Welcome to the Promised Land

**Kenneth Gilroy** · Jul 9th, 2015 12:43 PM

The address Kenneth had provided might or might not be what those invited would expect. A derelict and dilapidated house that doesn't look fit for the homeless. Inside Kenneth waits for his Clan My Clan to arrive. He holds the binders he had put together for the meeting. He was fidgeting a lot. Then every time he though he heard someone approaching he freeze stalk still, which didn't actually help him seem any less nervous. Then he'd start twitching again. Hopefully by the time they arrived he'd get all the ticks and twinges out of his system.

**Garrick Marlon** · Jul 10th, 2015 12:25 PM

Garrick whistles as he gets a good look at the house. "Damn good thing I decided to carry tonight." He mutters quietly to himself. Looking down the road one way, then the other Garrick, walks up to the front door. Instead of knocking Garrick opens the door wide enough to enter the house and closes it behind himself. Right hand falls to hang near his hidden pistol.

Then Garrick calls out to the house. "Mr. Gilroy?"

Obf'd weapons, -1WP

Jul 10th, 2015 07:38 PM

Martel checked the GPS on his Android. Again. Yes, this was the place. Why this was the place was another matter. Martel was no stranger to hovels himself, having taken refuge in some pretty bizarre places during dire straits. But why Monsieur Gilroy wished to meet here, of all places, simply escaped him.

On the other hand, no one would think to look for them here. And, after all, Nosferatu were known to haunt some pretty dark corners.

Martel saw Garrick outside the building. Well, smelled him first.

"Ah, good," he said. "I was beginning to think I'd gotten lost."

He put the smartphone on its belt-clip and draped his casual evening jacket over it. He was dressed down, but not all the way down. He did not typically make an effort to blend in when in the worse parts of town. Anything that would draw the prey -- prey with delusions of being predators -- his way was a good thing in his estimation. He set the butt of his cane on the concrete and folded his hands on the top.

**Kenneth Gilroy** · Jul 11th, 2015 01:33 AM

“Welcome, Mr. Marlon,” said Kenneth, emerging from his hiding spot closer to the back of the room at about the same time he heard Giles arrive too.

“Mr. Giles. Come in and shut the door behind you please,” he ‘instructed’. Once both Kindred have entered the dwelling, Kenneth waits a beat to reign in the urge to kill both of them. It was a stupid instinct, even if it would be easy to lead lock them in the Necropolis to starve. He needed them.

“Thank you both for coming. Now, we have a great deal to go over tonight, so forgive me if I am a little blunt and I will extend the same understanding to you.” He handed each of them a binder. If they open and leaf through they will see it’s tabbed*.

“If you’ll follow me there is a place we can talk more privately down stairs.” He turned and headed to the stairs for the basement, clearly expecting them to follow. He really hoped they would follow without question because this would likely determine their response to him assuming leadership. If they didn’t… well they’d be left behind and disciplined later.

Once on the first level below ground, Kenneth skirted the animal corpse he’d placed in the middle of the room to drive off squeamish Kine and headed to the door on the far even before his eyes started to adjust.

“The Clan is not in good shape right now. I’m not sure if either of you are aware but both Priscus Ducard and Whip Sergei have left the Domain with little notice. This has left me as Priscus by default of seniority. I am not ashamed to say that I do not find the situation to be ideal. I am not social by nature, my experience in managerial positions is limited, and both of you are unknown to me. That said, I fully intend to do my best, make the most of the resources at hand, and work to increase the Clan’s standing. More than that, I hope to aid you in your own goals as well. The stronger we are individually, the stronger we are as a whole. Furthermore I expect the same from you. I will be asking you to make some sacrifices in the coming months. If you have any problems with me, my leadership, or any requests I might make of you, you are of course free to express disapproval privately.” He finished unlocking the door’s padlock and continued down the set of metal stairs to the construction area that would eventually be the main Necropolis. The only completed section so far was the Dark Temple and he’d pulled the curtain across for now.

“In any location other than here, I expect you to show full support. More than ever we need to present a united front. Clear?” Kenneth did his best to sound commanding and that no argument would be brooked. It still managed to sound like he was asking for permission to move on.

“You have both been in the domain at least a month. I’m going to assume you are familiar with the Laws. If not, I have included a write up in the binders I provided. Review it later, even you have already been briefed. Know them by heart and check the postings at Elysium regularly. I have known the Laws to change subtly from time to time. Most recently in the matter of court attendance.”

“Now, before we go any further I’d like to know more about both of you and allow you any questions you have so far. What is each of your histories before coming to Sacramento? What goals do you have or are working toward? What skills, powers, capabilities, or influences do you have at your disposal?"

*Tabs

Jul 11th, 2015 12:40 PM

"I'm going to need you to slow down, Priscus Gilroy" said Martel, setting the binder on a nearby table, which was coated in a thick layer of dust.

Martel hoped Kenneth accepted the vote of confidence that using his title implied. He really did need Kenneth to slow down. Aside from the fact that it was a lot to take in at once -- both Angel and Sergei gone? -- Martel was a non-native English speaker, and though fluent, sometimes too many words all at once were too much for him to handle. Hell, that was probably true of native English speakers sometimes.

"As you can imagine, this is a lot to take in all at once. I won't ask where or why Mr. Lukyanenko and Ms. Ducard have gone. Their reasons and whereabouts are their own business. But if you know of any threat to the Clan that might have caused them to take their leave, I think we should all know too."

**Garrick Marlon** · Jul 12th, 2015 09:51 PM

A twitch of his right hand and Garrick pushes aside the desire to stab Martel. Garrick takes the offered binder but doesn't look inside. Down in the basement the animal carcase gets a glance and nothing more.

He shrugs as he looks around. "Works for me Priscus." Ya no thanks, all good not being in charge. Garrick starts to slowly walk around the budding Necropolis.

"He has a point, anything politics going down?" A finger pokes at a wall before Garrick looks up towards where the dieing house above stands. That may need to be worked on covertly to be more than just scary lookin.

**Kenneth Gilroy** · Jul 13th, 2015 11:01 AM

Kenneth chided himself. His nervousness must have been getting the better of him. He knew better from his lectures to speak slower than he had been. In fact he'd taught some non-native speakers but he was used to talking about biology; not politics. He'd have to be more conscious of it. It was just difficult with an unfamiliar subject.

"As far as I know Whip Lukyanenko and Priscus Ducard left because of business with their immediate family outside of Sacramento. I don't know the specifics of Sergei's but Ms. Ducard's Sire 'passed on' and she had to go manage some of his affairs," Kenneth explained.

"On the matter of threats; nothing substantiated or directly leveled at us," he said "There was the recent attack on the beach party but that could have been against the Carthians, the Gangrel Clan, the Seneschal or the Domain in general. I also know about rumors of enemies making moves against the Prince to dethrone him. Be wary of the names Jacqui Cotouri and Rahyna. They are traitors. More importantly there may be other agents of conspiracy. That is never to be talked about. Not in Elysium, not to Court officials, not to Clan heads, not to anybody, unless you are approached first. And then you feign ignorance and tell me as soon as there's no chance we will be overheard. Do you understand?" He waited for each to confirm before going on. And reminded himself again to slow down his cadence as he had started to speak faster again.

"I'm not sure how old each of you are," though from the potency of their Blood, 'young' was sort of assumed. Still, torpor had to be accounted for. "But the Requiem is dangerous even at the best of times. Simply by participating the Danse there is peril. And that's the thing, while I have no reason to think any are making direct or overt threats to our Clan, Sacramento is a volatile place, subject to fast and sudden change. True, that can offer great reward but with that comes risk. Which is what I'm trying to mitigate." Desperately and at times it felt like he was floundering, working in too many directions at once. Gaining leadership of the Clan just added to that but at least as Pricus he could delegate somewhat. "By building a solid power base for the Clan as a whole to fall back on, by supporting each other so we are each personally more powerful and better able to defend ourselves, by establishing roles in which we can excel and cover our weakness, pool knowledge so we have a better understanding the situation as a whole. So when I ask about your history, goals, and capabilities, it is with that in mind," he finished.

Jul 15th, 2015 07:07 PM

"I understand," said Martel. "It is a shame to hear about Mr Lukyanenko and Ms Ducard. I would have liked to have known them each better. Perhaps that day may yet come."

Martel gave a little shrug.

In the meanwhile, thank you for advising us on potential threats to the Clan, however nascent. Your admonishments concerning our behavior in the world at large are well-received, I assure you. I do not anticipate much interaction outside of my own Covenant, but I will keep what you have said in mind.
As for my history, it is perhaps not as long as some, but at least as storied as most. I will not belabor any extraneous details. I'll try to stick with the details most pertinent to your inquiry.
I was initiated both into the Circle and into the Requiem in Lourdes, France. After some ... trials in my home country, I came to the new world to further my education in the arcane arts. I have sought -- and found, I am pleased to say -- other students of the dark arts here in Sacramento.
I plan to stay for as long as it furthers my studies. Whither then, I cannot say. In the meanwhile, I seek to obtain the Right of Tenancy so as to make my stay more comfortable and amenable to my research.

Martel lowered his voice somewhat, casting a glance toward Garrick as he said, "There is another matter that I hoped to discuss with you in private at your leisure."

His voice then picked up and assumed its usual timbre.

"I am glad to be of whatever assistance I can as repayment for such favors. I do not boast of any great occult accomplishments, but of course I do possess some aptitude with sorcery. On a more mundane level, I am an adept researcher, having spent much of my life and unlife within university libraries."

**Garrick Marlon** · Jul 15th, 2015 10:54 PM

"I ain't deaf. None of our kind are." Garrick looks down, back to the room around him. "Well unless they are deaf, don't know if the Embrace fixes things or not."

The white eyed Nosferatu shrugs then continues. "I will keep an ear out for those names and let you know if anyone approaches me about the other concern."

"I was Embraced a few years back. My goals right now for Sacramento are to make a place for myself within it. Capabilities? I can shoot a gun well enough. Otherwise I pretty much floated from odd job to odd job." A grin open across his face.

"O, right. I can do the crowd clearing with our Blood."

**Kenneth Gilroy** · Jul 17th, 2015 09:59 AM

Kenneth listened with interest as Giles explained his skills and goals. The occult was something Gilroy only had a basic understanding of and it would be useful to have an expert. There was the difficulty that Martel was a Circle member and possibly not inclined to share covenant secrets. However, he was also a researcher from the sounds of it and so perhaps they might get along better than he expected.

“I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help you advance your standing in the Circle directly but I’ll keep in mind your goals should I find anything dealing with the arcane. If you’re interested I’ve constructed a temple here dedicated in the tradition of the Lancea Sanctum,” he indicated the curtain behind him “Feel free to examine it if like.” It was a declaration as much as an offer. While Giles might take it as a threat or insult, hopefully he’d see it as a genuine proposal to not let church mean they couldn’t share information.

“I’ll see about Tenancy but I wouldn’t expect progress too soon. Keep in mind that the right is not given out very freely from what I’ve seen and would require a demonstration of dedication to the Domain. You couldn’t simply restrict your interactions to the Crone.” There wasn’t much chance to do that anyway. If you wanted to advance even within just your covenant you needed to interact with those outside it.

He ignored Marlon’s comment about deafness. There was a difference between hearing and understanding. Perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised for someone so young. ‘A few years’ could be a long time when expressed by a Kindred but Kenneth doubted that was the case. If he had hazard a guess Garrick was less than nineteen years into his Requiem. A scary thought. Kenneth was no stranger to abusive Sires but leaving someone so young on their own seemed a special kind of cruel. Still, a scary enforcer could be useful.

"When you say 'make a place' what are you looking for?" It could be Garrick was fishing to be made Whip or Deputy.

“For my history, I was Embraced several decades ago in Boston. I have an extensive background in scientific research, specifically biology and chemistry. I currently work as a research fellow at the university. I have also studied the basics of engineering, medicine, politics and recently the occult. I have a solid working knowledge of stealth and sleight of hand, which I learned mostly in an effort to better my understanding of Obfuscation. However, my social skills are not where I would like them to be, especially given recent events. I fully intend to improve them.

“As for my goals, I have several. At the top of the list though is establishing the Clan as a force within the Domain. And to do that we need to have a good power base. For that I have made plans to build a Necropolis. You’ll find details in the binder I provided. The summary is I’d like to have the Necropolis be at least partially open to the Kindred outside the clan. I mentioned a spa back during the Underground tour. A place to talk with visitors and impress them. Negate some of the stigma surrounding our Clan. Then, I’ve also been gathering Domain history since I arrived. By compiling and controlling that information we make ourselves useful and spread our influence.

“I expect both of you to contribute to building the Necropolis by putting some effort into one of these projects. Or if you have other ideas or information, I’ll hear your suggestions. I know internet was mentioned before.”

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-07-10 12:20:12	Garrick rolls 3 to Promised Land -Obf 1 - Knife (-1 pen) (Wits2+Lar1+Obf1-1pen=3) (10 Again)	10, 7, 9, 5	2 successes
2015-07-10 12:19:52	Garrick rolls 5 to Promised Land - Obf1 - Pistol (-2 pen) (Wits2+Lar1+Obf1-2=2) (10 Again, WillPower)	6, 10, 3, 4, 10, 2, 4	2 successes

Welcome to the Promised Land

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