(1601) Sacramento Safari

[Konrad Roth]

"Far as I know, no one has gotten His Grace's favor to use the Rack," adds Konrad after the pause in Martha's sharing her wealth of knowledge. "If you're looking to impress him you're going to have to do something pretty amazing to get His Grace's attention."

Maybe it's a pipe dream for some to impress a Prince, but he only mentions it to remind them that it's still a goal to shoot for rather than just a status quo.

"This interstate will take you all the way to Reno, or southwest to San Fran. Probably get you to the coast in a little under two hours if you've the need for it. Or the Amtrak'll take you under three hours. Though I wouldn't trust those trains to run on time." In case any of them needed to get out of town quickly.

[Garrick Marlon]

"The buses aren't much better, I took one to get to town from west of Reno." Garrick shifts his sunglasses to the top of his head. It's nice to see the town as it is. Not through the damned tint. Can anyone make sunglasses that aren't tinted but are reflective?

"So Sacramento's what.. 150 years old? Something like that? Is there any record of our kind before it was founded?" There could be a sweet bolthole somewhere waiting to be found...maybe with it's owner in it. That'd....suck.

[Martha Villiers]

Konrad's observations prompt a set of happy nods from Martha. She once enjoyed the freedom to Hunt in the Rack, but kept that to herself, adding only a chirpy; "Indeed!"

Smiling and taking a moment to listen as others talk, she rubs at her false knee.

"Oh...well, the earliest Kindred are no longer...well, that is to say..." she blinks and hesitates to share the sordid and violent history as she understood it, "...from what I understand, sir, the Requiem of those earliest Kindred has ended. Many years ago, what is now Prince's Clarke's Domain, was once in the control of Tobias Straiphen, Straiphen was, by all accounts, a fearsome tyrant!" Martha, gripping her knee, shudders theatrically.

Wide eyed, Martha adds softly; "Their hiding places were many. All manner of places to conceal their misdeeds..." blinking, she's thinking of the old asylum and the strange Horizon...the caves and the places where Erika's legions foster doom, "There was once a flourishing Necropolis too...but the Lord of that Necropolis, and with the agreement of the Prince, wished to remain secluded..."

"There may well be many ancient Kindred and strange magics lurking..." again, her mind swiftly turns to Geomancy. But, erring on the side of mystery rather than expose a secret, she giggles nervously and adds, "...one hopes we can avoid their menaces this evening!"

With her nervous fingers running at her crippled thigh, Martha asks Konrad, "Perhaps, en route to The Asylum, sir, might we take a right turn here, please? That way we can drive along to Lincoln Highway and take a look at the exterior of the Ballo Della Notte... it's a theater and can be the place for watching amazing acrobatics... a...a circus might once have been its description. A circus in the 19th century sense, I mean. Well, it's owned by the Royal Archon, the Duchess Twist..." she turns to Tiernan and Garrick adding cheerily, "...we sometimes hold Court there. Not as often as I'd like though. It has such lovely decor within and without, you see!"

[Yumyumcrow]

Can everyone make a perception check please? Wits + Composure -2 penalty for the distractions of the conversation and the relative speed at which they are travelling.

Post the results below

[Martha Villiers]

Martha seems to be usefully alert...

  5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-02-01 01:03:33		Martha Villiers rolls 8 to Perception (wits+com)+Combat Aware = 8 (invoking TO too) (10 Again)		1, 10, 3, 6, 9, 10, 8, 3, 9, 4		5 successes

[Konrad Roth]

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-02-01 08:03:09		Konrad Roth rolls 6 to perceive his surroundings while on the road [WIT+COM-2] (10 Again)		10, 1, 5, 3, 9, 4, 10, 4		3 successes

"Aye aye," responds Konrad, listening attentively while also keeping eyes on the road. He follows Martha's directions well enough. He'd heard of Straiphen recently. There had been a lot of hullabaloo about his return, but for all he knew it is just rumor and hearsay. He'd also heard of the Necropolis and the creation of a new one by the Haunt Priscus, but he isn't about to bring that up either.

"I've been to the Ballo Notte once, for my first Court in the Domain. Nice place," he comments passively. He found out that Twist had owned the theater not long ago either when he helped the Archon ship some recently found documents there. Many secrets and movements are taking place beneath the surface of the Domain, and Konrad read those undercurrents well enough to know these newer Kindred might be in over their heads. But no sense scaring them off. If anything he could use them as mineshaft canaries when shit does end up hitting the fan.

[Garrick Marlon]

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-02-02 00:12:48		Garrick rolls 3 to Safari (Wits+Comp-2=3) (10 Again)		10, 9, 6, 3		2 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

Its been a week nearly DisgruntledOne . I need to keep the thread moving, so Tiernan Braggs will unfortunately miss the cues. The social Daeva is too engrossed in the conversation to take note of what happens outside...

The car and its occupants do not exist in a bubble. The city and the kine move around them, even as they move ever onward and at speed: one more component in the grand machine that is the modern city.

Nothing escapes the Shadows. Ever. Martha sees.

Savage instincts are the signs of a master predator, a monster in human clothing. Konrad rapidly processes information before he is even fully aware that he is doing so.

Garrick almost misses it. Almost. The Haunt is a creature of fear: of Fear internalised and Fear made manifest. He becomes aware of it at the last minute, in a gut twisting collision of awareness. Flight instinct...

Downtown is a place of glass, brick and concrete canyons. Downtown is a place of contrasts: wealth and poverty, large and small, light and dark; all washed in amber and fuzzy neon. In the cracks lie the alleyways...

...And in the alleyways are unfamiliar Beasts: weak and cowering and hunting on the Rack.

Martha's keen eyes pick out two of them - one perhaps on point for the other. Konrad feels them but is unable to distinguish them apart. Garrick only feels his Beast surge at the sight of the alleyway.

[Martha Villiers]

Taking a moment to tap Konrad gently on the shoulder, Martha nods towards where she saw the unfortunat Kindred.

"Sir...I...I think there may be someone Hunting on the Rack..." she hopes the implications are clear.

"Perhaps, while we find out who they are and get them to a safer place to Feed...or...you know...tackle them more directly: if they resist our help...well, Mr Braggs can perhaps look after our transport..." She nods to Tiernan, Garrick and Konrad, hoping for their agreement.

This was out of her jurisdiction, but, as a Court Official, Martha felt the need to take some leadership role.

Clearly their trip to the cinema might be delayed...