Haunting in Sacramento Ch 2: The Snake

[Otto Schneider]

Otto couldn't resist chiming in at Alicia's comments. "I think that's oversimplifying things. Eagles are only loosely associated with Abrahamic religion. Lions, lambs, and even snakes in the case of Moses, appear more often in scripture. Even then, they tend to be more symbolic than how pagan cults assigned sacred animals to specific gods." The small sense of smug satisfaction he felt was quickly washed away as he realized how it didn't quite keep 'in-character.' At least I kept myself from taking jabs at the Circle.

The Lord rapidly drummed his fingers in a display of nervous energy, only partly for show. "At least, I remembered reading something like that in a book the other week. Maybe I got a few details wrong." He didn't seem interested in jumping into the discussion about the tome, and while he was certainly tempted to keep speaking about the reliability of holy artifacts, the Priest thought better of it at that point.

"Yeah, I'm fine taking the lead. Though, if I'm struggling, feel free to chime in." He didn't really want to invite interference, but after nearly slipping into a theology lecture, he tried to lean away from what he was really thinking.

[Seryna]

Diane gave a slow nod.
"I would like to hear more about the symbology sometime. I am fascinated by that, although I have already taken all the course my university offers. And," Her eyes move towards the door as it opens. "- Mr. Robin Garter is here." She states in a low voice. "I will greet him. You said you wanted to try negotiation, Paul, so you can take lead on that."

Following her gaze reveals a an average sized man of about 5'10" who is lean. He is Black, his natural hair about two inches long. His hands are the most unusual thing about him, long and delicate with well manicured nails. He is dressed in a silk button down top and non descript pants and wears a hip bag. He approaches and runs his hands gently along the piano with reverence.

"Ms. Glass." He addresses Diane. His gaze moves to Alicia and Otto. "Friends of yours?"
"These lovely people have assisted me." Diane addresses the man. "Robin Garter." She states to Otto and Alicia.

"Good evening. May I join you?" He takes a seat at the table closer to Alicia.
"I imagine you are here to carry out the wish that I expressed to Ms. Glass."

[Alicia Silvers]

Looking inquisitively upon her compatriot, these matters not really aligning with her fields of knowledge.
"That is intriguing, mayhaps we can take some time to meet up and discuss such matters when no urgent matters such as this is upon us, it would be highly intriguing to hear more about the matter." Offering him a kind smile with a light chuckle. "Or at least look at the book together and discuss it." Then looking back to Diane, noting her words but opting to not comment upon them for now.

Eyes covertly darting over as Mr.Garter enters, eyes scanning him up for a moment until his approach.

Offering him an inviting smile as she slides in a bit to make room for him, grabbing her glass of wine to slide over towards him.
"It would be our delight, might I offer you a glass of wine?" Sliding over her glass, and cocking her head with a little wink towards him. "Unfortunately Paul here is the one who knows more about those matters than I, but I would say so yes. But once business is done perhaps you wouldn´t mind playing a song for me, with fingers that naturally long I imagine you must be quite a gifted piano player. I recall some famous pianist trying to strengthen and lengthen his only to end up paralyzing them. So ones that naturally grand must be exquisite." Softly raising her left hand to slowly move it towards his hand. "May I?" Looking up from his fingers to meet his eyes for but a mere moment before letting Paul take the reigns, a bit of interest and praise often being a good opener to get well nearly anyone in a good mood before negotiations.

[Otto Schneider]

Otto hadn't expected his short theology lesson to receive more than silence, though he managed to refrain from commenting further as the Client approached. Paul, not Otto. Don't overplay your hand. He reminded himself before fixing the pianist with a smile and reaching a hand across the table in greeting. "Mr. Garter, a pleasure! I'm Paul Williams, I became acquainted with Ms. Glass through mutual interests." After giving Garter the opportunity to accept the handshake and giving him a moment to address Alicia, the Priest tented his fingers.

"And from there she mentioned your... wish, as you put it. It caught my attention, and when she mentioned what you were offering in return," Otto conspiratorially glanced around the room before smiling a little wider. "I just knew I had to see it for myself." The Ventrue let the smile soften a bit. "We were talking about your terms right before you got here. We can make good on our end." He let the span of a few breathes pass before continuing. "But before we even get into that, we should go over some things. Like... exactly what it is you're offering and whether it's genuine." A small dose of venom slips into his voice as the some of Otto's inner thoughts leak out. "I have seen many supposedly saintly relics. Almost all of them were fakes."

He spread his hands out on the table and grinned, trying to bring some levity back into the discussion. "All I'm saying is, the price isn't bad, but it's not exactly cheap either. We just want to be sure that we're all on the same page, y'know?"

[Seryna]

"No, thank you." Mr. Garter replies with an elegant response to the offer of wine.

"Hm." Robin Garter makes a noncommittal response as he looks Alicia over for a moment. "Please do not touch me." The elegant man states firmly. He leans away from Alicia.
Dark brown eyes the color of rich, overturned earth look between Paul and Diane.
"I see. Nothing wrong with an outside consultant, Ms. Glass. Paul, I am pleased to speak with you."

A pleasant smile, although was there more to it?
"I am offering the Blessed rosary of Margaret the Virgin. I can understand skeptics. Yet not many are able to properly authenticate my wares. I shall offer you a look and request that you do not touch the item. "
A slight raised eyebrow as he looks at Paul. An elegant hand slowly moves to his bag and withdraws a zippered plastic case with a fabric wrapped parcel inside. He unzips the outer protective case and carefully picks up the linen fabric wrapping. The parcel was placed upon the table and he carefully unwraps it to reveal a rosary. The metal parts of the rosary were marked in a way to suggest it was a true rosary. The beads were some white stone. The cross itself was metal.
One can make an Academics + Intelligence roll to investigate the rosary.

Diane looks between the three. "Good evening, Mr. Garter." She greets. Her eyes look meaningfully to Otto.

[Alicia Silvers]

The decline of the wine understood, not all liked to drink but the flat out denial of her approach, by a Kine, by a man, now that was unexpected. Not something she was used to be dealing with, but it was business and if they wished to handle it and Otto take charge of the talks then fine by her, taking the glass back not interested in consuming it herself but its aroma was still one to enjoy. Nor letting the drop of the earlier topic disparage her, it would certainly come up again one way or another in due time.

Keeping her eyes upon Otto as he spoke, listening carefully with a light tap of her own feet against his as she began to hear the venom in his tone with a kind look upon her not letting anything show in her disposition or easily seen reactions before seeing the item taken out.

Instantly heightening her sense of sight to be able to look better upon the item from her position without leaning in closer or trying to touch it, not that she wanted to. If it was genuine so would it surely not be pleasant, if not well Otto was clearly more knowledgeable than her in this field.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-10-02 15:18:07	Alicia Silvers rolls 4 to Investigate rosary (int+academics) (10 Again)	9, 1, 4, 10, 2	2 successes

Eyes scanning over it in a rapid manner, trying to catch as much as possible about it before it would be swept away but remaining silent this was not her part of the discussion to interject on.

[Otto Schneider]

Otto forced himself to maintain a cordial expression as Alicia discreetly checked his tone. However, he was immediately skeptical of the authenticity of the piece as Garter spoke. "You're referring to Margaret of Antioch, I assume?" There were a few Saint Margarets in Catholic canon, though 'the Virgin' was an epithet commonly associated with a figure from early Christian history. So early, in fact, that she would have predated ornate rosary beads by several centuries.

He didn't doubt that it was a real rosary, but Margaret the Virgin lived and died in an era when it was more common for devout worshippers to carry prayer ropes. But then, Longinus himself was proof that human history did not hold the sum of the Lord's works. Or perhaps Garter is lying about something. He squinted and reached a hand towards the relic for a second before catching himself.

Sanctified canon was inextricably tied up in Christian theology, but the two were not identical. Despite what many Kindred probably assumed, not every Priest of the Sanctum could necessarily quote the New Testament from memory. Thus, Otto couldn't rule out the distinct possibility that he was missing something or getting hung up on the wrong details. The mystery of the prayer beads captivated him.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-10-02 23:02:40	Otto Schneider rolls 7 to Investigate Rosary (Int + Academics + WP) (10 Again, WillPower)	8, 1, 10, 10, 2, 7, 7, 6, 6	3 successes

As much as he hated to admit it, the Ventrue may have been tempted into buying the relic for himself if they weren't necessary to cleanse the park of the apparition that was haunting it. Maybe it will need a new home after we handle this affair. He mused, scrutinizing every detail he could find for some clue on the artifact's authenticity.

[Seryna]

Alicia was able to tell that the silver was genuine and that the white gems were mother of pearl. The piece was very old - an antique.
Otto would be able to see all of this information. He also could tell that the rosary had been carefully cared for in the last few years. It was old- although not Margaret the Virgin old. It very well could be a finding of significance.

Ms. Glass remains silent, looking between Otto and Robin.
"That's what I was told.". Robin states to Otto. He unzipped a pocket of his hip bag and removed a piece of paper sealed in a waterproof zippered compartment. The front was see - through. The paper was able to be read and Mr. Garter set it before Otto.
It was a certificate of authenticity that spoke to the age of the rosary, which would place it where Otto suspected. Within the era that rosaries with mother of pearl was coming into popular use.

[Alicia Silvers]

Cocking her head a bit to be able to look upon the paper and read it, a look upon the dates and the design. Carefully glancing between them, but without taking it and doing things that no one here would probably like so was this not something she could do much with.
"From what I can see so does it look right, what do you think Paul?" Turning her eyes to him, then over to Diane. "You are the one who set this up, I would love to hear your insights about the matter, and of the letter of course. I assume you have experience with these kinds of things?" A bit curious to see if this would be some kind of one sided con, a double sided one or indeed just be a genuine acquisition that would help them get rid of whatever the thing drawing unnecessary attention were, fake or not if a little bit of money would settle it all so was it not to bad.

[Otto Schneider]

There's one born every minute... Otto felt ambivalence after scrutinizing the document. It was a genuine piece, Garter had convinced him of that much. But it couldn't be as old as he was claiming. He sighed, exaggerating disappointment. "Then I guess someone lied to you, Mr. Garter. This is definitely a historical find," The Priest pointed to certain lines of text on the document for emphasis. "But it can't have belonged to St. Margaret of Antioch."

For the sake of performance, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shook his head with a sad smile. "The rosary is several hundreds of years old, but Margaret died in the third century. About a thousand years earlier. Plus," He chuckled slightly. "A teenage girl in those days wouldn't have something this nice." Most historians thought Margaret was fictional anyway, especially since her story ended with being eaten by a dragon. Otto was willing to give the tale some leeway since vampires and ghosts were real but not commonly accepted as factual. But even then, the timeframes didn't add up.

He gave an apologetic shrug. "I'd still be willing to buy the piece, but we may need to negotiate the price due to its... uncertain origin. Who was it that mentioned Margaret, anyway?" The Ventrue was scanning Robin Garter's body language for any signs that might betray discomfort. He still wanted the rosary, its history didn't necessarily mean it wouldn't help them with the park and he appreciated it as a collector's piece, but the inconsistency gave them an opportunity to probe for information. You're a few decades too young to be scamming someone like me.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2024-10-04 15:55:14	Otto Schneider rolls 5 to Detect Lies (Wits + Subterfuge) (10 Again)	9, 1, 4, 1, 10, 10, 7	3 successes