All the usual suspects are here: Chris (in charge), Nick (Vincent Cray), Bruce (Cyrus Billings), Little Chris (Perrin) and Tim (the Shepherd).
After his recent ordeal at the hands of his supposed mentor, Shepherd decides to move out of Screaming Joe's mansion and never speak to him again. He does not, however, abandon his Mentor background, envisioning a time in the future when he might want to come groveling back to Joe in exchange for some favor or other.
Several Thaumaturgical rituals covering communicating with and controlling spirits could be used to duplicate the effects of Necromancy. Because Necromancy should be better at these tasks than Thaumaturgy, these rituals are now Necromantic rituals. This change does not affect any of the characters at the moment.
A Kindred wishing to learn a new Clan Discipline no longer needs to find a teacher with the Discipline at level three. Instead, any Kindred with the Discipline may teach it, and the Kindred may increase it on his own up to the normal maximum. Learning a non-Clan Discipline always requires a teacher who knows the Discipline to a level one greater than the level the student wishes to attain. In any case, the teacher must spend two weeks instructing the student.
For the last several weeks, Vincent has been aiding the campaign of Johnathan Ferrance, a Republican city councilman running for Mayor. He takes a few hours to examine the books for the Johnathan Ferrance campaign, and finds an illegal $50,000 contribution from a PAC organized by several local law firms. The contribution has been hidden, but very badly. He tries to follow up the paper trail, all the while attempting to hide it. The actual check was written by the Treasurer of Volksberg & Partners, a law firm in San Antonio. The other two law firms involved in the PAC are Piscano & Partners and Grissom, Deering & Garner.
Vincent learns that the money was accepted by Louisa Davidson, a third-year law student who does volunteer work for the Ferrance campaign. He talks to his accountant, and convinces him that the money could be moved to a "soft" account and maintain the letter of the law. The campaign accountant tells him that the campaign really needs the money, and that the money can be hidden in a moderately legal manner. Vincent turns the matter over to them, so they can hide the cash. The accountant says that he can split the money up and conceal it quite effectively. Just for added insurance, Vincent arranges for Louisa to be the scapegoat in case this contribution comes to light.
Vincent reflects that the only truly ethical thing to do would be to give the money back. Unfortunately, giving the money back could breed enemies among the local law firms, invididuals who might be valuable to have as friends later. And besides, $50,000 is $50,000.
Cyrus has an interest in finding a teacher for the Potence Discipline, and also wants to get a bit closer to the local Gangrel. He spends some time hanging around Otto's ranch, talking to Otto and some of the other Gangrel. The local Gangrel population really consists of Otto, Slim and about three other Gangrel who show up occasionally.
Cyrus finds that there really isn't that much going on at Otto's place. For the most part, Otto and Slim are the only Gangrel around. The other Gangrel from San Antonio show up sometimes, and occasionally wanderer Gangrel show up and tell stories about dealing with Sabbat Packs along the Mexican border. Cyrus listens intently, but doesn't learn a lot of good detail.
After a couple of nights, Otto asks Cyrus why he's hanging around. Cyrus explains that he wants to be a bit closer to the local Gangrel, as he hasn't hardly spoken to them before. He also suggests that if Otto needs some little tasks done, he'd be happy to do them. Otto offers to take Cyrus "out" once he learns to shapeshift, to show him some things (like where the lupines hang out).
Cyrus learns that the interstate highways have become stomping grounds for roaming Sabbat packs over the last decade. Especially on nights when large Camarilla gatherings are scheduled, the Sabbat arrange car accidents and ambushes to catch Camarilla Kindred. Disappearances and missing persons have also become more common.
More powerful Princes have reacted to this by expanding their domains to include nearby towns and suburbs, creating larger "safe" areas. This has enraged some minor Princes, as the areas they claim have been swallowed up by the territories of larger, more powerful Princes. Some weaker Princes (those of El Paso and Fort Worth, for example) have actually seen their domains shrink: they claim less territory in order to save face, and ensure that the Sabbat cannot snipe at the edges of their domain.
Otto also tells Cyrus that the Sabbat packs in Texas publish a Black Book that lists the vehicles owned and used by Camarilla Kindred and their ghouls in each region. In some cases, these listings include license plate numbers and names. Otto has an obsolete copy of one of these books from 1986.
Cyrus heads out to Otto's place on Friday night as usual, where he spends time staring at a burning barrel with Otto and Slim and Cindy. Louis pulls up in his pickup truck and tells Otto that he needs to talk, privately. They go off and talk for a half hour.
Louis' pickup is a big 1970's-era extended cab truck. The back is loaded with cases of sodas and candy bars, in the sort of variety you'd expect to find in a vending machine. After his conversation, he goes back to his truck, rearranges some cargo that had come out of place (including some punctured soda cans and change stuck to the bed), and speeds off.
Cyrus asks Otto what's up. Otto declines to tell him anything specific, but does mention that going up towards New Braunfels and looking for something unusual might be worth doing. Cyrus already knows New Braunfels is the fief of Don, a somewhat scary Ventrue who fancies himself an Author: he writes men's adventure novels. Cyrus suggests that he might be heading off towards New Braunfels in the next few days; Otto suggests that he might want to be careful, and might want to introduce himself to Don.
Shepherd moves out of Screaming Joe's house. He moves most of his stuff to Don's gun shop. He then goes to the Bexar County Hospital to do volunteer work for the poor. Though this might seem like an atruistic act, it is merely a cynical scramble to increase Shepherd's dangerously low Humanity.
Perrin spends several days learning rituals. Unfortunately, he is not too attentive and doesn't learn to much.
Professor Brain calls Perrin to ask him if he has $2,400,000.86. When Perrin asks why, Professor Brain explains that Perrin and several of his friends attacked a building he owns, and did rather a lot of damage. They broke in through a skylight, threw grenades around, destroyed a robot, and generally just trashed the place.
Perrin gets a phone number from Professor Brain, and claims that he'll be back in touch. He then calls Shepherd. The two of them have a couple of laughs at Professor Brain's expense, then debate the relative wisdom of getting Screaming Joe involved in the dispute. The conversation ends when Shepherd is called away to clean up the emergency room (someone just bled all over it).
The characters meet on Saturday night at their usual place, Mad Dog's on the Riverwalk. Perrin mentions that Professor Brain is asking him for $2.5 million, and Vincent scoffs. The characters decide to ignore Professor Brain's demands. Cyrus tells the characters about Otto's comments on New Braunfels, and suggests that they all head down there in the next couple of days.
While the characters are talking, Shepherd has a passing premonition that the city will be destoyed. After that, he realizes that he really has no problems. In fact, all of the characters realize that they feel quite good, better than they have felt in years. Looking around the bar, all the mortals are quite euphoric, more so than normal. The other characters think nothing of this, but Vincent spends Willpower in order to be able to feel bad about his problems.
Shepherd decides to call Professor Brain to discuss the money he wants. Professor Brain answers, then hangs up as soon as he realizes who he's talking to. Professor Brain simply refuses to pick up the phone. Cyrus calls from another phone, then gives it to Shepherd when Professor Brain answers. Once again, Professor Brain hangs up the phone.
Moments later, Professor Brain calls Perrin to complain. As soon as Professor Brain starts to talk about how crazy Shepherd is ("crazier than a shithouse rat"), Perrin hands the phone over to Shepherd. This time, the conversation lasts a while longer, as Professor Brain tries to explain his way out of having disparaged Shepherd's sanity. Shepherd notes that he doesn't have the money, proposes that everyone should have a meeting at Screaming Joe's to get the money from him.
Professor Brain comments that this is an insanely bad idea, then asks to talk to Cyrus. Shepherd gives Cyrus the phone, and Professor Brain tells him that he doesn't hold him responsible for any damages, as Cyrus didn't throw any grenades around Precision Calibrations. Cyrus thanks him, and gives the phone back to Shepherd, who proposes that they pay back the debt by 2050.
By the end of the discussion, Professor Brain tells Shepherd that he shouldn't worry about the money, as long as the characters never go back to Precision Calibrations again, and don't bother his trucks.
Cyrus gets a message from Cindy asking about what's going on. Cyrus calls her back from Mad Dog's. She complains that nobody tells her anything, and that she wants to know if she's in danger of getting shot. Cyrus tells her that he doesn't know any more about what's happening between Otto and Louis than she does, but that there is a guy going around trying to shoot and stake Kindred. Cyrus notes that while the guy tried to take a shot at him, he didn't succeed.
Cyrus remembers that Cindy is one of the better-connected Gangrel, who actually knows a fair amount about what other Gangrel in Texas are up to, for all that she says nobody tells her anything. She runs a hair salon in San Antonio.
Before the characters leave the bar, Shepherd has a series of disturbing hallucinations of cadaverous people creeping about Mad Dog's, particuarly including a misshapen, rotting child with an oversized head and yellowed fangs. To Shepherd, it appears that this creature is crawling upon Vincent's neck, sucking the blood from his body.
Both Cyrus and Perrin spend a night trying to hunt and fill themselves with blood, though both of them note that they're much less effective than they ought to be. They reflect that this may be because they're still feeling too good to really worry about getting blood.
Meanwhile, Shepherd deals with Don, his gun-shop owner ghoul, to get guns and armor for the journey. The supplies he obtains (some from his own personal stash) include: one kevlar vest (Armor Rating 2, Penalty 1), three suits of reinforced clothing (Armor Rating 1, Penalty 0), and 3 AK-47 rifles with six clips of ammo each. These he issues to the characters. Cyrus continues to carry the USAS-12 auto-shotgun Shepherd lent him last week.
Weapon |
Diff |
Damage |
Range |
Rate |
Shots |
Conceal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USAS12* | 7 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 10/20 | N |
| AK-47* | 7 | 8 | 250 | 10 | 30 | N |
The characters go shopping for "necessities" before leaving for New Braunfels, based upon previous experience. Cyrus pays out about $600 for the stuff listed below at a Wal-Mart, and puts it all in his trunk:
Considering all the preparations they go through, the characters manage to reach New Braunfels around 21:30 that night. They try to get in touch with Don, but manage only to speak to Glen, one of Don's servants. Glen assures Cyrus that Don will be unable to speak to anyone for the next couple of evenings, so Cyrus simply introduces himself and the other characters (passing the phone around so Glen can speak to everyone). It takes about an hour for Glen to contact the characters, so they spend the intervening time reserving room at the local Best Western for the next two weeks. Perrin takes an hour to protect the room with Defense of the Sacred Haven.
Cyrus talks to Glen again to ask about the local population. Glen essentially says that it's only him and Don. He also asks Cyrus if he and his companions are going to be staying in the Best Western through their whole stay. Cyrus determines that Glen's people are very good.
The characters debate what to do about this new information. They decide to look around New Braunfels, keeping an eye out for someone to Dominate into getting them a new hotel room. Vincent finds a mark, has him rent a hotel room for two days, return the key to the characters, and forget the whole incident.
The characters spend several hours hanging around bars, looking for unusual things that have happened in the town over the last week. This is pretty much a wash, as the only folks in the bars are locals who either don't know anything or won't tell.
After departing the bars, the characters drive the streets looking for anything unusual. Only Perrin sees anything: he notices that there are about three times as many as would be normal for a town this size.
The next evening Cyrus visits the New Braunfels police department, introduces himself as a legal consultant for the San Antonio Police Department, and spends some time talking to the duty officer. The officers tell him that there is a local ordinance prohibiting him from letting Cyrus look at the crime records. However, he does speak quite highly of the police budget and equipment: they've got a lot of officers, with good equipment and lots of training. The duty officer also notes that there isn't much crime in the city, probably because the police department is so well-equipped.
Perrin talks to a cop walking the streets. He gets a polite but viciously cold response: "We've got a nice, quiet town here sir. Are you staying here long, sir? Where are you staying, sir? Where is your car, sir? Have you been drinking, sir?"
Shepherd and Vincent sneak into the local library to look at back issues of the local newspaper. They find out that the local paper really doesn't have much in it.
The characters return to San Antonio, after concluding that the trip to New Braunfels was pretty much a bust.
The characters each gain five experience points.