Vampire

Vampire:??The Endless Waltz

Episode 4: Live by the Sword???????Part 2

With the silent alarm triggered, Constable Ihram, along with Kane, Thessaly and Dimitri headed to the Natural History display. Kane shifted form, the power of the blood causing his form to contort into that of a large black puma.

They entered the display room, passing the cabinet containing the stuffed skin of a tiger, it???s form having been position to appear as if it was leaping at some form of prey. Looking up at the upper level of the room nothing unusual was spotted. Inhumanly agile, Ihram seemed to glide up the stair case to the floor above, followed by Dimitri and Kane. Thessaly remained on the lower floor keeping look out. Looking upward at the skylight Ihram and Dimitri noted that a window had been forced open. Ihram regarded the black cat and asked Kane to go and check the geographical display room while Dimitri and himself will go through towards the Egyptian display. Thessaly was ordered to go back and head through the party and meet them at the other side.

Dimitri and Ihram passed through the Lizard room. The displays of live animals, snakes and lizards and frogs, hissed and chirruped. Green light bathed the room. They then entered the Egyptian room and from above they could see the cabinets filled with mummies and coffins, all illuminated dimly. Dimitri headed down the stairs to the lower level and started to look about the displays while Ihram continued onwards towards the main entrance of the museum and the displays of weapons. Dimitri spotted that there was a door open that led into the hallways of the staff only sections of the museum. The door would normally be hidden by a curtain. Dimitri was then joined by Kane. Kane had followed his scent and now here he had picked up another scent.

????????????????????????Meanwhile Thessaly re-entered the party and quickly made her way through it and made her way to the main entrance of the museum. Here, near the gift shop and stairs to the part of the museum devoted to weaponry and unique displays, Thessaly could hear the crunching of glass above. She headed up the stairs and quietly made her way up. She could hear glass breaking and muttered voices in a language that she could not make out. She crept up on the intruders and found that there were three of them. They had broken into the Japanese weapons display and had removed a sword and a ceremonial fan. They spotted Thessaly and went to attack her. Thessaly, noting the one of them had a crowbar, fled to get the others. As she made her way out of the display room she was met by Constable Ihram. She also saw that has gnarled nails had extended into crooked and cracked claws. Ihram met the crowbar wielding man (they were Oriental) and sparks flew from the iron bar. The intruder was well skilled and fought Ihram with a flurry of kicks and swipes of the bar. Thessaly, summoning her courage, launched forward at the man, landing a blow to his side. Turning to retaliate the man missed with the crowbar, ad seeing his opening Ihram struck with his claws, raking them up the front of his chest. His rib cage was gouged apart and his entrails spilled to the floor. He slumped to the floor dead.

????????????????????????Dimitri and Kane moved down the corridor and found an office that was open. It was labelled as being the office of Dr Gorten, and it was filled with filling cabinets, a well stocked bookcase and a few cases displaying relics of Arabic origin. Kane picked up the scent, noting it was completely different to the scent from the Animal display. The scent seemed to originate within the museum. Kane followed the scent and found that it led to an open fire escape.

??

????????????????????????With the party over, and the guests escorted via a different exit it was found that the Oriental men had escaped. But there had been another break in at almost the same time. CCTV showed that neither group were Kindred. Ihram, Chamberlain Odans and the coterie discussed the issues of the night. The weaponry display was a personal collection of the Chairman???s and so Odans had been ordered to recover the items. As for the second break in it seems that the Chairman had been targeted twice. The coterie were to remain quiet on this matter and recover a briefcase and it???s contents that had been removed from the office. The briefcase is the possession of Dr Tobin of Astra Zeneca, a local pharmaceutical company that the Chairman has influence within. This was the main priority but the recovery of the sword and fan was to be made known to the Kindred of the city so to act as a decoy for people???s attention. Dimitri was asked to look at the CCTV images of the evening???s events as they needed to spot who the intruders were working for at the party.

????????????????????????Looking at the CCTV images, and with some time wasted replaying segments, two faces are made out in the corridor to the office of Gorten. Comparing to footage of the party (a very confusing mixture of images and blurs, but also of those Kindred making their reflections and images appear, Dimitri works out that the two men were the retainers of Natalia Kerkoft.

????????????????????????Kane meanwhile takes the form of a small cat and follows through the city the trail of the Oriental intruders. Earlier Ihram had shown them all a piece of skin he had taken from the dead man. It was a tattoo of a phoenix which Thessaly had identified as being the emblem of a Triad gang in China Town. This was further confirmed by a book of matches on the man. It was from the strip club in Chin Town called ???Long Legs???, and had a phone number for a girl called Ebon Jubei. Kane cross numerous busy roads to get to China Town and found the scent ended at a large building that was once a warehouse and now was home to a few shops and a Buddhist temple.

????????????????????????Thessaly and Dimitri had made their way across town to the office of Patrick Falken. He had called them concerning the nights meeting, their opinions, and then he showed them some pictures. They were of one of the men they were seeking. It was a different photo though and then they were shown the same picture zoomed out. It was of the man talking in a caf?? to another man and a file was being handed over. Falken said he had seen the man at the meeting last night. He revealed that the photo was one of a number that was on the hard drive that they coterie had recovered. He knew the man worked for Kerkoft. He wanted Dimitri to do his work on the photo and find out what else was going on.

????????????????????????That night Dimitri used his techinal skills to improve the resolution of the photo. It seemed that the file was from Astra Zeneca. Why was Natalia Kerkoft interested in the Chairman???s business there? Why were they at the meeting? How did they know the Oriental men were going to break in? What is in the briefcase? What has it got to do with Arabic history? How does this all link to the death of the Prefect???

??

??

??

Vampire

Vampire:??The Endless Waltz

Episode 4: Live by the Sword???????Part 1

It was Monday evening, the 25^th??of October. It was a cold evening and the last vestiges of life on the trees were disappearing. Halloween was coming, and of course the chaotic night of Devil???s Night, known in the north of??England??as Mischief Night. Kane emerged from his haven in the earth. His new haven, a section of a park in Newton Heath, with lots of cover, was allocated by the Priscus. He went to dig up his trunk and went to get ready for the evenings meeting.

Meanwhile, Thessaly was back in her creaky old house in??Salford, sat reading from the dusty books. With the festival of Saimhein coming she was busy preparing, knowing that she would be taking an active role in the rituals performed by her grand-sire, the Magus Gregor. Aware of the time she tidied herself and for once wore something more presentable for this meeting.

Dimitri awoke hungry. He got out of the bath in the windowless bathroom, and quickly sort out Karl, and taking him to the bedroom, he fed from Karl???s wrist. They lay together as Karl was taken by the euphoria of the Kiss. Dimitri has been had at work these last few weeks. He had been planning a party for Elysium where he might be able to better push Patrick Falken???s agenda, and also increase his own prestige. Following his feeding, Dimitri is quick to get onto the streets, and soon finds an appropriate girl at a bar and is able to feed once more in the toilets, drugging her with coke.

Later, at the museum, Dimitri, Kane and??Thessaly??are waiting at a side entrance so that they can be let in. The party at the museum, hosted by the Chairman, is to showcase a new collection of Roman busts on loan to the museum, and also a chance for the Chairman and the Board of Representatives to discuss business and influence people with the city council and companies located in the region. They are greeted by one of the Chamberlain???s ghouls and are led through the museum caf??, and then through the display on dinosaurs, before being led up into the display of animals. All about, on two levels were stuffed examples of mammals, monkeys, tigers, exotic birds and a model of a whale hanging from the ceiling. Above a skylight let in the orange of the city, staining the displays in a dirty umber. Walking along??Thessaly??thought she saw one of the Amazonian horned birds move, watching Dimitri. She did a double take and stood against the glass of the display looking at the inanimate bird.

They carried on, walking through the glass bridge that led to the next building and the display of Mediterrainian artefacts. Beyond was the main room being used to host the Roman busts, and within were almost 100 people, waiters with hors d???oeuvres and trays of champagne. AS they approached the door they were asked to wait and Patrick Falken met them. He explained their goal of the evening, which was to gain the support of the Board of Representatives and more importantly the Chairman. He reminded them that this was not Elysium and so the Masquerade was to be maintained. They also learnt that in a few days they would be interrogated by officers of the Myrmidon as the case of the death of the Prefect was investigated. Lauren Esten was being watched and that the truth would come out in the end.

Through the evening the troupe spoke to a number of Kindred. Kain had a brief talk to the Lancea Sanctum Bishop, Michael Kenner, a bearded and rotund man in a tweed suit. He tried to convince Kain to come and join him at one of the Sanctified midnight mass. Kain said he would think about it, Kain knowing that it would be just the thing to learn more about the Covenant and possibly get some more votes for Falken. Kain also had a chance to speak to the Chairman himself. He was congratulated on his acceptance into the Carthians and that he would like to see Falken take the position of Prefect, but of course cannot influence things directly.

Dimitri spoke to the Daeva Priscus, Max Neils. Max made it clear he had no enmity to Dimitri, and that their confrontation at the caucus was simply so that the laws of the Carthians were upheld and that the Spokesman did not overstep his position. Neils then goes on to offer the use of his club, Hangman???s, for Dimitri???s party, in exchange that he may in turn gain the help of Dimitri in the future, possibly with regard to Carthian policies on domain and Elysium. Dimitri then had an encounter with the Invictus lord, Advisor, the Good Alder Lady, Natalia Kerkoft, Viscountess of the South of Manchester. She kept the formalities at a minimum and brought up Dimitri???s possible deal with the Invictus if he was able to give them the information regarding the final death of Jacob Lewis. Dimitri did not budge, he wanted to know what Kerkoft was willing to give him in exchange. She was insulted that this neonate, an upstart, a traitor, and a murderer, was wanting to haggle with her. He would get what he deserved, and she simply told him that he would be lucky to survive to see the election of his patron.

Thessaly, not being the most sociable, spent her time near to the Egyptian exhibit, looking at the mummies. It was here that she was approached by Desdemona, the leader of the Acolyte Cult of Hathor. She spoke to??Thessaly??about the upcoming election and the effect that it would have on the Crone if the Lancea Sanctum was able to gain the favour of the Carthians. She also spoke of the unease she felt knowing that there were potential Ordo Dracul within the city. Finally she revealed to??Thessaly??that she had been using the Blood to speak to the aethers. She had a vision of three things. A lion, an angel and a throne.

However,??Thessaly??was not just spoken to by Desdemona, but was also approached by the Harpy and Invictus lord, the Daeva, and Gulikan, Tabbitha Goa. She at first hoped her perfume would overpower the mind of??Thessaly. Failing at this Tabbitha applied a small amount of further perfume to her hands and touching??Thessaly???s own hand. In moments??Thessaly??was overcome and began to talk about practically everything to the Daeva.

As the evening wore on the Chamberlain gathered up the troupe and took them to one side and there they came before the Constable, Ihram. He was urgent. A silent alarm in the museum had been triggered.