2020-10-06

INVOLVED PARTIES

• 
• 
• 

INCIDENT REPORT

• Aradia searches Camilla's penthouse for the vial of Leah's blood. She doesn't turn up anything, and carefully puts everything back in place.

---

• Josi awakes to find the lab reports from the beheaded Nosferatu waiting. The metal flakes found in the wound have been dated as approximately 1,000 years old, and primarily made up of pig iron and copper. The oily residue coating that body was primarily frankincense.

• Pius asks about the letters Josi was to retrieve from a local museum. He expands upon the mission, explaining that he and Portia Galanis would often correspond — that they were love letters. Unfortunately, Portia eventually stopped writing. Pius was never able to discern her reason, as the Feast of Folly befell him shortly thereafter.

• He does know that Portia is now in a Blood Marriage with Bajazet Bashar, the Banu Haqim Prince of Jerusalem. This marriage has formed the cornerstone of the nascent alliance between the Camarilla and Ashirra. It nominally grants the Banu Haqim entry into the Camarilla, while giving the Camarilla boots on the ground throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The Camarilla are especially keen to have more resources in these areas, as more and more Elders succumb to the Beckoning. Pius himself is not too worried about the Beckoning however, as he theorizes that the Hecata were already "beckoned" back during the Feast of Folly.

---

• Leah heads into Greenwich Village, and arrives at The Stonewall Inn, a well known gay bar. She enjoys herself, dancing to the music, but also lures a tasty looking victim in. The two dance for a while before heading out to Leah's car. Bodily fluids are exchanged, but mostly blood. Once Leah is full, she escorts her meal back into the bar, telling him to come to the Mosh Pit if she ever wants some more.

• Just as Leah is about to leave, the headlining act takes to the stage. It's Erzulie, and Leah is immediately captivated, caught in the whirlpool of Presence. After the set, Erzulie beckons Lah to the back, where the two speak more... intimately. Leah compliments her appearance, with Erzulie simply stating that she knows a good "fleshcrafter". Erzulie already knows that Leah is the new Sheriff, and is glad for it. She mentions her distaste for Anatoli and the Church of Caine. She also mentions her belief that she deserves the spot as Toreador Primogen more so than Portia — to bring some fresh ideas to the Camarilla.

---

• Josi gives Alter a call, but the communal phone in the Warrens is picked up by Emily Seward. She chats with Josi with a moment before getting Alter and mocking that he "has a girlfriend". Josi updates Alter on the job she is doing for Khalid, stating that she may have a line on the Tremere, but is lacking the evidence to bring it forward.

• Josi also asks about Tom Riley. Alter states that his apolitical nature is well known in the Warrens, and that he has gone to ground, then it'll be almost impossible to root him back out. Alter will see what he can do however.

• Alter is surprised that the Mach-Men are after Tom, mentioning that they are Flyboy's coterie — a Camarilla cell operating out of JFK International in the Barony of Queens. It's also where the Lasombra, Catalina Castaneda, was ferreted in through.

---

• Aradia goes to the Barnard College Chantry, to speak with Regent Aisling Sturbridge. The chantry itself is located within the basement of Sigma Delta Tau (ΣΔΤ) sorority house, down a staircase hidden behind a bookcase.

• As Aradia descends the staircase, she receives a violent flash of clairvoyance. She is in the courtyard of a single story manor. Walls on three sides make up the central foyer, the east wing, and the west wing. Ahead of her is sprawling countryside. The house sits within a wide lake valley, with a decrepit cemetery at the foot of the steep knoll. The water ripples in the distance as a creature emerges. It is shrouded in silhouettes, but enormous. Merely being in its presence sends shocks of terror through Aradia's very being. A hand, gently placed upon her shoulder, comforts her. She turns to see whom the hand is attached to — her gaze met by an aloof bald man in some sort of ceremonial garb. He smiles faintly and states "Ordinary morality is for ordinary people."

• Aradia snaps back to the present, and continues her descent into the chantry proper. She briefly explores the adjoining rooms, coming across display cases of miscellaneous artifacts, as well as open books with hand written notes surrounding. They all vary in title and subject, but are clearly arcane in nature: Das Buch vom Grabkrieg, Cultes des Goules, Pnakotic Manuscripts, De Vermis Mysteriis, Revelations of Gla'aki, Book of Eibon, and Unaussprechlichen Kulten. One book in particular contains a number of sigils that Aradia quickly traces over for future study.

• Aradia eventually finds and enters Aisling's study. The two share a friendly hug, and make small talk. Aisling agrees to pass along the information about the technomancy study group on campus. She then looks over the evidence Aradia has brought concerning the Khalid's missing Nosferatu. She begrudgingly concludes that someone is trying to make a gargoyle. She warns Aradia that more evidence will need to be collected before any allegations can be publicly (and safely) made. After all, the gargoyle creation rites were all destroyed when the Tremere joined the Camarilla, and it would not sit well with the Nosferatu community if that was otherwise untrue. Likewise, the Gangrel and the Tzmisce would also be furious, though obviously less influential in the Camarilla's response.

• Before Aradia leaves, Aisling does invite her to attend a ceremony in April, for the passing of Halley's Comet.

---

• The coterie head toward Flushing Meadows, which once hosted the World's Fair. Pieces of the event still stand, with robot themed art, and a pair of flying saucer shaped towers looming overhead. They meet up outside of Zum Zum's — a place to eat — and await the arrival of the Mach-Men. It looks deserted, which is odd for a 24-hour diner.

• Leah stands watch outside, hidden amongst the shadows, while Aradia and Josi investigate. Algernon is sent in ahead, and finds two bodies, laying in a pool of warm blood. Josi slips into her lab coat for a facade of authority, and enters the building. Inside are the bodies of an elderly man and woman who seemed to be eating at a booth, as well as the body of young man who was apparently the cook in the kitchen. They all had their throats torn out.

• Sobbing is heard from the restroom. A young woman is curled up in the corner, terrified of the events that apparently unfolded. She's even more terrified of Josi as she approached, so Aradia tries instead. The woman clings onto Aradia.

• The payphone outside of the restroom rings. Josi answers it in a faux western accent, akin to a bad John Wayne impersonation. A man speaks into the line on the other end: they're looking for the tape that Tom Riley was supposed to bring. Josi isn't cooperating however, and hangs up.

• A group of four men step out of the park, standing on the sidewalk across the street from Zum Zum's. They each level a submachine gun and light up the diner. Outside, Leah stays out of sight, while inside, Josi and Aradia dive for cover behind counters and corpses. Broken glass covers nearly every surface of the diner as sustained gunfire rings out. Josi sees a sawed-off pump shotgun under the counter, and reaches for it.

• The man leading the firing squad pulls a large, brick-like mobile telephone from his long, fur lined coat. He calls the diner once more, and again Josi picks up. The man introduces himself as J̴͎̪̩̥͖̫̤̽̂̍͐̿͆̀͗̓̒̆̏͗͑̽O̷̢̧̧̧͔͕̹̠̫̜͕̩̻̓̓̂͛Ȟ̷̩̲͔̻̦̜̣̪̳̼̲͉̣̺͖̘̥̕N̸͕̥̯͈̄͗͂̓͒̄̈́̄͘N̶̨̡̩̻̦̼͉̯͕͎͕͎͆̓̓̂̍̇̉͜͝ͅY̸̡̡͉̩̹͙̞̼͙̆̈́͊̐̔̑ ̵͓̝̞̬̭̪̭͚̫̪̝̣̟͖͕̜͌̎̈́F̸̪̫͉͔̲̘̟͖͓̠̾͆̔̾͊͘ͅÍ̸̘̺̥̰͓̦͍̣͖̟̘̺̃̂̒͑̋̑̒̌̌̈́̎͂̈́ͅV̵̛̠͙̺̝̳̟̬̣̽̓̿̇̍̉̍̈͂̓͛̌͘͜͜ͅĘ̷̰͇̠̖͉̋͗̊́̏̊̆. He just wants the first part of the footage from the Rant. He doesn't care how tried to kill Rudi.

• Leah grabs a beer bottle out of the gutter and rolls under a parked car, puncturing the gas tank. Fuel spills out, soaking into some of her clothes and pooling into the road. She fills the bottle and rips her sleeve for a makeshift fuse. She cracks the door of the car open and pops the cigarette lighter out of the console, using it to ignite her new molotov. She stands up, she rips the car door off to carry as a shield, and throws the molotov over the hood. It shatters in the middle of the road, far enough away to miss the gunmen. Nonetheless, the fire burns bright enough to send one fleeing, presumably succumbing to rötschreck, as Johnny Five belts out a laugh.

• The men continue to alternate shots, firing in short bursts to keep the coterie in cover. Josi eventually negotiates a parlay with Johnny over the phone, all in a John Wayne voice. Johnny orders his men to eject their magazines and pocket them, as everyone meets in the center of the street.

• Leah is pissed and throws her weight around as the newly minted Sheriff. Johnny is suspicious of the Lasombra though, and sympathetic to ex-Sheriff Conway's actions at the Primogen Council. He agrees to alert Leah of any more Lasombra entering through JFK International Airport. He's also suspicious of Anatoli Petropoulos, and thinks that he's leading Prince Cortés into dangerous territory, filling her head with Church of Caine ideals — prophecies about the coming comet, the thinning of the blood, etc. He says that's why the Scourge was called in: to keep the Thin-Blood population in check. When asked, Johnny figures that Baron Bruck is the one who put the hit on Rudi, though has no evidence aside from his gut feeling. He really doesn't care either, and hopes the Anarchs tear themselves apart. He doesn't want footage getting out of Camarilla operative at that Rant however.

---

• Before parting ways for the evening, Aradia tells Josi of what she learned from Aisling. She also mentions the strange sigils in the library, going so far as to draw them on Josi's skin. ಠ_ಠ

• Once back at the Center for Thanatology, Josi pushes through paperwork to ensure the bodies found at Zum Zum's will go unnoticed in regards to anything supernatural.