INVOLVED PARTIES

INCIDENT REPORT

Leah puts on an amazing show at the Mosh Pit after taking over for the bassist on stage, cranking out an impromptu solo, and feeding from a fan's cleavage in front of an audience.

Aradia and Camilla order in, feeding from a handsome escort from the comfort of their penthouse bed. Afterward, Camilla shuts down any questions regarding the vial of Leah's blood she now has.

Kalliste goes to her standing appointment with Noah, at the luxury loft he provides for these sexually charged encounters.

Josi is given a dossier by Dr. Vasquez, who is in her office. She's moving a desiccated, six-fingered hand, encased in glass, to a higher bookshelf. The dossier was apparently delivered to the Center for Thanatology during the day, quite out of the ordinary. It was accompanied by a body, sans head — Josi immediately knows it was sent by Khalid, the Nosferatu Primogen. The accompanying dossier states that the body was found not too far into the tunnels of the 96th Street subway station.

Also included is information on a failed investment by Eugenio Estevez, Regent of the Red Room. It seems that he put a considerable amount of money into a startup run by the Milliner Family. Unfortunately, many of the city's Giovanni have pulled out and disappeared, leaving Eugenio to write off the loss. Instead, he approached a tech-savvy Nosferatu to repatriate the funds. Word has gotten out however, and now Khalid provides the info to do with what Josi will.

Josi thoroughly examines the body. It was a Nosferatu neonate, young enough to decay more-or-less naturally upon death. It has had various external pieces removed through clean cuts. The wounds have trace amounts of a bronze blade. The body is covered in an oily residue, scented like frankincense. It is also marked on the shoulder by a pigmented scar, in the shape of a spiral.

Aradia arrives to aid in examining the body from a thaumaturgical perspective. She suspects that the residue and bronze implement are indicative of ritual work. The body itself show no linger energy however, which points to the parts taken as the actual prize.

The spiral symbol crackles with energy when viewed with Auspex, but Aradia does not believe it to be connected to the other pieces of the puzzle.

Aradia mentions that the 96th Street subway station is just around the corner from the Jewish Museum Chantry, where Regent Gurvich operates.

Dave, Tom Riley's ghoul, shows up at the Mosh Pit, as promised. Unfortunately, Tom isn't with him. Worse still, Dave has been badly beaten. He explains that he was jumped by a coterie calling themselves the Mach-Men, seemingly led by Johnny Five. They were also looking for the recording from the rant, and demanded that Tom bring it to Zum Zum's, across from Flushing Meadows, the following night at 3:00am.

Leah goes to see Prince Cortés in her high-rise office. Surrounded by various portraits of the Prince, Leah gets right to the point, announcing her acceptance of the position of Sheriff. The Prince seems almost surprised, but is pleased nonetheless. The two briefly discuss the broader duties of the position, with Leah making reference to the Anarch rant and nascent Elysium in Brooklyn.

Prince Cortés had not yet heard of the incident at the rant, but will get Leah the information she needs to apply pressure to the Bronx police precinct. To that effect, she also has her assistant show Leah to an empty conference room, where she can acquire a pager for job-related purposes. Leah also takes the opportunity to seduce and feed from the smartly dressed assistant.

Kalliste shows up at the Mosh Pit, and is almost immediately recognized by Dave. He fawns over her. She feels sorry for him — all beat up and still in his RadioShack uniform (or was it StereoHut?) — and gives him a makeover. Once finished, Dave is covered in leather and fishnets, with a full face of glam/grunge makeup. In the process, Kalliste casually convinces Dave to steal a Motorala DynaTAC 8000x (MSRP $3000) cellular phone from his workplace.

Aradia and Josi quickly investigate the location that the headless body was originally found. It's in an alcove, just a little ways into the subway system. Residual magickal energy seems to indicate that the body was dumped here after the ritual took place elsewhere.

Arriving at the Jewish Museum Chantry, Aradia sense that it is heavily warded. Josi sends Algernon in, but he is only able to relay information about the ground floor, which seems to operate solely as a museum and its assorted administrative offices. A delivery door leads from the alley to these offices. Aradia activates the speaker on the outside of the door, briefly explaining her presence. Both her and Josi are unceremoniously let in.

Josi and Aradia are told to wait in the library until Regent Gurvich is ready to see them. They are not to engage any of the residents, as women are typically not permitted within the chantry.

While waiting however, they explore the library itself, and find some scant information on the mysterious symbol. It's a sigil of promotion or acceptance, allowing entry to somewhere or something.

Mordechai Gurvich finally arrives. He's generally polite, thought not at all friendly. He confirms that the symbol is used by Nicodemus to brand outgoing graduates of his Academy Eternal. It seems to act as a show of Camarilla allegiance.

After further prodding, Mordechai begins to grow impatient, and comments that "this is why women have no place in the chantry." To which Aradia responds by grabbing his crotch and twisting. She threatens to tear him open if he doesn't answer her questions truthfully. Mordechai has other plans however, as he Dominates Aradia into letting go, then commands her and Josi to leave.

The entire coterie converges back at the Mosh Pit. Surprised to see Dave in such a state, Josi leads him toward the VIP room, intent to give him a few drops of vitae. However, the pair are intercepted by Chad Turner, who's pissed to see Josi with someone else. He begins to shove Dave, and spit insults regarding his current fashion and perceived sexuality.

Leah rips Chad off of Dave and hands him over to Josi. Josi takes Chad into the restroom and offers up a small amount of blood. In return, she orders Chad to investigate the required procedure to repatriate the Milliner money that Khalid had told her of.

After sending Chad away, Josi returns to Dave, also giving him an amount of blood. His wounds begins to heal almost immediately. He is immensely grateful, but then breaks down in tears. He's terribly worried about his master, Tom. Josi consoles him, promising to find Tom.

Josi splits her remaining two bloodbags with Kalliste, as Leah tells them all the she accepted the position of Sheriff.

The coterie arrive at Baron Edmund Bruck's manor in the Bronx. His butler shows them into the drawing room, with Bruck himself entering shortly thereafter. He's pleased to see them all in one piece, and regrets that they have been blamed for the attempt on Rudi's unlife. Though for what it's worth, he mentions that Jezebel vouched for them after the Rant.

Bruck is intrigued by the idea of an Anarch Elyiusm, though isn't hopeful of actually being able to work with the other Barons in a productive capacity. In fact, he doesn't want the Ventrue involved at all, and that includes Baron Callahan. He's still bent out of shape over what happened in Carthage.

Nonetheless, Bruck is grateful for the work done, and collectively hands the coterie a baseball card. It features New York Yankees' pitcher, Mike Armstrong, but is signed by Bruck himself. It's a physical representation of the boon owed.

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