PrP-BaF: CSI Sacramento

[Helen Kingsley]

Helen looks up and spots the ladder that's hanging above their heads, nodding partly to confirm she's onto the thing, as another realization crosses her mind. Son of a bitch !

"Don't nail me down to chapter and verse, that stuff on the wall there sounds a lot like some part of the Malediction, I think. Which means we have a big fucking problem, no matter what we find upstairs."

Perhaps they'll be able to dig it out later, if Connoer adheres to some of the stereotypes of his profession ? Now, can she get to that ladder ? Good question ! She fixates that ladder again. Looks good enough. She pulls off the poncho, gives it a few swings like a skipping rope and ties it around her waist. She also gets rid of the gloves, puts them in some pocket and wipes her hands on her jeans.

"Maybe, maybe not. Guess there's only one way to find out for sure ! You may want to take a few steps back there."

She shakes out her knees and rolls the shoulders, eyes still on the ladder above. She's going to have to give it her best shot, not only to get up quick enough, but also to minimize the risks if she stays in that alley for too long... Helen rubs her hands, cracks the knuckles and takes a few steps back, getting ready. Still looking at the target, she gets into position, wills the blood to do its work, exhales and propels herself upwards towards the end of the ladder.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-08 08:38:11	Helen Kingsley rolls 7 to Jump to roof access ladder (Str+Athletics+Vigor+WP) (10 Again, WillPower)	9, 5, 3, 6, 5, 5, 6	1 success

Helen's not exactly Air Jordan, but even with fractions of an inch making it a pretty close call, it is just enough to catch on to that last bit of the ladder's end.

"Hah !"

As soon as she feels the metal in her hands, she pulls herself up and starts climbing. Once she's in position, she drops the ladder for Conner and races upwards towards the roof, confident Conner will be able to catch up.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-08 09:35:59	Helen Kingsley rolls 6 to Get to that roof quickly ! (Stamina+Athletics) (10 Again)	5, 7, 6, 7, 9, 6	1 success

[Drakken]

Helen reaches the roof quickly, her head popping over the edge; she sees...

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-09 12:51:43	Drakken rolls 8 to Something (10 Again)	3, 8, 5, 3, 5, 5, 9, 9	3 successes

Nothing. There was no sound after the initial scrambling that alerted the two of you of the potential interloper. There was simply nothing.

The roof of the bar is a flat surface, covered in gravel. Some duct work runs along the roof, ending in an exterior heating and cooling unit.

[Conner Wells]

Conner bites his tongue, swallows his pride, and surges up the ladder provided by Helen.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-12 00:31:48	Conner Wells rolls 3 to Climb with Haste (Stamina + Athletics) (10 Again)	3, 4, 10, 10, 5	2 successes

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-12 00:32:59	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Survey the Rooftop (Wits + Composure) (10 Again)	10, 3, 5, 5, 7, 3, 10, 4	2 successes

Conner grimaces; he's certain they were being watched. "I think we can safely say that this bar is being staked out. Given the number of regulars, it probably makes sense." He nods in thanks to Helen. "Thanks for the lift, by the way. Let's take a look inside, see if the locals are a bit less skittish?" Conner begins climbing back down the access ladder and will start making his way indoors, unless Helen stops him.

[Helen Kingsley]

"You'd think the blood on the wall might kill some of that business if some regular finds it, though." She shrugs as Conner brings up the ladder. "Don't mention it. Before we get down, we might want to check if whoever brought us up here is still around. Suppose we're dealing with really good concealment, you think you could sniff 'em out of that ?"

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-12 13:37:55	Helen Kingsley rolls 5 to Is our audience still on that roof ? (Wits + Composure) (10 Again)	2, 2, 8, 8, 3	2 successes

Helen looks over the gravel surface on the roof, trying to discern whether there are traces that might allow her to gauge whether whoever got onto the roof is still there or not. Slowly, she starts walking towards the Heating and Cooling unit. Pausing every few steps looking for things that strike her as unusual in the light of her lamp, and, almost more importantly, listening for movement on the gravel that doesn't come from the two of them. Admittedly, the HCU is obvious cover, but even with obfuscation, standing in the open until an opportunity to leave presents itself ? That'd take some serious guts...

You still around, you sneaky bastard ?

[Connor OBrien]

Helen doesn't notice anything as she slowly makes her way toward the HCU, but as she gets right up next to it the sound of gravel shuffling fills the air. Running. As the noise calls attention to the location of the interloper, his cloak fails and Helen and Conner see him just as he throws himself off the edge of the roof.

The interloper is an average sized man, roughly Five foot Ten inches, dark hair, and wearing ratty clothes.

Feel free to make any Wits+Composure or Wits+Investigation rolls to try and get any additional information about the interloper before he falls out of sight.

[Conner Wells]

Conner stops just before the ladder. His haste had mainly been from his bruised ego at failing the first jump, but he now sees the prudence in Helen's words. "A good thought. Though I wonder if we're dealing with..."

Then the disturbance of gravel...the failed warping of perception. Conner burns the details of this interloper into his mind; branding it with all the nuances of height, appearance, and demeanor that he can.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-16 00:01:49	Conner Wells rolls 7 to Observe Interloper in Detail (Wits + Investigation) (10 Again)	2, 9, 1, 4, 10, 2, 8, 10, 6	4 successes

For a moment there's a flicker of concern as the man throws himself off the roof. What? Worse comes to worse he'll just twist some broken bones back into place later. Conner runs to the side of the roof to possibly catch a glimpse of the stranger's path. Maybe this would-be cultist had a Haven he was running to?

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-16 00:07:23	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Track Interloper from Roof (Wits + Composure) (10 Again)	2, 1, 1, 9, 6, 2	1 success

[Helen Kingsley]

Helen's still listening for some sign of their mark, as there is something disturning the gravel... There ! At first, she can only start moving towards the rough direction of the sound, but as she and Conner focus on the source, a sort of blur begins to dissipate and they can see their guy (and no surprise there, it really is a guy). She switches from the walk into a trot into a run, even though the guy is already at the ledge and shows few signs of stopping.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-16 10:41:32	Helen Kingsley rolls 5 to Spot stuff on Interloper (Wits + Comp) (10 Again)	4, 5, 6, 9, 8	2 successes

"Freeze, you son of a-"

Aaaaand he's gone. She stands by her words, that guy's got guts. Either way, she can also think of a good way to follow that man's path... Thus, without much conscious thought or hesitation, she follows him straight over the ledge onto the way down.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-16 11:50:15	Helen Kingsley rolls 4 to Splat ? (Landing on the ground, Dex+Athletics) (10 Again)	3, 4, 3, 4	failure

Helen does start to take some precautions, but despite that, she can already tell that this landing's going to suck and braces for impact as well as the short drop allows. Way too soon, the pain jolts through her legs as she hits the ground and more parts of her kiss the tarmac as she tries to roll off and get back on her feet. No surprise there, it fucking hurts.

[Drakken]

The man immediately rolls once he contacts the ground and come out of the roll running. He runs east toward the street and takes a right.

6 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-17 23:26:18	Drakken rolls 8 to Something (10 Again)	10, 10, 10, 5, 3, 5, 7, 10, 2, 10, 4, 1, 9	6 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-17 23:31:30	Drakken rolls 8 to Something (10 Again)	1, 2, 7, 4, 7, 8, 7, 7	1 success

Helen hits the ground hard, and despite her attempt to stay on her feet the interloper manages to get a sizeable head start on her.

Helen

The man stands roughly 5'10. He has long, dark hair that looks like it hasn't been washed in days. He wears navy blue pants, no shoes, and a long, baby blue, open-backed gown.

Conner

The man stands roughly 5'10. He has long, dark hair that looks like it hasn't been washed in days. He wears navy blue pants, no shoes, and a long, baby blue, open-backed gown. You see the grip of what you assume to be a pistol sticking out from the waist of his pants. He hits the ground and rolls back up onto his feet, already running. The Kindred runs out of the alley to the street and takes a right, disappearing from your sight.

[Conner Wells]

Conner makes a detailed mental note of their potential suspect. Or observer. Though running does connotate some measure of guilt. Cowardice didn't always manifest caution amongst monsters.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-17 23:45:27	Conner Wells rolls 3 to Descend with Caution (Dex + Athletics) (10 Again)	6, 4, 4	failure

Conner is forced to take his time descending to meet Helen on the ground, and even then he finds the descent far less graceful. But he's learned his lesson on sparing his Vitae. "You alright?" He checks on Helen to make sure she isn't too badly winded by the fall. "Nice job rooting him out of hiding. I got a real detailed look at him, so ID'ing him visually won't be a problem. Provided he's visible, of course." That said, perhaps his olfactory senses could benefit from his keen mind?

He tries to peruse his knowledge of the city. He's not been in this district much, but something about the man's dress made him think maybe he frequents a nearby hospital.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-11-17 23:53:20	Conner Wells rolls 3 to Discern Possible Perp's Directions (Int + Streetwise) (10 Again)	2, 3, 9	1 success

After ensuring Helen's okay, Conner puts both hands in his coat pockets. He's somewhat eager that they avoided a confrontation so far. "So, to recap: we have the kill location, and a likely perpetrator or at least a witness. I'd say that gives us enough to start with. Perhaps we can rendezvous with the rest of the group and comb the bar together? I'd prefer to get what information we can here, if we have the time." Conner doesn't think there's been more than a few hours spent so far, so there was still moonlight to aid them. "Besides, I'm not so sure our compatriots would find the Babylon...pleasant." There's a smug smile on the Shadow. He could afford to be snarky here, away from the niceties of Elysium.

[Helen Kingsley]

By the time Conner has reached the ground and made it to the other side of the building, Helen is just coming back from the street's direction.

"Yeah, no thing, I've had stubbed toes worse than this." Its really the embarrassment that stings the most, but luckily, there were not too many people present. She grins as Conner compliments her rooting that guy out. "Gotta trust that gut feeling, is all. He's a fast one though, also I guess he knows the area better, I lost him pretty quick. Problem's that goes both ways. He knows we're on this and he knows we're onto him now. So we should be careful about bringing the rest out here, they're our Ace in the hole, because nobody out here knows yet they belong with us, too."

"Dunno if that's out perpetrator, though. That stuff on the wall smelled pretty fresh and that guy was sorta, dunno, too clean for that. Point taken, I can think of someone who might look a little too upscale for a place like that. Question is if our guy goies into that joint, looking at his evening dress... Some hospital, ER or mental ward might be able to help us, or the folks who would have normally lived down the street who've been... relocated. No matter what, though, we should try finding the guy, I'd like to have a chat with him. But perhaps he did stir up trouble in the past or someone knows him."

An idea strikes her.

"You wouldn't happen to know someone who could make a picture out of a good description of that guy, would ya ?"