Everyone showed up: Nick (Vincent Cray), Tim (Shepherd, having returned from oblivion), and Bruce (Cyrus Billings). Tim has decided that his previous new character, Ed Simms, wasn't interesting enough. Just to ensure that he doesn't change again, Chris points out that Ed has been accused of several Kindred crimes and was summarily executed by Prince David.
The game opens on October 23rd, days after Ed Simms disappeared.
When Vincent emerges from his evening slumber, his ghoul Jimmy tells him that he got two calls from people whom he knew back in mortal life. They are a married couple; Vincent had dated the woman, and briefly knew the man. They happen to be in town, and are interested in meeting him for dinner. He calls them back and arranges a dinner date on Friday.
Shepherd returns to the group, having spent much of the last few weeks rebuilding his collection of firearms. Thanks to Gareth's wisdom, he now knows that if he buys his guns through collectors, the government is none the wiser that he has them.
Soon after he returns, he gets a UPS package. He spends a substantial amount of time ensuring that it isn't harmful, then has his lawyer ghoul open it while Shepherd hides in a nearby building. The box turns out to be packed with photocopies of all sorts of information. There is an explanatory note from Maxwell, describing how this information should convince him that there are great advantages to joining the Good Empire, particularly the GGAE (Good Guys Against Evil).
The major part of the documents are historical records relating to an Austrian nobleman of moderate rank named Joseph Kreshner Destinova, a man who lived in the 1600's. The records suggest that he was a good man, a defender of the faith and an honorable noble. However, in the last great Ottoman assault upon Vienna most of his lands were devastated and all of this family were slain. He survived, but Austrian history makes no mention of him.
The second group of documents is smaller. It describes the appearance of an insane prophet named Simon Burke in Serbia about 10 to 15 years later. The man was quite charismatic, and managed to attract a great number of followers. His basic teaching was that this world is Hell, and that any good works you perform will inevitably be destroyed, leaving you with nothing. It is, therefore, only virtuous to do whatever you feel like, particularly if what you like involves hurting people. His followers were exterminated after several years by Ottoman troops.
The third set of records deals with an alchemist in Vienna who sought a series of backers for his project to transform lead into gold. He managed to acquire a fair number of patrons, and further finance his works by selling elixirs of longevity and love. The man was hung five years later, after the civic authorities discovered that his potions were actually responsible for poisoning their users.
The fourth set of records are a series of excerpts from various French nobles' diaries in the eighteenth century, including some from the young Marquis de Sade describing how his life had been tremendously influenced by a meeting with an elder man named Joseph.
The fifth set of records dates to the 1840's, and appear to be official court records of the Kindred Prince of London. It is a petition from four Elders to the Prince asking to have the Chinese opium trade stopped. The opium trade itself, and the English involvement in it, had been masterminded by a Malkavian named Destinova. They are unable to convince the Prince or the other Elders, as the trade was enriching England substantially.
Finally, there are a series of cargo manifests and title deeds describing the purchase of five Austrian manor houses dating from 1821 to 1940. All five were disassembled and moved to various locations in the Americas. The earliest was taken to Argentina. The most recent was brought to the Hill Country in Texas, and appears to be very similar to Joseph Kresh's house. The deeds also indicate that someone named Alberto Destinova owns a banana farm in Honduras, a coffee planatation in Chile, and a cattle ranch in Peru.
Having learned all this interesting information, Shepherd takes a couple of days to get Screaming Joe on the phone. Joe suggests that they meet at the (derelict) Robert E. Lee hotel in downtown San Antonio. He cautions Shepherd to watch the barbed wire and the derelicts. The place is a sprawling building, three or four stories tall (it's sometimes hard to tell). Shepherd has no trouble getting inside.
Shepherd meets Joe in a ransacked hotel room. Joe is seated in a chair that clearly postdates the hotel room by decades. He presents another chair to Shepherd. Shepherd accepts it, proceeding to perch upon the seat likea bird. Shepherd makes some pleasantries, then explains that he no longer wishes to kill Joe. Joe is underwhelmed: he has always recongized that Shepherd could no more kill him than a small gnat could kill a wildebeest. Shepherd, for his part, explains that he has realized that trying to kill Joe was very much like slamming nails into his forehead, point first. He then makes a series of mealy-mouthed arguments about why he doesn't kill. He expresses his paralyzing fear of the Best and it's advancing hold upon his mind. Shepherd finally notes that Joe doesn't appear to be nearly as affected by killing as he is.
Joe explains (in vague terms) about the nature of Paths and how they are able to give Kindred different morality. Shepherd immediately leaps up and calls out, "Oooh! Oooh! Teach me one!" Joe places a bit of a damper upon his celebration by pointing out that the best way to learn a Path is to be hit over the head by a shovel and buried alive (to symbolize rebirth), after which the candidate must dig themselves out back into the world. The process concludes with a vigorous session of brainwashing. Joe ends up his monologue with some commentary upon how some Clans (particularly the Ventrue and the Tremere) are almost always too weak to dig themselves out of the pit, while others (Malkavians, Gangrels, and Brujah) normally manage to make it, for a variety of reasons.
Joe offers Shepherd three choices for Paths, none of which are the one he happens to be on: the Path of Death, the Path of the Cathari, and the Path of Honorable Accord. Shepherd declines to choose one offhand.
Shepherd then makes the unwise choice of making small talk with Joe. He complains of how the Sabbat he has fought keep on coming up with surprising new disciplines. In the course of describing one particular encounter, he happens to mention his Gangrel friend, Cyrus. Joe expresses a threatening quantity of interest, and inquires as to whether or not Cyrus might be interested in alternative moralities. Shepherd makes the less-than-helpful comment that Cyrus appears to be throwing his humanity away, "as if it were on fire." Joe smiles.
Before Joe departs, he tells Shepherd that he has a gift for him. He pulls out a large aluminum briefcase, explaining that the contents are for him, and that he will be insulted if Shepherd elects to give them away. Not wanting to be outdone, Shepherd tries to give Joe a gift in return. He tells Joe that Maxwell has been trying to enlist his aid in a plot to kill him, and that Maxwell appears to know a great deal about Joe's past, including that he was an Austrian nobleman and was instrumental in the opium trade. Joe asks that Shepherd do in Maxwell in a fairly permanent but otherwise untraceable way. He then reconsiders, and asks instead that Shepherd simply stake Maxwell and leave him in a box somewhere.
Shepherd has Theodore Lippo (the lawyer ghoul) open the case for him. He finds inside a live rattlesnake (which Shepherd elects to keep as a pet) and a nice revolver which he keeps in his haven (nicely presented in a glass case).
Prior to his date with his old friends, Vincent prepares by Thaumaturgically lowering his generation (by 2, to 11th). He has a fairly nice time talking to them, and shows them a few interesting sights in San Antonio. During dinner, he has a distinct feeling that Lori, the woman, had been staring at him, but only when her husband wasn't looking. Vincent reflects that while the apparent age differential between himself and Lori isn't really large, it is becoming noticeable. In a tremendously wise move, Vincent takes them to Mad Dog's after dinner, and shows off his herd (which is, of course, composed entirely of vacuous young women). He does his best to make Lori's husband jealous, a goal that isn't completely successful.
Cyrus gets a letter from Honduras, sent from the Army of the Americas Training Facility. The letter was sent by a General Walker, and asks when he expects to be visiting. It also asks what kind of entourage Cyrus might be bringing and what sort of staff and equipment he might need upon his arrival. He also notes that the General addressed him as "lieutenant." Cyrus quickly decides that this must be the tangible result of his request for help from the Gangrel Hector back in Jacquerdo. Cyrus composes the most polite letter he can manage, stating that he will be around next fall, with two others, and that he'll try to be as self-sufficient as possible. About a week later, he gets a response thanking him for his prompt message, and mentioning a General Hector Zapata, allegedly a highly-respected individual (which is odd, considering that Cyrus' memories of him were that he was totally insane).
Vincent is approached by Lucas, who informs him that Beezel, Isaac and Nastasha are working up some kind of big celebration for Halloween. Lucas hasn't managed to get himself involved in the actual ritual preparations, and doesn't really know what the three of them are planning, but he and Vincent have been assigned to finding materials for it. Vincent's job is to find enough virgins to gather 25 points of virgins' blood. He's also interested in locating some fetuses. When Vincent goggles at this request, Lucas points out that it isn't actually against the rules to traffic with demons and devils and otherworldly beings, but it is against the rules to become their puppet. He agrees with Vincent that this doesn't sound particularly promising, but that at the same time the two of them need to obey orders.
Vincent's plan to gather virgin blood is quite simple: he did some zoning work for a local hospital a while ago, and they owe him favors. He has them hold a midnight blood drive, and arranges to locate virgins from among the donors. Those donors who seem to qualify he Dominates (to determine if they really are virgins) and collects blood from. He manages to collect 12 points of blood doing this, and takes them to Isaac.
Vincent shows up to find Isaac making chairs and tables out of human bones and skin. Vincent asks him how he manages to stay sane doing these sorts of things. Isaac says that he simply hides a little bit of his sanity off in a special place where it doesn't know about any of this stuff. Vincent tries to pump him for information about what is going to happen on Halloween. All he is willing to let slip is that Halloween is a good time to summon up entities and make deals with them. He isn't willing to say anything about the particulars of the deal.
Isaac asks Vincent how the search for fetuses is going. Vincent pleads ignorance. Isaac points out that they need to be fresh (no more than 12 hours old) and whole.
Just before Vincent leaves, Isaac gives him a couple of tapes and transcripts of chants and invocations Vincent will need to know for his part in the ritual. They are all in Latin, which Vincent is able to translate, but apparently come from the part of the library he isn't allowed to use, ensuring that he can't learn too much about them.
Cyrus, convinced that Angel is the Sabbat mole, decides to follow Angel around the city. He manages to find Angel, driving around in a car with four Hispanic gangsters and a trunk full of guns, drugs or both. Unfortunately, Angel spots Cyrus's car and sets an ambush. The gangsters lacerate Cyrus' radiator and front windscreen. Cyrus manages to escape them and get back to his garage, where he does his best to save his engine by spraying it with water. He estimates that replacing the radiator and windscreen and patching the bullet holes will take about four or five days.
About an hour prior to sunrise, Cyrus gets a phone call from Nigel, who does a valiant job of pretending to be the cop that Cyrus normally gets information from. Nigel claims that he has some interesting information for Cyrus, and needs to meet him, "at the last place we met." They agree to meet an hour and a half after sundown the following day.
The next evening, Cyrus heads to Brackenridge Park to meet with Nigel. When he reaches the stables, he finds an old man cleaning them out with a broom. He quickly establishes that he is talking to the proper person, and the two of them get down to business.
Nigel tells Cyrus that he needs someone killed. Even though premeditated slayings are not normally Cyrus' bailiwick, he agrees. Nigel then gets down to the details. He needs a specific Tremere ghoul slain at the Book, Candle & Mask club on Halloween night. He needs it done in such a way that the Tremere will think that an out-of-town Kindred, probably a Gangrel or a Brujah, was responsible. Finally, he needs Cyrus to plant an envelope either upon the ghoul's body or in the ghoul's car. Nigel describes the ghoul as sort of a goth cowboy, good with guns and knives. Nigel provides a photograph, but warns Cyrus that he (and practically everyone else in the club) will be wearing masks.
Cyrus agrees, but says that he wants to do some reconnaissance before agreeing to any specific plan. He also suspects that he may not be talking to Nigel, and wants some reassurance that he isn't going to be set up by one of his many enemies. He tells Nigel that he intends to visit the club and get an idea of the layout. They arrange to meet again in four hours, "at the other place we met." (the Zoo).
The club turns out to be a three-floor affair catering to goths and their ilk. The first floor features a small (and apparently underused) dance floor, along with several bars. The second floor is open, overlooking the first, and features a number of small alcoves that Cyrus imagines are typically used by the clientele for various illegal or fetishistic activities (he doesn't need to imagine very hard, as he catches a couple of people drinking each others' blood). The third floor, uniquely, is a sort of library.
Cyrus also determines that the only real security is provided by unarmed bouncers. There do not appear to be any security cameras within the club proper. He finds few useful exits, but does determine that there is a small window in the men's restroom, just large enough for a bat to fly through. The window is painted shut, but could easily be opened again. Cyrus also notes that the ventilator shafts, while not quite up to Hollywood standards, could also accommodate a bat in a pinch. Unfortunately, the ventilator grates are screwed into the walls with philips-head screws.
Cyrus reunites with Nigel at the Zoo and escribes what he has found. Because the Kindred who will investigate the killing will be using Auspex psychometry, Cyrus asks Nigel to provide him with some clothes for the event. He also asks for a knife, a ski mask, and a powered screwdriver. Nigel offers an interesting choice: he has the clothes belonging to the Sabbat sniper who had been part of an attack on the characters some time ago. Cyrus comments, "How? We never managed to get that guy." Nigel's dry response: "We did." To further ensure that psychometry will be useless in tracking Cyrus, Nigel arranges to have the clothing and other gear hidden above the drop ceiling in a nearby gas station men's room. Cyrus will pick them up immediately before showing up at the club, and will turn the lights out in the room before fetching them. Nigel urges him to think like a remorseless killer driven only by instinct and hatred while heading towards the club. Cyrus asks, "And this is different from how I normally think how?" Nigel also promises to have one of his ghouls cut the bathroom window open to facilitate Cyrus' escape.
Before Cyrus departs, Nigel gives him a manila envelope containing the enveloe he must place on the dead ghoul's body. Nigel tells him that the actual envelope is sealed inside a ziplock bag within the outer envelope, as another precaution against both psychometry and more mundane tracing techniques.
Before appearing at the club and fetching the gear, Cyrus gets some small bug bombs that produce a thick, choking smoke when broken. He makes sure to get some that will break and go off if stepped on.
The actual killing goes surprisingly well. Cyrus gets into the club and identifies the target without problems. He waits until his mark heads to the men's room, then drops a couple of bug bombs in a high-traffic area and follows him. In the bathroom, he encounters several people primping or doing illegal things. Cyrus quickly replaces the festive mask he had been wearing with the ski mask, then breaks into his target's stall. He stabs the man twice, then cuts his eyes out to prevent necromancers from reading the ghoul's last sight. His task done, he drops another bug bomb to clear out the bathroom (and avoid Masquerade breaches), then transforms into a bat and flies out the bathroom window.
Sometime afterwards, Cyrus feels terrible about what he has done. Thanks to this unseemly resurgence of his long-ignored human nature, he avoids losing any more scraps of his spirit (or his hard-kept Conscience).
Vincent shows up at the Chantry to take part in the Tremere's special Halloween ritual. He finds everyone assembled in the main ritual chamber. The ritual chamber is lit with candles, and everyone's place marked with X's of white tape. Two protective circles are drawn in the room. The two thrones of bone Vincent previously saw Isaac manufacturing are placed in the inner circle, while the virgins' blood (in open bottles) and the fetus in a large jar of formaldehyde are placed within the outer circle. The Greek chorus' places are all marked outside both circles.
Before the ceremony begins, Beezel and Nastasha provide some safety instructions. In particular, they emphasize that if things start to look like they're going wrong, hit the lights! Also, they order the other Chantry members to not leave the room unless all is lost, and imply that if that happens it will be wretchedly obvious.
Everyone is expected to wear heavy robes (blue for male and red for female) and matching blindfolds. Vincent obeys orders, but also turns on his Auspex & lowers his generation with Thaumaturgy. He suspects that everyone else is doing the same. In the minutes before the ritual starts, Vincent tries to assuage his growing panic by recalling how to reach the door from his marked position.
The ceremony starts out with a summoning. The ritual continues for almost three hours, lasting precisely until midnight. At that moment, the ritual changes over to a plea for the summoned entity to pay attention to its summoners' entreaty. Around then Vincent hears a blooshing sound, as of liquid being drawn from containers. The entire room becomes quite cold, and a foul stench of rotted meat drifts in the air. Nastasha and Beezel start speaking in a dead tongue that Vincent thinks is related to Aramaic. A third voice speaks over the low chanting of the other Tremere. It has a childlike, fluid sound to it. Vincent strains to hear its' words, but is unable to make them out. The conversation among Beezel, Nastasha and the entity lasts for two hours, starting with threats and ending with some measure of horse-trading. It sounds to Vincent as if the Tremere will perform some kind of sacrifice for the creature, in exchange for some deed.
In the third part of the ceremony, in which the Tremere are chanting at the creature to ask it to depart, a fourth voice enters the discussion. The fourth voice is also childlike and liquid, and addresses Vincent directly. As he hears the voice, Vincent is consumed with images of an innocent little boy, perhaps with his mouth full of ice cream. The voice is just sooo cute, and all it wants is for Vincent to step forwards a little bit and scuff the protective circle. Vincent does his best to fight down all the fatherly instincts the voice is creating in him. He refuses, and as the voice goes away it mentions that, "you'll regret that." Two hours later, the ceremony ends and the room changes back to normal.
After Isaac tells everyone that they can take their blindfolds off, Vincent takes a look at the fetus. He notes that it has expanded tremendously, enough that it is protruding from the jar it had been in. Most of the blood is gone from the jars. The thrones of bone that Beezel and Nastasha had been sitting in are both intact, and Nastasha appears to be quite pleased. She bids everyone goodbye.
The following Tuesday, everyone shows up as normal for the weekly meeting. Karen rather bitterly announes that someone killed off one of her favorite ghouls on Halloween evening. All she knows from her investigation is that the killer was Kindred, and fairly good with a knife. She appears to be fairly bitter over the event. Vincent pays little heed to her loss, and is disappointed when Nastasha neglects to mention anything about the actual outcome of Halloween's ritual.
Shepherd elects to attend the next Malkavian meeting, which turns out to be a parody of the Tremere's ways. Oddly, everyone shows up, including Screaming Joe. Screaming Joe offers a moment of silence while "our troupe puts on a little show for us." He introduces two people, probably his ghouls. One of them is dressed in camouflage and festooned with weapons. The other is wrapped up like a mummy in toilet paper. The beweaponed ghoul carts in a porcelain toilet, upon which the toilet-paper mummy sits, loudly proclaiming himself to be, "The very, very most important of all Tremere ghouls." Upon hearing this statement, the other ghoul mimes out knifing the mummy multiple times. The skit completed, the two ghouls bow and walk away.
In comparison, the remainder of the meeting is staid and dull. Shepherd leaves without threatening Maxwell at all.
Everyone gets five experience points.