Nosferatu Meet Up

[Cynthia Weiss]

Rows upon rows of battered, abandoned houses lined the street. The place had been forgotten by the city with seemingly few plans to do anything with it. It was just as well, for stranger, darker things have taken root here.

Tonight there was the lone woman underneath a yellowed streetlight. Black jeans, black boots and a leather jacket that gleamed with silver studs. Her hair was was a close as she got it the night she first came here. A burning cigarette hung from her lips. There was the vague hope the smoke and Nicotine would help cover whatever sickly scents followed her tonight. Shame I can't really feel it anymore. She thought as a stream of smoke escaped the corner of her mouth.

She had sent messages out to the new arrivals for a meeting. Hopefully she did not screw up the address. It would look bad on her and the last thing was to have hungry eyes and sharp knives having a change at ending her for a scrap of power.

Takeda Katsumi Cayce Krieg ErlangShen

[Takeda Katsumi]

Several blocks away from the meeting point, a young female tourist climbed awkwardly from a cab and then paused to fiddle with her sash-belt, right in the middle of one of the worst parts of town. The cab driver shook his head, wishing that he'd had the balls to pull over sooner, but then pocket the extra twenties and rolled off into the night...

Takeda Katsumi, a Kindred of the Invictus, a Demon on the Road to Hell, finished adjusting her swords in her belt and then strode off to find her Priscus, black cloth flowing in the evening breeze. Her black sneakers were quiet upon the cracked pavement, and her steps were unhurried. This street was no different than any other, for no matter what street she walked upon, her path was always the same.

Finally, Takeda rounded the corner and saw the pale gothic woman, whose painted face still echoed with centuries of lamp-lit drama, and the giant who Takeda had actually relished meeting again. He would have no kine to cower behind this time.

"Good evening, Priscus Weiss," Takeda said as she approached, stopping only to give a small bow.

"Good evening, Krieg," she added, turning to the giant, though he only warranted a nod in greeting.

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-24 18:45:21		Takeda Katsumi rolls 5 to Always Armed (wits3+larc2+obfu1-1 take 2) (10 Again)		10, 4, 1, 2, 5, 3		1 success

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-24 19:04:14		Takeda Katsumi rolls 6 to Always armed, wakizashi (wits3+larc2+obfu1) (10 Again)		3, 8, 3, 10, 6, 6, 10, 2		3 successes

Takeda is using Touch of Shadows to hide her katana (1 success), and wakizashi (3 successes)

[Cynthia Weiss]

And there it was. The screaming, teeth gnashing hatred that only another Beast could inspire. Cynthia had been waiting for this. Thankfully the meeting in court had tempered that rage. Only the brief, bright glow at the end of her cigarette was there any hint that a internal struggle had taken place. Thankfully the giants seemed to be silent. "Nice to finally meet you. Craig."

"My my, aren't we subtle?" The goth finally said to the murderous young woman with an arched eyebrow. She remained straitlaced for a few seconds more before smiling. "Don't worry, I'm only joking. This neighbourhood is so empty I think you could get away with murder here." She threw the smoldering smoke from her mouth to the pavement and crushed it underneath her heel. The subtle terror she felt all night faded away. Her eyes went down both ends of the street. Other than the distant sounds of a barking dog, the place was bereft of life. The goth finally pushed herself off the lamp post. "Anyway. Lets take this inside shall we?" She nodded, mostly to herself as she walked past a few of the houses. She abruptly turned down the path of one of them. It looked like it was on its last legs. Paint was faded and peeling, windows bordered up or smashed. She reached the out for the door and opened.

Inside was relatively cleaner, save for the dark patch on the floor of the living room. Despite what she tried to clean it with, it still reeked of old blood and offal. "This is the aboveground haven. Its part of the entrance." She explained as she went to the back. In a darker corner was an imposing door of made of metal. Cynthia stopped and rummaged through her jacket and produced two keys. Both shined brightly through was little light reached inside the dilapidated house. "Freshly cut. You'll need one of these if you want to get through the main entrance here. No one wants to replace the thing if you try and rip it off its hinges after all"

The haunt waited for one of them to take a key and open the door. New kindred were paranoid. Seeing the key work and that it was not a fake would help settle any doubts. As soon as the iron door was yanked open she took over as the lead again into the darkness. "Watch your step." The steady sound of her boots on metal stairs echoed throughout.

At the end of the landing the path split into two. Cynthia stretched her arms out. "Welcome one and all to the Deep Kingdom." She announced. It was a little grandiose for what little there was. But the acoustics were just perfect.

[Takeda Katsumi]

Takeda considered, for a moment, demanding that Krieg address her with the proper title of Miss, but eventually she decided that it would be a wasted effort. Besides, there were so many more enjoyable ways to torment the Goliath.

Wordlessly, the Killer followed her clan into the bowels of the Necropolis. Certainly, it was not as grand as the name implied, though given how small her clan was in the Domain, its very existence was impressive nonetheless.

"Yes. The Deep Kingdom. I suppose that it does echo the cthonic spirit of your obsession with the Underworld, Krieg. Will you be setting up an altar to pray?" Takeda challenged, curious whether the giant would take the bait, or if he would be more inclined to make peace now that they were within the ancestral home of their clan.

[Cynthia Weiss]

The Priscus thought on the giants question for a moment. "I am not entirely sure. The catacombs are quite large. And the kindred who knew them best has decided to leave us." Her voice for a moment sounded as bitter as the scent of almonds coming off her. "None the less, its quite extensive despite its...state." She motioned them to follow her as she slipped into the darkness again.

"Our numbers were greater than this. But recently my predecessor fell into torpor and the others have seem to have run off to god knows where." She explained with an edge to her voice. Talk of clan unity by Robert was burning brightly in her mind and it was making her mood turn foul. Some defences had crumbled or remained hidden beyond her awareness and some paths still spiralled out into the unknown. Cynthia had at least memorised one route through the winding dark at least. The same Alice had shown her. She nodded towards an alcove that opened up to a room with an altar and a mass of melted wax. "This was the Dark Altar that was once maintained by those of our blood devoted to the church." She glanced over to the intimidatingly tall Krieg. "With them gone, feel free to do as you will." She was not sure about what covenant or religion he followed, but Katsumi's taunts gave her enough of a hint and the invitation was given.

They went in deeper. "Where the bleak annals were." She pointed it out with a nod. It had been long abandoned even before her arrival in Sacramento. "The Trash pit." She announced. It had recently flooded ruining what work the goth had put into it. They then came across a wall with a black curtain draped over it. "And this leads to my Sepulchre. There is plenty of odd rooms in this part of the necropolis that can serve a similar purpose." She noted out loud.

Finally they reached the end of the tour "And finally. The Caldarium." It had taken some work (and a few brushes with the Beast) but she had managed to transform the decaying cesspit of a room back to its original form. Soft candlelight, glistening pools,smooth clean stonework. The bathhouse was recreated to the best of her abilities to bring forth that sense of peace and serenity she felt the first time she arrived.. The sickening stink that came off her seemed to fade a little while they were here. She took a seat while the goth let the others take it in. "Now, to get formal introductions out of the way. I am Cynthia Weiss. Current Priscus of Clan Nosferatu here in Sacramento and Not Bound from any of the five covenants." At last, it was time to get to know the newcomers, free from whatever fear and anxiety Court could inspire.

[Takeda Katsumi]

Ah, so the giant did have a sense of humor. That, or he was merely preparing for his next verbal strike. Either way, Takeda was looking forward to finding out which it was. Perhaps it was because they shared the same clan, but it seemed as though the hostility between them was becoming more of a rivalry, and less of a grudge.

Either way, Takeda would back down from neither.

She considered the fact that he was claiming the dark altar for his own, and decided to see how he would react to a similar request. After introductions, of course.

"I am Miss Takeda Katsumi, burakumin, and a warrior of the Invictus. It is an honor to share the same clan as you both," she declared, bowing to each of them before continuing.

"If it is possible, I would be most grateful to have permission to set up a small shrine of my own. It would not require much more space than a bookshelf, but would have to be somewhere conducive to contemplation. Shall I claim one of the unused rooms, or would I be allowed to build it into the Bleak Annals?"

Ostensibly, it was Cynthia that would be able to grant or deny her request, but the killers eyes were upon the Giant, challenging.

[Cynthia Weiss]

"Its no problem at all." The Priscus said with a nod to the giant.

Cynthia stopped and pondered the question. "I'm not sure honestly. I suspect its from the cities water supply. We are pretty prudent with the water here at least so I doubt we would be discovered." And considering the glacial pace of bureaucracy, she doubted anyone would check their area any time soon.

She nodded to each of them as they introduced themselves. She scarcely knew what the hell a burakumin was. A bloodline perhaps? "Once more, it is nice to finally meet you all."

The priscus thought on Takeda's request. She did just hand over over to Krieg, and by extension the Circle of the Crone. "Hm... If its for private use, you are going to need to contribute something to the Deep Kingdom." She finally decided. "Do this and I will grant you the right to set up a Sepulchre down here where you may do as you will."