Vampire the Masquerade: London Nights

[josh900]

*This is the RP thread for Vampire the Masquerade: London Nights. The discussion thread can be found by following the link below*

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1087099-vampire-the-masquerade-london-nights/

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It was going to be one of those nights, the Prince of London found himself thinking. The news of a recent string of murders among the Kindred had troubled him greatly. With their already low numbers, the Kindred were finding their grasp on the city loosening more and more. He paced around his lavishly decorated office as he tried to summon some idea of what to do, he had to act, it was his duty after all. If he allowed the murders to go unanswered the Kindred of London would never forgive him, the thought brought up a chuckle.

"How strange a fact is it, that he who rules is the true servant. How much power the servants of the ruler truly have over him.. It's frightening." He mused aloud in the mostly empty office, save for himself, and Londons' sheriff. Unlike most other Princes, Harper didn't pick the largest, or most combat worthy to wear the title, instead he chose the craftiest and most intelligent. He was far smaller than anyone would expect, just shy of five feet tall, and he certainly didn't have a warriors build, he was mostly skin and bones. But he did have something that set him apart from all the others, foresight, combined with his skills in Auspex, Edison was an investigative force to be reckoned with... When he felt like it that is. At the moment he was sitting cross legged on top of a wooden dresser, flipping through a magazine.

 

"So any reason why you're not out trying to find this killer?" Harper asked with a smile. "Your hesitation could be a clue to your involvement in the matter."

"Could be." Edison grunted as he flipped a page.

Harper tapped a finger on his chin, mimicking a thoughtful expression. "lets seee.. Why would you, the sheriff of London, sneak into the underground arooouunnd... noonish they say, and string up some poor Nosferatu woman, and continue to slice her apart until she's bled dry?"

"Boredom." Edison shrugged. "Bad lay, her stink offended me, too ugly to live, annoyed me, or maybe," He said looking up at Harper with a pointed look "I'm just a twisted freak that enjoys cutting up women."

"Would certainly be any reason I could think of." The Prince admitted. "Unfortunately things are never that simple are they?"

"That's why you have me." Edison said looking back down at the magazine.

"That's why I have you." Harper repeated as he put on his coat. "Head down there and see what you can find, We need-"

"Already sent someone." Edison interrupted.

This elicit a laugh from the Prince. "That's why I have you. Now then!" He said as he head towards the door. "I have places to be, people to be bored with, and animals to control."

"Neck support to seek."

Harper laughed again. "Yes indeed, for my head is truly heavy tonight." He said grimly before leaving the comfort and safety of his brightly lit haven, and walked out into a world of darkness.

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"RAAAAAAgablagablo bluuu..... ugaaaaraaaaroooo...."

"..... Okay look I know you like to show off you language skills buuuuuut, I KNOW that one was gibberish."

"Wha hapuuns when ya call me whe IaslEEP!" The incredibly groggy Jack yelled into his phone. Raising his head up off the floor he smacked it against the metal framing of his bed and unleashed a torrent of obscenities.

"Feel better?" The man on the other line said.

"NO! Now what the hell do you want?" Yelled Jack.

"Letting you know I'm coming over."

".............What?"

"Yup! It's boring here sooo I decided to pay jolly old London a visit.. Been awhile since I was there." The man said happily.

"No no no no no." Jack said as he scrambled to his feet. "London's on super high surveillance alright? You're not the most subtle of people, you'll get spotted the moment your feet touch British soil!"

"Yup! Sounds like a blast." The man said happily.

"The wrong kind of blast! The absolute WRONG KIND OF BLAST!!" He yelled in a panic.

"My favorite kind! See you soon champ!" The man said before hanging up, leaving the young Gangrel standing in the middle of a run down hotel room, in nothing but a pair of boxers, staring at his cellphone in utter dismay. "Craaaaaaap."

Things were already bad enough, with the string of Kindred murders anyone new in town was greeted with even more distrust than usual, sometimes violently. And with Him coming in soon things were sure to grow even worse.

"I should have stayed in Canada." Jack grumbled before he started to get ready for the night. Despite not needing to he still indulged in many morning rituals from his human days, brushed teeth, shower, breakfast with a bit of TV watching, he even decided to dress for the weather despite not feeling the cold anymore, most Kindred did this as a disguise, but it was a natural thing for Jack, these habits kept him more humane than most of his kind, it helped keep the second voice in check and kept him in control, Something that was becoming harder and harder despite his efforts. If something didn't change soon he feared, he might just start the fast slide into the madness that threatened all Kindred.

Edited August 29, 2013 by josh900

[GrueMaster]

"Another one?" Graham was speaking to himself as he paced back and forth in the dimly lit chamber, a single candle lighting the room. He didn't need the light, but he liked it still. Reminds me of the good ol' days. He thought absent-minded, then went back to what his original concern was. The murdered Kindred had many worried these days. Normally, Graham wouldn't be bothered himself by the deaths of one or two vampires. This many, though...

 

He had tried to investigate what he could, but he wasn't having much luck. The humans' security systems had become distressingly advanced in recent years, causing him no small problems. Keep running into dead ends... He growled, displeased at the situation, then gave a sigh as he heard voices coming from outside the chamber. Tourguides...

 

Since the humans had gained such a massive interest in the old places of the world, he had had to deal with more and more tourists and film-crews coming through the Catacombs now. Putting out the candle, Graham concealed himself and his few possessions with Obfuscate, and remained quiet as two humans wondered into the chamber, each carrying a flashlight.

 

"I swore I saw a light, Will!" the first man said, shining the light into the corners of the room. It shined on Graham, but with his 'concealment,' he simply didn't register in their minds. "Ah, George, yer half-mad," the other man complained in a chattered tone, obviously shivering in fear. "Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." "Come on, Will!" "No! I'm leaving, and if you don't like it, you can stay here with the ghosts! "With that, the one called Will walked off, and George reluctantly followed him, and the duo walked off, still chattering nervously.

 

Certain that they had left, Graham released the power with a mumble of regret. Since being Embraced, he'd possessed this aura that, quite frankly, scared the bejeesus out of anyone near him. "Well, at least it's proven useful for a change." He chuckled grimly at the irony that his curse had been such a big help lately, then switched back to current events, pondering what was happening. Hmm, what is going on up there....

[AurianaValoria1]

"...I already told you, Mr. Chamberson, that if you do not send it here, it will not be translated."

 

"Dr. Sekman, surely you understand that these materials just can't be transported to someplace-"

 

"I assure you that I have taken great pains to acquire all of the equipment necessary to handle ancient artifacts. I must have the privacy of my own home if I am to translate quickly and accurately...something that you want, yes?"

 

"Yes, but-"

 

"So send it here, or else it won't be done."

 

Click.

 

Yasmina slammed the telephone back into its cradle and turned from her desk, leaning against the polished oak for a moment, glaring at the device with a piercing golden stare.

 

Mortals...Can't live with them, can't live without them...

 

Glancing at the ticking grandfather clock, she sighed. Her date would be here, soon...and judging by the enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen, Joe was finishing up dinner.

 

Good.

 

Almost on cue, the doorbell rang. The lithe woman pushed off from the desk, smoothed her strapless, azure silk dress, and left her office, her matching heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

 

Time for some fun...

[tokyobiohazard]

Hugging her knees while pressed against the side of a building in nothing but a sundress, on what was surely a freezing night, was the young Ivy Anthony. She pretended to shiver and hugged her knees tighter against her chest, crocodile tears running down her face. A stuffed lion lay next to her on the dirty street.

A shocked and concerned woman, a rare find on this deserted of a street, stopped in her tracks and crouched down next to Ivy, "What are you doing out here? You'll catch your death out here in this weather."

Ivy sniffled, "Will you help me get home?"

"Sure, sweetie. Come on, I'll carry you." And with that, the woman hefted Ivy up onto her shoulders.

She shouldn't have been so trusting.

Ivy bit the woman's neck and punctured the skin with her unusually long canines, stuffed lion in hand, hanging onto the woman by only her teeth, like a human leech. The woman flailed a bit, but soon succumbed to the weak trance Ivy was able to muster up. The girl drank deeply, but likely only took about the same amount which would have been given at a blood drive. Non-lethal.

After her belly felt full, she licked the woman's neck to close the wound and vaulted off the woman's back using only her legs, running away quickly, her arms out to either side as she imitated an airplane. She was home within five minutes, a new record.

[Macman253]

Nathaniel leapt from the roof of a café across the street and landed with a soft thud on the roof of the grocery store. The Gangrel looked more like a Werewolf then a Vampire. His ears were long and pointed and his canines could be seen on his lips. His claws digging hunks of the roofing tar as he sped across the London Rooftops. This was his nightly patrol, with the recent murders he took it upon himself to patrol his territory nightly. It was not long until he picked up the familiar scent of blood in the air.

 

He leapt from the roof of the grocery store to the balcony of an ancient cathedral that overlooked the city, he dug his claws into the shaped stone and with a few leaps and some acrobatics he clung onto the horizontal cross of the gigantic cross atop the cathedral. This marked the end of his territory and was his favorite place to think, the scent of blood reached his nose and a sly smirk crept across his lips to reveal the pearly white fang underneath. The blood was polluted with the smell of fear, he turned his ears to the direction the blood came from, he heard the cries of a man being beaten in an alley behind the Teriyaki place three blocks to the north.

 

"Hey! You don't have my permission to pass out yet!" Screamed one man as he kicked the heavily wounded man in the chest.

 

The wounded man raised his hands to thwart the strike but the beating he had taken by the two thugs drained the fight out of him. The second thug drank from a bottle in a brown paper bag as he urinated on the brick Teriyaki place.

 

"C'mon Cooper... just take his money already... let's go, I wanna go see my girl." Said the man in a heavy cockney accent. Cooper smiled and reached back to strike him again just as a heavy thud came from above him like someone dropping a sack full of potatoes on the roof of his apartment. His head snapped upwards to reveal a shadowy figure looking down, eyes glowing yellow and the growl of a beast filling the alleyway.

 

"What the hell is that?" Asked Cooper, He turned to see his mate looking up at it too.

 

'Don't worry... it's a Gargoyle?' He said, Cooper looked at the figures mouth and saw it smirk.

 

"That isn't a Gargoyle!" He yelled as he pulled the .38 tucked into the waist of his trousers and fired all six rounds.

 

Five of the rounds went wild but one glanced Nathaniel's arm, he looked at it and then leapt from the roof, his mouth agape revealing the rows of fangs and claws bared. He landed on Cooper with a hard whack and bit down on his neck, the man screamed loudly as blood spurted from his jugular, the arterial blood poured into Nathaniel's mouth, he had not fed in days and he felt his energy come to him once again as the last of the mans blood poured into Nathaniel's mouth.

 

He cast the drained corpse of the man aside and wiped the excess blood from his lips with his coat sleeve. The second thug ran back into the alley but only found trash bins and a dead end. Nathaniel smiled and approached, clapping his clawed hands slowly.

 

"Bravo... You are a true warrior... to be beating on a man alone in an alley." He said as he walked towards the now panicking man.

 

The man began to cry as he pressed himself flat against the red brick wall. 'D-Don't kill me man!" He pleaded, Nathaniel chuckled and took the bottle of alcohol from him and took a swig, it was a fair Merlot but he was not one for red wine. Nathaniel turned on his heel to look at the beaten man laying on the ground a few feet away then back to the thug, realizing that he also possessed a firearm. He could hear the declining heartbeat, the stranger didn't have much longer so Nathaniel took the mans automatic pistol and examined it, it was a nickel plated Colt with mother of pearl grips.

 

Nathaniel pulled back the slide to rack in a round and bent down next to the dying man. He leaned forward and spoke into his ear as the mans eyes locked onto him, blood ran down his face and his jaw was out of place from the last hit that he took where it shattered it. Teeth and blood covered the alley floor but despite the massive pain he was in he stared Nathaniel in the eyes, a trait that Nathaniel admired.

 

"Blink once for no and twice for yes." He said, the stranger nodded to show he understood. "Do you want to die tonight?" He asked, the Stranger blinked once. Nathaniel smiled, "Do you want me to kill the other one?" He said as he gestured to the man cowering in the corner of the alley. The Stranger blinked once.

 

'Now this is getting interesting.' Nathaniel thought before continuing. "Do you want to kill him?" He asked, The Stranger blinked twice. Nathaniel smirked and placed the pistol into his hand then turned and grabbed the Thug by his collar and forced him down onto his knees. The Thug began to pray but Nathaniel smacked him upside the head to shut him up.

 

The Stranger raised the gun and fired, putting three rounds into the Thug's head. Nathaniel clapped and chuckled. "See you on the other side..." He said as he departed the alley, soon after the Stranger passed with a smile on his face and the pistol firmly gripped in his hand.

[GrueMaster]

Graham was still pondering the mysterious murders when he received a call on his secure cellphone. What now? he thought, pulling the phone out with a annoyed huff. God, I hate these things. Well, at least they're superior to the mundane designs.

 

He and some other Nosferatu had worked on improving the Kindred's communication network and had succeeded in making cell phones that couldn't be tracked, monitored, or otherwise leave a trace. It was so effective that now it was standard procedure to make sure every Kindred in the city had one, given out to those without at the monthly meetings.

 

Seeing that the call was from the Nosferatu network, Graham answered immediately. "WHAT!?" he nearly shrieked at the news, getting more and more angry with every detail. "Damnit!" Apparently, some idiot decided to jump three men, killed one and drained another completely. The drained corpse was bad enough, but the vampire left a complete mess, and apparently, did it all WHILE ON CAMERA!.

 

What damned moron did this?! It took all of Graham's will to remain composed and not rip his haven apart. Gods be good to me! Calming down, he spoke into the phone. "Listen, give me the address and I'll head over and try to clean up what I can." Once he had the directions, he gave a curt good-bye and hung up, quickly grabbing his gear and heading out to the location he was given.

 

It didn't take long to reach the alleyway, but when he did, Graham couldn't help but curse again at the mess he saw. Sonofa- This has FUBAR written all over it! There was blood everywhere, even the hint of vampire Vitae, its fragrance managing to reach the hidden spot he'd chosen for observation. This just wonderful. He looked over and counted no less than FOUR cameras within good view of the alley. "Grrrrr! Whoever did this is going to get a piece of my mind," he grumbled, then set to work.

 

He took the laptop in his backpack and quickly hacked into the network of the surveillance cameras, shutting the cameras off and deleting the data of the vampire attack, downloading a copy of it onto his computer in the meantime, and set up a video loop that would conceal the sudden gap of data and the evidence. Once that was in place, Graham put on his gloves and collected a small amount of the vampire blood and pulled out a canister of lighter-fluid. Only one way to clean this mess up, he thought grimly, and began pouring it all over the scene. It was by good fortune that he noticed the old gas line right by the bodies, which in turn happened to be by an old transformer hooked up to the same electric line as the cameras. Oh, this will make a good cover. He thought, a plan coming into place.

 

Graham finished quickly, the gas line ready to go off and the bodies arranged to look like a common mugging gone wrong. He adjusted one of the thugs, making it look as though the thug had shot the gas line by mistake and blew the trio up, and poked a couple of holes in the line for good measure. He set the cameras to come back on from the video loop and catch the explosion just as it went off, then a power surge from the nearby transformer would fry the cameras when the explosion destroyed it, effectively erasing the supposed mugging.

 

Alright, showtime. Making sure no one was watching or would get caught in the ensuing fire, Graham went back to his hiding spot, taking a dirty old rag off the ground as he did so, lit it, and threw it at the lighter fluid, then ran like a bat out of hell. He managed to get a good block away when the explosion finally went off.

 

Feeling the sudden heat, Graham stepped into a side alley and checked the video surveillance. Yep, everything's in order. The false video feed, the cameras suddenly cutting out from the power surge and the blank period of a couple minutes before caused by it. After erasing all traces of his hacking, the vampire called the Nosferatu network. "It's done. And tell the Prince that I have some evidence he'll probably like to have and to call me."

 

He hung up and began walking home, the sound of sirens in the distance. Alright then, time to head back.

Edited August 30, 2013 by GrueMaster

[AurianaValoria1]

Yasmina opened the door to her apartment to see a middle-aged man dressed in a sharp, black suit, complete with a red bowtie. He grinned widely at her, his blue-grey eyes squinting as he did so, "Jaz! Never seen you in a dress before...you look amazing!"

 

She gave him a wry, ruby smile, "Why, thank you, Tom. Please...do come in and make yourself at home."

 

The tall man nodded and entered the dimly-lit apartment, giving his short-cropped black hair a check as he walked inside, "Sorry if I'm a bit...awkward. Haven't really had a woman ask me on a date before...though I suppose that's becoming commonplace in this day and age." He half-turned back as Yasmina shut the door again...noticing she had several chain latches and a deadbolt that she quickly put in place. Tom laughed lightly, "Lemme guess, you've got a security guard, too?"

 

She winked as she strode up beside him, looping her arm through his, "Isn't that what you're for?"

 

"Well..I-I...I'm hired to guard artifacts and dusty mummies, not pretty women," he answered, his cheeks flushing.

 

Yasmina raised an eyebrow as they walked into the dining room together, smiling wryly at him again, "Oh, there are plenty of artifacts in here....and maybe a few mummies, too."

 

Tom suddenly stopped and gestured to the golden scarab necklace around Jaz's tan neck, "Say...that looks like something you'd study. Is that-"

 

"No, silly. It's a replica. I wouldn't dare wear an artifact so old. Don't you know what body oils and chemicals can do to such things?"

 

Tom grinned, "No, and I don't want to. I'll leave all that to beautiful experts such as yourself. Me, I'll stick to guarding the bloody things."

 

To this, Yasmina only offered a small smile. Gesturing at the dining table, which had been set with fine white china and crystal glassware, she said, "Have a seat."

 

Right on cue, an aging man with thinning silver hair, garbed in a full tuxedo, entered the room carrying a tray of covered dishes. The scent coming from the tray was heavenly, and spirals of white steam slowly rose from the small openings in the tops of the covers. Yasmina knew that Joe had poured his heart and soul into these dishes, as he always did for her; she had recently become infatuated with Indian cuisine, and that was no doubt the fare of the evening. The man carefully placed the dishes on the table, laying out silverware for them both before removing the covers and revealing his work. He also produced a bottle of expensive champagne, which he poured expertly into the glasses.

 

"My," Tom leaned back a bit, eyes wide, "You went all-out with this, didn't you? Somehow, I feel a bit underdressed..."

 

"Oh nonsense," Yasmina said, sitting opposite him, "Thank you, Joe...I'll call you again later."

 

The older man simply inclined his head to her and backed out of the room.

[josh900]

Returning back to his office, Harper slammed the door behind him and walked straight to his desk with an obviously angry expression on his face.

"So what came up?" Edison asked in a bored tone, still reading the same magazine.

"The Nosferatu were forced to knock power out of a wide spread area, disabling security cameras and sending an agent to clean up a mess." growled Harper.

"Oh dear. Any details?" Edison asked in a bored tone.

"None yet, Their Agent should be sending me the details soon. Call a hound and get prepped, Depending on how bad it is... You might be bringing me a head tonight."

Edison let out a sigh and put his magazine down. "Don't spoil me." He said in a dry tone as he pulled out his cell. "So where was it at?" He asked, wanting to call whoever was closest to the scene.

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Jack's phone didn't finish it's first ring before it was up to his ear. "If this is about the explosion that just lit up the sky.. I didn't do it."

"Funny, Need you to head out and keep an eye on the roofs, That explosion was clean up." Edison's voice came through the speaker.

Jack let out an impressed whistle. "Damn, How many bodies?"

"No details, camera feed cut out before the fun started, run a patrol and call if you smell anyone out of place, We either got ourselves a newbie running out tonight... Or a Sabbat breached through. Either way it's bad news."

"Right." Jack sighed. "Course there's always the chance someone's just snapped under pressure." He said as he walked out of his hotel room.

"Could be..... Just keep your nose in the air, I'll call when we got something." Edison said before hanging up.

 

Making it out to the hotel lobby Jack took in a deep breath and slowly released it, setting himself so that he would appear on the cameras outside. As he patrolled he would have to duck out of their sight for a minute or two to rest, as appearing on reflective surfaces took it's toll on the Kindred, tiring them and making them more susceptible to a loss of control. The primary reason why London's Kindred population was so low, once the cameras were installed throughout the city a mass exodus occurred, leaving only those that could afford to remain in their havens safe from the humans mechanized gaze, those who were strong willed enough to stay visible long enough to walk the streets, and those that dwell beneath the city, unaffected by the mortals' paranoia.

 

[tokyobiohazard]

Ivy paced her room and pointed an accusatory finger at her teddy bear, unaware of the chaos that raged on that night, "You're guilty, and now you have to face your punishment!"

She dangled her teddy bear over an empty toy chest, pretending it was filled to the brim with acidic goo. The rest of her toys lay scattered around the room, and after dropping her teddy into the empty chest, she picked up one of her scarier toys, a rubber shark, and had it chomp down on the teddy.

She began to drop each of her other toys into the chest, then, deciding to "drown" them all in favor of another activity. Snatching up her stuffed lion, Courage, she ran into the hallway and approached Harper's door. She knocked three times, using her manners, while on the inside she felt like simply opening the door for herself.

[AltmerLover1313]

The beat was pulsing, the lights were glaring; Evan dragged the last note of his song out as long as his inhuman vocal cords and lungs would allow. The lights shut off. The crowd screamed and cheered in ecstasy for Evan to continue, but his performance was over and he was becoming rather hungry, but that could all wait while he absorbed the adoration of his fans.

 

This was Evan's first performance on The X-Factor and it was quite an experience; he'd never really performed in such an atmosphere where those who had vocal abilities (well, what some considered vocal abilities) competed for the adoration he was absorbing in. They'd never reach his level, of course. They would never be able to make the crowd react as much as he could. Of course, they weren't vampires either.

 

When the last of the applause was clearing up, Evan made his way through the back stage. As he was exiting the stage, he was greeted by a fiery ginger woman. "You were sublime my dear."

 

"Were you watching the whole time, Elizabeth?" Even though Elizabeth was his sire, she and Evan never really had a teacher/student kind of relationship, or, at least, the strict mentality of it. Elizabeth had always been like the kind of teacher that honestly cared about the student and wanted to truly know her Childe.

 

"As I usually do, my dear. I try to never miss that male siren voice of yours. I can see it now," she made a small sweeping gesture that would have made her look like a classic movie star in the rather sterile hallway "an enticing young man like yourself on an eerie island singing sailors to their doom."

 

Evan laughed at the thought; he knew his sire had rather wistful ideas, but that made her all the more interesting to be with over these decades. Their time together was much less now than it was when he was a neonate, so it was nice to be able to spend some time with Elizabeth.

 

"Thank you, it means a lot," Evan smile. They passed several security guards scurrying around; a really sort of musty smell coalesced as they neared a corner deep in the building. Quietly, Evan spoke "I'm thinking I need some nosh about now; yourself?"

 

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at Evan's love for slang and was about to say something but decided against it "Well, there are some rather strapping young men just round the corner," she inclined her head towards the ever darkening corner "I secured them just for you."

 

"You know me all too well..." Evan chuckled while fidgeting with the industrial piercing in his left ear. As the two neared the "back room", Elizabeth swept her arm out towards the door and ushered Evan inside.