Let's Play VtM: Warsaw by Night - Chapter 3

[Gondolin]

That's what you said before! We're on to you, mofo!

 

[Esquilax]

A week has passed, yet the day draws on without promise of UPDATAN!!! Why do you lie?

 

[Storyfag]

I'm a busy man

 

[Storyfag]

Still no proper update yet, but since a picture can tell a thousand words, here are a few shots of Warsaw's Centre:

The odd structure to the left is the Palace of Culture and Science, beneath which Prince Bierut declared his Elysium.

A riverside view.

And finally something the Codex should appreciate:

An isometric view

All these are in stark contrast with:

the latest haunt of the Bloody Jester's Pack...

 

[Excidium]

Cool city bro!

But:

 

[Storyfag]

Cool city bro!

But:

What? Are you disturbed by the rare public appearence of Hilda Grolsche?

Now, UPDATE TIME!

First, I decided to use Jewgle Earth to give you a better idea of the shithole you're presently exploring:

The red dot is the precise location of the overgrown "tunnel" from the last picture I posted. It leads north towards the railway tracks and to the Bloody Jester's Pack's base of operations. You might also notice green dots to the right. These indicate the only connections your area has to the regular urban landscape. Everything else is cut-off by railway tracks, which are certainly NOT passable by motorcycle or car.

***


Almost immediately you’re accosted by a sentry. A burly Cainite with a shaggy mane and wild eyes. Gangrel, by the looks of it. He identifies himself merely as Karl and leads you to a ruined hovel. No doubt the building once served someone as a weekend retreat, and a large one at that. Presently it houses a trio of monsters so much like and so much unlike yourself. One obviously stands out, with his flamboyant purple suit, chalk-white skin, green hair and an unnatural, wide smile on his red lips. This, you presume, must be the Bloody Jester. But before you can even think 'Caine help me, a Malk', you notice a familiar dark face framed by curly black hair and a meticulously kept goatee.

'Vidal' you spit out, at the sight of the Spaniard, your thoughts racing. 'What are you doing here?'

Have you lost the Bishop's confidence, you wonder? Has he sent Guillermo Vidal here to check up on you? Or maybe one blasted Spaniard scratches the back of another one? You're pretty sure Vidal has Vallejo's ear. Or he was simply spying on your little council with Konrad, by whatever means at his disposal. You can't help to wonder what could be his agenda here. Trying to undermine your authority even before you managed to establish it? A fiasco of the Lange affair would be most unfortunate for your position at the Bishop's court.

'Same as you, I presume' he replies. It appears the other Mystic is as displeased to see you as you are to see him. 'Greeting our illustrious guests.'

'And quite splendidly, might I add' the Malk cuts in, his grin growing even larger. 'I am the Joker, but "Bloody Jester" will also do. It's a pleasure to meet you, Prelate Morris. Mr. Vidal was telling me all about you.'

'Oh, I'm sure' you accept his outstretched hand, not allowing even a hint of reluctance to show.

'And this' the Jester indicates the third Cainite in the room, a tall, blue-eyed man with blonde hair 'is the Reverend Sven, who takes care of the spiritual needs of my little posse and whose talents graced me with the face I now proudly wear. Believe me, I was in terrible pain when I was trapped beneath my original face. Luckily good Sven freed me!'

'How kind of him 'you shake the pack priest's hand. 'That's all of you?' You ask, wondering how three Cainites could cause enough of a disturbance that Templar Makowski, the Fiend charged with maintaining contact with all of the arriving packs, felt the need to report it to the Bishop.

'Not at all' Sven replies with a thick Scandinavian accent. 'Karl you already met. Mike is out foraging, while Harley and Bernarde are securing a kine in the larder.'

'Don't bore the good Prelate with trivia, Sven' the Bloody Jester cuts him off. 'I'm really glad you made it here to our temporary haven, you see ' he says, turning to you. 'Mr. Vidal warned me you might not make it for several days.'

'Did he?' You ask, shooting a glance at the other Mystic. 'Guillermo my friend, why would you say such things? You must know the importance of the mission our Lord Bishop saw fit to give me and our friend the Jester.'

'Of course' he replies, but you're sure he's lying.

'Well, I still don't!' The Bloody Jester exclaims. 'The Bishop's little bird only brought a messege telling me to expect you, my dear Keeper. And good Mr. Vidal was only filling me in on the specifics of the city. And now it's almost dawn. Can we get started with the briefing already?'


And here are your choices:
A) Simply decline to outline the plan while Vidal is here. While this might expose a rift in the Bishop's power structure to outsiders, this is a minor consideration.
B) Outline the plan. Insufferable though he might be, Vidal is Sabbat. He might even be useful in carrying out the hit on Lange.
C) A vaulderie should be a suitable excuse. Try to manouvre Vidal into partaking. The ritual might result in him developing positive feelings toward you.
D) A vaulderie should be a suitable excuse. Try to exclude Vidal from partaking. The ritual might result in you developing positive feelings toward him.
E) Try some more small talk. Maybe you could ascertain Vidal's purpose here this way.
F) Suggest something I didn't think about.

Also, I would like to follow the most

tradition of boasting about my own C&C. Had you guise immediately went to meet the Bloody Jester's Pack instead of wanking all over THE VASE, you would have gotten here before your "friend" Vidal did. But you've given him plenty of time alone with them.
Caine knows what shit he told them about you

 

[Kz3r0]

B) Outline the plan.

 

[Excidium]

Vases are always our top priority.

I vote C), it's Vaulderie time! I don't think it'll help much with Vidal but at least will prevent him from fucking up our operation.

 

[Esquilax]

We are conducting a very tough operation here - discipline and teamwork will be paramount. The vaulderie is essential for ensuring this. However, I am still not sure yet. Could Vidal end up losing face if he refuses the vaulderie? Btw, why would anyone pick D? I don't the benefit in being bonded to him while he has no such connection to us. Unless of course, you meant that he would be completely removed from the ritual (i.e. he doesn't drink anyone else's blood nor does anyone else drink his blood), which I could see as beneficial since the pack would then have positive feelings towards us.

 

[Hellraiser]

Does the vaulderie mean we tell him the plan or not, or will we decide that after the ritual? At any rate if the Bishop didn't inform him of the hitjob plan then we shouldn't do that ourselves. C) and D) seem like good options at any rate because they should make the pack less likely to screw us over. Small talk won't help if he has an agenda he is trying to keep secret and if he doesn't it would be a waste of time. Although it might be a good idea in the long run. Still considering what I will vote for, will wait for the other bros to post their thoughts on this.

There's a tradition about boasting about ones own C&C?

 

[Storyfag]

Unless of course, you meant that he would be completely removed from the ritual (i.e. he doesn't drink anyone else's blood nor does anyone else drink his blood), which I could see as beneficial since the pack would then have positive feelings towards us.

This is exactly what I had in mind.

Does the vaulderie mean we tell him the plan or not, or will we decide that after the ritual?

It means the ritual will take place now and any other decisions will take place the next night.

There's a tradition about boasting about ones own C&C?

Ever heard of CD Projekt Red? They made this gaem, "The Witcher"

 

[grotsnik]

Man, that first picture of Warsaw by night has a certain funky Deus Ex-ish quaity to it. Or maybe it's just that giant quasi-futuristic poster of a gimp Excidium pointed out.

I think it's C for me too.

 

[Gondolin]

B. We're fucked.

There's a tradition about boasting about ones own C&C?

I think root used to do it in the WH4K adventures.

 

[Hellraiser]

I'm going with C) remember that the reason we went here was to "befriend" the pack. Ordering them around the first time we see them may not be the best of ideas, we need to be bros with them before telling them of the hitjob.

 

[oscar]

B)

 

[Онега]

B) Outline the plan. Insufferable though he might be, Vidal is Sabbat. He might even be useful in carrying out the hit on Lange.

Gaybonding is gay.

 

[Esquilax]

Almost immediately you’re accosted by a sentry. A burly Cainite with a shaggy mane and wild eyes. Gangrel, by the looks of it. He identifies himself merely as Karl and leads you to a ruined hovel. No doubt the building once served someone as a weekend retreat, and a large one at that. Presently it houses a trio of monsters so much like and so much unlike yourself. One obviously stands out, with his flamboyant purple suit, chalk-white skin, green hair and an unnatural, wide smile on his red lips. This, you presume, must be the Bloody Jester. But before you can even think 'Caine help me, a Malk', you notice a familiar dark face framed by curly black hair and a meticulously kept goatee.

The update implies that our rival Vidal has Templar Vallejo's ear, but I think we can piece together what Vidal's purpose here was. To refresh my memory, I read the updates from the beginning and I found this pretty revealing exchange between Bishop Konrad and Vallejo:

'I will not stand for a security risk like that!' Vallejo angrily slams her hand on the table, her shadow growing larger and more menacing. You wonder if she had ever learned any of the dire powers of Obtenebration her grandsire, and distant mortal ancestor, judging by her second name, honed in Madrid under Cardinal Moncada's eye. Rumour has it she indeed was one of the Black Legionnaires back in the late nineties.

I'm pretty sure this is what happened: Vallejo thought that hitting Lange was a foolish idea because it posed a security risk - her outburst at the Chantry is proof of this. Since she couldn't go against Bishop K outright since he is her superior, she instead opted for some underhanded manipulation to nip this assassination attempt in the bud. She told our buddy Vidal to meet up with the Jester's pack ASAP and interfere with things/give them reason to mistrust us. If the hit is a complete failure, Vallejo can then encourage the Bishop to hunker down and hold off on the Crusade until a later date, while at the same time blaming Mr Morris for his "incompetence".

Lange, who would end up surviving the assassination quite easily due to Vidal's interference, would simply assume that Sabbat presence in Warsaw was limited to a few marauding packs of shovelheads who can barely tie their own shoelaces. It would lull everyone into a false sense of security. It's pretty clever.

EDIT: F) Tell Vidale to fuck off.

 

[Storyfag]

Oh, and I also think that it's essential that after we brief the Jester, we tell him that we would like to take part in a vaulderie tomorrow night, just prior to the hit, for morale purposes.

But... Lange won't be arriving tommorow night yet. All you know is that you should expect him "within the week".

 

[CappenVarra]

Oh boy.

At any rate if the Bishop didn't inform him of the hitjob plan then we shouldn't do that ourselves.

Exactly. B) is out of the question.

Now, for the all important numbers: we're 10th gen, but which gen is Vidal?

We have 3 ranks of Dominate, so we could be very rude (as the fucker's been to us) and simply use "The Forgetful Mind: Rewrite the memories of a target" to go with B) and then make him forget everything we said. Or any other Dominate power that might make him go away or be a non-factor

Also, 3 ranks of Auspex give us the following tools to possibly figure out what Vidal is up to:
- An Ear for Lies: Know when someone lies to you
- Aura Perception: Learn various qualities of a person from their aura

His generation also affects the likely outcome of the vaulderie... Give me numbers damn it

 

[Storyfag]

1st: You have the Aura Perception power. Definitely not the other one.
2nd: as far as you can tell, Vidal is, indeed, 11th generation.

 

[CappenVarra]

Thanks for the information, now to figure out how would Dominate affect the situation... No time now, probably within 24 hours (if you don't plan to close the voting by then).

 

[Онега]

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

 

[Storyfag]

Thanks for the information, now to figure out how would Dominate affect the situation... No time now, probably within 24 hours (if you don't plan to close the voting by then).

Don't mind me. Talk away. I love to read WoD DISCUSS!

 

[Esquilax]

EDIT: Fuck it, Dominating the guy is a bad idea - we need to confront this asshole directly and show the Jester that we have the strength and the authority to lead.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Mr Morris will begin by obliging the Jester's request for an explanation, then he'd look over at Vidale and say "We will LEAVE for the airport and rendezvous at x location". With the command implanted, Vidale will fuck off for a bit while we explain to our people what we need them to do. It won't look too suspicious, the Jester won't think that there's a feud between us, and it'll throw our rival off our tracks for a little while. I dunno, what do you guys think?

Sounds good, what are the consequences of this failing?