Alfred turned on the wooden picnic chair (there was a basket in front of him and a sandwich on the table). "Und greetings to you too. I've been vell enough, thank you. Now, vat is zis talk of a heavyweight und how may I be of assistance?"

 Alfred himself seemed quite nonthreatening currently, remaining seated and seemingly unarmed.

Sal bows his head slightly and introduces himself,"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Sal. I'm sure you've heard of a Kindred who makes even New York's Elders stop what they're doing and take notice. Reginald is his name. We believe he intends to oust the Camarilla, and we don't want that. Additionally, he has kidnapped someone that we need to make sure remains unharmed."

Michael nodded. “I think what may help us is knowing how and where to find him as well as what he is capable of.”

 There was a long pause before Alfred spoke. "Reginald? Are you sure you vant to get involved vith him?"

 He paused for another long time. Then he sighed. "Vhen I was asked to aid zem, Reginald vas ze one who approached me. He offered me a chance to overcome my condition if I could help zem with their problems. Zeir mages learned vhat I had to show zem but zere vere no students quite so talented as Reginald. He took my lessons and adapted my theories to do zings I hadn't even considered.

 He vasn't lying vhen he said he could cure my condition... but ze price vas far higher zan I vas villing to pay. I'm afraid zat it vill be ze same vith you. If you move against Reginald, zen prepare yourself. Victory may cost you more zan you can afford to lose.

 I have borne vitness to some truly terrible creatures in my time. Evil men vith evil ambitions, but Reginald is something different entirely. He HAS no ambitions... at least, not in the vay you or I can comprehend them. His thought process is alien to me. It has been a very long time since I have been truly frightened by someone... but Reginald frightens me.

 You ask vhat he is capable of and, to zat I vill say zat you are asking ze wrong question. You should ask yourself vat you are capable of... because zat vill be ze most important question of all.
"

Sal asks, "But what would be the price of leaving him to do as he wishes? What would it cost this city to allow the Sabbat to move in unchecked? Would the price of stopping him be worse?"

Michael listened to the analysis of Reginald. He sounded like a madman poking holes at the universe just to see what was on the other side. A man with no morals or compass to guide him. The question the man posed was an important one. “Sal, I think that question is very pertinent to you and I specifically. It’s sounds like Reginald is capable of anything and will force us to make hard choices. I fear some of those choices will have us question our humanity. Do you remember what you couldn’t or rather wouldn’t do last week? Could you do it if it meant defeating Reginald?”

Sal said, grimly, "Given no other option? Perhaps." Sal thought, I wonder if stopping Reginald is what started my father down his spiral of madness and paranoia. If so, perhaps I owe it to my father to finish what he started, regardless of what I have to sacrifice. Make his sacrifice pay off. Perhaps that would be atonement enough... After a few moments thought, he said, "Yes, I think I could."

Michael turned to the former German. “We’re as ready as we can be. What exactly did you teach him and how did he expound upon it?”

 Alfred nodded. "Good. Reginald has learned many forms of Blood Magic. He can transport himself to any place zat he has marked. He has learned to transfer consciousness from one living being to ze next, meaning zat anyone you fight who does not die may return. Most importantly, he can obsfucate and transfer sympathy from anyone to anyone else. Other zan zat, he has morphed my teaching by mixing it with his own fleshcrafting, creating something entirely new zat I cannot comprehend."

"Seems in line with some of the things I've heard, though I didn't know about his ability to transport... I wonder if he uses the Eternal Crossroads. You said 'living' beings... can he not transfer his own consciousness, or that of another kindred? What about spirits? Can he see or manipulate spirits? Perhaps a Necromancer or a Lupine... he has Lupines working for him already doesn't he... oh... shit... the vargouilles we fought in the sewer! He's harnessing the Abyss!"

  "Vell, I said 'living' but I zometimes forget that Kindred to not technically apply. Reginald is more zan capable of transmitting consciousness between two Kindred as vell... or between Kindred and Kine. I did teach Reginald about spirits, though I am always careful in zat instruction. Blood Magic can attract zome very dangerous spirits.

 Vat are 'Vargouilles'?"

Sal shrugged, "Well, I'm not sure if I'm using the term correctly, but in the sewers, we encountered abyss-touched Lupines whose heads grew wings and wrenched free of their bodies in a most excruciating manner. And they weren't the first-- or last-- abyssal things we've dealt with. The cult, the Collector, Carmilla... I'm beginning to think everything I've dealt with since meeting our Dragon friend is connected."


OOC:Only just realized, I'm not sure if Sal ever heard anyone call the wolf-heads Vargouilles. I've been thinking of them that way from the beginning because of Planescape: Torment.

 Alfred nodded. "While I cannot say for certain zat Carmilla was associated with Reginald, I can say for certain zat ze cult is. Reginald moves about a cult filled with demons, mages, lupines, und other kindred. Zey believe zat ze rise of synths heralds ze rise of ze 'Destroyer' and ze end of ze world.

 Reginald himself does not seem to be as fanatic as ze others."

Sal face-palms, saying "They believe-- of course they do. The newest thing is always going to bring on the Apocalypse right? Then again, they do keep provoking him."

 "Vell, I cannot say zat zey are entirely wrong. I saw ze God Machine myself. Zey say zat it is ze very first Faustian Bargain and ze architect of ze Silver Ladder. I cannot say I believe everything zey say but zey do make a compelling argument... at least ze ones zat remain sane after viewing 'ze infrastructure' as zey call it."

"God Machine? Is that a machine that makes gods, or one that acts as a god?"

Michael shook his head. “Based on what you’ve said, we have to kill anything and everything that moves when we encounter Reginald and the cult otherwise they will just simply come back. I have a question though. What if Reginald transferred his consciousness or one of his allies into someone and they were exorcised? Also, what do you mean be transfer sympathy?”

 "From vat I gather, ze 'God Machine' is a machine zat acts as a god. To hear ze telling of it, it predated humanity, arriving from ze stars during ze rebellion of ze angels, before zey became known as 'demons'. It brokered a deal to help zem in zeir rebellion but ze price was far higher zan ze Fallen realized. Now zis cult claims to be dedicated to stopping ze god machine and undoing ze pact forged so long ago.

 Ze transfer of consciousness is not ze same as ze transfer of ze soul. I can tell you zis with certainty. Ze soul is more like ze power source for ze body while ze mind contains your personality. It is more complicated zan zat but it is ze basic premise. Ze soul also contains ze moral compass of a person, so a mind without a soul becomes a zombie, motivated only by base desires, but a soul without a mind is nothing more zan a coma patient. Exorcism vill not work on zis form of personality transfer.

 If you find someone who is a victim of zis, I can render aid but I vill require both of ze subjects to undo ze spell... and I should not need to tell you zat ze spell will become permanent if one of ze victims is dead.

 Finally, sympathy is ze term used to describe magic used at a distance. Attempting to use magic on anyone Reginald has protected vill be redirected to anyone else Reginald chooses. Perhaps to an enemy, perhaps to an innocent bystander, perhaps to one of your allies.

 I sent your dragon friend details on zat spell and how to undo it, but it requires casting upon each ward individually."

Michael scratched his chin in thought. “So you’re saying his power is somewhat demonic and Abyssal but does not affect the soul? Casting Magic upon his allies can backfire horribly. You can get rid of the transfer of minds but need both parties to be alive. Question, would this be able to break his spells including the ability to move sympathies?”Michael took Mage Breaker off his back and presented to the man for inspection.

"Are Vampiric Disciplines or the spiritual powers of Lupines affected by Sympathy? Or just firing a magical exploding bullet at him? Of course, that would require getting to him." Asked Sal. He had never really thought about it. He knew some powers worked better if you had a blood bond, but couldn't recall such increasing the range at which they could be used.

 "I cannot say zat I have ever seen him use demonic or abyssal powers, only Blood Magic, but he does consort with zem, zat much I know."

 Alred took the sword and examined it for a time. "Perhaps, but you need to understand zat Blood Magic is much sturdier zan normal magic. It has special rules, yes, but one of ze benefits is resistance to dispelling. You must not rely only on tricks like zis or you vill fail."

 When asked about special powers, Alfred shook his head. "Zey can be, but not usually. Sympathy is usually reserved for Space Mages. Only powers zat work ven you are not in your target's presence are considered sympathetic. If you can see your target, sympathy is rendered null."

 He handed back the Mage Breaker.

Micheal took back Mage Breaker and shouldered it. He then unsheathed Excalibur and handed it to him. “We recently acquired this from a cell of Hunters, Excalibur. Unfortunately, I do not have the knowledge of its full capabilities but knew it needed to stay close to keep them from our enemies. Do you have any knowledge of it?”

 Alfred ran his hand across the flat of the blade, looking first to Michael and then back to Excalibur. "ZE Excalibur? Zat is a most amazing find! I'm afraid I know only legends about zis blade. If you trust me with its care, I could analyze it for you. If not, I understand, considering ze nature of our relationship."

 He offered the blade back, just in case Michael decided to turn down his offer.

Michael took back the sword with a shrug. “Worth a shot, but yeah THE Excalibur. Maybe there is something written down in the Hunter journals about it. Otherwise, I’ll probably have to just take a swing and see what happens. I’ll keep it with me for now since you said Mage Breaker cannot dispel the blood Magic so easily.”He looked over at Sal. “Where do we start?”

Sal thought, then spoke, "Well, Michael, three things stand out to me from what Alfred has told us: First, Reginald marks the places he can transport to. If we can identify the marks, we may be able to monitor his movements. Second, blood magic attracts dangerous spirits. What kind? We look for them, we might find him. Third, the cult targets Synths. If we want to stymie his efforts, we need to interfere in that. Look for places where many Synths gather, and where people are protesting for or against them."