[V20] Maiden, Mother, Crone

[Esbilon]

This is a reboot of the Tale of the Crone, a Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition set in Cleveland, Ohio.

For the events of the past few nights, see the following.
July 31 (Night 1)
August 1 (Night 2)
August 2 (Night 3)

 

[Esbilon]

• Sunday, August 2, 2015
• Álvaro
• Susan
• Justine
• Bela

• 
  Night fell hours ago, and though light still shines, as it always does in these Modern nights, from hospitals, from advertisements, and from the looming gibbous moon, darkness seems to have a hold over Cleveland. There is not the faintest trace of cloud in the sky, and yet not even the brightest star can be seen against the cold, dead light of human civilization. Though the height of summer is now in the past, temperatures remain high throughout the night and air-conditioning keeps pumping freon into the atmosphere to help Humanity forget it.
  
• 
  The hotel room Álvaro has 'borrowed' (like hell it's free. There's always a price among Kindred, and the kind that's not paid up front is always the steepest) from Rosenthal is nice. No dust, whoever cleans it (probably someone just like him, except not nearly as lucky in life - well, except for the getting killed bit) has been by while he was out, and whatever smells of decay might once have inhabited it have long been covered by bleach and perfume. That train of thought makes him think - just who has stayed here on that woman's dime before? He knows he's not the kindest of vampires around, but there are some real monsters out there. Maybe a Lasombra like her knows some of them. Maybe they stayed right here.
  
  As these thoughts run through his head and as he's waiting for Susan to pick up her own damned phone, a text ticks in: "My master will grant your request. You may present yourself at his estate in Euclid."
  
• 
  Right now for both her and Sam, nothing exists outside their walls. They have each other and they have their kids, the picture of a happy family. If they were paying any attention to the frankly ridiculously large flat screen TV in front of couch, they'd see another image of perfect happiness play out and a voice in the back of Susan's mind would whisper "almost as fake as your's." But they are not. This is real, Sam's warmth is real, the feel of his shirt on her cheak is real, the smell of sweat on his chest is real, and his love for her is real. As real as Dominate can make it.
  
  The phone in her pocket is vibrating insistingly, but surely that can wait. She's perfectly happy to let that phone ring and ring unanswered forever. That is not to be, however. Instead, sam disentagles himself with a regretful grimace, pulls out his own phone, and mouths "sorry" to her before raising it to his ear and stepping out of the room.
  
  This gives her a moment to identify her own caller: Álvaro.
  
• 
  Though Christopher Nelson has not occupied this room for long, his mark will be left on it for a long, long time. The wooden coffin is splintered, pieces of it spread across the floor and, Justine can see now that she has a moment of calm, quite a few splinters have pierced her ghoul's formerly unblemished skin. The chains that have bound so many men before him are strained and broken, no longer useful save as decoration. And, of course, there is the man himself, lying lifelessly on the floor next to the two women, a broken piece of wood sticking out of his back and through his heart. There is no pool of blood as there would have been from a mortal, but still it is smeared over the floor and across the room. Nelson's blood, and whatever foul presence his Sire left in him with it. Justine can almost smell it, not the sweet stench of decay she is used to, but something fouler and altogether unnatural.
  
  Juliette rises, ever graceful despite the pain from her not-yet-healed arm and without hesitation, she begins gathering all the loose things Nelson has left behind in the casket, as if they were precious possessions for him to be buried with.
  
  
  Spoiler: ooc

  You're in a bit of a holding pattern here, but let me know if there's anything in particular you want to do, otherwise you have two (three if you coult Nelson) NPCs in your house you can enjoy yourself with.
• 
  Though his estate is not up to the quality he is used to, it is not entirely inferior to what Bela Dragosani knew in his homeland. Though there is a smell of mildew he suspects will never quite leave it, the paint is flaking in many places and there are cobwebs even Boris's diligent efforts can keep in check. However, this 'electric' lighting is brighter, clearer and not nearly as flickering as candle or even oil flame. The constant smell of fesces, human and animal, is absent, and mere peasants bathe regularly - daily - even!
  
  The young woman before him is, he understands, is but a few years past her flowering, and yet she is taller than practically all those of her sex he saw in the old country. Of course, some of that is doubtlessly the Nubian in her ancestry, but even that cannot explain why her teeth are all in such good shape. She looks confident and curious, but is unable to hide an underlying layer of fear. "So..." She begins as the silence between the stretches on, "is this how you become a vampire? By drinking blood?"
  
  
  Spoiler: ooc

  You still owe me Manipulation+Etiquette for that letter to the Prince.

 

[Arynne]

Justine curses herself mentally for her thoughtlessness. Of course, his first response upon finding himself restrained would be to attempt escape. That she had expected, and been curious to see how he would go about it. However, she had not anticipated that he would expend the small amount of blood in his system to increase his physical might, leaving him famished and in a blind frenzy of hunger. That was a mistake most young Kindred were warned against -- but she hadn't warned him, had she? Nor had she considered how his terror might drive him past the point of reason.

Setting another Kindred on the Path of Lilith always involved teaching in some way, but the initiate was not always the one receiving the lessons.

"Once this room is properly cleaned, we must move him to a table. The voivode will be visiting tonight to examine him." Justine prowls around the paralyzed form of Christopher Nelson, frowning. "We need more and heavier chains, and weights, too, to hold him fast, in case we need to remove the stake and question him. We need a strong light, and some sharp cutting tools."

 

[Esbilon]

Justine

"Yes, Mistress," Juliette responds without hesitation. Justine can hear the slight pain coming from working with her imperfectly healed arm in it. Were Juliette counting on a mortal's metabolism to heal her arm, such activity would be particularly unwise, but since it is her Mistress's precious vitae that will knit together the broken bone and mend the torn sinews, there is no reason for her not to make as much use of it as she can. And hurt as she does so.

 

[Grey]

Bela Dragosani

Bela waves a hand, dismissive, "it is rather more complicated, as you will in time learn."
He rises from his chair, and stands with hands behind his back to stare out into the night.
"You have demonstrated fortitude, fervour, and tenacity. I have little doubt that you will, in time, learn the proper method. For now, however, you have much to learn - and to earn."
He turns to face her, examining her carefully.
"I have pressing business tonight, and I would invite you to observe. There are, of course, conditions..."
Bela allows that to hang; for this one, it seems, curiosity sated is the carrot.

 

[Esbilon]

Bela

Miranda has trouble concealing her excitement about the prospect of the Embrace, if she is even trying. She shift slightly, clearly trying to stand stand properly like she has seen Boris and Camille do, but she does not have their experience with waiting patiently for those greater than themselves. "Great!" She exclaims enthusiastically, before adding in a tone that is rather less son, "what sort of conditions?"

 

[Grey]

Bela Dragosani

"You will need to conduct yourself appropriately, for one," Bela says, "because if you are to join my House, you will represent me - and I mislike being embarrassed."
A single fang shows through a tight smile, nostalgic.
"Secondly, you are of course a hostage by mortal law, and I would be a fool to take you outside... without a disguise. And there is no better disguise than a face not your own."
His grin widens; "I expect I shall need to demonstrate."
In illustration, he places his hands on his face - and adjusts his features like wet clay.

 

[Silanon]

Landon Scott

The nightfall might have put an end to the sports activities, but the lake at night has its own appeal - a few souls still linger about in the park, with the volleyball fields in their back and the water in sight. Their distant laughter can be heard - from time to time, a bird gets scared by the regular, but noisy presence, and flies off to find a better spot to rest. A lone figure watches them; leant against an old tree's trunk, both hands buried deep in his jacket's pockets, despite the warmth. Landon hasn't moved much since he came, perhaps half an hour ago - eyeing his surrounding for an opportunity that might present itself. Not humans, for now; the dark alleys of the city are a better place to find what his body demands. But watchful, winged eyes than can get everywhere - those are numerous where a bit of nature still perseveres in the midst of Cleveland.

His interest is not solely focused on finding a decent pet for a little errand - the way how they beat their wings, and how they gracefully land on the lower branches of the surrounding trees is also part of his study. Just weeks ago, he has taken off for the very first time himself, listening to the surprised chirping as he glided through the night. Every little detail his eyes pick up tells him one more thing about himself, in a way; and as long as the ancient mobile in his pocket does not interrupt the moment, he has time to investigate further.

 

[Esbilon]

Bela

Miranda's eyes go wide at at her Domitor's demonstration and she lets out a low whistle of amazement. "That's some next-level stuff," she adds softly. "Is that... is that permanent?" She asks, sounding a little disturbed by the prospect of having that done to her own face. "And does it work on skin color or hair?" she adds, her curiosity kicking back in.

Landon

Out here by the lake with the city at one's back, it's almost possible to imagine that this is a wild place and not merely a cultivated resort for the mortal population of one of America's major cities to enjoy themselves. A place where the only threats come from themselves, and of course from Landon and those like him. Despite the proximity to the city, there is no shortage of nightly companions to those who know how to look. Those species of bat hardy and numerous enough to live in a city the size of Cleveland are beginning to take flight, and it seems like crows, ravens and other birds of misfortune have never stopped. If he wanted to, it would not be hard to lure any one of the beasts, even one of the bipedal ones, to him. As he scours the park for likely targets, the phone in his pocket vibrates briefly.

 

[Grey]

Bela Dragosani

Bela grins, wearing the face of his younger brother; killed by cholera when they were still both mortal.
"It may require more work, but yes; height, tone, voice... as permanent as I desire," he explains. "I have instructed my staff to retain an image of your current face, so that it can be restored. Consent to this disguise is the other condition."

 

[Arynne]

"Juliette will arrange all these things. Once she has faultlessly completed all her tasks despite pain, her Mistress will reward the faithful Juliette." A thought comes to Justine then, niggling and insistent. "But first, we must visit our new guest and see if she is...comfortable."

 

[Silanon]

Landon Scott

At first, his eyes fixate on one of the crows - slightly larger than the others, perhaps older. Certainly stronger, able to keep those around it at bay. But then again, there are the bats, swifter and stealthier; and countless enough to not raise attention. Before he can decide for one or the other, the mobile phone vibrates - careful to not scare the animals around him away, his hand slowly pulls it out of his pocket, just far enough to glance at the display. Only few have his number at this point, he has never been too keen on sharing it.

 

[Esbilon]

Bela

Miranda stares intently at Bela's face as it changes under the Fiend's ministrations. "That's so cool," she says, morbid fascination having gotten the better of her, "I can see how you mold things, but how would hair or color work? Can it change voices too? And sure!" She agrees readily, "that's ok. And I have like a million pictures of me on Instagram anyway, so there's no need to sit for a portrait or anything," she finishes with a giggle.

Justine

By now, Juliette has cleared the room of most debris, leaving it accessible if not exactly fit for entertaining guests. As Justine makes to leave the room, Juliette falls into stem behind her, the young woman's hands clasped at the small of her back and her steps quiet and graceful.

Theodora is where she was left, her body still bruised, her skin still torn, the only change is that every last drop of blood that has fallen within reach of her chains has been cleared away. The heavy manacles have marred the flesh around her wrists and ankles, and either there is not enough vitae left in her to heal it, or she chooses not to. She is somewhat recovered, however, and when Justine enters the room, she rises to her knees, joins her hands behind her neck and spreads her arms and legs as far as her bindings and her body will allow. Her gaze drops quickly, not as one might expect to a place on the floor immediately before her, but rather to a spot of mostly-dried blood on the floor which, from how the end closest to Theodora is wet and smeared out, appears to be just outside her range.

Landon

The large crow sits high in its tree, the corpse of a young mocking bird in its talons as it happily pecks away at its dinner and caws at its fellows to stay away from it.

'Black' is all the display says, and all it needs to say, Matthias Black is his Sire and a man whose word he might strictly speaking not have to treat as law, but whose word he'd be well advised to do so with anyway. One more tap on the message itself appears: The cops have found something down at the port, and your friend Roberts is in charge. Find out what it's about.

 

[Grey]

Bela Dragosani

Bela ignores this 'instagram' invocation. Perhaps he will inquire of Boris later.
"Patience, Miranda. You will learn - a reasonable grasp of anatomy will be required."
He summons Boris to prepare his studio, such as it is, and lectures his ward on how to conduct herself all the way there.

This may have been a large bathroom, once. The only real clue is what remains of the shower employed as a sluice for fluids of one kind or another. The walls are covered in meticulous anatomical drawings - humans, wolves, bats, and some amalgamations of the above. Some drawn by Bela himself, patience compensating for lacking skill as a draughtsman.
He directs Miranda to a high-backed chair, under the strongest light.
"Do you have any requests?"

 

[Silanon]

Landon Scott

A second glance at the message at hand - a third tap, and it vanishes from sight. There is no need for a response: His sire left no doubt that Landon would comply, and he has indeed little reason to ignore the order. Instead, he searches through the few saved numbers, quickly finding the one he needs; the one where you reach the police headquarters without using the emergency number. Only few have it - Landon earnt it back when he still breathed. "Is Roberts available? Got something urgent for him. Scott" Just a short message - given his sire's text, they'll be busy with other things. Good old Roberts - always brought goodies for the dogs, back then. Landon doesn't really have something for him, except for another pair of eyes; but with luck, they'll let him know what matters - after all, he and the officer go way back. The exact location would be nice, for instance, a simple rejection would suffice as well. It's just that police never likes it when you show up "by accident"; they like to be better informed than the rest.

Landon lets his mobile slide back into the darkness of his pocket, it'll take time until they respond. Time that he intends to use; four eyes tend to see more than two. Especially when two of them circle above the city's streets. Slowly, he leads his steps towards the crow's tree, eyes solely focused on the bird - given how it protects its prey, it will hopefully answer his gaze at some point.

 

[Esbilon]

Bela

"So, most of that really boils down to 'don't speak unless spoken to,' right?" along with a half-way furrowed brow is the better part of Miranda's reaction to Bela's impromptu lecture on Kindred etiquette. She nods at her own question, "I can do that."

Miranda blinks against the light, her eyes not used to the sudden brightness. At her master's question, her face contorts itself in a variety of ways as she thinks about her answer. Then she breaks out in a bright smile, reaches for her pocket only for her face to fall at some realisation. She then sighs and says, "I don't suppose the name Xena means anything to you?" She shrugs, and adds "it's this buff white chick with brown hair."

Spoiler: ooc

This, of course, is the image Miranda would have looked up on her phone if she'd still had it with her:

Landon

The bird is about done with its dinner, and as Landon approaches, its gaze turns to his. It chucks the remains of the carcass to the ground, there to be fought over by lesser specimens or to decay and be consumed by the Earth itself. It caws at him and spreads its wings without taking off, asserting its status. Perpahs it's Landon reading too much into one silly bird, but it almost looks as if its eyes see more than any unspeaking animal should.

 

[Arynne]

"You hunger, I perceive," Justine says, observing the direction of Theodora's gaze. "Yet, sustenance is beyond your reach. How does that feel, Theodora?"

 

[Esbilon]

Justine

Theodora's gaze does not quite rise, yet it moves closer to Justine, fixing on a point just before the other vampire's feet. "Painful, Mistress," she begins, her voice broken by her parched throat, "I feel desperate." There is a shiver in her tone, as if she is only barely keeping it all together. "The beast is close. So close," she finishes, the last words coming out like a whisper.

 

[Arynne]

"How strong are you, I wonder?" Justine muses. "Strong enough to break chains, to shatter bars? To slay Juliette and myself, and slake your thirst? Or would you be helpless in these bonds, writhing in your madness as the Beast tore your body apart? Are you the Beast's master, or its victim, Theodora?"

 

[Silanon]

Landon Scott

The crow - something is different. Perhaps a lucky find, perhaps the opposite; there is only one way to tell. His eyes remain focused on the bird; meanwhile, words are formed deep within, barely controlled by his mind; guttural sounds, just loud enough to be heard by the animal. "A flock of two; the both of us. You rule the sky, I take the ground. You warn me of danger; I show you prey.We both hunt better, easier; we both survive." The words are merely the means to formulate the request; if the bird does not see the benefits, it was not appropriate for the task to begin with.

 

[Grey]

Bela Dragosani

"Intensive, but certainly an effective disguise," Bela says, "the authorities are unlikely searching for a.... 'buff white chick.'"
Bela stands over her, flexing his fingers; a habit from his living years, always done just before picking up his sword.
"This will feel... unusual."

An extra inch or so in height, a lightening of skin, hair straightened as he changes the colour. He improvises the face - dim memories of an Italian swordswoman.

 

[Lord-Leafar]

Alvaro took a glance towards the night stand. His eyes rested on the bladed edge of the sword that leaned against it before moving back to the illuminated cell phone screen. The phone kept ringing, and after a moment of deliberation he pressed the button to end the call. He held the cell phone as he was lost in thought, slowly putting it away in his jacket before standing up and walking over to the sword. He grabbed it and held it high with his right hand, he felt the weight of it and admired the light that bounced off the metal edge as he gave a test swing.

It was one fine weapon, and one he could see himself keeping for personal use, imagining himself loping heads while driving through the streets with a motorcycle, a vivid image taken straight out of a Tarantino film. He smirked at the thought of it, and dropped the blade on top of his bed. He went ahead and took a towel from the bathroom and wrapped the weapon in it, making sure to disguise it's shape somewhat before putting it inside his gym bag. He took out his phone once again and dialed the number of his newest buddy Ramón.

"You guys ready for a job tonight?"

 

[Esbilon]

Landon

The bird walks confidently towards him along its branch and tilts its head at him as it comes closer. I can find my own prey easily, and you are so big. Why do you need me or I you? the crow responds. It appears curious about Landon if nothing else, but not overly eager to join with him.

Bela
If Miranda's ability to sit still under Bela's ministrations is any indication of her ability to keep her tongue when not spoken to, there is some hope of her learning basic etiquette. Despite the unfamiliar nature of the operation, she is an obliging subject.

OOC: Give me Dexterity + Medicine difficulty 7 (8 base, -1 for circumstances).

Álvaro
The phone rings a couple of times before he's greeted by Ramon's voice and the quickly fading sound of loud hip-hop music in the background. "Yeah, boss, sorry about the wait. what's up?" The man sounds eager to please, even with just the few drops from the night before, the Blood is already making its mark felt.

 

[Esbilon]

Justine

"I am not strong like that," she says, maintaining her pose despite the pain and lack of blood. "And even if I were free, I do not think I would be a killer. If I have learned one thing about the Beast, it is that we are neither its victim nor its master, it is a fact of our existence, it is part of us. To claim mastery over the beast is to claim mastery over oneself, and no one can claim that truly and fully."

 

[Silanon]

Landon

The crow - it does respond at least, though it is less eager to help than he hoped. Too clever to simply follow the request; and thus likely the right choice for the task. "Your prey - you've barely caught it when the others come, always eager to get a free meal. You need to eye them, constantly; need to fight them for a lousy beakful, barely worth the effort. You could get more, without all that trouble. All it takes are your eyes above me, and you will find prey without even swooping down - without disruption as you fill your gut.