Session 20: Final Resting Place Report

General Summary

The Cenotaph

Unlike other nights, the reason for the coterie's reunion this evening is because of Juno's request. The coterie is gathered outside of Desert Sands Memorial, hesitantly approaching a mysterious stranger waiting outside the gate with a shovel. With some use of Auspex, Eleanor and Adel learn that it's Juno in an obfuscated disguise. He explains Maki taught him how to do this before asking the group to follow him, apparently having no time for small talk. He leads them through the graveyard, eventually stopping at a specific grave deep within. He takes another shovel out of his pack and offers it to whoever will take it, explaining that he and Eleanor have discussed this numerous times about how suspicious the conditions around Ruby's death were. He just wants to make sure she's really down there. Osa agrees, as do Maki and Eleanor while Magnus and Adel spend the moment keeping watch while the others get their claws dirty. Half an hour goes by before a shovel hits the surface of her casket. Juno drops to his knees, using his hands to clear the dirt around the lid before cracking it open with great reverence. Both he and the coterie learn... that Ruby's coffin was buried empty and she's nowhere to be found within. Juno is greatly distressed by this information, crawling out of the hole to start pacing while his friends work on trying to rebury the coffin. Adel takes on the responsibility of calling in a missing person's report, but regretfully the coterie has to leave this mystery alone for the moment. Since Ruby's apartment is gone and her family doesn't live in the area, they have nowhere to start looking for answers. Maybe it was better not to know?

The Rat

Later that evening, Eleanor discloses how she was speaking with Colin and he informed her that Marcel is ready to start talking about fixing her debt problem with the sheriff, so the group collects in Marcel's office to discuss it further with her. She seems regretful but informs them that they have very few options for dealing with the sheriff. They can either stake him and threaten him into stopping or they can use blackmail against him to get him to behave. The neonates immediately feel more comfortable with the latter & Marcel agrees, believing it to be the less dangerous option. She informs the group that she can't be directly involved with this to maintain her position, but she knows a contact that could be useful- a strange nosferatu that refers to himself as "The Rat." A reclusive individual, Marcel explains that he hangs around a derelict warehouse in the defunct industrial district of Phoenix and they could potentially meet him there and request his help. To the warehouse they go. It's terribly shady and unnerving, but the group hesitantly enters. It's disgusting inside, floor caked with bird feces and reeking of cigarette smoke. A symbol on the door identifies the owner of this "haven" as unaligned, something that Magnus points out as they enter. As they reach the central room, a voice booms out from the darkness and demands that they stop, requesting to know why they're here. After the coterie explains their situation and how it pertains to the baroness, Rat agrees to help, stating he'd like them to perform a few simple tasks for him before he feels comfortable doing their job for them. Speaking of tasks, The Rat hands off a package to the group and requests they deposit it at a drop location on his behalf. He warns them not to talk to any hounds that may be guarding the location or he will not go any further with them. The job is quite simple- The package must be taken to a gas station three blocks away and placed behind a loose brick that can be found in the back wall-- and is solved... questionably but within the Rat's guidelines. So once they return, the Rat agrees to continue doing business with them and states he will have another test for them at a later date should they return. As payment for temporarily being business partners, the Rat gives them a pack of cigarettes with blood-soaked filters, of which do nothing for any of the existing party members- but they seem cool. Lastly- Osa learns by conversing quietly with the Rat that there's something in the city hurting "The Artists and the Disadvantaged," but he wasn't specific as to what- maybe he doesn't know. But regardless, he requests Osa not add to the problem and be kind to the displaced.

Date: October 29th, 1999 - Friday

Campaign

Vulture City

Protagonists