Most of us manage to crawl our way to the game on time: Paul (Allen MaCavity), Tim (Byron Ignatiou), Bruce (Jack Rowell), and Chris (in charge, right up until we start making improper comments about Pocky Sticks). Chuck (Derek Stone) leaves a rather bleary message that boils down to "I'm incoherent, so I'm probably not going to make it today." His message turns out to be prophetically correct, as he fails to show up.
The session starts on Monday evening, February 19th, the night when everyone gets together to wake up Jack. In keeping with his players' absence, Derek Stone suddenly becomes very upset and stomps out of the room.
Jack Rowell gets unstaked, finding himself in surprisingly good condition and wearing a suit of substantially higher quality than he is accustomed to. He implicitly thanks Scourge Jeffrey Harper for his hospitality by not going into a Frenzy. The characters gather him up and take him away.
Jack Rowell calls the Sheriff to find out when and where the four Sabbat prisoners are going to be interrogated. He gets a name and an address in the Galleria, and is told to be there is forty-five minutes. He and Allen MaCavity borrow a car from Scourge Harper and drive over. Byron Ignatiou escorts them on a motorcycle, then breaks off to go hunting.
The characters arrive at McShorties, where the Sheriff's lieutenant Ricky Sultan meets them. He tells the characters that they're going to take a circituous route down to the Sports Center, then up to the hotel, then down again to the parking garage and out. He explains that the cloak-and-dagger stuff is necessary because a lot of people have been followed recently, and many bad things have happened.
At the hotel, a couple of surprisingly-good doubles actually go down to the parking garage while the characters and Ricky Sultan go up to a hotel room, where two people are duct-taped to a chair. One is recognizable as the transvestite Sabbat Malkavian, while the other is covered with a good deal of fur and is apparently unconscious. Sheriff Glen Tanner, Marigold and another dark-skinned (possibly Middle Eastern) fellow are also present. The Sheriff explains that the other prisoners from last night (the ones who attacked Jack) are in the adjoining room. The characters head over to see them.
The four prisoners consist of two men and two women. Of those, only three are conscious: the one into whom Jack unloaded an entire clip of ammunition is in torpor. Jack interrogates them, learning their names. He asks about how they came to be waiting for him in his building, and learns that several despicable people came to their doors in the middle of the afternoon and removed them from the premises. Their abductors had guns, and absolutely refused to take no for an answer. To Jack's expert ear, one of the abductors had Dominate, and one was either very good at sneaking around or had Obfuscate. The prisoners' descriptions are understandably confused, leading Jack to think that the abductors might have numbered as many as five guys total.
The abductors blindfolded their new recruits and (probably) took them to a warehouse. Some of them are able to describe being kept next to crates and large plastic containers. They were beaten, and buried under earth in the back. They were then forced to drink large quantities of what several of them describe as a noxious, syrupy red punch. After that, a pair of pleasant young men beat them some more and told them they were going to an office building were they would kill this horrible fat, white man. And anyone with him. The message was reinforced with photographs of Jack. After they succeeded, they were supposed to go to some address before sunup. If they couldn't make the address, they were to stay at the office tower and kill anyone who showed up.
After some debate upon what the best course of action might be (during which Marigold looks quite impatient and glares at Jack with dead hostility), the characters decide to take some blood samples and then let the Sheriff deal with them. Allen MaCavity has syringes, so he does the deed.
Ricky Sultan tells the characters that the other two said that their pack got their orders from someone who might be a Bishop in El Paso. Their orders were to come to Houston and gun down a group of local vampires, including Clayton Burrell, Liam Morgan, Allen MaCavity and Jack Rowell. They had pictures of Jack, Liam and Clayton, and a terrible, grainy picture of Allen (in a store aisle, shoving something down his pants). They knew an address for Jack, a couple of dives for Allen (including one crack house where he used to get together with his mortal confederates) and random addresses for the others. Aside from the pictures, it all seems to be information that anyone with a good Investigation skill could pick up, given a willingness to spend some time at the project.
The characters are a touch disturbed to note that one of the addresses associated with Clayton is the plot of land where he used to have his mobile home, and where the characters buried a number of prostitutes. The characters recall that his complex included a mobile home, a workshop and some number of modified vehicles.
Ricky Sultan notes that the Sabbat Pack was supposed to kill the characters because they had previously been causing trouble for some other Sabbat pack or scout. In addition, they were instructed to kill anyone else who got in their crosshairs.
The total membership of the pack consisted of the prisoners and the casualties the characters already know about, plus six other vampires still at large, including one Lasombra and one Tzimisce and maybe five to seven ghouls. Jack comments that he didn't think that Sabbat used ghouls. Ricky Sultan responds that the better packs often have ghouls. Sultan thinks that one of them is Tzimisce because none of the killed vampires were mutated, but some of the ghouls sounded like they'd been deliberately uglied up. He also admits that all the useful information came from the Malkavian, as the other vampire is in torpor.
The final detail Ricky Sultan mentions is the pack's name: the Red Army Hammerheads. He notes that some of the bodies were tattooed with a little hammerhead shark, in red, sometimes with a hammer and sickle next to it. Sultan doubts that they are communists, but it clearly sounds like he could care less if they were.
Before they take their leave of the Sheriff and his aides, the characters remember to ask about the fates of the private investigators they hired. The Sheriff tells them that about half of the PI's were killed by the Sabbat, while the other half remain clueless about what really happened.
Allen MaCavity gets a call from a guy named Sebastian Locke, who claims that they're never met, but that they have a lot in common. He says he has some "very profitable" business to discuss, but he can't do it over the phone. He suggests meeting MaCavity at the Hilton hotel across the street from the Rose Heart Surgical Center, where the desk clerk can route MaCavity to the proper room.
MaCavity demands references, then agrees to meet tomorrow around 21:30. Locke claims that Byron Ignatiou will know him. Ignatiou knows that he was a plastic surgeon before his Embrace. Locke can change a ghoul's features, and is rumored to be able to do the same to vampires.
Jack Rowell writes a large check to Derek Stone's Illegal Arms Supply Company. He places an order for a dozen shotguns, a dozen automatic pistols, three 30-06 rifles, two suits of light body armor, two suits of heavy body armor, and ammunition. Derek acts like the amount will only barely cover the cost.
| Weapon | DIFF | DMG | Range | Shots | Conceal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic Pistol | 7 | 6 | 20 | 17+1 | J |
| Pump Shotgun | 5 | 8 | 20 | 8+1 | T |
| 30-06 Rifle | 6 | 8 | 200 | 5+1 | N |
| Armor | Rating | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Light Jacket | 2 | 1 |
| Heavy Flak Suit | 4 | 3 |
Convinced that the most likely enemies are the boogeyman types that lurk in the shadows, Byron Ignatiou asks the Sheriff to send a man in to the Colfield Plaza to look for wiretaps. The Sheriff doesn't sound too enthusiastic about this plan, but he agrees to send somebody by.
Unable to strike out at the Sabbat by simply ridiculing them socially, Ignatiou decides that the best defense is a good offense. He gets a new cellphone, tells his ghouls he's hiding out in a warehouse ("Don't tell anyone!") then scopes the place out in the hope that the Sabbat might be watching either Aquateque or his ghouls. He is sadly disappointed: over the next day or so, nobody shows up to riddle the warehouse with bullets.
While he waits for the truck with his new arsenal to pull up at Stone's Illegal Arms Supply Company, Jack Rowell decides to spend some time further improving his personal security level. He heads to an all-night gym with the idea of recruiting a couple of well-muscled ghouls. He concentrates upon blue-collar guys only recently arrived in Houston, guys who don't have a lot of nearby family. He remains completely oblivious to the spectacle he creates by pouring his bulk into exercise shorts and a tank top. He is even more oblivious to the possible implications of a corpulent old guy cruising a gym for young skin. He is quite satisfied when he manages to get three promising recruits, and starts ghouling all of them.
Byron Ignatiou heads off into the city to hunt, hoping to alleviate his voracious hunger for vitae without massacring a crowd of people. Everything goes normally until he is disturbed by a car crash around 3 am. He is curious to note that a large crowd accumulates around the scene, even at this late hour. He pushes through them to see that paramedics are working furiously upon one of the victims. He feels only a carnal attraction to the pools of blood in the road.
After a few minutes, one group of paramedics load one of the victims into an ambulance and drive off. The second driver involved appears to be in better shape (though incoherent), and remains the focus of interest for the second paramedic team. Ignatiou notices that the man seems very pale, but guesses that the man could just be in shock.
While Byron Ignatiou watches the scene, nine of the bystanders wander away, heading towards the alley where he left his most recent victim. They travel in ones and twos, so it takes him a moment to realize where they are going. Suddenly alarmed, Ignatiou follows them.
The bystanders make low-voiced comments that Ignatiou can't hear clearly as they cluster around his unconscious victim. The group eventually breaks up after staring at the man for a few minutes. Ignatiou tries to talk to them as they depart, but finds that they pay no attention to his presence. They all seem to be speaking in barely-audible nonsense voices.
Byron Ignatiou is quite disturbed by this incident, and calls up the Scourge to describe how this experience has really weirded him out. The Scourge suggests that he's being a bit over-alert, probably because he's been under a lot of stress. Ignatiou eventually convinces the Scourge to send some guys to check out the hospital. At this point, he calls the rest of the characters
Jack Rowell thinks Ignatiou is insane, but agrees to show up because he's concerned about his mental state. Rowell borrows a large automatic pistol, a pistol-grip sawed-off shotgun (which he hides under his coat) and a rifle from the Scourge and drives over to the site.
Allen MaCavity is much less concerned about Ignatiou's mental state, but agrees to head over and take a look nontheless.
The characters meet at a nearby Denny's. They send MaCavity in first, to look for anything suspicious. He finds nobody who looks like a vampire, no unusual corpse activity in the ER, and nobody who's obviously the pale guy Ignatiou spotted. Along the way MaCavity takes a look at Ignatiou's aura and determines that he is a diabolist who is thoughtful, suspicious and fearful. The characters decide that whatever happened, it has gone now, and they won't be learning anything new for a while.
Jack Rowell spends the next several days ghouling up his three well-muscled recruits. The other characters, learning about Jack's activities, make a lot of conversation about what Rowell looks like at a health club, and what sort of approach he might be using. Rowell ignores their schoolboy carping and urges his new ghouls to start taking firearms lessons. By this time, his new guns have arrived (they show up on Saturday).
Needing a new Haven, Jack obtains a crappy basement apartment. He uses his Dominate skills to persuade the landlord to drywall up some guns for him as a secret cache.
Come Tuesday night, Jack Rowell realizes that he is quite hungry. He heads out into the city and (as has become his style) loses control. He comes to in an apartment building laundromat, next to a dead woman. He thrashes about for a bit trying to figure out what to do with the body until he realizes that he is smarter than his player is. He hides the body then jogs off into the night wearing the woman's overweight husband's sweatpants and exercise shirt. Both are several sizes too small, so Rowell bulges out in all manner of ways.
Allen MaCavity and Byron Ignatiou go to the Hilton to meet with Sebastian Locke. The desk clerk tells them that he is in room 248. They find him without trouble.
Locke starts the conversation by commenting that he has heard that MaCavity does not get along with the Sheriff very well. MaCavity admits that he doesn't like the fellow much, but doesn't have anything serious against him. Locke explains that a number of Kindred have suggested that the Sheriff should tone down his methods, and he had heard that Tanner had knocked him around a bit at some point. MaCavity says, "Not that I can remember." Locke is somewhat upset that MaCavity can't provide him with any evidence, though he had heard that the Sheriff had broken MaCavity's arm and savaged a now-deceased Caitiff named "Clayman". MaCavity suggests, "Clayton?" Locke is obviously confused by MaCavity's failure to remember.
At this point, MaCavity mentions that he did fight the Sheriff's Childe. Locke treats this as a tremendous revelation: he says that there is a pattern of bad things happening to people who get in the way of Marigold. He knows that the Sheriff has covered up for a number of her mistakes. He asks what MaCavity has done. MaCavity says that he shot her in the head (she was trying to kill him at the time), and is forced to admit that it does seem suspicious that the Sheriff hasn't taken any action against him in the meantime. Locke compliments MaCavity upon his obvious resourcefulness, and apologizes for wasting his time. He sends the characters off.
MaCavity watches his crack house. Ignatiou watches his warehouse. He sees nothing, but one of the ghouls at Aquateque calls to say that there is a package for him on Thursday night. Fearing the worst, he calls Jack Rowell, who arranges to bring a homeless guy to open it ("Don't worry: it's full of bon-bons!"). The thoroughly-Dominated homeless man opens the box in the middle of an abandoned lot, while the characters watch from a safe distance. He tears open the packaging, reaches inside, then screams, blisters and dies. The box (after a suitably cautious approach) proves to contain a lot of packing peanuts and a snow globe containing some red fluid. Byron Ignatiou sets fire to everything, suspecting that this is a magical trap sent by the characters' friends in the Boneyards. He uses gasoline.
Totally unaffected by the thought of luring an innocent to a horrible death, Jack Rowell fails yet another Humanity roll and goes down to Humanity 2 and Conscience 1. Everyone else is sufficiently bothered by this problem that they make their Conscience rolls. Jack notices their discomfiture and tells them that he just lets the stress roll off his mind - it doesn't hurt his soul at all.
The characters return from their murderous hobbies to learn that there has been a gas fire at the Colfield Plaza that destroyed some quantity of office space and basement space. The official reports indicate that nobody was hurt, but make it sound like the fire jumped from floor to floor with an almost magical ability. In addition, an arson investigation has been called for the Carter Arms, because someone set a bunch of recently-renovated rooms on the top floor on fire (the characters recognize them as Jon Galliard's old haven).
Allen MaCavity goes to the Colfield Plaza to see what got burned. The fires started in the basement, though he can't tell if a flamethrower was used to set them. Jack Rowell's haven wasn't specifically targeted, but it would have been obvious after the fire died down. The 8th floor AIDS clinic office was targeted, as was the 7th floor Development Corporation office. All other damage to the building looks peripheral. After a more careful look, the characters decide that someone poured gasoline all over the place and set it on fire. Ignition points are evident around the front doors of the offices, and at the base of the stairs in the basement.
The characters are writhing in the depths of helpless paranoia when a small ray of hope shines in: Jack Rowell gets word from his contacts that they have found some useful information in the missing persons reports he requested. Specifically, two of the Sabbat pack members ("Shotgun Matron" and "Grenade Guy") were a couple who on vacation in Mexico about four years ago and never came back. Their rental car was never returned to the airport.
There are some other details of interest. First, almost everyone on the pharmacy list has been reported missing. Second, the average number of people reported missing in the Houston area every day has recently dropped from an average of four people per night to almost nothing, starting on Wednesday night.
Carmen Rooker (the suspected Sabbat mole) was picked up by the Sheriff on Monday, and is being interrogated.
Jack pulls $100,000 out of the Carter Arms Community Development Corporation by getting one of his lawyers to pay off his gambling debts and flee to Monaco (with $20 so he can become a male prostitute, and $1.50 for a condolence card to his family). Jack doesn't need to close the doors on the CACDC because the Feds will do it for him.
Jack Rowell gets a call from the Brujah Allen Fontaine, the Childe of Styx. A long time ago, the two of them had talked about extracting money from the Feldman Building, a dilapidated public housing project. Jack explains that he's had some problems with a Sabbat pack trying to kill him, and he's lost some documents. Fontaine is upset to hear this, and becomes even more upset when Jack seems perfectly willing to work with him, "cheek to cheek".
Allen MaCavity heads out to visit Clayton Burrell's old place. He finds that there are lights on and that the gas generator is still running. He looks into the complex and finds that there is a string of four grenades strung across the inside of the garage. The trailer is gone. Allen leaves the place now. And the thing. Freunleben.
On the way back to Houston, he has an epiphany. He sees a couple of kids skateboarding around, and one of them has a broken arm. He starts to remember that someone broke his arm once. The he realizes that the Sheriff did it with a baseball bat, as painfully as he could manage it. In MaCavity's vision, the Sheriff is wearing a huge cowboy hat, smoking a cigar and laughing out loud. MaCavity knows that the Sheriff is laughing because he's causing MaCavity pain.
The Sheriff takes Byron Ignatiou out on a field trip to have his heart removed by someone named Terry, taking care to blindfold him and keep the exact route hidden.. The experience is excruciating. After everything is done, the Sheriff advices Ignatiou: "Don't let anyone taste your blood, feed on you. Don't deal with the Tremere if you can help it. You should be able to walk around people with Auspex, and all they'll see is that you're some kind of whacked-out stone killer. No diablerie streaks." On the other hand, the Sheriff now has Byron Ignatiou's heart in a hatbox. He reminds Ignatiou that he can kill him any time he might want to. On the plus side, Ignatiou can't be staked, his aura isn't colored, and his Frenzy difficulties are at -2. But his poetry suffers.
Each characters gains three experience points. Byron Ignatiou spends some experience on improving his Self-Control and Conscience.