A Secret Meeting

Street lamps fight a never-ending war against the encroaching dark outside of the relative safety of Katya Harding's car. Inside, in the passenger seat, David sits rather unobtrusively as though he is subconsciously attempting to take as little room in her car as he possibly can. The summer haze has left the world with the sun, but Summer warmth remains and the Mortician is dressed to blend in with the kine: stone-colored jeans and a white button-up. It attempts to be insouciant but the jury is out if it achieves that affect.

David may not expose his beast to the world. Some call it polite. Others call it strategic. For David, though hiding the power of a man from prying Kindred eyes, was a near instinctual thing. However, looking at Katya, David wrestles with a burning hate, familiar contempt, and simple resentment at the younger vampire. So young, to have such power over him. The Shrike desires nothing so much as to take the wheel and to ram the car into a streetlamp. To remove the obstacle. The Shadow Dragon swallows his beast's squawking like a bitter pill, keeping control under a veneer of placidity.

The Mekhet releases the vice-grip on the handle of the car door and searches the back of the car .

“If you do not want to continue driving, then we'll need a safe space to speak, Seneschal. Preferably nowhere near Citrus Heights.” David draws his lips into a thin line, this might be a long drive as he turns his gaze back to the windshield as amber light washes over them. “Josephine Sterling was right. But most of what I know of what's going on in this domain cannot be spoken about in Elysium and especially not in front of Mr. Wooding.”

  Clash Roll, Back Seat 3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-07-29 22:34:47		David Regan rolls 8 to Clash Roll ( Wits + Invest + Aus) (10 Again)		4, 10, 5, 10, 6, 4, 5, 6, 8, 1		3 successes

OOC

This is a separate thread from the Seneschal Meeting, not technically linked to that, but can be side-stepped by just not addressing it.

Once outside of Nox, Katya leads David to her vehicle, a black SUV in a parking garage. She unlocks the door for david and gets in the other side, paying no mind to him as he fights to keep his beast in check. Katya has nothing to hide, at least to her knowledge, in the back of her car save for her duffel bag which contains all of her Asylum goodies. A pair of leather combat boots are lying on the floor but otherwise her car is relatively clean.

She shuts her door and starts the car, nodding to David in response to his suggestion. "I don't mind driving, we can take a scenic route, but this car is probably the safest bet." she keeps her eyes on the road as she makes her way out of the parking garage and then her eyes shift ever so slightly to david when he mentions the Hierophant again. Keeping her biases in check she says "What is it I should know Priscus?" she calmly asks, waiting to judge for herself the weight of the information that requires a hierarchy of who's in and who's out.

Fingers flex and then, David's hands lace themselves together on his lap. In profile, his nose is straight and bushy-brows are prominent over dull-brown eyes. As a whole, he doesn't fit with today's pop-culture stereotype of the 'Vampire.' There is nothing sexy about him or even ferocious. He has more in common with Johnathan Harker than Dracula. But like trap-door spiders, he is underestimated.

David spares another glance towards the back of Katya's SUV and then looks straight ahead towards the red-light.

“There is a group working to destabilize the Domain.” The Shadow Dragon's soft-spoken pastoral cadence, lowers in volume all the more. “I have been tracking them for the last year and some change but they have been active for far longer. They diablerized the Savage Dragon Muir. They are responsible for the Final Deaths of the Savage Regent Roxy Hart, the Savage Dragon Dog, the Shadow Dragon Aïleen McFarlane, the possible Final Death of Nosferatu Peter Baldwin, and possibly more I don't know of.”

Five Kindred. David has been witness to the deaths of five of Sacramento's Kindred. It's a weight that pulls on him still and his fingers unlace, the thumb of his right hand searching for a ring that isn't there.

“What do you know of Regent Erika Brady, Seneschal?”

Fingers gripped on the wheel, they vary in the amount of strength Katya exhibits on them as David tells her what he couldn't say in Elysium. With every Savage that he mentions, fingers grip harder onto the leather until her nails dig into them, leaving mini imprints that will stay for quite some time. She knew of other family members who were gone, did they meet the same fates? With the few shards of clarity she has regarding this issue, Katya holds back from interrupting David until it's time to go after the red light changes and he asks her a question.

"Very little." she says, her eyes on the road "I think I may have heard her name early on when I arrived but I haven't formally met her. I don't recall her name associated with danger, are you saying that she has ties to these attacks?"

“More than that,” David answers solemnly. “I am saying she's behind them.” These were his people too. His lover. His covenant. The Mortician's world has been under siege and those he trusted to lead, didn't. David's truculence is something far colder, far more settled. Some might mistake it for resolve.

“She is an Elder Shadow, who exposes her beast to prove a point. A master of our blood, no secret is safe around her and the former Reeve, is her Hound.” This is the face of a Priscus who trusts his own clan very, very little. “I suppose this is why His Grace kept him out of the initial meeting between the Prisci and the Regent.” Chris Wooding cut himself out. “Because of this, assume Elysia is compromised. This is why I stopped Gilroy.”

David's initial explanation finished, he turns his attention towards Katya. “I apologize for being blunt, Seneschal.” Though he might actually be apologizing for turning over the proverbial rock and showing the Savage what is underneath. “There is a lot of back-story, mostly revolving around the failures of those who should have led. What would you like me to start with?”

Its' a good thing David is with someone who has practiced various states of unease because if not, he would have possible been in a car accident. Katya however, drives through the city with ease while managing to hold back her growing anger. It's when Chris' name is mentioned that her lips tighten but she still refrains from snapping at the only person she can due to proximity.

Just because he is leader of our covenant, does not outweigh the fact that I know little about him since I've only been on one patrol with him.

"There is no need to apologize Priscus. I am naive in this situation and so it would be foolish for me to assume what's best since it's clear there is much history that preceded my arrival." her neck relaxes as she leans back in the drivers seat, stopping at another light as she weighs the most relevant information. "What is Ms. Brady's history in Sacramento and the events that led to your conclusions that she is responsible, including the names of others who have helped you as well as those who tried to get in your way. I guess what I'm getting at is, of this back-story, has it led you to hypothesizing why she is behind this?"

A tiny nod follows before the Shadow returns his gaze to the stream of cars joining them and peeling away. “A few instances. First and foremost, the testimony of Regent Hart when we found her in a bunker in Yolo cemented to a wall by the thralls of Jacqui Cotouri.” One of those fears all Kindred seem to have in common, came to fruition for Roxy: becoming the hunted. “Before Cotouri attempted to destroy us all by incinerating the bunker with Jet Fuel, Hart told us she witnessed the diablerie of Muir by Cotouri and Brady. Dog, Hart's Hound, remained with her in the end and they both met Final Death.”

Displays of Loyalty like that don't come along often. David envies the Axe Sworn his choice.

“The Ordo Dracul was protecting the body of a Torpid Elder, brought to Sacramento through Museum channels. I had identified it as the body of a female.” A breath is taken in, held, and released again. “Apparently, Brady wanted very much to get her hands on it and Martha Villiers, in an attempt to mollify her, agreed to hand the elder over. This was supposed to be a ruse, but, Villiers departed the Domain and Max Heinz decided not to question the order.”

Reaching up, David rakes his hand through his hair. “Finally, the meeting between His Grace, the Prisci, and Brady herself. She arrived with her beast bared, attempting to intimidate which insinuates that she knew what it was about. Further, it is in her defensive stance, challenging us to get any truth out of her. She even resorted to challenging a few of us to Monomacy. His Grace had to play as though he's on her side, while protecting us, and leading her away before sending Mademoiselle Muriel back to tell us how to proceed.”

As David unfolds the history, Katya can only understand more now why the mysterious Shadow remains stoic and silent at all times, given the amount of trauma he has experienced, which is saying something considering who they are. What astounds her too is the amount of players that were involved in thwarting Brady and who had failed.

This is why elders are meant to be feared.

After David is finished, she is silent, for an awkward amount of time as she gathers her thoughts trying to parse out her role in this and how it won't repeat similar failures against her.


"You'll have to be patient with me Priscus, I may be asking questions that seem redundant or irrelevant, so feel free to answer them in which order you seem fit." she licks her lips as she takes another turn, zig zagging through the city in heavy areas of traffic that allow her to drive at a snails' pace.

"first off, who are the principle investigators in this, what's the current course of action and to the best of your knowledge, what stands in their way, apart from Ms. Brady herself? Lastly, what does the team know about Brady, like how how long has she been in sacramento and what has she done to earn such prestige that allows her to defy people so in Court without any consequences?"

A nearby gas-station looks, to David, like a glowing oasis in the night; promising coffee and fuel for journeys long and short. A panhandling homeless man, clinging to a cardboard sign like it is a life-preserver, approaches a man stepping out of an Escalade. David may be watching them, but his attention is on Katya's voice.

“I am Principal, given that I've been investigating this for sometime now. Almost from the moment I arrived. Given that I'm a Libitinarius, it was initially thought by Martha Villiers that my expertise would be invaluable.” A very particular bloodline that also has a large population in the Circle, as it so happens. “Everyone else working on this, I've brought in within the last year.”

As Katya's SUV pulls away from the gas-station, David continues, “Priscii Cordoba and Sterling have the most information after that. They are the only two Priscii who remain from the initial hearing.” Funny how quickly attrition takes hold. “The rest of the Pricii have departed, leaving Priscii Roth and Gilroy to have to learn on their feet.” Reason enough that he forgives Gilroy for the slip, “Whip Bingen has also been investigating with me. Of my family, I've told Deputy Yui only that which she requires: enough to know that there is a danger that must be stopped. Everyone else has been at the discretion of their Priscii.”

Turning his head back towards Katya, David answers, “Brady has been here for quite some time, continuously at that. I don't know the particulars of what she's done to earn her position but, she has been Regent of Citrus Heights for years. Mademoiselle Muriel might be someone to discretely ask.” David pauses, considering the most efficient way to state the following, “The current course of action is to find and destroy the body of the former Prince Straiphen before Brady's cadre does.”

As David lays out the key players in this long standing struggle with protecting the domain, Katya decides that she'll need some location to drive without stopping and focusing on heavy traffic. she turns again and heads in the direction of the nearest expressway.

For someone like Brady to have such power that even his Majesty would not be able to explicitly condemn her, meant that this was something that seemed to require so much complex power that went beyond physical and undead power that she ever thought of. After all, if she had a whole Domain, it might as well have been a fortress that her colleagues were trying to penetrate.

"What evidence do you have so far that might indicate the location of the body and what can I do to help, if anything at all? It sounds like you have quite a full team of people involved on this so I don't want to slow anyone down. Perhaps a better question to ask is, has Mademoiselle Muriel or His Grace given specific instructions as to how to 'play' out their knowledge of events so we do not blow their cover also?" after all, she was now the hand of the Prince and so she would need to keep consistent with him.