A Family Affair

[Jacque]

Jacque arrives to the temple, rapping at the door before making his entrance. He was wearing his leather overcoat over a vest and dress pants. By this time most kindred may have recognized the habit that business casual was as casual as this Lord would ever be.

He glances across the walls and features of the temple before resting his eyes on Thomas. The Beast stirred with desire, pulling and clawing at his calves to stand their ground- to retreat.

Jacque stepped forward into the main area, approaching the table. A hand motions to the inscription above the altar, "For a religion plagued with rumor and prejudice, it is quite ironic to see a quote from a work of fiction be the most prevailing feature of the temple. Lovecraft, no?"

His eyes drift across the graffiti as he awaits Thomas' response. Why do all the Kindred religions reside in such dilapidated structures?

[Jacque]

The uncomfortable stare put Jacque on edge. As brief as it was, it was an unusually focused gaze from Thomas. Is he measuring me up for size? Was there still some bone to pick regarding the Whip position?

Reserving the right to roll to ID Beast Hackles once a dice pool is decided but I wanted to at least get this going. Jacque wouldn't bring it up immediately anyway, even if he could identify it.

  failure

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-05 08:44:11		Jacque rolls 1 to clash of wills (Res + Stealth + Obfuscate) (10 Again)		1		failure

  5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-04-05 08:45:49		Jacque rolls 8 to resist BH (Res+Comp+BP+Obfuscate) (10 Again)		8, 6, 9, 3, 9, 10, 10, 5, 7, 6		5 successes

He shrugs his shoulders with a smile at Thomas' explanation, "I can appreciate not washing away the... unattractive parts of the history here." He moved forward to seat himself in the chair, "Thank you."

"I was speaking in general, actually." He quirked an eyebrow at the comment before continuing, "What makes you say that she is prejudiced?" He had come to discuss Lina, but if that scope needed to be broadened then now was the time to adjust.

[Jacque]

"For Prince Antinori, I believe it is easy to draw that perception during a time where Miss Mable was coming under heavy scrutiny. I am unsure of your Hierophant's history on interaction with her or yours for that matter, however. For the Second Estate, I believe the Prince's ire was well earned, whether the threat was a misguided attempt to bluff or if he truly believed that war between San Francisco and Sacramento would be waged over access to a dilapidated building."

He leans forward in his chair, tapping a finger on the table, "From what I've gathered, Prince Antinori does not have an inherent prejudice towards either of the faiths and has gone as far to be hospitable to all clans and covenants. I do agree that her personal preference is clearly towards the tangible, but is that really so hard to believe?" He shrugs his shoulders as he leans back, "That is certainly not something unique to the Prince. At least she is open to the existence of such faiths."

"Without more detail on the nature and content of your and your fellow acolyte's conversations I cannot effectively put myself in your shoes." He smiles, waiting to see if Thomas is willing to share the necessary details.

[Jacque]

"No, I can appreciate your discretion Mister Boyle," he waves a hand dismissively. "After all, how could I trust you to keep my secrets if you would not do the same of your fellow Acolytes?"

"We're clearly not viewing the Prince in the same light," he ponders the problem and what has been said briefly before adding, "What would you have the Prince do differently? She has given the Hierophant a Regency and held everyone accountable for their missteps. She does not pursue or worship faiths personally but also has not impeded them. If she were trying to impede the Faithful, why would she have given them power? What is she not doing that leads you to feel at an inherent disadvantage?"

He shakes his head with hints of apathy to the statement, "Not my her mercy Mister Boyle, her indifference."

[Jacque]

He chuckles quietly, "Cold as it was, Hierophant Krieg is still one of her Regents. In fact, I believe he is her only active Regent now. She has quite aptly demonstrated that she has no issue revoking the appointment if she feels someone no longer appropriately represent her interests." He flits his index finger upward, "As for Miss Vitale, I would consider that half the domain spoke even more highly of her, including our Priscus and Hierophant Krieg but had the sense to reel it back to merely recognize her ambition and poise as Priscus of the Shadows."

He nods, "True enough. My approach to the Prince has been fairly simple. I give her updates and information on how I am progressing in my plan to be valuable to her Domain. She seems like the type who is more impressed by action than words. Do something or plan for something that is significant to her Domain and follow through, and make sure she is aware."

His eyes widen for a moment, "Which reminds me, you wanted to know my plan to pursue the Keeper vacancy at Court. I want to first apologize as I'm certain I came off as untrusting of you and Mister Garcia. The reason I kept it close to the chest was because it was a Hail Mary. The Prince stated her goal of establishing a network of allies within City Hall and the Sacramento Police." He shifts in his seat as his hands begin to talk with him, "My influences are best held in the Judicial arena along with the City Hall. My bid for Keeper involved leveraging significant influence in Judicial sphere could effectively control or inhibit any negative actions taken by the police, and more importantly redirect their attention to her enemies." He lifts an eyebrow, "You see, if anyone else knew about it at Court the loud voice of opposition could create an argument that the Prince moved the goalposts, as asinine as it would be. So long as nobody else knew, my opportunity was at its optimum potential."

To his last question he smiled, "It was not a deep conversation that enlightened me, but her words and body language said it all. I actually came here to see if you had any inclination as to why. Otherwise, I'll need to go back to her to get it straight from the horse's mouth. For all intents and purposes it was less about you three as individuals and more about the Faith in general. I'm certain Sheriff Moretti sees your individual value or she would not have your Hierophant as a Deputy." Or perhaps another way of keeping authority over him. Either could be possible.