(Skeleton Keys) Quest for the Kogaion

**Roxie Hart** · Dec 28th, 2014 08:20 PM

It was obvious that the cement had cured quite some time ago. It would take several strong men several hours with tools to break Regent Hart from her prison. The rub being that even if they were careful, the physical trauma might be enough to drive her into torpor.

"You're still looking for Muir." Something about the way it's said, Roxie isn't posing it as a question. The the Regent hangs her head and starts laughing. A worrying amount of hysteria starts to creep into the sound and if the question of just how sane Hart really is right now rises up in your thoughts...

... one look at her situation tells you that it wouldn't be that unreasonable of a question.

"Oh David, David, David. You don't mind me calling you David, right? You don't need more than one vampire on tap, David. Once her Hive caught me, she didn't need Muir any more." She looks up at David as her fangs elongate, and she snaps at the air between them in emphasis.

"No, I'm sorry that's a lie. She needed one last thing from him. Before Jacqui Cotouri diablerized and swept out the ashes of your not-so-precious Kogaion, David, she brought in her conspirator and they dug around in his head for a few hours. The pair seemed very satisfied with what they got." Her smile is now equal parts madness, rancor and viciousness.

"I'll be giving unlimited and unrestricted access to South Sacramento to the Kindred that brings Erika Brady's fangs to me so I can wear them as earrings."

**Tracy Burns** · Dec 29th, 2014 08:31 AM

Tracy's eyes widened as she followed the others through the door. Roxie? What the hell was she doing here? There was no time for such questions, and she was certain that she'd get the answers she needed later. The petite Gangrel nodded to David and began to search the rest of the bunker for any other captives, or potential clues that would be of use to them.

3* suxx

She couldn't help but overhear what Roxie said as she set out to search the rest of the place. Muir was dead. Diablerized. And by the sounds of it, Erika Brady had something to do with it all. Max was not wrong about that woman after all, she thought to herself, recalling past conversations with her former lover about the Regent of Citrus Heights. Surely they would need to find Brady and her accomplice, and handle them appropriately. However, she needed to focus on searching the rest of the bunker at that very moment.

All in due time Tracy; all in due time...

*

Dec 30th, 2014 02:54 AM

Well. So much for catching Skyfall after repaying the boon to Dog.

This wasn't just any old body recovery. Who was Muir? Why didn't the Ordo Dracul tell him it was Regent Hart they were out to rescue? This was rapidly becoming an Invictus Problem. Peter's hand drifted up to his forehead and gave it a little scratch as Roxie hissed out her words from her block. The picture was getting bleak.

The fact that Brady was involved only made it worse. The Alder Duke had to be warned.

"Hive?"

He looked to Regan, then back to Hart, a question written on his face. What was that all about?

"We're going to need to secure this place if we're to get her out of that block."

This evening was shaping up to become very interesting, wasn't it?

**West** · Dec 31st, 2014 11:53 AM

"Fool girl."

The gravelly words were soft; despite their acidic content, they were laced with regret rather than contempt.

The room is mostly empty. Dark spatters discolor the walls and floor, inky black in the chemical glow, but unmistakable in their patterns. The stains are darkest at the walls, running down from, and below the captive form. Further down the wall is another set of streaks and stains, with empty holes in the wall. A fine layer of ash can be found dusting the openings in the concrete. Remains.

In one corner is a steel bucket, with a stained and rusty machete. Spent glow sticks litter the ground.

The Hound of South Sacramento touched the ash, lifting it to his lips to taste. Confirmation. How the dirty Savage knew what Kindred ash tasted like, is anyone's guess. The hand returns to the holes in the wall, exploring, reaching. Maybe he's looking for something. Maybe he's trying to gauge the same prison that holds Roxie.

"Ought to leave you."

But it's clear he won't. Unless the simmering determination that gives his golden eyes a glow more intense than usual is just rage.

As Tracy begins to exit to explore, she can hear movement.

The hive is coming alive.

Dec 31st, 2014 01:21 PM

“No, Ma'am, I don't mind,” David interjects as he finishes his cursory examination. It matters little as Roxie is going to continue calling him by his given name but, the Mortician hopes he conveys a sense of calm in a rapidly escalating situation. Even though she is hysteric, David picks up on the name and the Regent who was given an important body just recently. “We're going to get you out of here, Regent.”

Would time prove David false?

His statement is borne out of a hope that he can. David was called too nice once before, certainly too nice to be Kindred. With the way the world works, someone like David is chewed up and spit out.

One other word catches on David's ears and hangs there, 'Hive.' It doesn't take the Shadow long to link the word to the automatons outside. Eyes snap to Dog, “The people outside, the Hive, Cotouri might be among them. You know what she looks like.” The last is a partial question, but the assumption seems valid given how long Dog has been in the city. “Find her. Take who you need. Do what needs be done.”

David is giving Dog permission. David knows that look, that tone of voice.

David once spoke like that.

In a way, a mote of jealousy lingers. At least, Dog has the option for fighting for her.

**Roxie Hart** · Jan 1st, 2015 10:07 PM

Something, a light, goes out of of the Regent's eyes. She looks at Dog and there's something there, a ghost of something almost gentle. "Yes, you should."

She had hoped, but the things the others were saying killed what small fire Roxie Hart had kept kindled went out. The next words she speaks are cold and dead in a way that no one had ever heard her speak before. "No David, you aren't. If any of you still believe in something, pray she kills you."

You don't want to end up like this goes unsaid. She wonders... will some part of her will remain aware after Cotouri consumes her soul?

You don't need more than one vampire on tap, after all.

Jan 2nd, 2015 02:24 AM

With a last look to Hart, Baldwin produced a nasty-looking stake from his jacket, gripping it in his hand. As it turned out, the Lord Knight of the Invictus was a southpaw.

"Well, if now's our time or the bitch's, best we get to it, hmm?"

Baldwin's fangs began to extend, leaving him ever the more threatening as he prepared for war. "Mr. Regan. No matter what happens to us," he said, nodding toward the warrior Gangrels who made up the Sworn of the Axe, "Please ensure His Grace is warned of this. Survive this, and make sure he knows."

Every moment spent down here was a moment lost.

"Good luck, Dragons, Roxie... I'll be there, even if you don't see me."

He made for the door to the room, found a convenient shadow to slip into to go unobserved, and a few seconds and a strong effort later, disappeared beneath the Cloak before settling in unseen with the group.

Good to go.

4 sux to Cloak, -1WP

Jan 2nd, 2015 10:03 AM

Roxie's fatalism, make that realism, draws only silence from David. There isn't anymore time to even attempt to prove the Regent wrong and save a life. Baldwin gets to the heart of it, putting words to an intention David already has. One last meaningful look is spared for Dog.

If nothing else, the Principality must know.

Even as Lord Baldwin, Priscus of the Haunts, bids them good-luck; David is striding quickly for the door. A shadow passes over the Mortician and at that moment, he slips away into the space between. In life, it was natural for David to pass through unseen; now, he is scarily adept at it. Or, perhaps it is less skill and more that the Darkness would like nothing more than to wrap the Mekhet permanently in its embrace.

There's no more time.

So David, witness to (potentially) the final moments of Dog and Roxie Hart, walks briskly away.

-1WP

6 Successes CoN, -1WP

**West** · Jan 3rd, 2015 02:36 AM

There's something akin to a soft growl from Dog.

What's the rush?

Fingers distend and pop like locked knees as black spurs erupt from the tips. Dark, shiny, and sharp, his Claws could easily be mistaken for long, hooked talons. They're not. He sets them against the wall, gouging into it with a scratching sound that splinters and powder away flakes of concrete. It's an exploratory effort, which produces a snarl.

The Claws will shred concrete, but slowly, like fingers digging into a dirt wall.

"Keep an eye on Regan and Bingen," he growls out towards Tracy. "This may take a bit."

Regan and Bingen? Sworn. He's Dragon enough not to label them such, even if he knows Roxie isn't stupid. Baldwin might be. Just look at the mess that brought him here.

Deep, huffing breaths rasp from Dog. Golden eyes narrow as he stirs his Blood. A low rumble becomes a full blown growl as he hunches over. The hair on his back darkens as it thickens. Sinew and bone creak as they distend and grow; fur billows into a sleek coat and his jaw elongates while ears grow. The growl becomes a roar as teeth erupt from below the newly formed snout in the animal maw.

Somewhere between a man and a wolf, only the golden eyes remain.

Many Savages play at being the animals they can shift into. For others, it's who they are. With an animal's single minded fury, the Bloody Wolf began tearing at the wall-prison.

Roll Wits + Composure for a sensory-based Perception check Casitive Cross . Success indicates the faint, acrid odor of kerosene as they make their way back out.

Jan 3rd, 2015 04:09 PM

Sharp, bitter, and stinging – the scent might as well be an olfactory alarm bell. The desire to tell Dog, wells up in the Mekhet but the Mekhet knows better. The die has been cast and the Mortician has to trust in Osiris. The Shadow continues on apace with his brisk walk out of the bunker knowing that as soon as he is clear of the Hive, he will have to slip between even moments of time to escape them.

Knowledge that Kerosine is in the air underscores just how little time they all have and that now is the only moment.

Getting out is the only option and David concentrates solely on that.

Everything else, regret, anger, and grief, will have to come later.

1 Success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-12-29 08:26:56		Tracy Burns rolls 5 to Wits+Investigation (10 Again)		8, 9, 3, 1, 8		3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-01-02 02:21:28	Peter Baldwin rolls 7 to OMFG Int+Stl+Obf+WP-2 fuck you rollerrrr (10 Again)	9, 1, 6, 10, 2, 9, 5, 10, 5	4 successes
2015-01-02 02:21:10	Peter Baldwin rolls 5 to Int+Stealth+Obfuscate (Cloak of Night) -1 (10 Again)	6, 1, 3, 7, 5	failure
2015-01-02 02:20:57	Peter Baldwin rolls 6 to Int+Stealth+Obfuscate (Cloak of Night) (10 Again)	4, 4, 4, 5, 7, 4	failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-01-02 09:21:06		David Regan rolls 12 to Intelligence + Stealth + Obfuscate (10 Again, WillPower)		8, 8, 8, 2, 10, 2, 4, 7, 10, 7, 1, 9, 6, 3		6 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-01-03 15:47:14		David Regan rolls 6 to Wits + Composure (10 Again)		4, 5, 6, 4, 1, 10, 5		1 success

(Skeleton Keys) Quest for the Kogaion

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