Finding the Chapter

[Aaron van Valen]

Aaron is feeling it, and it feels good for a moment. Until he realises the exact nature of what he’s sensing. Danger. It is uncertain how this is harmful, but there are more than enough traces and hints of violence.

Regardless, the sense of power brings a smile to his face. Now they have a real reason to turn this place inside out. It was no longer a curious mystery, it is now a place of power to defend.

Although, they have to capture it first. He thinks of all the possibilities this place brings. Yet he also wonders what brought the negative resonance here. Lina’s voice breaks his train of thought.

“There is a powerful energy here. Feels to me like some sort of Wyrm’s Nest.” He lets that sink in for a moment. “But there’s a dangerous energy. Could explain the burn spots.”

He checks the footprints. “Great how you recognise that. I wouldn’t know. But now someone might be defending this place. Were they chasing each other? Do the tracks end at the stairs, where one might have pushed the other?”

He thinks another second. “Who would walk barefoot? Shapeshifting Gangrel?” The wildest of guesses.

sorry for the unedited post - from phone

[Yumyumcrow]

The tracks go from the stairs to the library; and from the library to the room with the peculiar burn marks. All other places are shunned. Some of the other rooms contain traces of other paths - but Lina would be sure these represented older trails from before the library was occupied.

As if to underscore Aaron's discovery, there is a sharp bang of thunder directly overhead. The building shakes and random particles of dust and plaster fall from the ceiling. There is another rumble of thunder soon after, much more distant, and accompanied by a flash of lightning. The air thickens. Light patter of rain, soon runs out.

Exposed wires spark.

The light in the library flicks back on, humming as if caught in a brown out.

[Aaron van Valen]

'I cannot say what causes it, every Nest is different. We should definitely try to find that out though.' But how? The Lord folds his hands together, clearly thrilled. A somewhat ominous smile appears on his face as he thinks.

He listens to Lina, wondering what the tracks could mean, or what useful clues they could derive from it. Surely there was not just some little girl and her dad living here. Then the bang of thunder suddenly strikes.

'Fuck...' he mumbles, looking up as well. In shock he covers his sensitive ears. A sudden urge to hurry rises. He does not like the idea of being in actual danger. One option they had - to sit this out and wait for whoever is inhabiting the place - now seems less appealing.

So Aaron agrees with Lina, and nods, 'Yes, let's make sure we didn't miss anything. A hidden attic or basement. Also, we need to figure out why someone would tear out all fittings? Could all the loose wires release a strange energy? Something caused that thunder.' He starts to walk around again, looking for another possible floor in the house.

'Things seem so out of place here. The dust as you pointed out. But also, I remember a report of burn signs in a place far from any urban area. Did you see where the lightning struck? Is there a mystical connection between this place and some location more distant, deserted?' Clearly, Aaron is just thinking out loud. 'Or did something inhabit this mansion, coming from a far away place?'

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-07-02 14:52:08		Aaron van Valen rolls 5 to assist investigation (wits 3 + inv 2) (10 Again)		9, 6, 2, 4, 10, 6		2 successes

I was thinking, aren't we actually making a team effort? You could add my successes below to your future rolls - Lina being the primary actor.
And was it possible for them to see where the lightning struck?

[Yumyumcrow]

The flash of lightening brightens up the sky. It illuminates the garden in its overgrown and neglected glory. Two adult figures stand at the gateway - just where the Kindred had stood - one large and imposing, the other very small and lightly built. Such is the brightness of the flash, the pair of Dragon's could make them out from the windows of the upper floor.

There is no obvious access to an attic - and that leaves returning to the ground floor where there was definitely a basement.

Time is closing in. I need to know where the Dragons go. Do they go looking for an attic or do they go hunting for a basement?

[Aaron van Valen]

“Fuck.” Aaron says, again.

This does not look good. He would say that they might be reasonable people, but this whole place is too ominous.

He nods, agreeing with Lina. It would be better to prepare for the possible ambush, or find some last clues.

agreed. Would run at full speed if Lina goes down.
Deactivate heightened senses

[Yumyumcrow]

To the Basement!

Celerity would let Lina cover the ground floor, and mitigate the apparently space warping nature of the building as she breezes through. Without Celerity, Lina would get lost on the ground level where rooms seem to blur into one. With Celerity she has to criss-cross her path - but doing so does help Aaron as he follows behind.

For purposes of narration, I'm assuming the Celerity gets activated.

Lina finds the ground floor is as ruined as the upper floor - perhaps even more derelict. Certainly, she finds mouldering piles where once there was a squat - some years ago given the decay and dust that covers everything. The air is thick, too; thicker now than before. Dust motes hang in the air and when disturbed, float as if in molasses. If it wasn't for the Daeva's speedy investigation, they pair of Kindred might well have blundered into whoever was drawing near the building - or else gotten completely lost in the maze-like layout of rooms.


The sound of water is stronger on the ground floor - echoing up from a large and now empty basement. There is no hidden lab or mysterious stores in the basement; there are no objects at all, not even a rag. There is only the fuse box of the building - old and bulky and rusted; so ravaged there should be no power to the building at all. The only other feature of note is a massive hole in the wall: a puncture right through the building's structure.

The hole leads to a tunnel - none too safe and in danger of collapsing on itself. The tunnel rings with the sound of water. Rushing water from a sewer or flood mitigation network.