Let's Play VtM: Wild Nights - Chapter 10

[grotsnik]

Fuck. I did give him way too many dots. I'm such a shithead.

Let's just, er...forget we saw that.

 

[SCO]

I liked it.

 

[Lord Andre]

I do believe we now know the type of blood our Anthony is restricted to drink.

Edit: Oh, you made him weaker. No more tiger blood I suppose.

 

[Black Bart Charley]

when is a fucking paupdate fuck its sunday

edit

my fucking picture looks like fucking shit! never shotld have potsed this disgrace senpuku right now

fucking skkull like a fag and i wanted first to kopy rodins skull form but nooooooo FUCk! .

 

[laclongquan]

Chapter 16 was posted on 19th. It's nearly a week since our Choice and Consequence.

Shit, I feel withdrawal.

 

[Excidium]

Fuck. I did give him way too many dots. I'm such a shithead.

Just create a normal starting character then give him a bunch of bonus starting XP and distribute as you see fit instead of putting random points.

The most absurd rating in his sheet is his humanity, somebody with 8 humanity wouldn't ignore the call for help from that person in the fire, or send an innocent to jail like Anthony did. 8 humanity is VERY rare, 8~10 is Mother Thereza level.

You can use one of these editable sheets: http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/vtm.html

But your priority should be Chapter 17! For laclongquan's sanity.

 

[SCO]

Mother Teresa level? So use a religious order to glorify suffering while denying treatment and pocketing the donations?

Sounds like Elder vampire level.

 

[Esquilax]

Just create a normal starting character then give him a bunch of bonus starting XP and distribute as you see fit instead of putting random points.

The most absurd rating in his sheet is his humanity, somebody with 8 humanity wouldn't ignore the call for help from that person in the fire, or send an innocent to jail like Anthony did. 8 humanity is VERY rare, 8~10 is Mother Thereza level.

You can use one of these editable sheets: http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/vtm.html

But your priority should be Chapter 17! For laclongquan's sanity.

Agreed. 8 humanity is just way too high. 6 or 7 humanity sounds more plausible. Anyways, I rather liked the character sheet, but I really just want to get to the thrilling conclusion of this whole Sculptor Angelos saga. I want to see how we manage to bluff Eames, as well as Donnie shrugging off horrifying Tzimisce torture as though it's mild discomfort.

@ SCO: Indeed. Mother Teresa sounds like a very cunning Elder Ventrue, I think we could learn a lot from her.

 

[Excidium]

Mother Teresa level? So use a religious order to glorify suffering while denying treatment and pocketing the donations?

Sounds like Elder vampire level.

 

[laclongquan]

Compare Mother Theresa to an Elder is like compare, hmm, Quake with Fallout 2. Totally different groups.

 

[Esquilax]

Looking at a previous update, I thought it would be interesting to bring something to everyone's attention. After the Camarilla raid, we were given a bunch of options as to what our goals in the coming nights would be:

A) To regain the Prince's support by helping him win this war.

B) To quietly increase my own powers, regaining stature (perhaps seeking out a new domain or a position under one of the Barons, making friends within a different clan?) while this mess rages on.

C) To topple du Marchais. (This could be through exposing the truth behind the Rannigan mystery, or it could be through an entirely new set-up or piece of deceit, through gaining his trust...)

D) To topple the Prince and support one of the Barons to rise in his place.

E) "To hell with them all. I can find work elsewhere." (Note: I want to keep this option here as long as it's a possibility, just because...it's a possibility. This is a genuine defection, though. If you want to join the Anarchs in order to spy on them and gain brownie points in the Camarilla, pick another option)

When we first voted, we were pretty strongly in favour of B. Consistent with that choice, we allied ourselves with Sammy Eames. After finding Karthik's Caecilian, we opted to kill him and use the beast as a trap for the Sabbat in a gambit to both bring a quick end to the war and to greatly raise our status in the Camarilla. The fact that the Sabbat war would likely threaten the Masquerade and strain our relationships with our Kine contacts the longer it dragged on was another deciding factor in that choice.

Initially, most of us were in favour of allying with Eames in order to gain power for ourselves and as a means of toppling du Marchais. Since then, du Marchais has fallen out of favour with Kirkbeck for some unknown reason, Eames is attempting to bloodbond us and is usng one of our own contacts against us, and in the meantime we've gotten very chummy with the Sheriff that she intends on ousting. If we were to vote for the list options that I quoted again, but based on our current situation, it would look like we had picked A. To be fair though, we made our initial vote before we had even went down to the sewers to begin with.

It's pretty clear that political circumstances change very quickly. Right now, the Prince is looking like the better option for us, but it wouldn't surprise me if we all suddenly change our during the next update in light of some new development. Still though, it's important to see where are goals our now vs where they were when we started.

 

[laclongquan]

Situation change! The event with Karthik is the turn point. If we had chosen using the worms, we would have had even cards to play, and more power to join other barons in topple Prince. BUT. We would have been a puppet in his hands, and subsequently in Sammy's hands or whoever blackmail us. I shudder to think of that might-have-been. You think Karthik killed the old baron in the past directly by his hands? I doubt so. Highly possible he used another patsy therefore he had more layers of security to hide behind. That's how he escaped the city-wide Sabbat-hunt of that time.

Since we chose to be servant of law and order, it's more natural to side with Prince. But I didnt, and still dont, think of it as Prince's side. More like, the side of existing establishment with Erika as its servant and guardian. I really want to entice Erika to our side, not just for romantic affairs, but also for future prospect. Plus Sommers complete her: she provide muscle and he provide political acumen.

Anyway, situation changed so we must changed direction along with that.

 

[Esquilax]

Situation change! The event with Karthik is the turn point. If we had chosen using the worms, we would have had even cards to play, and more power to join other barons in topple Prince. BUT. We would have been a puppet in his hands, and subsequently in Sammy's hands or whoever blackmail us. I shudder to think of that might-have-been. You think Karthik killed the old baron in the past directly by his hands? I doubt so. Highly possible he used another patsy therefore he had more layers of security to hide behind. That's how he escaped the city-wide Sabbat-hunt of that time.

Since we chose to be servant of law and order, it's more natural to side with Prince. But I didnt, and still dont, think of it as Prince's side. More like, the side of existing establishment with Erika as its servant and guardian. I really want to entice Erika to our side, not just for romantic affairs, but also for future prospect. Plus Sommers complete her: she provide muscle and he provide political acumen.

Anyway, situation changed so we must changed direction along with that.

No, what we should have done is kept a few body-worms as insurance in case people on our side begin plotting against us. We'd kill Karthik to keep the location secret and proceed with our assassination plot as before, except the worms would provide a contingency exactly because of shit like this. With an ace up our sleeve like that, no matter who's Prince, we would win:

(1) If we side with the Prince, we use the body-worms on Eames before she makes any moves on us. Using our newfound status as a war hero, we will declare the Sabbat responsible for the act and offer to take the "burden" of ruling Eames' domain in this dark and troubled time. Such a tragedy...

(2) If we side with Eames, we find out who Turcov's candidate is, then use the worms on him. In the absence of an alternative, they'd be forced to keep Erika as Sheriff.

In either case, the result would be the same. We'd get a Barony and our girl Erika would remain Sheriff.

However... perhaps we can still salvage this. If we tell Erika about Eames' scheming against the Prince, the attempt at bloodbonding us, and her position as Sheriff at risk, she might be enraged enough to kill Eames. If we can contact Erika covertly, I'd like to ask her to salvage any stray body-worms she finds in the cave, if possible. Eames would never expect it after the Caecilian's dead, and nobody would ever suspect us of any kind of skulduggery on our part because of our status as Camarilla hero. Yes, we should have taken the worms while we had the chance, but if we can still do that in light of recent events, then it would be a serious advantage.

We'd still need a covert way of contacting Erika and a method of delivery to take out Eames/Turcov's guy, but hey, the option's there. I'm thinking maybe getting Oscar on our side again and getting him to slip a few slugs into her coffin. I'm still not so sure about that option, but I know she would never suspect him. Also, even if Eames is a conniving bitch, this is a pretty ruthless thing to do and we'd probably take a hit to our Humanity. Since the Sabbat would be to blame, the war would get dragged on further, which is pretty much the exact opposite of what we had initially set out to do. I want to make it clear that this will be a last resort. Let's see what happens in the next update and see what we'll do from there.

This is just wishful thinking, but maybe Donnie will have the wisdom and foresight to hold on to a few of the little buggers for us once he's in the pit. Maybe he'll think the Caecilian is just too fun to destroy completely.

 

[laclongquan]

You forget the price we must pay if you want to use worms: eliminate Eddie and possibly Donnie.

Eddie was very much unease with the worms. AND he just lost one of his muscle so he's pissed. So choosing the worms risk alienating him and may lead to him tattletale on us later. If we go that route we must kill him. And he's a very good user of celerity and guns, plus one of his muscle. Extreme risky for that action.

Donnie is not easy. While his madness may allow us that liberty, it's no sure chance to bet on that. Better than even chance he turn on us at that moment along with Eddie.

The grape is not just green and sour, it's fucking poisonous.

 

[grotsnik]

Chapter 17 - The Final Countdown


You bluff, of course. When have you ever done anything else?

Leaning forward as if turning the problem over in your head, you meet Eames' gaze and insist, with complete earnestness,

"As long as du Marchais gets what's coming to him. That's all that matters to me. The Sheriff, the Prince - they can all go. But I want Whitehall back."

She beams.

"Oh, darling," she says, "that's what I love about you. You're not afraid to think big."

And as she flicks out her cards, one by one, face up onto the table, a shrill ululation of Gaelic delight rings out from behind the closed door -

"We'reinthefeckingmoneynowmotherfuckers!"


*


On the tiny screen, figures are moving towards the tiny door in the bottom of the station.

Two of them take their places at the door; the third moves through.

"Sabbat?" Eames asks.

Oscar shrugs.

"Could be ravers," he says, twiddling a pen between his fingers. "Wouldn't it be sorta funny if it were ravers? If anyone deserves to get eaten and torn up into an abomination of living flesh, it's a cunt wearing wristbands and a fluorescent builder's jacket."

"It's them," you murmur. "Pack members, by the looks of things. Is the bug picking up, Oscar?"

Oscar flicks at the keyboard for a moment.

And then, distorted and muffled, hidden behind wails of static, you can make out the hisses and whimpers of the Caecilian.

"Relay's working," Oscar announces.

Eames frowns.

"The beast sounds hungry," she says. "Or...distressed."

The four of you stand over the cameras, in silence, waiting.


*


Forty-five minutes before you finally hear it. The pacing of feet, extremely faint. The body-worms begin to shriek.

"He took his time," Fellowes mutters.

"Maybe he got lost down there," says Oscar.

"Or he was checking for traps," you reply. "Let's not underestimate them."

The steps become louder, and louder. And, at last, stop.

"Right," Oscar says, "he's standing on the ledge now."

"He's stopped moving," Eames says.

A low scratching sound.

"What's he doing?" Oscar asks.

You gaze down at the two Sabbat figures, entirely still on either side of the station doors.

"Looking to see if the stone's been disturbed," you say.

"He won't find anything," Eames says. She sounds considerably more confident than you feel.


*


You wait, and wait. Fellowes begins to pace. Oscar sits back in his chair, grinning widely, and hums beneath his breath. Eames remains very still, her arms crossed, gazing down at the monitors.

"No noise from him for a while," Oscar says. "I reckon he's headed back up."

And, sure enough, ten minutes later, the figure emerges out into the darkness. It appears to share a few words with the Kindred standing watch.

Then it steps forward, and raising something towards its own head.

"Phone," Eames murmurs, breathlessly.

The Sabbat figure remains still for a moment. Finally, it lowers the phone and takes up a position leaning against the wall next to its fellows.

Fellowes, despite himself, whoops aloud and does a little jig.

Oscar swivels in his chair and extends his grisly hand towards you. You take it, without hesitation.

"They're stayin', Pat," he says. "You've done it - you've got 'em on the hook. Now we just got to reel 'em into the open air."

"And gut them," Eames adds, giggling.

She grins. You smile back.



*



An hour and a half until dawn.

"They won't come tonight," Fellowes says, decisively. "They'll wait till tomorrow morning. They can't risk being caught so close to the Thames near sun-up."

But he's wrong; and ten minutes later, like creeping shadows in the daylight, the Sabbat come.


*


"Shitty titties," Oscar breathes, gazing at the dark shapes scurrying across his screen. "How many of them are there?"

"Two packs," Eames says. "Maybe more."

And at the centre, walking calmly and at their own pace as the pack members spread out across the tarmac-

"There's Jamieson," you note. "And the tall Tzimisce next to him...that's our man."

You gaze down at the faint, mishapen figure as it approaches the doors of Battersea.

"Is it me," Fellowes says, "or is Jamieson holding his arm in a funny way?"

Eames' fingers tug, gently, at your sleeve. She nods back towards the saferoom.



*



Eames tosses the mobile gently into your hands.

"I think it's best you make the call, dear," she says. "Keep your fingerprints all over this. Simone will detonate the bomb and Schiller and the rest of my people will swoop in to finish off the guards."

She gives you a sympathetic look.

"That Malk may be able to get out," she tells you, "and he may not. But either way, making sure we don't miss our chance with Angelos is what's important. We're on the same page here, aren't we, Anthony, darling?"


How will you act, when it comes to it?


A) Once Angelos is on the ledge, the bomb goes off. If Jamieson hasn't thought through how to escape, that's his problem. We're too close to dawn to delay this.

B) We call in the cavalry early; give Jamieson a reason to head up to the surface. He can always bluff that the Sheriff's people must have found the Caecilian. But will Angelos stay where he is if he hears the Camarilla are coming, or will he try to make his escape?

C) We wait. We can't afford to lose Jamieson. Hopefully he can find an excuse to get away from the caves of his own accord.

 

[Undead Phoenix]

A

A bit of friendly fire never hurt anyone.

 

[Azira]

Option A

Jamieson knew what he was getting into.

 

[Esquilax]

Holy fucking shit! The entire fucking Sabbat is in that cave right now!

Which means that Angelos must really trust Donnie now. And is extremely eager to try out his new toy considering how many people he brought along. No, if the Sheriff comes, he won't rush up to fight or try to escape - he'll want to stick around and see just what this thing can do. Donnie, ever eager to please, will tell Angelos that he can lure the Sheriff into the cave for an ambush by giving himself up. After all, the Sculptor should stay and watch first-hand as the Caecilian devours his enemies. Donnie can play it up as his first mission in service of the Sabbat. The trap hasn't been spotted, Donnie's already managed to survive through a torture session and has probably undergone a Vaulderie, so this last step will be child's play for him. Angelos is far too invested to walk away from the con right now, not after all the work we made him do tonight, not when he's so close. Now we give our man a way out.

Also, with Eddie and Oscar around, a gesture like this will let them know that we don't leave our bros behind at the nearest convenience. Disagreeing with Eames here will do more to bring Oscar to our side than any persuasive argument will.

EDIT: Yep, Angelos will believe anything Donnie says:

“I can give you a talon,” Angelos replies, soothingly, “a beautiful thing of bone, if you so desire.

"Is it me," Fellowes says, "or is Jamieson holding his arm in a funny way?"

B) We call in the cavalry early; give Jamieson a reason to head up to the surface. He can always bluff that the Sheriff's people must have found the Caecilian. But will Angelos stay where he is if he hears the Camarilla are coming, or will he try to make his escape?

 

[Storyfag]

In the interest of showing Edgar and Oscar that we care for our associates, B.

 

[laclongquan]

Two packs. That's a hell of a lot Sabbat. Plus Angelos. This is one major battle that will decide the tide of war.

Angelos know for sure some goodies is in the ground. He got two packs of Sabbat as protection. Unless the entire tunnels get destroyed, which his pack tell him they cant, they can always retreat underground to stay out of morning sun. So it's not much of a risk even if battle break out.

Can Tzimisce communicate with this Caellian motherworm? This is one pivot. If they can, then it's highly possible our ambush will fail unless we blow right then and there the moment Angelos stand on the ledge.

A drawn out battle with Sabbat in here is undesirable: close combat in tight tunnel lead to high body count which is a result we dont want. We want something clean and quick.

And it's no use waiting for Donnie. He's under too tight a watch even if his intel was proved to be right. It's our job to create chaos for him to survive and escape.

Now consider this not-so-hypothetical situation:
You are heading into the armory. your informant said it's all stocked up and so far his info is dead on the money. There's some disturbance at the gate and your informant say let him deal with that. Do you let him do that?

Hell no! I will insist politely that he follow us to the destination, let the underlings deal with that. After all, this is his personal triumph, right? I will stick a gun to his spine to force him along if need be. No way I will let him out of my sight after that laughable attempt to get out of this trap. After all, a trap is no longer a trap, an ambush is no longer an ambush, if we know it's there and the prize is real.

Or we could just abort the armory raid if we dont want to tempt fate and ambush. BUT ABSOLUTELY ONE THING we dont do is let the little shit out of our grasp.

So no. I think B or C is a mistake that could fail the ambush. We dont make any move. The first sign of trouble will be the BOOOOM under that ledge. Donnie will know to stand near enough so as to not arouse suspicion but at correct location as to not in the blast zone. After all, he's there every second from start to finish.

And once the bomb explode, couple with the cami muscles moving in, the chaos will be enough for Donnie to get out of Dodge. He stashed enough stuffs there to arm himself.

IF he dont.... well, aint he a bit dumb then? He know everything from start to finish, he should know how not stand in the blast radius. And it's one dumbass trade for a hell of a lot Sabbat, it's a great deal.

It's AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

 

[Kz3r0]

A, everything else will arise suspicion and will definitely endanger Donnie more than try to escape at the last minute, if Angelos isn't planning to use him as a guinea pig, of course.

 

[Esquilax]

I was under the impression that the bomb was powerful enough to wipe out everything in the cave, so we'd have to provide a proper distraction beforehand so that Donnie could leave in one piece. If that's not the case, and he could remain in the cave but still relatively safe from being burnt to cinders by being out of the blast radius, then yeah, A makes sense. He'd escape in the ensuing chaos and pick up the weapons we had stashed for him, or alternatively just run away and Obfuscate. If it's possible for him to stay out of the blast zone, then I pick A.

 

[Sergiu64]

A

Hope Jameson has something up his sleeve, other then a missing arm that is.

 

[laclongquan]

Look, all preparations Donnie was present for. He know the plan inside and out. He know how much dangers this shit has. And he's an adrenaline junkie. He's in all the way. The ultimate experience of this espacade, obviously, will be surviving the explosion and the resulted fire. He want adventure? We are giving him the Brit version, extreme Shepard style.

Frankly, after the very-much-uncalled-for beatings from his tender hands, my finely honed patience is frayed at the end. If he live? Fine, he's a hero, a fucking legend. If he die? See me cry an ocean.

If he think beating so hard my Beast awakened is not worthy of a little bit of revenge, so much the worse for his unthinkingness.

 

[Lord Andre]

I vote B I guess.

A high body count on both sides is ok with me.