VtM: Interruptions and Invaders

At the end of last session Bianca had just begun to sing, when we were interrupted by the sound of sirens pulling on to the property. Bianca...

...is PISSED.

"Willard, did you leave that dead guy in your car?"

Willard: "Naw, he's just resting. He'll be in to get some poontang in a little while."

Bianca: "Lucien!"

Lucien looks out the window. "I must go down to see what's going on." He departs, and Mario follows.

"Monsieur Mario, do you intend to do the talking?"

Mario: "Yes."

The cop knocks in that particularly Cop Knock way that they do.

Mario opens the door slowly, and partially. "Hello?"

Officer: "Good evening. Are you the owner of the premises?"

Mario: "She is upstairs."

Officer: "We received an anonymous tip that the health policy was being violated -- there's a gathering of more than five here." Which, of course they did; Bianca had the invitation sent out to the entire Kindred community, and vampires dwell in a community of harmony and mutual support in much the same way that rabid dogs do.

Mario: {counting} "No, I believe we're at four. A gathering of four. There is perhaps a servant somewhere as well."

Officer: "Would it be possible to speak with the owner?"

Mario: "I have her partner here. Lucien?"

Lucien is gone.

Mario: "Curious. I thought he followed me downstairs. One moment."

Lucien appears and Mario coaxes him into talking to the officer. Lucien does, and agrees with everything Mario has said.

Officer: "That seems like an awfully small performance, sir."

Lucien: "There is no problem here officers. I am grateful for your help, and I will be happy to say so to my friend the commissioner when I next speak to him."

Officer, Awed: "There is no problem here. Glad to be of service."

Willard is watching out the window as the cops leave. "They're leaving! Okay, more performance! Go, Miss Bianca! Whooo!"

Bianca: "No, you sit still and listen quietly, and then when I am done you donate money."

Ms. Grand: "Oh, I was not aware this was a charity event."

Bianca: "We are supporting the Opera House!"

Ms. Grand. "Ah, my child! How plebian! You should have come to me."

Jack, casually: "Patronage is a noble tradition."

Bianca: "I do apologize. I planned this in perhaps twenty-four hours." Ms. Grand, mollified, actually smiles.

Ms. Grand asks Jack if perhaps Master Brachetti would prevail upon Prince Cross to lend his haven for such a performance. Jack can only ask. This is... suspicious: Ms. Grand was the prince for nearly a century, until Cross deposed her; mysteriously he did not kill her. She's also the Toreador Primogen in the city. So her asking for access to his haven, even by proxy, is... fraught. The flip side of that is that she is still the Toreador Primogen in the city, and Jack has no desire to cross her.

They settle in and begin the performance. It goes well, though none of the Toreadors become entranced.

Mario, meanwhile, has noticed a number of suspicious unmarked cars down the road; it's one of those odd little flashes of premonition from his Auspex.

Ms. Grand reaches into her Louis Vitton purse and pulls out a flip phone. "A moment, while I take care of this."

Lucien: "Chanteuse, you should retire to the panic room. There are several people approaching, and they are not gendarmes."

Bianca: "If my dearest Sire desires it of me, I will go. But someone should send food with me."

Lucien: "Yasmin is already in there, but..."

Bianca: "Lucien! You said--"

Ms. Grand: "These are not law enforcement. I should very much like to see this panic room of yours."

Bianca offers her arm to Ms. Grand, and Valeria looks after them but decides to stay. Mario explains the concept of a panic room to Willard.

Willard: "So none of you fuckers know why a bunch of people in black cars is coming towards the house?"

The women depart for the panic room -- which turns out to be more of a panic suite -- leaving Mario, Willard, and Jack (who's decided ambivalent about this, as he has absolutely no skill at fighting). The other servants follow their mistress to the panic room. Lucien has faded out, but he was headed in the direction of the panic room when he vanished.

We head down to the kitchen in a group. Willard goes straight to the fridge; Mario grabs a cleaver, and Jack comes up with a trio of steak knives. There are three people outside the kitchen window...

Willard decides that he's going to grab one of them and hold him for Jack to look into his eyes, because Jack is so convincing. Mario tries to get some info about them, but gets nothing. Jack manages to hypnotize one of them through the window: "These guys are not your friends, you should stop them."

The guy -- apparently a human male -- pulls out a pistol and turns to his companion... and promptly shoots him in the head. Willard reaches straight out through the window and grabs the remaining guy, then squishes him a bit...

The guy shoots Willard, to no particularly dangerous effect. Mario, with his remaining Celerity-enhanced movement, reaches out and takes a slice at the guy, injuring him badly. Willard begins to chomp on him, while Willard reaches to disarm him.

Jack's newly-hypnotized friend takes a shot at his former co-worker, the one Willard is draining, and kills him. Bianca hears more gunshots: "I should go out there and kill them myself." She's referring to Willard rather than the intruders.

Willard continues to drain his victim. His Stetson is ruined, though. Mario searches the guy again, finding no ID.

Jack asks the hypnotized guy how many came with him; there were at least three more in his team, and three... others. Jack suggests the other guy come in, while Mario looks outside.

The guy climbs into the kitchen: "I think they're probably around front." Mario notes another figure approaching from the left, carrying something... He can't make it out.

Willard pulls the corpse of his dinner into the room, and drags him across the kitchen and over to one of the hallways, where he can get some cover. Jack fails to catch the figure's eyes, but notes that they're carrying a machete or something similar. Jack ducks back and dodges behind cover. Mario notes the machete as well... and that someone else is inside the house.

Willard has taken three blood points from the dead guy; he's good for maybe one more. Willard finishes him off and pushes that blood point into strength. (Willard, OOC: How many successes would I need to throw a fridge at somebody?)

Jack stands up and tries to hypnotize the guy at the window again; Willard attempts to pick up the built-in fridge, in a massive display of indomitable will. Bianca, donstairs, hears nothing. Jack gets a better look at the guy who's moving in; he's a younger African-American guy. And Mario identifies the new figure in the house: it's Lucien. He's heading upstairs. He also senses some people out on the front lawn.

Jack suggests that his new friend should probably shoot the guy outside the window. Bianca hears this one.

Willard hauls the fridge to the center of the room, and climbs up onto the island, cracking the granite countertop.

Jack sends the hypnotized guy over to suggest to his boss outside the window that this has all been a terrible mistake and he should come inside and talk it over with us. The fellow does, addressing his boss as Charon.

Mario is still watching from afar: Lucien has reached the third floor, and three people have reached the door. Willard hears about this and moves towards the front door. His plan is to throw the fridge through the front door. Jack sets up to try to hypnotize the mercenary boss if he gets into range.

Mario hangs well back from the fridge-throwing event; he takes cover. Willard hauls the fridge to the front hall, and throws it at the front door. (VtM does not appear to have a damage rating for attacking with a fridge. We went with Strength +5.) Bianca flinches as there's a giant crash upstairs. The fridge goes through the double doors at the front of the estate and creams one of the three guys. The other two just piss themselves.

We finish there.