Rick takes a seat, but doesn't touch the food. He peers into the cups for anything that might actually nourish him.
In response to the man's question, he says, "We have done very little but survive what has been thrown our way, sir. I'm Rick, by the way, though I'm sure you knew that." and he nods his head by way of a small deference.
Dalton looks up from the ground that he had been looking at while waiting. "Only thing that I've done is stop someone from getting shot. Didn't hang around for the police to question things."
"I lied to a few people." Victoria starts cutting a piece of steak. "To be able to meet you, in fact."
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
The large man grabs an entire chicken by the leg and begins to [I]eat[/I[ it, "Dig in liars. I believe in feeding even the depraved, you should not be deprive dof this one last pleasure.
There is more than enough circumstantial evidence to prove that you indeed did murder Prince Lodin. Ifhe is not dead, produce him, and I shall let him pronounce judgment upon you all!"
"OK we came all this way and put up with all this bullshit just to meet him. And you are telling me someone killed a Prince? I don't believe that one bit. Surely you have someone who has a little more investigative skill?"
James surprisingly recognizes the supernatural effect and burns a willpower. He does *not* like having his mind clouded.
After being accused of killing the prince, James laughs. "So let me get this straight. You think a couple neonates from out of town just strolled in, offed the prince, and then stuck around to get a daylight helicopter tour of Chicago? You must be scraping the bottom of the barrel to find somebody to pin this on."
Dalton chuckles at James's comment. "Gotta agree with you on that one, James. I've seen better thought out plans by rookies planning their first sting operations...then again, didn't we get you in one of those before?"
"I do seem to recall my lawyer using the word 'allegedly' a quite a bit shortly thereafter" James quips.
you might attempt to collaborate our story by calling Modius or his Childer and speak with him about the missive we received and our time line in arrival. If you still wish to find blame you will do so regardless. The idea of investigation and due process is from after the French and American revolutions after all.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
The enormous man laughs at Morgrym's statement, "Due Process? What do you think, this is a Court of Law in the United States and you are all still alive?
As if Modius would admit to sending a group of assassins at his old enemy!" He slams the table, hard but not as hard as a Kindred could, after all, this is a restaurant full of Mortals.
He turns to James, "How am I supposed to know what your motives are? Who knows why you stuck around, guilty conscience, a pre-progammed command to remain and become the fall men for your paymaster?
Tell me what happened and how it was done and we may find a way to only punish your Coterie horribly".
The man standing next to him, the one who led you all down here speaks, "When did ya'll arrive in town?"
"We arrived Friday night. From there we went about going through the process of trying to present ourselves to Prince Lodin." Dalton says.
"Frankly, that's what we're still trying to do, but if you say the Prince is no more, I suppose that's not going to happen."
James drops his grin from the banter with Dalton and switches into business mode, "If you like, I can call my ghouls and have them bring receipts that establish our timeline. We can name or describe every kindred and kine that we've seen since coming into Chicago and you can confirm our presence with them to further establish our whereabouts for the last 48 hours.
The bottom line is this, however: The more time you spend interrogating us, the neonate coterie who is extremely unlikely to have the power to take down a centuries old prince, the more time whoever did have the juice to do it can disappear into the shadows."
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
The rotund man takes a huge tray of mashed potatoes and scoops it into his mouth as a child eating yogurt, "So we have established that the night you arrived the Prince disappeared.
You guilt is a horrific stench! Seeking your own Blood Bound ghouls as a means to provide an alibi. Hah! As if such evidence holds any weight".
At that moment a chair is pulled from the table and the man you met at the Museum, Neally, takes a seat.
"Have they confessed yet Ballard?"
The fat man, Ballard, turns to him, "They were about to before you arrived". The man standing next to Ballard grimaces at Neally.
Neally looks around the table, "They certainly seem about to do so".
Ballard glares at Neally, "Why are you here?"
Neally shrugs, "I am here to take charge of this Coterie".
Ballard frowns his eyes narrow, "You overstep your bounds".
"Periodically yes, I do. Here though, I am not. I have met with the Primogen, they have instructed me to utilize this Coterie to locate the corpse or ash of Lodin".
The man standing next to Ballard retorts, "That's horse shit I..."
Neally cuts him off, "Balthazar, Sheriff, all due respect, two of your own Clan Elders voted for this approach. Take it up with them if you don't like it".
Ballard grins, "I bet that there is a catch yes?"
Neally sighs, "Yes, the Coteries has two full nights to clear their names else they shall be cast off to your tender mercies, or lack thereof".
Morgrym considers making a pun about the Windy City and finding ashes anywhere but then stays quiet about it. where and when was Lodin, prince of Chicago seen last and by whom?
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
Neally responds, "His Haven in the Sears Tower, the Penthouse. We shall exit the restaurant and head there where you can begin your investigations".
Ballard becomes apoplectic, "They should be in chains, not leading an investigation!"
Neally shrugs, "Shall we ask the Primogen to meet once more to review their wisdom in this? I am sure that will appreciate your point of view".
Ballard grimaces in disgust, "I shall not challenge the will of the Elders, yet. But I forbid them form going alone, the Sheriff will go with them".
Neally nods, "Naturally, the Kindred who developed a ridiculous theory as to the culprits behind the diappearance of Lodin seems a natural choice to assist in this investigation".
Balthazar grins, "Damned straight I am!"
Neally turns to the Coterie, "Are yiou ready to leave? Sheriff, meet us there".
"I hate this bottom rung bullshit" Rick says with a grunt, standing up.
Victoria gets up, having been shocked into silence at the news of Lodin's death.
"...I have one more question. Are we allowed to feed on *ahem* proper meals, now?"
Dalton simply nods in the affirmative to Neally's question.
"By all mean, let us be on our way. We've only got a short time to satisfy these gentleman that the true culprit is on the loose. We wouldn't want to waste valuable time and let them get away." He looks meaningfully at the large man before standing up to leave with Neally.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
Ballard grunts, "Feed? After you refused my bountiful table? I think not!"
Neally frowns, "I shall provide you with sustenance, better to give them something than have them be a threat to our very existence Ballard".
The fat man waves his hand, "Begone, by tomorrow at Sundown Neally if they have no answer, I want them before the Primogen in chains. If they escape well... that is on your head now, isn't it?"
Neally narrows his eyes at Ballard, nods to the Sheriff and walks out with your Coterie leaving Ballard behind still stuffing his face.
The patrons pay little mind to your table until you all stand to leave, your ill chosen attire makes your motley crew stand out. Once outside Neally crosses the street to the front of an abandoned warehouse, "Have any of you ever been to this location before?" He points to the warehouse.
"Can't say that I have." Dalton says. "Of course I'm not really sure exactly where we are at right now either. Maybe on this street a time or two back when I was a cop."
James shakes his head to the negative. "Most of my old haunts were more to the south"
I have never been to this city so I cannot tell you
"No."
Victoria shakes her head.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
Neally turns to Rick, "And what of you?"
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
Neally nods at Rick's blank look, You are either an excellent liar or have no idea where you are Mr. North, I suspect the latter.
That is good, if I suspected the former my assistance to your coterie would be at an end.
Head to the Sears Tower, the Sheriff will meet you there and bring you through the guards allowing you access to Lodin's public haven. I suggest you keep him away from you as you investigate as best you can, he is a blunt instrument at best and will only hamper you as you search.
It is clear to me that your group has had no involvement in whatever it is that happened to Lodin. It is also clear that Ballard sees you as the perfect dupes.
You have no allies in Chicago but if you can find Lodin or at least clear your names you may acquire some. A van will also be out front of the Sears Tower, sate yourselves but do not kill any of those Blood Dolls, is this understood?"
"Understood. We have our vehicles back at the stadium, can we get those or is it vans only for 2 days?"
"Understood." Dalton says, a bit relieved that at least someone says they believe the group's story.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
"You have two nights before Ballard sends someone after you, do what you like.
The Sheriff is going to try to stick to you so if you don;t find anything tonight, do your best to ditch him.
I doubt you could slay the Sheriff in a combat so I would not try to fight him to get away. If you slay him, you will show your hands as guilty, forget that not.
Have you any questions for me before I leave you to your task?"
"Much appreciation for the snacks and the support."
James ponders for a moment before asking, "Any chance we could get access to the Prince's social calendar or perhaps one of his assistants, if he has any? And assuming they haven't disappeared. Maybe interview them and his herd to piece together a timeline? Maybe they will have less of an agenda than his, uh, night time staff."
"Anyone you know who can see things the average eye cannot? Divinations?"
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
Neally responds, "I am sure that you will have access to a great deal of his information as this is his main haven where he conducts business. As least a handful of his Retainers will be present to question.
His Herd is off limits so that will be a non-starter if it is a direction you seek to bring your investigation".
He shrugs at Rick's question, "Yes but do you wish to owe me or another a Boon before you are even officially accepted into the city, assuming of course that you will be?"
"I suppose I'll try on my own before indebting myself further."
While all this is going on, Victoria is going to find a couple of blood dolls to feed from to get some blood back.
James will definitely take advantage of a blood doll or two, depending on how well stocked the larder is. He is even more interested in getting in touch with his ghouls and getting ahold of his car phone in order to gather some information.
Feeling more than a bit hungry, Dalton too will partake of the offered blood dolls.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
The group hails down taxi's and heads to the Sears Tower to find the van offered by Neally, it sits across the street in an alleyway. The driver exits and nods at your approach and grins tightly, "Once you've done your business, I'll bring this crew out of here. No return engagements but here's my number if you want to find me again, I think you'll find my rates reasonable.
I've got one for each of you tonight, fresh meat".
The man is handing out cards? A bold move, his card claims that he is a "Matchmaker".
Rick is quick to feed and then steps away from the others to make a call to his Sire.
Being hungry and not sure when he will next get the opportunity to feed, Dalton takes more than he normally would.
"Well catch me a catch." James will take 3 blood points.
Victoria's fangs sink into the doll's neck, and though her Beast rejoices at the thought of draining the vessel dry, she's able to keep herself from killing them.
The Beast grumbles, but is forced to settle for a meager meal for now.
"...I need to make a call." She mumbles as she pulls away, licking the doll's neck to hide the puncture marks.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
The Coterie sate themselves as Victoria locates a pay phone down the block easily enough...
Rick heads in the opposite direction and also phones a friend,
Morgrym feeds two points and then licks the wound and steps away looking around and says gather ye rose buds and all that, time she is a flying and he will prepare for the next portion of the night.
Victoria sidles up to the pay phone and slides one hand into her pocket, closing around the stone disk her sire gave her and forcing a film of vitae to coat it.
"To serve House and Clan." She intones as she digs out her wallet and a quarter to put into the pay phone.
Sire? Victoria again. I have some dire news to report. She thinks as she puts a quarter into the pay phone, picks it up and pretends to dial a number.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Saturday - January 3, 1993 -
As Morgrym considers heading into the Tower Victoria and Rick step away to separate pay phones.
Victoria stands at the pay phone, holding the phone up to her ear.
"We have a week to clear our names."
If James can't find a third payphone, he will wait until one already engaged is ready before contacting his ghouls and sire.