Night of the Jackal-Initial Preparations

[JC Smith]

JC held up a hand when he heard someone entering the area. He wasn’t sure who, but off hand it didn’t stir the beast. But she was walking in what might be construed as a search pattern. Which… what did that mean?

There wasn’t enough time.

He held up his hand to his ear, looking at Quinn. Thumb up, pinky down. Mouthing silently into a nonexistent phone. Hoping she understood.

And for a second, he thought he was overreacting when she went toward the camp. Then then furry face appeared. Racoon? At this point it was hard to dismiss anything.

Two options, another Kindred had happened upon them. Second, they had a leak and this was a spy!

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap is pretty sure the idea was for them all to be in position and hidden, before anything or anyone came along.

Plans are the first casualty in combat.

He goes still, watching all around, in particular watching Maeve and J.C., for what they might do, as they seem of all the ones he can see, to be the most likely to do something he doesn't expect, all sudden like.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn went silent, and alert. Waiting, watching. Wondering. She broke the connection with Maeve, and her gaze and power moved to J.C. She didn't usually initiate Telepathy without easing someone into it. She hoped J.C wouldn't jump out of his skin hearing her voice in his mind.

Telepathy to J.C

"I hear something that sounds like an animal above the overpass. What do you see and hear?"

Quinn's voice was different sounding in his head. More melodic, gentle, slightly deeper. A slower cadence to the syllables.

[Maeve]

The shadow stands completely still, looking and sensing with just her eyes and ears. A pet being walked? An animal of some kind? That's plausible. It isn't like this place is completely deserted with no foot traffic entirely. Still, doesn't mean it isn't someone watching...

Her gaze turns to Quinn as the connection breaks. Who does it move to? A hand phone via JC. Ah. Yes. So then what is being said? Did JC hear more than she had? Likely, given the urgency. She knows better than to intervene before it is time to move. Wait and watch. See what happens.

Her gaze settles on Dirt Nap for a moment who occasionally seems to be looking at her. What? You looking for someone to teach you Auspex again? Good luck, buddy. Or is he waiting for someone to make a move? Expect to betray maybe? She keeps quiet, her gaze returning to her Priscus for direction.

[JC Smith]

Quinn felt as if she were being assaulted by several people at once.

At first there was only one voice. How do you feel about her?

However, half a dozen screamed at her afterwards.

A spider mentally crawled along her arm. She’s an invader. A liar. Can’t hear what she’s saying. Cant trust her thoughts. And no, you could definitely trust its.

A dark eyed man manifested next to the Mehket. Black pupils somehow burning red as they looked at her. Enemy. Invader. (Quinn could feel an even blacker figure standing behind the dark-eyed man, and she knew it to be the beast) He should kill her. The invader, the whisperer. The bitch!

It all came within a half a second before there was a sudden respite. She could still feel the spider and the dark-eyed man glancing at her but they were talking to something else for another half a second. Glancing all the time.

The spider crawled back onto her chest before shifting to be hanging in front of her in a way that didn’t obstruct her view.

We may have enemies surrounding us, it said. Images flashed through her mind. They showed the black woman walking a zigzag pattern but not using a flash light. Showed the animal print scarf. The fact that her pack pack was light despite the homeless tending to pack things to the brim. And of course, the sounds a few feet from the Mekhet and the furred face appearing from the brush. All of which carried with it a panic.

They hadn’t heard from the coroner team and it was very close when they should have reported in. This sudden burst of activity around his haven was not entirely abnormal but given the timing… the spider feared the worst. An ambush turned against the ambushers.

A man with a notepad appeared briefly to point out this was the perfect time to gain information before the spider jabbed Quinn with the implications that this might mean they had a leak.

The Note Taker whispered in her ear They needed to know now if the furred face or the woman were Kindred. Quickly. Before the Spider or the Dark-Eyed Man decided to act.

All of this flooded Quinn’s mind over the course of about three seconds. A wave of anxiety and mental activity with hardly enough time for words.

In the real world, JC met her eyes steadily, barely showing the turmoil within his mind. Wanting to make sure she understood what he was thinking.

Quinn felt a hand on her shoulder. A woman stood behind her, standing next to a spinning wheel. Letting her know that everything was okay.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

Jennifer crouches where she is as she watches the Black woman move. She turns her head towards the bridge for a moment. She looks to Dirt Nap and indicates the bridge with a slow extension of her hand, pointing at the bridge. She then cups her ear, signalling that she heard something. The Nosferatu decides that the animal is a lesser threat than the woman with the flash light. She has a flash light, even if she is not using it. The Lady takes a moment to give a quick glance to the others, determining if there was going to be a problem.

JC held up his hand, he is aware of something. Lady Hazelton notes the gesture to Priscus Durant with some curiosity, looking to Priscus Durant next. She seemed alert, yet no signal of what she had seen. Maeve is given a glance with greater scrutiny. Of every one here, Maeve is the least known or understood.
She was still... looking to her Priscus... then to Dirt Nap. The Lady Notary made a note to explore that later.
Jennifer turns her hips and body to align horizontally to the woman. Once she is aligned so that her head is in the direction of the unknown woman, Jennifer flattens herself flat to the ground. She focuses her senses to be aware of the woman and any other activity near her. The woman could be a distraction.

Jennifer prepared to strum her Blood for her Gift, if necessary.

[Seryna]

The woman moves closer in her slow and careful tread. The woman becomes visible to all of the Kindred now as she walks back and forth in a wide zigzag pattern. She pauses and prods the ground with her grabber pole. She pauses and picks up a discarded aluminim can. The woman resumes her slow zigzag, steering a little off towards the west. Another aluminum can is grabbed up and placed into a bag on her back. The woman flicks her flashlight on and studies the ground for a moment. A candy wrapper is caught by the grabber and placed into the light, appearing nearly empty bag at her waist. The woman wearing the animal print head scarf resumes walking towards the group in her slow and steady pace. She would likely reach the area where the Kindred gather in about 3 minutes.

Please give me a perception roll in order to track the soft footfalls or to pay attention to the small creature, or to be aware of other threats. Perception results
1 SUXX - You are able to track the woman's prgress to anticipate where the zigzag pattern might intercept the gathered Kindred.
2 SUXX - You are able to hear the small sounds of classic rock and roll drifting out from the woman. She has some kind of music player on her, but from her alert way of evaluating the area around her, she is not made less aware by listening to music.
3+ SUXX - You are able to notice the pudgy, well fed racoon waddle its way slowly and carefully away from the group of Kindred. It angles itself towards the homeless encampment, where it will likely pass by the woman, possibly unseen. The racoon is likely attracted to unattended food or trash that may be about the homeless encampment. Glancing about reveals it is closing on an hour since the group first met up together. Will this mean less chance of detection in the early morning as people sleep deeper? Or will those with a long ways to travel in the encampment awaken to begin their travels?
JC likely has some idea of the habits of how often people wander this way.

[Dirt Nap]

Dirt Nap goes still. He notices Lady Hazelton indicating the direction of the approaching woman. He notices Maeve...looking irritated at him, or smug; hard to tell the difference, but either way not a concern of his. He notices Quinn and J.C. seeming to have some kind of moment or another. Again, not a concern of his, at least for now.

The approaching woman is not a logical fit for a regular human, moving in the dark, with music in her ears, but alert and unafraid.

Dirt Nap watches her. He decides the main thing to do right now, is not to get in the way of what someone else is bound to do, and make a worse mess of it than they might on their own.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-11 12:47:50	Dirt Nap rolls 5 to perception (Wits 2 +Composure 3) (10 Again)	1, 8, 7, 7, 9	2 successes

Still. There's no call to leave the first thing to chance.

He decides to act. "Howdy." Dirt Nap says, waving slowly and casually to the oncoming woman, attempting to draw her attention to himself. "Nice night for it." He suggests, softly.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn didn't have time to recoil and re-adjust from JC's mind, her lips parted slightly and she sucked in air taking the mental shanking as best she could. She thought back to J.C.

Telepathy

"Be prepared to back up Dirt Nap but let him work this his own way. Get down. I will read the fuzzy critter first as Dirt Nap, has the lady right now."

Quinn turned that power on Maeve next.

Telepathy

"I'm gunna use Auspex to read the woman coming up that Dirt Nap is trying to distract, and the creature over the overpass. Get down low, and prepare yourself to move fast after that creature if its the damn thing we came here to get. Fuck! Oh..and J.C Smith is fucking batshit nuts. Just FYI Cuz, watch your back.

Quinn looked to her Ladyship, the concern on her face was plain. She made moving down motion with her hand, and a stop gesture....to indicate what she hoped her Ladyship would understand to be stay low and hold your position. She touched her temple and make a little questioning gesture with her head, and look nodded her head to Dirt Nap talking with the woman. She spoke into the headset as quietly as possible and still hoping her Ladyship could hear. "Try to read the woman with far sight, I will go after the critter."

Perception Check 2 suxx on Creature

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-11 14:32:44	Quinn Durant rolls 5 to Perception Roll: Wits 3 + Composure 2 (10 Again)	2, 4, 10, 9, 6, 7	2 successes

Quinn took her own advice and got down, and began moving as stealthily as she could towards the sounds of the critter, and where J.C had seen it in his mind to read it with Auspex to ensure it ain't anything they were looking out for.

Shadowing Roll

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-11 14:41:16	Quinn Durant rolls 6 to Shadowing Roll: Wits 3 + Stealth 3 (10 Again)	4, 1, 3, 4, 9, 9	2 successes

Once Quinn gets up close enough to see it and read it with Auspex she does so.

Auspex Roll on Critter, if she can get to it in time

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-11 14:44:06	Quinn Durant rolls 9 to Aura Reading- Intelligence 3+ Empathy 2 + Auspex 4 – subject’s Composure 3 (10 Again)	3, 8, 10, 5, 4, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3	2 successes

[Maeve]

Perception 3 Successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-11 17:52:06	Maeve rolls 6 to Perception Wits + Composure (10 Again)	3, 10, 10, 3, 9, 4, 3, 3	3 successes

Maeve nods to Quinn and gets a better look around the area, focusing harder. She doesn't have petty shit or secretly sensitive emotions to work through right now. Right now is work. Right now she is doing what she does best. Watching and waiting. A pudgy raccoon...? Is that...? That's not what we're looking for. Or is that some kind of sign I'm not aware of? Shit. Maybe I should have asked for more details...

Quinn? She searches to see if her Priscus is still connected to her. Not sure, she just says, It's a freaking raccoon. Are we looking for one of those?

Still, she does as her priscus says, she gets low and gets ready to run. She may not be the best runner, but she'll at least likely be faster than some of the others.

Stay low and stealth - 4 Successes

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-05-13 01:58:02	Maeve rolls 5 to Stay low and stealth (Dex + Stealth) (10 Again)	10, 4, 7, 1, 10, 10, 6, 9	4 successes

Dirt Nap talks to the woman and she continues to stay still in her shadow, molding with it as if she were part of it herself. Perhaps one day she'll be able to do so... but she has other abilities she needs to hone. For the good of the clan.