most non productive night. Let us see how our friends faired. Thank you for the waste of time fellow, it won't be forgotten Morgrym says to the barkeep as he leaves.
The man laughs, "Prince Modius, he's still using that old honorific? Well, see nobody gets to meet Lodin. He never sees anyone anymore and if you're with Lodin, you're not anybody you see, you're nobody.
Still, I like you, you're different. Tell you what, I can arrange for you to meet with Neally, he'll talk to Lodin for you".
Charlotte's ears perk up slightly. "Why does Uncle Lodin no longer entertain?" Ignoring when he calls her different (though it gets a snicker out of Tara), she adds, "Neally. Yes, thank you. And what shall I call you, Cousin?"
Seeing that the Elysium bar is closing for the night, James licks the doll's wound prior to giving her a peck on the cheek and slipping a few twenties into her purse. "There's some cab fare, Hermosa. Use it. It's cold out tonight and I suspect you'll shortly be ready for bed.".
He then exits the booth and follows Morgrym down the stairs.
Rick will play along with their game, picking a blood doll or two and seeking some "quick action" in the bathroom before making his exit with the others.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 – The Succubus Club - Elysium
The barkeep just shakes his head at Morgrym, wise enough to know not to talk back else he'd not be here long.
Rick is able to fill up on blood and he's feeling quite good. He could get used to these blood dolls!
The woman smiles and kisses James passionately as he exits with his Coterie members.
Despite being present for perhaps a half hour, the Gangrel have not moved an inch into the place.
The Toreador is near them dancing to the music, in people's way as they enter and exit but security doesn't hassle him.
Charlotte, though, you don't see Charlotte.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 – The Succubus Club - Ground Floor
"Heh, Uncle Lodin. Uh, Cousins in the City call me "Sir". You too can call me Sir or Cousin if you prefer.
As far as why Lodin doesn't see people, I guess because he doesn't have to. I mean if you were the most powerful person in the city would you waste time with every person who wanted to see you?
Head to the "Cave".
He gives you directions to the place which is not far from here, two blocks north of the Succubus on State Street in fact.
"Ask for Horace and tell him I sent you. He'll tell you how to get in touch with Neally. You might even get a chance to see him tonight, there's still a few hours till sunrise..."
our friend seems to be having some small success in conversation at least. Morgrym gives a nod to Charlotte.
"Then let's go over and say hello." James begins to head toward Charlotte and her new friend.
"Heh, Uncle Lodin. Uh, Cousins in the City call me "Sir". You too can call me Sir or Cousin if you prefer. As far as why Lodin doesn't see people, I guess because he doesn't have to. I mean if you were the most powerful person in the city would you waste time with every person who wanted to see you?"
Tara laughs outright (though, of course, only Charlotte can hear it) when he suggests people call him "Sir". Between peals of laughter she manages to get out. "Of course he does."
A frown visible on her face, Charlotte gets up to leave, but stops, considering for a moment her cousin's words."Of course I would meet with others. We are family. I wasted time going to Uncle Modius's party, though I had other, better things I could have been doing." She pauses, thinking that the distance between them was growing rapidly, not just with her getting up from the seat. Not just with him not giving her an actual name.
Annoyance sweeps over her as she considers her role in this. Errand girl to Modius, now being made to run around town, like she was part of some conspiracy. Because they liked it, and because they didn't trust each other. The family were vying for power, for influence. For most of them, the humans weren't the opposition, their own brothers and sisters were. She opens her mouth to explain this, but only says: "We ought to be standing together in the darkness. All of us."
Giving nothing more than a small nod for the "help", she heads back to the group, intercepting James as he walks towards her. Speaking softly, though not without a degree of fury, she relays the next steps she was told: Going to the Cave, asking for Horace, getting in touch with Neally, and what she heard of Lodin and his solitary state as well.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 – The Succubus Club - Ground Floor
Julian sees that the group has come ever closer to the exit, he motions to them to come nearer to the exit, "Time is wasting!". He yells a bit too loudly as the current song suddenly cuts off and before the next begins to play.
Morgrym chuckles and live out saying quietly to the others No luck upstairs, any direction to go down here? and he will follow the group into a cab and pay for it as well.
As James walks out, he signals to his ghouls for a pickup with the intention to follow the cab.
Under his breath he says "I know we don't need to breath, but no need to stuff *quite* so many cainites in a car."
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 –
Julian pauses at the exit, "There is one other Kindred here we didn't talk to. You all head to the Cave, I want to see what he is all about. I'll return to Gary tonight, call my bar, the Firefly tomorrow. I'll let you know what I discovered".
The Gary Coterie gathers together at the front of the Succubus and heads via car, cab, and motorcycle the handful of blocks to the Cave.
The streets in front of this club are deserted with no other clubs or bars on the street front.
The entrance is dingy and dirty with a flickering neon sign which barely does the job it's intended to do. Parking out front is no hassle at all.
There is no bouncer at the door. In fact it is quite quiet.
---
You've been nursing a drink for a while now. You are quite sure you've seen no Kindred yet here tonight thankfully.
The beer was tasteless, but cold and at least somewhat alcoholic. Victoria harboured no doubts that she'd have to puke it up later, but for now it served to maintain her cover. She stood out a bit among the Cave's regulars, even though she was dressed in a warm grey hoodie and comfortable jeans--perhaps it was because she looked like she bathed recently, and her clothes were laundered.
The Cave was really little more than a hole in the wall that had the sheer temerity to call itself a bar, but it served a Kindred's purpose well enough--dark corners for clandestine business, and enough humans to feed at least a few hungry Licks without needing to drain them dry. The television over the bar was showing a baseball game that she hadn't been following too closely. The group of kine clustered around the bar, on the other hand, were following it religiously; they practically hovered on the edges of their bar stools whenever the pitcher on the screen wound up for another throw. There were a few other humans dotted around the club, but they were all either focused intently on their own affairs or not paying attention to anything around them.
It was one of Stringer's favourite places to go to feed, even if other Kindred rarely visited the place.
So what's taking him so long? The neonate seated in a lit booth pondered, looking around the dingy bar. Maybe I should get an actual drink before he arrives...
"Hmm, my kind of place." Rick says, subtly performing a brass check on his pistol and eyeing the door.
this place is a sh*thole, and that might be insult to the hole. Who are we meeting here? Morgrym takes a look around and sees what the rest of the group has to say.
James quietly says, "I believe we are to ask after Horace as a way to speak with Neally."
"I imagine this is the type of place you frequented quite often before you made your money, James."
James quietly snorts, "As a general rule, I try not to spend time in places like this. It might as well have a flashing neon sign hung outside saying 'Criminal Activity Inside'. Besides, my momma would have tanned my ass if she found out I was hanging out in such a... "He wrinkles his nose in distaste as he searches his memory for a long disused phrase. "...den of iniquity. And she always found out. It was like damned superpower."
"And yet you still turned out to be a s@@$-bag drug dealer. Maybe you should've listened to her better." Dalton says with a smirk.
"Maybe so." James replies calmly, "But the lines got a bit blurred when she too sick to work and my youngest sister was crying because she was so hungry. I'm not sayin' I don't have regrets, but keeping my family warm and fed isn't one of them."
Victoria looks around the bar for any patrons free enough to feed from with a bit of work.
Morgrym will walk into said bar and have a look around as he moves in placing himself in an empty corner as he enters to give the place a once over
Charlotte largely ignores the friendly squabbling between James and Dalton, seeming lost in her own little world. It's only when James mentions regrets, and why he did what he did, that she seems to acknowledge that any of them even exist. "Death is all about second chances." She replies before following Morgrym inside.
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 –
Charlotte and Morgrym leave Rick, Kent, Dalton and James outside chatting, arguing, whatever you want to call it. Kent's been fairly quiet ever since the group entered the Succubus Club.
---
At the end of the hall is a swinging door with a squeaky hinge. Behind this door is a single dingy room that makes up the bar area. Roughly circular, the room is damp, and dark and the ceiling is crisscrossed with metal beams The floor is bare concrete, it honestly looks like the interior of a cave.
Essentially, it's what you expected it to be. A dive.
A couple high backed wooden booths are along one wall, but the majority of the seating is at tables. The bar along the near wall is small but well-stocked. Only one bartender is on duty a middle aged man.
There are two doors, one to the "Bathroom". The other at the back of the room states "Employees Only".
The two of you find an out of the way table as close to a corner as you can get in this place.
Assisting the barkeep is a buxom brunette who begins to approach your table....
Also here are several men at the bar watching a Cubs game of all things, clearly a replay of a "classic" game. The Kine are agitated about it even though it's a re run.
At two of the tables are single lonely seeming men. There is only one woman here besides the waitress and she sits at the only occupied booth.
---
As you consider who of the few lonely men that are here to approach, the door opens and a man and a woman walk in whom look like they don't belong here.
Hmm. The gentleman at the nearby table looks lonely enough. He'd probably enjoy a woman's company. But there's the matter of making sure Horace over there doesn't find out... wait. Who are those two?
Victoria tilts her head, her eyes darting over the two new arrivals: a man who had the bearing of a military veteran, and a young-looking woman who seemed to be perpetually distracted by something.
Probably from out-of-town. And they look too... respectable for this place. Maybe I should introduce myself... or at least warn them about the beer here.
Her mind made up, the bespectacled woman stands up from her booth, half-empty beer bottle in hand, and approaches the two newcomers. Their waitress is already approaching to take their orders.
"Fair warning--the beer here sucks." She says to the two of them as she approaches.
"Looks like we've got company approaching. Trying to be sly about it, not very successfully I may add." Dalton says turning to get a better look at whomever might be approaching.
Morgrym looks up from his associate Charolette and says If that isn't the understatement of the century, I don't know what is. The beer in this place is the least of our worries lady. You happen to know a guy named Horace here? Morgrym says in a non committal manner.
"Horace?" The lady hitches a thumb over at the bartender. "He's the man behind the bar."
"You don't look like you're from around here, if you don't mind me saying. Where are the two of you from?"
A mid sized man dressed in worn out sneakers, old faded jeans and a navy hoodie with the words 'Information is Power' on the front. His hands are in the pockets and the hood is pulled over low, obscuring his face as he makes his way towards the entrance of the bar. A pungent aroma of someone that might not have bathed in a couple of days wafts off him. A largish dog, of no discernible breed keeps pace with him. The dog doesn't appear to be either mean nor friendly.
He pauses for a moment as the men notice him, pulling out a cigarette which disappears under the hood until a spark from a his lighter ignites leaves behind a tiny orange glow. What do we have here? Whatever they are, they're not who I'm looking for.
He considers the three men for a moment before making his way towards the entrance of the bar.
Morgrym arches his brow at the inquisitiveness of the woman in a run down cave bar and says: " If you go a real long ways you'll find BFE, and on the other side of that will be "not your g$$ d#&ned business", and in between those two is the middle of F*@^#ing no where, which is where we all are right now. Now, Pardon my language and all but unless you are a friend of Horace or know about Horace's associate Neally, or have some business with a paid contract mercanary like myself, I think I will have to speak to Horace about a guy.
"I see him. And I think he has the right idea. Let's head inside before someone notices our lack of breath on such a cold night." James heads inside and will post up behind Morgrym.
"Right idea? Pretty sure this city has leash laws. But yeah, sounds good." Rick then follows inside.
Watching the men begin to make their way inside he bends down to pet the dog, scratching him behind the ears as he whispers, "Stay here. I'll be back in a little bit."
As the dog scampers off he straightens up and makes his way inside pausing at the entrance for a moment to survey the room.
Kent looks over just as the others start to comment, then nods when he spies the same. "I see 'em too. You're probably right, we ought to get inside. Whoever they are, if they have business with us they can damn well handle it inside."
With a nod confirming his agreement with the others assessment of the situation, Dalton heads inside.
Victoria wrinkles her nose at the glorified hired gun as he more-or-less looks down his nose at her.
"Go ahead--Horace is behind the bar." She smirks a bit. "Be sure to ask him for the good stuff." He'll love that.
She glances over at the oddly quiet woman he was seated with and starts to address her when several other people come through the doors of the Cave--and they're a motley bunch, to be certain. A man who carried himself like a police officer (you spend enough time dealing with them when court dates come up, you learn how to pick one out of a crowd), a black man dressed in fine clothes, another two scruffy-looking gentlemen (one of whom carried himself with more than a little swagger), and...
...Stringer. About damn time.
She leans against the wall and looks squarely at the hoodie-clad man stepping through the doors. Bold of him to show up with this lot. Is he with them? I should get him away from them before they notice what he is--assuming of course they haven't figured it out already. I hope they haven't--this could get... awkward.
Oh, what am I saying? He's more competent than that.
She nods her head at the hoodie-wearing man, trying to get his attention...
Scanning the room he see's a familiar face looking back at him, a nod confirming her identity. Victoria. A small smile appears on his covered face and he returns the nod. Who is that she's talking to. He tries to get a better look at the man at her table as he walks past them making his way to the bar. He picks a spot where he can keep an eye on her.
"I'll have a beer." he calls out to the bartender.
Morgrym sees the other fellow approach the bar and stands up from the table saying to Victoria "this isn't the type of bar for you. Perhaps you should go."
Morgrym then makes his way up to the other end of the bar from the new guy and waits to speak to Horace.
"Finally." Noticing that Victoria is by herself he makes his way towards her table. Pulling out a chair he takes a seat, leaning in, his voice low, "Hey! Good to see you. Interesting place you picked." He turns to look in the direction of Morgrym before turning back to Victoria. "That guy bothering you?"
Victoria flashes the mercenary a quick smile... letting her fangs show for a moment before putting them away. "I'm quite fine here, sir. But thank you for your concern."
"That guy bothering you?"
The woman adjusts her glasses and shakes her head. "Not as such. I suspect we got off on the wrong foot, but that's all."
"So, how've you been? What's new lately?"
Stringer casually glances around the bar taking note of the individuals present. "Oh you know, the usual.". He leans forward. Victoria notices the ugly scabbed and flaky skin on his face for a moment, followed by an unwashed pungent aroma like that of someone who hasn't bathed in a week. Lowering his voice to a whisper, "..... very f*#$ing little. This keeping a low profile s+~~ is getting old." Returning to his normal tone and leaning back in his seat he adds. "How are things with you?"
"Going as well as expected, I suppose." Victoria sighs and wrinkles her nose. "My sire's getting impatient. She wants inroads into Chicago, and she wants them soon. Haven't made as much progress as I would have liked."
BAPTISM OF FIRE - Friday - January 1, 1993 –
As Stringer, Rick, Kent, Dalton and James enter the front door there is a short hallway decorated with antique door knockers. There are several lions and grotesque gargoyles, but also exotic ones such as mermaids.
At the end of the hall is a swinging door with a squeaky hinge. Behind this door is a single dingy room that makes up the bar area. Roughly circular, the room is damp, and dark and the ceiling is crisscrossed with metal beams The floor is bare concrete, it honestly looks like the interior of a cave.
Essentially, it's what you expected it to be. A dive.
A couple high backed wooden booths are along one wall, but the majority of the seating is at tables. The bar along the near wall is small but well-stocked. Only one bartender is on duty a middle aged man.
There are two doors, one to the "Bathroom". The other at the back of the room states "Employees Only".
The two of you find an out of the way table as close to a corner as you can get in this place.
Assisting the barkeep is a buxom brunette who begins to approach your table....
Also here are several men at the bar watching a Cubs game of all things, clearly a replay of a "classic" game. The Kine are agitated about it even though it's a re run.
At two of the tables are single lonely seeming men. There is only one woman here besides the waitress and she sits at the only occupied booth. The man who entered behind all of you, approaches her.
Your eyes are drawn of course to Morgrym and Charlotte who are both approaching the barkeep who is just about to place a beer on the bar as she points to the man who sat next to the woman, "That one's yours, come and get it".
She looks to Morgrym, "What'll it be for you stranger?"
I am here to see a fellow named Nealy about some business opportunities I am some of my associates have for him.
Dalton glances up at that ballgame and muses, "They ought to be pissed. That idiot, Larry Himes, is gonna screw up and let both Dawson and Maddux walk this offseason."
Stringer nods in response to Victoria's words. "That's mine. Give me a sec." he adds rising for the table to collect his beer.
Returning he sits down wiping the rim of the bottle on his sleeve and takes a faux sip of the drink before placing the bottle down on the table. Leaning in he speaks in a whisper, "What kind of inroads are you looking to make?"