(1411) Mekhet Clan

[Chris Wooding]

Chris almost rises to calm Max when the outburst comes. But he only moves forward several inches from his seat. The former Grand Wyrm knows how to control himself, even while showing his emotions. Still this whole situation worries the Hierophant.

For the biggest part because Max is not wrong in what he says. Chris could always put his covenant first, without even feeling bad about it.

Then there are some revelations. Finally Chris hears more about Aïleen's death. And what, attacks on a Covenant? This Domain has gone crazy apparently, and he didn't even know about it.

So he nods, agreeing with Daniella. Let's bring all this information to their two Gangrel deputies. Surely that will work out. He thinks what Azalea mutters, shit. This is definitely not a boring meeting. He looks at the new arrival, shrugging in a sense to say 'welcome to Sacramento, girl'.

Then when David speaks again, things get really interesting. Chris leans forward on the table, listening carefully. He was bound by oath to not ask any help, but any useful information would surely be helpful.

'Weaponized ghosts...' the Hierophant whispers to himself. Those Dragons sure know how to pick an enemy.

'Wait, so you have met their leader? A Hierophant you say. An enemy of the Domain. Is he residing within the city? I feel like this may not just be a concern of the Ordo Dracul.'

[Max Heinz]

Max settles back into his chair, watching as the other Mekhet absorb the implications of the situations they now faced. At least they seemed willing to work together, even if Sage and Regan continued their not-so private tit-for-tat. That was to be expected, given how personally Kindred took any challenge to their authority. In the end it didn't really matter, Max knew who's side he was on.

When Daniella's gaze moves to him, Max can only nod his head at her words. "I'm not blaming anyone, Priscus. I'm blaming everyone. We've all been guilty of keeping secrets from each other, myself included. The only thing I'm interested in is finding solutions to the threats we now face, not assigning blame for what has been a series of failures spread throughout the entire Domain." The anger and frustration from earlier has bled away from his voice; replaced with Max's usual calm and even demeanor; his fangs quickly retracting and disappearing from view.

As he looks around to the other Mekhet gathered around the table, Max feels a pair of eyes boring into him. He had expected that from Sage or Regan, or maybe even Wooding; but certainly not from the petite Asian woman whose name he'd only learned a few moments before. But if the look of anger was a challenge, Max wasn't about to back down from it; matching Yui's intense stare with one of his own, a questioning eyebrow quirking up as he wonders just what was going through the woman's mind...

His attention is quickly pulled away from the woman as another unfamiliar face speaks; though this one was willing to offer his assistance. He gives a slight nod of the head to Nogushi as he answers. "Thank you, Mr. Magohachi. If the threats facing our Clan and the Domain are as serious as I believe, we're all going to have to help straighten this mess out."

Then the quiet Scribe speaks, and Max fixes the man with his full attention. He vaguely remembered the book and puzzle box, but the investigation had only begun in earnest before Max had left the Domain. He knew he should have felt guilty about that; but but there is no stirring of emotion in his dead heart. He had pursued a theory, one that had ultimately bore bitter fruit; but fruit none the less. And he had thought the Order was in capable hands when he departed. It seems he had over-estimated the abilities of his fellow Dragons...

Then comes the matter of how Aileen met her Final Death. Despite the melancholy in David's voice, Max hears nothing that would implicate either Sage or any of the other leaders of the Domain for dereliction of duty. Either the two Dragons had alerted the Seneschal, Reeve's Office, and Priscus to a threat and were ignored, which seemed highly unlikely given what Max knew of those Kindred; or David, Emma, and Aileen had simply stumbled into the middle something too big for them to handle on their own and McFarlane had paid the price.

Sadly, that was just the way the Universe worked sometimes. Max had suffered his own share of lose and misfortune over the decades; but he had always managed to put the pain and humiliation behind him and survive. Regan seemed to be consumed by it, ever since Max had seen him that night at the "funeral" at the bridge; striking out at those that he felt were responsible. His grief had blinded him to the truth, that there was no one to blame but the cold, unfeeling randomness of the universe...

That was something Regan would have to figure out for himself with time, however; and the topic quickly shifts to the attack on the Chapter House and the Society of Penelope. That part Max knew about, after finding himself right in the middle of the Society's cross hairs. However, the investigation by Yui and Galilei was news to him; and it gave them a name or focus their attention on: Hierophant Vanderboek.

Max's head then swivels to Chris, nodding his head in agreement with the man's assessment of the situation. "Agreed, Hierophant Wooding. It seems these people consider anyone that possesses occult items, or stands in their way of collecting them, little more than obstacles to be swept away by whatever means necessary." That might not concern the two Invictus at the table, but the Society could just as easily turn it's attention towards the Crone as the Dragons...

Finally, it was Max's turn to come clean with what he had encountered over the past few weeks. "Shorty after returning to the Domain, I was asked by Mr Baldwin to assist himself, Ms Sterling, and Harpy Star in an investigation into a group from outside the city that had begun attempting to undermine the influence of those loyal to Prince Clarke. They had managed to rebuke our attempts to block work orders and building permits within the city. Now, Mr Baldwin and I much have very different definitions of the word, because what he called an "investigation", I would call a commando assault.

Our target was a house being rented out by a woman named Nefertiti Khan, out in Mather. What we found inside leads me to believe everything we've discussed here tonight might be related. We found evidence of attempts at alchemy, as well as a scale model of what I assume is the building they are working so hard to construct. Our investigation is still on-going, and I cannot say with any certainty what the planned use for this structure is going to be, but it is definitely occult in nature: An underground pyramid, with it's summit raising above ground level as the centerpiece of a large fountain..."

[Wod.Infant]

Azalea keeps herself at the ready, muscles tense just enough to answer fast, her senses seem to focus on Maximilian and Rina. Eventually the tension seems to wane as her ears start picking up on David’s tale, the background echo that she had been filtering in her state of readiness.

Slowly she starts trying to put things together, eventually the Mexican shadow starts realizing just how deep in the mud this domain was…

Shit shit shit! Because apparently once wasn’t enough.

She takes another breath of the e-cigarette, the blue tip bright and crisp. Then the shadow takes her hand to her forehead while still listening to Max and Daniella. When she finds the time the pusher eventually speaks. There were opportunities to take on.

”Looks like we are in for some interesting times…” The understatement of the year. She adjusts her lilac hair into place not to cover her face.

”Once I’m settled I will be willing to help as well.” Just how and when and under which terms she decided to leave for another occasion.

[Daniella Sage]

Her eyes move to Nogushi and she smiles, “Thank you.” She replies, grateful he stepped up.

Dark eyes snap to Azalea, her ears picking up on her choice of words, but she says nothing and moves on.

Finally, back to David, “Mr Regan, I am not interested in having this back and forth with you right now. There are more pressing matters we need to address than this pissing contest. We are family, we need to put our differences aside and work together.” she replies. “It is my responsibility, yes, but when my own Family remains mum on the topic and Seneschal Villiers appears to be out of town, it is hard for me to gather the required information to share and get the ball rolling on getting it taken care of.” From her tone it was obvious she was not going to indulge this matter anymore.

She then settles to listen as he finishes talking. Eagerly taking in the information that should have been shared a long time ago.

Her eyes look to Davids, her voice softens, “I am sorry about the loss of Aileen, I did not know her very well, but I still respected her and looked forward to getting to know her better.” She treads lightly, “You have my word as your Priscus, and a fellow Shadow that we will find her killer and see they are brought to justice. I give you my word.” If he wanted to read her aura to see if she was lying, she wouldn’t see any deception, she meant every word. And a Kindred of Quality never went back on their word.

“I may be of a different Covenant, but I would like to offer my assistance to bring safety to the Chapter House.”

As Max speaks about everyone being to blame, she nods her head.

When he finishes, she address the group, “Looks like we have some matters to attend to. I would like to see everyone devote as much time as they are able to get these matters taken care of. My question is, what is everyones strengths? I think in order to properly deal with these matters, we assign people to where their strengths are. I am skilled with Auspex as well as security systems. I also have influence in quite a few Kine areas that may prove useful. Mr Regan, are you willing to head the investigation into Miss McFarlines murderer?” she asks, then looks to Max, “Mr Heinz, can you lead the investigation into the Chapter House? There are enough of us here that we can divide and get to the bottom of each issue. I would also like to have us bring in the Reeve’s Office and the Deputies, I don’t want to lose another Family member.” Even losing one was one too many.

“Mr. Regan, Mr Heinz, I would like us to meet at least once a week to touch base on the investigations.”

[Cabochard]

Rina shoots a look at Regan as he starts telling the group about the investigation. Most of the thing is interesting, and new, information, but the part about their investigation irks her slightly. She hadn't even told the Unconquered about that yet. If it wasn't cleverly concealed amongst a blob of other information, and there weren't so many things being distracting, she would have been worried about Daniella spotting that and reprimanding her about failing to uphold the chain of knowledge. But, it seemed to have slid by unnoticed.

Her gaze fell on Magohachi as he started showing off his knife, placing it on the table. The fact that he had snuck in a knife at all bothered her less than the fact he was stupid enough to pull it out and start shaking it around, with that strange fire in his eye. It worried her. Zealots were the worst kind of people to trust with anything at all, least of all secrets, and they were especially horrible in less overt situations. She would have to keep a very close eye on this one.

As Daniella started ordering the clan around, Rina let her eyes briefly flit over those present, those who were asking questions, wondering about their thoughts, before she too stood. "As I am already assisting Mr. Regan with his investigation, I will continue to do so to the best of my ability." There was a slight injury to her pride as Regan was put in charge of it rather than herself, but he had more information, and bringing it up now would be counter-productive.

[Chris Wooding]

So no one is going to say anything? This is not an Elysium, but it's still a Mekhet meeting where everyone can remain civilized. One emotional outburst came with good reason, but they shouldn't all dramatize this any further.

Chris shakes his head, ' "We have your blade?" This is not a scene from the Lord of the Rings, Mr Magohachi. Let's stay serious. Although I admire your spirit, as a new arrival.' This is a crazy town, but surely the Sanctified finds purpose in that. That's why they should act as a Clan now, and stop talking about unholy sins and whatnot.

To not give the whole display too much credit, Chris turns directly to Max Heinz. More worrisome information was just revealed. 'So what you're saying is that Nefertiti Khan is openly playing against the Domain? Because... I have a meeting with her tomorrow.'

Dun dun dunnnnn

'Do you think she could now be aware you investigated her house? I could play to be on her side. Because, what exactly happened during this commando assault?'

It is essential information that can't really wait. It is definitely more important than the "what can you do" stories. They're all Shadows. They're investigators, researchers and silent fighters, skilled in the Disciplines of their Family. Big shocker.

'Aside from that, I'm investigating several other things that concern the Domain. But since we're all getting in touch with the Reeve's office, I'll let you know where I might be able to assist.'

[Max Heinz]

Max waits patiently as the other Kindred pledge their support to cleaning up the mess the Domain found itself in. There might not be a lot of warriors among them, but together they could at least handle the investigative side of things. And after what happened in Mather, Max wanted all the intel he could get before going back into the fight.

He was a little surprised when one of the new faces produces a knife and places it on the table; wondering just what the other man had been thinking. Max doubted Nogushi was the only person armed tonight, but randomly pulling out a weapon was a bit melodramatic. Let it never be said the Daeva had a monopoly on the dramatic...

Max glances to Regan as the Priscus asks the two to work together, nodding his head once in the other Mekhet's direction. "Right now the plan is to stage an assault on the Society's holdings in Folsom. It won't stop them, but it might flush out the local leaders into a position where we can isolate and neutralize them. The current problem I face is a lack of manpower; I was going to bring the issue up with the Reeve's Office and see if we could get an open call to the city's population. The more hands we have to assist, the easier it will be..."

Max didn't relish the idea of assaulting the building; he still remembered that not everyone that went into Horizon made it back out...

He listens intently as the others offer their assistance, the thin Dragon making mental notes of who might be useful where. When the Hobo Army was finally broken up, it had started with political maneuvering that isolated and contained the threat; perhaps something like that could be done here.

Max's attention then shifted to the Hierophant, an eyebrow quirking up as Chris revealed he had a meeting with the very target of their pursuit. "Well, aren't you glad you came to tonight's meeting then, Hierophant? I don't suppose we could talk you into a suicide mission?

No? Ahh well, can't say I didn't try..."

There's a barely perceptible smirk perking up one edge of Max's mouth as he speaks; the only sign that he was joking with a man that had faced enemies of Domain with him before.

" In all seriousness, I find it doubtful she knows who attacked the base in Mather; we took all of the video evidence and have dealt with all of the witnesses. But I'm sure she assumes it was a group of Kindred that attacked the site; given all the trouble she and her associates have been stirring up within the city.

If you want specifics, the short-short version is we started with basic surveillance then moved in. Harpy Star distracted one guard while Mr Baldwin and Ms Sterling subdued another. I took out one guard outside the house, another inside, then managed to divert their reinforcements; convincing them our assault was a feint to distract from a larger attack on the storage facility in Mather Florin. We then took what material we could from the house and got the hell out of there..."