(Invisible Hands) The Human Game

[Yumyumcrow]

Two thieves, restrained. The first is a rangy man with a US Army tattoo on his shoulder. The second is an older gent, purple from bruising, cross cross with deep cuts. The first watches warily. The second is... beyond caring at this point: given his wounding he could be fighting for his life (but you try telling that to his monstrous captors...) Then there are the bags (large, heavy duty, things they are!) and the equipment the thieves bought with them. Some of it is mundane; some of it it quite technical; some of it might have other... uses...

One bag carried the four jars of distinction - and other odds an ends; tools that could be useful in a heist. And there were a few things that definitely looked out of place: candles, crystals, ritual paraphernalia.

One bag carried safe breaking tools and similar equipment - not all of the same quality and some of it looked jury-rigged at best. But it was what it was.

There was the gun, of course: a standard SMG of the type most commonly available on the streets, professionally cleaned of all markings.

There were the amulets the thieves wore: beautifully constructed pendants of aromatic wood.

Interrogator's had little else to start with: both men had neglected to bring along their wallets. Their only personal effects was the rangy fellow's dog tags and a badly crumpled photograph of a young woman for the other.

Matamune Bigpaw Chrisie Casitive

[Martha Villiers]

Martha's going to be very busy for a while...

Seeing that some of the wounded look like they are in need of urgent attention, Martha will do what she can to stop them dying and get comfortable.

After tending to the wounded...showing mercy may pay dividends later...and it's a solid citizen thing to do!

In private and before entering into dialogue with the captives she wants to establish that she'll happily play 'good cop' to anyone's 'bad cop.'

Once these things are done Martha will take time, silently, to smile to the captives and make certain that the SMG is free from ammo and has the clip removed...you never know if they could somehow slip their bonds and grab the weapon. She wasn't taking the chance.

Also, she ask the others present to make a careful sweep of them again...physically...to check for additional weapons, microphones or tools perhaps missed in the first encounter.

She'll leave them their amulets, but be careful to make sure (using her Relic Analyst ability) to assess any magical properties these amulets may possess.

Martha will then checking the dog-tags for names and the photograph for some clue as to the relationship between the carrier of the picture and the person portrayed.

[Yumyumcrow]

The Scene

I'll leave the interrogations alone for when Martha gets a partner.

The dog tags name the bearer as Hudson. He's patched himself up as best he can with his shirt. All Martha can offer is to clean and redress his wounds with the proper gear. At least the gun thief has a name now.

The bag thief is another matter: given the state of his injuries he really does need medical care, including proper hospitalisation; his injuries are simply beyond Martha's skill. The only clue to his identity is a certain familiarity between his features, and those of the woman in the photograph.

A second sweep of the pair finds only a small knife hidden in Hudson's boot.

The amulets are a different story: [Wits + Occult + 1 Relic Analyst]; one roll only as this is first impression, on the fly. Anything deeper will require time studying the objects...

[Martha Villiers]

Her swift assessment of the amulets may be useful...

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-13 08:11:55		Martha Villiers rolls 8 to Wits+Occult+1 = 8 Analyst check (10 Again)		9, 2, 5, 7, 2, 8, 4, 4		2 successes

Confiscating the knife, she shakes her head as if playfully chastising Hudson for being naughty.

Checking of the dog-tags was useful and may also provide additional information about Hudson. Nodding at this Martha reviewed the format of the dog-tag to see, from the variations in the format used by each of the branches of the military, what military heritage he's claiming...

Unsure what to do about the dangerously wounded bag thief, Martha doesn't want to let him die. But releasing him to the wilds of the medical authorities will prove...troublesome.

A thought occurs to her.

Supplying him Vitae may stabilize his wellbeing. In addition to securely saving his life, this may even, over time, help revive him and additionally offer control over him and better help decipher the violent events of the evening.

Unless anyone in this small team has any better ideas, Martha will expend a point of Willpower and two points of Vitae to try to stabilize the thief.

I'll annotate the spend if the plan, in the absence of alternatives, is needed to go ahead.

[Aileen McFarlane]

Even though the fire of her anger had died down since the fight, and even though Aïleen's intellect was more attracted to the jars puzzle, there were still two men here who had violated the sanctuary of the place, and from whom the Dragons needed answers.

The amulets for instance were an oddity that puzzled her too, and it stood to reason that they were a ward of sort against the jars. She would have to test that hypothesis.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-14 08:10:52		Aileen rolls 5 to Wits 2 + Occult 3 to gauge amulets (10 Again)		8, 10, 4, 5, 4, 1		2 successes

Whatever she had experienced, the Grand Wyrm was doing a much better, more thorough job of dealing with the thieves than Aïleen could have hoped to. So, she stood there merely looking at the men, ready to help in any way while the other Shadow managed the situation. Could her mind skills be of some use ? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

[Yumyumcrow]

Careful study of the amulets does support Aileen's theory. However, given that the amulets appear to have been burned quite recently, as though their occult energies had burned away or conflicted with another source, it appears doubtful that they were protections specifically targeting the wraiths. Martha too, comes to a similar assessment: the energies of the amulets have been drained, almost blasted away by contact with another force.

The Vitae is Life in Death; while it does not completely heal the injured man, it most certainly stabilises him. He remains an inert cripple - for now. But at least he is alive. Stable. Easily moved. And one step closer to the Vinculum. A pity, really, that he was barely aware enough to register the glorious rush of Martha's Blood.

The other thief - Hudson - appears to have been in the Army.

If Aileen wanted to test her Dark Arts upon the two... prisoners... that would be her decision. Without the protective amulets, they would be mere mortals, striving against her superior Will. Wouldn't they...?

[Aileen McFarlane]

Burned energies ? From people coming from an unknown basement ? Sounded like there was a ward there of some kind... and something worth warding.

Even though she was unsure of her leeway, Aïleen didn't want to remain there standing while forces unknown had tried to invade the Chapterhouse. With a small nod toward Martha and then Hudson, she silently asked leave to try and use some means of her own against the thieves.

If she received a positive nod, she then adressed the man, looking him straight into the eyes. "Why did you come ? Speak." there was a strange stress on the last word, as the Shadow poured her will into it so that it would supplant the man's conscious will, and replace it entirely.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-18 16:12:51		Aïleen rolls 7 to Int 5 + Intimid 1 + Dominate 1 (10 Again)		1, 6, 1, 3, 9, 3, 2		1 success

[Yumyumcrow]

The word easily slipped from between Aileen's lips. The Discipline was coming naturally now. The Shadow's command of the Dread Art was, however, still lacking.

The former Gun Thief, who called himself Hudson, stared mesmerised as Aileen made her speech. For a moment, it looked like her Command would succeed. And then Hudson broke eye contact with an incredibly sour look on his face, as though he had bitten a lemon.

"Not going to happen, lady." The determined tone in his voice hinted at the inner struggle he had been through, to deny the Shadow her prize.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-20 04:11:02		Former Gun Thief rolls 5 to resistance (10 Again)		6, 9, 5, 2, 8		2 successes

[Aileen McFarlane]

Even though it was still a nascent skill, Aïleen had been confident she would get an answer from the thief, and her disappointment quickly turned to an inner anger as Sobek threatened to rise and punish the insolent fool that dared deny her something. The Shadow made no effort to hide her easily win struggle, hoping perhaps to impress the kine. As soon as she had recovered, she turned her gaze toward the Grand Wyrm, who seemed busy with thoughts of her own.

Aïleen had started something now, and could hardly back up at this point.

"... Yet." did she say, completing the thieve's sentence where he had left it.

"But even your cooperation is not required."

Taking a picture of each with her phone, she quickly sent it via Bluetooth to her computer, and started searching the web for pictures where they would appear, along perhaps with the name Hudson.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-06-23 17:26:06		Aileen rolls 5 to Wits 2 + Computers 3 (10 Again)		9, 6, 7, 7, 5		1 success