“Here there be dragons,” Liam confirmed with a solemn nod of his head.

As soon as they entered the house it felt as though a weight had been lifted. He pulled the room darkening blinds into place and let out a sigh of relief. Pausing in the living room he looked back at Robyn.

“That ukulele used to belong to Sunny, right? Would you mind if I borrowed it? I’m going to try to take your advice and do this vacation thing properly.”

"Sure," said Robyn, stepping over to its place on the wall. "I never got a knack for music. Can't keep a beat if you put a gun to my head. Guess there's some things even a tome can't teach."

She took the instrument, holding it for a moment. With her back turned, Liam couldn't see her expression. By the time she'd gathered herself and turned around, it was inscrutable. She passed it to Liam. "Why don't you keep it?"

"Thank you," Liam said, accepting the instrument with open arms.

"I, uh... I told Pockets. I don't know if she's spoken with you yet. She's in. All the way."

"She has," said Robyn. "Honestly, I'm surprised you waited this long to recruit her. Right now, it feels like we've stacked the deck pretty heavily in our favour. I wonder how much of that is us, and how much of that is Book."

"I didn't think I was doing her a favour before. My perspective has changed."

"Book knew what he was doing when he tapped me - more to the point, he knew what I'd do. And what he couldn't. I don't actually bring a whole lot to the table here. I just bring everyone else to it."

"Anyway, thanks for walking me back. I'm going to go lie down for a bit."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Wed 11 Oct 2023.

"Don't sell yourself short," said Robyn. "The way I understand it, I wouldn't have the Tome without you. And none of this would have been possible."

"Sunset's running long today," she continued. "Should be over the trees by 8, and hang out there a while. Might be a good time to come out. Hopefully I have the sky worked out by then."

Liam nodded. "Have a good day, Robyn," he said, heading for the stairs down.

Once inside his room again, Liam lay down. Here in the darkness he felt at ease once more - able to relinquish his hold on the beast without fear of it rising to the surface. It hadn't been all that long since he'd been roused, and unlike the real sun he didn't feel the press of this one through the shelter of the building above him. It didn't seem likely that sleep would come to him quickly. That meant barring any unexpected visitors, he was largely left to his own quiet pursuits.

He still had Joyce's book. And now Sunny's ukulele. After several minutes he sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. The electric glow wasn't enough to fill the room, but he didn't need a lot of light to begin with. Reaching for the instrument he tried his hand at tuning it. It had been a long time since he'd picked up a violin, the only instrument for which he had anything approaching experience. The principle was presumably the same. At least, he hoped this was true. Otherwise he was likely to drive any prospective visitors away.

The hours passed slowly. He took a break to read. He napped fitfully. He threw open his wardrobe and went through his belongings, sorting and discarding, cleaning and organizing. He lay down again, the ukulele on his chest, gently strumming as he stared up at the ceiling. He was going to need more books.

At some point, feeling the press of boredom and stiffness of inactivity, he got up again and got dressed for a jog. Then he lay back down and stared at his watch. As the eight o'clock hour approached he finally left his room and headed up through the house.

The blinds of the house had remained drawn all day. Other than an occasional sound of activity in the fridge upstairs, Liam was left to his own devices.

As he left the house toward the bonfire, his attention was drawn to the fading light in the western sky. The uncanny curtain of black had been replaced with an uncanny dome of light blue. The sunset lacked the pinks and yellows he'd expect from a cloudless sky. However, the air was noticeably warmer, and the trees and flowers looked visibly less stressed than before.

There was enough diffuse light to see clearly without preternatural assistance, but the sun was low enough that his Beast didn't pull at its chain. The whole village, such as it was, was gathered around the bonfire, most of them sweaty and dirty from a day of working the fields. The smell of fire-cooked hamburgers and sausages filled the air. Caleb managed to tear himself away from the lure of grilled meats long enough to trot over to his master, and stick close as he made his way down to the others.

"Good evening to you, sir," he said to the approaching hound. He made his way to the fire pit and took a seat alongside the others.

"It looks like it was a good day?" he observed, feeling slightly out of place in his athletic wear. He hadn't expected the village to jump on the fields so soon, but then he hadn't really given it much thought at all.

"Weird day," said Alex, as he poked a sausage to determine its readiness. "We've got a bunch of stressed-out plants, and a sun that's clearly still in Early Access. Some crops are taking it harder than others."

"We've got more than enough food to last us," Joyce was quick to add. "At least until we're able to pick up groceries..." she chuckled excitedly. "From anywhere in the world."

"Anywhere in the universe, really," said Logan. "Though I don't think we're ready for alien takeout."

"Mm, don't think that's how this all works," said Patti.

"I mean, yeah, technically we could roll up on an alien planet," said Maggie. "But it'd mean finding them, figuring out communication and barter, and most of all working around diseases. Years of prep, even for Robyn. We don't want to go all Andromeda Strain or start a stellar war because we wanted some extraterrestrial knishes."

"Plus we've got plenty of stuff that needs our attention right here on Earth," said Moira.

Alex pierced his sausage with a stick, and sat himself beside Liam. He took a careful bite. "So, you think they have vampires on other planets?"

"I suppose it depends if you believe the stories," Liam replied thoughtfully.

He didn't know a whole lot about plants. Or perhaps it was fairer to say that he had no special affinity for them. Animals were more his thing. He could theoretically summon a plague of locusts to devour a farmer's field. He had no idea what he could do to help foster its growth.

"According to our own traditions, the first vampire was Cain, brother of Able, and son of Eve."

Liam was pretty sure there was a branch of thaumaturgy devoted to the growth and manipulation of plants, but even with all the time in the universe at his disposal he wasn't about to figure it out without a mentor. And taking a deep dive into the Book felt like asking for trouble.

"I was never sure whether it was intended to be taken literally. Even in my younger days I was never a very good Catholic. Maybe they’re all just parables.”

The forest would be fine. As far as the trees were concerned, autumn had just come early. If they were truly stressed they’d drop their leaves and wait for the sun to return. The crops would need to be watched a little more closely.

“But if we’re not cursed by some vengeful Abrahamic God, then I’m not sure what we are. A mutation maybe. Or a disease, like rabies. You’d have to ask Cain. If you can find him.”

But maybe he didn't need blood magic or disciplines to help. Liam was no stranger to manual labor. He'd just have to be shown what to do.

"Whether or not there are vampires on other planets, it seems likely there soon will be. I don't need to bring an atmosphere with me. Robyn could open a portal to the dark side of the moon, and I could step through tonight. Or Mars maybe, and I could pay a visit to the little robot up there. I bet that would give NASA a start."

Liam smiled.

"Before you turn in, Alex. Show me where you all left off today. I was thinking I might go for a jog to the edge and see what's out there. But after that I can put in a few hours by starlight."

Now there was a disturbing thought. Robyn had access to the collective knowledge of the cosmos. Finding the identity and possible whereabouts of the First Vampire would be a trivial amount of information to fetch.

"Sure," said Alex, getting up to his feet and motioning for Liam to follow. The field was a short walk to the far side of the property. He gnawed on his dinner as they went.

"Mars, man," he exclaimed, shaking his head. "I try not to think too hard about it all at once, but we really can go anywhere we want now, can't we? I keep wondering what I wanna do with my life once this is all over and done with, but they prepared me for none of this in High School."

"Believe me, I've been kicking around a heck of a lot longer than you, and I didn't get prepared for any of this either."

"You'll figure out what you want. You're still young. And the sky is no longer the limit."

"That's what's freaking me out," said Alex, as they traipsed around the field. "It's like going to a restaurant and instead of a menu you get a four-volume cookbook."

Most of the adult crops were looking more or less happy after a day of weeding and feeding. The tomatoes were another matter altogether.

"The stress of the last few days has really taken a toll on the tomatoes," said Alex. "Aphids, and... uh... hornworms, I think they're called? Bugs. They're full of shitty bugs. Not sure if you can do anything about that, but Robyn's too busy to take care of it herself. Just don't squash the ladybugs. Apparently they're supposed to be there."

"I've never Beckoned a hornworm before, but I can certainly try," Liam said. "Any idea what eats them? Because the inverse is true as well. I can call their predators here - if there are any left in the area."

Plucking one of the rotting tomatoes off a vine he pulled out a wriggling green larva and held it up to his ear. While examining the worm, a ladybug alighted on his hand and Liam stopped to watch it.

"These are the good bugs then?" Liam said. "Well let's get them here. All of them."

He set the fruit down and dusted his hands off, then he reached for his beast.

<<COME>> he directed the insects from as far as his command would carry, beckoning them to the fields. <<FEAST>>

6 successes should net nearly all of them, if it works at all. These things can at least fly so it shouldn't take too long for them to show up.

16:14, Today: Liam O'Farrell rolled 6 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 6 with rolls of 3,4,2,7,6,9,8,5,8,9.  Charisma + Survival.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Sat 14 Oct 2023.

"Birds, mantids and wasps," said Alex. "Though technically the wasps don't eat them. It's more of a babies-eat-you-alive sorta deal."

Alex stood back and watched as the ladybugs flitted into the field. A few at first, then a dozen. Then a hundred. They alighted on the tomatoes, jostling and crawling over themselves to feat upon the tiny pests that beleaguered them.

"Fucking metal," said Alex under his breath.

“In the books it’s always bats and wolves,” Liam said, watching the swarm descend. “I’ve always thought those authors lacked imagination. For one thing, rats are considerably more plentiful in most cities and far more vicious.”

“This has to be one of the more esoteric uses I’ve put my abilities towards though.”

“Let’s see how they make out over night. If they’re still looking spotty in the morning we’ll call in some back up. The birds will need light to find their prey anyways.”

Liam looked to Alex to see if there were any other tasks that needed attending to in the field. Otherwise he suggested they head back to the campfire.

"Ain't nothing scarier than bugs up close," said Alex, leaning in to observe the massacre for a moment. He shuddered. "Horror movie shit."

The last rays of the setting sun disappeared under the treeline, ensuring the ladybugs would stay on the plants overnight, and resume their feast in the morning. That war would be thoroughly won.

Liam chuckled. Alex was a good kid. He almost considered teaching him a few of his tricks but after the disaster that was the ghouling of Kate Dunlop, Liam had sworn off human ghouls and Animalism didn't come from nothing.

Darkness fell fast as they returned to the campfire. "I'm off for a jog if anyone feels like coming," he said, whistling for Caleb to join him. "Might need a head lamp."

There was little of interest at the edge of the forest. The black curtain of the void was so dark and featureless that it was impossible to tell how far the pocket dimension had been stretched. Peering over the edge of the world, however, he could see the seams of Robyn's illusions. The sun was nowhere to be seen, having extinguished itself as soon as it was out of sight. The starscape stretched down past the horizon for a while, but from this vantage he could see the point where it ended.

Caleb would go nowhere near the ledge. With nothing between the land's edge and whatever oblivion awaited those who fell into the void, Liam didn't feel much like lingering there.

Liam gazed out across the unnatural abyss. It was unnerving to the point of tension and he found himself compelled to turn away after only a brief stay at the edge. Jogging back to Caleb's side he plunged back into the trees and felt immediately more at ease.

There had been few proper paths in this part of the forest before Robyn had annexed it in totality. The village had few visitors and even fewer neighbors. Apart from the long drive that led to the access road there were little more than deer trails. It was upon one of these that Liam now found himself as he wound his way circuitously back to camp.

A wind felled birch blocked the trail ahead. His first thought was to vault it, but as he neared the bole he slowed. Liam ran a finger over the paper white bark. Extending his claws, he split the segment into logs and stacked them neatly beside the trail. He did the same to the next tree blocking the path. Before long he was running with his claws out, pruning as he went. By the time he made it back to camp he'd blazed the beginnings of a proper trail.

The crowd around the campfire had thinned by the time Liam returned, but he took the opportunity to join those who remained. If this was going to be his life for the next few 'weeks', and it certainly seemed that it would be, the evening was going to be his peak window for social interaction - at least until he became more inured to the light of day. That evening he tried to keep the conversation light, and to listen more than he spoke.

For all that he had ostensibly been living in the village for months now, he'd only gotten to know a handful of them to any real degree - Moira's kids of course; Joyce in their fireside chats; Logan when he wasn't too deep in the bag; and now a little bit Alex. He didn't really know Patti. Or Mel at all for that matter. Ted had been fairly quiet too since his arrival, at least around Liam. Liam resolved to change that.

The only piece of 'business' he thought to bring up that night was in a quiet aside with Joyce. "I don't suppose you've ever tried your hand at deprogramming or deradicalization or whatever the term might be?" he mused. "At some point I have to go back and when I do, I'm taking Kyle - that Redband with the splinter in his chest - with me. One way or another he's going to help us crack open the Alhambra. It might go smoother if he's a willing participant, although it'd be a lot faster just to bond him."
 
Liam lingered beside the fire that night until everyone else turned in. He'd already spent a 'day' in solitude, and now he had another night alone ahead of him. As the other cabins and trailers fell silent, Liam made his way to the woodshop. There were no new arches to construct yet, but he still had a mind to make a library - one of those little community ones he saw at the side of the road in Rosewood and the Borough. It ended up being the work of more than one night, but that suited him just fine. Caleb stayed with him, curled into a tight little ball at the foot of the workbench sleeping soundly as a light dusting of wood shavings settled on his coat.

At one point Liam paused to grab a beer out of the refrigerator in the garage. As he cracked the lid his gaze swept across the disaster that was Robyn’s storage system then fell upon a deflated soccer ball in the corner. It took some rummaging but eventually he produced a bicycle pump and was pleased to find the seal in good repair.

As morning approached he found a quiet place to greet the sun. This time he managed twelve minutes before being chased inside by his mounting apprehension. Progress.

It didn’t take long to fall into a routine. Each morning he’d linger a little longer before turning in. Each evening he’d rise a little bit earlier than the last. By day he’d largely stick to the basement, intermittently reading, resting or strumming. He watched a smattering of movies from Pockets collection. Occasionally he’d have visitors, or Pockets would work in her room and he’d keep her company until she eventually kicked him out. He invited Logan to fire up the flight simulator and take him through a few exercises, more for the company and to give Logan something to do than out of any real sense of need.

Come evening he’d check in with Alex on the status of the field and gauge which chores required his attention that night. Then he’d join the others at the fire pit for a time, trying not to always sit where it was easy but where he could spend a little time with everyone - or at least everyone willing. Mel was still tricky. On the fourth or fifth night, Logan brought out his guitar. Liam ducked back inside to retrieve Sunny’s ukulele and did his best to play along. That night was one of the most enjoyable he'd had in a long time. It became a recurring theme.

After the camp fire he’d go for a jog, though as the days turned into weeks he felt more comfortable doing this in the daylight and started to jog before the evening meal - alone or with anyone who cared to join him; Jack and Alice, mostly, but to her credit even Joyce strapped on her sneakers a couple of times. It took a few nights for Liam to properly clear and mark the trail to his satisfaction. He carted the firewood out by the wheel barrow and stacked it by the woodshed.

Then it was on to his nightly chores. The fields didn’t require too much of his attention after that first night. The ladybugs had done their job and the tomatoes made a slow but full recovery. He continued in the woodshed, finishing the small library and working on the arches and signboards as Robyn directed. Compared to his first renditions, the newer arches were noticeably cleaner.

Between projects he cleared the scorched brush where he’d fought the Tremere witch hunter. It took a while but after a few nights of hauling logs and pulling stones he had something of a soccer pitch going. The rules were pretty straightforward. No magic. No crinos forms. If you kicked the ball into the woods you had to go find it. Jack turned out to be a standout player. Tim had to go retrieve a lot of balls but didn’t seem too put out by it. Caleb played keeper and did an all around commendable job for a German shepherd.

Pockets did have a projector. Liam set it up on a stump and strung a bed linen across a line to serve as a screen. They watched Casablanca and Good Will Hunting. Someone suggested Saving Private Ryan but Liam quietly excused himself as the Higgins boats hit the sand of Omaha beach. With nowhere else to go he went to sit by the fire and enjoy a quiet cigarette - he was running low, but oddly he hadn't felt the need to reach for them much of late. To his surprise he found Mel already there. He was about to excuse himself again, when Mel, perhaps sensing his apprehension, moved over to make space for him. They didn't talk much. Liam offered her his last cigarette and she took it. Eventually Caleb joined them, and a few other stragglers after the movie had ended. Progress.

And slowly Liam made his preparations to return. He’d recovered the two Tremere great coats from the forest. Both were full of holes, but significantly they were full of different holes and he thought he might try using one to patch the other. There was also the one he’d stashed in the trees with Mik the evening of the ritual but that was inaccessible at the moment and seemed like a lifetime ago. Liam wasn’t particularly gifted with a sewing needle - he could sew a button in a pinch - but he could rip a seam as well as anyone and he was happy to ask around.

If Joyce had a mind to work with Kyle, Liam made sure to sit with them at every session. To ensure compliance, he also bonded Kyle - a couple of drops at a time spaced out over multiple 'nights'. He had no idea how the artificial time they were suspended in might impact the bond. Had he given Kyle enough to bind him tightly or would no amount suffice here? Liam wasn't sure. Either way he wasn't prepared to trust Kyle just yet, and the Redbrand wasn't allowed free reign even when he wasn't staked - which was still most of the time.

It was, he thought, a very good vacation all around.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Tue 17 Oct 2023.

Joyce, though always happy to see him, laughed incredulously at his proposal. She thanked him for his faith in her skills, but explained that Kyle wasn’t like a recruited mook. The Redwatch largely allowed their members to be vetted through contacts within established white supremacist networks, preferring to target newly blooded members of prominent organizations. He had likely been radicalized long before the Redwatch found him and lured him to the city. Even if she were a specialist in such matters - which she was not - she estimated six months to a year before she'd feel comfortable turning his back on him. No amount of time or therapy would ever make relying on him in a high-stakes situation a smart idea. She strongly suggested Liam not get attached, and cut the Gangrel loose at the earliest opportunity.

Robyn was also disinclined to give Kyle much space to move around. She kept him tied under the shade of an oak tree on the far side of the fields, facing away from the village. She had inscribed wards in the earth around him. Though they were ostensibly intended to keep Kyle contained in the event of escape, it also made it difficult for Liam to approach the boy on his own. Deep down, he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they’d also been meant for him. His constant need to reach out to and befriend his enemies was well-known, especially around camp.

Other than the occasional interrogation, he didn’t see much of Kyle. Truth be told, that was probably for the best.

Patti was an easy person to get to know. She was boisterous and outspoken, and already Caleb's biggest fan. They’d simply never had much of a chance to socialize because Patti wasn’t inclined to spend the evening hours out of doors. She'd been an accomplished programmer in her own right before moving to Verdant Falls five years ago to take a position at SoftServ, Moira's successful development firm. She'd initially been quite starstruck with the CEO herself living in such close quarters, but over time the two of them have formed a friendship.

During her time in the village, she’d formed a tight (but mostly online) professional relationship with Pockets. Not only had Pockets offloaded the responsibility of the Village’s internal network to her, but the pair corresponded regularly on Patti’s passion project - a formal accounting of the Camarilla’s myriad crimes in Verdant Falls and around the world.

Patti had no new information to provide, but it was humbling to see everything collected and crystallized in one document. Much of the intel was his own, especially in the section about their international efforts. Most of the scant photographic evidence were photos of his own. The piece was rife with receipts, supporting documentation, and indecipherable digital forensics.

Most sickening of all was the list of the dead. The regime had never been shy about publishing deaths in the city, and maintained the same strict records of death as most jurisdictions. They simply lied about the causes of death, and remained consistent in their lies. Diseases and natural causes befell those who were earmarked for blood production. Those that died from vehicle collisions were those who fed the ranks or the vozhd. Accidental death was code for those killed for sport. Each name had been painstakingly cross-referenced with hospital records to filter out the legitimate deaths.

It was a truly damning indictment. She intended to not only hand it to the government, but publish it online for all to see. “Just as soon as it stops growing,” she pointedly remarked.

Even his relationship with Mel had improved. Given what he'd heard about her experience under the regime, it didn't feel appropriate for him to approach her. But in the months they’d spent together she'd gone from leaving when he arrived to staying silent and uneasy while he was present, and that was good progress in his estimation. The sunlight seemed to put her further at ease, and once or twice during their vacation she'd managed to forget herself and relax her shoulders in his presence.

He'd also noticed that she was a completely different person when she was in the kitchen. Her entire demeanour changed, and she moved with a degree of confidence approaching certainty. Unlike around the bonfire, it didn't change back when she was aware of his presence. She'd even chided him one morning to keep his hands off the cooling sourdough loaves - before she remembered to whom she was talking.

Patti was the one who had the idea to surprise Mel with a brick oven. She had drafted some plans long before the blackout, and had wheedled her way into Robyn’s small supply of bricks and mortar in the back of her workshed. The bricks, like the large concrete pad beside the shed, had once belonged to Sunshine. She had intended to build a kiln there, and like many of the scattered couple’s plans, it had never materialized. Robyn seemed as eager to repurpose the supplies as she was to give away Sunny’s ukulele.

Liam became involved with the project purely through providence. Early in the first week, when he was overwhelmed and returning from one of his many short trips into the sun, he came across Patti laying the first of the bricks. It had been several lifetimes ago, but Liam knew enough about bricklaying to spot shoddy work. Patti was severely over-applying the mortar, not keeping level, and the resulting structure would be more likely to fall on someone than successfully bake a loaf of bread.

His urge to avert a disaster overpowered his urge to flee indoors. Once he’d offered his advice, and heard Patti’s plan, he was committed. This was a perfect opportunity to do something nice for Mel without invading her space, and another like this wasn’t likely to present itself. The Beast would have to wait.

It didn’t take Patti long to spot his discomfort. She dashed up to Robyn’s garage, and returned carrying a large patio umbrella so Liam could continue his bricklaying lessons in the shade. As they worked, Patti shared with him her fear of the night, and walked him through some of Joyce’s grounding exercises that had worked well for her. The plans also called for two concrete slabs, so there was plenty of work he could do moulding and pouring in the relative comfort of the dark workshed when he needed a break.

Even with an otherwise full plate, the two of them made short work of the oven, and it was finished by the end of the first week. When the pair finally unveiled their gift, Mel leapt into Patti’s arms, hugging her gratefully. Although Liam didn’t get a hug of his own, Mel looked him in the eyes, and thanked him. They were the first words she’d spoken to him in earnest, and communication between the two became far less laboured from then on.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Wed 25 Oct 2023.

Ted was a tougher nut to crack. To date, he hadn't associated much with the other villagers. He'd refused Joyce's offers for conversation, and in his dealings with Liam (such as they were), he'd never been anything but cordial and vague. The only person either of them had seen spending any amount of time with him was Logan; the pair likely bonding over their shared experience as members of the Redwatch’s indentured workforce. Both Liam and Joyce were quite frankly surprised to see Ted stick around when he was given not one chance to leave, but two. It wasn’t until Maggie and Alex revealed their plans for a rescue mission that he finally seemed to come out of his shell.

Though the young folks were enthusiastic, they lacked organization and discipline. Ted seemed determined to whip them into shape. Mostly physically. Jack and Alice were brimming with Garou stamina, but Alex and Maggie looked like they’d been indoor kids. Logan had completely let himself go. Two weeks wasn’t a long time to train them up, but Ted had bluntly observed that they wouldn’t be very effective rescuers if they couldn’t run across the street.

And so it came as little surprise that when Liam came to the bonfire looking for jogging company, Ted insisted the whole team participate. He had many hands helping him prepare the soccer pitch, and more than enough participants to get a game going. He rode them all hard - Logan hardest of all. But to his credit, he hadn’t seen Logan with a drink in his hand since the training began.

Liam and Ted kept pace for plenty of time to talk, he remained frustratingly inscrutable. There was certainly a cultivated wall of mystique he was trying to maintain - Liam recognized it all too well. But moreover, he was simply a man of few words. He had stuck around because he felt there was still a job left undone in Verdant Falls, and although he wasn’t a large piece of the grander scheme, he wasn’t the kind of guy to simply walk away. When he’d seen the need for leadership in the ranks of the rescue team, he’d picked up the mantle without thinking about it.

Though two of them ran pace for the other joggers, most athletic participants on their runs were Jack and Alice by a country mile. The group had quickly abandoned the idea of reining their energy in, and the two of them were more than happy to wander off on their own. The two of them would run their own races, and set the joggers as the goal. They’d often sprint ahead only to reappear minutes later, lapping the group from behind or intercepting them along one of the backwoods’ many side paths.

Ted, like Cal, had frank misgivings about allowing the Garou kids to join the mission. Though, he admitted, it was hard to push for their exclusion while they literally ran circles around him. Plus, it wasn’t his call. Or Liam’s, for that matter. Word of the rescue mission spread quickly in the small, isolated community, and the pair had leapt at the chance to prove their mettle. Oddly enough, Moira seemed almost eager to let them, even though she was still too weak to join the mission herself.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Moira had been training them day and night since they’d arrived in the village. They’d learned to control their powers. They’d been through the gauntlet and back. They’d met with spirits and brokered their own favours. Liam had struggled to take them down when they were frenzied, newly transformed and divided. Trained and working as a team, Liam had his doubts over whether he’d be a match for the pair himself. They were true Warriors of Gaia now, and great efforts were being taken to minimize the risk as much as possiblel.

The rescue plan solidified over the break. With Pockets’ help, they planned out a route that would optimize the number of families extracted, and plotted several escape portals in case the Redwatch became alerted. The goal was to move as two teams, one on either side of the street. They would knock on doors, using stolen Redwatch armbands to ensure the compliance of the families sheltered inside. Then, they would gather the occupants in a vehicle and order them to drive to the cordon on the edge of town and submit to the commands of the military set up to receive them.

Over the course of the hiatus, it was determined that the safest method for everyone involved was to place the burden of the unbonding process - and all the outbursts involved - on to the military. Liam knew all too well how unpredictable and dangerous people could be when the Fugue breaks. Leaving the task to the rescue teams was a risk that none involved were prepared to make. Plus there was an irony in using the Tremere’s own obedience protocols against them that was simply too delicious to resist.

In the wake of the Jericho ultimatum the Tremere had given to the military, it was important to make it very clear that this rescue operation wasn’t affiliated with the government in any fashion. Members of both teams would graffiti and tag the cleared houses with slogans of defiance and clever taunts. The group laboured on these as diligently as they did their training. Though it was universally understood that it was important to identify themselves with a name, there was much debate on what that name would be.

The orders were to disengage and disappear in the event of a major conflict, but the odds of serious resistance were negligible. The Redwatch elite would be otherwise engaged, and even if the odd stray Gangrel was keeping watch over the suburbs, Liam had seen the quality of their training. Even if they lived long enough to set off a flare, Liam wasn’t even sure there would be anyone around to assist. Still, Ted ran fitness drills, Pockets ran firearms drills, Moira ran hand-to-hand combat drills, and Maggie ran drills for the team’s blossoming magical powers. It was through one of these drills that Liam first had a taste of Sorcery’s newfound power.

Liam had heard Robyn speak of her defensive path on several occasions, though he’d never had the opportunity to see it in action. The way she’d described it - a simple-to-learn sorcery path to provide non-lethal protection to everyday people - he’d expected it to be nothing spectacular. When Maggie asked him whether he’d allow a student to practice their newfound ability, he was intrigued and more than a little amused. What little he knew of Sorcery had convinced him that it was a pale imitation of true preternatural power, reserved solely for those unable to learn more useful abilities. His experience was humbling to say the least.

Maggie prompted him to sneak up on Alex during their next drill, grab him from behind, and attempt to bite him. At first, Liam balked. He was quite fond of the boy, and didn’t want to hurt him or otherwise scare him into alienation. But Maggie was insistent. She assured Liam that she wasn’t prepared to let Alex put himself in harm’s way if she wasn’t sure he could handle a test. She added that she wouldn’t be putting Liam up to this if she doubted Alex had it in him to overcome.

And so it came. Liam knew how to pick his moment, was well accustomed to creeping up on people like a ghost, and the boy’s slim frame simply couldn’t put up a fight against his Potence. The first strange thing he noticed was a surge of nausea as he drew close to the boy. Even though he’d dedicated considerable time on this hiatus to overcoming his Beast, it rose up to rail against him. With every fibre of its being it screamed Untouchable. A lesser vampire would have fled in terror. But Liam broke through the glamour, its power buckled, and Alex was his.

Liam swept him back into his grasp as easily as a straw doll. Before he could even bring his fangs to bear he felt a strange electric numbness surge through his body. His arms dropped pendulously to his sides as he suddenly found himself unable to support their mere weight, let alone resist the boy. His ears rang. The ground beneath him wobbled, whipped around behind him, and smacked hard against his back. His vision went blurry, and then black. The next thing he remembered was lying on his back with the entire class staring down at him. Alex was agape.

Liam was more or less unscathed, save for the bruises and bump on the head he’d received in the fall. And that was perhaps the most horrifying aspect of the encounter. Falling on the ground had hurt him. It was only after several minutes that Liam felt his strength and resilience returning to his frame. Though perhaps more unsettling was the revelation that not only was every mortal participating in the rescue well capable of the same feats, but so was nearly everyone in the camp.

To repay him for participating, Liam was invited to attend future combat drills, as well as Robyn’s bi-weekly sorcery classes. Robyn never struck him as having a personality conducive to being a good teacher, and she’d confided the same sentiments to him. The same could not be said of Maggie. She was a natural teacher, and the reasons for Robyn appointing her as an official apprentice became apparent. Robyn had also spent a considerable portion of her time in the Tome refining sorcerous practices and thus making Sorcery itself more approachable and easier to learn. Armed with her master’s refined source material, Maggie was a force to be reckoned with.

It didn’t take Liam long to learn the basics. If he applied himself, learning Sorcery in earnest would be simple. Robyn was quick to warn him that she wasn’t sure of the repercussions of a vampire wielding the Path of Apollo, and with more advanced techniques the risks were likely to compound. Still, she was as eager as him to learn precisely what that meant.

The sky continued to improve over the first week. Robyn experimented with clouds, rain and even a light dusting of snow. Liam was left with plenty of breaks in the sunshine to work on acclimatizing himself. These would provide ample opportunities both for indirect exposure, and to see his fellow villagers in a literal new light.

The early evenings, too, became much brighter. Many had grown too accustomed to light pollution, and even with the stars there were many trips and stumbles in the dark. By the third night, the skies were streaked with pale auroras in impossible shapes and hues. Pride flags of every description, messages written in the sky, and on one occasion a shimmering cartoon butt that occasionally shot showers of shooting stars - accompanied by an impossibly distant and appropriately cyclopean sound effect. Out of consideration for those who slept at night, the light shows tended to wind down at 9.

Liam’s library was an instant hit. It even scared up a few books that hadn’t been circulated through their previous word-of-mouth. Liam was left with plenty of reading material. He’d planned to spend most of his vacation on his own, reading and strumming, but that plan was quickly and thoroughly derailed. He’d resolved to make getting to know the others his priority, and suddenly having access to the other half of each day left him with opportunities he hadn’t thought possible. The others, it seemed, were all too eager to socialize. The uncertainty and strangeness of their present situation affected everyone differently, but they were all eager for distractions.

Movie nights were well-attended. A few of the titles were picked with Liam in mind. Robyn insisted that Liam attend the screening of The Big Lebowski “so my references will stop sailing over your head.” Pockets put together a double feature of Alien and Aliens, and they all had a good chuckle at the antics of a pack of Kiwi vampire roommates in What We Do in the Shadows.

Liam and Logan were both quite busy preparing for their respective raids, but the pair found a few opportunities to book some time on the flight simulator. Liam had gotten the hand of takeoffs, but landings were a far stickier matter. Logan assured him that this was a common problem, and if he applied himself he might be able to steal a helicopter without killing himself someday.

The fields soon took care of themselves. They appeared to flourish under the conjured sun, and the pristine weather helped them recover from the shock of a couple sunless days. When Liam needed grunt work, there were plenty of new archways to be made. Several portals were planned for the city itself, and just as many for cities across the country. Robyn had even begun taking requests for international destinations, though there were serious discussions to be had about the safety concerns inherent with unauthorized international travel.

To say that Robyn was busy during their hiatus from time would be an understatement. She worked day and night on the task of making her new universe more liveable. At the end of the first week, Robyn took a break from her terraforming to dive through the Tome once more. Instead of taking it in her office as was her routine, she chose to undergo the rigours in her inner sanctum.

Liam knew the drill by now, and expected Robyn to be incapacitated for days. But the next morning, Robyn was back inside the altar and working with a renewed vigor. Liam questioned the wisdom of this decision, but she insisted that she wanted to map out the new portals while the calculations were fresh in her mind. The village saw much less of her that second week. She only left her sanctum to teach her classes, preferring to take her meals and even sleep next to the altar. Maggie spent a great deal of her time there as well, assisting Robyn and fetching her meals.

When Liam came to visit, he found the walls of Robyn’s hut papered with a mess of tangled calculations that his brain simply glanced right off of. She hadn’t been kidding about teaching herself astrophysics. Seeing her come back armed with a wealth of mundane knowledge somehow crystallized how much arcane power she was fetching on her many trips into the Tome.

Astrophysics wasn’t the only knowledge she had returned with. In her examination of the Garou’s relationship with Earth’s moon, she’d determined that a moon would only be truly compatible if it had been venerated for centuries. Finding a venerated moon that wouldn’t be missed seemed like a tall order. Even someone who could reach distant galaxies in the blink of an eye could spend several lifetimes searching infinity for those conditions. For a non-Euclidean being, however, the search was trivial. Vamanado was everywhere and everywhen.

Robyn would later confess that she was not prepared for the sheer number of extinct civilizations that would meet the criteria. The universe, it seemed, had a habit of turning thriving planets into lifeless rocks. She’d felt duty-bound to learn about the civilizations she’d be stealing from, and now she mourned them. Liam knew that Robyn carried many uncomfortable truths with her - even a few dark secrets that she hadn’t shared with anyone - but this new knowledge weighed on her heavily. An entire planet full of unique cultures, each with their own rich history, wiped out in the blink of an eye by a freak solar storm.

She wasn’t the only one struggling with demons. An air of apprehension hung over the village, which many residents worked diligently to dispel. And of course, Liam grappled daily with muzzling his raging Beast. It was stubborn and prideful, utterly unwilling to be in the presence of Helios' pale imitator. But Liam was stubborn, too. And where the Beast stood alone, Liam had a whole village behind him. Their support buoyed him, and their need for support spurred him onward. He’d planned to spend most of his vacation hiding in his room, and avoiding lengthy trips in the sun. But the village simply didn’t let that happen.

The longer he spent in the light, the more he felt the Beast retreat into a deep recess of his psyche. He could still feel its fear, rage, and gnawing resentment. However, as the Beast grew more eager to retreat in the mornings, its credibility suffered. By the end of the second week, its barbs felt distant, and he paid them little heed.

Without even meaning to, Robyn had granted Liam his deepest wish.

[Spending an hour in the "sun" now gives Liam 1 automatic success to use on frenzy checks until his next rest.]