descent in his ethnicity if you had to guess he speaks

quietly into that ear but as he takes a few paces away from the rest of you and the other guard sizes you both up and nods back into that ear but comes back to the two of you and says you'll just have to wait a few moments he's speaking with our

honored guest and then you can have his attention of course no problem yeah no problem man those your exes and I'll point at the blonde hair tattoos he looks at you he grins he laughs he says you could say that they're

more like my mother's yeah yeah other man with a mommy complex I get it I'm more of a brunette man myself yeah they don't really have brunette whores back where I'm from ooh now see we don't say that

anymore it's kind of we have a whole thing about that I'd really appreciate it if you could call them sex workers from now on it doesn't really have anything to do with that if I had to explain it to you it'd probably take

too long well if I had to explain sex worker to you it would probably take too long I forgive me I'm sorry we'll wait quietly in the corner good I think that's for the best I look at the guard and be like you know that younger generation

alright the two of you walk away and it takes about 5 10 minutes if you guys are waiting patiently I don't know if that is like a cover for the guards are you sneaking around the back and killing everyone you see or are you actually waiting

I think that we need to be the folks that keep Rothstein jr busy while the rest of our team try to find this thing I think that's my goal at least I presently intend on being well behaved which I know is crazy but that feels like

so in about 5 10 minutes time is a funky little soup for kindred for all of you you've been dead for so long and dead for so little and so little of humanity really seeps into the bones past this point

that it all feels like too much waiting with how much you guys have always been able to accomplish at any given moment but you enjoy the party favors you take your time and eventually that bald headed blonde tattooed individual comes back up and he says

you know what the Rothstein family thanks you for waiting are you about ready anytime junior would like to see you then and he escorts you through and he opens this door for you and the two of you walk in to find that Rothstein jr is sitting

on one velvety couch opposite a slab from which a rivulets of blood have dried onto the stone itself and there's plenty of seating sort of circumspect around this slab and then in the corner

hulking like a statue unspoken unmoving in fact if you blink too long you may think that he hasn't even truly vibrated in his spot is that guest

Kerr who is standing near seven feet tall and cowering in the shadow of that room unspoken junior stands as you both approach go ahead I just wanted to

ask I just wanted to be reminded Kerr is the individual with the insect body correct yes in fact you'll notice there's an audible buzz to this room that almost feels like white noise

as wasps begin to settle and sit it's almost when bees return back to their beehives like beekeepers will have where they become so docile that they create almost like a clothing

or an armor about a person's skin and it's clearly that's what's taken on with Kerr in the corner here these wasps have formed this poldron that runs down his right shoulder and collides into his bicep and every so often you can see one

enter through a hole in his bicep and then escape down another through the elbow there are many scorpions you can see a vegas descent any locals would definitely recognize them and through some of the moonlight that skitters through

the outside window you can see that the bioluminescence takes hold over some of these scorpion bits as they start to crawl in and out of his chest he looks to be quite the biome and he is absolutely here Best behavior like I said Very good

Junior stands on the entrance of the two of you and you notice that the guards that had taken to protecting the door have now entered the room entirely and as the door shuts behind you you can see two taking their place

on the outside but you're brought into the room and Junior looks to the two of you and says Well, it has been quite some time since we had the pleasure of the Camarilla being in presence in a Hecata's reunion Well, his Majesty

likes to be aware of what's going on on his borders and certainly has an interest in keeping the things amicable Of course Burroughs is just kind of

behind Enoch, gives a polite bow but hasn't yet really introduced himself for anything he's letting Enoch take the lead You do notice that Junior is sort of sizing you both up and he definitely does smile a little shark's grandness cascades over Burroughs's

newly skinnied form sort of taking in the black and white tuxedo half resort shirt that Burroughs has brought as form aware and he returns gently to Enoch at his

declaration and says it's a shame that we could not have Prince Grant in attendance himself but it is so good to see that the Camarilla is honoring their truce even if it's few dying years It is good to have you all here

It's just a shame you couldn't be here for the festivities some time ago I was hoping that you might be more active participants Well, as you know As you may know our duties as watchmen

keep us quite busy throughout the city and I'm afraid our time was simply constrained I'm sure you understand Of course Waters run deep in this place I understand you must treach them It was our understanding that we would be speaking to

your father I see Were you given explicit orders to speak with my dear eldest It is the Prince's understanding that it was your father whom we would be

parlaying with Yes, well I think that we're all coming into an understanding that in these past few decades there have been much in the way of forward momentum for a younger generation, a newer generation

Wouldn't you agree? Well, certainly as a member of this newer generation I'm sure we could both agree However I should like to be able to report back why we were not able to

converse with your father Is there something happening inside your ranks that the Prince would be interested in knowing? None that I could disclose without some due price And that due price might be

Oh, that can be discussed In honor I believe that the Watchmen were to be brought here at my disposal to begin with as part of a deal plea to return some

VIP I was instructed Well, then let us discuss what you require Good Good Write down to business and he takes a very hesitant glance

to Ker And then back at the two of you Before we discuss Why don't I clear the room Excuse me And he steps up, he takes this very beautiful

pricey cane at his side and begins to hobble over to Ker himself It is the first time you've seen Ker move and he moves in Panicked jerks more than

actual movement to flesh For a moment he is standing stark still and then without even truly percepting his speed you see that he is now bent to the ear of Junior in such a way that

it's almost like the way a marionette might break its limbs in order to fall But so fast that it is almost acceptable to the eye to see the strings snap Burroughs is actually more

entranced by how sane Enoch seems right now and he just can't keep his eyes off of Enoch as he is like clearly handling the situation at the moment Very good Junior speaks into Ker's ear

and you can see that the ear, this giant bat wing off of the side of Ker's face begins to twitch and flitter against the words He stands up stark again but more of that marionette movement

and then almost without a word he stares directly at you Burroughs and then leaves the room I'm sorry Ker looked at me Yes, okay, directly Junior turns about with his cane

and hobbles back to his seat across the couch sits down and extends out his arms and says well it seems that we've reached Corum we're in a room unique to ourselves all three of us safe for the moment and for as long

as this seems we may have even reached a trust so long as the Camarilla is not moving against me which means we can start to talk I assure you the Camarilla has no intentions of moving against you

I can assure you that the tower is otherwise occupied at the moment I see What was your name? Well, people call me Enoch Enoch I will preemptively

put my hand down and say name Sunny, Sunny West He puts that in his hand I mean of course to be greeted and gives you a look at Enoch's representation and then back to you

Sunny I never took you for a Sunny Sunny West I'm just here it's Enoch's world and I'm just a squirrel Were you ever in pictures? Sunny West is a filmmaker's name

Sunny West is a southern name From how deep south? I don't know you ever get as deep south as Tennessee? No It's lovely to stop me here

Please, don't allow me to take up the conversation Of course Sunny Sometimes the king is distracted by the jester As we were saying We are in a unique position of mutual temporary trust

and while your preparations for the ritual have been discarded by its lack of need there is still the discussion of one last issue on my plate That man

from which you were just witnessed he is here to take something off of my hands but more so there is a conflict within the city that that he cannot find out about that we cannot find out about that you and your Camarilla

can take care of in order to silence some loose ends I like where this is going Good Good There is a last member of our reunion

that was supposed to be in attendance of this party was supposed to be a long time for a homecoming but she has neglected our invitation and even worse she is still arrived She is in Las Vegas but refuses to attend this party

She has become something of a wayward child of this our family and it will become your responsibility both as members seeking to gratify our relationship

and as watchmen to eliminate her Eliminate not We are ordering a final death to her and all associated with her Well Fun

I need to know whether your coterie are apt to the job before I can explain further Are you asking if we are capable or willing? Both

but willing is far more important in this situation the consequences of this success will be grand I am going to lean towards Enoch and whisper

Mr. Enoch I think we know who he is talking about I think he would be impressive if you told him I honestly have no idea The lady in the lake Oh Are you referring to Lodna?

Who? No you're not No you're not Who are you referring to? No Nobody Can you speak of your own wayward child? No you know

You know my clan Sometimes things just fall out of our mouths One of the guards at the door and he says Do me a favor Write down that name And you see that the guard slings his assault rifle and goes into his phone and starts to type out that name

Regardless Mugely assured destruction Lodna was it? We're speaking of We're speaking of As far as your individual is concerned Are we capable? Absolutely Are we willing?

Personally I speaking only for myself I will say yes and that is all that you need I'm going to speak up and say Mr. Enoch speaks for all of us Yes absolutely we are You see Well

Then you've picked a liaison capable enough to win you this bid I am giving you this responsibility Do you know anything of the La Mia? Burrows certainly doesn't Cannot say that I do The La Mia are a Tortured branch of our family tree

One of which that comes from the Cappadocian line The alternative family to a war That once was and now is just a Red-headed stepchild This family Is notable for one thing And one thing alone in their

Clans abilities and that is Their blood, their vitae The very meat of what they are Is poisoned They exert a level of corruption Through their blood that is Unmatched in any others And upon consumption, spread

And contact A La Mia can burn through Even the heartiest of kindred's Stomachs There is a La Mia in this city Who has been running a muck Of everything that my family Stands for and now is threatening

To cause issues within the family Business And for her to threaten Against my seat of power Is nothing that I would ever see For wishing, meaning That the rest of you Must clean up this mess

I think Not only can we find your La Mia, but I have no doubt That we can resolve the matter promptly Good You must never speak of this In any uncertain terms, except to Your Prince, he may know the full

Details, if you so wish But if any of this information Is disseminated to anyone other than Myself Or the Prince, I will I have your assurance that Should we deal with this matter Successfully, you would be willing

To share The information about your Dear Papa Yes, I would be amenable To sharing information I would release the location Of your precious Dino In the desert

And I will explain The intricacies of the hecatome I think that the level Of offering I have put on Plate should tell you just what An undertaking this is Well, rest assured That this task is in

At least a couple of Handfuls of Capable hands I'm gonna lean in again to Enoch and whisper Mr. Enoch, ask him if If Dino did something to upset The hecatome, why he's imprisoned

It's really not Any of our business, but Was there some kind of And of course you can refuse to tell us And I would totally understand, of course But What did Dino do To deserve such ire?

Dino was Not deserving of our ire He was on Special request by our family As an owed boon He was completing something for myself Because I had once Paid him a favor in the construction

Of his Vardo maps But In his Completion He hit something of a Snag, we'll call it Which I can of course Detail to you further when you bring me

Back the head of the Gorgon Well, that brings me to my The final item that I would like to discuss Is deliverables of this job You would like The head returned To you

Truly a figure of speech But any amount of Proof of final death Would be applicable Bring me her dust I was about to say Dust might be the best that could be managed But

You'll have your proof Good And We'll make this a priority We're fascinated to Exchange this information with you So You have the prince's assurance

That this matter will be dealt with Probably Beautiful It seems that we are all in accord then A rare thing Yes And there's a knock at the door The guards open it

The other two that have taken up the new post On the other side are Fringed off to the side And the two of you see that A new player has entered Into this room He is a short squat Very large

Individual Tattooed hands That read out Son of a whore on either side Balding Big horseshoe mustache This is Champagne Pudinesca Walking through the door

No excuse me Goods I have to call you out on your tattoos You see we don't have I Forgive me Champagne looks At you

Pokes one big fucking sausage finger Across the hall Atchance says What the fuck are you talking about here? Nothing just yet You talk about the Those little fucking ivory tower pansies over here And he looks over to junior

And junior speaks to him Champagne If you could just excuse us a moment We're having a conversation No boss I don't give a fucking shit What these two prince suckers have to say We got a little situation going through

The tombstone tonight And junior Stands up on his cane And steps over a little And turns back to the two of you And says excuse me for just a moment Champagne can be a little brash But he is our head of security tonight

And he has been keeping a close Watchful eye on what's going on And he steps over With that cane He meets up champagne And takes him away the same way that Kerr does I actually Burles is going to attempt

To stand up and say Well I'm representing the security For Mr. Enoch here So I'd like to know what's going on If there's a security breach or something like that Okay Go ahead and make a Charisma plus

Charisma plus persuasion here Or a subterfuge if you think that Burles is lying About the being the security piece I mean I'm definitely gaslighting them Well I told them I'm not gaslighting them In the proper term How could I be No not yet not yet

I'm just doing a regular How could I be Charisma plus persuasion Always trying to look for that gaslight That's the thing Sergio is not a very good gaslighter But Burles is so I'm trying to get better at it Alright so here we go

I'm going to roll That's one, two, three, four, five, six Okay Okay Oh Alright so that's five successes Champagne stops And he says

Yeah if this is their fucking guy Then let him in I kind of like his shirt Come over here you fucking weirdo Yeah thanks man I'm just putting my hands in front of my Like you know I've seen other security people do before

And try to act like security Yeah Champagne even kind of Mirrors you across He kind of likes the pose He falls into it naturally And he looks at you He scratches at his nose And eyes you up

He says You really security What kind of form How long you been doing this You with these camera little fuckers You're real security then huh You the sheriff I'm a black belt chichorayu

If you don't mean anything to you I don't even know what the fuck that was That sounds fucking killer It's karate man Holy shit You fucking watch yourself dude Holy shit Now go ahead

There's something that could possibly hurt Mr. Enoch I need to know about it You're quite a fucking specimen Listen There's a situation Up on the third fourth floor There's some fucking bitch Walking around

Thinking she's invisible And junior stops And looks between the two of you And says Excuse me Yeah there's some fucking bitch Who thinks she's invisible That I can't fucking see

Or I saw right through She was standing there Like it was nothing In the middle of the fucking hallway But I can see I can see right through that little fucking nose furatu Guys that stupid fucking obfuscate shit they do I could smell her too

Like Where in your fucking favorite perfume To go walking around Like you were fucking invisible right Sounds like a nose furatu to me I mean you know what They cover up the stench with perfume I'm sure

I'm sure it's just a nosey nose furatu If you're gonna be a stinky ugly motherfucker You hang out with corpses right I can't blame them I mean I can't salt their fucking flavor But she was making up for the fourth and fifth floor And I sent the countess up there Just to take a look at it

But I'm concerned that she's She might be looking for You know fucking who And he looks at junior And junior immediately cuts it down That's enough champagne We discussed Not giving away the lead

Yes He goes Yeah yeah I say too fucking much What do you want from me? Oh boy So if You're

Had a security with this little coterie here You must have some experience With hunting down fuckers like this huh Well uh Yeah I mean I don't know this person could be some kind of Terrorist or something Maybe you should

Avoid Getting too close to him you know I mean Listen you know You know how those How those nasferatu are A bunch of peep and toms all of them I'm sure he was just on a little bit of a

Uh Panty raid Look I'll say this I hate those goddamn mugglin nasferatu I will be my personal honor If you sent me alone To go up there and take him out myself I can't recommend

I can't recommend that course of action enough Man you two got a lot of vitae In your dick for these fucking bad-eared motherfuckers Oh I mean I mean you know You know how we are over at the tower Those nasferatu we just can't We just can't stand the sight of them

Okay go ahead and make a manipulate plus Persuasion For your mind racism Oh my god Who's doing that me or you know Both of you You're both being racist I'm sorry I'm so nervous

What did you say the role was Manipulation plus persuasion Persuasion Here we go I was hoping someone was going to call out The Nas racism I mean What that was supposed to be

With two criticals that's another Five That I have three criticals technically But it's two that make double It's got to be two Couplets of two so even if you get three It's got to be four for the second crit

Burles is just trying to waste time He doesn't want either of them to leave That's all he's working on Okay And he will move to more drastic measures If they attempt to I got one success but it was a messy critical Now I'm pretty sure as long as you didn't

Roll another messy crit we're fine Okay Let me double check that because I don't know Now it is It's a messy crit Yeah all it takes is one Win where one or more tens in your hunger Dice pool

Okay He looks at both of you and he says Man I like you two fuckers You fuckers got something going on in your blood I mean some of us come back fucked up But nothing like you two huh How many people you guys asked You asked a bunch of these fuckers

How many people you've taken into the next life How many you've given back to Cain I want to say 690 What the fuck You're being modest Mr. Enoch Modest 700 fucking people you guys killed 700 fucking people

Not people not for us too I never even met 700 fucking people What the fuck are you talking about Holy shit Okay Alright You fuckers are coming with me And we're gonna hunt down this bitch

And we're gonna take it down into the cellars And I'm gonna show you some of my rooms Yeah Great Awesome Yeah Let's do that Okay come with me

As he goes to turn I'm gonna hold off I'm gonna pause I need to keep this guy in this room And I'm just gonna say out loud You know what Fuck the coral Enoch

We all worked To cover your ass and to be friends with you I taught you how to be a friend with people Hell I tag-teamed your wife together And this is what you do to me What the fuck This is the shit you pull on me And I'm just gonna start like pushing him

Uh Yeah I got in a meeting with the prince too You son of a bitch No you know what fuck you man No And I'm gonna start fighting burrows I guess Junior looks between the two

And then back at champagne Um Could I get a performance plus manipulation From both of you to decide if this Little skit is enough to keep two of the most Powerful hikata in the state here in the room God these are good roles for me So here we go

Oh my god This is turned into like a fucking Abbott and Costello skit That's five successes for me One success for me Holy shit That's six successes Come on baby

Uh how realistic does this like Scrap look like between the two of you I'm gonna try to put him in a headlock And there's a little bit of actual Uh angst kinda coming out Little bit of actual frustration I'm actually doing it where I'm like You know I'm pulling on him

And kind of bumping into Uh Mr. Uh money bags What's his name Junior Yeah Rothstein Yeah I'm getting him involved

Like getting him in the way Forcing I'm trying to force champagne to stay involved Junior looks taken aback by all this In fact he looks Um a might Uh offended by the situation And he steps back as you run into him

And he holds that cane back And the second you threaten to Even bump shoulders with him There is this level of Solarity that kicks in As he vanishes almost completely In this burst of speed away from the touch And then wipes off the dust

From where you might have touched him Um Immediately champagne steps in Uh and tries to join the fray But before he can Junior says Solve this petty squabble however you may But finish the lamea

Bring me what I'm owed And for God's sakes Work on your etiquette And he begins to leave the room Um I just raised one thumbs up Okay Champagne though

Uh looks to Uh Enoch Being the one who said he had killed 700 kindred before in his life Um And uh With this disgusting Fucking grin

Huge grin on his face He's almost high off of the situation As the brawl is incited And Junior has given him the eight Okay He spits on both of his fists Um and then primes up And pulls back the

Medious fucking haymaker That you think you've seen in your life Enoch And it looks like he goes primed to hit you Square across the face Oh fuck Shit Can I Well I guess we'll wait

Can you What would you like to do If I see him priming up to like punch Enoch I wonder if because I have control Of Enoch physically Can I like you know almost like a Uh A bullfighter with the red cape

Like move him in a direction To like almost like Judo Misdirect, mismove Uh uh champagne Like almost like he would stumble past us Yes, yes you may Go ahead and give me a brawl Plus dexterity

Brawl plus dex Alright, not bad, here we go Uh um I'm gonna, I'm gonna spend a willpower And re-roll it, here we go Come on baby Okay, two successes Two successes

Okay, we'll say that you are able to Uh enact this role, this action After the attack But unfortunately he's going to At least take this punch Um Give me one second, I need to remember How champagne's punches work

Oh, they're that complicated, huh? Oh like your seconds Great, awesome Like I wanna call an album Champagne's punches I think that's a really Um There's more than force damage

I don't know It's like You're gonna take eight superficial damage As he absolutely Fucking destroys the side of your face You can feel that your jaw Your cheekbone And probably the orbital to your eye

Shatter almost completely And there's this big gout of vitae That spouts onto Baroza's face As your face almost explodes From the sheer caliber of these ringed fists Of the son of a whore That hits you square across the face And you can hear him

Before he even really connects with the punch Ah fuck yeah, fuck yeah Take it bitch And he hits you square across the face As hard as he can So I roll into I roll an eight Clip rolls me over two

Into two aggravated damage I already had one aggravated points of damage Which means I am now at three aggravated points of damage So instead of redirecting with two successes I'd like to kind of throw Enoch to the ground Somewhat behind me Somewhat like out of the way of more punches Yeah

And I'll turn to Old Champagne and say You son of a bitch this is my fight You stay out of it Oh you want some of this too? I'm just going to start taking like Whisky bottles and stuff like that And smashing them on the ground

Like you son of a bitch you stay away from him He's mine Okay Give me a persuasion plus manipulation As you try and tug on the heart strings Of Champagne Pudinesca And his sense of honor Persuasion plus manipulation

I'm kind of gaslighting him I am being like you know Sure whatever you need Four successes Okay He stops and wipes away the shirt Gout of Vite that is still stuck to his hands As it drips to the floor

And he cascades over some of the words So that son of a whore is no longer readable And he repositions one of his rings He takes his big hefty, raged breath And points squarely at your face And he says Alright fucker You want him for yourself that's fine

It's fine Oh I never been one of those guys Sure I'll stand in the corner And he gets in the corner And allows this play fighting to go forward We're gonna say that this performance continues Well I go to the others Out in the bulk of the room

As Champagne is finally satisfied After obliterating half of Enoch's face Holy shit We come out to everyone else in the foyer Junior is rejoin the party Up on the second balcony But now he's making his way down the steps Into the lobby itself

The party is still in full throw People are more than willing To take the blood dolls off the patrols That they're making around the room There's plenty of mortal food There's plenty of mortal conversation And the rest of you are here In search of a key

In search of a purpose And very soon you'll learn About the lamia waiting for all of you Are there any actions that need to be taken? Mal will turn to Sybil and say Okay, where the fuck's Allison? Last I heard she was upstairs Trying to find the key?

Because that's what we're still doing here, right? Yes, we're trying to find the key Great, that wasn't subtle at all, fuck No, but it's really tight here So just be careful Even the stuff that works on normal people Probably won't work here Or at least it will be a lot harder

For it to work here Yeah Do you have a plan? Be a shadow That's it That's my whole plan Okay Niles, you got anything to add to that?

I mean, there's... I think I might know where we need to go It's like this top room Where these red spoons can see I don't know how to... the bedroom Yeah, if you can find a way to get to the bedroom Yeah, with the... He says something on a tombstone

Yeah It's what spoons saw in the room A tombstone was in the bedroom The building looks like a tombstone Or the building looks like a tombstone We were veering into like, oh god That'd be so cool if it was, but no I'm rewriting

Okay, good, good, good It's just the place he was most... Yeah, it was just the place he was most concerned to be at Which probably means it's the thing we're looking for That's logical I mean, you can get pretty high with a blood doll Or some sort of like fake business But the upper floors seem to be family only

Family will have shadows, don't they? Yeah, that we know of Shall we? Shall we? Actually, shall you? I have something I'd like to take care of I figured that's why I was here Excellent Niles, are you going with your staying?

I mean, I can't cover you I can only cover me I can be pretty stealthy, but as far as I know You guys, we need to find this thing, right? Yeah I'm really surprised, honestly, that we're still in this party So if we want a risk Like, double the risk of two people being in a party

Like, two people being able to be captured Cool, if we just want to run the risk of one Well, if Allison's somewhere in this house And you also start looking for the bedroom Then that's two variables upstairs Yeah, sorry, I didn't do the math of Allison was already there I was doing the Niles and me math Yeah, no, honestly Niles, if you can keep sort of eyes in the sky

Because there's no way for us to contact Mal That's true Okay I can do that, and what to say with you Oh You can I was just going to go see about someone And you can stay with me up until the point

You can, what's wrong with you You can stay with me up until the point where we'll be very obvious You cannot stay with me, how does that sound? I guess Great, I mean maybe, I don't know Okay, maybe you could stay with me Let's go Beautiful, so what should we accomplish first?

Would we like to check in and Mal joining Allison's fruitless plight Into oblivion upstairs? Or shall we go to Sybil and Niles trying to get Sybil laid 100% what I was talking about, which is why I think we should go to Mal For that reason, I think we should go to Sybil No Can I vote for Sybil too? Wow

Okay, we will go to Alfons and Sybil and Niles on the bottom floor So Sybil, what does this look like? What is the intent here? Now that I know that I feel in my heart that my team is working very hard to figure out what's going on at this party I'm going to look for Alfons Okay And are there people dancing at this party? Is it like a... Yeah, but I have to be honest with you in terms of vibes of the hikata The dancing here is not something that is particularly romantic

Unless you're into the hauntingly slow death-marched circles of classical-backed, almost old English country dancing That is painfully formal, minus the country, of course I see So there's dancing, sure, in a way, but it looks like it... It looks like it's missing the puddles of blood it usually has Okay Then I'll just go... Hold on, sorry

I'll just go find him and talk about exactly that I wish that there was better dancing because I've been thinking about ways that... I don't know, ways that we could save time Or ways that we can sort of practice what I would like to get up to later tonight in this dancing just isn't exactly it Okay Yet you find Alphonse through the crowd And it seems as though he was holding quite the attention of a group of people who were laughing with him as you approached And as you explain your intentions, he looks down at you in that way that he always has since you met him

With this sort of half grin and those golden eyes that meet you And he speaks plainly, he says Well, with my extended stay in the city, we may be able to get up to a lot while I'm still here Maybe you could show me the club scene, you know I don't know Vegas That could be fun We're actually working on something in a completely different part of town than this one But it's a slow start Once it's ready, I think I'll take you up on that

You're building towers already? You told me you were working this slow track It is very slow But I suppose it is a foundation I have a team now I don't mind working slow, so I'm happy for you Oh, I know Niles, Niles, this is Alphonse Alphonse, Niles

It's good to meet you Hi Friend of Sibyls? Eat, yes Part of the team Did she show you the Circus Circus Van too? No, I prefer my bike That's a shame

It's a good van I guess So what is it that you're doing here? I understand you're from the tower I understand the two of you were given special invitation I mean all of you really, but we don't really have We don't really have visitors ever at these things In fact, in the handful that I've been through since I've died

You're the first ones Well, at first I thought we were bait But given the fact that we've been here for so long It seems as if we're just here to take a look around Interesting Junior's not so forthright usually It seems like it, although he seems a little excited I mean other than just an occasion

I don't know You know how the big ones get when they pull something off Yeah, but the senior really, I don't know, that heavy on him That he felt like he couldn't It's very much boy's big night energy Everything that that spoiled rich brat has been waiting for Was on the other side of senior not being here This is all what boy does when daddy's away

Hmm Do you know about where daddy went? If that isn't the question on everyone's lips Hmm, I have a feeling He was here in the beginning He gave the opening a dress He looked in fine health and in fact he looked better than ever And then suddenly, indisposed

Which is sometimes how it goes at these things Hmm I see The other members of the family play a different game than me and my brothers It gets a lot like your tower does You make moves and you wait You make moves and you wait And then after a couple healthy centuries

You get to pull them off And then it's yours to sit for a few more Hmm Are you making moves tonight? Oh god, no I'm just a hound dog They take me off the leash when they need something fetched And that's as long as I'm here

That's what I'll be doing Hmm So no breaks No breaks Although I think this next one is going to take some time away What do you mean? I'm hunting down some rogue member of the family Oh, okay

Am I allowed to ask questions? Sure, yeah, if anyone can it's you and Niles Yeah This person in the family, do you know why they're being hunted? What they've done? Yeah, they kind of spit in the face of Junior, literally They're a Gorgon, a Lemia It's a member of our clan

They're called Medusas sometimes Gorgons, others But they're sort of rare, even for us There's a lot of rarities within Hakata But they're something else, something special And Serena, she's gone haywire Hmm Is there any sort of

Precautions that one should take for that kind of job? You got something you want to tell me, Sybil? No, no, I'm just curious We did a little bit of talking, but we didn't talk much last time And I know you were a hunter, I don't know anything about your work Well, the last time you were asking questions like this, you and I took down a meth house So forgive me if I consider this to be some sort of a proposition Although you and I are pretty used to propositions at this point

I mean, if you find yourself needing help Then, of course, myself and my associates are able to help you Who would I be to turn you down? I could cut you in You get a cut like last time, I don't know how big But this should be pretty interesting if I'm the one that brings it in Hmm, I think we can work something out Yeah, it'd be nice to get the whole team back together

Exactly What? I think Sybil turns to Niles Sort of a, I know where I'm at in this conversation sort of way Do you have anything to say before I get there? Nope, Niles picked up on that a minute ago and has been kind of averting their attention elsewhere Just, you know, taking steps back away from the crowd It's a shame, is your friend leaving?

Niles, did you, were you gonna go do a lap or gonna go take a break or gonna go take a break or Yeah, I hadn't had a chance to eat, I just got here anyway So I'll be back, skulking to the crowd What a shame that, I guess that just means it's just us Well, I happen to know there's a very beautiful bedroom upstairs Does it have a balcony? And I think we'll pull away from there And we'll go to Mal, who's making their way upstairs

Mal, how are we going about doing this? The second floor is all game, but third, fourth and above are situations where things can get hairy and you are no longer allowed I think Mal's gonna go through any crowds that are kind of happening on the second floor And be seen there and mingle enough to have an alibi kind of And then once they've done as much as they can handle, they're gonna kind of slip out the back toward the stairs Okay, beautiful And once they're out of line of sight for most people, I'm gonna activate Shadow Cloak Beautiful, so you activate Shadow Cloak, which allows you to move through those shadows

We'll have you know there are not a lot in this room, because it is very well lit But there's obviously some cast by the persons and individuals within So we will require a stealth plus dexterity roll, and then once we get this stealth plus dexterity roll, we're going to take a break We'll come back, we'll see where you land Alright, stealth, and then I get two extra from Shadow Cloak Yup South is three, ducks is three, one, two, three, and then two more Alright

Four successes Four successes, yeah, you have absolutely no problem getting up to the third floor And we're going to resolve what you find up there when we return after a short little break here Alright We'll be right back Let's go Let's go Let's go

Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go

Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Let's go Okay, welcome back

We're going to continue here We have Mal who has just succeeded on a stealth check up to the third floor using the melding shadows of Oblivion only known to those of the Lusombra faith Interesting thing to note, the only other clan that has any possession over the power of Oblivion is the clan of Death, also known as Hikata So an interesting place to use this power Hopefully, it does not bite you anywhere

I did not consider that The Mal wouldn't even know, so it's fine Of course Coming up to the third floor, you find something very peculiar, Mal This floor is completely devoid of human life But there is a noticeable amount of human death There are maybe 20 to 30 corpses that are lined up gray, bloated and dead on the steps to the third to fourth floor

The bodies have been piled in such a haphazard way that they are climbed on top of each other The limbs have snapped and broken on top and it is almost barricading the entrance to the fourth floor And just as you think that you have come upon something that must be the grandest of travesties you understand that this, no, this is your new life As you see that even through your shadows the corpses begin to writhe and move in this mass

as they begin to climb over each other and through each other Each of them undead in their own right but forming this sort of a wall up to the fourth floor Is there any action? So it's actively forming the wall up to the fourth floor It is already sort of combining itself, it has, but it is a living wall of sorts It's a pile of corpses so high that it threatens to fill the door threshold that would make up the stairs up to the next floor

Is Allison not up there? We'll get to Allison as soon as Mal is done Allison is absolutely up there She's about to have her day in court I would like to try to wriggle my way Take part in this mass of bodies You'd like to join the chorus Yes, I would like to join the chorus and wriggle my way through the wall

Are you doing so still stealthed or is this a visible maneuver? Ideally I'd like to say hidden, but if the only way I can do it is visibly I'll do it There is plenty of shadow and a pile There is plenty of darkness and a grave Go ahead and give me that stealth roll, the usual stealth roll we use for Touch of Oblivion The difficulty will be increased for this action

as you are fighting against what is essentially many, many hands, minds, and bodies Sure, yes, that does make sense You are slinking in through the shadows that cope between corpses I have to pick the right guys, hold on Pretty fucking metal if you ask me What other show has given you this shit? None of them I'm going to burn a willpower to roll three again

That's a good choice, Mal Yeah I'm going to burn another willpower to roll three again Yeah I'll mark them off in a second Plenty of willpower damage you're causing yourself I'll stay at my six Six's successes is quite a margin of success, let's hope it's enough

Yep As you begin to arrive up to the fourth floor, let's return with Allison Allison, you've sauntered past Champagne Pudinesca You've moved up to the fourth floor, you are up there Yeah There is not a whole lot going on on this floor In fact, you can hear footsteps going up to the fifth floor as soon as you join it up here But this is the moment that happens just a few before Mal begins writhing through

You notice that on the opposite side of the hallway, the second flight of stairs The one that did not possess those footsteps Something begins to shamble down the steps And it is maybe a 45 year old man, dressed in full blacks, very formal Extremely dead, these long blue veins that climb across his face and his skin That decaying green and gray that is given way to bone And the undercroft of a person's existence As they shamble, fall against the wall, shatter against a window that breaks with the sheer force of their poor control of their ambulatory systems

And they begin to level, move and cascade through the hallway And just as the first comes down, another joins No, I knew it And then another, and then another, and then another until you can Yeah, we're moving, we're backing off Yeah Okay, you're going back down the stairs Oh, hell no, okay, wait, wait, okay, so it's coming down the stairs on the opposite side

To go up, there's plenty of them coming down I'm not going that one Okay, there is a window on the left that would extend you out of the building completely And then there's the staircase you just came up from where you saw Champagne put a Nesca Oh shoot, it's dropping It's, ah, the rooms, there, how many rooms are in this hall? Six, let's say three on each side I'm going to, you know what, it's time, because I don't know of anything going on downstairs

I really don't, so I'm told to get a key, but that is a zombie and it's time to haul ass So I'm going to quickly kind of look pee-pee-pee, and then I'm running out that window Okay, you're cascading out of that window Or I'll just like crawl down like Spider-Man, but I'm not fucking with that Are you breaking the window, or do you have an intense of just opening it? Oh, opening, you don't need to go crazy Okay, how stealthy are you trying to be in this opening of the window? Nope, not anymore, not anymore, once I see that I'm done

You become visible, you open the window, let's see if you can perform this fast enough Let's see dexterity plus, we'll call this athletics Wait, didn't a body crash through the window and it's open? On the opposite side where all the bodies are, so if you'd like to get closer to the mass You're absolutely welcome to do that, I'd almost prefer it There's a free window that has not been opened, but has no zombies And there's a field of zombies that has an open window God damn it, I'm going to go up to the, probably to the one where no zombies are, yeah

Yeah, that's a good play, let me get a dexterity plus athletics I was looking at Lev and I was like, what did I do, did I fuck up? No, you're doing just fine I'm just sending you good magic for all well Oh, okay, stealth in what? You know Dexterity plus athletics, let's just get the window open Oh, thank goodness

In time Oh, yay, three successes Three successes is more than enough to get this window open in time and to feel the breeze on your skin What are you doing the second that it's open? Damn it, I'm going to probably go up the empty stairwell Because it's like, because I think there's the key thing that we need Has anyone reached out to me or is there a way like someone did, someone text me I don't think they have, but if anyone would like to have said that like retroactively we have, I'm okay with that

I mean, look, if there was any opportunity to text my wife that someone was on to her, I would do it But I don't know if there was that opportunity Well, let's do a luck check Roll two, two, one, one die tens and if you succeed on both of them Okay Well, guess what? I succeed on both of them Okay My love is strong

Allison, you have a text that, what would the text say, Ina? Thanks, Dada Just something like you're not, oh god, I gotta be really careful here There, let's just go with there on to you Dada, Dada, Dada And is that in the group chat or just to Allison? Just to Allison Got it, Allison, you receive a direct text that you know is beeping as the shambling corpse is coming through to you

I'm gonna write GTFO question mark Get the fuck out Yeah, that's what that, yeah, get the question mark, yes, no, thumbs up, I gotta know if I He confirms And I'm gonna go ahead and go out the window, take a picture Of the corpse Of the fucking zombies, yes, we can send it to everybody As I, can I go down it, like is there like a lattice thing or like a, like a balcony to balcony

Four floors, and this is a non-balcony window, so you could fall four floors, which probably 60 feet Are there balconies or trees or There are balconies on the lower levels, probably one level of balconies on the third floor So you could aim for one if you'd like I would like, I definitely like Deliver your Batman fantasy I know, part of me is like really kind of like, yes You dive out the window and the last thing that you hear before is extending out those wings and aiming directly for the balcony on the lower level

That beautiful outfit you put on for this occasion Flying in the wind as you are now visible to hundreds of people out in the courtyard I am humming the Batman theme, by the way Well, your humming is overpowered for just a moment before you start to fall As you begin hearing singing of your own, not from your voice No From behind you, something out in the hallway that you've just left And as you start to fall through, you'll never quite know what that was

But you begin to descend the building itself Go ahead and give me an athletics plus dexterity to see how well you land Okay At least there's a soundtrack behind you as you jump Yes It is a haunting operatic tune It could be whichever Batman you want it to be Da da da da da

The Sam McLaughlin song I'm gonna go ahead and burn some power In the arms of an angel Better! I got two successes this time Two successes, okay Yeah, you'll sustain two superficial damage as you can feel your shoulder click disgustingly as you land on the banister to the Stone balcony, the floor below you

This feels right I'm okay with it And I'm gonna try to do a superhero landing as best I can, but I know I fucked it up, but I'm gonna own it It's just that shoulder clicking, but outside that you are super You are undead, you cannot be stopped And whatever was up there, no longer is in reach of you I'm gonna get frustrated at my Now though, in search of the individual who just went a floor below

Naturally, naturally You have brought yourself up to the fourth floor to meet a Rococo dressed individual, absolutely flawlessly beautiful Save for a removed mask at the head Where you can see the pure skeletal skull of a long dead individual at the top of it And you can tell even from here that the vibrating of this skull on top of her fleshed body is humming from the beautiful singing that is coming from the front of her The countess is at the open window that Allison has just fled from, peering down Oh and you are partially hidden by the shadow of the corpses you're now inhabiting Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure

There's a really stupid thing I want to do that'll definitely get us in trouble Yes And I won't do it because I know Because, well, okay Rationalized, that's what I love No, no, no, no, no, no, no, she's probably the source of the zombies, I shouldn't put her in the middle of the zombies How do you know? There's only one way to find out

I think a skull-headed person, I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure I would deduce that Lady Skullhead flesh body is for sure in charge of all the zombies She's got a beautiful singing voice I do think Mao sits in it for a second and is like wow that's really pretty, what the fuck am I doing here? Yeah Are there any shadows on the ceiling? Shadows on the ceiling I don't know, let me see How long are you sticking around to find out?

It's a glance up Okay, that I can do Yeah, there's shadows on the ceiling Okay, hear me out Yeah Could I climb through the shadows up into the shadows on the ceiling? Hmm Now, remind me, is it, do you have the discipline that allows you to teleport from shadow to shadow or do you climb through the shadows?

I can pull people through shadows, I can't teleport myself through shadows You would not be able to attain yourself to this ceiling without first leaping towards that shadow You'd have to become visible enough to reach for it Okay, I don't know anything You could take a chance Okay, I don't know anything about what's going on, I still think Allison's up here So, logically I would try to leap for the shadow, like that's Okay

If I think Allison's up here and I think the key's up here, that's where I'm going Go ahead and make a dexterity plus stealth and we'll add in your oblivion Okay This is just becoming crazier and crazier Okay, but like, I don't know any knowledge about what I know I know that, that's why it's becoming crazier and crazier Oh God This is so unhinged

I kind of wish I went to the top, but not really, but I do One, two I'm once again going to willpower How much willpower do you have left? After this I will have two left Which is a choice Yeah, it is Okay, is there a thing like excite the blood where I can get better at things?

It's something like that, it should be in your Rouse the blood, I can't They call it something funny, it's like Blood search Blood search, thank you, that's the word Let's see what blood search does for you I like excite the blood though Yeah, rouse the blood, excite the blood is what you have to do to make it happen

Blood search does for you You get a number equal to your blood potency die to one attribute roll So your blood potency is one, you would be able to add one die to your roll And I just have to do a rouse check? You just got to do a rouse check, how hungry are you? I'm only at two Well, three won't be so bad Guys, this is the day I make bad choices, I'm going to do it

Okay We believe in you A success, I do not get hungrier Beautiful, so you can roll an extra die then That is five successes Five successes With her back turned And this hauntingly beautiful song masquerading your steps

And her attention on the flying dove that is Allison's body through the night air You successfully move past the countess And are perfectly in line with moving up to the sixth floor If you'd like to chance it with another crowd of the corpses that block that next level Or I'm sorry, this would be onto the fifth floor Fifth floor Yeah, I'm only on four right now And once you get up to the fifth, there are still four more levels to the top

Just want to remind you What? I thought there were only four There are nine levels to this place Oh, fuck I believe that's what I said last episode If I made a mistake I trust you your memory, I may have misunderstood I mean, I have to keep going

Okay Yeah You're going to use that stealth check with the corpses and it's enough to get you up to the fifth floor Which is surprisingly empty What I'd like to do Devoid of anyone, not even guards What I'd like to do is for you to make a blanket stealth check to see how you fare with the rest of the fields right here Four more floors

I don't want to take up our time with that much, but let's see if it's a success I need you to roll twice in that stealth pool and we'll take the number of successes against the DC Okay And if not, we'll call champagne Yeah Okay, I got three on the first one I'm three on the second one The haphazard dice selection was not working like I thought it would

Yeah Okay For all intents and purposes, you believe you have reached the ninth floor with little to no observation from anyone else But that is only to your understanding For sure Um On this ninth floor, you bring yourself up to the top of the stairs and find that there are no shadows left to hide in But there is a small stretch as the building has become considerably smaller at this level

There's a single door with two wall sconces bordering it and a keypad on the wall And what can only be described as a safe room's door Knowing the effect that I have on technology Pause Can I see if there are any corners in the rooms actually? Yeah, there are corners I meant to say cameras in the corners of the room That's

There are cameras in those corners Yeah, okay But I just look like a plant, but there aren't a lot of sombran because Taking a risk I wanna know so bad Yeah, I'm gonna do it I'm gonna see the cameras, take them into stock Know my effect of that I have on technology

And just start moving toward the door to see if it malfunctions, to see if it Changes the way things go Give me anything that you have in technology Nothing Good Anything that you have in wits Okay And anything you have in oblivion

Wits and oblivion Four I need three more Five Six Seven Three, but one is a messy critical Okay

The keypad winds And that usual disgusting screech That comes about when technology is near you And it flashes red then yellow and then finally a big beautiful green across the numbers And the door clicks and cascades open itself The air decompressing from it and leaking out into this hallway itself It is feted stale air like a grave unearthed But it opens up into what looks almost like a Victorian era bedroom

That is well taken care of There are multiple portraits of an older Jewish gentleman with very traditional clothing that would match the era And there's various religious iconography on the walls There's a big canopy bed There is a coffin pressed against the wall There is a series of bookcases, a coffee table and sitting area in front of a fireplace And it looks like this is the master bedroom What you can only imagine was master Rothstein

Is there anyone inside? As far as you can tell it's empty But sometimes things can be deceiving If there are still shadows, I'm gonna stick in them Okay Um And I think I'm just gonna start going around to cabinets to parts of bookcases that look loose But before I do that I'm actually going to prop something under the door

So that it looks like it's closed but it's not actually closed Okay It will not fully close obviously because you have malfunctioned the locking mechanism But you absolutely do so Okay Yeah and then I'm just gonna start looking for hiding places basically Okay You're looking for hiding places, you're looking for things within this room

I'm guessing you're trying to find the MacGuffin that I've hidden in here I'm just assuming that like Allison, after having gone up several flights of stairs and not seen Allison Allison probably got the key and she's down there already Oh, was that what I think? Okay I think Mal would either like come to the assumption that like either she turned around and left Or maybe she went out that window that the Countess was looking at but I'm not entirely sure Okay So I think at this point Mal is like well I'm the only one up here

I'm the only one who can do this so I should just do it If you are rooting through things without leaving the shadows then you are at a negative I would like you to remove two from your dice pool because it's harder to look When you are also concentrating on not being seen If you'd like to be visible you can remove those two dice Are there any cameras in here? Nope I think I'll

I think I'll stay hidden for now Okay, take your negative two dice pool to your wits plus awareness roll Okay Okay, there we go, Brian could not Three successes Okay You find One second

Okay You find a book Incredibly old Made of some sort of vellum Although it resembles a touch of human skin across its brown tanned surface The pages are incredibly old, ancient In fact it feels wrong to touch And this is tucked away in a very indiscreet portion of the book cases along his walls

And it reads in Latin Do you think Mal would have any understanding of Latin? They were Catholic for a hot second so maybe a word or two but not in any kind of Okay, if you'd like to you can make a plain wits plus academics to at least guess at what you're reading Let's see One success You can't negotiate the actual title to this book It's written in a language that you do not fully understand but it seems incredibly important

And it strikes you as something worth taking In addition You find a lamp That lamp is incredibly old, it's made of brass It is It is lined by the Greek letters chai and roe and that's something you might recognize from the Greek alphabet I think that Mal might have a loose understanding of that especially with chai And it is incredibly well guarded in this crate that is still cushioned inside and was placed by the bed itself

And it looks incredibly well guarded after and it is displayed in a glass cell almost with a lock on it That is electronic itself, it has a keypad I think Mal definitely takes the book and looks at the lamp, how big is the lamp? Is it like a standing lamp or like a lantern kind of a lamp? It's like a lantern, it's something you could definitely hold in your hands Are you looking at it extensively? No, I don't think so I think Mal realizes that they've got one thing and it's probably not going to be easy to maneuver their way back downstairs too

As you consider the lamp, even just glancing at it, I'd like you to make a frenzy test Oh shit That'll be your willpower plus a third of your humanity rounded down It's a kindra genie Kindra genie in a bottle baby Three, four, five One, two, three Okay, so I have, I guess, four, five

I have six, but one of them is a messy critic Okay, so I got this fangy boy and then a ten, which would be four, right? Yeah Okay, you succeed There is this primeval being in you The place that understands the darkness that runs throughout you The voice that controls the black in your heart And even that voice begins to recede from what you're looking at

Your messy critical is to flee the room immediately I'm out Okay I think the consideration is there to take the lamp and then feeling that feeling washed through them It's just an instinctual just blast off Absolutely Give me a stealth check for running yourself back down to the party But I want you to take a negative three dice to your pool

Because you cannot control the speed at which you flee Cool So a negative, so it's dex stealth, stealth, and then the two from oblivion And then minus three to whatever that pool is Okay, I'll just get the whole pool and then separate everything And then three out One, two, three Okay

One success Okay Beautiful Back downstairs Champagne Pudinesca in the library in front of Enoch and Boros Boros, how far into a pulp do you destroy Enoch or in reverse? Champagne is clearly demanding blood Yeah

Um Fuck All, well, here, so, and to understand clearly, um, Rothstein Jr. walked out the same door that Kern walked out of Yes Which is like a secondary room we haven't seen yet, right? No, it is back into the main lobby of the party Okay And champagne is standing in a corner

I'm much like a cuckold, he is enjoying the fight that he's watching Well, that's not fucking helpful, now is it? We need to get to Kern, because I have a seeking suspicion that he's the important guest of the show We need to get to Kern I am going to be like, alright, Enoch, get on your feet, man, get on your feet I'm gonna give him a second to stand And I'm gonna position myself where Enoch's back is to the door that Rothstein walked out of Okay

Kind of like walking around with my fists up Beautiful Loose like a puppy You're gonna stand? Yep Alright, I'm gonna go run at Enoch, like grab him and like pick him up and run out the door Like if I'm like Sure

Like I'm gonna pile him into the wall or something and I just go out the door instead Okay, back into the main proper of the party Yeah, I'm fine with this Yes, I'm looking for Kern Okay Go ahead and make a strength plus athletics for just how far you take him through this door Okay, strength and athletics I'm gonna rouse the blood

Got it I succeed, which means I don't get hungrier But I can use another die, right? That's the whole idea Yep, you add on to your attribute, yeah Here we go Equal to your blood potency That's two successes

Two successes? Yeah, you more than welcome to take him straight through the door, champagne is Just scream it up Cheering behind you and the two armed guards get clear out of the way They've been staved off by champagne's hand And as you come through breaking through that front door The other guards on the other side poise their guns until champagne comes out and puts out his hands And immediately you're barreling through this group of guests that were positioned outside of the door

Hoping to get some amount of play with the bigger higher ups And you're cascading through a woman that was dining off a blood doll And there's this huge push of maybe eight people that have been discarded by the push of your beings through the crowd Yes, Ina At this point, I'm a little embarrassed Silence of death to try to mitigate the embarrassment I see There is a sudden crash of glasses that stops the second that it starts

As downstairs, Niles And Sybil, if you'd like to assume it was a quickie Here, like this, suddenly a huge crash that is then deafened instantly As on the edge of the balcony, Enoch is set into the marble and burrows kind of huddled over him And they are scrapping on top of each other on the clear second balcony of the second floor Is Kerr within view? Go ahead and make me a wits plus awareness for anyone that is looking for Kerr at this moment Awareness too, here we go

Can I just make a general awareness check? Yeah, absolutely I don't know about Kerr, but I've been lurking in the crowd Three successes for me One success I'm sorry, wits for awareness? Three successes, we've got a total of seven so far One success

One success, a total of eight We'll say that burrows with the clearest line of sight is the first to notice, followed by Sybil And then alerted to their two partners, the four of you have an understanding That straight through those open massive double doors into the main courtyard Maybe 80 feet from the front door, Kerr is making a slow saunter towards the gate of the estate Looking to leave, you'd guess Can I? Real quick, is Enoch invisible?

Enoch is not invisible, he's silent Everything that's happened to all of you has been deafened of sound As to not draw attention, although how it works, who knows Go ahead Niles Can I send spoons? Because I bet spoons are still perching Can I see, can I have spoons follow Kerr? And then can I start making my way slowly out because I have my bike Sure, are you trying, how close is spoons getting?

Spoons is going to be far up above as if a bird is like, you know, flying around But not close at all Spoons' attempt is to stay within line of sight, of course Yeah, just to see where he's going Okay, go ahead and make a wits plus awareness plus your animalism Wits, awareness Two successes, sorry, two successes Two successes

Okay Before a major change, you do connect with spoons There is a feeling again that there is this mass of things off of to the side of the estate past the main wall That same level of heartbeats that spoons had sensed earlier But now it is mobilizing You can tell that whatever that is, the 30, 40, 50 heartbeats that are moving out there in the desert past the main walls They're beginning to mobilize north towards the entrance and exit to the estate That is the first thing that comes to your senses

Spoons then clocks in on Kerr And you can feel this animalistic watch as spoons zones in on its target and begins to circle as a chromite And then there is a disconnection of your fabulous I need you to make a animalism plus dexterity plus athletics to see if spoons can escape What did you do? Sorry, animalism dexterity and athletics And it's like they're coming across a whole bunch of living things? Yes, that's on the floor

Two successes You feel a sudden rip from your vision into spoons And that control of the aura there, the connection that you feel with Fabulous Suddenly weakens The last time that you felt something like this was in the back parking lot of a bar that you certainly were not invited to Where spoons nearly lost his life trying to save you And there's this sudden disconnect like piano strings being plucked, snapped and pulled free from the instrument Keys no longer play

And for a moment, you're not even sure that spoons is there I've run towards where spoons is Okay So you throw a beeline in your pursuit of the bike that you've parked out on the streets And you're just trying to find wherever spoons might have lost connection Go ahead and make a wits plus awareness You have willpower, right? No, I do not. I have two willpower

You could always have zero What's the cost of losing willpower like that? How much do you love spoons? I love spoons fucking a lot Yeah, I will I will take one willpower because I can re-roll All the other fails, I can't do the hunger dice Fuck

I have to use my last willpower because that's it. That's all I got One success Okay So Zero willpower is a tricky thing But it's usually a complete lack of ability to continue any immediate action For the loss of will Of spirituality, of connection, of use, of energy

You can roleplay however that may be For now until Niles reserves some form of rest or recollection of that willpower Niles will be unable to participate in major roles We can decide for ourselves what that means, but I think that we can decide as we go As for spoons, we're going to decide some things Don't show me that box, Caleb Sometimes I have Get that box out of here

Look, you can't kill off spoons, they're a beloved character No, my boy Look, how else can I build my villains? No, my boy Caleb Why? Niles Yes

The third building of the massive estate Right of where Kerr is currently walking Discarded in the lawn Clearly hurt upon the impact as well as the wound Is the small, barely perceptible, fluttering, crow's wing A wing you made yourself And you can feel, suddenly, the thin, barely there thread that holds puppet to puppeteer The fabulous is still alive and spoons still plays at that string

But as you get closer and closer, you begin to realize the damage Where one wing that you created is still there The other is separated entirely from the body And it seems that the beak has taken damage on the way down And you can see further into the bird's musculature than you have ever seen before One eye has gone a glossy half-white and has been lost And the body itself is mangled, hurt But it still flaps

Still moves, still breathes, still clicks Even calls to you as you get closer Spoons is still here If you can act fast If you can do what you've done before Maybe Maybe they'll stay with us Yeah, fuck

Niles is, yeah, Niles just kind of gets down next to spoons And they're like, they want to try to be as gentle as they can with them And is whispering just, you know, as sweetly as possible that it's just going to be okay And Niles is going to take them and use, if I can, use fleshcraft to try to put spoons back together Absolutely Build your greatest pool with fleshcraft and let's see if we can give spoons back His one good eye never leaves you the entire time and you have this sense through this connection No matter what he is watching with you

And even in this moment, this loss, you can feel the love permeating throughout this bird for you So what do I use what I have for fleshcraft and what? Let's build a good pool for you Let's call this wits plus, let's call this wits plus fleshcraft And you know what, go ahead and add in the animalism from spoons connection with you The animalism from spoons connection with you Three successes Three successes

I believe fleshcraft requires me to do a rouse check as well I believe it does I failed the rouse check so I am out hunger too Hunger too, understood With three successes, we will say that you have given spoons a fighting chance And that while he is out of this conflict, you have crafted enough of a solution that spoons will survive this What does this look like now? Sigh

I have to reattach the wing, that's the main part I am going to try to straighten out the beak as much as possible And Just extend his body out because he has been mangled It requires him to be a little bit larger than he already is, than yes And if I have the opportunity to provide any additional protection to him Towards his, you know, around his chest area And to his beak, I would like to do that as well

Okay We can assume that's put forward We can discuss at a later date the major changes that will be put through Because I do not think this is a simple process This is a band-aid to a situation But spoons is alive, enough that he is looking at you with even more love And that string begins to thrum even harder Enough that you can feel he's stabilized to some degree

For the rest of you, that's the situation We are looking at, Niles is caught in the courtyard there And we are looking at, Kerr still walking towards the exit gate Are there any other actions that would like to take place while Niles is tending to spoons? I've got Allison at the bottom first Quick time out, just for a second So we feel like we probably need to get to Kerr Because that's the one person that we haven't investigated

And we have, you know, although they seem super important So I think all eyes need to get to Kerr The problem is that I've got champagne on me And I'm worried that if I walk to Kerr, he's going to follow And I don't want to do that So what Burroughs is going to do while the rest of you do something Is I think he's just going to like pick E knock up Dust him off and be like, hey, you're not worth it, man

And turn him around and like push him off me And then I'm going to go to champagne And he's like, you know what? I don't feel like kicking somebody's ass I feel like hanging out with you How about we drink some, man? And I'm just going to try to just engage champagne He seems to like me, I'm hoping I can bank on that

I would like to point out that silence of death is still on So all of that was completely muted It is like when you've been at a concert too long And your ears have died It is like a weird bass rumble You barely make out that Burroughs is letting you free You know, but you do get the sense Burroughs, I'm going to need from you

To make a persuasion plus charisma with champagne To keep him busy Okay, persuasion and charisma Want to burn a willpower? That's six total No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Yeah, no, six, six Okay

I'll pull a, you know, a blood doll over And let's drink together, man I want to get to know you Then we can work on getting that chick upstairs, you mentioned You know what? Okay You and I, we can do this together Since the Countess is already taking care of her I figure I could show you a few things

But I don't drink Some of your sober at this point Instead, let me show you something You got some secret you want to show me? Yeah, let me take you down to the basement Let me show you some of my rooms Well, I don't know about that I need to be kind of properly in the mood for that

You really like to sing much? I'm not much for singing Not my deal Are you denying a little opportunity to see what I am really good at? Hell, you only live, you only die once, right? Sure, sure You ever heard of a brazen bull? Brazen bull sounds like a, sounds like a wrestling move

You won't wrestle out of this one Why don't you come with me? And he starts to move downstairs And to the left through a service entrance That he kind of ushers you through This service entrance, is it a door? Is it a, what is it? It's a door that leads out into a hallway

Where a lot of like the butlers and such Are moving in from the kitchen But it's a door that he holds open for you It's a door and it has a knob or a handle A knob I am going to Get to the door I'm going to

Pull out my samurai sword And I'm going to try to slice his eyes off So he can't see me Wait a second I love when Sergio goes chaotic I fucking love it Just cut top Wait a minute

Because this never happens I'm going to blind this son of a bitch Blind, put it in the sky Okay Alright Make a melee with your new specialization And samurai sword Plus, what do you think?

Is this a fast swipe or is this as hard as you fucking can? I think it's as hard as I can I need to scratch those eyes out More strength Okay, I want you to know If you roll a messy critical I'm going to stick this sword in his eyes You're going to have to pull it out

Sounds fun to me Stick Here we go Stick I'm going to burn another willpower Please do Stand by Okay

I got On my hunger die I got a 10 Is that a messy critical? Is it a Yes So then that's a total of If it was on your hunger die

And it's a 10 That is a messy critical That's a total of six Okay You absolutely remove the eyes of champagne Put a nascar Put a nascar And it is a clean swipe into his face

But the trouble is Is the service door that is just shut behind you You're sort of bonked into the back By some of the butlers The door is still shut No one witnesses this But the sheer force of the service member Into your back shoves the sword

Further into Put a nascar Than you intended to Okay You can tell that after it is past the left orbital It goes immediately into the right so far That that sword is sticking out the other side of his head Or at least is embedded off of the side Like completely botched through

You are in a situation where you can either Remove the sword from his head Or leave HH's gift embedded in the skull of champagne Put a nascar as you run away What I want to do is I want to leave Put a nascar blind in here And if I can block that door Is it immediately apparent that

I can go through it? Like is there a broom? Is there anything? Is there a chair? Is there anything that breaks against that door? There's definitely a chair that's set out there That the service workers will use when they're tired Of being on their feet for too long

I'm just trying to buy us time I'll get another samurai sword I'm going to grab a chair Go through the door out the way that I came in And I'm going to prop it up against the door Whatever fashion I need to do to make sure it can't be opened And I'm running the fuck out of there To warn everybody it's time to go

Okay Go ahead and make a wits plus athletics To see this done correctly and quickly Oh man I'm going to rouse the blood I got to rouse the blood That's not a success I get hungrier

Does that mean I still can't do it or I just get hungrier? No you can still do it You're just hungrier Anytime you have to rouse check You always do it It's just whether you get hungrier It's three successes Three successes

You get that chair propped You are busting it out into the foyer Are you making for the door with Kerr? I'm making for the door with Kerr Probably the baby blue is really where I'm heading And I'm hoping that I see some of my allies on the way Yes I imagine Enoch Sible are still within sight

As you break into the crowd though You hear the shattering splintering of wood As one hand reaches through the door past the chair Splintering through the center of a very expensive door And you can just read on the hand, son of And it seems that while blind He is still capable enough The beast is still at your back

As you start to move Sible and Enoch Within view, Niles out on the lawn Mal, we will assume you have come down to the second floor Allison, would you be down here on the first floor as well? What's happening with Alice? I was going to say I would have tried a hippity hoppity on the balconies Down to the actual floor onto the lawn?

At that point, yeah, because at that point I'm like, it's time to go, right? Hell yeah, let's say there's no danger Because for whatever reason the Countess has just allowed you to live And you have made it down to the grass So, Burroughs, Sible, Enoch, Allison, Mal Are you down there as well? Yes, I think at that point I've come down

And I'm trying to just find either Niles, Sib, or Burroughs You find them, are there any actions here? I want to, especially if outside is the same direction as Moe Kerr I would like to try to incite the wasps with pharaoh whispers Oh, is that Moe Kerr? No, that was Kerr Oh, I was like, have I missed something? No, Kerr, Moe-less Kerr

Yeah, this is Kerr like the dog, Moe Kerr is someone different And I will say, I did not fuck up with names this time I know I use a lot of similar names No, you've been doing this Vince chose Moe Kerr, okay? It just happened that Kerr already existed But yes, no, I want to find a way to incite the wasps enough to get him to stop If I get incapacitated, that'd be great

But just enough to get him to pause Beautiful, so it builds a pool off of that discipline, yes? Yes, it's manipulation and animalism Is there a contested version? No Okay No, unless you want there to be No

Oh, bless God Okay, I'm going to spend a willpower because... Okay, that's fine That's four successes And I get hungrier, which isn't great, but that's fine Four successes And you are trying to incite the wasps to attack Kerr Yeah, I kind of just, yeah, I want to knock him off his rhythm a little bit

Where are you in position when this happens? I am probably like 30 or 40 feet behind him, depending on how fast he was moving I was already going towards him, but I was still at the entrance or exit of the house You take five superficial damage as a swarm of wasps incite into the air Grown entirely feral and begin to peck at your face immediately You are instinctively shielded at the eyes, but that is what they're going for instinctually And you can feel the sheer, sharp bits of pain as their stingers embed themselves into almost every inch of your flesh You are fighting off a visceral swarm of these beasts that have descended upon you almost as soon as the idea to incite them has begun

And so to be clear, Sybil is now like by Kerr? You said you were maybe 30 feet, right? Was I right? Yeah Distinction, so consider 30 feet from Kerr And I will point out that even in this moment, as you guys are watching Sybil be swarmed by these wasps, Kerr has not stopped in his gate He has not sped up, he is taking small, jackbooted steps towards the exit and has maybe moving at an old folks pace and has not even turned back to looking Is it easier to see on his body? Is it clear that he's carrying anything or is there anything revealed from this loss of insects? Go ahead and make a wits plus awareness, do remember he has a big trench coat on, so it can be a little bit difficult

Caleb, because I came through, because I was like hippity hopping down, I don't know if I'm right by the group Like if I came through the side of the building, would I actually be able to intercept Kerr? Yeah, if you would like to be close enough to get to Kerr, I would love for you to do that Let's do it What do you have planned? I'm assuming because of the texting, because that's how I've been keeping up and I was getting all this, but I believe that's what was exchanged to me if I'm correct or not And then I would have been like, I see him and I'm going to just kind of catch up and clock in and try to turn on a charm very quick and on my all Okay, beautiful, what do we have for wits and awareness?

Three successes Three successes I would say that you'd notice there is a discernible difference in the shape to his coat and even under the limited street light lamps that line out the front of the estate that you could make out a rectangular shape underneath his coat As I am be lining it towards him, I am texting everyone as fast as my little fingers can get to Kerr, he's got it Is there any chance that I can tell that we're going after Kerr? Oh, sorry, Aaron No, you go ahead Yes Okay, then I'd like to do a thing

Okay, before we get to that thing, Enoch, do you have something? Oh, I was just going to point out that I am still a silence to death Okay I suppose it's a verb now and I would like to be trying to sneak up behind Mo Kerr with my fancy torpor inducing knife No, Mo Kerr Kerr, excuse me, Kerr You're going to stab him with a knife? No, I'm sneaking up with him with my knife

Okay Now what are you doing? I would like to use Umbrus Clutch, which reads The user creates a temporary gate out of the victim's own shadow causing them to fall through oblivion and into the waiting arms of the user Okay, so I would like Is there a contested role for that? It doesn't say that there is, but I'm not looking at the full, I just have the online Do me a favor, look at the full and see if there's a catch to that

In the meantime, could I get a stealth that's dexterity plus stealth for Enoch on sneaking up And dexterity Do I need to roll up to see how, like, I can get to him because I just want to Yeah, let's concede that right now Allison, you round up and find him moving at a slow pace, it's not as though he's built anything up Okay Point of order, am I using an obfuscate in this pool at all? Go for it, yeah

I'm going to turn on the awe really quick just to give me that little extra bump and presence Now I'll be like Now where have you been finally? Someone I actually want to speak to this whole night Okay Go ahead and make me a charisma plus persuasion roll You'd just be able to turn this around I just got the most confusing role of my life That sounds very us

Caleb, can you remind me which book was on Risen? Chicago by Night, I'm pretty sure I cannot wait for that player's guide to come out and then it will have all our disciplines in the same book That'd be lovely Okay, so two tens equals Four Four, so plus the two I have, six Not bad

John, baby Meanwhile, I got, and I'm very sorry to report this, one ten on my hunger die And one one on my hunger die So you have one success, but if you didn't succeed you have a And one critical fail on a hunger die Fucking hell That's, that is something I think Allison, he does not even regard you

That's fair He doesn't even look at you, he doesn't even, like, recognize that you exist and continues to walk Now I really need to know if that's a contested role or not because I, whether or not yours works Decides a lot of things for what's going to happen to Enoch right now Sure, I'm in the document where I'm supposed to find it It costs a rouse check and I gain a stain, apparently Yeah, that removes humanity Cool, that's fun to know

That was a time to use it, I guess Yeah Okay, I have to roll wits plus oblivion versus dexterity wits So versus my dexterity wits Yes Okay, that's what I needed Your dexterity wits is my wits oblivion He does not seem very dexterous

Oh, I need to roll my rouse check I fail so I get hungrier Now that I know where this is, I'll keep it up more than I do to find one All good, not a big deal Two, three, and four I'm going to use one of my last willpower to reroll three, I've done well You have one willpower Yeah, six successes

And what happens if this fails, does it say? If it fails for me? Yeah That's difficult before So it really only affects if it succeeded Your pool was six, correct? That was six successes? I got six successes I have nine successes

Holy fuck It doesn't work You reach through and your hand disappears into shadow and appears over his And wrenching in at his soul, you focus all of that power, all of that oblivion on bringing him to you And the tug, the pull, the huge amount of energy that comes out of your body pulls it nothing It's like trying to pull the world He resists entirely What?

And then turns on a dime to find Enoch sneaking up on him with his knife Oh god damn it Enoch, I believe you're sneaking up aggressively, right? Knife is drawn I mean at this point he's a direct threat to everything, the only thing I care about, so yes Okay Let's decide this then, I'm going to allow you to roll first with your knife I'm assuming that's melee combat It will be melee plus dexterity

Which I'm not great at Oh god How can we lend help? There's gotta be some way we can lend help Wait no, I'm okay First of all you should rouse Hold on, I'm okay, I'm actually okay, I forgot I had two dots in melee I still think you should rouse the blood I will rouse the blood

Maybe two's enough No I will rouse the blood Is there like a... Success Girlfriend connection? I don't know There is a girlfriend connection, you're going to heal it when he dies in a few minutes

Oh fuck Success, don't get hungrier Rouse my dexterity, which gives me an extra dot That's good enough Three dexterity That's good So this is a pool of five Oh

Okay If I'm dragging my words out, it's because I'm praying that somebody will have something to add I... Hey Would my like shadow catching him have been any kind of a distraction? Would it have put him like... If it had worked? Absolutely

Fuck But because the nature of that thing is pulling him through oblivion Right Since he was not pulled, nothing happens Imagine it's like a spell in a wizard game we're not going to mention Disintegrate either happens or it doesn't Right Caleb, is there any way, because if I'm sensing any kind of hint of danger, especially towards him

Is there a way I can like cut it just like... Grab at him or get in between it or like just try to tackle him out the way You're getting between Kerr and Enoch and the knife Enoch is in the middle of stabbing though, that's the problem I'm going to try to grab him out Grab Enoch out Like just kind of like, you know like if there are kids on like a train track, you're not going to pick them up You're going to just hopefully the momentum could both of you knock yourselves off?

I will allow this to happen as long as Enoch is okay taking negatives to his dice pool for stabbing I feel like that's a really bad idea That's a bad idea I want to remind all of you, I think there may have been some confusion over this knife previously I'm going to speak purely in an OOC way because I do want to make sure that we stay safe as players at the table Previously, in character, we have posited that this is a fast track to torpor What the Prince truly meant is that it is a fast track to final death This is a knife that invites final death upon its user if it is used on the heart

I want to stress this because truly this could be a situation where either Kerr dies or you die I did not understand that, no If he doesn't stab him in the heart, does it put him in torpor or no? I guess we'll see Oh It sounds like whether you want your character to die or not I have no way of helping you to try to distract him, but that's probably not going to work I believe we're at five successes

Do you have anything to say? No, I haven't rolled yet, I have a pool of a five Okay Fuck You can change your action with this information because I realized that we had a misunderstanding on how this thing works And originally I thought, well you know what? They'll eventually find out and it'll be cutesy because then they'll realize how powerful the thing is they have And now we're using it and I realize maybe we should update that

Now, okay well I mean it would be pretty cool to kill him I don't think that's what's going to happen here You won't That's gotta say So I, now the question is I'm assuming Enoch, well I'm assuming Enoch understands that I would give that to Enoch, yes He was explained the knife by the prince

To which he explained fast tracks past torpor But Allison is in danger That's true too I think I gotta do it Okay, I think I gotta do it but if someone is going to try to do something to stop me I will then, I will then stop them from stopping me, you know? Okay Let's get your five dice pool

Amanda you said that you were going to push him out of the way, are you going to commit to that? I have, it's like I can't, it's like cause it's, yeah no I have to, I'm going to try to dive him to get him out the way Okay, so you are going to take a negative two to your dice pool to stab Allison you are simultaneously going to give us a dexterity plus athletics to get Enoch out of the way Okay All right I'm rolling I'm rolling too One success

Oh my god Wait willpower? Willpower Yes One success Okay, willpower Three successes, yeah that's better, that's better Nope, rolling another, hold on willpower

You son of a bitch, yes! Okay, so I got two of that so that's four plus another two, six Six for getting him out of the way, beautiful That is the fucking power of love right there And Enoch, we have three for successfully stabbing, yes? Yes I just want to make sure there's no messy criticals or none of that bullshit I have to deal with No, none of them are 10s

Okay, good I want to throw up This is the coffin, my friends This is Kerr's retaliation Maybe I should change this Has enough time passed that I can try to touch him with Wivvy and him? No I didn't think so

Yeah this is all like happening right now Yeah I figured, I had to try Oh god Enoch Fuck You feel The cold air of Nevada Seep through to the gaping wound formed at the now severed elbow

As you suffer two aggravated damage And the arm with the knife is severed at the halfway point Kerr is now holding your disembodied arm Knife still clutched in fist And as Allison collides with you tackling through It served as the severing point that may have just saved your life As you are cascaded across the lawn As this hulking figure stands over the breath of this courtyard

Staring at the many who have made attempts at his life in the last few moments He turns to all of you And vanishes Fuck Fuck Does anyone have any ability to see the invisible? Sense the unseen I'm gonna do sense the beast

Now Does sense the unseen Have a contested role or does it happen automatically? Let me look at that Uh Off-uskate, where are you? Oh, this is an off-uskate, this is what the fuck am I doing? Um, so sense the unseen, it is

It just says wits plus aspects against the difficulty of your choosing Beautiful, go ahead Uh, and I believe the same would be true of Sybil Yeah, sorry, I'm gonna use Eyes of the Beast, that means I can like It says I can see in the darkness, but not that I can't see through invisibility Okay, so I believe this comes down to Enoch's aspects then Yeah Which is a pool of seven

You'll need it One success Kur is nowhere to be seen And with him goes Enoch's arm The knife And possibly the key The rest of you are left on the courtyard to the Hikata estate With the Rothsteins behind you

And what looks to be a mobilizing force of guards Well, Champagne Pudinesca blinded Hands still clutching to his face Priming out the front door Followed by the Countess And they begin to be moving into the crowds that you all occupy now It doesn't seem that they have an understanding of what's happening yet But sticking around seems as though it would give them a very easy answer

That they may still come to later by themselves I'm going to grab Enoch and run to Baby Blue Understood Get the fuck out We're going Are we all making for Baby Blue? Can I move? Yes, you may

The loss of willpower is one that prevents you from large action You can still take actions that would survive your life But things like going up against Kur would be just unavailable for you right now So you can move with spoons Just to be clear, I stepped out for a second, nobody can see Kur Yeah, no, he's totally gone There was an attempt, but unfortunately Enoch only succeeded with one success So it did not prove fruitful

You all pack into Baby Blue It is revved on and moved out of the estate Could I get a final drive roll from a boroughs to decide if we can make it out of this place Without being stopped by the Rothstein family Drive plus Drive plus Dexter Composure? What about composure? Drive plus composure is perfectly fine, especially because you're trying to make sure that they can't connect this to you

Wait a minute, Caleb, I have the doorman's number Can I just say keep it open? Can that add a bonus? Sure I left that nickname Add an extra die for Arman I told you he'd come back, you want me to rid of him? No Never

That is six successes With six successes, you make it out of the estate through the gates and down into the Valley of Fire Leaving the Hikata in your wake and Kur nowhere to be found Whether this will have lasting ramifications with the Rothstein family And whether they can pin all of this on you and your presence, who knows Whether the fight for the Lemia and Dino's life is still on the table, who knows Whether you found the book that the Anarchs were still looking for or it was left by the wayside, who knows There are many questions, many answers, but none left in Las Vegas tonight

We'll see you guys on the next episode Damn Who knows God fucking give it Who knows