Let's Play VtM: Wild Nights - Chapter 10

[SCO]

Preferential voting time.

either
Arrange to send the video to the sheriff by phone call and A)
Tell Oscar to send the video anonymously to the sheriff or prince and A)

The other options don't appeal. B) is doing fuck all and asking to be set up for the prince murder. Change your votes people.

@grotsnik, is B) really "going along" or just calling the sheriff or Oscar to call the sheriff denies that?
If B) doesn't matter if we tell oscar to send or we can send the video by phone to the sheriff, then:
Arrange to send the video to the sheriff by phone call and B)
Tell Oscar to send the video anonymously to the sheriff or prince and B)

Is ok for me.

 

[grotsnik]

@grotsnik, is B) really "going along" or just calling the sheriff or Oscar to call the sheriff denies that?
If B) doesn't matter if we tell oscar to send or we can send the video by phone to the sheriff, then:
B) and arrange to send the video to the sheriff by phone call
B) and tell Oscar to send the video anonymously to the sheriff or prince.

Is ok for me.

I wanted to leave it open so people could come up with different strategies using the phone call. So B means just what it says; you go along to the meeting and don't disrupt it publically with your evidence. If you want to try and get the evidence to one individual beforehand, that's fine. But you're going to be (presumably) attending a war council in which du Marchais will tell everyone that the Sabbat are holding Rannigan. B means you'll go along with that in front of the rest of the Camarilla. Any other nuances are entirely up to you fine gents.

 

[SCO]

Fine, then:

phone the sheriff about the evidence and B)
or if that is not winning
phone Oscar for him to send the evidence anonymously to the prince/sheriff and B)

 

[ironyuri]

Alright,

My vote is still B and still (P) Oscar. But I am happy for us to ask him to send not only what we already have, but anything else he finds anonymously to the Sheriff (and a copy to us just incase).

I think laclongquan's Sabbat suggestion worked if we had worked so far toward joining the Sabbat, but if we're going to claw our way to the top in the Camarilla, this way should work best.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

Oh sweet, we can deal with da Sheriff? Fuck yeah! Romance! Or a gorgeous final death!
Switching from doublecross to a honest "please-dont-kill-me"

Phone Sheriff with evidence

We need a "Who you gonna call" poll.

 

[Esquilax]

Fine, then:

phone the sheriff about the evidence and B)
or if that is not winning
phone Oscar for him to send the evidence anonymously to the prince/sheriff and B)

Why do it directly rather than anonymously? If we do so directly, it'll give ourselves away. At this point, we are unaware of what Schiller's true allegiances are. I'm fairly certain that she hates du Marchand, and she's probably not involved with any of this kidnapping business, but at this point, we just aren't certain how deep this goes. We can't risk tipping our hand at such a critical juncture.

Another major positive here is that we get to see how she reacts to the news once we get to the meeting.

The major problem with this choice is that if she knows we gave her the info, we're at her mercy. If the Prince asks her where she got her info, guess what she's going to say? She'll blow our cover, which will render option B (staying quiet for now) completely moot. She can out us at any time. But if we work in secrecy and begin to trust her, we can turn a current enemy into an ally. If she's in cahoots with him, we're doubly fucked.

I think Oscar will agree to this for a variety of reasons. We've earned a lot of good will with him by seeing him and bringing Fellowes along with us. Second, we specifically told him that we wouldn't sell him out - calling him indicates that we're forthright with him and we'll make it very clear that sending the evidence anonymously will help us to avert a pointless battle where many Kindred to die, possibly us and Eddie among them. Oscar is a Nossie, I'm sure that his encryption skills are slick enough that his little tip-off will never get traced back to him.

Lastly, this just absolutely seems like something that a shrewd, political Ventrue would do. I think it's a sound plan.

Now, the real question is whether to contact the Prince with this anonymously. While I would absolutely love the opportunity to see how Kirkbeck reacts during the upcoming meeting from our hidden vantage point, I am very worried that a call to the Prince will be more easy to trace. Not sure if Oscar would do something that risky, but even if he would, it would seriously be putting his ass on the line.

 

[SCO]

We do it directly because at this point we have no faction. It's fine and all to want to prince, but if you're a 13 generation fucking one step above thin-blood, that ain't going to fucking happen.

This gives us the goodwill of a faction, secretly and if we want to betray them later, what of it? It makes us even better positioned. In your work, do you by any chance do the work others are assigned and take no credit? That is peasant mentality.

IF the call can be securely encrypted, but the message credits us at the same time (no anonymity), i have no objection.
As if the sheriff is loyal or not. I say yes:
The current troubles are being orchestrated.
The Ravnos indicated that
1) a setite is in town (setites are called the serpents duh)
2) it is against the gangrel ethos to backstab.
3) she is the sheriff, and for quite a while. If i was a 1/4 competent prince, only the utmost loyal bruiser would command my troops. The elders/primogens also have a interest in that, and she would be vetted by them

 

[laclongquan]

The crazy Sabbat D is because we dont want to lose Oscar.

However, now that we have a chance out of it, I can rethink my option:

By calling Oscar we can have him send evidence electronically and above all we have him knowing that we value his existence. We can depend on his skill to do it tracelessly. There's a chance his file got trace back and he get killed for it but it's our neck on the line here and ultimately it's his skill.

By calling him we also have a chance to see if he dig up some more info.

And in that case A appeal. We dig up a hell of a lot leads that we just cant let Du marchais profit.

In this war council we dont agree with Du Marchais interpretation that Sabbat held Terrance (even though you know better). you say there's something fishy going on with Terrance. We dont say it out loud or clear in order to give prince a way out, an implicit threat. Furthermore, a video sent to Sheriff will make her sit up and oppose to this operation of Du Marchais.

Implied blackmail, backstab, a true Ventrue way. Also a chance for closer working relation with Sheriff, is a chance not to be missed.

And that is my vote. (P) Oscar with AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

I edit the original voting post in order for only one voting post appear. I still think calling Sabbat is better but seem no chance of that win so I must flip. If that option gain more popularity and have a chance of coming back I will definitely swing back to it.

 

[SCO]

Read again: you can warn the prince without calling attention to the evidence origin to the other clans (or sabbat infiltrators) by choosing to phone the sheriff or oscar and choosing b)

The nosferatu will know anyway.

 

[ironyuri]

Is there an optionn to shear our manhood and throw it at the Prince in disgust at this war council?


Just sayin'.

 

[SCO]

I know you love the tzimisce for some strange reason, but i would counsel not to get near them at all if you can (or the sabbat even, due to their blood bond practices).

Clan tzimisce blood is bad business. It is the tzimisce antediluvian.

 

[laclongquan]

B is leaving Du Marchais alone.

A, however, is backstabing him in front of everyone. Think about it: you disagree with his evidence, the basis of rationale for the attack. When Sheriff standing up it mean that Du Marchais are showing to be scheming to have lots of Camarilla vamps die for no good reason. He will lose the support of barons. Could get staken for that, if we are lucky.

Prince wont like us but A is to gather supports from barons, not to kiss prince's ass.

B is kiss Prince's ass. And not much more than that.

A is riskier with more prizes.

 

[SCO]

It is betraying the prince with something that is not immediate grounds for execution. Even if the prince is killed right then and there, you'd never be the prince or any political power at all again.

The elders wouldn't give a fuck about you especially since you're one step above thinblood. Also nobody like a snitch.

You'd probably die on your grand plan to embarrass the prince. This is not enough, and we don't have the muscle.

If you'd wait until the raid (disaster) happens, maybe you could bring the Prince down, but not be the Prince yourself. Then again duMarchais is planning the same, and is better prepared to patsy you.

 

[laclongquan]

Wrong!

I said "we dont agree with Du Marchais interpretation that Sabbat held Terrance (even though you know better). you say there's something fishy going on with Terrance. We dont say it out loud or clear in order to give prince a way out, an implicit threat"

The main purpose is backstabing Du Marchais. My option is never for dethrone Prince, since we dont have anything anyway and at the end of day dethrone a prince should always go with force.

What my option intend for:

- backstabing Du marchais

- Stop the operation

- gain the support of barons

- gain some measure of friendship/relationship with Sheriff.

- blackmail Prince is purely accidental and not the purpose.

Clear?

 

[ironyuri]

grotsnik said we're a higher generation, 12th or 13th, but that we're definitely not thin blooded.

If I could remember which page the quote was on I'd use it.

 

[SCO]

Fine. That works out too. Just don't bring the evidence with you. That handily implicates you as the informer.
A says you bring it, B says you don't.

So if we get kidnapped again, we don't give things out needlessly.
I'm not changing my vote(s) btw.

@ironyurl i said one step above thinblood: 14 generation is thin-blood enough to make dhampirs. That's thin blood to me.

 

[Zero Credibility]

All right, since apparently we cannot contact the regent, I'm too for anonymously sending the evidence to sheriff. Contact Oscar and let him do it - but ask him if he can do it without exposing himself. If not, it might be better to do it ourself on the way to the meeting (we have 45 minutes, right?). Dominate a random human into sending it from a internet cafe or something, then make him forget about it. It could still be traced back to us, but it will take some time. And it wouldn't expose Oscar.

But, don't send all of it. Our goal is to show that Du Marchais is lying - nothing else. For that, the second part of the tape (with the goons shoving the guy in the car) should be enough. Keep the first part (with the invisible stalker) to ourself - we can use it to find out what really happened or for information trade. Secrets are power.

Then just hang back and see what happens (B). Openly accusing Du Marchais of lying (A) is too risky - there are just too many unknowns at the moment. No reason to not take a copy of the evidence (and Fellowes) with ourself though - just in case we need it.

 

[Esquilax]

Not to mention that with A, we have to sell out our best source of intel in Oscar. Sending it anonymously allows us to get someone with more pull and the Prince's ear to present the evidence, all without revealing ourselves. If Schiller is honest and uninvolved in any of this, I think her loyalty to the Camarilla will cause her to expose the evidence. It can't get traced back to us if the Prince gets desperate and Dominates her. We need to operate from the shadows.

I don't like the idea of her knowing we sent it. So she takes the credit, big fucking deal. We need to stay alive right now and stir some doubt in du Marchand's story before we think about who takes credit for what.

 

[Kz3r0]

I am switching my vote to :
Call Oscar, see if there are new informations and ask him to send the evidence anonymously to the sheriff, minus the obfuscated part.

B) get along with Du Marchais' plan at the meeting.

To make voting clear quote the above if you agree.

 

[Zero Credibility]

I just thought of something - in order for sending the video to the sheriff to work, she has to be able to receive the recording in the first place. Do we actually know the number of her cell phone - what if she called us from a fixed line? Hell, does she even have a cell phone capable of receiving a video? If not, we would have no way of sending the video to her as she's probably on the way to the meeting or there already.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

no i want to call the sheriff personally

 

[Erebus]

It would very useful to know whether the Sheriff is more loyal to the Camarilla or to the Prince.

Keep in mind that the Prince and du Marchais may very well be working together on this : du Marchais brings evidence against the Sabbat -> the Prince starts a real war against the Sabbat -> his power increases -> he rewards du Marchais. Well, technically, he's already started rewarding du Marchais by giving him what's ours.

It seems Rannigan wasn't as loyal to the Prince as he seemed. If the Prince learned about it, he may well have decided to get rid of him in secret and use his disappearance as a pretext for war. Two birds with one stone. Rannigan was probably captured by whoever it was we saw chasing him, but the Prince probably believes him dead.

Evidence can be fabricated or distorted. We shouldn't assume that what we have is enough to make everyone believe us. And what we send to the Sheriff will almost certainly be transferred to the Prince, who may decide to reward us for our detective skills by having us become a pile of dust. A raid is really a great occasion for unfortunate accidents to happen.

If we survive the night but the raid goes wrong, I wouldn't be surprised if we were framed for the failure. Having somebody close to us who works for the Sabbat may be a problem, but getting rid of her wouldn't make things better. Anyway, let's focus on how to survive the next few hours !

 

[Storyfag]

I am switching my vote to :
Call Oscar, see if there are new informations and ask him to send the evidence anonymously to the sheriff, minus the obfuscated part.

B) get along with Du Marchais' plan at the meeting.

Though I *am* a bit uneasy with the idea that we're unlikely to gain any credit for unearthing the stuff. Still, keeping the obfuscated part to ourselves will likely allow us to find out what *really* happened to Rannigan, and get our credit *then*

 

[Erebus]

no i want to call the sheriff personally

If there's a raid against the Sabbat about to be launched, she'll probably be in charge of it. I don't think she's going to take some of her precious time to talk to someone she despises. She'll probably believe we're trying to save ourselves by lying and hang up immediately.

 

[Zero Credibility]

we show her the footage. she'll fucking stop to think if she sees the prince's muscle kidnapping rannigan

edit: and we can tell her to show the footage to sammy eames before we arrive.

Unless of course, the sheriff is in on the whole thing, in which case we would be signing our own death warrant. Or her sense of duty gets her to show the footage to the prince, and we just manage to royally piss him off.

Much better to stay in the shadows and see what's going on before we commit ourself.