Infernalis Bellum(VtM)

Game Master Monkeygod

"Ahh yes I understand it is so clear now!"

"Demons dwell not in darkness as the eteranl tormenting flames produce light."

"Okay, say I buy that your an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect the bill.

Tell me, why do these mysterious people need me and a couple of other stooges to do their work?"

Beschi, as you study the parchment intently you realize that the writing is vaguely similar to ancient Latin, but your only able to make a few words, including fire, cleansing, purge, and Armageddon. As for a price, its obviously priceless. Aside from an incredibly strong aura of evil, you sense palpable anger.

However, beyond this you can't really figure out much. The writing is clearly not ancient Latin, but bares a resemblance, almost as if this language preceded it.

Moridin shakes his head "Sure, whatever you say. Leave me and carry out this mission."

You head downstairs, and exit the building. As you do, you're slammed by the mental re-emergence of Lenore. "Dear gods Edgar, that was horrific!"

"This is a fascinating piece Master Sturbridge. It would seem the language is a pre-cursor to Latin. I can make out some of it, enough to know that it hints at dark tidings. Perhaps there is something here that will allow me to identify the missing words. Tell me, where did you get it and who has asked you to translate it?"

Beschi begins to search the library to determine if he can find a text that will allow for some sort of translation. He also begins to look for what he has actually come here for.

Topics:
(1) Research to determine if the quote spoken by the neonates the prior night matches up to a specific time period.
Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (8, 1, 2, 2, 6, 5, 8, 7, 5, 6) = 50

(2) Research to attempt to find a tome that allows Beschi to decipher the language of the parchment.
Intelligence + Research - 8d10 ⇒ (1, 5, 3, 5, 6, 3, 9, 1) = 33

(3) Cross reference the quote that Beschi heard with what he just read to determine if there is a connection.
Intelligence + Linguistics - 8d10 ⇒ (5, 4, 2, 10, 4, 6, 6, 5) = 42

Reroll 10 1d10 ⇒ 1

Lastly, (4) Research into the history of Clan Tremere to determine (if possible) which Clan Member "discovered" Lure of the Flames, what connection if any he had to the Infernal, and what his ultimate fate is (i.e. whether he is still around today).
Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (1, 10, 1, 9, 4, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6) = 47

Reroll 10 1d10 ⇒ 6

Ugh botches.

V laughs again "First of all, I am definitely not a boy, would you like me to prove it to you?? Secondly, the reason your needed is because we want this to hopefully be more of a diplomatic mission, as the other of your clan has ties to the people holding the relic. My master prefers to try and maintain peaceful relations with those you will be traveling to, as opposed to the vast majority of our kind who either hate and fear them, or seek to do battle with them a the drop of a hat"

@Lenore
"I thought you were gone, what was so horrible? are you alright?

"I must gain power an ensure our safety at all costs."

"I have a guess, but why don't you tell me who these people holding this relic are?

And then, of course, you can tell me what the relic is."

Beschi, please roll each of those 4 rolls 3 more times. This research is defintely an extended action

Beschi continues to work, surprised by the silence from Sturbridge. "Tell me Master Sturbridge, have you noticed anything peculiar about this piece? In your own research have you applied your Auspex powers in deciphering its origin?"

Rolling each check 3 more times.

Topics:
(1) Research to determine if the quote spoken by the neonates the prior night matches up to a specific time period.
(A) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 1, 5, 2, 10, 1, 7, 10) = 43
Reroll - 1d10 ⇒ 3
(B) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (3, 8, 6, 9, 10, 1, 7, 8, 9, 2) = 63
Reroll - 1d10 ⇒ 8
(C) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (3, 8, 9, 7, 1, 2, 6, 5, 8, 7) = 56

(2) Research to attempt to find a tome that allows Beschi to decipher the language of the parchment.
(A) Intelligence + Research - 8d10 ⇒ (5, 3, 9, 1, 1, 1, 4, 10) = 34

(B) Intelligence + Research - 8d10 ⇒ (3, 9, 8, 9, 5, 9, 4, 4) = 51
Reroll - 1d10 ⇒ 7
(C) Intelligence + Research - 8d10 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 6, 5) = 38

(3) Cross reference the quote that Beschi heard with what he just read to determine if there is a connection.
(A) Intelligence + Linguistics - 8d10 ⇒ (2, 10, 10, 2, 9, 3, 1, 9) = 46
Reroll - 2d10 ⇒ (7, 10) = 17
ReReroll - 1d10 ⇒ 3
(B) Intelligence + Linguistics - 8d10 ⇒ (9, 9, 9, 4, 6, 6, 9, 8) = 60
Reroll - 1d10 ⇒ 2
(C) Intelligence + Linguistics - 8d10 ⇒ (3, 6, 10, 9, 10, 9, 8, 4) = 59

Lastly, (4) Research into the history of Clan Tremere to determine (if possible) which Clan Member "discovered" Lure of the Flames, what connection if any he had to the Infernal, and what his ultimate fate is (i.e. whether he is still around today).
(A) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (8, 3, 5, 6, 8, 1, 8, 7, 8, 9) = 63
Reroll - 2d10 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3
(B) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (2, 2, 1, 3, 8, 5, 4, 2, 1, 5) = 33

(C) Intelligence + Occult - add Occult Library Bonus 10d10 ⇒ (5, 8, 4, 2, 9, 5, 8, 5, 6, 5) = 57

Between ghostly sobs Lenore explains "All of a sudden I was snatched away, by what I can not say. What I do know is that I was made to watch some sort of horrific ritual where this nightmarish creature force its way inside this poor woman's body. She screamed the whole time and wept tears of blood"

"I fear I did not do so well without you there, it sounds like your troubles were much worse. I do not deserve you and fear you are here because of me."

"Remember what you saw my love, it might be important in the future I too saw abyssal creatures when I tried to read tha she-devils mind."

As you peruse the library, you uncover a good deal of information. For starters the quotes from the neonates seem to originate from shortly after the fall of Enoch, the second city. There also definitely seems to be a connection to those quotes and this supposeded prophecy. As you struggle to read it, you get the feeling what those neonates said comes from the parchment. Sadly, you're unable to find a book that could help you translate the language, however it is entirely possible your sire might have the ability to do so, or at least know where to get definite help.

As for the founder of Lure of the Flames, his name appears to be lost to history, but what is known is that he was a very devout Christian who believed the flames he "discovered" were God's holy vengence made manifest. While his name is forgotten his fate is not: about 300 years ago he defended a decent sized Chantry in Eastern Europe from a horde of "demons". Once the neonates were able to clear out the tomes and artifacts and got themsleves to safety he sacrificed himself in a massive conflaguration that took out both the Chantry and his enemies.

Aisling appears to be waiting for you though she does reply to your question "I was able to glean a bit, but not much. To be honest I'm not the best suited to this task, but I was told that in no uncertain terms to not let any of my lesser Tremere to aid me. My employer has a very low opinion of our clan as it is and he doesn't trust them to not screw this up. If you hadn't contacted me when you had, I was going to come pay you a visit and request your help personally."

V shakes her head "You ask for much, witout commiting to anything. You'll need to agree to help before I reveal any more."

"If my suspicion is correct this document is circa Enoch or the time of its fall. Your library is inadequate to the task of deciphering the script. I will give no opinion of it until I can fully read it as I do not want a later translation to contradict anything I have found thus far. I will need a few things from you if I am to aid you in this endeavor. First, I must gain access to the Ritual Communicate with Kindred Sire as I do believe that my sire will be able to provide the detail I am seeking. Second, I want your assurances that the help I provide you will be returned to me when I request it. Third, once I have gleaned more information I would like to speak with your employer directly. If he is the one who provided you with this item I would like to determine how he "happened" to come upon a 10,000 plus year old document. Lastly, I want the document in case I need to refer to it at some point in my investigations. Are these terms agreeable Master Sturbridge?"

If Aisling was still alive, she would breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Master Beschi. I can defintely provide the ritual as well as providing what assistance I can at a later date. However, while I personally have no problem with you speaking to my employer, I can not gurantee an audience. You see, none other than Moridin current *prince* of this city is my employer. As to how he procured the item, you can attempt to ask him that yourself should you actually manage to gain an audience" She says this last just a bit smugly, as if to say "its your problem now"

"Excellent. Do you have the protective case in which the parchment was given to you on hand? I do not wish to damage this prize. I would like to start on this immediately, once I have contacted my sire and conversed with him then I will request an audience with the Prince, to do so sooner may be premature".

Beschi will use Movement of the Mind to lift the document as he has little desire to touch it with his bare hands.

Movement of the Mind - 1 Blood Point (Diff 4) - 8d10 ⇒ (8, 5, 5, 5, 10, 3, 3, 3) = 42
Reroll 1d10 ⇒ 9

Not sure how you work the mechanics for learning a ritual but presumably I will be able to learn a first level ritual relatively quickly.

Once Beschi has learned the ritual he turns to Sturbridge. "I require a silent place to converse with my sire, this may take some time".

Once in an undisturbed location, Beschi activates Communicate with Kindred Sire - Intelligence + Occult (Diff 4) 8d10 ⇒ (2, 1, 10, 5, 9, 2, 1, 2) = 32
Reroll 1d10 ⇒ 10
ReReroll 1d10 ⇒ 3

"Master Celestyn. It is Beschi. It has been some time since we have been in contact. I have recently come upon a matter which requires your most urgent attention. Neonates of my Chantry have had strange dreams linked to Infernal Beings. I contacted a local Chantry head with a more extensive library than mine to do further research on the phenomenon and was asked to aid her in a task. This task involved the deciphering of a parchment made of flesh which I believe dates back to Enoch. Moreover from what I have been able to determine thus far, the dreams of these neonates have a connection to the body of the parchment. I need your help in either deciphering the parchment or in being directed to a library which will aid me in doing so. There is more but I will wait for your response before continuing".

"Okay, I suppose I can understand that.

Then tell me why me? I understand wanting to send someone who has these ties you speak of, but I'm not one of these people. And again, why doesn't your master go with the person who has these attachments?"

"For starters, you have a far more martial bent than the other two, which means you'll be the one they turn to if things hit the fan. Also, my master is tied up with far bigger matters, which are directly related to the relic you need to acquire."

As you attempt to float the parchment, Aisling stops you with her own powers. "I am under strict orders that this parchment is NOT to leave my Chantry. You want to take it with you for further study, speak to Moridin."

Just checked VtM, apparently, it takes several nights to learn even a level 1 ritual

"Okay. Fine. But why should I be interested? What is the goal here?"

"Beyond the recovery of the relic, I won't tell you more till you agree. As for why you should be interested, i'd think you be all over "sticking it to the man" as it were. But if attempting to destroy what could be a global conspiracy isn't enough for you, I said it before, complete this mission and you can set your own price"

"Okay. You can count me in. For now.

But if I even think I smell anything I don't like I'm out.

The first thing you can do for me is tell me how you found my hotel."

"It seems I have been drafted into the service of the prince, he seems to indicate I have no choice but to serve him or he will destroy us both, tis not a tradition I am aware of, one where a ruler sits an waits an then forces any who enter his domain into unending service...."

"Edgar my love, I am here because of our love for each other, not because of anything you did or did not do. I chose to not move on, because I was afraid for you, afraid of what the Embrace would do to you, and that it would destroy the man i so deeply love.

As for Moridin, he is not a Camarilla Prince, so of course his ways or not what you know. He is an Assamite, ruling over a city in the name of the Sabbat. Keep that in mind, when next you speak with him."

Hey Monkeygod I sent you an email re Beschi.

"Very well I will take it up with him. In the meantime please take a picture and send it to me in case I need to refer to it. Before we begin discussing the ritual, tell me, what are you doing working for Moridin anyway?"

V shrugs, "It's my job to find people. You may take extreme care to build up trail of falsehoods and misdirection, but people exist who are at least thrice as good you are at such obfuscation in unraveling them and tracking people down."

Aisling shakes her head "When one of the most dangerous beings on the face of the earth asks you for your help, you don't exactly say no. Besides, he now owes me a favor and this is a rather interesting project.

As for your ritual, it will take too long for you learn it. However, I have an item in my possession that will allow the same communication. As you talk to your sire, I shall see if i can arrange a meeting with Moridin tonight."

"Well, I'd like to know how you did it, considering I'm rotating hotels on a cash basis. Apprantly I'm going to have to go completely off the grid, or improve my skills at leaving no trails.

In any case, where are we going? I assume you're going to take me to meet someone, or are you just going to give the information I need?"

Thackery, you never actually rotated hotels, remember? It has only been two nights since the game started for you.

Addended Post:
"Well I'd like to know how found me, considering I picked a random hotel and paid for it in cash.

In any case, what's the next move?"

Beschi will use the item to send the message posted above to Celestyn and wait for a response.

V laughs a girlish laugh, which unsettles you slightly "Sweety, it's like I said, it's what I do. You aren't nearly so hard to follow and keep track of by somebody as good as me, whose interested in doing so.

Something is bothering me though: you claimed I set a fake fire, but I didn't do any such thing. I've been waiting out here, knowing you'd come out eventually over the next few days."

"Hmm...well, I heard a fire alarm in the room, which is why I jumped out the window. I saw you there, so naturally I assumed you had something to do with it."

Thackery, my bad for not noticing before, but your posts wherein you talk need to be bold. It makes it easier for me to pick them out when necessary

V walks away for a moment, then comes right back. "Hmm, well if a fire alarm was pulled, nobody else seems to be outside, and I don't hear any sirens whatsoever"

@Lenore
"Perhaps then we shall be unharmed in the city an tha sabbat will honor us in our servitude by not killing us."

"I hope this mission does not require a Navajo life be shed."

"Did you hear what was said while you were gone......"

WIll fill Lenore in on all the details..

"They said I would be meeting two others for this trip."

Celestyn response comes quickly "Bad timing. Can't talk now. Unlife or Final Death here." And the communication ends.

"No shit, really? Why do you think I assumed you, Miss Memory Eraser, did it. I feel like someone's f+*%ing with me and I'd really like to put a bullet in their head, but I don't know who it is yet. Which is why I'd like to remind you that you're still very much on probationary status with me. Don't think that I've decided you had nothing to do with it, all I have is your word, really, for now.

That being said, let's get this task started, whatever it is. And no I'm not going to somebody's creepy mansion, or crypt, or whatever. If I'm going to meet anyone it will be at a public place. If nothing's going to happen tonight then I suggest you tell me how to contact you, and I'll be in touch in a day or two, or whenever this is actually going down."

Shocked Beschi stands and composes himself. He walks out of the private sanctum and looks for Sturbridge.

"I fear I will need to retain this item until after this project is complete. My sire is indisposed at the moment. I need to speak with my ghoul. Once I have given him his orders, I will meet with the Prince presuming you have been able to arrange a meeting this night. Otherwise I will return to my Chantry until the meeting is arranged".

You suddenly find yourself lifted into the air by the throat as V has apparently had enough of your mouth"Listen you paranoid little freak, you may be the king of your world of one, but out here in the real world you're just a pawn. You said you would be willing to die to ensure your freedom. What would you do to avoid endless enslavement?? I have a friend whose always looking for a new cleaning boy. You know the kind: one who is absolutely beholden to his master's will with utterly no free thought or desire to break away. Sounds like fun, dosen't it??" She says with a vicisous smile.

Your unable to find Aisling, however you do run across your ghoul coming to find you.

"Tribulat. There has been a very interesting development. I will need you to go back to the Chantry and let Steven know that he will for the time being remain the Master of the Hoboken Chantry. I must discuss business with very dangerous creatures and would prefer it if you were not there to tempt their desires. I have my own methods for returning to the Chantry. Have you discovered anything interesting in your wanderings?"

Tribulat looks you square in the eyes "Absolutely not. If you are going to be possibly dealing with dangerous creatures of any sort, I will be there by your side to help protect you. Unless you feel the need to force me away from you, I will stay by your side as I have for these countless centuries."

"Yes my love, I too hope the blood of my people will not need to be spilled. Let us depart this city, I do not like how it feels."

I look her in the eye.

"No, that doesn't sound good to me."

V puts you down and ruffles your hair playfully "I like you Thackery, but it's high time you learned you aren't the biggest dog in the yard. Since you've agreed to help, I'll fill you in a bit more: You need to recover a holy relic of the Navajo. I'm sure you've heard rumors of Infernalists and the Baali, right? Well, they are very real, and there is a some sort of government conspiracy which may or may not be global. What the conspiracy is exactly is unknown at this time.

And that's where you come in. Kindred exist who are more powerful than you, for sure. But there are very few who are such paranoid masters of conspiracies like you are. Beyond just helping retrieve this relic, your help is required in unraveling this mystery."

Please check the OOG thread and feel to comment on what I just posted

"Very well my friend. This thing we are facing is a monster a bogeyman amongst our kind. Should he turn on me I fear there is little you will do but perish. Though we will be serving him the Sabbat are not known for being reasonable. At any rate I appreciate having you by my side. I take it you have discovered little in your time here?" Beschi looks around to make sure Sturbridge is not coming towards them as Tribulat gives his report.

"Well, you can understand then why I can't work with someone who threatens me."

Obfuscate 4 (Charisma+Stealth), 1 Blood Point:4d10 ⇒ (2, 8, 10, 4) = 24

I am now pulling my gun in my right left hand and my steak in my right from the quick holsters. I don't know if you'll let me fire this round but a proffessional can pull and empty a revovler in less than 5 seconds.

Re-rolling 10:
1d10 ⇒ 9