Scarlet
Vampire
A Lonely Hope
Victory Points
|
Heat
|
||||
Hanson
|
0
|
Opponent
|
0
|
0
|
|
Investigation & Action Scene Count
|
|||||
Scene Number
|
Type
|
Description
|
Result
|
||
Prologue
This was all wrong, Hanson thought to herself, looking over
the small gathering before her. They should have been meeting in some crypt
somewhere, or perhaps that old Catholic church off Washington Boulevard.
Somewhere old, and decrepit. Someplace full of dust and decay, and the
remnants of proper medieval faith. Someplace suitable for the damned to
confront their souls and stand in front of God and be judged.
Instead, they were in
the "multi-purpose" room in the basement of a damn Methodist
church. The room looked like any cheap conference room. Beige walls,
indistinct carpets. A whole mess of chairs stacked along one wall. Someone
had even started a pot of coffee, for Christ's sake. Coffee! As if this was
an AA meeting. Hello, my name is whatever, and I'm a
vampire, she should say, as the group chimed their response back. I've
killed a whole lot of people, but I feel really bad about it, so don't get
mad at me.
Still, she had to
admit that the meeting seemed to be going well. Dona was up front, having
just finished telling her story. Hanson had heard it almost a half dozen times
now, and could recite it almost as well as she could. The mundane life in a
small town in Mexico. The subtle seduction by her sire. The embrace. The
change. The lust for blood and destruction. The vision, the call to seek the
"Light" and others. It was a good story, all things considered.
Hell, it even might have been true. Or, at least a cleaned up version of the
truth. And Hanson wasn't the only one who could recite it. At least half of
the vamps here had heard it before, often retelling it among themselves
afterwards. It was a simple story. Most of the elements could have applied to
any of them. But the way Dona told it...it felt real. Felt like it was
happening to you. Like you were there with her every step of the way.
And it wasn't her
gifts. Hanson had been around long enough to know how vampires can mess with
your emotions and thoughts, but Dona was different. There was no dark magic
about her, no cruel manipulations. There was just...her. Direct, open, and
present. She was real. All around her were monsters acting like people, and
in the middle was just Dona, being real. And kind, and good. Words that
Hanson had been forcing herself to forget ever since she had been turned.
The group was now
moving on to the participants stories, and Hanson turned her attention to the
new folks. She had heard most of the stories they told already, and knew most
of it was self-serving crap. None of them were really being honest. Half of
them would find any excuse to justify what they had done, and the other half
were practically bragging. And most of the brags were lies anyways. At least
two of them have "confessed" that they killed DJ Deadboy last year.
He had been a proper "artist" who hid pretty blatantly under his
stage makeup. When he started draining fans, the Prince had taken action. And
by that, he had sent Gypsy and Hanson to send Deadboy a message. Gypsy had
just taken his head off. But still, there were these nobodies crying tears of
blood out of guilt for killing him.
Everyone wanted to be
something they weren't.
As she was scanning
the room she noticed Blaine strolling in casually. He was a neonate, like
Hanson. But his sire had some serious pull in the town, so while Hanson had
to work to stay on the Prince's good side, Blaine just got to do whatever he
damn well pleased. And for a reason Hanson still couldn't figure out, his
current project was Dona. Why was a spoiled, self-involved prick like Blaine
supporting someone like Dona? Boredom? A goof? Was he up to something? Her
thoughts threatened to wander off, analyzing various potential theories,
until Blaine walked up to her.
"You're looking
as lovely as ever, Meagan," he said, grinning his million-dollar smile
at her. Hell, it might actually have cost him a million dollars. It was a
great smile.
"Fuck off,
Blaine," she said, turning away from his smile. "I'm working."
"Of course.
Couldn't allow any gathering in the town without the Prince's duly
appointment representatives present. How foolish of us to think otherwise.
However, I do find it odd that it seems to be always you. Isn't that strange?
I mean, I know you're the low woman on the totem pole, but couldn't they send
anyone else? Raoul? Mikey? What about that Fowler kid? Nope, it's always you.
You wouldn't be volunteering for this gig, would you Hanson?" He stared
at her, waiting for a response.
She waited a few
seconds, then shifted her gaze slightly from the group, who were currently
discussing something she couldn't quite follow about motherhood and
unconscious blood ties. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"Touché, Meagan.
I will leave you to your solemn duty." He gave her a slight bow and
walked off.
He just needed a fuckin' fedora, she thought. She didn't like Blaine, not as
a person, and not as a vampire. She didn't like anyone who wasn't her family
calling her Meagan, and that was enough to make sure she hated you. But she
would have hated Blaine no matter what he called her, and no matter how nice
his smile was. He was an asshole as vampire, and was probably an asshole
as a human. The Change never really changed anyone that much.
No matter what Dona
said.
Her thoughts were cut
short by a vague sound off in the distance. A police siren. She immediately
knew there was something wrong. This was a cleared meeting. Things had been
arranged, no police were to come anywhere near this building. No city
workers, no reporters. It was subtle, the influence the Prince wielded.
Hanson was part of his organization, and even she was amazed at how he could
fit the dominoes together. If a meeting was happening, and the Prince
approved it, that meant there was a goddamn wall around it, and no mortal
would even think to cross it. They wouldn't even know it was there, just all
their attention and focus would be pointed somewhere, anywhere else.
And this was
important. Vampires are, by nature, a bunch of superpowered serial killers
with anger issues. Dona would have a problem with that though--hell, most
vamps would. But Hanson had seen enough to know the truth. All their
civility, and fashion, and manners, and subtle mind games were just illusions
to hide it. The truth was that they were all murderers who, at the very base
of who they were, liked killing. Get a group like that together, and you're
running a risk. Most of the time everything is fine; there's bitching and
gossiping and everyone trying to push each other’s buttons. But once in a
while, someone pushes just the right button, and then all hell breaks loose.
And you do not want a bunch of mortals around when that happens. You want
someone like Hanson around.
So, no cops. That was
a given. But then why the hell were they nearby? Why were the getting louder?
They might just be passing by. They could be en route between points A and B
and don't care about the non-descript Methodist church or it's all purpose room
or it's "Thrombocytopenia Survivors Meeting." They could be, but
she wasn't here to take chances.
She stood forward
"Everyone! I'm sorry, the meeting is over. Please move to the exit.
Now."
They stopped and
looked at her, like idiots. She drew her gun "If I need to start putting
bullets in you, I will." That got them going. She never knew why you had
to threaten violence to get a vampire to do anything. Not like the bullets
would hurt them, at least not permanently. And it's not like she would actually
fire the weapon, not with the cops nearby.
But for some reason,
she always had to at least threaten before they would do what she said.
They all quickly left
by the emergency fire exit, which had had its wires disconnected earlier just
in case this was needed. Hanson was the last one to leave, turning off the
coffee pot and the lights as she did so, then reactivating the fire door as
she gently closed it. Most of the group had gone, vanishing into the shadows
or up roof tops or seeking out cars parked a few blocks away. Even when a
meeting is approved, certain precautions are still necessary. Blaine and Dona
were standing together near his car. A Lamborghini, naturally. The sirens
were getting louder, and the first squad cars were already pulling in up
front. Dona started walking towards Hanson, wanting to know what was going
on. Out of the corner of her eye, Hanson saw...someone. Someone who didn't
belong. Someone who was walking just slightly too quickly, like they were
trying to "walk natural" but wanted to break out into a run.
Someone walking away from a pay phone.
She pointed at Blaine
and ordered him to "get her out of here and off the streets."
Before he could reply, she was, crossing the street by keeping to the
shadows. She was going to find out who this person was, and where they were
going
|
Each Scene in Scarlet is
either an Investigation, a Conflict, an Action, or a rest. For the first Scene,
I roll on the Investigation table. I had actually done this before I started
writing the prologue above, so I knew where it was going. My result is a 3, and
I get the following:
Tail an Actor who might have a Clue. On a check failure, face a Fight.
I decide on a whim that
the Actor is not a vampire, as any vampire worthy of the name would have a
better method to get out of there besides "walking fast, but not too
fast." I also decide that Hanson has 5 turns to follow this person before
something happens. I'm not exactly sure what yet.
And, we stop there. The
Prologue ran on longer than expected, and I think I've reached the limit of
for this post. The proper first session begins next!
Rules and Mechanics
Base Game: Vampire: The Masquerade (1st Edition)
Not familiar with
Vampire? Check out the Primer
Story Structure: Scarlet Vampire
Oracle: Mythic
Other Tools: Universal NPC Emulator, Covetous Poet's Adventure Creator, and Everyone, Everywhere
Comments
Post a Comment