Forten's Illusion: Lottie to Talk About

[Conner Wells]

Conner's Haven is being prepared for a guest.

But this time preparation is beyond convenience, it's crucial. Lancea books and journals are packed into boxes and stored in a closet just neat enough to suggest the boxes were left unpacked from a move months ago. The fridge is stocked with fresh food items and drinks to suggest a recent grocery trip, with some wine for good measure. And Conner's signature weapon is stored and concealed with shadow arts to prevent any but the keenest eyes from detecting it.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-12-16 20:05:43	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Touch of Shadow: Broadsword (Wits + Larceny + Obfuscate - Size) (10 Again)	1, 4, 8, 8, 1, 9	3 successes

Finally, he's Blushed with color stolen from a man's blood acquired earlier in the evening. Just enough for him to look presentable up close. For tonight, he's not meeting with a fellow Kindred...

He's invited Lottie. The woman he met in front of Forten's garage. Turns out leaving her his number paid off. While Conner's not entirely sure whether Lottie is fully human, he has to be prepared for anything. Maintaining the Masquerade; fishing for information about a possible connection to Forten; and possibly charming a lovely young woman with an evening of occult discussion.

It's going to be a full night.
Seryna

[Seryna]

At precisely the agreed upon time, there is a rap on the door. On the doorstep stands Lottie, looking slightly anxious. Lottie is Black, dressed in business casual. A grey pantsuit with a white blouse. Her brown hair is braided elaborately and she wears a silk scarf in a grey floral pattern over her forehead.

[Conner Wells]

The knock on the door is quick and precise. Conner takes a quick moment to bend his stolen blood to enhance his vision. He wants to know how his source/prey/possible ally is feeling…

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-12-19 18:16:22	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Aura Perception (Int + Empathy + Auspex - Unknown Resistance) (10 Again)	10, 6, 1, 6, 2, 6, 7	1 success

The door opens. Conner’s smile is welcoming and he’s dressed in khakis and a blue button-up. “Hello, Lottie. Thanks for coming over. I can take your coat if you like…”

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-12-19 18:19:33	Conner Wells rolls 3 to Reassure Lottie (Pres + Socialize) (10 Again)	2, 10, 1, 10, 8	3 successes

Ever the gentlebeast, Conner steps aside to allow Lottie to enter and get her bearings. If she offers her coat, Conner will take it and hang it in the coat closet (the only place not trusted to store sensitive material). Otherwise, he waves her into the modest apartment gauging her aura all the while to ensure that she’s comfortable…pliable…

Off guard

[Seryna]

Lottie steps into the apartment and offers up a black wool coat and a professional black leather briefcase at Conner's offer. At closer look, Conner can see that Lottie possesses broad, strong shoulders. Lottie is physically fit. Lottie is dressed professionally, one would expect that she would fit right in at a court room. Conner would note that she wears practical business flats, not heels.
Lottie's aura is a mixture of quick colors. So far, this meshes with the emotions of a mortal. The prominent color that Conner detects is violet.

"Hello. Thank you for inviting me over, Conner." She states, looking for a place to sit as she walks over to a sitting area and looks for a chair.
"I thought we had some similiar interests that we touched on the other night. Although I don't know about the situation you were talking about. I take an Occult Studies class over at the college." A friendly smile. "It piques my interest. I'd take more, yet I don't have time around my job."

[Conner Wells]

Excitement.

Conner takes Lottie in as she enters. The broad shoulders. The confident attire and bearing. The anticipation of the unknown thrumming around her like a violet rainfall. He invites Lottie to the dining room table and sits to the side of her, making sure he's just close enough to observe any changes in the radiant emotional aura around her. "Of course. Work's been crazy lately, and I've been needing some positive human interaction to avoid going insane."

He nods, remembering that initially tense meeting outside the parking garage. "Yes, lots of strange things happening recently." Then she mentions 'Occult Studies' and his interest is definitely peaked. "Really? So are you a 'believer' or is this more of a scientific curiosity?" The fascination for the supernatural is palpable in Conner. "And who's the teacher? I don't know too many people who actively teach Occult Studies, but I've been around to know a few." ​Most of them charlatans, and those who weren't were monsters.

[Seryna]

Lottie accepts the seat in the dining table. She discretly glances around the room. Her brown eyes focus on Conner. "What do you do for a living?" She inquires politely.
"I believe that there are things beyond our understanding of what can be proven. Proven with science, rather. There are all kinds of beliefs surrrounding the occult. The teacher is a man named Professor Gamboa." She informs.

"You mentioned this strange happening. Tell me more." She leans forward slightly, her body language suggesting that she is interested.

Does Conner attempt to continue to scrutinize her with Auspex during the conversation?

[Conner Wells]

Questions. Questions. Questions.

But not questions he wasn't prepared for. "I'm a TA at a community college in town. Social studies, religion, philosophy; anything that stimulates the mind for me." Something Rowan had impressed upon him early in his undead career was the importance of a mundane identity. Humans are questioning creatures, and questions seemingly innocent and benign can be dangerous if they don't have an answer. "Gamboa?" Was that a name he was familiar with? It could be innocent enough...

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-12-31 19:50:29	Conner Wells rolls 3 to Is Gamboa Familiar? (Int + Streetwise) (10 Again)	6, 10, 7, 6	1 success

"I agree. I believe it's been said that science is what we can explain and magic is what we can't. I think we can both agree that there's more that can't be explained." More than this woman will ever know. If she's lucky. Or maybe she's like Conner himself and can't resist the pull of knowledge regardless of what lies at the end of the rainbow.
And now comes the trickier question: how to try and grill Lottie about Forten without breaching the Masquerade. Conner takes a moment to consider his words. "Sacramento's a big city, so there's no shortage of crime. There was a string of murders I'd heard of in the papers: bodies just left on the ground as if attacked by something inhuman. Being curious..." He shrugs with a rueful grin. "...a bit of a fatal flaw of mine." True. "I started asking questions of people in and around the murder sites. While nobody knew anything concrete, there was a name that kept coming up: 'Forten'. Mentioned almost in passing, like he wasn't a victim or a possible perpetrator but was just hovering around the sidelines of it all." His story woven, Conner focuses back in on Lottie to see if her aura would give away anything hidden behind that respectable physique.

[Seryna]

Conner is unaware of any information on a Professor Gamboa.

"I am unsure of your beliefs on the matter of what cannot be explained. What do you think of these murders? Something inhuman? Such as disrupting an ancient Indian Bural ground and invoking a curse, or...?" She trails off.
As Conner watches Lottie, splotches of dark blue begin to become the prominent color in Lottie's aura. Lottie cocks her head and stares at Conner in a moment. Quiet. Noticing him staring at her.

[Conner Wells]

Straight to the point. Too straight to the point...

Clearly Lottie's not so doe-eyed about the supernatural that she doesn't notice a rabbit trail. Conner would be impressed if he wasn't so focused on the hunt. "Monstrous, or something approaching it. I think those murders are the work of someone trying to hide behind a monster or use it for some dark purpose. I've considered cryptids: creatures just on the brink of the supernatural like the Chupacabra..." He shrugs a bit. "Though we're not too close to where it's been historically seen." Come to think of it, the possibility does strike Conner as not entirely far-fetched assuming other monsters fed on blood like Kindred. "But normally with animalistic monsters there's some kind of trail or additional carnage. This seems more deliberate; intelligent."

Lottie's aura changes color and Conner knows he'll have to act fast to avoid losing her...

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2023-01-02 22:13:20	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Alleviate Lottie's Suspicions (Manip + Subterfuge + Speciality: Misdirection) (10 Again)	4, 6, 1, 9, 10, 10, 4, 10, 4	4 successes

He pulls a bit of stolen blood to his cheeks and looks down, away from Lottie's questing gaze. "Sorry. I...I'll admit I had a bit of an ulterior motive for wanting to have this conversation in private." Which was true...after a fashion. "I'm not used to finding women in my...field of interest who are quite as beautiful as you. Most people who are fascinated with the occult and weird tend to be a lot more scarred up or grimy. But not you." He turns his eyes up so that they meet Lottie's with a sparkling enthusiasm and curiosity. It's true: Lottie doesn't look like your typical spell book-chaser or monster hunter. She looks strong; comfortable. She's either new, not too deep, or she's got help. Like Maschio.

[Seryna]

Brown eyes widen slightly.
"A Cryptid?" She repeats. "Is this like a Chupacabra from the Spanish 'goat sucker'? The one that is said to remove blood from farm animals?" A slight pause. "Grown people are certainly not cows."
She observes, the words slowly formed. As though she is thinking about the topic.
"Forten." Lottie states slowly.
"What have you found out about this Forten person? He is not a victim." Lottie clarifies.

A slow blinking of the eyes as she stares at Conner. She does not look away from Conner's gaze.
"Most men I know of in my class want no nonsense relationships born of a shared love of XFiles as kids." She replies. "Yet I am not a twenty year old college student. An educated lawyer tends to make some hesitate."
A slight pause.
"You are a TA? Are you at Sacramento City College or American River college?" She asked, her tone polite and interested.