Watchstanders: The Lion's Den

[Seryna]

Elisa considered Otto's question by looking over Liam.

"Yes," She decides quickly. "- you know one another and having a rapport is important. I hope that you have built trust with one another." The mortal states. "We will be traveling to a hotel that is around twenty minutes away. Could you join me in my car?"

The three work out logistics. Otto finds Liam and himself are driven in a mid-range sedan by Elisa away from the bustle of the popular hotel. The street traffic outside trickles and eventually becomes only a single rough looking person drinking

The sedan is driven to a run down and dingy looking hotel in what Otto is quite certain is the Barrens. It is isolated. Quiet.

A faded sign reads The Ridge Motel.

The mortal pulls out her phone and pushes a button.
"There must be some way out of here." She states. She listens for a moment.

"I am bringing in two possible assistants. There is some out of the box thinking. The more assertive man is Simon and his friend is Liam."

The call is ended and Elisa steps outside of the sedan. Otto and Liam will become aware of a heavy set man standing outside of a hotel room door. He is watching the people exit the sedan.

The man gives a familiar nod towards Elisa.
This man stands at 6'0", is about thirty pounds overweight, has professional cut dark brown hair and wears an expensive communication ear piece in his right ear.

"Hey Jake." Elisa greets. "I want these guys to meet Kristen."

"The wind begins to howl." The man responds, watching her expression closely.
"There must be some way out of here." Elisa responds smoothly. The man nods and knocks on the door, then opens it.

"I think the guest is a little antsy."Jake states. He glances at Otto, and his eyes move over the surrounding area.

There is only one late model van present in the parking lot.

Elisa pauses beside the open hotel room door and looks expectantly at Otto. This could be a very delicate situation. It is quite possible that Otto's skill in his Family Blood Gifts can make this clusterfudge into a smoothly recovered problem.
Yet he recognizes that he is now outnumbered by mortals. What do they know? What will they do?

[Otto Schneider]

Otto was busy repeating catechisms and prayers in his head as he was swept along with the mortal hunters. He wasn't angry, and he managed to keep calm enough that he wasn't panicking, but he certainly wasn't in a good mood. This is not exactly how I saw things going. The Ventrue cast a sideways glance at Liam before staring ahead for the rest of the car ride. As discreetly as he could manage, the Priscus nudged the other man's foot with his own before muttering, "Make sure your family knows you might be out late." He hoped that the Ghoul was savvy enough to understand what he meant.

As they exited the vehicle, the Reverend remained quiet but tried to put on a curious expression. As Elisa exchanged code phrases with the doorman, he made a point of committing them to memory. Seeing her wait for them, he sidled a little closer and half-whispered. "So, I don't doubt that your friend can hold his own, but do the rest of you have some kind of... protection? C'mon, you can tell me." He invoked his Clan's Discipline to try to ply the woman for a bit more information. Regardless of her response however, he would enter the room with Liam in tow.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-12-03 18:49:49	Otto Schneider rolls 7 to Command (Intel + Intim + Dominate) (10 Again)	3, 9, 7, 4, 5, 6, 5	1 success

[Jennifer Hazelton]

Liam had been directed to be responsive to Priscus Schneider by his regnant, Jennifer Hazelton. The fit ghoul noted Priscus Schneider's foot and gave a bare nod to him. "I will let my sister know." He states, barely audible. He was trying to escape attracting Elisa's attention. He pulls out a phone that only had two contacts - Jenna and Mark. He turns his phone slightly so that Otto would be able to see and read the phone display. Otto did notice that the phone number for Jenna was not the official phone number for Jennifer Hazelton.

"Relocating with Simon and Elisa to hotel twenty minutes away." The first text was sent. As the car parked, a second text was sent 'Ridge Motel.'
The phone was tucked into a phone case clipped on his belt. Liam moved beside Otto as the group relocated towards the hotel room. He remained silent as he stepped into the room. Liam remained within two feet of the hotel room door.
"Hey. I am Liam. Friend of Simon's." He stated simply to those within the hotel room.

[Seryna]

Kristen stepped over as Elisa looked within the hotel, looking at Kristen for guidance. Kristen listens attentively to Otto.

6 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2025-12-03 21:36:58	Storyteller rolls 9 to Kristen's Resistance (10 Again)	10, 4, 9, 10, 7, 10, 5, 8, 10, 7, 4, 7, 5	6 successes

"What do you mean by protection?" She asks Otto, earnestly. Her eyes move over Otto for a moment, taking in details. "You say these people are Simon and Liam?" She confirms in an aside to Elisa.
"Yeah, he came up to one of the patrols." Elisa stated. "Ryan agreed that he should come talk to you as Simon has concerns on if this is just a regular person."
"Come inside so that we can talk about this." Kristen states matter - of - fact. She strides into the hotel room. As Otto and Liam enter the hotel room, they note that Mr. Jake is sitting at a desk within the hotel room. He looks exhausted. As he sees Otto, his eyes light up. Mr. Jake quickly looks away and down, not looking at Otto. Mr. Jake is in a dress shirt and dress pants, both rumpled. A suit jacket hangs from a hanger in the corner from a second chair. Two chairs are arranged to be sitting facing Mr. Jake's chair.

Kristen moves over and stands next to one of the chairs facing Mr. Jake. She gestures for Otto to take the second chair. Elisa stands by the hotel room door, which she closes and flips the lock.

"So Simon," She states with emphasis. "- it is always a good thing to verify who we are talking with. This person who says his name is Mr. Jake is on our radar as a possible creature. He has been observed in the same vicinity as two people who have lost time and when we took them to the hospital, were reported as anemic. This is evidence that he could be a vampire.
When you say protection, what do you mean? We are using a process of checks with one another."

"This is crazy." Mr. Jake protests.