(Invisible Hands) Can You Speak Rhinoceras?

[Dillon Connery]

Continued from this thread

With his cousins trailing not far behind, Dillon steps off of the Chapter House porch and veers straight toward the treeline. Aiming, for the general vicinity that their escapee had fled.

Hazel eyes scan the sky, as he considers what to summon. Bats would likely be more numerous, and offer more coverage. But he has a smarter kin in mind.

One hand circles into a loose cup. Conical, as though gripping an imaginary horn. He places it to his lips, and lets out three-- surprisingly loud-- deep, trilling, hoots.

Brother owls, come tell me what your sharp eyes and ears have seen these nights.

He smiles in satisfaction at the effect of The Blood, applied to his voice. It was perfect, and carried far into the night. If there are any of the night hunters out there in those trees, they certainly heard him. With a proud glance back to Tracy and Mike, he spares them a wink.

  500 yard radius

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-03 15:38:23		Dillon Connery rolls 10 to Call of The Wild; Presence + Animal Ken + Animalism (10 Again)		6, 10, 9, 9, 10, 6, 8, 3, 6, 2, 1, 7		5 successes

-1 Vitae for Call of The Wild.

[Yumyumcrow]

At first nothing.

Then a fluttering of wings. Hooting. Dillon finds himself staring up at a (small) parliament of owls. Clearly, the land around the Chapter House must serve as the territory for a few owls common to the California.

More than a few, taking stock of the beady little eyes all turning towards him with curiosity... and trepidation.

Please continue posting. I thought I'd get the response out early - it will take a while for Dillon's Dark Art to take effect. Owls need to fly, you know...

[Tracy Burns]

Tracy followed Dillon out of the Chapter House, walking over to the wooded area nearby. She didn't have the ability to talk to the night critters like he did, so following his instructions she was staying a few paces behind in order to not spook any of them away. Hmmm, I wonder what that's like? she thought to herself, considering the fact that talking to a rat was actually more enticing than spending a few minutes speaking with Velma Star . Hell, listening to Nickelback on repeat is less painful than hearing her speak...

As Dillon turned to give them a wink, the petite redhead offered him a grin in response. "I'm gonna keep an eye out," she said to him, figuring that her best bet in being helpful to them was to stand guard while he did his thing. "From above," she added after a brief pause, this time offering her Priscus a playful wink of her own. After all, she would have an easier time seeing things from a higher vantage point. But before she called upon the powers of her blood, she awaited for a response from him, just in case he had other plans for her in mind.

[Michael Redfill]

Michael stays near Tracy. This feels almost like that Clan thing they have been planning for ages. And he hasn't talked to animals in a long while, still, knowing Animalism should make them non-apprehensive around him:

"Where do you want me? I can join the talk or shift into wolf or raven form".

The words come out almost without any pride in the tone of his voice. It's strange how quickly you get used to things that would never make sense to a mortal. Sure, at first he was extremely happy of his accomplishments but now he is more interested in how far he could actually push Protean.

[Dillon Connery]

Dillon gives the other two a nod, as birds of prey begin to flock in by stronger numbers. "More birds in the sky couldn't hurt. I will probably join you both in a moment."

Turning his attention to the owls that have gathered, he shows them open hands. A creature that walks like a man would seem to pose to them much less of a threat if he has no weapon or tool in his hands.

"Thank you for coming," he begins. A statement that is absolutely superfluous. It's not as though they had any choice in the matter.

"I promise I'm not here to harm any of you." His syntax is simple. When language becomes ideas, and then ideas again become what approximates to a language in the birds' brains, it's best to speak plainly. Overly complicated concepts tend not to translate.

"I just need to know what strange things your eyes have seen, and where they have seen it."

If the Gangrel feels at all silly addressing a Hitchcock horde in the trees above his head, it doesn't show.

"A thing came through here." He stresses the word. "A thing that walked like men, as I do. But was not a man. It was not what I am either, but it ran as we run.

"It ran, and jumped. It jumped fast.

"Did any of you* see the thing I speak of? It came from that den," Dillon points to the Chapter House, then back into the forest, "and ran into the trees that way.

"Did any of you see it?" he repeats.

  Very much exceptional

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-06 09:54:27		Dillon Connery rolls 15 to Feral Whispers; Manipulation + Animal Ken + Animalism +5 (CoTW) (10 Again)		4, 8, 1, 9, 7, 6, 10, 1, 9, 2, 8, 3, 7, 4, 10, 9, 8		8 successes

*

RAW assumes that a Feral Whispers roll is made for an individual animal, rather than a group. So if you'd prefer me to throw more Animalism rolls to establish contact with the crowd, let me know

[Yumyumcrow]

The owls looked down at Dillon with the kind of curiosity only owls can achieve. Then the hooting began.

Turns out, parliament of owls is something of a misnomer. It was more like addressing a crowd of excited school children.

"A thing?"

"A thing!"

"I saw a dead two leg walking! Stink different to you! It came from here, it did, it did! Climbed into moving box and drove away to the east! Very fast! Near dawn. Sleepy."

"This place no good. Stink of death in the air. In the ground. Bad."

"Stain of death! Fly away!"

"I see moving boxes. Stopped. With two legs in them. Around here all the time. Hunters and watchers."

"You is prey. PREY!"

"I don't like this place. Stain of death here. Bad spirits come. Fly away."

"Owls of blood and smoke. Stain of death. Dead stinking two legs bring it. Dead stinking two leg walk beyond. All bad. All bad. Fly away!"

"Two legs of life and death watching this place. See him by day."

[Michael Redfill]

Michael simply nods and crouches down before doing the transformation. There is no need to alert the birds by making the change in size be too extreme.

"The ability to communicate will be limited. Something to consider".

And then he shifts. In mere seconds Michael's form imblodes in a display of blood, leather and feathers. And then a dead-looking crow flaps his wings, rises and perches in the branches above. Cocking his head. Of course, it's Dillon who is establishing the communication so he will need to translate.

-1 Vitae for Protean 4 (crow form)

[Tracy Burns]

Tracy nodded at Dillon's words, offering her Priscus a quick smile before she turned her attention to the shifting of her form. Pushing some vitae into her undead veins, the petite Gangrel began to shift in a matter of seconds. Her already small frame becomes smaller, as light bones and feathers replace her flesh and bones. With the transformation coming to an end, a red shouldered hawk took flight. It did not take long before the former Deputy was up in the sky, cruising above as she kept an eye on the surrounding areas.

In order to help herself see in the darkness of that evening, Tracy also put to use the little knowledge she had of Auspex, heightening her senses to supernatural limits. After all, it was best to play it safe and be able to see anything that may be lurking in the area before it reached their location.

  5 suxx perception, just in case

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-08 10:03:54		Tracy Burns rolls 10 to Wits+Composure+Hawk Form bonus+Auspex (10 Again)		5, 10, 8, 10, 9, 3, 7, 6, 2, 9, 3, 2		5 successes

-1 vitae for Protean 4 (hawk form), activating Heightened Senses as well

[Michael Redfill]

  Perception 2 suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-09-09 01:37:55		Michael Redfill rolls 5 to Perception (Wits + Comp) (10 Again)		10, 2, 1, 10, 3, 6, 4		2 successes

Forgot. Michael also activates Heightened Senses.

[Dillon Connery]

Amoniel replied, 'The owl is charged to bring to justice the Damned.' And I saw that the owl that pursued Death was made of smoke, and that its eyes gleamed in the light of the black sun.

The words of Eschaton pour into the Gangrel Bishop's mind at the mention of owls of blood and smoke, and he smiles, grimly. Maybe if he were mortal, or Blushing, it would raise a chill on his arms and neck.

But given the context, the owls could simply be referring to the bad spirits they mention. If they've no concept for a wraith, something that flies as such might simply be an 'owl of blood and smoke', much as Kindred, kine, and whatever he had chased into the forest were all 'two leg walking'.

"They've been watching this place for a while now," he says loudly to Tracy and Mike overhead. "Our intruders. And watching it during the day. They seem to be stalking the Kindred here, or at least something you possess. Owls know a thing or two about hunting and stalking behavior, so don't discount it."

To the parliament, he says, "I am changing. And making wings. I will fly with you, and you will show me where the thing climbed into the box that took it to the east."

The tone isn't a commanding one, but a confident one. Dillon had summoned them and spoken to them in the way that only a master of his Blood can, and knows how helpful they will be as long as they are in no danger. He can command their obedience if he wishes, but not unless it's necessary.

"Follow us," he adds to his cousins in the sky.

Dillon takes a step that never completes.

Somewhere in mid stride, his body begins to contort and shrink. He throws his arms out, and for a brief second his fingers are long and webbed and frightening horror. In the instant between shapes, when his nose is squashing upward and his brow is pulling down, and his whole body is turning black and hairy, Dillon Connery looks like a monster.

The Beast within undergoes a similar metamorphosis. Two of the hellhound's heads become giant, leathery wings. The entire creature explodes in smoke and fire, standing upon its hind paws in Dillon's mind and burning like a cinder. Though its master's physical form shrinks, it does not. It is all horns and smoke and anger.

But Dillon himself is now a bat. A large, black bat that wouldn't fit squarely into any zoologist's species list. A predatory bat, it certainly is, but beyond that, something else.

He streaks into the air, prepared to follow after the other critters on high.

-1 Vitae for Shape of The Beast