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Creating the Chapter

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  1. #1
    Aaron van Valen's Avatar

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    Aaron van Valen

    Aaron's voice is usually quite flat and emotionless, almost rusty, but he tries to make up for this with his facial expressions.

    (Creating the Chapter)Vitae 1 Spent
    3
    PRE

    One of Aaron's latest pleasant discoveries was a particular establishment of the Sacramento Public Library. Founded in October 1857, right around the time he was a young boy - but with puberty around the corner, and feeling old enough to think like a man - he feels right at home. Not that he remembers much of that time. Most of what remains from the fog of his memories is general feelings and impressions, but that is exactly what an old building like this helps conjure up.

    It was late enough in the evening that one of those much wanted private glass booths had become available. It consists of a desk with a computer and two chairs. Although people can look inside, it is to some extent sound-proof. A perfect meeting spot for two Dragons. He had planned to meet up with Lina Moretti , and just texted his exact location to her.

    Although this short spring night did not allow for much time, he had arrived just a bit earlier to gather some books. The Dragon Lord has surrounded himself with a collection of books on local history, culture and geography. Through the computer next to him he has accessed the library database to find several old city maps.

    If I truly intend to make this place my home, I need to familiarize myself with it entirely.

    As such, waiting for Lina had become a most pleasant thing.





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  3. #2
    L
    Lina Moretti

    Libraries. They made Lina a little uncomfortable. She had been a PI, back in the day, and that meant a lot of sneaking around and taking unflattering videos of people cheating on their spouses and defrauding insurance claims. Being in the hallowed halls of academia - hell, even being in the children's section around Curious fucking George - was unusual for her. Things were quiet. Too quiet. Usually because of some over-the-top librarian firing off epic 'shh' like nobody's business.

    But hey. Get comfy, Moretti, because this is the life you chose.

    Coming through the door of the soundproofed room and right into conflict with van Valen's as of yet unfamiliar Beast, she found herself tamping down on the urge to get right the fuck out of this place. For her part, Moretti was wearing close-fitted jeans, a black tank top and a light leather jacket, along with boots. At this time of night, the California heat wasn't quite as bad - and to be frank, after LA, NoCal was cool.

    "Hey," she said, finding a seat and glancing over the books and maps. "Getting to know the place? Good thinking."

    Equipment in ST Minisheet.

  4. #3
    Aaron van Valen's Avatar

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    Aaron van Valen

    Aaron's voice is usually quite flat and emotionless, almost rusty, but he tries to make up for this with his facial expressions.

    3
    PRE

    Not noticing the other presence right until it opens the door, there's the tiniest jump scare when Lina greets Aaron. In this case, a jump scare goes combined with a potential jump attack. But the Lord remains seated, and nods politely. 'Hello Lina. Please take a seat.'

    'Indeed I am. I feel too much like a stranger here, I don't like that. Chicago was really my home, I lived through most of its recent history. Here I have to study it.'
    It was as much as personal matter as of interest to the covenant. Naturally, he did not mind combining the two.

    He glances over the materials in front of him, reflecting for a moment, 'More specifically, it is useful for finding ley lines and significant places of power. I prefer to use a more rational approach, applying deductive reasoning before undertaking empirical research.'

    He could go out and about and cover every square meter of the Domain on foot, hoping to sense whatever power he his looking for. With luck, he could find something way quicker, but the Dragon does not believe in luck.

    'Anyway,' he looks up again and it seems as if only now he's really greeting the Daeva, 'how have you been?'


  5. #4
    L
    Lina Moretti

    The Daeva looks interested as he discusses places of power. "You, uh, might have touched on a certain specialty of mine," she said, sliding her chair along next to him. "So I figure I'll just tell you now. You know all those scholarly Dragon types who know eight thousand old languages and everything there is to know about the occult?"

    She shook her head.

    "I'm not one of those. What I do is dig into people and places, and my background is in investigations... and more recently, in finding places of power. And those places usually have to do with the people and the history."

    She grinned.

    "So what are you looking for, based on the history? Give me the rundown. With any luck, I should be able to, uh, make some deductions."

  6. #5
    Aaron van Valen's Avatar

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    Aaron van Valen

    Aaron's voice is usually quite flat and emotionless, almost rusty, but he tries to make up for this with his facial expressions.

    3
    PRE

    'Really?!' What a coincidence, one could think. But after a second thought, most Dragons like these places.

    A smile appears as Lina goes into further detail about her qualities and further aspirations. It could be good to look at people on a more direct level. The Lord usually searches for great events in history, while a single powerful moment can also have a lasting effect on its location.

    Aaron leans back in his chair, giving the Daeva a carefree shrug, 'I really wouldn't mind knowing a thousand languages, in all honesty. But,' he grins as well, 'perhaps something for the next century.'

    There's a short pause before he goes into detail on his work.

    'I'm close to unlocking specific energies found in fontal nests. My Sire was Kogaion of our respective Chapter. This made studying these nests a lot more accessible and manageable. I don't know what type of nests you specialize in, but in my experience fontal nests most likely linger on locations where - further back in time - pivotal moments in history happened.'

    He pauses a moments to find an example, 'The Great Chicago Fire left the city with powerful crucibles, resonating with the chaos and natural violence. But for a fontal nest, I think I should look for more intentionally caused major impacts. A notable moment in the Gold Rush for example. Say, the greatest massacre of Native Americans. Or what might be interesting is a place where they were kept and oppressed for a longer period - if that is something that happened.' ​His tone is purely academic. If somehow he could find an energy strengthening oppression, or say, Dominate, that would be extremely useful for an endless amount of reasons.

    A Lord's dreams are always filled with dominance over others. And I have suffered many dreams...


    It is a darkness within him known as the Beast, a force that he has to turn away from. To that purpose, he proposes in a more amicable tone: 'Or should we discuss more general matters first?'


  7. #6
    L
    Lina Moretti

    "I'm generally pretty decent at chasing down and finding places of power of all kinds in a boots on the ground kind of way. But let's work smart. I think there's probably shortcuts we could take to save ourselves some time." She shrugged. "This Domain didn't have Dragons when we arrived. But I'd be willing to betcha a beer that there very likely have been Dragons here in the past. Recently, not so recently, whatever - the point is, if there were, there's probably an archive of some kind somewhere of the work previously done. That is what I think I should work on finding, so we don't reinvent the wheel. And we'll find that easiest by talking to the oldest members of the Domain, as well as Dragons more regionally. If Dragons did exist and did work, then maybe they've answered some of our questions for us already."

    Covenants had connections all over. If this Domain had a history of Dragons, then those Dragons more than likely did things like this. This was Dragon Stuff. They more than likely filed reports. Maybe there were Order holdings.

    "But if you're into the research stuff, there's no harm in starting to get a sense of the place. Did you have an idea of what you wanted to do? Historical research, ping specific likely sites, and we can check 'em out?"

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  9. #7
    Aaron van Valen's Avatar

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    (Confident)
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    (Academics)
    Aaron van Valen

    Aaron's voice is usually quite flat and emotionless, almost rusty, but he tries to make up for this with his facial expressions.

    3
    PRE

    As Lina lays out the most fortunate scenario, Aaron is skeptical. 'I thought about that. I heard that the former Prince was a Dragon even, which probably means there have been more of us here. But in what case would that archive still be in tact? If any Dragons left the city, they have probably taken their research with them. If they simply abandoned the site, one wonders how long an empty building remains untouched these days. If they're still here... but currently not awake. That changes things.'

    Raiding the tomb of an old Dragon Prince, only to find some old maps, is exactly the kind of adventure Aaron seeks.

    'But I suppose you are right, it is worth a shot. If anyone knows of the former Chapter House location, we should check it out. There's a small chance some indicators might still be in a backroom of Nox Populi. We can ask around and easily find out which Kindred have been here for some years.'

    The social approach, who would have thought. Working together is already proving to be interesting. But he's glad Lina is also open to his suggestions. 'Exactly that. I have developed quite a sense to them. But we can do both our ways simultaneously, depending on where we are.'


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  11. #8
    L
    Lina Moretti

    "Well, hope springs eternal," Lina said quietly with a chuckle. "I'll see about asking one of the officers. If the last guy was one of ours, then I bet there are a few people who could tell us what we want to know. And we can definitely handle this both ways. The non-Order folks probably will only provide leads that we then will likely have to research and run down. I'll, uh, see if I can get some cooperation going."

    She paused.

    "Speaking of which. I don't know what your take is on diving into Domain issues, but we might want to lend a hand, together - and let it be seen that we, the Order, are doing so. Both for smoothing our futures, and for letting the Unaligned know that this town has an option that isn't the First Estate."

    Lina rubbed the back of her neck, obviously realizing she'd missed something.

    "I guess there's the Crone, but..."

    Awkward shrug. Her Sire had been Crone, and she was fucking psychotic. Krieg didn't seem to be a lunatic at Court, but then, that was just observations.

  12. #9
    Aaron van Valen's Avatar

    Presence
    (Confident)
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    Aaron van Valen

    Aaron's voice is usually quite flat and emotionless, almost rusty, but he tries to make up for this with his facial expressions.

    3
    PRE

    'As will I, there is no harm in casually asking.' For a moment, Aaron wonders what exactly Lina suggests by getting cooperation going. What are her tricks of the trade?

    The Lord then folds his hands together on the table, speaking with his dry, deadpan voice: 'My take on it: I was considering immediate solitary confinement... but now that you mention it, smoothing our shared futures sounds appealing too.'

    'But seriously, I agree that participating in Domain affairs is the healthy choice for many reasons. Any issues for the Domain are indirectly my issues. I rather play a hand in solving them myself, and maybe learn some interesting facts along the way. With the right mindset, anything can become a learning experience.'

    In the end, they are individual creatures. Even if others could somehow aid in The Great Work, the most prominent advantage of turning Unaligned is having strength in numbers. 'Do you have a specific tactic in mind? Or do you mean to let the officials know we are available?'


  13. #10
    L
    Lina Moretti

    "Solitary confinement could be safer," she quipped, a half-smile on her lips as she rested her forearms on the table. "But all right. Cool. Call me if you see anything weird and I'll do the same. I think if we legitimately just show up and be like 'yo, we're here to help, yes, we're Oh-Dee, great to meet you', that'll probably be enough. If you run into the Reeve, feel free to let her know we're looking for work."

    We.

    Was she part of a team again? That was all right.

    "Are you well-connected with regular folks in town? If not, it might be worth it. I got in touch with a couple of old friends from LA who had moved up here with their families. One's a cop, one's a bit shadier, but both have their fingers on the pulse. It's such an easy way to get favors flowing. People like us need information more than they need air."

    Literally.

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