(The Abandoned) A Quick Briefing

[Dillon Connery]

Though he doesn't have a great deal of time to delegate, Dillon Connery, Reeve of the Domain of Sacramento, remains in the open conference room. He can't just leave it unlocked, after all, and the others need an anchor to gather on.

The Beast paces his thoughts anxiously, sensing the urgency from its master. Breathing hot ash and cinder from six nostrils, the canine fury continually threatens to obscure Dillon's rational thought.

But he has a firm grip on the leash.

The Man appears just slightly less antsy, dressed blue and white plaid button down shirt and jeans. His sleeves are rolled to the thickness of his forearms, and Doc Marten combat boots appear ready to stomp face at any given moment. His arms aren't precisely crossed, but one overlaps the other and grips the elbow. His rear is planted against the edge of the table, but he isn't leaning or sitting.

No one is late yet. Dillon just happens to be early.

He checks the time on his phone anyway.

Dillon will not be pursuing this plot, obviously, but his presence is required to shove it off.

[Michael Redfill]

Doctor Redfill arrives in his Porsche. His suit is immaculate, as always, and he carries a stack of papers into Avalon. After being checked for weapons, Michael proceeds to the conference room, where his Priscus is waiting.

His smile is a little tense, as he greets Dillon:

"Good evening, Reeve. I am happy you were able to find the time."

He then sets the papers on the table and removes the top blank page. Below there are printed plans for the house where the hunters held him.

"So... Anything I need to know about the team we are expecting?"

[RebornSeas]

Kassidy entered the Avalon easily enough, having decided to temporarily stash his knife nearby - He'd rather not attempt to bring it into the Avalon, but it was near enough to fetch should everyone choose to try and make the most of the short night.

He slipped through the basement doors and headed for the Conference room, noting that along with the Reeve, there was the man from court he hadn't caught the name of (not to mention hadn't gotten a decent peek at, if he'd been as nicely suited that night as tonight). He just caught that man's question too, and mischief broke into a grin on Kassidy's face as he impulsively gave an answer.

"I like wearing dresses, when I feel like I can get away with it. Though for practicality's sake I had to pass on that tonight." Indeed, the darker skinned daeva was wearing a Dark red shirt, tight black jeans, and a pair of grey sneakers. In addition, he had cut his blond hair brutally short, not wanting to give an easy place to grab, just in case.

"Though you probably meant more pressing information. Good evening Reeve Connery, and... I'm sorry, your name wasn't brought up in court...?" Kassidy moved towards a seat as he spoke and looked questioningly toward Dr. Redfill. He waited to sit, however, not wanting to be impolite.

[Alice Brown]

'Something about ghouls' is all Alice knows about this briefing. It doesn't even matter a lot, just showing her face around the Domain doing stuff is good. During the summer, the Daeva drives her red Lexus cabriolet, she wears mostly skirts and dresses, and a smile is on her face. Most kine are happier during this period of the year, it makes feeding more pleasant and the Bacchante believes even their blood tastes better.

So tonight she wears a blue skirt, and a leather jacket. If she wears leather, she's ready to kill. Even though Alice doesn't know what she is about to discuss, she likes to be prepared. Practically all her stuff is in her car, guarded by her ghoul.

With a quick pace she arrives at the conference room. 'Reeve Connery. Gentlemen.' Her Beast demands immediate attention.

She bows her head to greet Dillon, then she sends a nod to the other two men present in the room. 'Good evening, I'm Madam Alice Brown.' Her eyes linger a second longer at the platinum blond man, trying to figure out what exactly it is that she's seeing.

OOC

So let's say Dillon and Alice spoke each other before this, but not about this. He knows she's back, Alice asked for something to do, that's all.

[Daniella Sage]

Daniella enters the room, wearing a white fitted dress with black sleeves. She always felt more comfortable in a dress, and working an investigation was no different. Her eyes scan the room as she enters it as her Beast takes notice of the smaller Beasts. It also notices another stronger Beast, and it wasn’t Dillons, her Beast had grown sort of used to the press of his, her eyes then fall upon someone she was surprised to see. Alice was back, and Daniella offers her a warm smile, genuinely happy to see her back.

Looking to Dillon, Daniella bows her head, “Reeve Connery, good evening.”

[RebornSeas]

Kassidy stood a little taller as the two women entered - not that it helped much with his small frame - and gave a slight bow to them. "Bailiff Sage, good to see you again, and it's a pleasure to meet you Madam Brown." He gave a look to the man who's name he still didn't know ( Michael Redfill Matamune ) then to Dillon Connery ( Wolven Pryde ). They looked like they knew what the specifics of the meeting were, but Kassidy held his tongue and curiosity in check. It wouldn't do to demand they start.

[Dillon Connery]

A smile is never far from Dillon's lips for very long, and here, it shows. One appears at Kassidy's timing, and only grows at Alice and Daniella's swift entrances.

Had he much interest in modern music, there might be a joke in there somewhere about all these beautiful people. But given that his musical interests generally stop in the early nineties with Stevie Ray Vaughan, the thought never occurs to him.

"Bailiff Sage, Madam Brown." They are given a polite bow of the Gangrel's head. He expands the greeting, shortly.

"Good evening, everyone." Dillon gestures to the chairs around the table, but never takes one himself. Instead, he turns and leans against the surface with the heel of his palms once everyone has been seated.

"Last one in shuts the door," he jokes to Daniella.

Once everyone is settled, the Reeve gets right to business. He nods to Mike. "Doctor Redfill here has discovered something worth our attention, unfortunately, the hard way. I'll let him give you the details of his firsthand experience rather than risk misquoting him."

[Michael Redfill]

Michael quietly waits for everyone to enter, eyeing the gathering Kindred carefully and greeting each one in turn without saying anything else.

Something about the jobs I do and good-looking people, I suppose. At least it's not as ridiculous as the Rowan Ring thing.

After Dillon gives him the word, Michael takes several sheets of paper he has brought with him and distributes them among those gathered.

The papers

There is a plan of a building on each of the sheets. It's a fairly standard suburban house with several rooms on the first floor and two entrances. Inside the rooms things like kitchen counters and piles of furniture are labeled. There are also stairs leading up to the second door and down into the basement. A plan for the basement is provided, though there is little but measurements there. There is no plan for the second floor.

"Thank you, Reeve Connery. And thank you all for coming."

He pauses for a few seconds getting his thoughts together. Then he starts speaking in a clear and calm voice:

"A while ago there was an investigation in the Domain concerning a certain artifact. I was on a team handling that. Unfortunately I got separated from others and captured by hunters. Spent more than half a year between torpor and consciousness. The details are not clear as I don't remember most of it."

He glances toward Dillon:

"Thanks to the hunters' miscalculation I was able to escape, killing one of them in the process. The papers you have now in your hands are plans for the building I was held in." - he gives them a short while to study the plans.

"After a few nights Reeve Connery, Herald Villiers and I were able to piece together the situation. The hunters are a group of Rogue Ghouls, hunting Kindred for Vitae. They are fully aware of our weaknesses, posess physical powers and are extremely dangerous. At least one of them has shown knowledge of the gift of strength and has resisted my Kiss without any apparent difficulty. There are at least three, one man and two women and they, in all likelihood, have killed more than a dozen Kindred. The house is most likely trapped and abandoned by now, but we must make sure that they have left the Domain, or dispose of them, if they haven't done that, which we suspect the case to be."

There is another glance towards Dillon:

"Before we get into the specifics and discussing our relative strengths, do you have any general questions for me or the Reeve?"

[RebornSeas]

Kassidy frowned as Doctor Redfill - 'so that's his name' - told his story. The frown turned into a grimace when it was explained that they were ghouls.

At least he had a chance to get those gaps in his knowledge filled in. "Ghouls... I don't know much about them beyond some kindred using them as retainers, and that they're addicted to Vitae."

[Alice Brown]

Though Alice is curious about the mystical artifact, she knows they're here for other reasons. Rogue ghouls, dangerous folks. She looks at the paper she receives. A house...

'This sounds like an urgent matter. I think my only questions would fall under the "detailed discussion".' Always the genius who says that more will come later. Better get to that point. 'Like, is this an investigation or a typical search and destroy mission?'

And yes, a smile appears with that question.