He nods Thomas calls for a favor. "I can walk unseen. The Nightmare Discipline can effectively 'bomb' an area with psychic foreboding. Mortals will scatter like cockroaches." He felt confident with revealing that much. "If by some luck, a foolish individual ignores that primal fear, then, when I grab a hold of him, that will be the beginning of his problems." Krieg then added, "Or hers."
It wasn't great space, and it wasn't for long -- but Thomas Boyle's ally was able to help them out. Space in the basement of an arts building. It was a classroom with a lock and plenty of cabinet space, not Fort Knox, but the kind of place they'd not be liable to be immediately noticed if someone was hunting for this thing.
And Thomas Boyle definitely owed his friend dinner.
"Good news everyone" Thomas says cherfully when a reply appears on his phone "We'll have a temporary locale in the UC Davis arts building. A basement classroom - a fair amount of space and a lock on the door. Nothing fancy, but it will do" The arrangement is far from permanent anyway.
"Here's an idea. We're probably not going to stay undetected for long - Obfuscate only gets you so far, and not all of us have developed it - so we could turn this weakness into an advantage. We present ourselves to whatever presence holds sway here - a coterie of Kindred, a pack of Lupines, doesn't matter. Point is, we make a big fuss about it - leave our scent all over their seat of power so that everyone knows where to look for the Eye" Leave it to a Malkovian to devise a plan so complex and needlessly redundant that it might just work.
"I'm willing to bet my collection of Uganda postage stamps that there's at least one group the Eye's reached out to, besides us - if only as an insurance policy. If whoever that is thinks the real enemy are the residents of Davis and not us, there's a fair chance they'll blast each other, and all we'll have to do is round up the survivors, pick up the loot and operate in peace"
Was Thomas proposing what Adam thought he was proposing? Did he want to use the Eye as bait to draw out the Kindred of Davis, cease power from those Kindred, and declare Davis an independent Domain from Sacramento? Bold.
"Fascinating." Adam's only response to the idea.
"We should not delay in following the edicts of the Sultana. We should prepare the new site as soon as feasible."
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Mable looked over to Krieg to see if he thought that was a good idea. Because she didn't think so.
"Ok, let's start with whoever is going to do the researching, heads over to the site in Davis with some photos of the eye. Ask questions, scent whatever you want to scent. But start it without the eye leaving our farm. The Farm is not within city limits so will be fine here for now. I have several hiding places for it. I feel that we do not need nor want a turf war with the eye as the prize at this point."
Krieg pondered Thomas's assessment. "I am quite certain the Eye can discern what creature is sacrificing the blood." He then cautions, "Vitae is only found among our species." The giant concludes, "Perhaps, preparing questions in advance is the best measure here. What is it that we want to know most? Out of all the other Kindred in the Domain, why did it call to us?"
He shrugs "Simple. The Invictus would likely sell it or close it in a vault somewhere. The Carthians, if there were any here to begin with, would use it to hit something. The Order has little interest in magical artifacts. That leaves us. Whatever is inside is trying to manipulate us, but we are going to manipulate it back" The Malkovian sounds awfully certain of this outcome.
"So, is that a yes to what I'm proposing?" The Ventrue noted no obvious dissent, which was a good sign - for him "I could sniff around for Kindred presence first thing tomorrow, take with me whoever wants to be along for the ride. We'll present the photos, ask for permission to operate like the polite monsters that we are. I have some ideas for fake evidence we could plant"
This is going to be So. Much. Fun.
How little did the Lordly Crone know. The Ordo was equally interested in the occult and would gladly harvest the Eye for all it has to offer. "I wouldn't dismiss the Dragons so quickly. Their quest for knowledge into the occultic unknown rivals ours. But I concur we do need to secure the site before relocating the artifact."
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Mable felt much more relieved that they would scope things out first. "Okay, I can sleep underground with it tonight. That should keep it safe."
"What worries me most is I saw. The Vitae weeping from its eye burned of corruption, of a certain wrongness, like this thing does not belong. I felt its magic, felt its seductive lure, and I know that when it speaks of offerings it will give, that it can give them." He inhaled and exhaled slowly. "One of the sigils that I was able to see clearly, was a cross, radiating in holy fire."
He paused in thought, "May be best to have a fire extinguisher nearby...just in the odd chance it somehow catches fire."
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Presence
