Fandom Vampire: The Masquerade: Chapter 3: Setting Aside Grievances

[Rin Nyx]

1. A good ninja is thorough and does not just throw accusations around wildly! We investigate!

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You slowly arise from your coffin. Night for night, this is your routine. You sleep in a coffin in your bedroom, because if you slept in your bed, the sun from the window would kill you while you slept. You look out the window itself and see the sun has set, probably a few minutes ago. The city is now falling into darkness. Darkness. The domain of a ninja vampire.

Either way, what were you supposed to do tonight? Ah, right. The zombie crisis. First, you decide to call sensei and ask him for a professional opinion. You take your phone from your desk and dial his number...

...

...

"This is Grofhurst! What is it?" his voice had a hint of aggression in it. Good, old, paranoid, OCD-ridden sensei.

"Sensei, I have been tasked with discovering the cause with the zombie crisis."

.... Rambling....

... He's rambling quietly, on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah, well, let me know how that goes," he says, then hangs up. BEEP!

I did say: He is wise when he's not paranoid. Clearly, this wasn't the case tonight. Whatever! You can do this yourself.

1. Go to the Keystone Memorial Graveyard and question those guarding the place about any clues.
2. Blame it on the Giovanni. If it has anything to do with corpses, it's always the Giovanni. Goddamn necromancers. Can't they last a few months without accidentally spilling spiritual energies over Camarilla territories and making the undead rise?
   1. Tell the Prince about your conclusion.
   2. Go to the Giovanni stronghold in Los Angeles, knock on their door, and literally accuse them of this to their face.
   3. Infiltrate the Giovanni stronghold to confirm your suspicions and see what the Necro-incestuous Mafioso Romans are up to.
3. Write-in.

Vitae: 90%

We should go to the Keystone Graveyard,. We already planned on doing so, so not doing anything would betray our morals as a Ninja.

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon
(By the way, if you guys had Auspex 2, you could activate it to see auras of people or places, or in general just get a feel about a place. That's what you get for choosing flashy disciplines (Dementation) over practical ones.)

You have made a choice.

Packing your equipment into your backpack, including your neat, antique katana, you dress into your civilian clothing and go down to the streets, then get a cab to get you there. Keystone Memorial Graveyard is just outside town, meaning the use of firearms is perfectly safe. After several minutes, you arrive... You pay the cab fee and as soon as the cabbie drives off, you change into your ninja suit.

You approach the iron gate. The gate appears to be the only way into the Graveyard. The stone walls are about two meters tall, so climbing them would be difficult but possible. They also appear to be too thick to break with a kunai. You walk up to the entrance, to be greeted by a tall man holding a shotgun. "Yo, hold it. You ain't goin' in. The cemetery's locked, dude," he said, flashing the weapon at you threateningly.

"Don't worry. I'm a kindred too."

"Really? Shit. You look more like kuej-jin to me. Well, whatever. What's up? Whatchu want?" he asked.

"To enter. The Prince sent me. I'm supposed to figure out why this is happening."

"Ah, I getcha, wait..." he took a look at you, more precisely, at your eyes. "Oooh... You're one of them Malks, right? Ya guys are weird, no offense, dude," he said, before unlocking the pad at the gate. You walk in. He sounds like a stereotypical Brujah but seems a bit cooler than an average one.

"You should go talk to Mikey in the gravedigger's shack, or whatever. He's a Ventrue. I hate his guts, but he's told me to be on guard here. Ain't no undead fools getting out with me and a shotgun."

You proceed down the path of bricks and stone. Alongside it, there are several graves. All of them open, and to none of your surprise. You get to a wooden shack alongside the main road and enter it. There, you find yourself with a single kindred. The man, wearing a long business suit, and a red tie, welcomed you. "Hello," he said, bored. He sighed. "I trust the Prince sent you to deal with this mess?" You can tell that graveyard duty isn't very interesting judging on his reaction.

"Yes, that's it. Michael, right? My name is Aran Donnely."

"What would you like to know, Mr. Donnely?" he asked dismissively.

(Ask as many as you want, but watch out. Some questions might lead to... political rumors.)

1. "Do you think the Giovanni did this?"
2. "Any leads? Clues? Hm?"
3. "When did the undead start rising?"
4. "You felt anything weird since you came here?"
5. Write-in.

Vitae: 91%

 

[Rin Nyx]

3, then 4, then 2. We aren't ready to throw out political accusations or theories just yet

 

[Archdemon]

3, then 4, then 2. We aren't ready to throw out political accusations or theories just yet

I agree! With everything Rin said!

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Same. It's the best method of questioning.

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

"When did the undead start rising?"

"Good question," Michael moved his fingers to his chin, thinking. "Hmmm... ... Two, or more nights ago. That's when we were sent here by the Prince."

"Have you felt anything weird since you came here?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes. Me and John have ventured into the mausoleum to investigate last night. It appears that is where most of them come from. They come in waves you see. Every hour, or so. We fought off the last one half an hour ago indeed. There is a very odd aura down there. I know it, and I'm not even, uh, well... you know..." He cleaned his throat, tugging at his tie. "--like you..."

"Any other leads? Clues?"

"I'm afraid not. I am no specialist in necromancy nor thaumaturgy. Pity they didn't send a Tremere here to assist us. Would be very helpful, as I am no occultist."

You ponder the leads for a while. Perhaps something happened in the mausoleum? Maybe you should go there and investigate?

1. Go down to the mausoleum.
2. No, that's all. Let's go to the Giovanni stronghold and investigate. A Clan of necromancers. That can't be a coincidence!
3. I have more questions! (Write-in.)
4. Write-in.

Vitae: 91%

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

"When did the undead start rising?"

"Good question," Michael moved his fingers to his chin, thinking. "Hmmm... ... Two, or more nights ago. That's when we were sent here by the Prince."

"Have you felt anything weird since you came here?"

"Hm? Oh. Yes. Me and John have ventured into the mausoleum to investigate last night. It appears that is where most of them come from. They come in waves you see. Every hour, or so. We fought off the last one half an hour ago indeed. There is a very odd aura down there. I know it, and I'm not even, uh, well... you know..." He cleaned his throat, tugging at his tie. "--like you..."

"Any other leads? Clues?"

"I'm afraid not. I am no specialist in necromancy nor thaumaturgy. Pity they didn't send a Tremere here to assist us. Would be very helpful, as I am no occultist."

You ponder the leads for a while. Perhaps something happened in the mausoleum? Maybe you should go there and investigate?

1. Go down to the mausoleum.
2. No, that's all. Let's go to the Giovanni stronghold and investigate. A Clan of necromancers. That can't be a coincidence!
3. I have more questions! (Write-in.)
4. Write-in.

Vitae: 91%

One more question. About how well preserved are the undead? Are they skeletons, half rotted, or comparatively fresh looking?

After that, we'll do the only thing we really can do, and head down into the mausoleum. But we should keep our sword ready.

 

[Archdemon]

One more question. About how well preserved are the undead? Are they skeletons, half rotted, or comparatively fresh looking?

After that, we'll do the only thing we really can do, and head down into the mausoleum. But we should keep our sword ready.

I agree with this

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

"Just one last question, how... well-preserved are the undead?" His expression shifted instantly. You can tell that just by asking this, you invoked some kind of inner cringe in the Ventrue vampire. Almost like PTSD, but not quite the same.

"Oh, that depends," he says, almost sardonically, smiling very widely in a clearly sarcastic way. His tone sounds as if he was suggesting something. How tone and expression dropped a few notches after that. "Either way, I've seen anything from a pale guy with no irises to a classic, green Hollywood muncher. I haven't seen any actual skeletons, though." It became clear to you soon afterward that he's been here fighting them for a while. He did mention waves and two nights. That means at least ten waves of undead.

"I understand. I will go to the mausoleum to investigate," you walk outside and down one of cobblestone paths.

You stand before the mausoleum and open up the door to it, only to witness a deep, circular stairway that leads further downward. Gulping, you take your sword out and prepare for any baddies you might have to stab.

You walk down the spiral, alone. The place is very dark and you can barely see anything.

1. Activate Auspex with focus on Sight. (-5% vitae.)
2. Don't.

As you proceed roughly 4 meters down the stairs, you stop upon seeing a small side-room. Although the stairway explores deeper underground, the side-room appears to lead to a small sub-crypt, perhaps for a specific family or bloodline. When you peek inside, you see a bunch of dismembered corpses laid in a pile. Clearly, this wave they've already gotten through.

You go further down the stairs. This time, at roughly 10 meters, you begin to hear some rustling further down the staircase. What do you do?

1. Fuck this shit. I'm out. Let's blame the Giovanni, just get me out of here!
2. Fuck this shit. I'm out. Just get me out of here!
3. Activate Auspex with focus on Hearing. (-5% vitae.)
4. Go down and focus whatever spawn of evil you face... oh, wait, you're a spawn of evil too. So, hug it, I guess? Jus' kiddin'. Slash the fuck out of it.
5. Write-in.

Vitae: 91%

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

"Just one last question, how... well-preserved are the undead?" His expression shifted instantly. You can tell that just by asking this, you invoked some kind of inner cringe in the Ventrue vampire. Almost like PTSD, but not quite the same.

"Oh, that depends," he says, almost sardonically, smiling very widely in a clearly sarcastic way. His tone sounds as if he was suggesting something. How tone and expression dropped a few notches after that. "Either way, I've seen anything from a pale guy with no irises to a classic, green Hollywood muncher. I haven't seen any actual skeletons, though." It became clear to you soon afterward that he's been here fighting them for a while. He did mention waves and two nights. That means at least ten waves of undead.

"I understand. I will go to the mausoleum to investigate," you walk outside and down one of cobblestone paths.

You stand before the mausoleum and open up the door to it, only to witness a deep, circular stairway that leads further downward. Gulping, you take your sword out and prepare for any baddies you might have to stab.

You walk down the spiral, alone. The place is very dark and you can barely see anything.

1. Activate Auspex with focus on Sight. (-5% vitae.)
2. Don't.

As you proceed roughly 4 meters down the stairs, you stop upon seeing a small side-room. Although the stairway explores deeper underground, the side-room appears to lead to a small sub-crypt, perhaps for a specific family or bloodline. When you peek inside, you see a bunch of dismembered corpses laid in a pile. Clearly, this wave they've already gotten through.

You go further down the stairs. This time, at roughly 10 meters, you begin to hear some rustling further down the staircase. What do you do?

1. Fuck this shit. I'm out. Let's blame the Giovanni, just get me out of here!
2. Fuck this shit. I'm out. Just get me out of here!
3. Activate Auspex with focus on Hearing. (-5% vitae.)
4. Go down and focus whatever spawn of evil you face... oh, wait, you're a spawn of evil too. So, hug it, I guess? Jus' kiddin'. Slash the fuck out of it.
5. Write-in.

Vitae: 91%

We should activate Auspex with focus on both hearing and sight. A ninja does not charge into battle without first knowing their enemy. At least, that's the idea we got from reading our Naruto manga.

 

[Captain Gabriel]

We should activate Auspex with focus on both hearing and sight. A ninja does not charge into battle without first knowing their enemy. At least, that's the idea we got from reading our Naruto manga.

Seconded.

 

[Rin Nyx]

We should activate Auspex with focus on both hearing and sight. A ninja does not charge into battle without first knowing their enemy. At least, that's the idea we got from reading our Naruto manga.

I agree with this

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You close your ghostly eyes for a moment. In your head, you focus on your senses. Your hearing, but also your sight. You enter a sort of state, a meditative one, for less than a second, holding your katana in your hands. A deep breath. You open your eyes again, this time, your sight sharp, and your hearing sharp.

The omnipresent darkness of the stairway no longer poses a problem to your eyes, and the hearing becomes clear. The rustling downstairs is, certainly, footsteps. You can't exactly make out how many people there are, but you're half-sure that there is only one pair of feet under you. You slowly take step after step, almost rhythmically in contrast to the chaotic randomness of the other pair of feet that are under you.

As you step down, you stumble upon a figure a bit further down the stairs. The figure hears you approaching and looks back... a zombie. His eyes were pure white, and his hair was old. The dead man wore the suit that he was buried in. He lets out a raspy moan as he notices you, and slowly approaches in your direction. Although his movements have a purpose, they are erratic, like sudden spasms of force rather than directed, harmonious control of his own limbs. It seems he didn't quite make out that you are a person since he didn't immediately rush toward you. There are only a few explanations to this. He either has no care for eating you, isn't aggressive in nature, was ordered to not consume people, recognized you as a dead body -- a vampire, or he simply can't see as well as you do.

He's still a few steps below you and you calculate it will take 10 seconds for him to get up here. In other words, while it isn't exactly a surprise attack, you hold the upper hand in the first action, not to mention, the dead man looks slow and lacking in actual combat power. [+1 AP for both advantages. +2 AP total.]

5 AP.

1. Slash your sword across his neck to decapitate him quickly. (-4 AP.)
2. Go back a few steps then activate Obfuscate and sneak past him. (-5 AP, nonlethal, -10% vitae.)
3. Throw a pair of ninja stars at his legs at the joints to disable him, then deliver a forceful kick to his chest to send him flying backward through the staircase. (-3 AP.)
4. Write-in. (Feel free to boost attributes, or use Disciplines, though I don't see what use they'd have here.)

Vitae: 81%

 

[Captain Gabriel]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You close your ghostly eyes for a moment. In your head, you focus on your senses. Your hearing, but also your sight. You enter a sort of state, a meditative one, for less than a second, holding your katana in your hands. A deep breath. You open your eyes again, this time, your sight sharp, and your hearing sharp.

The omnipresent darkness of the stairway no longer poses a problem to your eyes, and the hearing becomes clear. The rustling downstairs is, certainly, footsteps. You can't exactly make out how many people there are, but you're half-sure that there is only one pair of feet under you. You slowly take step after step, almost rhythmically in contrast to the chaotic randomness of the other pair of feet that are under you.

As you step down, you stumble upon a figure a bit further down the stairs. The figure hears you approaching and looks back... a zombie. His eyes were pure white, and his hair was old. The dead man wore the suit that he was buried in. He lets out a raspy moan as he notices you, and slowly approaches in your direction. Although his movements have a purpose, they are erratic, like sudden spasms of force rather than directed, harmonious control of his own limbs. It seems he didn't quite make out that you are a person since he didn't immediately rush toward you. There are only a few explanations to this. He either has no care for eating you, isn't aggressive in nature, was ordered to not consume people, recognized you as a dead body -- a vampire, or he simply can't see as well as you do.

He's still a few steps below you and you calculate it will take 10 seconds for him to get up here. In other words, while it isn't exactly a surprise attack, you hold the upper hand in the first action, not to mention, the dead man looks slow and lacking in actual combat power. [+1 AP for both advantages. +2 AP total.]

5 AP.

1. Slash your sword across his neck to decapitate him quickly. (-4 AP.)
2. Go back a few steps then activate Obfuscate and sneak past him. (-5 AP, nonlethal, -10% vitae.)
3. Throw a pair of ninja stars at his legs at the joints to disable him, then deliver a forceful kick to his chest to send him flying backward through the staircase. (-3 AP.)
4. Write-in. (Feel free to boost attributes, or use Disciplines, though I don't see what use they'd have here.)

Vitae: 81%

1.

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You close your ghostly eyes for a moment. In your head, you focus on your senses. Your hearing, but also your sight. You enter a sort of state, a meditative one, for less than a second, holding your katana in your hands. A deep breath. You open your eyes again, this time, your sight sharp, and your hearing sharp.

The omnipresent darkness of the stairway no longer poses a problem to your eyes, and the hearing becomes clear. The rustling downstairs is, certainly, footsteps. You can't exactly make out how many people there are, but you're half-sure that there is only one pair of feet under you. You slowly take step after step, almost rhythmically in contrast to the chaotic randomness of the other pair of feet that are under you.

As you step down, you stumble upon a figure a bit further down the stairs. The figure hears you approaching and looks back... a zombie. His eyes were pure white, and his hair was old. The dead man wore the suit that he was buried in. He lets out a raspy moan as he notices you, and slowly approaches in your direction. Although his movements have a purpose, they are erratic, like sudden spasms of force rather than directed, harmonious control of his own limbs. It seems he didn't quite make out that you are a person since he didn't immediately rush toward you. There are only a few explanations to this. He either has no care for eating you, isn't aggressive in nature, was ordered to not consume people, recognized you as a dead body -- a vampire, or he simply can't see as well as you do.

He's still a few steps below you and you calculate it will take 10 seconds for him to get up here. In other words, while it isn't exactly a surprise attack, you hold the upper hand in the first action, not to mention, the dead man looks slow and lacking in actual combat power. [+1 AP for both advantages. +2 AP total.]

5 AP.

1. Slash your sword across his neck to decapitate him quickly. (-4 AP.)
2. Go back a few steps then activate Obfuscate and sneak past him. (-5 AP, nonlethal, -10% vitae.)
3. Throw a pair of ninja stars at his legs at the joints to disable him, then deliver a forceful kick to his chest to send him flying backward through the staircase. (-3 AP.)
4. Write-in. (Feel free to boost attributes, or use Disciplines, though I don't see what use they'd have here.)

Vitae: 81%

A quick decapitation is all we need to put him down for the count.

 

[Rin Nyx]

Yup, 1.

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You stand in a prepared position and wait for the corpse to get in range.

As soon as the rotting bastard takes one step enough to be at the tip of your blade, your hands shoot to the right and carry out a precise blow across his neck. His head falls to the stairs just next to his body, and you flick your katana to the side before proceeding downward.

As you walk down further, you see several more crypts to the side of the stairs, very much like the first one. Some of them had ranging amounts of the decapitated zombie bodies, anywhere from 10 to as much as, your guess is, 40. You can tell why Michael hates this place. Finally, you are at 25 meters down the stairs and the crypts change. You don't see piles of corpses discarded in them. This indicates there's a bit more 'waves' to begin, or that they were randomly discarding the destroyed corpses in the wrong places with no care. Then again, you don't see why they wouldn't do that, since these will be burnt anyway to maintain the masquerade.

You reach what appears to be the very end of the spiral. It had been quite the walk, at roughly 38 or so meters down the flight of stairs. You look forward and see a single, yet short hall built out of stone, not dissimilar to ancient catacombs. There is a small light on the left wall of this hall, flickering every few seconds. At the end of the hall, the hall splits into two corridors to the left and right.

1. Go right.
2. Go left.
3. Write-in.

Vitae: 81%

 

[Rin Nyx]

2, go left!

 

[Archdemon]

3. We should totally boost say our speed and use our Sneak skills down either hallway and if it doesn't lead to the correct place we go back and choose the other one. So I'll say we go Left First which this ability.

 

[Rin Nyx]

3. We should totally boost say our speed and use our Sneak skills down either hallway and if it doesn't lead to the correct place we go back and choose the other one. So I'll say we go Left First which this ability.

Maybe do the obfuscate skill, but I don't think we need the speed skill right now. We have to keep our vitae in mind, too, and we don't want to waste it

 

[Archdemon]

Maybe do the obfuscate skill, but I don't think we need the speed skill right now. We have to keep our vitae in mind, too, and we don't want to waste it

okay..... My vote goes with Rin... But we should totally use Obfuscate!

 

[Birdsie]

Maybe do the obfuscate skill, but I don't think we need the speed skill right now. We have to keep our vitae in mind, too, and we don't want to waste it

okay..... My vote goes with Rin... But we should totally use Obfuscate!

We can't actually boost our "speed," as in, we can naturally boost our Dexterity via the use of vitae, but it won't matter that much. If you guys wanted supernatural speed boosts, you could have went with a Clan that knows Celerity, which is exactly that. It's one of the 3 Common Physical disciplines in that they are easy to learn and come naturally to all vampires, but as a Malkavian, we'll still need a trainer to give us some basic pointers, or a lengthy description of how to activate it, after which we can figure out the rest.

 

[Birdsie]

Dalamus Ulom Captain Gabriel Rin Nyx Archdemon

You activate Obfuscate to cover yourself and make sure no one detects your presence.

Left. That is the direction you have chosen. You slowly proceed down the hallway, but practice caution as you walk. You peek around the corner... No one, just another corridor. You turn your head to the right and see a door there. Deciding to go left instead, you proceed to go in that direction.

You walk down the corridor. It was very short, less than 4 meters in length. To your left is a door, and to your right is another hallway that appears to lead to a crypt. Where do you go first?

1. Go back and see what's behind Door #1.
2. Open Door #2 to your left.
3. Go right.

Vitae: 71%

 

[Birdsie]

Also, I want to point out that Obfuscate isn't foolproof. At least not on our level.
Examples of how Obfuscate works:

- If we're sneaking into a cult gathering in a crowded room with several people talking to each other, and stay in the extremely dark sides of the room, crouched and walking very slowly, we are sure to sneak by with no one noticing us.
- If we're sneaking into a room with 2 people talking to each other and diverting attention to each other, and we keep in the slightly darkened corners, crouched, then we have 30% chance of getting detected
- If we're sneaking into a well-lit room with one person praying in silence, we have 70% chance of getting detected.