The Resurectionists: Grave of the Liar

[Seryna]

Over in the direction of the Millionaire’s Row, a handsome vampire turns his head towards the sound of the demolition. He studies the inky black, his eyes passing over where Connor, Jack and Milton stand. Will he come to see the deed done himself? The vampires scanning the grounds do not see the Mekhet's approach, nor any of the Haunt's cows approaching. The night is eerie. Silent. Yet the demolition shatters this.
Somewhere over on Connor’s left, a shadow seems to move out of the corner of your eye. When you look again nothing is there. The handsome Holden walks another ten feet closer to the Grave of the Liar. He seems to be walking towards the sound, his eyes still scanning. Suddenly, he stops. Holden looks behind himself, at the way he had come. He cocks his head, listening. He appears to be feeling eyes on him, searching for an unseen watcher of his own. His body shudders silently and his handsome face is transfixed in silent horror.

The sound of metal on brick rings out, echoing off mausoleum doors and tombstones into the night. Somewhere far off a dog barks. There's just no subtle way to bring down a brick wall. The last of the brick baring your path thuds to the ground, affording you access into the Liar’s tomb. He has been waiting here for decades. Shall you enter?
Inside, the air is clogged with brick dust. The round gothic windows are just spots of purple moonlight in the walls. They throw huge, X-shaped shadows onto the floor, but offer almost no light.
Even still, you can see that there is no body here. No coffin. Instead, the walls are lined with a half-dozen metal urns. The ceiling is painted midnight blue and studded with glass stars. The floor is made up of huge squares of dark slate… and a black metal trapdoor held to the floor with a studded iron padlock the size of your hand. This is no doubt where the key comes into play. Where is the Mekhet with that key?

How do you enter the building? How do you walk across the floor?

[Milton]

The wall comes down, no thanks to Milton. He's fine with that. Menial labor is not something he measures his worth by.

Now that the entry is exposed, the Lord is seized by a sudden need for caution. After all, he's seen this movie before. Earlier tonight in the Urn Garden, in fact. He looks to Connor, the apprehension written on his face, and back through the doorway.

Caught between the need for care and the need for urgency, Milton lingers on the threshold, peering into the resting place of the Liar.

His gaze sweeps over the mausoleum's interior. It's not just a quick search, Milton's attention is highly focused. He's looking for any sign of ambush, of a trap, or any other irregularities within. He will not walk into another mess. Not tonight.

Wits + Investigation, 2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-12-03 07:38:32	Milton rolls 6 to Wits + Investigation (10 Again)	4, 10, 5, 9, 7, 7, 7	2 successes

Opted for an investigation roll here rather than straight perception as Milton is methodically examining the space for traces or indications of a trap or ambush. Let me know if this is not appropriate!

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn hurried back as quickly as she could. She was absolutely silent, as she passed Holden. Quinn's eyes narrowed dangerously for just a moment, and the urges she felt towards Holden's face was stayed by the fruitlessness of it. Lying, gutless, piece of shit. She mouthed silently as she passed him. Hurrying back to the only dead things in this fucking place she gave a shit about...

Quinn ducked behind a mausoleum to drop her cloak and approached the group again. Moving to Jack initially it appeared the shadow had nothing in her hands or anything extra on her person.

Until her hand moved to her left side of her her jeans, and began untying the strings on the leather satchel which now suddenly was visible. She handed the satchel to Jack, which he would find a key as large as his hand and a note that read 'Goeth, Rival Fear.'

"As you requested Seneschal," she said softly to Jack as she handed over the satchel. "We have a problem. The security car patrols Millionaire's row, heading in the direction of soldier's square. That eventually winds towards Arkwright Terrace, where Sigh Hill and Laurel Hill are more visible. We need to get inside this tomb, and try to maybe....stack some of this mess back up to look passable....or we are gunna have to neutralize the security when they inevitably catch us. They are using a spotlight..." She mentioned as she looked over the area.

[Connor OBrien]

Connor looks pleased with himself once the wall comes down, though not so much with the noise it made. He met Milton's gaze for a moment, and while he couldn't necessarily blame the Lord for his apprehension, the Haunt's beast was having its own party inside his mind. Cowardly wretch, perhaps he'd be more useful filling your stomach than he is walking around. These thoughts are pushed aside though, as Connor hears Quinn speak from behind him.

Still looking ahead, he speaks softly. "It's beyond my ability, but perhaps we can use our shared blood gift to hide the rubble. It would look less out of the ordinary than trying to brick ourselves in from the inside."

[Jacque]

Jack moves to the rest of the group as Quinn returned. He smiled as he received the satchel, "Impeccable timing," he remarked as he looked over the key.

He considered their surroundings for a moment as she alerted them of the risk.

This wide plateau is like a dumping ground, as if some mortuary god shook out a box of old obelisks and headstones into the dirt.

"Remember that the bricked up entrance was the anomaly here. Unhinged as they may be, we can still probably use the metal shutters to obscure the view from the road so far away. I can't imagine they'd invest a lot of time coming out this way considering vagrants are comfortable setting up fires and sleeping here." He nodded to Connor, "I agree. Hiding any rubble that looks recently created is the best plan for prudence."

"Let's see what we're dealing with here," sight still heightened, he slowly makes his way inside and to the padlock.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-12-04 11:21:02	Jacque rolls 7 to perception check (Wit+Composure+HS) (10 Again)	5, 1, 4, 3, 1, 8, 4	1 success

Assuming there's no booby traps, Jack is going to attempt to unlock the padlock so the group can lift the trap door.

[Seryna]

Milton visually studies the dark interior, wisely staying outside. There do not appear to be signs of a lair- there are no bloody remnants of past meals. The floor is dusty, yet not tracked with mud or debris that one would bring in from outside. Dust motes are now disturbed, floating about as the brick dust settles to the ground.
The room appears empty, save for the metal urns. The trapdoor with it's padlock. Studying the floor does not reveal any markings or sigils, any sign that one section of the floor differs from any other sections.
There is almost no light, and things are very dark. This will likely aid in avoiding Holden and others.

As Quinn passed Holden, she feels... something. She does not think it is emanating from the Invictus Soldier. His expression is one of horrible horror, as though seeing waves of fire approaching. Or a hunter's stake descending. Yet Quinn sees no such external stimuli. The soldier is frozen, unmoving. Quinn's sense that some power is being utilized as something flutters against her senses. A small wisp of horror, the scent of smoke. As an acute Auspex user, she might be sensitive to things others might not notice. Quinn passed without incident.

As she dropped the Cloak in hiding, if she checks the air, she smelled nothing on the air but damp and brick dust.

The padlock is custom made. Jack imagines some ghoul or kindred took special care to create something to confound any lockpick. It's weighty, and made from the best materials. The key fits into the lock and with a small amount of finagling - it has been waiting for decades- the key turns.

The lock clicked open.

The trapdoor itself shows the same care as the lock. It was made of some metal sheet and a few cross braces of metal for support. One would grip the circle pull at the center of one cross brace and lift up.
It's fairly sizable square trapdoor- the width of an average interior door.

How do you walk across the floor?

Is Jack walking in a direct line from the newly opened entrance to the padlock?

Anyone entering the building, describe how you move and where you move to.
If you look towards the windy road ( out of sight from this angle, yet lights would be seen if someone is utilizing the path with a light), inform me

[Milton]

The space appears undisturbed. Nothing seems to be out of place. For some reason, this heightens Milton's anxiety.

Discussion of another patrol brings the moment of indecision to a head. They must hide this rubble and move inside.

He focuses for a moment on a small pile of bricks and does his best to call on the shadows.

Obfuscate 1, 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-12-04 20:20:24	Milton rolls 4 to Wits 3 +Larceny 2 + Obfuscate 1 - 2 (10 Again)	8, 2, 7, 1	1 success

And now it's his turn to be slightly annoyed as Jacque brushes by him and into the Mausoleum. Milton had acted rashly once tonight and nearly paid the price. Now the Seneschal is following suit. Not very auspicious.

Oh well, it must be done, Milton. Get on with it.

A glance to Quinn, and then he follows his fellow Lord within.

Fastidious individual that he is, Milton seems to keep to the path of the X made by the windows' shadow across the floor, stopping right at the intersection of the two lines. If you asked him why he did so, he couldn't tell you.

While Jacque unlocks the door, he examines the urns, not yet approaching them. Still feeling apprehensive.

Perception, failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-12-04 20:24:58	Milton rolls 6 to Wits + Composure (10 Again)	5, 7, 6, 6, 2, 5	failure

However, nothing stands out to his regard.

[Quinn Durant]

Quinn moved inside with the others as it was time, happy that their demolition mess was covered. Quinn found it promising that Milton was adept enough at the principal level of Obfuscate to get the job done. She wondered how well he would take to Auspex. A fleeting thought for right now.

Quinn cleared her throat slightly as she moved into the mausoleum, and over to the trap door. She moved directly to it, kneeling down to get a better look, her nimble fingers producing the four glow sticks she had activated in Sigh Hill. Her arm stretched out over the trap door in the floor with the soft blue glow of the sticks. She wasn't sure what she was looking for exactly. Just checking things out. Curiosity was strong with the Mehket.

Her gaze moved up to Jack and Milton, and back to include Connor. "When I was coming up here from Sigh Hill, I passed Mr. Holden and he was frozen in terror. Some kind of power is working on him and showing him something horrifying. I got the sensation of smelling smoke as I passed him. Which would most likely mean he is seeing a conflagration of some sort. As if this place couldn't get more creepy."

[Connor OBrien]

Connor smirks to himself at Quinn's words about Holden. He couldn't be sure without seeing it, but it sounded like one of the powers he was blessed with through his own embrace. Those thoughts can wait, however, as the night is growing old and they still have work to do. Slowly, he makes his way along the left side of the mausoleum toward the trap door. If he reaches it, he simply crouches out of the way and waits for it to be opened fully.

[Jacque]

They had made it this far in, and the pick resistant lock was no match for the appropriate key. He imagined if there had been any traps, they would have deployed before anyone would have the opportunity to expose the torpored vampire they'd protect. Jacque stowed the padlock and key into his duffel, then reached for the circle pull at the center to lift open the door. He looks to the others in the mausoleum, "Let's move the cover quietly." Not wanting to grind the metal across the floor.

If this is more than a mundane action, just let me know what I need to roll.