PVP Item Added

The Lilliott Sacrificial Dagger has been added to the PVP Rewards List.  This item first appeared in C2S8 of the Incarnadine road as a treasure found in Kada's personal chambers.  

System Update: Lure of the Flames

I made some slight changes to Lure of the Flames.  I made the powers a but more punchy, and reduced the complexity of the mechanics.  

S3 C2 - Shedd's Gully (1)

Cammy gets a call from Sedgwick

• Sedwick's book dealer just sold a peculiar map to Ryka, it would seem that the group finally has an idea of where she might be!

Searching the Junction for clues

• The group heads towards Grand Junction Colorado, the nearest inhabited town by all estimations.  
• The library, along with several mortals are interrogated (or should I say terrorized).  The group learns what they think is a general location, and begin to stock up on supplies.  

Strange lights and frenzied animals

• Out in the desert, things begin to get a little weird.  Shin (the driver) experiences strange lights in the sky, and has several moments of lost time / consciousness.  
• The group is repeatedly attacked by vicious wolf like creatures, emaciated and haggard looking- they nearly tear Wylde to pieces.  

Death and the doppelganger

• Shin (spacing out perhaps on those weird lights) strikes a figure with the groups vehicle.  Upon inspection of the slain individual, the group find that it is an exact double of Wylde Violet.  
• A strange note is found sewn into the jacket that the figure is wearing.  

Taillights in the distance

• A set of red lights is spotted out among the craggy rocks and scrubby grasses.  The group approaches to find an abandoned pickup truck.  Whoever left it behind must have done so recently.

Arriving in Shedd's Gully

• Barely visible in the darkness of the desert, the group finds the abandoned town of Shedd's Gully.  It's desiccated structures and wind worn edifices speak to its age, while the unknown reasons why it was abandoned and its dark history speak to something a bit more uneasy...

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S2 C2 - Mt. Pleasant Monster (completed)

The reptilian animals are investigated

• The young animals are lethal, and taste as if they are full of old vampiric blood
• How they are created remains a mystery

Watersby's car is investigated

• Interesting artifacts are found.  
• Evidence that Shawn Twin's transformation was not immediate.

The group heads to Watersby's campus apartment

• An empty canopic jar is found, it would seem that this is the epicenter of the incidents here in town.
• It would seem that the professor was picked up by DOVE some time ago. 

The Mt. Pleasant police department

• Investigation of the scene indicate that the officers turned on each other. 
• Several of the surviving mortals attack those that enter the station. 
• Smaller versions of the reptilian animals can be found within the wild and frenzied officers. 

The group heads to Watersby's Office

• Investigation into the professors research reveals that he believed that the contents of the canopic jar was the blood of the first Tzhmice, a being referred to as Ripaj Ta'ahk. 

The Restful Glen Retirement Community

• The PC's struggle to make sense out of the ramblings of the senior crowds gathered outside.  
• The creature's path through the building is not hard to spot, and the PC's quickly find that it has gone through to the building beyond.  
• Cammy suspects that the creature has an affinity to water. 

The water filtration building

• Red finds that the creature is climbing up the large pressurized pipe leading to the reservoir nearby.  
• The PC's decide to drive up the road and head the creature off at the pass, but not before several dead city workers are found, with more offspring bursting from their remains.  

The Reservoir

• The creature is finally confronted.  It's camouflage and colossal hunched frame is found to be capable of dealing massive amounts of damage.  
• The PC's quickly find themselves on the ropes.  Red and Nero taking the brunt of the attacks.  
• Cammy, allowed to supercharge her next attack gambles on a 50/50 chance at killing the creature.  Thankfully the odds are in the groups favor, and the beast is slain.  

C2 S1 - Beginning in Boise & The Mt. Pleasant Monster

Introduction to Event Checks

          Event checks were brought into the game to flesh out the investigative process during each scene, move away from a reliance on one skill based PC to do all the work for the group,  as well as to give greater rewards to players who put more exp into Abilities.  

• Event checks can be made by only one person, should that check be failed - that character may select another character to try afterwards at +1 difficulty.  

• Event checks require training in the desired attribute to be attempted.  

• A player may only make one Event check per scene, unless they spend a temporary willpower point.  

Introduction to Artifacts

The creation of images to represent items found in the game is my attempt to give the group the following:

• long term clues

• Interactive puzzles
• immersive game

It has proven to be beneficial in reducing the opportunity for meta-gaming.

Boise and the Parting of Ways

• With the addition of the refugees from Seattle the caravan has grown to over 15 vampires.  Far too many to hide, and far too many to feed.  
• Sahran and Corvus decide to part ways, the NPC vampires split up.  Corvus advocating for a more defensive approach is heading south to Wendover Utah.  Sahran who wants to gather reinforcements is staying is Boise for the time being in order to reach out to potential Sabat cells still operating in the area. 

The Letter from Emerit 

• Red receives a letter from his federal contact.  Something strange is reported in Mt. Pleasent Utah, a vampire with extremely potent blood?
• No longer tied to the caravan or the refugees, the PC's decide to strike out on their own and investigate.  

Emerit and Crime Scene 1 - Qwik Stop

• Red's relationship with the FBI agent is unknown to most of the PC's but he seems like a mortal to be trusted.  He offers his help, and to introduce them to local officers as his consultants.  
• Emerit briefs the PC's on what has happened so far. 

Crime Scene 2 - Carl's Bowl-o-Rama

• The sheer ferocity of the vampire they group is looking for is seen first hand.  Evidence suggests it may be more animalistic than human.  
• Nero avoids being identified by the two DOVE agents at the scene.  
• An employee at Carl's named Shawn Twin is the group's first lead.  

Shawn Twin's Apartment

• A rented space on the top floor of a two story town home.  It would seem that Shawn was a university graduate student.  
• He seemed to have been doing a lot of work for a Prof. W. 

Crime Scene 3 - Precious Gifts Jewelry 

• Strange footage is witnessed on the security cameras. 
• The 2 victems at the scene were not as badly damaged as those at the bowling alley.  
• Dangerous reptilian like animals were found hiding on the scene.  Wylde and Tybalt nearly lose their lives to the attack.  Emerit proves his worth.  
• Security Cameras show a car registered to a Dr. Watersby.  Perhaps his relationship to Shawn will provide some answers...

The Incarnadine Road - Session 12 & 13

The Vault

• Regrettably the group got to the vault too late and Ryka has already pillaged all of the materials within it, except for two items that were simply too big for her to carry out: A large Iron chest, and an iron maiden with a staked vampire within. The group opts to drag both out with them.  

The Numberless Days

• The PC's that remained behind finally make it down to the golem chamber, and struggle to get past the puzzle before they are slain by the light.  

The DOVE Attack

• Unfortunately the group has set off several of the traps and alarms within the old building on their way down to the vault.  The DOVE arrive in force and numbers.  
• Despite the dire circumstances the group decides to try and make it out with the pillaged items, despite bing considerably slowed down by them.  

The Rescue

• Despite Shin racking up the kills on the swarming DOVE agents, the group begin to panic.  Under heavy fire and with anti vampiric weapons drawing closer escape without serious losses seems impossible.  
• In this moment however a voice can be heard crackling over the DOVE comms-

“The blackness of the void is esquisetly stained by the gushing, pumping, souring blood of your kind.  You may try and fight it, but we are the monsters of your nightmares- as maddeningly incorporeal and infinitly, gorgiously more deadly.” 

- Sahran the Shadow-Prince

• The lights are killed, as two vampiric assassins make short work of the confused DOVE platoon. The PC's are then approached by Sahran, dressed in well worn black and brown leather, and eye patch and festooned with weapons; this pirate introduces himself as the Shadow-Prince of Seattle. He and his people have come to their rescue.
• He tells the group to get to the east gallery, he has a trap waiting for the DOVE there.
• The trap is consists of his brother in arms Big Jim, who has built his specialty weapons- the Hurricane Turret Gun. As the group crash through the stained glass onto the lawn outside, the guns light up the persuing DOVE with over 150 AOE damage.

"Here comes the fucking hurricane!" 

- Big Jim Right Hand of the Shadow-Prince

The Getaway

• The resistance fighters have hijacked two of the DOVE assault trucks.  The group splits up and piles into the two trucks and make ready to attack any mobilizing mortals.  
• Magnet bombs, drone strikes, armor piercing rounds, and boarding armored mortals are all used to stop the fleeing vampires.  Thankfully the resistance fighters know the city, and have a secret entrance to evade this kind of pursuit.  
• Holes are cut into the flooring of the armored trucks, and the vampires ready themselves to jump down onto the group below. 
• Trusing their new friends the PC's jump, finding there bodies splashing against a loosely packed patch of smoothed gravel.  The group picks themselves up in the tunnels beneath the streets.  

The Resistance

• The resistance introduce themselves to the group.  They are glad to have some fresh and clearly capable fighters to add to their ranks.  The PC's are not sure they like this new label as heroes. 
• The resistance is surviving but losing the battle.  The DOVE make incursions into the twisting and hidden passages of the subterranean streets of the Seattle Under-city.  It is only a matter of time before they are destroyed. 
• If left to their own, Sahran tells the group that he is prepared to do anything necessary to hurt the mortals.  Even resorting to acts of terrorism.  
• The group decides to help, and concoct a plan to get them all out of the city.

The Plan

• The plan is simple, secure a large tuck, stake the refugee vampires except for those capable of handling themselves in a fight, and attempt to smuggle them across the north bridge.  

Prep

• The truck is secured, and the vampires are loaded aboard without detection. 
• The caravan calls just as the group is wrapping up.  It would seem that Cylix nero has attacked them in his quest to reclaim his son. They are currently being chased onto the north bridge and require help immediately.  

The race to the bridge

• The PC's in the truck loaded with vamps make it to the bridge, but are horrified at what they find.  Swarming with DOVE, it looks more like a war zone.  Fleeing people are abandoning their vehicles on the bridge, as the DOVE open fire on the vampires on the roadway.  

Burning your bridge at both ends

• The DOVE are no longer pulling any punches.  Two tanks, equipped with vampire spying weaponry (25' flame throwers, rapid stake launching guns, and incendiary shells) pull onto the bridge at one end.  The PC's thankfully make it to the center before the tanks can open fire.  Unfortunately their haste betrays their cover, and are targeted by the military vessels patrolling the waters beneath the bridge.  
• Nero feeling that things are going to get really bad, bails from the drivers seat, just before the body of the vehicle is struck by an explosive guided missile.  
• The resistance, the PC's and the Caravan rush to recover.  Many are badly wounded or dead. 
• Nero shakes himself off and spots that the iron maiden with the nameless vampire has broken open at the side of the bridge.  The vampire within stands, he is a gangly old twisted individual.  He quickly hunches down and dashes into the carnage.  
• At the other side of the bridge the vampire known as Callow is frenzying.  Cars, people, and key bridge supports are being ripped apart by his rage as he makes his way to the center.  The PC's find themselves between the tanks and a raging elder vampire.  

Red has a chance to kill Nero

• As the PC's race towards Callow, the lesser of the two evils Nero is left behind.  
• Nero is intrigued by the released nameless vampire.  He approached sever times while on the bridge and is presented with the severed heads of several vampires Nero has come into contact with.  Notably Vex of the resistance fighters.  
• Red looking back sees Nero, and despite feeling the urge to leave him to his fate on the bridge goes back and rescues the ungrateful Nosferatu.  

The race into the desert ends the chapter

• Callow levels several brutal attacks at the Blood bank, the PC's and the Resistance as they race past him on the east side of the bridge.  Thanks to Cammy's expert driving skills many survive.