#sharpening the sword

[tenshunnoise]

freestyle cutting over turntable loop beat

[sucaliaric]

19 May - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 We have returned to Louisville, but something is amiss.  We hunt for one of the Nosferatu spies, but he is not where we expect.  We track down a plot of the Nosferatu working with another kindred to blackmail one of my ghouls, the mayor.  I must address this at once.  I go to the mayor - the weasel attempts some level of excuse, and how he intended to tell me.  They are threatening his family - perhaps I need to force him to kill them so that he recognizes where his loyalties should be.  For now, I will deal with the blackmailers.

 The trail leads back to the Nos warehouse; we identify a street urchin used as a courier and a spy, who guides is to where a fence is known to buy from the younger criminal element.  It is late - they know little of value other than the fact that the fence worked with the other kindred to get incriminating video of the mayor with a hooker.  This is the blackmail evidence that they plan to use.  With Wrench, we set up a trap to meet with the fence, ready to kill him if needed.  We meet - he is expecting us, and wishes to talk...

[sucaliaric]

12 May - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 After our discovery of Sundervere, our following night is more pedestrian.  The bishop advises that his speakeasy and bootlegger businesses have been hit - the delivery of alcohol has been stopped and police have raided the speakeasies.  He wishes for us to find out why and address the issue.  I am... displeased.  Why would my ghouls allow this without notifying me?  As we leave the bishop, I call my federal contact; he is not aware of any federal activity in Louisville, claiming that he is not involved in this mess.  I then call the chief of police, who states that he did not realize I had interest and he had been given targets by the mayor.  When I speak with the mayor, he is also unaware of my interest but he received direction from the governor.  This is... concerning.

 We take the Phantom to Frankfort, driving to the governor's house.  I knock and speak with a guard - the governor is in Tennessee and the lieutenant governor is currently in charge.  We move from there to the lieutenant governor - but another servant answers, stating that they do not know where the lieutenant governor is, but the secretary of state should.  I am once again getting annoyed... we travel to the secretary of state, and after some discussion they provide the information we need.  I am getting further annoyed by the minute - I finally wipe this worm's memory of all information it has ever known.  Perhaps an overreaction - but the kine must know who is in charge.  Finally, we find the lieutenant governor at an "undisclosed location."  I make my irritation clear - he states that funding came from the Dried Tears Society out of Cincinnati to raid specific speakeasy locations, some of which were in Louisville.  This points directly to the Camarilla - they will learn not to interfere with us.  After some discussion, he chooses to cease operations against the speakeasy locations.  On our way out, I advise him to speak with the secretary of state if he wishes to see the possible consequences if I must come back.  We then make our way to Cincinnati.  In Cincinnati, we find the exchange to the Dried Tears Society, but it turns out to be a dead end.  As we move back to the car, we are greeted by a Camarilla welcoming group.  They offer threats - I give them the opportunity to guide us to their boss, which they decline.  Laymik and I kill them, with Laymik diablerizing one.  The one that survives our initial attack gives us directions to a Nosferatu that they are associated with; we usher in final death and move to see the Nosferatu.  Once we arrive, the Nosferatu has limited helpful information, including directions for some Camarilla spies in Louisville, in exchange for my guarantee that he will never see us again.  I fulfil my promise, and after diablerizing him we travel back home.

[sucaliaric]

05 May - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 The drivel on the plane bores me.  The flight is dull, as one would hope - until lightning strikes the plane.  The woman watching the artifact takes it in stride, while the man with the artifact is clearly panicked.  At my direction, the pilot assists the man with his exit from the plane - forcefully.  The woman indicates she will not leave without the artifact.  I direct the pilot to glide the plane down as smoothly as possible, and make the woman remember evicting the artifact from the plane; with a panicked scream, she jumps to follow the artifact.

 The pilot glides us to a water landing in a lake near, and I radio to the Louisville police department on the way down to advise them of where we will be.  I expect we will need backup shortly - that lightning strike was not random, and the woman’s fanaticism points to something else.  This artifact is unusual.  We land, and I tell the pilot to swim to short, after which I dive to retrieve the artifact.  Wrench comes rapidly, having used his mastery of protean to retain a swimming form.  We make it to short, and Wrench takes Laymik in the car to return to the bishop while I wait for the police with the pilot.  The police arrive, we discuss the path forward, with the police hearing that all cargo in the plane is now at the bottom of the lake.  That should throw interest in the artifact off while we take it to the bishop; I hitch a ride into town and meet Wrench and Laymik to advise the bishop of the events of the night.  The bishop is pleased - he was going to have us steal the artifact once it was in Louisville, but this is even better.  We now have the artifact and everyone else believes it is lost.  Laymik reads the inscriptions - a powerful kindred is contained within.  Could this be Sundervere?  We work to open the sarcophagus... as soon as the lid is off we are attacked by snakes from within!  They attack and then leave, but not before Wrench and I get a taste of the blood.  We store some, and Laymik confirms... we have found Sundervere!  This will be an excellent opportunity for us...

[sucaliaric]

28 April - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 The bishop is angry.  We have failed in our game of rugby, for Laymik gave final death to one of our opponents.  The bishop takes Laymik's sword and removes his hand.  Laymik accepts the punishment as his due, although I do not believe he understands yet why his actions are an issue for the pack.  The bishop directs us to go to Nashville; there is an artifact that is to come to our university, and we are directed to ensure that it arrives safely.  The kindred of Nashville do not know we are coming, and Nashville is primarily controlled by Camarilla - so we must make every effort to ensure that our nature remains hidden.  We take the Phantom - Wrench can drive it quite well, it is well equipped for our needs, and has excellent driving capabilities.

 The drive goes relatively smoothly; we stop at the Nashville University and go to the dean’s office to discuss the artifact.  When we arrive, it is clear that the dean is not present.  I make clear to the servant that I have no interest or care in what challenges they may face, I expect to speak with the person in charge within 20 minutes.  It takes slightly over 20 minutes for the next person to arrive - they should count their luck that we are to keep a low profile, or I would demonstrate my annoyance at length.  I expect to see the artifact, but it is not at the university any longer... it is at the airport preparing for transport.  The lackey makes a call to stall the flight, and we make expeditious travel to the airport.  Wrench outdoes himself this time, but clearly the kine is terrified - he practically kisses the ground when we arrive at the airport.  We see the artifact - Laymik seems to lose track of where we are, but Wrench readily reminds him.  I tell the kine that I will fly with the artifact, while Wrench and Laymik return to my car to follow on the ground.

[sucaliaric]

21 April - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 The bishop has called Laymik and I into a meeting; we will be engaging in a game of Sabbat Rugby with the neighboring pack for prestige.  The bishop joins us in sharing vitae, tells us where the game will start and where the goals are, and we begin to plan.  I call one of my servants and give directions to provide a tank from the nearby Fort Knox for our use.  This will provide us a secure transport for moving the ball in the game.  Laymik rides the outside of the tank as we roll to the starting point and meet the official.  We discuss with the official - final death is strongly discouraged, as it will cause our bishop to owe a boon to the other pack.  I attempt to make this clear to Laymik - no final death, no diablerie.  As always, it is hard to tell if he understands.  He has moved further from human understanding than any that I have met before, having no interest in the cattle one way or another.  He fervently believes that all kindred have stolen vitae from Caine, and it must be returned to Caine, with Diablerie being the chief method of consolidation.  Failed opportunities at diablerie seem almost painful to him...

 The ball is placed and the game begins.  I immediately pounce on the ball and drain it - the kine will be too difficult to control with a competing pack to contend with.  One of the other pack attempts to pounce as well and grabs a leg.  Laymik appears behind the remaining of the other pack, and cuts it's legs off.  Excellent!  He appears to have gotten the point on avoiding diablerie and final death of our opponents.  I make eye contact and cause the one near me to forget the game, remembering only a roaring flame at his goal; Laymik then pounces on him, attempting to cut his legs off as well.  This is good; he will not interfere.  I grab the ball, and then notice the first one that Laymik attacked had crawled to the tank and leaked corrosive vitae on the treads.  This will drastically slow my progress; in my anger I take that one and throw him into his ally.  Something changes; Laymik takes control and drains the legless one dry, diablerizing him.  I cannot allow this to continue; the penalty for ignoring our rules can be extremely severe, and Laymik is too valuable to sacrifice now.  I move quickly, taking control of the tank and unloading the belt of ammunition into Laymik and his prey... the damage is devastating, and both are clearly in torpor now.  I inquire with the referee, but I must still get the ball to our goal before time expires to win the match.  I pour Laymik and the ball into the tank, driving to the goal to win the contest.  Afterwards, I make use of a new Ritae that I have learned... it works!  I am able to pull Laymik out of torpor.  Now we wait to see how the bishop will react...

[sucaliaric]

07 April - Sharpening the Sword - Journal Entry by John

 The Bishop has kindly graced us with his presence; he also comes to us with a task, to investigate a competing bootlegger and convince them that our city is not the best route through.  He participates with us in our rituals, sharing blood, and we make our plans for our night.  I offer my vehicle, but Wrench believes we need something less recognizable.  We go to a nearby tow yard, and Wrench starts to loot the lot to enhance a vehicle for us.  When a security guard approaches, he goes to use the guard to craft tools - such a waste of resources.  I go into the garage and fetch tools, which I bring and set next to the vehicle while Wrench does his work.  He seems to enjoy his efforts, and sees no value in the kine.  One day, I will manage to convince my coterie that the kine are valuable to do the work we do not wish to do... but not today, it appears. We drive to our activities for the night, and the doorman lets us in - he is working with the Bishop.  We advise he take his leave while we address the issue. I go sit before the one who feels in charge and advise him of the facts.

 This food does not appear to understand his place in our world - he seems to be coming from Cam territory, but he believes that he has the upper hand here and we cannot enforce our requirements.  It is time to leave Wrench and Laymik to their enjoyment. I stand and as I walk away I give Wrench his all clear.  The moment I speak, the one I was speaking with moves - with incredible speed!  This is no kine, this is kindred!  I leap in front of him, blocking the door, and catch his eye.  I blink - I have caught my eye in the mirror of my pocket watch, the door is open and he is fleeing!  What happened?  I lost some time... clearly I have clouded my memory, but to what purpose?  I follow him in, only to be met with another kindred. I catch the eyes of this stranger... you have forgotten... you have lost all use of your arms and legs... you have been quadraplegic, with a feeling of complete helplessness.  My target collapses to the floor with a flop, eyes bulging but unable to move their arms or legs.

 We work together as a pack for cleanup.  I perform the war dance ritual against my target, and we share our diablerie as a pack.  There were two others that my coterie mates disabled and the glory of our kills is incredible.  There is blood everywhere, and my ghouls will have quite the task for cleanup - but this is what I keep telling the pack that kine are good for.

[zandperl]

Okay, Ch 7 is titled A Gift, and the two parts I thought were the start and end of a longer chapter are really just Ch 7.  Ch 8 will have the other stuff I thought went in between those parts, along with another cutscene or interlude or whatever you want to call it.  Basically I'm thinking of Tony, Jack, Pitch, and Loki as being the PCs and any short scenes focusing on the NPCs is an interlude or cutscene.  This cutscene is needed so I can get to where I want at the end of Ch 8, setting up a Loki/Jack discussion in Ch 9.  Chs 7-8 are Tony/Jack conversation - I swear whenever Tony's onscreen he just won't shut up.  :-P  

You'd never know I'm studying for my quals exam with all the fic writing and meta I'm doing.  But then again, my father has this saying, that after fighting all day with your samurai sword, you need to take a break to sharpen the sword.  That's what I'm doing, refreshing my brain so I can go back to fighting tomorrow.