Let's Play VtM: Wild Nights - Chapter 10

[ironyuri]

Fuck do I feel stupid. The only thing we heard on the receiver is a phone ringing - nothing useful. Tho I'm pretty sure there's a second part to this chapter, seeing as though we don't have any choices to pick from.

Anyways, great update as usual. Things are really getting fucked. Sad to see Kirkbeck go - I rather liked the guy, despite the fact that we butted heads with him so often. I thought he was pretty reasonable for leader, and his death will be a huge blow to our cause. Not sure we could have done much to save him, even though we had the option to escort him out of Cliveden; between the werewolves being led to the Estate and Hob, we'd be toast.

The Gangrel's reaction to the war is pretty much to be expected. "Leave us the fuck alone", basically. Makes me wonder, even if we find Erika, how do we know she wants to come back to London and fight? She's probably far happier with her clanmates, and even if we do convince her to come, well, then the Gangrel aren't going to like it.

Oh well, if we get really desperate we can just chat up the Centurion, right guys?!?!

You've forgotten about our secret weapon - the vase.

We can use it to trap Hob, remember?

 

[laclongquan]

Dont underestimate the vase, old chaps, for what you dont know will suck you dry

 

[laclongquan]

Anyway, so this is the way Eames use to contain the damage from Anarchs' media blitz and Turcov's tactics.

The culprit is werewolves. The guards of Kirkberg are Turcov's minions. No sign of it lead to Eames.

So if there's blames to be found, they will be laid on Turcov's doorstep.

It remains to be seen how this will affect Erika, of course.

 

[Esquilax]

Agreed. I'm not sure what Kz3r0's beef with Kirkbeck is - so he and du Marchais conspired to kick us out of Whitehall? Big deal, that's peanuts compared to what a lot of other Kindred want to do to Anthony. I'll take Kirkbeck over Eames, Turcov and the other Barons any day of the week.

I'm pretty sure Turcov turned on Tony and tipped Eames off.

Dudes, Kirkbeck being dead is actually really fucking bad. For one, the only guy remotely suitable for being Prince is gone, and more importantly, Kirkbeck was the entire linchpin of our civil war/media blitz. Without him, we have zero credibility. Eames covered up his murder, and now the only people who will believe that Hob is anything but a fairy tale are some shithead Anarchs who don't matter.

 

[laclongquan]

Agreed that Kirkberk's final death is bad. This mean we have a war of succession in our hands, coupled with a civil war and a sabbat war. An unholy brew of devilish elements.

 

[Excidium]

Well, what's bad for one character is good for the other!

 

[Storyfag]

Damn I am a tool. How could have I forgotten that nowadays 99% of the Gangrel don't give a fuck about the Jyhad? But better to chat with them than to get ripped to pieces by a werewolf, I say.

Kirkbeck's death is not a tragedy. HE is dead, but HIS DOCUMENTS are still in Griddle's hands. And maybe, just maybe, the Anarch's pamphlets WILL reach the Inner Circle of the Camarilla. Or at least a Justiciar. Someone capable of maybe stopping Hob...

 

[Esquilax]

Well, what's bad for one character is good for the other!

In this case, I don't think so. We know that Kirkbeck being dead is bad or Tony, but it also sucks for Joan too. For one, it allows Eames to further consolidate her power and get a threat out of the way without it being traced back to her. If Eames is focused on fighting off Kirkbeck, Sommers and the Anarchs she will be less likely to suspect someone working against her from within the Chantry. Anything good for Eames is bad for both Joan and Tony.

@ Storyfag: I knew that the Gangrel don't care about the Jyhad. I didn't expect them to or join us or anything like that. I just thought it would be good to at least establish contact with them before finding Erika. My thought was if we're going to find Erika, the Gangrel are going to be a better source than a Harpy, who is likely to tell others we're looking for her. Since the Gangrel are unaffiliated with the Cam, I figured it would be safer for us.

My main concern now is whether Erika will even want to come back to London at all; seems like she's pretty happy out in the countryside now. Other than being friends with her, I don't see a reason why she'd want to come back other than loyalty.

 

[Azael]

Excellent update grotsnik, the werewolf attack was handled beautifully. Hob is a serious mofo.

 

[oscar]

At least this will probably force Turcov into our camp.

 

[Storyfag]

At least this will probably force Turcov into our camp.

That's what I'm hoping too. I don't think Rodyon tipped Samatha off. If he did, she'd know that Robert has the Prince's files, so there would be no reason for her to kill him. The Prince even wanted to tell her that, you know...

 

[Excidium]

Well, what's bad for one character is good for the other!

In this case, I don't think so. We know that Kirkbeck being dead is bad or Tony, but it also sucks for Joan too. For one, it allows Eames to further consolidate her power and get a threat out of the way without it being traced back to her. If Eames is focused on fighting off Kirkbeck, Sommers and the Anarchs she will be less likely to suspect someone working against her from within the Chantry. Anything good for Eames is bad for both Joan and Tony.

True. We're all fucked.

My fear now is that she starts to send Hob to get rid of every kindred that threatens her...

 

[Bob]

That'd be foolish, everyone would know.

I wonder what Hob gets out of this....

 

[laclongquan]

Eames has all reasons in the world to want Kirkberk dead:

1. With him dead, the attack from Anarchs lost focus. Who is Anarchs' source? Little ol Prince just dead from Werewolves? How convenient for you Anarchs! Dead vamp can neither confirm or deny what living vamps said! That's what Tremere going to throw back on the charges laid at Eames' feet.

2. With him dead, the background noise increase that Cami might just dont hear clearly what's being shout? "Prince dead! Werewolves Rampage! Tremere conspire!"

3. Increased influence from Hob. She's under constant pressure from him and now she must agree to one of his suggestion. That might ease the pressure a bit but in a battle of will that mean a dangerous step.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

Behold! The artefact!

M:

 

[Kz3r0]

Eames covered up his murder, and now the only people who will believe that Hob is anything but a fairy tale are some shithead Anarchs who don't matter.

How this is bad?
Civil war avoided, besides, aren't we trying to stifle the Anarchs' media campaign?

Kirkbeck's death is not a tragedy. HE is dead, but HIS DOCUMENTS are still in Griddle's hands. And maybe, just maybe, the Anarch's pamphlets WILL reach the Inner Circle of the Camarilla. Or at least a Justiciar. Someone capable of maybe stopping Hob...

Lol, seems that the great plan of getting along with a bunch of street punks did very little to stop a fallen one, what a surprise.


Guys, what the fuck do you want to do, for real?

Getting along with the Anarchs' plan was obviously asking for a civil war, now you don't want' it anymore?
Oh, wait, that was your master plan for getting rid of Hob and Eames at the same time without any risk, AMIRITE?
Well, guess what, didn't work as espected, baffling, isn't it?

I humbly suggest of doing some research on all this runes popping up everywhere, and correlated places, maybe we will get some hint on how to deal with Hob, try to hire a specialist wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

[Esquilax]

It's not as simple as that. Anthony is very much an outsider among the Barons, while Eames and Turcov are established enough to dismiss what the Anarchs would say, but Anthony isn't. If the Anarchs were to release their info, Tony would be the scapegoat, not Eames/Turcov. Besides, what alternative would you propose? We had the chance to kill Griddle, but c'mon man, we would've gotten our asses kicked.

The whole issue is that with Kirkbeck and Turcov around, it wouldn't be "a bunch of street punks" there would be a lot of credibility on our side. If a Prince and a prominent Baron are denouncing Eames and saying that she's harbouring a demon, then suddenly the other Barons might start doubting her too. Having high profile people publicly denouncing Eames makes civil war less likely because it casts doubt on her. And if there is civil war, it allows us to gather enough support to ensure that it's a short one.

Now that you mention it, averting civil war is all well and good, but at what cost? How long are we going to let Eames keep doing whatever the fuck she wants, no matter how insane it is? Helping her oust Kirkbeck is one thing, but letting a Fallen take control of the Camarilla is another. How long are we going to keep going along with this?

I humbly suggest of doing some research on all this runes popping up everywhere, and correlated places, maybe we will get some hint on how to deal with Hob, try to hire a specialist wouldn't be a bad idea either.

This is a great idea. Since we're with the Gangrel already, it wouldn't hurt to ask them about the meaning behind the runes or about the Lhiannon and how they might relate to Hob. Since we're with her already, it would be smart to ask Grandmother Faa about this - it might also make them realize that there is a serious threat out there and that we aren't giving them a line of Camarilla bullshit.

The closest person to a "specialist" when it comes to Hob that I can think of would unfortunately be The Centurion. There's probably a Tremere occultist who might be helpful, but asking Eames' people for info on the runes is a bad idea.

 

[Kz3r0]

It's not as simple as that. Anthony is very much an outsider among the Barons, Eames and Turcov are established enough to dismiss what the Anarchs would say, but Anthony isn't. If the Anarchs were to release their info, Tony would be the scapegoat, not Eames/Turcov. Besides, what alternative would you propose? We had the chance to kill Griddle, but c'mon man, we would've gotten our asses kicked.

The whole issue is that with Kirkbeck and Turcov around, it wouldn't be "a bunch of street punks" there would be a lot of credibility on our side. If a Prince and a prominent Baron are denouncing Eames and saying that she's harbouring a demon, then suddenly the other Barons might start doubting her too. Having high profile people publicly denouncing Eames makes civil war less likely because it casts doubt on her. And if there is civil war, it allows us to gather enough support to ensure that it's a short one.

Now that you mention it, averting civil war is all well and good, but at what cost? How long are we going to let Eames keep doing whatever the fuck she wants, no matter how insane it is? Helping her oust Kirkbeck is one thing, but letting a Fallen take control of the Camarilla is another.

In this case we should have clear in mind what we want to do, ousting Eames?
Fine, bu what course of action we should chose for that?
Finding a way on our own?
Rallying support from other barons?How?
Taking advantage of the Anarchs' campaign?Again, how?
And we should do all of this promoting a civil war or avoiding it?
Until now we danced at the tune played by someone else, trying to cover our ass, any suggestions on how to take the initiative?
Besides, before all of this, we should make sure what Turcov's intentions are, if he sided with Eames we can be next on Hob's hit list.

I humbly suggest of doing some research on all this runes popping up everywhere, and correlated places, maybe we will get some hint on how to deal with Hob, try to hire a specialist wouldn't be a bad idea either.

This is a great idea. Since we're with the Gangrel already, it wouldn't hurt to ask them about the meaning behind the runes or about the Lhiannon and how they might relate to Hob. Since we're with her already, it would be smart to ask Grandmother Faa about this - it might also make them realize that there is a serious threat out there and that we aren't giving them a line of Camarilla bullshit.

The closest person to a "specialist" when it comes to Hob that I can think of would unfortunately be The Centurion. There's probably a Tremere occultist who might be helpful, but asking Eames' people for info on the runes is a bad idea.

People searching for knowledge tend to be very jealous of their findings, shouldn't be that hard to scout an oucast that can help us, also, why not some one in the Sabbath, in this we can be on the same book, remember who tipped us off?
Last but not least, who said that the Tremere higher ups aren't the best choice after all?
Whatever Eames is doing surely is not beneficial to them.

 

[oscar]

Does anyone else think that Hob and the Centurion are Changelings/Fae?

 

[Excidium]

I know fuck all about those things, do they get involved in mundane affairs like that?

 

[SCO]

What i think it's going to happen is that now the puppet prince is dead, the non-puppet prince will die too, and like a good little feudal society everyone will scramble to the prize.

Now, how can we scramble best?

We can help eanes - she'll need a prince.
We can screw eanes and Hob. But do it on a way that takes credit - instant prince material.
We can save the barons, by convincing them of the danger (too late for eanes alas), and either supporting the strongest or competing directly
We can out and out support the anarchs. It would be too bloody i think and only the sabbat would gain.
We can try to control hob ourselves, just in time for the public exorcism

It's not a team of ghouls that is going to take down the demon, but they'll be useful to surprise the opportunist traitors.

I wish we could kill the setite behind this shit though.

 

[Excidium]

I wish Karthik was still alive.

 

[laclongquan]

If wish were blood, Kindred wouldnt need to be around Kine.

 

[ironyuri]

It's all the vase's fault. The Settite took the form of the vase to cause all this trouble, bros.

Let's just smash the vase and then Tony will wake up and realise it has all been a dream and he's actually back in a Tripolitan field hospital as good old Monty rolls over Rommel.

We'll live happily ever after and die at 92 in the Chelsea military hospital.

 

[laclongquan]

Your phallic obsession is on a dangerous level, Charley. I would advise you take an extended visit with Jaesun, but we need permission from that corner first.

Behold! The artefact!

M: