Meeting with the Reeve
46394
THREADID
19
POSTS
1 - 10
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Eddie arrives at the designated time and place. He's wearing faded black jeans, combat boots, and Pearl Jam t-shirt that looks like it might be from the original grunge era by the condition it's in. He's a thin haunt, bald with bulging eyes and a prominent hooked nose. There is a perverse, corrupt aura surrounding him. Somehow, he feels thoroughly unwholesome.
He waits to be greeted or escorted or whatever the Sheriff has in mind for this meeting.
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At the designated time, the door opens. Helen stand in the fdoor and is looking over the latest addition to the fold for a bit without saying anything. She's wearing a dark green t-shirt, jeans and trainers, her hair is in a ponytail. Then, she's finished looking the guest up and down.
"You're Eddie." Not asking a question. Stating a fact. "Come in."
The inside of the Reeve's office has a dark wood decor. A small table and a number of chairs are in front of the desk, one wall holds what looks like a cross between a bulletin board and a whiteboard and somebody has plastered most walls with maps of Sacramento and the greater city area. Some of those maps have needles with heads in different colours sticking in them, some of those connected by coloured threads or pencil markings, some pinning pictures or photos to locations. On the desk are a phone, a neat small pile of exercise books as well as a typewriter, a rolodex and a tin coffee box with the butts of several pencils sticking out. There's also a picture frame that the visitor can only see the back of.
Helen sits down at the table in front of the desk and makes a gesture towards the other chairs.
"So, you're new to town and had you ack meeting as well, I guess.What can I do for you ?" A small pause, then, almost as an afterthoght. "Want a drink or not feeling like puking your guts out later ?"
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He steps into the office and takes a moment to soak in the surroundings before taking one of the offered chairs. "I've never been one to say no to a bad idea. Let's puke our guts out." He flashes one of his wretched, unwholesome grins.
"As for what you can do, well I am new here. I'm told you're the main Carthian in town, and a fellow Haunt, so I figured meeting up with you was a good idea. Hopefully you can give me the lay of the land, what the Movement's agenda is around town, and the Seneschal mentioned there might even be a few things going on around here where my talents might be useful. She didn't go into details there, but I figured the Reeve - do you like that term? Why do we Licks like such archaic terminology? Like we're in a bad knock off of Game of Thrones or something. Anyway, I figured the Sheriff or Reeve or whatever might have those details."
"And to answer your immediate question, I'm a sneak and a snoop. And pretty good behind a keyboard, if you catch my drift." He leans back a bit, waiting to hear her response.
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"First thing I've heard today that makes sense."
Helen gets a thermos bottle and a brown paper bag from her desk, along with two paper cups and gets to pouring the contents together. As soon as she's done, she pushes one of the cups over to Eddie.
"Yah, I'm the main Carthian in town. That's mainly because until a few weeks ago, I was also the only Carthian in town. There's another, Marilyn, but she hasn't been here that long yet either. So that makes three of us. Not a whole lot, but the most we've had since I've come to this town, really. We'll have a covenant meeting in September, any of you guys still around by then, you're invited. As for Reeve, it's apparently the term for it here. I also accept Sheriff, but the upper crust is fussy about words in some cases. Case in point, apparently Invictus domain is not a domain ruled by the guys bit a domain where the guys rule like everyone thinks they stereotypically might. I think that nitpicking is a little ridiculous, but it is what it is."
She frowns.
"Not sure I catch your drift, no."
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He lifts the offered cup. "Cheers!" And with that knocks back a good gulp.
"Three of us, huh? Hardly a revolutionary army, but three is better than two or one I suppose. And I know I just blew into town, but I have to agree with you 'bout nitpicking. Seems to me to be a distinction without much of a difference."
He shrugs before clarifying what he had said earlier. "I'm a hacker."
Another drink. "So what's the word around town here? Is Sacramento all quiet and peaceful? Or is there any action afoot?"
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"Revolutionary Army my ass." Helen scoffs. "That's how the last movements burned themselves out, or so I heard. When I came here two years ago, there was no-one left, just the suspicions and prejudices those guys left behind. Case in point, leadership in this city is pretty sensible, at least in my opinion, don't know what control groups you have for reference. Biggest con is, they have half their ass in our usual spot. So, we don't have to fight them tooth and claw, as long as we're not trying to burn the place down, they leave us alone. Or at least they did that with me and the other who's left in the meantime so far. Me, I don't see that many reasons for confrontation.
Meaning, the usual conflicts we have with the guys are pretty subdued here, the fun in this place is finding a way to be relevant and stay relevant, especially as there's few true mummies around. People of note are spread pretty thin. You already know Jennifer. Then there is Jack, the Ventrue Priscus and former Seneschal. There's me. Albert Baker, Mekhet priscus and Hierophant of the Crone. Marilyn, also Mekhet and the third of us in town right now. Conner Wells led the Lancea, but I haven't seen him in a while. Raul Dominguez, Ordo, ex-cop, pretty new in town too. We got some semi-regulars like Simone Perez, also Crone, Royce Waldorf and Anthony Hoyle and there#s also a gang of Nosferatu a little outside, but most of them stay where they live and don't come to court. And we got the Prince, who's Gangrel as you probably know.
So, counting the regulars, you'll see that covenants are pretty thinly spread, as is the domain fanger society as a whole. So there's little conflict between covenants because there's so fucking few of us there's not that much to sensibly fight over that can't be achieved by other means.
Word in town is that there#s always shit lurking. We're currently looking at something that might have to do with a Mage or something like that. We've had Brood in town some time ago and there were illegal immigrants stirring up trouble. So be prepared and watch your back at all times, you never know what shit will try to jump you in some alley."
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He chuckles as she scoffs and listens to her rundown of the town's history and personnel.
"Violent revolution ain't really my bag either. Though I have found the unspoken possibility of it can be a powerful motivator for change and reform. But anyway, my preference is work with through the system. I'm not dumb enough to think it will be Utopia just because some Carthians take the reins. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion, if I'm totally honest, things might work best when we have some competent, but open-minded Vicks in charge and us playing the role of loyal opposition, pushing for change and reform as needed. The two covenants and our ideals kinda synthesize into an almost functional form of government. Of course finding open minded and competent Vicks is almost as hard as finding a NBA center in Munchkin City."
"Haven't met the Prince yet, but the Seneschal seems alright to me. Not too snooty or inflexible. Seems like the sort you can talk to and maybe do business with, as long as you earn her respect. Is she the soft, approachable one and the Prince is the hard ass?" He asks as if he's seen that set up before. "And what can you tell me 'bout this Priscus Jack fella? Ventrue plus Invictus plus prominent position usually equals insufferable n my experience. Seneschal told me to make sure to bow to him when we meet." He rolls his eyes and makes a vulgar motion.
"Mage huh? Haven't dealt much with them, but from what I know their tricky fucks. Almost limitless bag of tricks from what I hear. What did this one do?" He scowls at the mention of the Brood, but looks glad when he hears they are in the relatively distant past.
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"Question is how open-minded they have to be without falling short in the competent department. One of the last cities before I came here kinda imploded because of stuff like that." She takes a sip from the cup. "Only funny if you're far away enough. But it doesn't look like this is going to be another repetition of that clusterfuck at least... Jennifer is okay. Bit annoying when the whole Invictus stuff bleeds through a little at times, but it's ignorable. I wouldn't call her a hardass, but she has some hard spots too, I guess. I've avoided getting to the receiving end so far. The Prince is Gangrel, that should tell you enough. Doesn't like blabber, doesn't like bullshit, doesn't like people not owning up to fucking up. I have no problems with her."
She frowns as she thinks.
"Jack used to be Seneschal until he passed the job to Jennifer to become Iudex in the Invictus after the last one left. He's a lawyer and has a background in biology as well. Let's just say, he's the smartest guy in the room a lot of the time. He was a pretty good boss and so far, I've no reason to complain. Treat him with respect and you're set."
Ah, yes the Mage...
"Started with using a familiar to kill folks some of us had fed from. Dunno, guess that thing was collecting some sort of stuff, I'm not too knmowledgable about that sort of thing. We captured the thingy and the vampire cleaning up after it and basically found the guy has some sort of operation running in town. Some time back, they even took some blood from a kindred some blocks from Elysium. So yeah, we've got to kick those fuckers' teeth in at some point. I can give you the report on that, if you want it." She looks at him questioningly, before continuing on. "So, you're born into the Movement or jumped ship to us at some point ? Also, what does the Movement mean to you and why are you on board ?"
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He starts with the last question first. "I was born into it. But I think I would've ended up here no matter who my daddy was. Not interested in religion, not interested in whatever the Ordo is up to, and I'm just too contrarian to always be bowin' and scrapin' to my supposed betters like the Vicks do."
He leans back a bit to consider the second part of her question. "That's a big question. I ain't a political science major. I can't say I have one grand vision for how Kindred society should be run, but I do think we didn't run out of good ideas in the 14th century. The Movement is 'bout progress. What worked five hundred years ago, hell even a hundred years ago, ain't necessarily what works now. Things can be changed. Should be changed."
"Now I'm OK with small, steady changes. Incrementalism I think some folks call it. Tends to be more stable than some big grand overhaul. And more easily undone if the changes don't work out the way we hoped."
"The other things, for me at least, freedom and merit. I can be me in the Movement. Do what I want, how I want for the most part. No one telling me how to dress, how to talk, how to fuckin' fart. Sure there are some obligations and civic duties and what not, but that always is the case. Part of bein' a citizen. Part of belongin' to a society, right?"
"And then there is merit. Age and who my daddy, and granddaddy where don't mean shit. I mean age has its advantages. Experience, sometimes wisdom, certainly some abilities when it comes to our kind. But how many old fuckers are half crazy? How many have no clue 'bout half the things in the modern world? Computers are one step removed from magic boxes to some of them. And how many are so far removed from what they once were that they're more like feral monsters than thinking, reasoning beings?"
"The Movement, you work hard, you achieve something, you're gonna get recognized. Not sayin' everyone has got an even playin' field cause that shit is Pollyanna land, but we got enough time that eventually everyone sinks or swims on their own merit. How 'bout you? What made you sign on the dotted line? What's your big hope as far as the Movement goes?"
"And yeah, I'd love to see the report. I'm not too much help when it comes to kickin' in teeth, but I got other skills that might come in handy, dependin' on how far along ya are."
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"Right." she agrees on his point with belonging to a society.
"I was born into the faith clubs and spent my formative years there. Turns out, those don't really appreciate people having some 'Come back to Jesus' moment, as literal or figurative as you want, and leaving what they take as orthodoxy behind. Anyways, I wasn't going back there, so that left either Invictus, the Movement or getting at things on my own. I already knew a group of Carthians from before and ran with those for a bit. Those little bastards sucked me in and the rest is history. The other over-under is pretty simple: As long as you're not playing Jehovah's witness and go proselytizing all around the bloc and as long as it doesn't fuck with the Movement's position, I don't care what you believe in or if you do at all."
She chuckles.
"I guess Management would have been a valid choice, I'd have gotten along. But I don't like some of their policies and I have been in something like that club long enough already, even if it would be easier in a lot of aspects. Still, as you said, Movement's about being yourself and merit. In this town things might be different, but the stereotypical Invictus ? You gotta be, what, 100 and have some title to be treated as an adult ? Ain't nobody got time for that. I mean, I get into fights with people for a living, if you want. Even if I wanted to become 200, let's be realistic, how probable is that ?"
Helen gets up and goes through the drawers in her desk for a bit. "Where the hell is that damn-, ah, there !" She tosses a manila envelope towards the table.
Envelope
"There you go. Any questions, let me know."
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Blush / Food consumption, 
