Haunting in Sacramento The Strange Winds

[Otto Schneider]

"Get the fuck out of here, kid. That's your free lesson for the day." There was sincerity in the statement, if not compassion. He may not be kind, but he was being genuine when he advised the teenager to leave the park. The guards didn't seem interested in him past his initial explanation of what had occurred, so the Priest took a step towards Alaric as he heard Alicia petition the ghost.

"Hey." He said simply, laying a hand on the other man's shoulder. "I think that you and I should talk. Privately." His tone is stern, but not demanding. It is merely a suggestion, at least for the moment. Depending on how the kine reacted, however, that might change. The Beast licked its chops as it urged Otto to size up his prey. The Priest couldn't help but start to imagine ways he might dispatch of the apparent source of the troubles plaguing the park, though his gaze occasionally drifted over to Alaric's date to gauge her reaction.

[Seryna]

Majesty pulls the mortal's attention as Alicia strums her stolen Blood. The mortals are unable to resist as Alicia uses awe to force others to obey her will. The Daeva manages to pull the woman to follow her with the power of the Blood. Yet the pain has caused the woman to bite her lip. "Ow." She whispers. "It hurts, why are there words on my arm? Why were you ignoring the that weird voice earlier? Something is wrong."

Fear blanches the woman's face as it becomes paler. Tears well in her eyes. Alicia has told her to keep calm. The mortal struggles against her instinct.

Alaric has now approached the rosebush around which strange phenmenon has happened. As Alicia speaks to his date, he frowns. "Tina, come away from her. Come to me."
Otto's approach is noticed as the man looks down at the rose bush. Alaric crouches and reaches out to the soill, his index finger plunging into the dark soil.
"And why would I do that?" He asks Otto, still looking at his finger in the soil.
The elderly woman and the two guards stand nearby and watch Alicia and Tina.

[Otto Schneider]

The Priest stole a glance over his shoulder, relieved to see that Alicia had managed to grasp the attention of the mortal witnesses. Most importantly, she had separated Alaric's woman from him. Now it would be easier to deal with the man on his own, if he could just isolate him. Otto's eyes swiveled around to find some sort of enclosed space. He preferred an alleyway, but even dragging his prey into the bushes might work for a few seconds. No need to be polite to this one. We're just one confession shy from a justifiable execution.

"It wasn't a request. Follow me." The Lord's Words flowed from his mouth as he locked eyes with the mortal man. His tone brooked no argument. Otto grabbed Alaric by the shoulder to shepherd him further away from mortal witnesses, eager to bring the kine to an isolated side-street in order to pass judgment on him away from prying eyes.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-03-06 21:36:12	Otto Schneider rolls 6 to Command (Int + Intim + Dom) (10 Again)	10, 3, 1, 10, 5, 3, 8, 7	3 successes

[Alicia Silvers]

Keeping a warm look on Tina, letting her voice soften with a look of concern.
"You are right, something is wrong, very wrong and I think that these boys are about to make it all the worse." Licking her lips as she leans in a bit closer to Tina with concern in her voice. "How well do you know your date? I did not react to the voice since I got concerned about you." Or well the wellbeing of all these Kines, if more gets hurt so will it certainly draw in trouble for us all.

Attempting to lead her away to a bench for them to calmly sit down, the internal struggle of the poor woman all to evident upon her.
"I do not know why there are words on your arm but I believe I know who is the cause, would you allow me to look it over and make sure you are not hurt?" Looking over towards her ally and the man, wanting to keep them within her line of sight but also keep this woman away from that possibly dangerous man.

[Seryna]

The Kindred in the garden have leaned into their Blood Gifts. They have chosen to force the mortals in their presence to comply with their own demands. The need is great, no doubt. Will the use of this force of the desired effects? What will happen as the dawn star approaches? The sky is no longer the deep, soothing purple. Now the sky is beginning to brighten, heralding the coming of the dawn. The press of time now hangs over your head. Is it time to set up plans for the following night? Or do you push with haste to solve issues tonight?

The mortal that Otto has spoken to makes a nasty sneer. He falls into step behind Otto as Otto implores his Blood Gift over this man. Now that Otto is leading him into a quieter area, his sharp mind provides a fact. Those roving guards with their earpieces have been making regular rounds. The two who had shown interest in the mortals, Alicia and Otto were standing forty feet away. They were looking in Alicia's direction.

Alicia has used her Blood Gift to command attention. What the mortals wanted does not matter. They have quelled under the force of the power of her Blood. Now she finds herself enjoying the outcome of this. The two guards, the elderly photographer and Tina now hang on Alicia's every word.
"He is my boyfriend." Tina replies to Alicia's question. The power of the blood squeeze in on Tina, making her want to give Alicia what Tina thinks Alicia wants. "I know him. I am hurt. I am bruised!" The woman says, raising her voice.
The woman holds out her arm. Alicia can see that the words are indeed formed by the welling bruises on Tina's skin.

[Otto Schneider]

The mortal man's sneer only hardened Otto's heart further. It was probably too rash to judge him completely for a simple expression, but it certainly didn't raise Alaric's estimation in the Priest's eyes. Give me an excuse, He thought. Just the slightest nudge in the wrong direction is enough for me, give me a justification. The ever-grinding wheel of time was injecting some urgency into the Ventrue's thoughts, but so was the gravity of the accused's sin. Here was a potential unrepentant murderer, in need of punishment. There were precious few in greater need of the Dark Prophet's judgment.

There was precious little time to work with. As soon as he was reasonably sure that he was outside of earshot of other potential witnesses, Otto rounded on the man gripping his shoulder tightly. "Have you ever been to Confession, boy? They say it's good for the soul. I say that's an understatement." He stared deeply into Alaric's eyes with a look that made it clear he was deadly serious. "So, tell me your name, son. Your name and your darkest sin. Confess, now, before I do something we might both regret."

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-03-16 21:10:56	Otto Schneider rolls 9 to Command (Int + Intim + Dom) (10 Again, WillPower)	10, 6, 8, 2, 5, 5, 1, 5, 10, 5, 2	3 successes

[Alicia Silvers]

Glancing up at the skies, damn they needed to leave now, still it seemed like her partner in crime for the night was not about to let them leave just yet. Damn well five minutes, then I am out of here, hurry up Paul, hurry.

Rolling her eyes a bit at having the extra people following her, having been content with just having Tina alone, she was the one they needed to conceal and get away. Quickly placing a hand upon the arm to help guide it back down.
"For how long have you been together?" Feeling a light go up in her head. "Are you familiar with vegetable poisons or dithranol? If applied correctly so can they yield the kind of results that you have gotten here, if anyone has had access to your clothes, or personal belongings or just been allowed to touch you this night so can they easily have created this." Looking toward the exit, biting her lower lip and beginning to move toward the exit whilst dragging Tina along, the move as much to get Tina away from here as to get closer to her own ride and leave in a haste before the infernal stat Sol rose upon them. "Could you kindly do me a favor, leave me your number, and hurry home, lock the door, and do not let anyone but family and your closest friends in for the next day or two. Place some ice on the arm, and make sure to wash it properly if it is dithranol or a vegetable poison so should you heal in a couple of days, but do worry who might have been able to apply it to you. Do you have a car or can you call an Uber?"

Turning her look over toward the guards once Otto seemed done with his stuff.
"Hey what is happening there?" Pointing towards where Otto and Alaric was standing. "Is it just me or does something feel off?" Glad she had enhanced her senses beforehand to time it until after he had spoken.

[Seryna]

"I have taken what was owed to me." Alaric declares with a quiet and confident voice. "I took her right here, left her to decay in some ditch nearby. She should have been grateful."

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-03-18 13:37:18	Storyteller rolls 3 to resistance (10 Again)	6, 9, 1	1 success

Otto needs to make a perception roll

"We have been seeing each other exclusively for six months. Oh no. Ah." The woman with Alicia winces in pain and bends in on herself, clutching her stomach. "It hurts. Make it stop!
Why is it so cold?" She rubs her arms hurriedly. Then she makes a grunt of pain and doubles over.
"Alright. I need to go. I don't feel so good." Tina recites a phone number. She gives Alicia a long look and steps through the open tall gates of the garden.

Alicia has drawn the attention of the local security authorities to Otto's actions and to Alaric. The two kindred note that the lights in the area are increased to a brighter level. The cool, welcoming shadows of the garden shrink. One of the guards is speaking into the headset while looking between Alicia and Otto.
The front gate that had stood open is now closed and clicks shut with a turn of the lock key. Two guards emerge from a side office and move to a small, single metal door and stand before it. They look towards the group of people, and Alicia and Otto, who are still present.

The dawn star nears. The feeling is beginning to press on Otto and Alicia. Otto and Alicia now see that the only way out of the garden is to file through the small door until the control of the two additional guards.

[Otto Schneider]

The temptation to drain the man of his life's blood was almost overwhelming. The Lord had extracted a confession that made it clear that 'Alaric' was an unrepentant murderer, the type of kine that were richly deserving of punishment from the Damned. Unfortunately, there were far too many witnesses. The Lancea Sanctum's mission was to bring God's punishment to sinners, but they strictly adhered to the Traditions.

Otto fought back the primal urges of his Beast and pulled his hand away from the man's shoulder. He couldn't bring himself to lessen his glare, but he managed to give a curt nod and speak in a slightly softer tone. "Good for the soul, like I said. Now, pray that you never see me again." The Priest began to stalk away from the man, hurriedly moving towards the small door. But then, I can till kill you without you ever laying eyes on me.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-03-18 19:25:56	Otto Schneider rolls 5 to Perception (Wits + Comp) (10 Again)	3, 2, 9, 5, 6	1 success

[Alicia Silvers]

Looking over the woman a bit worried, quickly letting all the information run through her brain.
"Poisons can have a delayed and delirious effect, cause massive pain and a number of other symptoms all of these can be described by various ones depending on how they were administered. Hurry home, lock the door, only let family and old friends in and." Taking up her phone as the number were given, quickly putting it in and sending a message to Tina, more so to give a number in return than anything else. "Contact me when you are home, take a long warm shower, scrub your arm gently, call in sick from work, and take the day to rest. Also consume water, plenty of it." Moving in closer right before letting her go. "Do not see Alaric again, please, he is bad news and likely the underlying cause for your pain. If you live together go sleep at your parents or a friend if possible. Call me tonight so we both get a chance to sleep and I will do what I can to help you." Waving her off, and looking towards Otto, damn they needed to leave NOW.

Moving up to the door and the two guards with a warm look.
"May I kindly exit please?" Ready to hurry on out would they just let her, to get to her bike, and get ready to drive away either alone or with Otto riding with her, where they would spend the day mattering little more than that they got somewhere safe until the infernal star Sol was not shining upon this part of the world once more.