Investigations

[BBQLord]

Guide Peter hurries off before I can respond to his plan. Was I to follow this man, this guide, into the depths of Hell? I look to Guide Aesop for a moment, weighing my options.

Was I to be caught by the fisherman? Saint Peter is oft described as a man of strong faith, but even rock proved to be an unstable foundation for faith. If I choose the forgiven sinner as my guide I would likely choose to seek redemption and forgiveness for sins -delaying the promise to Bradley or something more fundamental like my unbounded curiosity?- and wavering faith.

Or should I instead heed the advise of a slave? The improvidence of the grasshopper and the vanity of the hare... would I be akin to a dog barking at his own watery reflection if I were to climb those stairs?

Aesop taught prudence and Peter led to faith. Turning from prudence, I mount the stairs. With such options, was it really wrong to choose the option that also offered coveted insights?

If met with resistance

If Eleanor senses the strange resistance too she freezes for a few moments and tries to determine what just happened by turning her attention to the stair.

Both Arcane Sight and regular Spirit's Touch. She'll flash Aesop an obscured look and for ST she'll slide her hand over both the arm-support-thingies to the side ("raillings?") and the actual stair.

2009-12-10 14:21:46 Eleanor rolls 10 to Arcane Sight (10 Again) 3, 2, 7, 7, 7, 9, 3, 1, 6, 6 = 1 success
2009-12-10 14:22:31 Eleanor rolls 10 to Spirit Touch (10 Again) 9, 4, 1, 7, 1, 7, 4, 8, 3, 9 = 3 successes

[DaevaDude]

As Eleanor starts up the stairs, she experiences the same sensation Peter did - it seems as if the air itself forms a barrier for a moment, then parts to admit her. Utilzing their expanded mystical senses, Peter and Eleanor both see the stairs to the upper floor of Club Inferno, and that level itself, are surrounded by some sort of magical field. The magic is spiritual in nature... yet at the same time subtly different from other spirit magic they've encountered.

In addition, Eleanor and Peter both sense some greater source of spiritual energy is present on the upper level. The chill up and down Peter's spine is becoming downright painful, while Eleanor senses a pulsating, deep red light with occasional rays of bright red, purple, green and black. The light is so vivid it's almost blinding, and causes her to see everything else as red-tinted.

[Majunior]

Holy fuck... What the hell IS this??

Peter looks behind him, making momentary eye contact with both Eleanor and Aesop in turn, narrowing his eyes and setting his jaw, confirming that if any of them were under any doubts about why they were there, this was in fact turning into some serious shit.

He grits his teeth a bit from the pain, briefly, before forcing the return of a smile to his face.

He follows his seductive new "friend" upward, a bit on edge but doing his best to look as if he's just glad to be there while looking around "in awe." And in his "awe", he is scoping out the floor as best he can... windows, doorways, possible exits, and of course people... or other beings.

Talk about wanting a backup escape plan...

[DaevaDude]

Is Aesop going up the stairs, or staying on the ground floor?

Peter and Eleanor both need to roll Int + Occult. Specializations in Spirits, Spirit Realms, the Gauntlet or the Shadow apply.

[Majunior]

Fuck you, Willpower point!

2009-12-11 01:23:10 Peter rolls 9 to Int3+Occult2+Spec(Spirits)+WP (1s Subtract, WillPower) 4, 9, 1, 4, 5, 3, 1, 1, 1 failure

[BBQLord]

Ooc

2009-12-12 04:33:12
Eleanor rolls 8 to Int+Occ (10 Again)
7, 6, 4, 10, 6, 3, 2, 7, 8
2 successes

[DaevaDude]

Good job remembering the Gangrel clan weakness without my having mentioned it, guys.

Aesop also feels the strange pressure as he starts up the stairs, but it parts for him just as it did the others. Though lacking the sorts of mystical senses possessed by his companions, he has been around long enough to recognize warding magic when he encounters it.

Reaching the top of the stairs, the three vampires enter a scene of debauchery. They see numerous kine engaged in intimate and lewd and lascivious sorts of activities, individually or in pairs or, in some cases, in groups of three or four or seven or more. Some are completely unclothed, others might as well be, and most of the ones that are not doing such things are watching.

There is also so much spiritual energy up here that it almost overwhelms Eleanor's senses, and does keep Peter from noticing as much as he otherwise might with his own sensitivity to spiritual entities and phenomena. Peter notices several ephemeral creatures, some appearing as small humanoids with horns or cloven hooves or red skin, and with sexual features of exaggerated, almost cartoonish proportions. Others have a much more sinister appearance; one floating in the air near a strong-looking, leather-clad woman bearing a barbed whip is semi-amorphous, little more than a spike-covered lump of twisting, pulsing flesh with numerous dripping appertures and orifices, while another appears like a nude woman so beautiful as to remind the vampires of mythic creatures so perfect of appearance that to see one could be fatal... save that this one looks fatal in other ways as well, namely the one hand kept hidden behind her back, made of iron and ending in razors, even while the other hand plays come-hither gestures in the air. Clearly these entities are spirits of a sort, and ephemeral, but Peter is unable to discern whether they are in Twilight or not, and Eleanor can see that the Gauntlet here is so weak as to make the distinction all but moot. The spiritual auras of these ephemeral beings clearly permeate the area, contributing to the debauched activities of the club patrons.

Only three figures up here aren't focused on the lecherous activities. One is a bartender, dressed like the ones on the lower level, in tuxedo and rubber devil mask. The other two stand toward the back, one on each side of a door, their arms crossed in front of them. They also wear tuxedoes and masks, one in the likeness of a bald man with dozens of pins penetrating its flesh and skull, the other dressed as a balding, bespectacled man of somewhat more subtly sinister aspect. Aesop doesn't recognize either figure, and Eleanor finds them only vaguely familiar, while Peter recognizes one as the demon Pinhead, from the Hellrazor movies, and the other as the former Vice President of the US, Dick Cheney.

Eleanor notices that these three exhibit the same sort of strange auras she noticed on the lower level, intense and unusually focused auras superimposed on more muted ones. She notices the same strange aura phenomena with three others here: a very handsome, sharply-dressed man of Mediterranean appearance, an all-but-nude, red-haired woman with the sort of voluptuously sexual build one associates with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, and the Asian woman, Silk, who guided them up here. Silk's stronger aura is a pure, deep red, almost completely suppressing the weak, gray aura beneath. As Silk reaches up to touch Peter's face, Eleanor can see the red aura spread over Peter's features, as if seeking some point of entry. The woman with the pin-up build also exhibits a bold, deep red aura, but the weaker one beneath is a swirl of different colors, almost hypnotic, while the handsome man's aura is a mix of bold purple and deep red, superimposed on a weaker aura consisting of alternating bands of deep red and bright green. The bartender and the two masked men by the back door have auras that are a mix of bright red and purple, superimposed on mottled, shifting auras so weak as to be barely discernable at all.

This door is the source of the strongest spiritual energy the two vampires have seen in Club Inferno, by far, and the reason why Peter's spirit-senses are so overwhelmed. Physically, the door is painted in a bold, blood red and decorated in black with mystic symbols, including a downward-pointing pentagram within a magic circle; the door's handle is shaped like a snake, open-mouthed, rearing back to strike. Eleanor and Peter can barely even make out the door's physical manifestation due to the intense energy coming from the same spot. Eleanor views it a swirling glow, emitting intense beams of deep red and darkest black. To Peter, the spiritual energy is simply so intense that he can't make out any details, as overwhelmingly blinding as if he were a mortal staring right at the bright noonday sun of a clear summer day.

Peter has a good guess what this apparent door actually is, though it's intensity is such that he can't really be sure, but Eleanor recognizes it for what it is: a locus, the result of events and emotions intense enough to tear a hole between the material and spirit worlds.

[Majunior]

The way my nights are going since arriving in this town, I'm seriously considering never leaving my study again, except maybe to head back to Portland. Christ Almighty... wait, there's no Lancea fanatics reading my mind is there? Dammit...

Likely catching Eleanor and Aesop off guard, Peter begins singing as he takes in the upper level itself, focusing on the door probably longer than he should

"I don't feel you anymore
You darken my door
Whatever you're lookin for
Hey don't come around here no more

I've given up stop
I've given up stop
I've given up stop
You tangle my emotions
I've given up honey
Please admit it's over

Don't come around here no more
Don't come around here no more..."

Realizing he was singing again, and not sure just how loud he was being, he shuts up and rips his eyes from the door. Hoping his escort -- HA! -- didn't notice, he immediately redoubles his focus. Addressing Silk, he asks, "So then, my dear, what's the plan?"