Quid Pro Quo

[Jaqen]

August had spent a bit driving around in his cadillac, picking up Jennifer Hazelton, explaining that they had one more person to pick up along the way [@ Seryna]. He had a thermos of warm soup, some southern fried chicken that appeared home made and a bottle of jack daniels. The Southerner was fishing for a homeless man or woman, not that he mentioned that to Madame Hazleton. He was most curious how she'd find the evening. Upon finding a suitable individual he stopped and hailed them over to the car.

"Yeah? Whatchuwant?" came the old mans voice. He looked tired, eyes red. Probably on drugs, not that August could spot that sort of thing.

"My Lady and I are doing a good deed for our Church. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." he said quoting the Book of Acts, while waving a hand at the food and liquor.

The homeless guy looked at the two well dressed individuals. The well kept antique car. The food...the Jack...Oh yes, Praise God indeed.

"Well thank you both. This is the best thing that's happened to me in awhile." he said, a bit more up beat as he got into the back of the car. As he ate and drank August began to drive the car toward Madame Hazletons flower shop, though he took a meandering path so as to give her time to disagree with the destination if she wanted.

"What Church are you all with?" spoke homeless man in between mouth fulls.

"1st Baptist, down on the South Side Mr....? August asked the mans name, not giving his. The Homeless man didn't seem to care much, as he took his third shot of Jack.

"Friends call me Billy."

[Jennifer Hazelton]

The only thing Jennifer might disagree with was providing the man with alcohol. If anything, the man needed a detox program. Yet she knew little about how best to learn what Priscus Galloway knew. He could very well be greasing the bearings for her. Jennifer was no stranger to the Homeless and wondered if Priscus Galloway also prowled the streets some nights, dressed down and moving among Sacramento's nearly invisible people. The homeless had a power to see what happens around Sacramento, they were posed like a leaf clinging to the branch as fall approached. If Sacramento experienced change, it may ripple through the homeless first.

Jennifer glanced to Billy, wondering if he was one of the people that she spoke with on the events of the city. She gives him a polite nod and passes the car ride in silence. As they reached her Flower Shop, Jennifer opened her up and invited the guests inside. She wondered what the man must think, being taken to a flower shop in the middle of the night.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable." She gestures to the square table with the four chairs. The place is tidy tonight, no loose projects are in sight. A bouquet of blue convolvulus flowers sits on the table.

"Billy, it's nice to meet you. "

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-18 17:24:52		Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Manip/Empathy (10 Again)		10, 5, 5, 6, 2		1 success

[Jaqen]

As far as Jennifer can tell, August just picked up a random homeless man. Billy doesn't seem familiar with August, and while he's easy going due to the Charity the Ventrue showed, he still held that gaze of wariness one might have when they're in a new situation.

"Nice t'meetchu to ma'm." he said as they entered the flower shop. August walked in behind Billy, casually flicking the lock on the door so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Now Billy, be a good fellow and have a seat over there for me." he said motioning to the chair. Billy raised an eyebrow curious as to what these kind church goers wanted now. Still, he wanted to finish that bottle of Jack...

Billy sat, and did another shot.

At this point Billy takes a -2 due to the amount of alcohol he has to any resolve+comp rolls.

"Madame, the first step in the process is of course the will to power. You have to feel it in your blood that you will own his will. Shackle it. Raise your perceptions and funnel the power of the blood into your tongue."

He looked to Billy. "You will not speak unless spoken to. You will not run away. You will not raise your voice when speaking. You will address us as your superiors calmly. You will speak the truth in my presence." Said the Old Southerner as he locked eyes with Billy. The Kine looked frightened for a moment, but only an eyeblink. After that his gaze was replaced with something more placid.

   4 suxx Mesmerize

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-20 10:13:23		August Galloway rolls 9 to Mesmerise (Int+Exp+Dom) (10 Again)		2, 9, 8, 5, 2, 4, 10, 10, 2, 6, 6		4 successes

   0 Suxx Resist

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-20 10:19:47		Billy rolls 1 to Resistance (10 Again)		6		failure

"Yes Sir." he said calmly and quietly. If you looked at his eyes, there was a hint of confusion there momentarily. Was he aware of the enforced control? Was he frightened by the unholy powers of the Damned?

"Now, Madame Hazleton of all things eye contact is key. Once you have willed your voice properly and infused it with power you must make eye contact. Reach out with your blood and see if you can touch his mind with your Voice. Coil it around him. Take your time building up to the Command at first, it will get easier as you gain more skill there in. With this first ability you must be intimidating. A drill sergeant is only effective because his will is strong and his voice clear and his body threatening."
Seryna

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"Sir, can we speak over here for a second?" Jennifer requests. She walks through the doorway to the back room and waits for Priscus Galloway to join her. She watches the man to assure that he wasn't going any where for a moment.

She lowers her voice to a whisper as she inquires.

"You are certain that you can scrub his mind free of the words that are spoken? I would be much more comfortable discussing in flowered messages; if you would not mind. It's a habit that is difficult for me to break."

Jaqen August Galloway

[Jaqen]

August followed, and listened to Jennifers concerns and gave a moments thought before speaking.

"I am certain I can, and he's going to know that something is going on regardless of how we talk. One is aware when they've been shackled in so blunt a manner as The Command." August replied in an equal whisper, though his tone still came across as reassuring.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"Do you mind performing the attempt now?" Jennifer inquired. "He knows my name. If you enforced your Blood to remove it it would allow me to see how the power of the Blood asserts itself. As I ask him if he remembers my name; and he can not - it would be a great aid in my learning. I can not speak freely in front of him because something will likely happen to erase it. I mean no disrespect; but many things can interfere.."

[Jaqen]

August nodded. He brought a chair around and sat down directly in front of Billy, who looked at him wanting to speak, to move, to have freedom again. Priscus Galloway wasn't having that just yet. He leaned forward, and placed his hands underneath his chin in a steepled position.

As August made eye contact he talked...differently. He also pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

"Now Billy...tell me again, how'd you get here?" He asked, as he put the pocket watch away.

"W...well." Billy said, clearly finding his voice again in a surprised manner. "You and her came in your cadillac, offered me food and drink and then drove me to this flower shop...

As Billy talked, August listened and then responded before he could continue further.
"You were picked up by a single man in an old beat up truck, he was white, big and burly but polite and kind. He offered you food and drink and dropped you off at an apartment complex on [opposite side of town] street. What's our names, Billy?" his voice was slow. Slower even than that southern drawl usually allowed for. There was a rhythm to his words, a steady pulse...like a heart beat pumping blood, hypnotic and powered by darkness.

"You never said yours. Hers is Hazleton." came the robotic reply.

"My name is Boothe, her's is Caroline. Mister and Miss respectively." Billy nodded. This took a little time, around 5 minutes or so as the two went back and forth in this manner, August asking a question, Billy answering and August telling him a repeated falsehood made into memory by the rite his bloods power held over the man.

   4 suxx total

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-21 20:33:48		[02] August Galloway rolls 8 to Memory time with Billy (Wits+Pers+Dom) (10 Again)		6, 3, 1, 2, 9, 1, 3, 1		1 success
2014-06-21 20:33:48		[01] August Galloway rolls 8 to Memory time with Billy (Wits+Pers+Dom) (10 Again)		1, 7, 8, 8, 6, 4, 10, 7, 1		3 successes

"Ask your questions Miss Caroline." Seryna

[Jennifer Hazelton]

It was fascinating. How was it not a rape of the mind? Jennifer wondered. She pulled a chair before 'Billy' and took a seat, nearly enraptured by the exchange. She watched Priscus Galloway closely, watching the variations of his voice and his eye contact. Jennifer reviews his earlier instructions of willing her voice. She imagines strumming her Well as a taut string of a guitar, which was how she often imagined her gifts. Strum the Blood - hold eye contact...


How can this not be the rape of the human pscyhe? Jennifer marveled. How does this - partnered with my Family Gift - create the perfect storm of fear and coercion into an Oath that binds one's very Vitae? For a moment, Jennifer stares. She imagines the consequences of breaking such an Oath and in spite of herself, she shivers as her mind rebels against the unnatural. The blasphemy of her body reveals her sudden cognitive dissonance surrounding this double edged blade.

"Hello again, Billy." Jennifer greeted. "Can you tell me my name?"
Jaqen August Galloway

[Jaqen]

August took a few steps back, watching closely and quietly from the corner of the room.

"Sure thing, Miss Caroline." Billy said in a jolly drunken sort of fashion. He seemed in a good mood, almost as if he hadn't been forcibly made to do the bidding of someone else earlier through the unholy powers of the Damned.
Seryna

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"It's exquisite."

Jennifer spoke after a beat. She watched the man, this Billy, and pitied him for the moment. For she was not a Priscus of the Blood, nor Master of this Blood Gift. This evening would not be a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon. It was an intern's first night in a blood drenched medical bay. Then the moment passed. The guilt and pity was ebbing, replaced with the fueling need to know. The drive to stride forward, to crush her enemies in her clenched fist. She did not realize it yet, but it was a tremble in her Humanity.

The Nosferatu returns to the words that Priscus Galloway had spoken earlier. She turns them in her mind, trying to visualize the process. Infuse one's voice with power and then maintain eye contact. It raised another series of questions in Jennifer's mind, but she did not voice them. She decided to meet uncertainty by action and in doing so, grow in her learning. Jennifer stares at Billy for a moment, taking in his expression. Her eyes are focused on his eyes. Jennifer attempts her first exercise with what she'd seen as difficult in the past night - gaining a subject's eyes. Jennifer brings her hand up quickly in front of Billy's hands, snapping her fingers in front of her face. Did reaction made him glance at her face? It would be easy to rely on Priscus Galloway's ingrained 'suggestion', but the Priscus of this Blood Gift would not always be with her.

"Is getting them to look at you difficult in most situations?" She questions.