2016 Summer Solstice

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Gilroy nods, bows, and gives closed lipped smiles to all his fellow predator’s greetings. Some called him Regent. Others didn’t call him by any title at all. None called him Bishop.

“I saw the flyer when it went up. It seemed like an interesting event to attend,” he replied to Stamford “After all the lectures I’ve put on that others have sat through,” listening to him drone on and on as Katya, Alice, and the Davids well knew “it seemed only fair that I be present.”

“I am well,” he answers both Regan and Hart simply.

Katya disappeared for a little while, reemerging in a black dress hung from one pale shoulder. He wonders if she is going for the look of a Roman priestess. Maybe his Latin lessons would pay off sooner than he’d thought. Hopefully Silver’s words of safe welcome remained true and she wouldn’t demand Gilroy to get on the altar.

At the unspoken invitation, he approaches the circle of hateful fire. The lesser mind thrashes ever harder to escape its mental bounds and force him to flee. The worm instead cringes into a seat and sits stalk still like a cornered animal. He waited for the ritual or speech to begin.

[David Silver]

David continues his rounds, turning to Alessandra, a wide smile on his face.
"Alessandra, I am glad you could come. I am sure Acat is looking favorably on your arrival tonight. Will you be participating or just observing for the night?" He asks in a hopeful tone. It would be good to have more participants, the Crone was greedy for worshippers after all, even if they belonged to other covenants.

To the drop-dead gorgeous woman, david spares some extra time, "David will do for tonight. Tonight is the night of the endless sun, and so I try to cast off any attachments and bindings. Titles are prestige yes, but also responsibility and duties. Tonight we cast aside all of that in the face of what the summer solstice brings. The titles we use are useful for dealing with each other, and sometimes for with mortals. But tonight? I am only myself. No title can aid me tonight." David's tone has strong tenor, as he whips into a brief sermon on names. "So I discard it, and would prefer to be known as David tonight."

David watches as the worm scurries off to find a seat in the metaphorical corner. Perhaps he will learn something tonight.

His fellow acolyte returns with more chairs, and a good thing too, this is quite a large attendance. The trick will be to see if they are here to merely observe, or if some want to dip their toes into the ceremony. He admires her garb, and while he can't quite place the location, it is quite appropriate. The two of them work well together. And tonight is a night on the cusp of the second descent.

David approaches the newcomer, a wide smile even as he feels no beast. Is this a ghoul? Or one of his clan members? As he gets closer, the horrific burns and pungent smell suggest it to be more a relative of the Worm's. Regardless, David smiles widely, Alice seems to know him, so that is a good thing. "Be welcome here sir, I am David Silver, leader of this ritual. I am glad you could come. Might I inquire as to your name?"

We will begin the ritual starting on the evening of the 2nd (eastern time). No further admittance after the ritual has started

[Ciara Maskelyne]

As the small sampling of Sacramento's Kindred gather for the evening's gathering, another vehicle pulls in alongside those already parked close together. Deciding the E-Type wasn't in keeping with the night's theme, Ciara had instead procured an unassuming black coupe that would not mark the event as anything of note to outside eyes.

As the Cadillac came to a gentle stop, Ciara carefully extricated herself from the driver's seat; which was no small feat given the outfit she had chosen for the evening. She wasn't quiet sure what would be considered proper "mourning" attire, and so she had decided that if she were to make a fashion faux pas, she might as well make the most of it. A black and grey outfit with matching gloves and hat clung to the Ventrue's thin frame; her lithe frame accented by a lace corset that hide underneath the heavy fabric of the outfit. In deference to the outdoor setting of the farm, she had forgone a floor-length dress; the hem swaying perhaps an inch above the ground as Ciara makes her way towards the hushed voices farther along the path marked with flame.

She does her best to ignore the torches for the moment, her current outfit and the flames bringing back unpleasant memories of a rather eventful Court from long ago. Hopefully tonight's festivities would not meet such a fiery end; Ciara instead focusing her attention on the rising sense of malice that drew closer to releasing itself with every step she took towards the Kindred that had arrived before her.

Each step falls a little shorter than the last, until she finds herself at the very edge of the gathering. She pauses a moment, both to rein in the destructive urges sending dark whispers through the back of her mind; as well as to let her presence be known by the other Kindred already in attendance. A offers a respectful bow, or at least as much of a bow as the outfit would allow, before speaking.

"Good evening, everyone. I beg your forgiveness for my late arrival; the past month has been quite... chaotic..."

[David Silver]

David nods to the new attendee, his eyes drawn to her with almost unnatural force. Even as his beast looks at her in terror, and wishes to flee into the night, let the goddess smite him later. David focuses, and approaches her, "No, you are just in time, we are just about to start. Be welcome here tonight."


"Thank you all for coming." David says, as he walks up to the center of the circle. "Tonight we being the memorial service for those of us who have departed in recent times. Katya and I will be here, in the center, while I encourage any of you who wish to participate to stand at the distant circle. Those of you who wish to merely observe this holy rite, I direct to the chairs at the periphary. " David indicates the inner circle for himself and Katya, and then the outer circle of scattered chalk for those non-Crone participants, and then finally the chairs next to Kenneth.

David turns to the East.
"There once was a young woman who waited for the sun to rise. She sat in the predawn hours of her home, her children asleep, watching the eastern sky for the sun to come. It brought life to her farm, life to her children's eyes, life to the river. She did not have to wait long, for it was the summer sun that rose at the 5th hour."
He then turns to the West.
"She became an old woman, who waited for the sun to set. She glared at the western edge, waiting for the cursed sun to go. It had burned her crops, drying them into brittle nothingness. It had dried her river, making a dust-caked basin. It had burned her skin, bringing meaningless pain to her. It had revealed her children, and they were found and killed by the villagers. The cursed orb would not set.
5.
6.
7.
8.
It was not until the 9th hour that it finally was gone, and darkness was present. The old woman relaxed into the embrace of the darkness, which would not burn her, which would conceal her pain of lost children, which would give a drop of moisture to her ailing crops.
The Messenger of the Crone came to her that night. She did not bring a message of meaningful suffering to her, as she had done to the pagans of the villages. She did not bring a message of the Crone's Voice, as she had to the Hierophants for the city. She did not bring a message of retribution as she had to the heretics that had twisted the visage of the Crone. She brought no words at all.
The Messenger bowed to the woman, and gave her the Crone's Blessing, for she understood what hundreds of kindred, wise and aged, did not.
She understood the summer sun."

David steps into the inner circle, and motions for Katya to join hands with him, forming a circle. He raises their hands to the sky. He keeps his face towards her. This ceremony, first and foremost, is for them.

"The summer sun kills. It kills our streams, leaving barren wastes. It then kills our crops, drying them into dust. It kills our beasts, with thirst and hunger. It kills our food, from burning their skin and choking them with heat. It kills indiscriminately, without mercy, without judgement, without caring about why others die. Meaningless death, that kills just to kill. We mourn them now, the vampires of our past, who died to the merciless sun. Some ignorant ones embraced the sun, seeking the life it once gave. Some foolish ones tested themselves against its power. Some enlightened ones were dragged out by enemies of the Crone, seeking to destroy the knowledge she has graced us with."

"We mourn them all."

  7 successes on Prayer

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-07-02 18:54:42		David Silver rolls 10 to Presence+Expression+Spec (10 Again, WillPower)		5, 8, 10, 10, 4, 9, 5, 9, 5, 10, 3, 8, 4		7 successes

how this works

Individual lines, like "We mourn them all." are call and response lines, so you will want to orally repeat those. I will be doing several more in the next post, with the assumption that you call out at the appropriate times. This will give you time to respond to his opening.

[Alessandra]

The arrival of yet another stronger Beast didn't go without notice. Her own shrank back in it's cage, whispering and whimpering, begging the Savage to run. But not tonight, the Italian didn't run. She offers a friendly smile to the magnetic woman.

And then David begins whatever tonight was about. She watches and listens with fascination, Davids serene presence drawing her attention. Ale didn't have any intentions of joining, she was simply here to observe and support Katya. And maybe learn something more of her Covenant.

"We mourn them all." she repeated when it seemed appropriate. The Savage had experienced loss, so the words had weight to them.

[Alice Hart]

Alice was already beyond nervous. Just being here, with Gilory acting in...whatever capacity he'd saw fit for the Crone ritual, or rite or whatever. Her fretting over the repercussions of her being here, participating, are interrupted when another Kindred arrives, apologizing for her lateness, and while the Lady Stamford made her want to pee her pants (even though she's wearing a dress, and is well...dead...) this lithe creature wrapped in black made The Wraith hiss in stark terror. She should run to the Necropolis and Never Fucking Leave. There she's safe. There she has power. There-The breath Alice releases she's sure everyone can hear. But with the right terror that approached, Alice hopped the noticeable sign of her weakness was forgiven. Or at least never brought up.

Vivian steps forward with the scarecrow of the Shadow Priscus, then Ale follows them, and Alice's nerves settle as she steps into the outer circle with them. At least she wouldn't be the only one participating.

With bitten lip Alice focuses on David's words. His movements, and when he speaks the last line, Alice's hollow vice mixes with the others. "We mourn them all." Her gemstone gaze turning inward for a moment remembering her sire nothing but ash drifting in the wind, Henry's back to her as he walked away in disgust.

[Robert Cross]

Cross gives Alice a warm smile and a nod at her 'Hi.' Seeing her here is not exactly a surprise, he knows that--like himself--she's searching for something. Some sort of meaning in her requiem.

But then, David has appeared before him, asking his name. It's almost refreshing that the 'lead of this ritual' doesn't seem to recognize him from the last lecture at the Moore house. Typically, people have a hard time forgetting his face. "Robert Cross," he replies. "And thank you for having me here tonight."

Their interaction is cut short by the arrival of a monster far more potent than he and Cross takes that as his cue to leave. Giving both David and Ciara a respectful half bow, each in turn, he withdraws toward the chairs where his Priscus has already taken a seat. It seems they are both observers tonight. The burned man settles beside Gilroy. "My Regent," he offers in greeting, "I hope you are well." Whatever curiosity Cross may feel as to Gilroy's motives for being at the ritual are ignored. Above my pay grade...

And besides, things are getting started. Cross listens intently as Silver gives his preamble. And when the time come, he responds, quietly, under his breath: "We mourn them all..."

[Kenneth Gilroy]

“Hello Sheriff,” Cross’ arrival somewhat of a surprise, but like Alice’s he couldn’t fault the unaligned for researching all possibilities. "I am."

Before they could talk more, the event began. The worm stayed in his seat.

Kenneth tried not to think to literally when David began his story but he couldn’t help it. The woman of the tale garnered little sympathy from the high worm. Resenting the sun for her problems showed a lack of understanding of climate. Blaming the daystar for revealing her children when she should be more concerned that the villagers had been the ones to kill them.

No. He had to look at this ceremony through a less biased non-anthropocentric view point. Or as much as you could when you had to fight down the urge to tear out the throat of the person leading the ritual.

Even Kenneth had to admit though, Silver certainly could orate. Yet the mournful words couldn’t hide the worrying undertones Kenneth noticed spring up from time to time. Retribution against heretics. The enlightened dragged out to their deaths by enemies of the faith. The hints of victimization and righteousness. The Haunt recognized the message easily enough. The Lance preached it too.

The worm stayed silent during the call and response. He was here to observe after all. To say the words could be seen as heresy by both his own covenant and the Circle. Yet even his quite had a certain lowly reverence to it. After all, the Bishop had to admire the faith put into the words, even if it made them dangerous.