I just picked up my copy of Diablo 3 so I'll be really "busy" for the next few weeks anyways ;p
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Saki doesn't even bother with the tiny white hairs that cover his outfit when he hears they are now headed to club V instead. "I'll have to change too if we are headed back to V, so either we need to stop by the Cherry Blossom, or I'll have to meet you in front of V...can't show up in the same thing I wore there last night." Oroku has been standing still as a statue with his arms folded, staring at a hideous piece of art deco sculpture, wondering how many times the 'artist' vomited into the plaster as he was forming it as Richard runs about preparing. Back in the cab, he remembers his own list of calls. "We were at V last night too by the way. A bunch of the lovely ladies called me from there or texted me about it, including something about a 'flapper' being hauled away just a little while ago? I'll be back in 3 minutes." The cyberpunk jumps out of the cab before it has even stopped and vanishes into the darkened arch of the entrance. 2 minutes and 57 seconds later he comes trotting back out in shiny black and blue cargo pants with more than 20 zippers and a black mesh T-shirt under a stylized black vest that shows off the lifetime of dedication to his physical body, an intricate dragon tattoo that coils over his left shoulder peeks from under the vest. The LED studded wrist cuffs he wears stop just before hiding the edges of his forearm brands, and his golden mirrored Oakleys are pushed up into his permanently spiked yellow hair. "So do we know what this other new guys looks like? Apparently there is some sort of special event going on tonight, and people are lined up around the block. It could take some time to find him in the mess." He has also changed his voice setting, his smooth words are now spoken by a trio of Englishmen tenners, giving it a crisp and echoing cadence.
Saki finishes checking his messages and steps over to Richard, and nods Thomas over as well. "It was Michael Miller you were missing this rising yes? Seems there was a fight when we were all together along with someone named Tina at 1:46? And do the initials LB mean anything to either of you two?" Saki scratches his head while thinking if there is anything else he should ask while he has a couple of mildly sympathetic ears on hand. "I think I'm missing something in the translation, but what does it mean when people say they will do something violent or impossible to you if you ever...take a particular action again? Its been happening quite often lately, so I think there might be a missing file from my translation program." While it takes a moment, the others soon realize Saki doesn't even know what a threat is, or doesn't comprehend the concept.
Oh and for the text messages, should I be waiting for you to create them or should be thinking up people I have been dealing with over the last 6 months on my own for the unknown numbers to start cultivating contacts and potential herd members?
Haha I was wondering when someone would figure it out. Though the only similarity between my character and his historical namesake is the tendency for our enemies to end up in bloody ribbons. @G85 - The text for the lvl3 curse is on my sheet, but here's the whole range that the flaw covers in the book: Cursed (1-5pt flaw)
Given the pervasiveness of technology in every day life, I figured you could really get some mileage out of the one I chose in particular. From shorting out an electronic keypad or the lights in a room, simply by touching the switch, to never finding an elevator that is actually working, I think this curse can keep us on our toes for the foreseeable future.
As Saki gets ready to begin scrolling through the exciting list of text messages from his new fans, an email pings up about an intriguing new app for his implanted translator.
Oroku raises a thin black eyebrow in delight and selects to purchase the upgrade for his model "Techno/Synth-Voice Box 3000" at once. The new coding streams in front of his eyes for a moment as the shiny chrome speaker set in his throat crackles merrily away. Then the crackling begins to subside until its replaced by a soft and pleasant tone issues from it for a few seconds followed by a brief message in the voice he had been using intermittently. "Systems are now secure, testing complete." The young Chinese man grins broadly at the others and cracks his neck to the side in relief. "Ahh that should take of these disruptions I've been dealing with. Now we can get back to back-tracing our steps from last night." With no more crack-ups in his speaker he goes back to read his texts as they approach the vampire free exterior of the Glitterdust club.
Well the curse flaw has sure been its namesake so far. And while nobody appears to be covered in claw marks or is in pieces, plus with a dozen new texts (Needed), and Saki seems to have been to quite a few new places (Curiosity), I can't take credit for any of it. March was really slow and I only got through basically a couple introductions. I would like to just go ahead and spend 2xp for the Plug-Ins Merit-Translator to exclude it from my curse flaw. The translator was just supposed to be a funny little tongue-in-cheek/slap-stick/chop-saki dubbing bit for comedic relief. But with it failing almost half the time, its getting in the way of basic communication, which is really what PbP is all about. We can't read facial expressions or body language over the web so witty banter is really all I have to work with. I created an account over on Obsidian Portal and have tried to join the thread.
I was just waiting to arrive at our destination, before posting again. The queen told Oroku to go with these folks and that's what I'm doing for now. Outside of the club/monastery/combat situations, Saki is really still a baby. And while I'm fairly smart as a player, trying to play down to an Intelligence 1 leaves Saki without much to say outside the few arenas he is comfortable in here at the beginning of his unlife. He'll get better the longer he survives, but it will take some time. I check the thread several times throughout the day for story updates and opportunities to interact though.
Heading down the stairs to the lowest unlocked level, without a care in the world, Oroku delights in the echoy sound the metal stairs make as he stomps on each of them in turn, like a 5 year old. He seems to be very soft-spoken as his translator seems to stop working during several attempts. "Shin shoi szu qua feen huin ngah Johny-Cab ohm...?" Saki gently palpates the area around his throat speaker, to try and feel if anything is loose or stabby on the inside. "Szure ohm nee how..." Very slowly he phonetically sounds out a few words in English he must have picked up in the club scene, when his translator fails him a third time. "You... geeve... numba... tvuu... caw yuu?" He pantomimes and old-timey phone by punching keys with his thumbs. Saki fishes the cab-ride chip out again when they're outside. "I guess we're going back to the Barkovia tower then? Good thing I have this after all. Maybe I can get a list of everywhere this was used last night from this cab's memory?"
Giving the slightest of accepting shrugs, Saki steps back from the edge of the roof and strolls over to the door while shoving the chip back in a secure pocket. "So who's Micheal, another wayward neonate? But one of the things I don't understand, is why I would have taken a Johny-Cab in the first place... when I can fly?" He says the last part so matter-of-factly, that those listening don't get the impression that he means in a hover-car. When Richard quietly turns the knob to the roof access door, asking his question, Oroku gives a slight bow. "I spent my whole life in the Szinguah Sang Monastery in northern China, raised by the Shaolin monks there. I acquired enough skill to merit the brands, so in your country I was considered a deadly weapon, before I was killed. Like the professional boxers of your country, I am always armed." As an accent while he briefly describes his past, Saki waves his fingers into fists, cracking every one of his knuckles.
So is Micheal going to be our Doug? ;p Since Saki never met him, someone else is going to have to mention that the group is missing a body. I'm just trying to find us a jumping off point for our caper, by establishing part of our missing timeline. Or even when during the night we actually met up for the first time. Food for thought.
Saki tries to brush the white fur off his cloths, grabbing a pinch of it to take a closer look. "What types of animals in the city have white fur like this... or did I just get into a fight with a geriatric stripper? Maybe I went to see someone with a white haired pet?" A he's holding up his hand to examine the hairs, he notices the wristband snapped around his arm. He checks the Barkovia Tower entry-band for a time stamp, to see if can gather a clue as to when he was there. Looking out over the city, Oroku spies the iconic Barkovia Tower, silhouetted against the slowly darkening sky. He calls back over his shoulder, "Hey Richard, Thomas, looks like I was over at the big tower there at some point." He holds up the banded wrist over his shoulder, twisting it to show the identifier, while still gazing across Pendros from the edge of the roof. He looks down toward the street for a sign or garishly lit billboard to identify which casino they were standing on top of, as Richard poses the question. Before the other vampire sets off searching the rooftop, Saki holds up the Johny-Cab cred-chip. He slowly spins the chip as he studies the brightly colored logo, especially the unreadably tiny legalese printed around the edge. "At my monastery in China, the monks kept records of everything, from the amounts of food we grew and stored, to where and when we traveled, *...ichine huang zju sweene*, ...even lists of births and deaths in the surrounding villages. Do you think this...business, might keep records we could check?" The young Chinese man's translator crackles out for a moment, but he doesn't seem to notice or care, when it cuts back in a few seconds later.
His bright smile dims a bit at the mention of his own sire. "Hmm maybe hunt isn't the right word. Your language is very... complicated to speak properly, with so many words that mean almost the same thing, but not." Saki looks off at nothing in particular, searching the databank of the translator in his head for a moment. "Maybe investigation, or search are the word I was trying for?" It starts to become clear that this new vampire really doesn't speak any english yet. "I wasn't made in your fair city here, but this is where I was ordered to come six months ago, and I'm sure I have no idea what he thinks about anything."
Cool, because that would be awkward to freak out and attack new players the moment we saw them. I'm guessing we're also just rolling past the red fear roll this time as well, just this once? Saki has aspect of the beast, so he always counts as at least having equal blood potency.
Without taking his eyes off of Richard, his infectious smile spreads across his young face. Something about it just makes others want to smile too. Tapping a finger whimsically to the tip of his nose with one hand, while enthusiastically pointing to Thomas with the other. "I just knew you were Richard. Which would make our late riser here, the new turn who's sire you're hunting down?" Saki finally turns toward Thomas offering him a hand up. The smoothly translated words of his artificial voice carrying none of the satisfaction, that his softly spoken Szechuan words conveys beneath them, at finally locating those he was sent find. "My name is Oroku Saki, the queen sent me to lend you folks... a hand in your hunt. But I don't know how I got here, or who could have gotten me up here with their limbs still attached. Richard was checking his pockets, maybe for clues or gum or something? Maybe we should try that too, Mr.?" Oroku starts patting down his myriad pockets without waiting for an answer, unzipping those where he feels something inside. Piling everything into one hand, after an annoyingly long time he finally starts running out of pockets to check. He goes through what he's found to see if anything rings a bell.
He cocks his head to the side, as if listening to the sky for a moment while waiting for Richard to respond. "...especially the kindred part, since I don't hear any heartbeats on this roof... not even from sleeping beauty over there." Saki adds, gesturing toward Thomas with his head.
One moment Richard is patting himself down in the midst of 2 sleeping vampires, and then the newcomer sits strait up. The club-kid yawns and scratches his side nonchalantly, like he completely expected to wake up on a casino roof with the sun still in the sky. He holds up his hand, not having seen it in this much daylight for 6 months, and shrugs at it acceptingly. He looks over at the sleeping Thomas, and then around at a man consumed with sniffing his own clothes, with all the concern of a tree sloth. The cyberpunk runs his hands through his lemon-yellow up-spiked hair, before rolling back onto his shoulders and silently flipping up onto his feet, as if he had done nothing more than crack his neck after waking. He sniffs the air and looks around the roof, giving the other conscious vampire a chin nod as if they had been passing acquaintances for years, before spotting the hill across town where the Cherry Blossom Temple stood sentinel amongst its namesake grove of trees. After a moment, the Chinese man's black eyebrows furrow ever so slightly and he turns toward the sniffer with something like actual recognition in his manscara'd, almond eyes. His shiny red and black club gear rustles as he takes a step toward Richard, awkwardly holding out his empty hand in American greeting. "Chin choi nee Reecherda san een..." he seems to stop mid-phrase, as something is obviously wrong, holding up a finger. He gently taps the silvery speaker, that has been surgically grafted into to the hollow of his throat. Rolling his eyes in mild frustration while whispering in Szechuan under his breath, the speaker crackles and hisses for a couple of seconds. "...est, test, there that's better. Technology, what can you do? We're all at the mercy of our machines...unfortunately." The hauntingly tremulous synth voice that flows from the coin-sized speaker is quite unexpected, if you weren't a regular in the club scene. He clears his throat, and gives the slightest of apologetic bows before he continues. "As I was saying, would your name be Richard, by chance? I was sent to assist someone going by that name. A man who frequents the Black Ale? My name is Oroku Saki, and I've been frequenting Club V lately. You do match the description my friend Zoe gave." He extends the hand again without approaching further, allowing the stranger a chance to take in the sight he must be presenting.
I kind of designed Saki specifically to fit into this city, but if we're still going to be here I'm up for whatever. 6 successes on my Perception roll to find Richard in the park should let Oroku literally trip over him, if you want to bring us together. Maybe after a short combat where a hungry vampire could feed?
How long is that as the bat flies (speed 40 for just traveling in a perfectly strait line)? :D
As Saki pulls back his hand, the gold of the coins under it slightly catch the warm light of the cavernous tavern, and are sitting on top of a scrap of paper with a phone number on it, which he taps. "A pint of 'red' will do, and this is in case he shows up." Saki waits a bit and then heads out into the park to find a real drink, after smiling and nodding his departure to the lovely bartender and waitress. He walks through the darkness with the appearance of not having a care in the world. He keeps his ears and eyes open for individuals or very small groups that might be looking for trouble. Zoe had said that Richard also frequented Old Main Street, so he keeps a lookout for him as well. Rolls:
Apologies for vanishing, had a series of nasty wind storms that were knocking out power every 5 minutes. caused havoc with all the electrical boxes (including internet).
Wow even at 2012 prices a single gold coin (1/3 of an ounce) at those rates would run over $600. That's insanely expensive for new vampires, unless the "Resources" merit has completely different numbers in this world. Being as Saki has been moving through Underpendros for a few months, he would have at least a bit of the proper currency to get what he needs there by now, especially if he has sold any Red Magic down here.
Saki scans the faces as he moves across the floor of the tavern, looking for this so called socialite as he goes. He sidles up to the bar, near the bartenders current location, with a pleasant smile on his face. "Hello there miss thang, any chance of whipping Franky (Francious) out of his hiding spot for a minute? I'm supposed to join up with a... fellow that comes in here all the time he might know how to contact, goes by the name of Richard something? Hes supposed to be some kind of... 'elbow rubber' or... 'Smooth Talker' type?" His translator is presenting him with several options of how to describe the vampire, and Saki has selected a slightly different timbre of voice to go with the change in scenery. He tries to figure out from her movements if she is also kindred as she bustles back and forth mixing drinks and pulling pints. Each time the busy bartender swings back by him for more than a second he rattles off another bit of the physical description he got from Zoe, placing some money under his hand, on the bar, once he's finished bothering her. "Or maybe if you knew how to... 'get in touch' with him?" Rolls:
Having no other leads, the monk will have to wait for a while (no more than an hour) to see if anything happens, but he's still hungry and the night is calling. He offers to buy the pretty waitress a drink while he waits when she glides back up to the bar to refill her tray with another order.
I was thinking of that last night, so if we have a lvl 3 flaw and it comes up in a given chapter, does that mean we get 3 xp from it? Does that also mean the limit is still 3 flaws then? I can work with whatever you say, now that I have more than 6 choices. I'd just like it to be clearly defined :D
Maybe we'll get a hybrid system like choose up to 3 that will give xp if they hinder us in a given chapter, and up to 4 points that will give merit for continuous effects? I'm putting my skill into persuasion, but where the other dots go depends on if and how many merit we can squeeze out of the flaws. If we can get 7 merit, I want to raise my blood potency to 3. And then I'll get 2 lvls of coils of blood. If not I was thinking of 2 dots in obfuscate or celerity.
Do we gain extra merit points for taking Masquerade flaws, and if so how many are we allowed (for instance the standard 7 max from VtM)?
cool deal thx :) I just want to stay uniform with everyone else so the story tellers eyes know where to look for the answers :D
That'll work!
Is there a way in the dice rolling here to get the 10-agains to roll. How do I get the success statement at the end of the rolls?
I'm not sure how I would use composure to feed, especially in a club setting. Some people might go with bold faced lies about their job or have that unspoken allure to get women interested, but Oroku doesn't have those things to work with. But being witty and flirty as Saki socializes with them, seems like the best way to get a girl he's never met before to let him kiss her. At least that's been my real world experiences :D To justify his Occult 3 rating, he has been reading for a couple hours a night for 6 months at the Ordo Dracul meeting center, with a particular interest in what he has become. Hes also been talking to the other members every night, and must have been able to gain access to at least a passing amount of relevant information. I have PM'd you about the Red Magic.
I'm gangrel its our clan weakness that we don't get 10 agains, and 1s subract from successes on Int and Wits rolls aside from initiative and surprise.
This latest girl slowly opens her eyes again as Saki pulls back reluctantly from the long, deep kiss. He has a small white pill in his gloved hand at waist level all of a sudden, that has a red heart on one side as he turns it over. He has adjusted the volume down on his translator so only she could here its reverberating words. "My 'red magic' will take you to the sweetest place you have ever been. Give me your tongue." He places his forehead against hers as she coyly opens her mouth. He slips the 'red magic' heart side down onto her wet, wriggling tongue as he passes a hand over her lips. Her jade green eyes widen almost instantly before returning to sultry slits a few moments later, a smile widening across her young face. "Now my lovely, I have some business I need to take care of. I'll see you again soon though, Cindy." Rolls:
Staring Blood Pool:
Feeding*: Wits+Socialize 1 success Hand off: Dex+Larceny (sleight of hand) 1 success Perception: Wits+Composure 1 success He leaves Club V cruising down the old Main Street, keeping an eye out for anyone matching the description Zoe had given him of this Richard as he made his way across town to the entrance of the Black Ale to see if anyone actually has the number for the socialite.
This is also my first attempt to PbP in a WoD game. My old standard tabletop crew was all hyper-competitive power-mongers that actually went out of their way to kill each other off any chance they got. So we never really got a whole lot done besides practicing our infighting skills :-3
Did my first post come off as extreme? I just like being detailed and descriptive. I thought if I was extra nice the queen might not be totally mean and flakey. I'm trying not to go meta on anything. The fact is Saki came from an isolationist monastery in northern china, where they didn't even have electricity, and was taught to be courteous to authority figures his whole life. Cut to 6 months dead and alone in a 2038 American city with every convenience and comfort, where he likes the club scene. That's all he has to draw on right now, and that's what he's using. The queen has been a vampire 10 years longer than Saki has been alive so she's pretty old by his standards. ;P I'm not trying to marry the queen or anything, Saki was just asking a pretty club girl to dance, because that's what he does. Obviously she's not a club girl though, but one of those haters that goes out just to rip on others. hehe Learning how to make contacts is part of what he has to figure out, but its most likely not going to start happening in the first post, or even the first ten :D and I'm fine with that. He just happens to be literally starting from square one at the beginning of his unlife. I just want to learn the world, at which point I'm sure more specific goals will come into focus. And the best way to make contacts is to get out into the world and meet em.
Saki gives the slightest of shrugs as he drops his waiting hand and bows to the queen again. "Could your royal cuteness have someone send a text message to this Richard something, about your request for me to join him and have them also provide me his contact info so I can catch up with him tonight?" He hands his number to the guard, and points into the mass of bouncing people out on the dance floor. "I'll be out there waiting for those digits." He smiles innocently again and takes his leave of her royal snobby-pants and sidles up to a little hottie on dance floor, falling into step with her current fad moves as she smiles and guides his hands to her waist. His yellow spiked hair vanishes as he and the girl are swallowed by the churn of the crowd. -- Once Saki gets the info, he texts the "Socialite" vampire Richard for his location. 'My name is Oroku Saki and I have been asked by the queen to join your current endeavor. If you'd send me your location, I can make my way to you. You should also be receiving a message from the queen's people to the same effect.'
The young monk has had his eyes on the ground in deference throughout the exchange, which was apparently meant to cause some kind of embarrassment. His internal translator working overtime to keep up with the nonstop string of profanity and slang being spewed back and forth by the hedonistic pair, Oroku Saki gives no sign that any of their jibes are affecting him in the least. Since the queen held court in a club where his monks robes were frightfully inappropriate, the kindred before her had come decked out in his finest club-sheik gear. Richly hewed blacks over iridescent reds with metallic edging. His bleached hair freshly spiked strait up with each tip frosted lemon yellow and his mirrored wrap-arounds pushed securely up onto his hairline. (See powerman 5000's lead singer in 'Nobody's Real' video for an idea.) Slowly bringing his left fist to his right hip and then rolling it into the flattened palm of his right hand as they circle forward and around each other, he bows deeply as he gracefully slides one foot back in the formal greeting of a Shaolin monk. He speaks softly in Szechuan, in both respect and as to not obscure the louder English words provided in the engrossingly vibrant synth voice of his translator, trying his best to sound as formal as he can muster. "Your majesty does this simple monk great honor with the favor of her touch. When finding oneself in a new kingdom my sensei's lesson was always to learn as much of its law as possible before venturing forth, especially into its courts. A Mr. Yui Sakaichi and a miss Zoe Maximoff have been so gracious as to instruct me in the law of your wondrous city. It was suggested that since all of our... kind are your subjects and at your leisure, I should await the highness's summons so as not to inconvenience her. Is there anything the queen would ask of a humble subject?" He still has not raised his eyes from the ground, even though he has risen strait again from his bow. "Maybe a dance? I have heard it said your majesty and I share a - fierce? obsession with the culture?" A warm and honest smile touches the edges of his mouth as he finishes his question. He finally lets his fist-in-palm salute relax as he subtly gestures to his garb and then holds out a hand. The current song pounding through the club winds down, and Saki's eyes flick from the floor up toward the speakers in the corners of the ceiling. "I'm certain you won't need your shoes for the next one in this set." And then his eyes finally meet hers directly, his slow smile changing his whole face from humble monk to completely self confident club kid.
Nifty. I do enjoy a richly hewed backdrop. It makes moving around quite a bit easier, and lets a storyteller put more thought into a given encounter when the location is already clear in their mind's eye :D
I changed the brawl specialization simply to "claws" to make it easier. Woof 2 Zoeys in 1 town, when I see Zoe I think Zo like Bo Derrick or Joe the plumber, at any rate fixed (I do mean Maximoff, the one Yui is friends with). I removed the bullyboy last sentence, and as far as deepest secrets of the temple go, I only meant so far as Saki knows. No extra benefits intended. Language fixed as well, English should work for most situations this being America and all (We're so lazy) :P
Well considering how open the roster was, and this being my first time using Requiem, I tried for something simple and focused system-wise that I could build a personality around. A tiny, cyberpunked, club-kid with a heavy martial arts background struck me as entertaining.
Ok there we go, all aliased up now :D |