21 Jun - Pander's Posse - Oral History by Doc
We head back into Galveston to collect the artifact; we know the establishment to go to, but we do not yet know the proprietor. Pete takes the lead, moving to the back to meet with the proprietor while Victoria and I remain in the front - I am able to watch with the werewolf paw that Dante retains. Once inside, it is clear that we are dealing with Lady Revel; she wants us to kill the Nosferatu in order to receive the artifact - dowsing rods that will lead us directly to where Dio Giovanni works! We must have those rods. Lady Revel suggests that Pete invite us to join them, and I head down without waiting any further.
Once in with Lady Revel, she and Pete continue to talk but I finally interrupt. With the provided information, it is now clear what has transpired. The Nosferatu was working with the newspaper writer to prepare him for the embrace, so the Ventrue wiped his memory to make him write the article with the masquerade breach. The Ventrue planned to use him to frame Lady Revel and further his own political aims. Giovanni wanted the dowsing rods to prevent anyone else from finding out where his base is, and Lady Revel's only interest in them was in their use as a political toy - once the information became clear, she was furious and gave the rods freely to us. It took some time to catch Pete up on the realities of kindred politics - they are far more cutthroat than the kine. With the rods, we are readily able to travel to the Giovanni's works. We arrive to find a strange house; we go in to look around, and the place has many, many spirits. The building appears to be some sort of fetter for innumerable spirits; no wonder Dio makes such use here, it has immense power for one such as him. The spirits advise me that there are only two flesh creatures in the house, both in the basement with the entrance through the storm cellar. We go down, and find a locked door barring our way - Pete hears the cries of his sister which has him near a frenzy looking for a way to reassure her and reach her at the same time. It becomes clear that we will not breach this door readily. I send Pete on a fools errand while I collect two explosives from Lady Victoria; I throw one outside to confirm the damage they are capable of and to demonstrate their lethality to the spirits of the house. I then come back inside to express my willingness to kill the girl to get to Giovanni; sadly, Pete returns at the wrong moment and interferes. I do finally throw the explosive, which greatly damages the door and starts some small fires - but the spirits quickly begin to repair the door and put out the fires, with Pete assisting with the largest fire. I grow impatient. I go upstairs - I will bring this house down in it's entirety, but out of respect for Pete I will demonstrate my powers once more to the spirits. As I travel, one of the spirits offers to assist - so I will not need to demonstrate just yet. I travel back down, and the spirit opens the door. We see in front of us Dio Giovanni, holding Pete's sister with a weapon ready to kill here. Pete and I react at nearly the same time. Pete blinks forward and cuts off Dio's hand, while I fire a round directly into his skull. Time seems to slow as Dio Giovanni's head explodes - followed quickly by the rest of the room. The fiend had an explosive vial! Pete is hit, and his sister is killed... but investigation soon shows that this was not Dio Giovanni or Pete's sister. This was set as a trap; as we are distracted, the exit from the basement collapses as well, to trap us. The ghosts are gleeful now - but only for now. I direct Pete and Lady Victoria to the other end of the basement, and I call the ghosts. I direct them to clear a path for us or I will destroy this house here and now. They fail to believe me - I call on my aura of decay, moving quickly to avoid being caught in the deadly collapse of the house. This has very clearly gotten the attention we needed; ghosts begin repairing the damage, but it is clear I can destroy the building far faster than they can repair it. I advise them that they have 5 minutes to clear an exit for us before I complete my distructive efforts. They immediately begin work, frantically clearing the exit for us. They take a few extra minutes, but there are limits to the ability of spirits to impact the mortal world. Before we leave, I ask the ghosts if there is anything I should be aware of outside before I move, noting that if I am surprised it could be fatal to the house. One quickly tells me of an ambush with 4 miniguns waiting for us, and they build an alternate exit for us, asking only that I never return again. We exit, and prepare for our attack on the ambushers...








