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The Dracula Dossier: Ernesto's Exciting Adventure

Ernesto VH Guerrero 12:50 AM

Without discussing this with the others... I draft a handwritten letter, in the finest cursive writing I can manage. Addressed to Count Szekelys. I enclose a copy of my book  'Dracula: From historical figure to myth'. I identify myself as a GCHQ asset, part of a taskforce separate from Edom. I offer my loyalty and services, including a burner phone that can be used to contact me. I warn him that Burdett's & Co. is compromised, I offer evidence of the Trojan the team has planted.

12:52 AM

I do not presume to instruct someone of superior intellect what to do. I merely offer this information as a sign of my good faith.

 

The Director  12:53 AM

.... and where do you send it?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 12:53 AM

Feel free to say no, if you don't want the complication of running a double agent

12:54 AM

The address that Adele has from GCHQ.

 

The Director  12:54 AM

(nods)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 12:56 AM

And I don't so much send it as scope the location, do my reconnaissance, make sure the package can't be intercepted by Edom

12:56 AM

And deliver it myself (in disguise), as the sunsets.

 

The Director  7:45 AM

OK, that all sounds good. We'd better make it the first "on-screen" scene next time. Of course, you don't need to tell the others why you are going there.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 7:45 AM

Do they need to know I went?

 

The Director  7:46 AM

Not in-character, no.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 7:46 AM

Yes... Right... I see

7:46 AM

Ok sure

 

The Director  9:23 AM

If this was a straightforward delivery I would just handle it here between sessions - but given who you are delivering to, I feel it may take more than that.

9:24 AM

Definitely tell me about any broad Research things you want to do.

9:24 AM

Actually, I'll post that in general.

March 20th, 2018

________________________________________

 

The Director  9:28 PM

So... when you sneak off to recce the place by yourself, it's a semi-detached house, 46 Tulse Hill (you can see it pretty easily on Google Maps). There's a bus stop right across the road, which gives you some opportunity to take some photos of the front. An overgrown alley full of old planks and construction junk is round the back, starting from Craignair Road but squeezed by successive house expansions either side. It's not really navigable but if you needed to break in you could clamber over there. 

9:30 PM

A group of four young men, students by the look of it, are living there. They don't use the garage (no car). They're from Turkey/the Middle East, judging by their looks and the student organisations' paraphernalia you can glimpse when they come and go. University Palestine soc, that kind of thing.

9:32 PM

There's no one watching the place in person. But there are plenty of cameras around (traffic cameras, bus stop, home security, petrol station over the road) so it could be done remotely. 

March 21st, 2018

________________________________________

 

The Director  9:47 AM

To give you the 2 safe options most obvious to Ernesto: you could drop off the letter now, or you can wait for nightfall (i.e. Dracula)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 9:52 AM

Does my two points of vampirology tell me whether modern CCTV will be able to pick up and record vampires?

 

The Director  9:53 AM

Your research suggests that vampires do not show up on video, photographs or mirrors.

9:54 AM

Actually, that's weak. You've got 2 points: you know that they don't show up on camera. 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 9:54 AM

Ok, so hacking the CCTV to see where and what he does when he visits will do me no good.

 

The Director  9:55 AM

Mm, true.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 9:56 AM

Ok, oddly phrased... but does my 2 points of  Vampirology give me confidence that I know enough protocol and etiquette, to avoid being killed by Dracula if I were to approach him?

 

The Director  9:57 AM

Good question.

9:59 AM

I would say yes: you might not escape unscathed but provided you behave towards him like a humble servant to a medieval king, you know that his kind of calcified, ancient mode of conduct will keep you safe - from death, though he might decide you "belong" to him.

10:00 AM

(Mind you, now might be a good time to throw that spare investigative point into Flattery.)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:01 AM

Lol... Ok, I'll do that

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:06 AM

Here's the shoddy plan, I hire a removal van (with cash) that will blend into the area. And park in a place with good line of sight to the property; about half a dozen houses down. I wait to see if anyone or anything approaches that evening?

10:10 AM

With heat vision surveillance

10:10 AM

In case rats come

 

The Director  10:11 AM

Sure: it's double yellows all the way down the road, but luckily if you park next to the Tesco Express at the garage just up the hill, there's one spot from which you can see the house, though the actual front door is a little obscured. Shortly after sunset, he appears. You were looking right at the spot, at the entrance to the driveway, and you didn't see anyone walking up -- but it's like you just snapped awake from a daydream.

10:11 AM

It's him, the man himself. He looks like the young man in the locket that you brought back from Lucy Blythe's retirement home.

10:12 AM

He's dressed in a black suit with a red tie.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:12 AM

Does he enter the house?

 

The Director  10:12 AM

Dracula

 

10:13 AM

Shown here not wearing a red tie, but you can't have everything.

10:13 AM

He does enter the house. What do you do?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:14 AM

How long will it take to drive down to the house from where I am? Will it potentially screw up timelines if I wait another night?

 

The Director  10:15 AM

You could walk across the road in just a few seconds - it's kind of a diagonal line from the place.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:17 AM

Ok, backtracking a little, I used my free disguise to disguise myself, so the others won't recognise me if they hack the surveillance cameras.

 

The Director  10:17 AM

Yes, no problem.

10:18 AM

2018-03-21_10-16-47.png

 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:19 AM

I walk down with the package, after he's entered the house, I do a classic deaddrop where I place the package by the front gate and keep walking. Once I am out of sight from the house, probably one street down, I take a scenic route back to the vantage point.

 

The Director  10:19 AM

OK, now I'd like to ask - what's in the package, exactly?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:22 AM

The phone will be the kind with a GPS tracker, which I will hopefully be able to trace.

Screenshot_20180321-102039.png

 

 

The Director  10:23 AM

OK, thanks, that's all good. (edited)

10:23 AM

You can easily put the package down inside the retaining wall at the foot of what was once a front lawn. As you stand to leave, you hear several screams and a gunshot from inside the house.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:24 AM

I keep walking...

 

The Director  10:26 AM

By the time you get back to the van, the Count has emerged from the house. His clothing is spattered with blood. He picks up the package, looks at it, then looks up at you.

10:26 AM

He smiles in a way that is not entirely calming.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:28 AM

I stay where I am, I fortunately, because I have a baseball cap on... Doff my cap and bow respectfully.

 

The Director  10:29 AM

He crosses the road towards you and locks you with a mesemerising gaze.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:29 AM

I enter my van and call 999 with a burner phone... Or I don't

 

The Director  10:29 AM

You can resist, if you choose.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:29 AM

Nah...

 

The Director  10:29 AM

"You're a strange one, Mr Guerrero," he says. "I read your profile with great avidity."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:29 AM

No where to run

10:30 AM

My count, as I have read yours with great avidity over the last decade

 

The Director  10:31 AM

Those piercing eyes of his bore into you and you find yourself helplessly falling asleep. Someone catches you.

10:31 AM

You dream of wolves, and when you awake you're in a bed with an old-fashioned canopy above it, and curtains drawn all around.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:32 AM

Do I have my phone with me?

 

The Director  10:33 AM

No. You're in the clothes you were wearing, except your shoes, but all your pockets have been emptied.

10:34 AM

Whoever put you to bed did tuck you in nicely under the quilt, though.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:34 AM

Preparedness, I had a GPS tracker hidden inside me.

10:36 AM

I check my neck for puncture wounds

 

The Director  10:39 AM

That's a very difficult Preparedness test: how many points would you like to spend on it?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:40 AM

7

 

The Director  10:40 AM

/roll 1d6

 

DicebotAPP 10:40 AM

@The Director rolled 2

Dice

1d6

Rolls

2

 

The Director  10:40 AM

For a total 9. Good enough!

10:40 AM

No wounds that you can feel.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:41 AM

Is it still dark outside?

 

The Director  10:45 AM

No. When you pull back the curtain on the four-poster bed, there's a cold blue morning light coming in through the window. Light rain patters on the window - the view is obscured by dark pine trees. The room is stark, with a cold wooden floor, but furnished. There's an old-looking wooden escritoire, a wardrobe and so on. Your belongings, including your phone, are on a bedside table. The sole exit, a thick wooden door, is locked. There's no bolt on the inside. The battery on your phone is dead.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:48 AM

Hmmm... Can I use human terrain, streetwise or urban survival to work out where I am based on my view out the window?

 

The Director  10:50 AM

If you'd said Outdoor Survival, yes. But those three, noooooo....

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 10:51 AM

Do I have outdoor survival?

 

The Director  10:52 AM

You can tell that, from the kind of trees and a bit of hillside you can see, that you're still in England -- or at the very least not too far away, maybe Ireland or northern France.

10:52 AM

I didn't think so, but let me check.

10:53 AM

Ahh. You do!

10:54 AM

You're still in England somewhere. You can tell from the vegetation and whatnot. Maybe Surrey, Hampshire, somewhere like that down south.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:24 AM

What does my history/ art history knowledge tell me about the furniture and the house?

11:27 AM

Also, I do my best to try to memorize the scene outside the window, the location and number of trees the types of trees next to each other. I also, using my keys, try to scratch a small but distinctive mark on the window. Something I would recognise if I looked from the outside in.

 1

 

The Director  11:29 AM

The furniture is from the 1890s, the house is older, late 18th-century construction. (edited) 

11:29 AM

Well, there's a little character moment. What shape would Ernesto scratch, to be distinctive?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:33 AM

A VH overlapping each other

 

The Director  11:33 AM

Nice.

11:34 AM

Correction on the age of the house, btw. It should be a bit older -- around a century old by the time of the events of Dracula.

11:34 AM

(I edited the post above.)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:35 AM

Upside down

IMG_20180321_113338.jpg

 

 1

11:35 AM

Baroque then?

11:37 AM

Or early Georgian?

 

The Director  11:37 AM

Georgian

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:37 AM

Damn, because there's not a lot of Early Baroque manors

 

The Director  11:37 AM

Difficult to tell from the inside, of course, but the shape of window frames helps.

11:37 AM

Haha, true.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:40 AM

Ok, I gather my things, presumably I don't notice that anything was missing. (I went unarmed by the way, because, hey, what's the point?!)

11:41 AM

Although, it would be AMAZING if I managed to kill him in this text session... Saunter back to the next session "Welp, job's a gud'un... What did you losers get up to?"

 

The Director  11:42 AM

Hahahaha, that would be amazing.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:42 AM

So I gather my things, assume nothing obvious is missing?

 

The Director  11:42 AM

Everything is still there.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:43 AM

I knock on the door politely. In a way that would give loud sharp, echoy knocks... Rather than thump thump thump thump thump

11:45 AM

Does vampirology give me knowledge on the number the count may be obsessed with?

 

The Director  11:46 AM

I think that would be a real shot in the dark. Sevens and thirteens are always worth a go.

11:47 AM

Before long, the door is unlocked and opened. Two servants in faded formal attire stand there, a man and a woman, both very old and

sullen. They mutely indicate that you ought to come out into the corridor and walk along to the staircase.

11:48 AM

Your bedroom was all spick and span, but out here you can smell damp and rot. The green carpet is threadbare in places and squishy in others.

 

The Director  11:49 AM

The wallpaper, authentically Victorian, is peeling off.

 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:49 AM

Do they look like they're sleep deprived?

 

The Director  11:50 AM

They have a certain hollow-eyed haggardness, yeah.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 11:51 AM

'Thank you' 'Is the master of the house available?'

 

The Director  12:01 PM

They are quite rude. They say nothing and precede you, heading for the staircase.

12:01 PM

You can see there are several more rooms up here, presumably similar to the one you were in (no one else is up here though).

12:03 PM

From the top of the stairs you can see a large entrance hall (the stairs take two right-angles to get to the ground floor, along the wall. This house has definitely been abandoned for a long time. The chandelier is covered in grime. Debris has been cleared to the sides of the hall but the floor tiles are all stained and broken. Squatters and vermin have taken, eaten, burnt or vandalised anything of value. (edited)

12:04 PM

The servants cross the hall and enter what looks like the doors to a dining room. A grandfather clock stands beside the door with its clock-face stoved in.

12:05 PM

There's a narrow vertical window beside the large front door. You can see the silhouette of a man through the broken panes - a guard of some kind.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 12:05 PM

How old is the guard?

12:06 PM

Vampirology wise, these people would be 'familiars'?

 

The Director  12:09 PM

Yes, familiars or something of that sort. You can't see the guard's features but his body type and posture suggest he's in his 20s or 30s, military training.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 12:21 PM

 I follow into the dining room

 

 

The Director  1:35 PM

It's a gloomy but grand dining-room, with a long polished wood table. This room has been swept clear of debris but still shows signs of abandonment. Apart from the dining table and the surrounding high-backed chairs, there's no other furniture. Tattered drapes blow in the wind coming in through the broken windows. There's one place set for lunch, and a guard in black SWAT gear stands at the far end of the room with a holstered pistol on his hip. He is pale, with a shaved head. (edited)

1:36 PM

The guard nods to the chair with the place setting and says "The boss says you dine." His accent is Eastern European.

1:37 PM

The servants bring food in for you. They're brusque, remaining silent. They slam the plates down, slop food about, spill the wine. It's not grand fare, either, but it is food free of poison or trickery, and you're hungry.

 

The Director  2:07 PM

[Side question: who knows about your GPS tracker?]

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:32 PM

Nobody

3:32 PM

This is for me to check on my previous locations later

3:34 PM

I politely eat the food, only just enough to stop myself from being hungry. I don't pig out.

 

The Director  3:40 PM

The food is... fine. It fills you up. It's getting dark now. You lost track of time. Or maybe it wasn't really morning before? The guard in the dining room tells you that a suit of clothes has been laid out for you in your room, if you wish to change for 'the party'.

"But you can wear these clothes you have now. They are OK. You are the boss guest, so you can dress like you want."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:41 PM

I check the outfit in my room

3:41 PM

Oh before I do that...

3:42 PM

I say to the guard, interesting accent, Romanian?

 

The Director  3:46 PM

"Hungarian."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:46 PM

Get home much?

 

The Director  3:48 PM

"Often enough, sir."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:49 PM

I assume your guys were the ones who carried me back here?

 

The Director  3:50 PM

"Yes, sir. The boss will explain everything at the party."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:50 PM

Do you know who else is coming to this party?

 

The Director  3:51 PM

"Some rich and famous people. I don't know them. British famous."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:52 PM

(Yes I do ask him this, in a good natured, humorous way) Eyes Wide Shut kind of party?

 

The Director  3:54 PM

He smiles a bit because he can tell you're making a joke, but he doesn't get the reference. "Ah, I don't know sir what kind of party."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:54 PM

Well, it sounds like I am currently 'underdressed' for the occasion. If you excuse me, I will see what has been prepared for me.

3:55 PM

**Please don't be sacrificial robes**... 

 

The Director  3:56 PM

There's an evening suit hanging up for you in the bedroom. It's new, and well cut (in your size)... but it's a little old-fashioned. Like 1940s/50s kind of period.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:57 PM

Massive tails?

3:57 PM

I put on the outfit. Anything in the pockets?

 

The Director  3:58 PM

The tails are a little bit on the large side. There's a dark red silk handkerchief in the pocket. It matches the bow tie.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 3:59 PM

I wear it as close to the period style as I know

 

The Director  3:59 PM

By the time you've got it on and sorted out the tie (no mirrors in the room, so you have to use your reflection in the window), you can hear the sound of people downstairs, arriving through the front door, chatting, glasses clinking.... like there's a party downstairs, you know.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:00 PM

I leave the room, so I can look down at the crowd

4:04 PM

Oh before I leave the room, I use what's left of my preparedness, probably 3 to fish out a gadget tucked in my watch, which would give my phone extra battery power.

4:05 PM

I try to charge the phone

 

The Director  4:05 PM

A well-dressed bunch - the men in similar formal attire to yours, though more clearly designed within the last few years. The women in evening gowns. All very networky, London media set kind of thing. There are 9 people down there, starting to be led into the dining room. Six of them are in a kind of older age bracket - four men and two women in their 50s or 60s, upper management kind of people. Three of them are beautiful young women—two with dark hair, and one with golden blonde hair.

4:06 PM

That'd be a standard difficulty Preparedness test, so 3 points will do it automatically.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:06 PM

I try to blend into the crowd, I make my way to a dark corner and use the camera phone.

4:07 PM

Do they appear on the photos?

 

The Director  4:07 PM

Well, to get down there you have to descend the staircase, which makes blending in hard - at least at first.

4:08 PM

The young blonde woman sweeps up to you and says “Welcome! Welcome! You must be thirsty! Drink!” She presses a glass of wine into your hands.

4:08 PM

But then she leaves you to your own devices.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:08 PM

Is there a vantage point where I can get a good view of the crowd to snap a photo?

4:08 PM

Without being seen

 

The Director  4:09 PM

Yes, you'll need a Conceal roll to manage it.

4:09 PM

(Go ahead and "/roll 1d6" while I check the Difficulty. It will be a little harder than normal because the guards are on watch for this kind of thing.)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:09 PM

I think I have two or three

 

The Director  4:09 PM

You have 3

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:09 PM

Use them

4:10 PM

Can I burn one human traffic or tradecraft point to give me a further advantage?

 

The Director  4:11 PM

Yes, burn one and that'll lower the difficulty by 2.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:11 PM

Burn human traffic

 

The Director  4:11 PM

OK

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:11 PM

Wait human terrain

4:11 PM

Human traffic is an excellent movie

 

The Director  4:13 PM

haha, yes Human Terrain

4:13 PM

/roll 1d6

 

DicebotAPP 4:13 PM

@The Director rolled 1

Dice

1d6

Rolls

1

 

The Director  4:13 PM

fuuuuck

4:13 PM

OK, so the guard from the dining room comes over and says "No camera, sir. It's very private. The boss don't like photos."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:13 PM

/roll [1d6]

 

DicebotAPP 4:13 PM

@Ernesto VH Guerrero rolled 2

Dice

1d6

Rolls

2

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:14 PM

/roll [1D6]

 

DicebotAPP 4:14 PM

@Ernesto VH Guerrero rolled 3

Dice

1d6

Rolls

3

 

The Director  4:14 PM

oh sorry, I pre-empted your roll.

4:14 PM

Yours is just enough

4:14 PM

so the guard (let's call him Gery) stops you from taking more pics

4:14 PM

but you still managed to get a couple.

4:15 PM

Anyway, they're herding you into the dining room now.

4:15 PM

The table has been set for 13 places.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:15 PM

Are the people in the photos?

 

The Director  4:15 PM

Most of them.

4:15 PM

The older people.

4:15 PM

Not the three young women.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:15 PM

The younger ones are blurs?

 

The Director  4:15 PM

Yeah, like a smudge on the lens.

4:16 PM

Or an odd digital glitch.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:16 PM

Ok... time to leave

4:18 PM

Ok, so I try to chat to a few of the older more senior management folk

4:18 PM

Trying to get a sense of why they are here, whether they know the host of the party

 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:19 PM

I mention that this is an odd place for a party

 

The Director  4:21 PM

The guests are very into it. The host, "Mr de Ville" is quite the exciting eccentric international party-thrower apparently. You get this from a Marjorie, who's a barrister. The vibe is that he's like a kind of gothic Gatsby.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:21 PM

Is this their 'first time'?

 

The Director  4:23 PM

No, they've been here once or twice before at least, and they're very interested in you. A white guy with glasses and receding curly hair called John, who is at the Times, starts asking about you, how you got invited and so on.

4:23 PM

Not in an interrogation way, more "so what do you do" party chat.

4:23 PM

Alarmingly, one of the other guests is Michael Gove.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:25 PM

I claim to be an academic, with an interest in History and Anthropology, I claim to have come across one of Mr De Ville's ancestors in my research, Mr De Ville took a passing interest in my work and invited me here

4:26 PM

I mention that Mr De Ville was very kind to help me obtain this outfit.

 

The Director  4:26 PM

That last bit gets an appreciative chuckle.

4:27 PM

Have you been drinking your wine, by the way?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:27 PM

No... Eff no

 1

 

The Director  4:28 PM

There's a strange energy in the room. You notice that the candles that are lighting it have a blue tint to their flames.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:28 PM

I mention that it was impossible to find anything like this outside of theatre costume rental places. I ask the barrister where he managed to acquire his.

 

The Director  4:32 PM

You hear in the distance, though at first you think it's your imagination, something howling like a wolf. A short time after that, the three young women all rise from their seats, and everyone else follows suit. Then the doors are flung open and in walk two figures.

4:35 PM

The man of the pair is the Count. As he enters, a fetid wind swirls around the room, and all the lights dance. "Mr de Ville!" you hear someone whisper. The men bow, the women curtsey—but see the younger three looking at his companion with jealousy.

The female is a young black girl, maybe 19 years old. She has a man’s coat wrapped around her. Beneath it, she wears a nightdress. Her feet are bare,

and bleeding from a number of tiny cuts. Her movements are languid, like she's half asleep. She leans on him for support.

4:37 PM

Suddenly there's wild, strange music coming from all around. People begin to laugh and dance. Gery tugs at your sleeve. "It is time for you go to bed," he says. "The boss will talk to you after the special party."

4:41 PM

Gery looks over to "Mr de Ville" carefully. There is something different, less controlled, about Gery's demeanour from earlier; he's trying to get you to leave but he doesn't want the boss to see him doing it.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:43 PM

I leave as best as I can without being seen or intercepted by the people I have spoken to

4:43 PM

Maybe fake dance my way with Gery towards the door

 

The Director  4:47 PM

The Count catches up to you both at the doorway to the entrance hall. He puts a hand on Gery's shoulder, looks him in the eye, and Gery's independence vanishes again. He's back to doglike obedience. For you, Dracula has a smile. "Yes, Mr Guerrero, why don't you take a rest? I wanted you to meet my followers here so you could see how power accumulates to me. You too may join them in due time. You would be, I think, a most useful... ally." Your BS Detector tells you the word he was thinking during that "..." was 'tool'.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:48 PM

You are too kind, Mr De Ville. A good evening to you

 

The Director  4:48 PM

"One more thing before you go."

4:48 PM

He steps into the hall with you. He has a cold, vice-like grip on your arm.

4:49 PM

Look, there's no easy way to say this. He's going to bite you on the neck. What do you do? 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:49 PM

Wait, wait wait

4:50 PM

I beg. If you turn me now, I won't be able to return to my companions as your man

 

The Director  4:50 PM

"You presume very greatly," he says. But he stops. He doesn't let go of your arm.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:52 PM

I may do, but my team, we are tracking Edom and they are blindly trying to interfere in your schemes.

 

The Director  4:53 PM

"I shall require... some surety." He holds out his hand and Gery hands him a knife.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:53 PM

They are blunt instruments being wielded by a government who acts like children

 

The Director  4:53 PM

He nods slightly, in agreement.

4:53 PM

The silent old woman appears from the dining room. She has brought a silver goblet.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:53 PM

Leave me as I am, direct me in a way that I can minimise their random damage.

 

The Director  4:54 PM

It's much darker out here than in the dining room, where things are getting noisier. You see a red glint in the Count's eyes.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:54 PM

I can point them towards Edom

4:54 PM

If that is what you wish

 

The Director  4:54 PM

He cuts open his wrist with the knife, and drips his blood into the goblet.

4:54 PM

It fills quickly, then the bleeding stops.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:54 PM

Dang it...

 

The Director  4:55 PM

Oh, that's got to be a Stability test, right.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:55 PM

Vampirology, he is trying to turn me into a familiar?

4:55 PM

/roll 1d6

 

DicebotAPP 4:55 PM

@Ernesto VH Guerrero rolled 6

Dice

1d6

Rolls

6

 

The Director  4:55 PM

Yes.

4:56 PM

I was going to ask if you'd spend any Stability points, but no need !

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:56 PM

Vampirology, what effect will it have on me?

 

The Director  4:56 PM

Also vampirology: if he drinks from you once, that won't make you a vampire

4:57 PM

You will get some part of his power

4:57 PM

He'll be able, with effort, to see what you see

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:57 PM

Oh

4:57 PM

Can I still operate in sunlight?

 

The Director  4:58 PM

He'll also be able to psychically command you. Of course, he can do that anyway, but it'll be easier on you.

4:58 PM

Based on what you've seen of Gery and the others, yes.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 4:58 PM

If he drinks from me, what powers do I get?

 

The Director  4:58 PM

You don't know.

4:59 PM

according to the Dossier, none, but there is some kind of psychic connection (edited)

4:59 PM

(it's how Mina can locate Castle Dracula)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:00 PM

Do I know how quickly the bite wounds will heal?

 

The Director  5:00 PM

Vampire lore is hazy and variable on this subject.

5:00 PM

You might have to style it out with a range of scarves

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:01 PM

So as a familiar, I won't have a psychic link though

5:01 PM

Or cool powers

 

The Director  5:01 PM

Familiars get the cool powers but can't tell where Dracula is (except when he's getting nearer)

5:02 PM

For the wounds, let's just say you can hide them unless your team mates get so suspicious they pin you down and do a proper examination with a doctor.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:02 PM

Well, I've kind of made my bed and convinced him no to bite me

 

The Director  5:03 PM

Up to you, I think you could swing it with a bit of "no, I'm not good enough to drink your noble blood oh mighty Count"

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:03 PM

Presumably, bite victim and familiar, he will see what I can see?

 

The Director  5:03 PM

For the bite victim (I think the book uses the term "assign", I'll look it up later) he can find you.

5:04 PM

But I don't think he can use you as a proxy quite so much as he can with a familiar.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:05 PM

Bite victim, will I appear in mirrors, video surveillance and operate in daylight?

 

The Director  5:05 PM

As far as you know yes

5:05 PM

(Lucy's reflection doesn't disappear until after the final transformation)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:06 PM

No My lordship, I cannot possibly drink your noble blood. Please, if you could bite below my shirt collar, so I can still operate covertly

 

The Director  5:08 PM

The sensation of being bitten is at first lancing pain then ecstasy. Well, more like heroin. Please make a Health roll. (You have 7 points to spend in your pool.) (edited)

5:08 PM

Gery and the silent old woman greedily drink Dracula's blood from the goblet.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:09 PM

Is the silent old woman Harmer?

5:09 PM

Harker?

 

The Director  5:09 PM

No, this is a different old lady.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:10 PM

If I fail the health roll I die?

 

5:11 PM

Nope. This is just to adjudicate the effects of the bite on you, physically & psychologically.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:11 PM

So uhhhh... 4

 

The Director  5:11 PM

Go ahead and roll.

5:12 PM

(This is quite tense.)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:12 PM

Does this come out of my health and resilience permanently?

 

The Director  5:12 PM

No, you can replenish Health with time and medical attention

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:12 PM

Alright, 5 then

5:12 PM

/roll 1d6

 

DicebotAPP 5:12 PM

@Ernesto VH Guerrero rolled 6

Dice

1d6

Rolls

6

 

The Director  5:14 PM

The after-effects of the bite leave you in an otherworldly frame of mind. For the next 5 hours, you are Shaken (i.e. no point spends from Investigative abilities).

5:14 PM

Dracula returns to his guests. His servants follow. You're left alone in the hall. What do you do?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:15 PM

Is Gery wearing a watch?

5:15 PM

Wait, there's a clock on my phone

5:16 PM

What time is it?

 

The Director  5:16 PM

It's getting close to midnight

5:16 PM

You can hear the guests leaving from the dining room. It sounds like they're going outside, to the back garden.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:17 PM

Judging by my present state, will I look in too bad of shape to join them?

 

The Director  5:18 PM

It's more like you're not really invited. But you could creep out there and watch.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:19 PM

Okay, so with no investigative powers, can I work out which room upstairs overlooks the back garden?

 

The Director  5:20 PM

Yes. I should clarify: you can do all the 0-point things with your investigative abilities. What you can't do are all the point-spending super-clever things.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:20 PM

One with a convenient broken window so I can listen

 

The Director  5:21 PM

Definitely. Most of the windows up here are broken. It's really seen better days, this place.

5:21 PM

There's a Victorian folly, a pagoda/cupola type thing, out there amongst the overgrown hedges and flower beds. It's lit with torches and yes, now the robes come out.

5:23 PM

You know how this goes, from your studies and your extensive watching of Hammer movies. Dracula is in the high priest role and the followers are his supplicants.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:23 PM

I snap a few more photos

5:23 PM

Flash off!

 1

 

The Director  5:23 PM

The teenage girl is up on the dais next to Dracula, She doesn't seem to know where she is.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:24 PM

Maybe video

 

The Director  5:24 PM

Make a Stability check.

5:24 PM

Dracula drinks from the girl, while the guests chant and the young women bare their teeth and lick their lips.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:25 PM

How difficult is it, since the same thing just happened to me

 

The Director  5:25 PM

That's a good point, I should have made you test for that too

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:26 PM

This is what's confusing me by the way, so I spend stability points to make a check. So I lose stability points either way?

 

The Director  5:26 PM

Let's combine both events and say you're looking at a 7-point loss

5:26 PM

Yeah.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:26 PM

Same with health

 

The Director  5:26 PM

The difficulty is always 4

5:26 PM

you just have to assess how much it's worth spending vs how much you'll lose

5:27 PM

Oh my mistake: "Stability tests in pitch blackness are made at Difficulty 5". That's pretty good genre emulation actually.

5:27 PM

But you aren't in total darkness here, so it's just a 4.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:28 PM

Ok, I spend 3 points

 

The Director  5:29 PM

Solid. That puts you down to....

5:30 PM

Stability 4

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:30 PM

I though the 5 I used for the bite were for health

 

The Director  5:30 PM

so you're still compos mentis once the bite effects wear of.

5:30 PM

Yes, that was health

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:30 PM

Ok

 

The Director  5:32 PM

Blood oozes from the wound on the girl's neck, like a black worm. She is dancing slowly with the Count, it looks like. There's blood on his neck and she licks it up. (edited)

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:33 PM

I've seen enough, I move back to my room and go to sleep.

 

The Director  5:35 PM

OK, let's leave it there. When you awake the house is deserted -- admin wise, if the team go looking for you in the next session, will you let them find you?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:35 PM

Right, before we end and I find my way back to the group.

5:36 PM

I get changed back into my previous clothes.

5:41 PM

The intel gathered are treated as follows: I create a cover identity, a 1 point false Edom undercover asset, whole produces a report on the party last night. It includes the names of Michael Gove, the Times editor and the Barrister. It includes video and photos I have taken. It is then encrypted onto a USB with a password. With a note for the password enclosed.

 

The Director  5:41 PM

You'll figure out fairly quickly, btw, that you can now see in the dark. In the infrared spectrum, specifically.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:41 PM

Coooool

 

The Director  5:42 PM

What do you do with the report?

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:42 PM

I keep it on me for now, will plant it on some poor bastard next time

 1

5:43 PM

I travel into the nearest town or village, I try to see if I can enter a church.

 

The Director  5:43 PM

OK, nice. You'll also discover that more time passed than you expected while you were asleep (like Jonathan Harker) but nothing extravagant.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:44 PM

If I can without any ill effects, I go to confession for a psych recovery.

 

The Director  5:44 PM

And I'll be able to tell you exactly how much after the next team session, because it'll have to be based on how much time they get through, probably.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:49 PM

Ok, plan of attack, I will set someone (a wanted criminal) up to be an Edom asset. I ring the group, tell them that thanks to Dr. Double-barrelled last name's bravado, I was attacked by Edom to find their man. I was kidnapped and psychologically tortured. Explaining my thousand yard stare.

 

The Director  5:51 PM

That sounds good. I will try to save it for when you're back, but if need be I'll let them get the phone call, does that sound OK?

5:51 PM

It might be easier to just say "you can search for ernesto but he only actually appears next time"

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:51 PM

Yes, when I escaped, or rather when I was abandoned, I heard a name, someone who was reporting in. I was able to tail them to a certain location.

 

The Director  5:52 PM

That works. Like a quick "I can't talk long! But go here!"

5:52 PM

Too short to use BS detector on.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:52 PM

At which point I ring the baddy that SO19 and the heavy mob are en-route, he should freak out and the party should see him tear arse out of there

5:52 PM

At which point we will enter the house and 'find' the report.

5:52 PM

Yes

 

The Director  5:53 PM

I ought to say: I enjoyed this!  Good investigation work, and now you've met Dracula.

5:54 PM

And mostly got away with it.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:55 PM

For psych recovery, I am going to create an asset, a psychiatrist at the university. I will shape it as an occult ritual I witnessed

5:55 PM

Yeah, thank you for doing this! Great fun!

 

The Director  5:56 PM

Shall we say a 2-point Network asset for the shrink? 

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 5:56 PM

Sure

5:57 PM

I also want to do the church thing to see what happens and try to recover through the confessional as well.

 

The Director  5:59 PM

Yep, right. I've worked out where you would end up.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:00 PM

And I don't hide it in the confessional... I physically disguise myself and then I tell him."I let the curiosity get the better of me Father and because of it, I sought out and witnessed true evil. Monsters are real in this world, and those in power work with him... There was so much blood, she was so young!"

 

The Director  6:01 PM

You pass through the woods that surround the house and wind up in Mill Hill on the NW outskirts of London, at the Church of the Sacred Heart & Mary Immaculate

6:01 PM

It's not a scheduled confession time but the priest will hear your confession when you knock on the presbytery door.

6:01 PM

Even though it's like 6am

6:02 PM

You can tell he thinks you're more addled than anything.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:02 PM

I thought I could make a deal with the devil, but I feel I have turned down a dark path. One which makes me a monster.

6:03 PM

Am I a monster?

 

The Director  6:04 PM

He says you must report what you saw to the authorities, and advises you that the path to temptation is best cut off at the earliest part: by avoiding the "near occasion of sin" as it says in the Act of Contrition. You should avoid situations where you know you will be tempted into sin.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:05 PM

Any stability returns?

 

The Director  6:05 PM

He gives you a penance of a decade of the rosary, contemplating the Joyful Mysteries.

6:06 PM

As he begins to give you absolution, the wounds on your neck begin to pulse with pain.

6:06 PM

You feel like you need to escape from the room.

6:06 PM

Resisting is, in itself, a Stability check.

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:06 PM

I leave

 

The Director  6:07 PM

Father Michael is shocked but he lets you go.

6:08 PM

He calls out as you go. "The door is always open! No matter how hard it seems to cross through."

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:08 PM

Very droll

6:08 PM

Okay, at least I know my limits

6:09 PM

So church fine, clergy fine. Words of sacrament, an issue

 

The Director  6:09 PM

It's like the wound was resisting it

6:10 PM

The mark of the vampire, so to speak

 

Ernesto VH Guerrero 6:11 PM

I potentially try other things as well, order a steak with garlic butter on the side. See what happens to me... etc.

 

The Director  6:11 PM

Haha, yeah. You're OK with garlic, at least for now.

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