(Case Study) Diagnosis

[Cayce]

Elixir.

A dive bar that catered to the 40 hour a week workers and young professionals alike, the kind of place that managed to draw an eclectic crowd, with a wide ranging selection of drinks on tap and Dinosaur Junior pumping from the speakers, sat comfortably south of the Nox by about ten blocks and west by five. A long distance on foot, a brief jaunt by car, but practically synonymous when measuring by the speed of wireless communications. A single, blurred video, taken on the increasingly powerful camera's carried in the majority of the populations' purses and pockets could be uploaded in seconds through the communications grid built into the very city itself and then jettisoned off to satellites which would broadcast that captured piece of time to servers, and other screens, across the globe.

No matter how strongly one might wish to trust in the kine's ability to willfully ignore the most damning of evidence, no matter their faith in the obscuring cloak bestowed upon the visage's of all kindred beneath a camera's glare, humanity was watching. The thirst to conquer their increasing isolation, their increasing dissociation from anything beyond the commodification of their very lives, had started to drive them towards compulsively archiving and broadcasting their insufferably trivial experiences to any that would listen, and more and more their web of information grew. More and more, their eyes became magnified a hundred fold by the lenses of their click happy cameras and the constant buzz and thrum of the data grid penetrating through the air.

More and more, the pitiful packs of kine became better at beating back the night, at cutting away the brush and thinning the shadows that hid their most fearsome predators from their sights and from their minds. Thus, as the Deputies of Sacramento approached the corner where Elixir happily sat, their work was cut out for them. Work that had been specifically carved by the carelessness of a predator who had failed to understand just how softly a hunter of humans now had to walk through the night.

Nevertheless, the kine were timid and dumb. Lulled into complacency and docility by the constant occupation of the real estate of their minds. Battered by hour after hour of work, all for the profit of others, bombarded by manipulative advertisements and reality warping narratives of politicians, journalists, and fiction writers, and cowed by the weight of public perception and ever increasing records of laws, the kine were easy to fool, easy to mislead, easy to bleed when one new how to separate that little bleating sheep from the flock, and so the hunters of hunters were not without their camouflage, nor their fangs...

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Kenneth arrives before the other, having taken his own station wagon to get there. After parking, he looked around feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Hunting at bars and clubs had never been Kenneth's preferred tactic. The Curse that his Clan suffered was of course the main factor. However, looking at the milling Kine it was easy to remember just how much he hated this type of environment. The dozens of uneasy glances that came his way. The chaotic and disorganized stampede of Blood that made it difficult just to walk from one point to another. Then there was the conversation. Just the snippets that came here and there talking about how good this recent movie had been or how amazing this one celebrate was. It was just so vapid and unintelligent. Maybe this was what Josephine was trying avoid but he doubted even in her vision there would discussions of microbiology.

[Wod.Infant]

After cycling for a handful of minutes I arrive at the Elixir. I spend a few moments observing the place from the outside. A pretty average dive: beer on tap, talkative clientele – some of them probably came here regularly, the music was whatever you heard at these places - no one seemed to come here for it.

Still outside I notice Kenneth and Brittany are already around, I park the bicycle a couple yards by the front entrance and get inside after sharing a knowing look with them that said “I’m going in”. I prepare myself by pushing the blood to the surface of my skin to wash away the undead pallor from my visage.

-1 vitae: blush active for the scene

Once inside and as soon as I get the bartender’s attention I order by pointing to the nearest tap and I remove my jacket to rest it on the back of my chair by the end of the counter. From here I can see much and hopefully pass by unnoticed.

I just hope no one spills beer on me…

[Alessandra]

Ale was the next to pull up to the location, eyes scanning the building as she looks for a place to park. She grabs her brass knuckles and slides them into her back pocket. Looking at her guns, she frowns, they would have to stay in the jeep. Most places got a little uncomfortable when you brought two guns in. Her bowie knife was slid into her boot, and her pants pulled over the handle.

That done, she shoves her hands in her leather coat pocket and walks towards the club. Despite her appearance, clubs weren't really her thing. Sure, they were good to hunt at, but that was about it.

As she scans the streets, she spots her cousin. Casually she walks past her as her Beast drools and growls at the thought of tearing her pretty cousins head off. She offers Brittany a subtle nod of her head, not sure if they were going together, or apart. For now, Ale will find a wall outside the club to lean against. Taking her phone out, she absently swipes the screen while looking up every now and then. Looking for weird, out of place, anything that she could play off.

-1 Viate to Blush, bowie knife, brass knuckles, cell phone,leather coat, jeep

[Twist]

Knowing that the others would already have arrived, Twist tightened her control on her beast as she approached the "club". No wonder the Reeve hadn't bothered giving more descriptions, there wasn't any to give. Generic, plain, it was a bar. People came. People drank. No dress code and no need to worry about attire or blending in. Well... past the usual requirement when being around kine.

-1 Vitae for Blush

As she approached she noticed Kenneth still lingering in the parking lot of all places... what good did he think he could possibly do there? And up ahead, Brittany and Alessandra, both a few paces away from each other and apparently uninvolved with each other. That left one more, the one she didn't know. And unless she was terribly late, that meant she was inside.

Letting that be her deciding factor of where to go, she headed for the doors, leaving the 3 outside, maintaining as she did the charade of not being associated with one another. Inside she paused to glance around the bar, getting a quick snap shot of what she was dealing with before spotting the jacket and form of Martine Klauser .

Smoothly moving through the crowd she reached out to grab the chair near her with a charming grin.

"Mind if I sit here? her voice was pleasant, charming and cheerful. It had every indicator of belonging to a person who would chat up a stranger as though they were best friends since childhood. And without waiting for an answer she slid into it, spinning around so that she half lounged on the bar as she scanned the room openly, "Anything fun happening tonight?" It seemed Martine would be the "stranger"... if she chose to play along.

Being separate was good. But there was no need for all 5 of them to be working solo.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Kenneth waited for everyone to arrive so they could get together to discuss their approach. Then he watched as they all split, went inside, or pretended they didn't know each.

So... no planning then, he thought with a weary sigh.

Gilroy gritted his teeth as he forced his heart to start pumping. He knew how miraculous the act was but it still made him uncomfortable. It felt unnatural to have his blood flowing again, especially for something as mundane as walking among the Kine. He could have simply Cloaked himself and followed one of the others as backup, but without coordinating with the others, he'd simply be seeming to have vanished. Hardly a stellar impression to give. So he'd be forced to try to 'blend in' or attract their target. Him. The Nosferatu that gave people a gag reflex was supposed to be an option for bait. This was going to go great.

He headed into the bar. Passing by the stunning women, he ordered a beer. "Anything, it doesn't matter." Then he found a seat in one of the darker less populated corners and pretended to nurse his drink while being angry at the world. Pretend to nurse the drink that is. He was a little upset at how world was going right now. It worked for a cover though. Weak and isolated scum who no one would miss. He'd make the perfect victim... if whoever was looking could stomach approaching him.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-03-24 16:03:20		Kenneth Gilroy rolls 5 to look like a good victim Mani+Subterfuge (1s Subtract)		4, 9, 2, 1, 9		1 success

-1 Vitae for Blush

[Wod.Infant]

I spot the lithe woman from before coming into the bar. If I recall the Reeve addressed her as Honorable Duchess and with a healthy dosage of politeness, perhaps even passing reverence, which means that the woman now sitting across me is either some high ranking official or an elder too bored to let the ants do the legwork for her…

Despite that I guess even high ranking officials in an Invictus domain or bored elders deserve a chance, at least at engaging in polite conversation, even when under the guise of an investigation. Or was it the other way around?

”Sure!” I reply when the delicate figure first approaches me. I gesture towards the empty seat even as my eyes linger into her a while longer, if I can’t sip into my beer at least my eyes can binge into the glass of her shape.

”Fun?” My eyes raise to her eyes and then I look around the place, as I do I take time to assess once again. I notice Kenneth shrinking into the darkness, lonely and afraid… or so he would lead any other onlooker to believe.

I raise my beer glass as if the sum of its content was a perfect indicator of how much fun I was having.
”I guess I still have plenty of it to give away tonight.” I chuckle lightly.

”And I can always get a refill…” A refill… I’m not even counting on finishing this one.

”So? What is there to do in this city besides sitting across some stranger in a bar?” My eyes grip onto hers as I steer the conversation. She started it, I will finish it.

[Cayce]

A snatch of bitter wind swept through Elixir's parking lot, chasing a few of the milling kine away from their conversations and towards their cars, but of more note than that was the black van which Brittany saw pulling up along the street. It was large and boxy, it's windows tinted an impenetrable black, and the Mercedes-Benz logo glinted proudly upon its grill. The side door slide open and two figures quickly hopped out: a caucasian man and an asian woman, both in equally well cut, crisp black suits, though neither wore a tie. The man stood easily above six feet, a shadow of stubble rode his jawline, and his nose had clearly been broken more than once. The woman was about a head shorter, had her black hair tied back in a severe bun, and a heavy looking satchel dangled from one shoulder. She hurriedly shut the door, the man gave two the side of the van two slaps, and then they both started walking towards Elixir. The van pulled away...

Alessandra if you'd like to also give me some investigation or perception at -1 (due to phone distraction), then feel free to notice the van and its disembarking occupants.

Meanwhile, inside Elixir, the bartender seemed somewhat offended that Kenneth hadn't even bothered to ask what was on tap and so poured him a tall glass of Ninkasi beer and slid it his way. Martine, on the other hand, had just happened to point to a popular pomegranate cider and so had received a tall glass of that. Bud, and it's other mass produced American counterparts, didn't seem to be on the menu...

Unlike Kenneth, of course. Sitting in a dark corner, attempting to make himself the most obvious of unmissed victims, had inadvertently also given himself an excellent view of the rest of the bar, and as no one had yet approached him, looking seemed to be what was left for him to do...

Gimme wits+investigate

Twist and Martine, who were parked right in the center of the alcohol's flow, were not quite given the same luxury as a semi-wasted nine-to-fiver walked up to them in slacks and a brightly colored teal, button shirt.

"Oh, there's lots to do," the man proclaimed as he sidled up to them. "There's all kinds of things happening. Why, there's an indie documentary festival happening..."

The man began to drone on, and it was clear that he intended to stick to them like an overly eager leech unless something was done to chase him away.

Twist and Martine, feel free to roll whatever social stuff you think would be applicable.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Kenneth's eyes darted around the bar fervently, only to turn downcast again. His fingers twitched and tapped against his glass. After a while he began fiddling with a straw. Plunging it into his drink and pulling it out with his thumb over one end. Pressure differential at work.

The snakes eyes blinked unnaturally under the influence of the Blush and he glanced around again quickly. He looked for any likely suspects or unusual reactions. Klauser still had her Beast out in full view after all. The worm's instinctual fear came every time he looked at her sitting at the bar. It made him cringe a little further into his dim corner. If their target was vampire. They would undoubtedly feel the same rush of instinct.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-03-26 08:56:19		Kenneth Gilroy rolls 5 to Wits+Inv (10 Again)		6, 8, 4, 5, 4		1 success