OOC: Was I able to fill my vitae while we were on our way back to the city?


Sal will head to Victor's place. He'll take a cab if he can still afford it.

OOC: No and taxis aren't currently running due to the damage to the city.


 It was unfortunate, but Sal was forced to walk the distance to Victor's place. Fortunately, it wasn't far and most of the people, especially in Camarilla territory, were home for the night.

 Still, it didn't take particularly long to get to Victor's high-rise. It was a large corporate skyscraper with a penthouse at the top where Victor lived, worked, and held court.

 However, the area outside looked like a warzone. Cars were smashed and burned, bullet holes riddled the cement walls and the gate had been recently replaced.

 Though you had little trouble from the night watchman, you could see that he had been heavily armed and that security on the bottom floor was quite high.

Sal politely acknowledges the watchman without wasting his time, and heads up to the penthouse.

 Victor sat at his desk alone in the penthouse, one of the few non-hospital buildings in the city with working power... mostly because Victor liked to invest in generators. "Ahh, so you've returned. I've been waiting for several months for you to visit me."

 The Prince was no Sotoha but it was nearly impossible to tell what he was thinking at the moment.

Sal bowed, and said, "My apologies, Prince Victor. I am honored that among the chaos of late, my return was not beneath your notice. How may I serve you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Thu 09 July 2020.

 Victor looked up. "I was informed of your awakening by a mutual acquaintance and was told that you would be indisposed for a significant amount of time. I would like a report on what has transpired during your absence."

"Which time, my prince? The land of the dead, Nevernever land, or France?"
Sal said, without a hint of humor.

 There was a long pause as Victor tried to process just what you'd said. He was well trained not to let himself show surprise, as you would expect of a Kindred with the title of "Prince"... however, the extra few seconds that it took him to respond spoke volumes. "All of it. Let us go in chronological order.

 Our acquaintance had need of you for a period in which we were under attack. The least he can expect is that I would like to know what you were doing during that time."

Sal took a deep breath, for showmanship's sake, and began, "Well, the trip to the land of the dead was involuntary on all our parts. I was sheltering in a warehouse adjacent to a hideout of demon-worshipers called the Nephandi. The cabal of mages, employed by our acquaintance, was trying to stop them from summoning a demon. I volunteered to help in exchange for safer accommodations. Somehow, they could tell immediately that I was a Kindred, but they agreed anyway. Mages are touchy about their names, so if you don't mind, I won't use them."

"The Nephandi had set them up, and we were drawn into the realm of the dead, where, ironically, I seemed to be alive. Such luck I have, that I become capable of, and in fact need to, consume actual food and water in a place where nothing is safe to eat. Thankfully, one of the mages had some nutribars, and water as well. I did not understand much of what as happening, but one of the mages regularly does business with otherworldly entities, and he secured our escape back to the land of the living. A childlike being who is something of a cross between a synth and a god, to whom Noah is like a father, created a ship out of her own nanomachines that we have been residing in. You've surely seen it, it was gigantic and neon green. For now I'll refer to her as the 'godling'"

"While little time passed in the land of the dead, months passed here, our acquaintance was arrested, and the mages were officially dead. So we had that in common. We tracked down and destroyed a Nephandi compound, rescuing some captives, and learned that our acquaintance's 30 children had been kidnapped, in order to prevent him from interfering with some mysterious enemy's plans. We teamed up with a secret government monster hunting force and split into 3 squads to rescue all the children during the storm, which it seems our acquaintances wrath caused. One of the mages, had become a dragon, or always been one, I'm not clear on this,"

"We met with a governing council of mages who wanted our acquaintance to answer for causing the storm, some sort of Mage terrorists attacked, we killed or captured them, I was officially recognized as a member of their Cabal and given an honorary rank in Mage society, which I have been told is quite high, and some of my cabal were promoted." OOC: By the way, did that come with a status merit?

"Then we took the children to South America for some reason before returning to New York. One of the cabal was unwittingly sharing his the spirit of a long dead mage, with whom I could communicate through the use of Dominate. She wanted some nice clothes, so another mage created a portal to a boutique in Paris, and we did some shopping. Thankfully I did, because neither mage understood how to pick a color that flatters the complexion. In return, she procured some synthetic vitae for me before our next mission: rescuing our acquaintance's fiance, who was apparently kidnapped by Pan. We assumed the Greek demigod, but we quickly realized our error when our ship was attacked by pirates. The ship, who was also the godling who created her stopped working due to some sort of temporal conflict. I shot at Captain Hook, who managed to deflect a sniper round with his Hook, though the shards still grazed him. Afterwards we learned that Hook had only been trying to protect children that had escaped Pan's clutches. We teamed up and fought Pan, who was even more difficult to wound than Hook, but the mages slowed him down, took a bit of his essence, and I forced him into a retreat. The dragon stuck his head through a portal, shouted that fairies don't exist, words which, with enough magic behind them, have a devastating effect on fae creatures. The portal mage was able to revive the godling, who created a gigantic nanomachine body for the dragon to carry us away from the surviving faeries. We brought Hook and his crew back with us, but they seem to be stuck in time. Upon our return, the godling made our ship blue, which I had previously expressed is my favorite color. She made the clothes I'm wearing by the way. She can create things in an instant, yet this outfit took hours. It was difficult to teach her that I don't wish to advertise to everyone who looks at me that I am a 'vampire,' and puffy sleeves went out of style after the renaissance."

"We were able to discover that Pan had sold our acquaintance's fiance to a being the dragon regularly did business with, and after we've had time to recuperate, we are supposed to retrieve her. If something has happened to her, we may need to calm down our acquaintance, because I'm fairly certain he would make the storm here look like a light breeze if he lost his temper again. I'm not sure what he is, but his power terrifies the greatest of the mages, and they could likely wipe out our society at its strongest if they felt it necessary. He also may be the only thing protecting reality from something much worse..."

 Prince Victor sat attentively with his fingers laced in front of his chin, listening as Sal recounted where he had been and what he had been doing. There was another long pause. "That... is quite the story. I'm not sure how much of it I believe and how much of it was some form of memory altering magic that they like to use.

 Still, you are right that our acquaintance must remain pacified. The storm exterminated the entire Sabbat presence within the city, along with any Anarch that refused to listen to my warnings. If they've accepted you, then you're representing the Camarilla to said acquaintance. I would ask that you continue to act as an envoy to the mages... just..."

 The Prince paused for another moment, gauging him with a bit more intensity than before. "Just check in from time to time. It would be a detriment to us all if their magic caused you to suffer a psychotic break."

 The like your sire part was left unsaid but the meaning was clear enough. "You may go, but feel free to stop by the 23rd floor on your way out."

 The 23rd floor was where the prince kept some spare vitae, the good stuff from the wealthy and well bred elite of New York.

OOC: And yes, you did get a dot of Status within the Consilium. It doesn't quite hold with any of the mage factions though, but you might be able to find a mage that respects it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:18, Thu 09 July 2020.

"I will do as you say. Believe me, my sanity has been a prime concern, these nights. But considering the power of my blood, it seems likely that any power that could overcome my resistance would leave me a mindless husk. Honestly, my prince, your skepticism surprises me. I left mine behind with my mortality, some 200 years ago. Hard to deny such things as ghosts and faeries when you're one of the walking dead. But then, I suppose the notoriety of some of the figures I mentioned meeting does suggest delusions of grandeur. It was good to see you again, my Prince. I shudder to think of how much worse things would be right now without your presence in the city. Thank you, and have a good night." Sal wasn't brown-nosing. He genuinely believed that the city was better off with Victor than without. Vampires without good leaders end up... well... like the Anarchs and Sabbat, and Victor's investment in the blood banks did wonders for the masquerade. He bowed and made his way to the 23rd floor.

 Sal left without incident, heading down to floor 23 where a sizeable blood bank was kept. Officially, it was where the blood drives of the wealthy elite were held and the floor was for storage and distribution... and, in fact, quite a bit of the donated blood was distributed to the other blood banks.

 But a bag going missing here and there made for a nice stockpile of vintage vitae.

 The floor was guarded by a man wearing a white lab coat. It took only a few words for him to hand you a bag of the good stuff.

Sal took the bag and thanked the man. He made his way to a restroom, where he could feed in privacy, and had his fill, beginning with the good stuff. Once satiated, he began the walk back to docks.

 With Sal's hunger met and his long procrastinated meeting with the Prince put behind him, Sal now had the night to himself. His companions were likely sleeping after their ordeal in Never-never land so there was no great rush to return. It was one of the few times since his recent awakening that he had a night to himself, though there was the question of what was still open or standing amidst the chaos.

 That said, surely there was something that the Kindred had opened back up.

Sal will look for the local Elysium, or barring that, a nightclub.

 The local Elysium was an old theatre. It had been renovated quite a bit but still had seating to accommodate most of the Kindred in New York... and it still seemed to be functional. Of course, the Prince wasn't present but there were always other Kindred coming and going for various matters.

Victor will go in to see if there's anyone he recognized.

 The ranks of the Kindred had changed significantly in your absence. There were many new faces, Young bloods, and many of the elders had gone to torpor or into hiding during the catastrophe. There was one guy you knew, once a young blood and now seemingly higher up... at least high enough up to have an official position in this Elysium.

 It seemed that now he was helping to maintain the building... a far cry from what he was once doing.

"Cyrus, looks like you've come a long way from driving Raymond on his late night snack runs." Sal says when he sees the familiar kindred. "The look on your face when he said he wanted a 'super-sized' meal! Ha!"
Sal's laughter faded to a sad sigh at the thought of his father. Both expressions were exaggerations that held a hint of the truth. Sal had enjoyed the younger kindred's company, but Raymond's death was still fresh, to him.

OOC: You didn't name the guy, so I took the liberty. Could be a first or last name, but Sal would most likely not be on a first name basis with a low-level employee-- even one he liked.

 Cyrus smirked and shook his head. "Please don't remind me. I was the one that had to drag her drunk ass up the stairs! Still, it's good to see you. I haven't seen you around. What have you been up to these nights?"

OOC: that is absolutely fine :P

Sal shook his head slowly, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Cyrus. Victor thinks I need to have my head examined. Suffice to say I've been very busy since I woke from torpor. Haven't even had a chance to establish a new identity. The guy I used to use won't deal with someone of my current status. Among the Ventrue, I am well and truly dead."

 Cyrus cracked a grin and nodded. "Tell me about it! It's been some Grade A ScFi bullshit around here for the past week. Victor told us to hunker down so we did. Anyone that didn't got blown away.

 Funny thing about the Ventrue. With all the high society types gone or in tightly packed quarters at Yankee Stadium, they've got nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs and scrounge for vitae.

 The rest of us aren't doing so hot but Victor's got the Ventrue suckling off his reserves like childer. If you wanted to get back in their good graces, now might be a good opportunity."

Sal raises an eyebrow, "Is that so? Know anyone in particular looking for help from an outsider? I have made some new friends with an... eclectic skillset, who I should be able to get to help, and they're virtually unknown to most Kindred, so subterfuge is a possibility, even if a target knows my face."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:23, Thu 16 July 2020.

 Cyrus shrugged. "Sorry, man. I used to have an ear to the ground but, with all that's going on, the maps are being redrawn. Alliances and rivalries are shifting almost faster than I can keep up... so any info I can give may not last the night. Still, I'll keep an ear to the ground for you."

"Thanks. Here's my new contact info. And if you need anything, feel free to ask. Have a good night," Sal said before moving on.