Mister Vampire: Requiescat in Potentia

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

Firstly, your character sheet isn't currently loading, so all things that require die rolls are temporarily on hold until that gets fixed. But we can go ahead and update resources and obligations without rolling anything, so we'll do that now.

The recovered spellbook is the collected writings of Becker and her sire (Becker Sr., they did the whole "change your last name to match your sire's" thing that supernaturals who spread by infection sometimes do), qualifies as Destiny 1, and contains information on Walk of Flame, Names of the Blasphemies, and Progress of Glass. Though redundant to your existing files from that one dude whose name I would look up if your character sheet were online right now, you might want to keep track of it anyway just so you know what you have to bargain with.

The candle also qualifies as Destiny, although since I'm really bad at estimating how important Destiny things are I'm not sure what level of Destiny it qualifies for. Let's call it Destiny 3, that sounds about right.

The recovered pile of cocaine is worth close to a million dollars, and I'm not really sure exactly what the breakpoint between Finances 2 and Finances 3 is since the value of both a house and a small business is fairly flexible. But since cocaine is, pound for pound, in the same league of expensive as gold or platinum, let's call that Finances 3.

You've also picked up Debts 2 - you owe a favor to the Griffith Pack. Which brings up the political fallout of the whole mess. The Pack claims Manfield was operating rogue and are distancing themselves from his actions. Grant has been pretty neutral about whether or not he'll swallow that particular narrative so far. So this is a Debts 2 that could turn into Enemies 2 depending on how the next chapter or two shakes out.

Waiting now on functioning character sheet (or, if you can't get that sorted out, Marco's Charisma+Teamsters and Intuition+LA Crime dicepools).
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

Marco begins putting out some feelers regarding unions and the like. In some places, he has as much luck as he predicts - he hasn't really made any useful contacts, and indeed it will likely be a while before he does. But getting access to the 13th floor of all the LA buildings which actually have one is going pretty well. He's already got access to most of Downtown's 13th floors, and the places he doesn't have are mostly just the places he hasn't gotten around to yet. His attention to MS13 pays off as well, and with his newfound influence over the police, retaliation against the Calaveras dies before it can get started.

It's a little over a week later when Jacquelyn Rivera, a Makhzen Bagheera from the city whose agreed to take over the Patton State Hospital, contacts Marco with a message from her former employer. Cristobal Espada is one of the orphan mehtar, sired along with Carlos Espada, the two of them turned on their sire during the Crisis Catolico in Mexico during the 80s, heading north to escape retribution by his allies, the two of them stumbled across the aftermath of Kabir al-Khan's failed attempt to establish a Los Angeles Kingdom of the Makhzen in Lestrand's backyard. Defecting to the Makhzen to pick up the pieces, the two reassembled al-Khan's scattered forces, but even regrouped the Makhzen stood little chance against Lestrand. Recognizing this, Carlos Espada sold the organization out to Lestrand, who killed all of the most powerful Makhzen. In exchange for Carlos' cooperation, Lestrand admitted him to his inner circle and allowed Cristobal to live, now one of the most disgraced orphan mehtar of Los Angeles.

He is still one of the mehtar, however, and a favor for him means getting the attention of all the others. Unfortunately, he didn't tell Jacquelyn or Grant exactly what he wanted, instead just requested a meeting in his haven, a home costing upwards of 20 million in downtown.
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

Marco will agree to the meeting and he'll be all polite and stuff with any security about his weapon loadout.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

One of Cristobal's thralls welcomes Marco into his home, leading him to an ornate study, bookshelves lined with impressive looking (but utterly useless) reference books, globe in the corner, mahogany desk. Cristobal doesn't waste much time explaining his situation after Marco arrives. He owes Lestrand a favor, and Lestrand's been sitting on it. Clearly he intends to save it for something good, and Cristobal absolutely despises being in Lestrand's debt, even before considering the fact that Lestrand is waiting to make use of it, so he's probably hoping to use it for something good - and good for the person owed is bad for the person who owes.

Cristobal has a scheme to get that favor paid without actually paying it, and Lestrand will be none the wiser, but he lacks the resources to do it on his own. He'd rather owe the favor to you than to Lestrand, so he's hoping you'll do what he can't. Lestrand is transporting some mysterious packages to the King With Three Shadows, through Silmoore's territory. If Silmoore catches wind of the transport, he'll have ample opportunity to ambush the cars, so Lestrand is sending them under heavy escort just in case, though he expects that the packages will just be driven on through just like a million other cars drive through that part of the city every day. Whatever these packages are, they're very important. Cristobal suspects that Lestrand is, once again, selling his soul to outside forces to try and stall the decay of his tiny empire, but all that really matters is that Lestrand needs these packages and already suspects that they might get stolen. The plan is simple: Ambush one of the messengers, steal the package, hand it off to Cristobal. Cristobal returns the package to Lestrand claiming to have recovered it from the mysterious thief by force. Cristobal's favor is repaid, and Lestrand never has to know that the thief was in league with Cristobal.
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

What do Marco's backgrounds tell him about Lestrand's current political position? His interest in this scheme depends a lot on the level of force Lestrand can afford to spend on frivolous reprisals. Marco's already a bit inclined to turn this guy down on the grounds that he's not fond of risky work in exchange for unnamed favors from dudes who are willing to seek out mercenaries just to get out from under their favors.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

Lestrand's been losing ground pretty much since he got here. Every two or three decades some new crisis pops up and he either can't contain it until after it's taken a big chunk of what used to be his turf (Griffith Pack expansion in the 60s) or he has to trade some turf to avoid being wiped out entirely (deal struck with the King With Three Shadows just after the turn of the 20th century to prevent the Crime League from walking in and taking over). Silmoore's looking like he might be the finishing blow, and Lestrand is dedicating all of his resources to try and make sure that doesn't happen, which means he doesn't have a whole lot to spare for people who aren't definitely related to Silmoore somehow.

It is worth noting that Cristobal mostly can't stand to owe a favor to Lestrand, specifically, who he has bad history with. On the other hand, he's one of the most disgraced Makhzen in the city, famous mostly for screwing up and having his ass saved by his brother Carlos, who had to stab him in the back in order to save them both from being butchered by Lestrand, who is usually really bad at resisting attacks. So a favor from him is certainly of dubious value even if he doesn't try to swap Marco out for some other creditor.
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

"That's a big risk just to get out from under a favor. What kind of messengers and escort are we talking about here?"
Last edited by Whipstitch on Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

"Lestrand is stretched thin. His people are on high alert in all important locations, he never wants his heavy hitters far from his tower or his bank or other vital buildings, and on top of that I've arranged a little distraction over in Inglewood. It's close enough that Lestrand will be forced to divert forces to handle it. His escort is twenty, maybe twenty-five spawn and no more than three luminaries, after the distraction kicks in, maybe half that. Not an easy fight, but rest assured that I am aware this is not a small favor I am asking you. I have considerable resources at my disposal, including a small army of my own spawn and mortal cultists, and I am not unwilling to risk making enemies when repaying you. Rest assured that I have the power to complete a similar task for you in the future, the only reason I cannot use this power here is because my men may be recognized."
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

"I must admit that I'm curious to know more of these shipments. I'll perform this task, but be forewarned that I intend to see what these packages contain before handing them off."
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

"Tamper with the packages as much as you like. That the thieves double-checked to make sure the package contained what they were after will not harm the credibility of my story at all. One caveat, however, the risks of opening the package are for the sake of your own curiosity, and I do not owe you anything extra should it prove to be some sort of terrible curse."
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

Marco'll talk strategy with Cristobal and try to iron out the sketchiest bits of the plan before moving forward. Marco's incredible at convincing people when something is a bad idea and he's got a pool of 9 for mental applications of the Tactics skill, so odds are good that he can at least hash out the timing of the distraction pretty well or spot any suspiciously bad planning on Cristobal's part. I don't know if there's an obvious time to strike, but if Cristobal can tell us which car is carrying the goods Marco'd be willing to settle for trying to cut that vehicle from the herd by abusing LA traffic and the sheer number of drivers he can muster for the operation. With a lot of luck the thing could turn into a really elaborate snatch 'n' grab. If they perform the hit in or near Silmoore territory they may be also be able to discourage heavy pursuit simply by heading further away from Lestrand's turf and putting up stiff resistance.

Optimistic, I know, but that's the best I can come up with without more details. Oh, and if time constraints aren't an issue he'd like his goons to get dolled up like MS-13 for the job. I doubt anyone would really buy that false flag long term, but the funny thing about disguises is that even obviously false ones still distract from the legitimately useful details.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

Cristobal doesn't have a ton of time to lose on this, but he does have several hours, enough time for your men to get themselves properly disguised. Unfortunately, Cristobal doesn't have a ton of information on what's happening beyond what he's already told you. Lestrand takes information control very seriously and Cristobal has to be careful with his spies since he lives deep in Lestrand' territory and can't afford to irritate him too much.

He had planned on synchronizing his men's attack to your departure, but he's immediately willing to let them start on your command instead. That's bad planning, but whether it's suspiciously bad is up to you to decide.
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

The time table seems sketchier to me than a willingness to hand over the reins, but whatever, Marco isn't dissuaded. Plan A is to ambush a messenger prior to them getting in a vehicle and plan B is to cause a crash and raid the vehicle. In the latter case Marco will want one of his goons driving for him again--a combination of aggressive driving, tire shooting and Curse of Failure would likely get the job done.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

The package is being held in a bank way up north deeper in Lestrand's territory. Cristobal does not believe he will be unable to create a successful diversion with so far to flee before Lestrand is forced to give up pursuit for fear of violating someone else's territory or walking into an ambush. If you decide to ambush them at the bank, he won't be able to split the force, but on the other hand, you may be able to arrive before all of Lestrand's forces do. Cristobal believes it is a riskier approach but he won't complain if you try it and it works.

Otherwise, you'll have to attack them in transit.
Last edited by Chamomile on Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

Transit it is.
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Chamomile
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Post by Chamomile »

Cristobal has a spy at the bank who observes the massing convoy before reporting back to Marco and Cristobal. Three cars, a half-dozen motorcycles, probably about fifteen escorts in total. He recognizes two of them: The Vermille twins. They're members of Lestrand's inner circle, and while Lestrand isn't the greatest at retaining talent, his higher ups are still dangerous. There are a half-dozen packages being carried by the different escorts even though Cristobal's intelligence suggests that there should only be one in this convoy. Only one of the packages is leaking magic according to the spy, the one carried by one of the Vermilles. The spy isn't sure which Vermille, but Cristobal knows that Elisabeth is an excellent driver thanks to her knowledge of Progress of Glass (she can also fly, but Cristobal seriously doubts that Lestrand would be willing to blatantly violate the Masquerade to deliver this package), whereas Isabella is competent but not exceptional. He suspects that she'd be in charge of carrying the package itself while her twin sister (seen getting into one of the cars) covers her with her potent ranged capabilities.

The convoy sets out for its destination in the south. Marco and his team are ready to merge with traffic and get close to the convoy, and the distraction is ready to go on Marco's command. You don't have time to switch out the people and gear available based on the new information, but you can revise the plan if anything's changed. Also, question: What exactly is Marco's relation to las Calaveras? Do they view him as their actual boss, a powerful ally whose favor they need to keep, or what?
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Whipstitch
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Post by Whipstitch »

Let's go with de facto boss. They wouldn't describe themselves as a cult and are ignorant of sorcery but Marco`s like a combination patron saint and bogeyman figure within the gang--he brings them opportunities and the odd cash infusion plus with curse of failure he can literally give people the evil eye, so they just roll with his implausible plans.

EDIT: I was super busy over the weekend or I would have posted more. As I implied earlier Marco's dream would be to force crashes. The presence of two supernaturals is a huge worry, but he's banking on most of his hexes and "Jackie Chan, Action Cop' bullshit being juuuuuust barely within the bounds of plausible deniability relative to the magic other supernaturals can bring to the table. If this crazy plan actually works out he plans on giving Cristobal the description of Manfield's co-conspirator to feed to Lestrand as the likely culprit.
Last edited by Whipstitch on Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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