(Blood Ties) Strange Procession

[Yumyumcrow]

Old City Cemetery marks an ending of sorts. Its not just the oldest cemetery in the city with its winding paths, pleasant trees, and picaresque ranks of headstones and little mausolea; for the Kindred it marks the southern edge of downtown. Downtown and the rack. True, the rack technically ended a few streets further north, but the rack was always the demesne of the favoured and who knew how they set the boundaries in their own minds? The cemetery was a safe space - safe to hunt, safe to while away the dark hours in contemplation, if that was your thing.

Light frames the cemetery but doesn't penetrate it. The old cemetery closes at night and the tree lined lanes within are not lit. By day it is a peaceful zone of quiet, lifted and separate from the normal rush of the city; by night it is a sea of shadow wrapped in cloying darkness. The tombs are themselves rendered ghostly sentinels; physical teeth of the netherworld protruding into this liminal space.

Thats why the three figures stand out. Three figures in a line, forming a stately procession, as they penetrate the mysteries of the midnight cemetery. Two carry flashlights. The middle figure, head bowed, does not. The third figure, flash light in hand and bringing up the rear of the party, has a backpack: secured to it is an oblong object roughly the size of his leg, wrapped in dark cloth.

They have not spoken since they left their car, parked on the street.

And for those that are interested, a little plot.

Remember to list any equipment in your first post. Thanking you.

[Mable Wood]

Mable was on her nightly patrol checking on trees throughout the city. One of her favorite spots was near the various cemeteries. The trees were older, more established like old friends. The Historic City Cemetery (Old City Cemetery) was so interesting. It was designed to look like an old Victorian Garden. It was said that the roses were the finest in all of California. Mable would love to be able to see it in the bright sunlight. However, it was still beautiful at night.

It was this cemetery that Mable visited tonight. There were many tree-lined lanes and part of her job was to make sure the trees were not vandalized and had all the nutrients they needed. Mable quietly drifted from one tree to the next lovingly touching the bark, checking the roots, and making sure no one had carved into the wood.

The grass was cool against her skin when she reach down to check a root. As she stood up she saw a movement in the distance. She quietly moved from tree to tree until she was close enough to see... 3 people. 2 with Flashlights, one of which had a backpack and an odd shaped parcel. The one in the middle had their head bowed down. They were silent as the progressed into the cemetery.

Mable watched and continued to move quietly as they moved.

Equipment
Old Pickup Truck parked on the street: Tarps, saws, Shovels, Rope, Hooks, Camping gear, Tent, Lantern

On Person: Flashlight (on belt), Hunting Knife (on belt), Cell Phone (in shorts pocket, on vibrate), Small notebook and pen (in shirt pocket), chalk (for marking trees), Plastic ribbon (to tie onto trees)

Wearing: Navy Blue- tank top, button down work shirt, shorts. Black knee socks and boots. And a dark colored safari hat with hair in bun.

[Cynthia Weiss]

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-16 06:12:36		Cynthia Weiss rolls 8 to Cloak of Night (10 Again)		10, 10, 2, 9, 5, 6, 4, 1, 5, 7		3 successes

Slim pickings tonight. Cynthia thought as she leaned against one of the mausoleums, unseen to the world at large. Often she would get lucky and find someone to drink from. Usually it was lost drunk frat boys, homeless seeking shelter among the dead or even the odd goth kid that finally got the courage to visit the cemetery at night. The haunt had to try very hard to ignore how much of a walking stereotype she herself was just by setting foot here when that type crossed her mind.

There was the temptation to call it a night here and search for prey elsewhere until her eyes caught sight of light. She tilted her head slightly. The light did not look quite like it was coming from a Smartphone. She pushed herself off the ageing stone and started to follow, her curiosity piqued. So... Burying something or grave robbing?

[Cynthia Weiss]

I'm sorry. I completely forgot about equipment in my last post :(

Gear: Leather Jacket, Brass Knuckles, Smartphone (Set to vibrate)

[Yumyumcrow]

The little processions moves determinedly into the cemetery as the two Kindred converge.

It is obvious the group - or at least the figure taking the lead - is searching for something. The third figure occasionally checks around, their light scouring the darkness. Thus far, @Mabel Wood and Cynthia Weiss go unnoticed.

Its the second figure that grabs their attention, though. The closer they get, the more they look, the more certain they are that this person is Kindred. The Beast is weak (BP 1) - a predatory spider, web spinner, hissing silently into the night and, as yet, unaware of the other Lick's circling.

"We are here," the first figure announces. He is a man, tanned, face creased with age and wan. His attitude is one of grim resolution. He gestures to a modest monument topped by a praying cherub.

The second person - the Kindred - is a woman. By appearance she is in her early twenties, dressed in stained jeans and T shirt. Her long hair shimmers in the gloom like silver. She makes a noise that could be described as a great sigh, heavy with emotion.

"Momma..."

"Yeah. We laid her here. It was to be our family plot... But only she rests here now. She didn't take to well to your disappearance."

The third figure simply grunts and lays down his torch while he unlimbers his backpack and the long object wrapped in cloth - a sword. He resolves out of the darkness like a film noir villain: shock of hair a tousled mess; lank face with a hawk nose and beady eyes; worn clothes and leather jacket.

"Take your time."

What do you do?

Remember, if you want to sneak right up to them you'll need Dexterity + Stealth. Cynthia Weiss will get a +3 bonus to the roll because of her Cloak of Night.

[Mable Wood]

Mable continues to creep closer. Straining to hear what is being said. She continues to go tree to tree and finally crawls behind some stone. The sword worries Mable. What is the man's intentions. Are they also kindred? She can't feel their beasts but the girl... she is weak. The beast within Mable screams for blood and death. Mable pushes back and wins...this time.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-18 11:56:59		Mable Wood rolls 3 to Sneak (10 Again)		9, 7, 10, 8		3 successes

[Cynthia Weiss]

She felt it. The rage of her beast. Not powerful one, but she was starting to feel the rage of seeing a rival predator. Were these new arrivals or univited guests to the domain? These newcomers now had her full attention and she tried to get in closer.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-19 01:03:42		Cynthia Weiss rolls 7 to Sneaky Sneak (10 Again)		3, 6, 1, 4, 1, 6, 3		failure

Cynthia carefully approached. craning her neck to get a better look at what was happening. Unfortunately, she slipped. She felt her leather boots scrape on the ground. The ground came rushing towards her before she caught herself and got a mouthful of dirt. If she was alive, no doubt her blood would have gone cold at how badly she had tried to sneak up on these strangers. Fuckfuckfuckfuuuuu....

Until she realised she had made no sound throughout her short episode.

There was a short pause of confusion before she silently cursed herself. Right. Cloak. Its why I use it. She recalled as she rose from the ground. Panic subsided as she slowly paced around to the side to get a better look at what was going on. The blade being drawn had surprised her. Was this going to be some strange ritual?

[Yumyumcrow]

The sword wielding man has placed the backpack on the ground and is rummaging around, bringing out a vial of this and a potion of that. He takes a look at the sword before washing it quickly in the contents of one of the vials; his movements are practiced, curt, professional. As he does, he scans the darkness that presses hungrily against the light.

Cynthia feels a thrill of fear when she stumbles. And this sword swinging man is staring right at her. Then, abruptly, he shifts his weight and cleans his blade.

Mabel shimmy up to a rather ostentatious monument and crouches, poised and predatory. No one from the group seems to take much notice.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-01-19 03:06:43		Sword Dude rolls 2 to Wits + Composure - 3 Penalty (10 Again)		2, 10, 6		1 success

"I'm glad we are here, together again. Glad we found you. Rescued you... From those monsters. It will all be over soon, baby. You can rest with your mother. I'm sure she'd like that. I'm sorry it has to be this way. But I'm not sorry I saved you."

The first man lays a hand on the woman's shoulder, his face lost in the murk. He sniffs.

"I didn't want to go. I didn't want any of this. They took me, daddy. They... made me do things..."

She had turned her face away, her posture contrite.

"They said it was the Lord's will. But it weren't."

"I know. I know baby. He told me. We got him. The one who did this to you. You. You know that, right? I killed him myself." Real emotion this time. Anger, regret. Sadness.

Behind her, the sword wilder had stood and was taking off his coat.

The other man nodded almost imperceptibly. He remained, holding his daughter lightly while they talked in hushed tones. Remembering a life.

And the ST made a mistake. Cloak of Night effects sound, touch and vision (which I had forgotten about). So when Cynthia slips she makes no sound, as no one actively knows she is there. Just in case you are wondering.

[Mable Wood]

Mable is horrified when she realizes the plan is to kill the young kindred. The problem is what to do about it. She isn't worried about being 1 to their 3. But who turned this girl? Did they have the Prince's permission? Was this part of the brood's doing? Should she save this girl? Was it really any of her business?

Then a thought ran through her mind. Could these be vampire hunters?

If she came out in the open she had 2 choices and both seemed to lead to her having to kill them. One she could come out as doing her human job as caretaker, but they would see her as a threat to what they were doing and would try to silence her. Two she could come out full beast form and just kill them. But what of the girl? Mable continued to sit and try to figure out the best move in this no win situation. She wanted to text Ale about the issues going on but was afraid to risk the light from the phone.

[Cynthia Weiss]

This is not what she had expected. Sure a strange procession of people in a graveyard at this time was odd. Cynthia was not expected Hunters executing a fledgling over a womans grave. One created from a breach at that.

Cynthia found herself paralysed by indecision. She felt like she should help her. But she knew better than to fight someone armed with blades on her own. Did this girl even want to be saved?

She backed away slowly from the man with the blade, hoping to avoid getting too close and somehow getting injured with her luck so far tonight. She moved around slowly to the other one and his daughter. She might gleam some more information before the armed man was done with his preparations.