Vampire Infodump

[hazlogs]

DATE: Wednsday, July 8, 1998
Place: City Safehouse (Montrose District)

JJ Malone is already seated in the window seat of the room, the blinds angled 
   to allow some of the fading sunlight in while blocking out most of the view 
   into the room. The window is cracked on the side the Glass Walker is seated 
   to allow the smoke from his burning cigarette escape.
Orpheus knocks softly on the door. He waits for a few moments for an answer.

**** Many arrivals

Murphy walks in smoking a cigarette. Elan gets a slight nod, the tribal elder 
   a much deeper one. The Fury gets a once over. The Galliard goes to a 
   location near JJ.
Collin strolls on in, looking around. "I'm heeeeere." he states, grinning.
Elan is over by the door, nodding to people he's invited, and seeing who else 
   shows up.
Orpheus finds a comfy seat, and looks over all the unknown people.
JJ Malone is settled on the window seat smoking already, watching over 
   everyone who arrives in turn, especially those he doesn't recognize such as 
   Orpheus. When Murphy arrives, he grunts, a sound that nonetheless conveys 
   irritability, and subsides back into silence.
Brittany knocks politely, unwilling, it seems, to simply intrude.
Davy and Jose came in before Brittany, as a team. They've claimed one of the 
   couches as their own, pretty much, not so much by words as from the laws of 
   physics.
Elan is by the door, looking out and noting who drops by. He stiffens a bit, 
   and opens the door.
Collin doesn't atke a seat, himself, but he looks around and just keeps 
   grinning.
Jose is stumpy and wide. He's also putting out a cigar on the boot of his 
   shoe. Once that's done, he places it back in his mouth.
Orpheus has a seat and waves to Collin.
Brittany smiles softly at Elan when he opens the door, asking quietly, "Have I 
   found the right address, then?"
Murphy has claimed a back corner as his own. He continues to smoke and scowl. 
   He keeps his chin level, but avoids making eye contact with any of the 
   others in the room.
Collin lifts his hand and wiggles his fingers at Orpheus. "Like, yo and 
   stuff." He looks around, then says, "What, nobody brought Ice Cream?"
Seeker comes in from outside.
JJ Malone levels a look at Collin. "There's a time and a place for joking, 
   boy. If you don't learn it, I'll be first in line to teach it to you." From 
   the rage bubbling just below the ahroun's expression, the threat isn't an 
   idle one.
Hank glances over at JJ, then away, frowning.
Elan coughs a bit. "Yeah, guys. Come on, and let's remember that it's damn 
   near full, tonight..."
Salem gives Elan a sour glance as he enters, surrounded by an aura of grim 
   anger, tightly repressed emotion, and stress enough to suck the joy out of 
   a five year old's birthday party. He takes in the room with a sweep of his 
   eyes, and then stalks over to join the Glass Walkers.
Davy rumbles under his breath, "Like I need reminding."
Collin glances at JJ, "Uhm. Okay."
Murphy lets out a low rumble in confirmation of his Elder's statement.
Seeker quietly slips in, trying not to draw attention to himself. He does 
   glance at JJ Malone and gives Collin a stern look as well before he takes a 
   seat.
JJ Malone grunts something akin to acceptance, then settles back into the 
   corner of the window seat, returning to working on making ash out of his 
   cigarette. Salem gets a nod of greeting during this process.
Jose looks over at all the grumblers, then at his de facto Alpha. "Ya know, it 
   still amazes me that we got these tea parties during 'luna grande'. Like 
   wearin' one o' those *kick me* signs or somethin'."
Seeker sighs, seeing that already he needs to rein Collin in. He sits near the 
   young Strider to make his point.
Salem returns Malone's nod and leans against the wall near the Walker elder, 
   long fingers fishing out a pack of his own cigarettes. He lights up with 
   sharp, terse gestures and inhales deeply.
Brittany quietly enters, setting her briefcase beside her feet as she finds a 
   place to stand, the seats all taken.
Collin gives Seeker a *completely* innocent look. Like 'Whaaaa?'.
Orpheus shakes his head at Collin.
Hank goes over to Collin, and nods to him, smiling.
Collin grins at Hank, then takes a seat on the ground next to Seeker, leaning 
   back and resting on his hands for the most part.
Davy snickers softly. At the same time, Andrea pushes the door open. She looks 
   around the room, nodding to a few that look her way, and not reacting to 
   any that show surprise that the Ritemistress is actually being seen outside 
   the woods. She takes a few steps toward Elan and says to him in her soft 
   voice, "Others may be coming, but I came ahead."
JJ Malone, indeed, startles momentarily seeing Andrea here, forgetting in that 
   moment to glower. The metis recovers himself, though, and subsides even 
   further, darkness re-clouding his features.
Elan's smile brightens to see Andrea. "OK, now, guys. We're about ready to 
   begin, then...?"
Three sharp raps at the door, and a shout. "Hey."
Elan, at the door, looks out of it. "Yo, Cutter...come on in. Just about to 
   start..."
Cutter slips in, the burly man behind him peering in cautiously before 
   following.
Salem continues smoking, his dark eyes hooded. He watches the others through 
   the drifting haze of cigarette smoke. His manner remains grim and cold, the 
   rage snarling and fighting for release from his self-control.
Elan looks around at the room, and nods slowly. He walks over to the couch, 
   and turns to the others. "OK, then. Lemme start, and then we can go to 
   questions. We got vampires in St. Claire again. I know something about 
   them, and I've had a lot of people askin' me about 'em since the Great 
   Hunt. So, here goes..."
Salem straightens up as the Gnawer starts talking, a scowl starting to take 
   root. He crushes out his cigarette and folds his arms across his chest.
The young Gnawer scratches the two days of stubble on his chin, thinking, then 
   starts. "OK, Vampires. A number people been askin' me about 'em, and to 
   save some time and get other people in so they can jawbone, I called this 
   meetin'. Glad to see you guys. Now, I know we got a high moon tonight, and 
   everything. So, just kinda try to keep cool. I know this is a tough subject 
   for a lotta you guys here."
He runs his fingers through his hair. "OK, what I know is this. Vampires are 
   immortal, and they have to drink blood regularly to survive. This can be 
   animal blood, but most just go with human blood. Tastes better. Most of 'em 
   cannot eat or drink anything normal, either." He begins to count his 
   fingers. "Most of the movie stuff is crap. Fire and sunlight kill them 
   quick. They CAN be killed by bullets and stuff. They can heal themselves, 
   but not as good as we can, nor as fast."
He stops for a moment. "They got tribes sorta like we do. Bloodlines. Gangrels 
   are the only ones that go out in the woods, at all, usually. They...they 
   don't hang around the others that much, I don't think. Nobody seems to know 
   too much about them. Toreadors. They're sorta like Galliards in a way. 
   Tremere. Bad asses. Wizards, and most of the other guys are afraid of them. 
   Brujah. Kinda like Ahrouns - strong asskickers. Nosferatu. Sewer rats. 
   They're kinda like Theurges; they know a lot of stuff, and they don't tell 
   much. Ventrue. Now, these guys run the whole show. They got all the other 
   tribes bound to 'em, by blood. I'll go into that in a bit. Um..." He stops 
   for a bit. "Malkavians. Dunno too much about them, save the name. And the 
   Sabbat. Just a name to me, too. If anyone else knows more, speak up in a 
   bit."
"What can they do? Lots of stuff. Turning into bat and wolves. They are much 
   stronger than humans, and even their human servants are real strong. They 
   can hypnotise you with a glance, and mind control you. And...they can do 
   something else. Whatever you do, don't get any of their blood ON you. They 
   can control you with it. They make humans into slaves with it; people drink 
   it, they get mind cnotrolled."
Rik drifts away from the door, battered against a wall by the onslaught of 
   words as he moves toward Murphy.
Brittany listens quietly from the corner she's chosen.
Salem's tension coils a little bit tighter as he listens, muscles in his jaw 
   clenching. But he says nothing, for the moment.
Davy's fists tighten at some of the listed atrocities. Andrea's face is tight, 
   but she controls herself well. As Elan finishes speaking, she says, "Some 
   of them have some sort of magic, so they don't appear to the gift of 
   sensing wyrm."
Murphy nods briefly at Rik before returning his full attention to the 
   gathering.
Elan accepts a beer, or water, or whatever, and swallows once. "I got some 
   other stuff, on specifics, but that is a good beginning." He nods to Davy. 
   "Must be, since I got that Gift. Like the Dancers had, when they was 
   roaming around town."
JJ Malone offers, "It can be real tough to kill 'em with normal bullets. Some 
   of 'em it works, but some of 'em--hard to put 'em down as us."
Brittany asks, quietly, "Do you know who their current leader is?"
Orpheus says "Do you know more about who is a leech, or just the general 
   knowledge that they're here?"
Elan wipes his hands off on already-dusty jeans. "Now, the one thing we 
   /don't/ know is the current ones in residence. Jose fought some, and the 
   guys on the Great Hunt did. What I heard, sounds like the Tremere to me. 
   They have some kinda special magic, and what Jose told me about the fight, 
   they used stuff like I never heard about. Unless anyone else has? Making 
   shadows move? Turning into some kinda monster?"
Elan waves a hand at his Weasely tribemate. "Jose, my brother. You wanna tell 
   what happened to you guys, later?"
Cutter lifts a hand, but says nothing.
Collin stays quiet. For the moment, he just appears to be listening to the 
   conversation. He glances at Seeker, the repositions himself, sitting up and 
   balancing his weight on the balls of his feet. He shakes his head at Elan a 
   little.
JJ Malone shrugs his shoulders in response to Elan's question. "Anything is 
   possible with them."
Salem expels a poisonous-sounding swearword in Serbian.
Jose crosses his arms, nodding. "Yeah."
Hank listens quietly, then hmms softly to himself at the mention of bullets 
   and looks lost in thought.
Andrea shakes her head. "Touch Deer has fought them here. He said the ones he 
   fought looked like inhuman monsters, uglier than the worse metis."
Elan points to Cutter. "Yeah, man?"
Murphy clears his throat.
Elan nods to Andrea. "Those might be Nospheratu."
Cutter clears his throat. "There's... a tribe of gypsy vampires. They can do, 
   like, illusions an' shit. Could just as likely be them, yeah? They also can 
   do some kind of magic juju."
Salem grits his teeth, fighting back a sudden, and quite obvious wave of rage. 
   "Nosferatu my ass," he growls.
Seeker looks around the room. "They encountered us on the great hunt. They had 
   many servants with them. We killed one, another escaped. They know we are 
   here. If they are not already prepared for us, they will begin doing so 
   now. They will have silver. One had silver on the Great Hunt, the one who 
   escaped. We must prepare in kind."
From behind the haze of cigarette smoke, the Glass Walker Galliard ads, "Just 
   to add to the confusion, fire don't work on all of them either."
Collin looks puzzled. He really does. He glances at Seeker, then nods his 
   agreement.
Orpheus says "What with? Silver for us. What for them?"
Cutter says "Holy water works, if y'believe."
Seeker takes a sharpened stake from his pack. "This."
Davy's attention is claimed by the people talking about weapons. Andrea, on 
   the other hand, focuses on the words about fire's failing with a frown.
JJ Malone settles back into the window sill, ripping out a loud snort at 
   Seeker's dramatics. "Sure thing. Try to get close enough to aim it right 
   and have it work," he comments derisively. He then lapses into silence to 
   observe the growing chaos from behind his mirrored sunglasses.
Salem opens his mouth to speak, and then clamps down again and shakes out 
   another cigarette. He drops it, hands shaking with anger and other 
   emotions, and finally manages to light up.
Elan grins at Seeker. "Good man. I dunno about holy stuff. Crosses don't work 
   n 'em, that I've seen." He looks over to Salem. "You look like you got 
   something to add,man?" he says quietly, and oddly respectfully.
Seeker ignores JJ Malone and returns the stake to his pack. As he opens it, 
   some might notice that there are quite a few more inside.
Collin huhs. He sets himself back down on his rear, then looks over towards 
   Salem, since Elan is addressing him.
Salem exhales smoke and stares at Elan, his eyes hard. "Moving shadows and 
   turning into monsters. Ugly bastards as big as a Crinos, maybe?"
Orpheus says "What? Stabbing them with wood hurts?"
Elan looks to Jose. "How about having Jose tell you, since he was there. Jose?"
Salem takes another drag from his cigarette as his attention turns toward 
   Jose, taking effort to quell the subtle tremor in his fingers.
Hank looks to Jose, finally seeming to focus more on the conversation again.
Brittany glances to Andrea, noticing her for, it seems, the first time.
Murphy takes a final drag off his smoke before crushing it out. He crosses his 
   arms over his chest and waits.
Jose looks over at Jack, appearing to have a hard time remembering. "Ok. This 
   was a while ago. Like six months. The one fucker I took out used the 
   darkness like a rope. Took one slice to get through it, but it also took a 
   big swing. Tough as steel cable, that shit. That charach fuck, Quaid, went 
   straight through another tha' turned into a big lizard thing. Looked kinda 
   stinky to me, like they made friends with a Wyrm thing, but I dunno. Casper 
   might have better ideas on that.
Murphy leans over to Rik and whispers something briefly.
Seeker listens to Jose intently. "One of the leeches at the Great Hunt used 
   darkness in a similar manner."
Collin lifts his hand and scratches the back of his head. He bobs his head, 
   looking towards Jose, then back to Seeker. "Yeah. Stormcloud told me about 
   that."
Elan looks back to Salem. "That what you're lookin' for, dude?"
Salem listens to the Mexican Gnawer, then leans back against the wall, 
   speaking with enforced calm. "There are vampires that can turn into 
   monsters," he says. "They can also twist flesh and bone as though it were 
   clay. Some can turn their bodies into blood. I've seen the shadow-fighters 
   in action, too." He takes another drag on the cigarette and looks back at 
   Elan. "Yes, it was."
Brittany asks, of Andrea, "Do you know the status of the burial mounds, before 
   we undertake any sort of assault on the Vampires?"
Elan says "What are they, Salem?"
Cutter pricks up his ears and looks toward Brit.
Salem's face twists into a grimace. "I was involved in a war once, with 
   vampires," he says after a moment. "Not the subtle kind. These fought us in 
   packs, like Spirals. They slaughtered most of our Kinfolk and turned the 
   rest into vampires like themselves." He stops abruptly.
Seeker thinks for a moment, as if visualizing something, then looks over at 
   Jose. "Was the one who used darkness well-dressed? In a suit, perhaps?"
Amazingly enough, Jose catches Seeker's glance. "Uh." He tilts his head back, 
   trying to remember, from the look of his hand against his forehead. As if 
   trying to see the situation again: "
Collin glances at Salem, then makes a face, "Aw, geeze. Ick." He looks back 
   towards Seeker and Jose.
Amazingly enough, Jose catches Seeker's glance. "Uh." He tilts his head back, 
   trying to remember, from the look of his hand against his forehead. As if 
   trying to see the situation again: "I think it was a chick. It's kinda 
   hazy. She was dressed ok. Kinda fancy. Blonde I think."
Seeker looks at Salem and nods. "Yes, one touched Diana and nearly turned her 
   inside-out. We can heal from such damage, however."
JJ Malone's glance slews swiftly over to Salem, expression tautening into a 
   hard mask as the metis Walker studies him.
Salem grunts in reply to Seeker and avoids meeting Malone's eyes.
Alarm flares briefly in Andrea's face at the mention of kinfolk, before she 
   controls her expression again.
Jose tilts his head back upright. "An' she had what looked like a twin or 
   something. Coulda just been a brother."
Andrea then looks over at Brittany. Noticing the Silver Fang looking at her 
   intently, she says, "Excuse me?"
Elan leans back against the couch, now letting the others have word. "Now, 
   this is something else. They fight among themselves, too. But don't be 
   fooled into thinking you can deal with them. Remember that mind-control 
   stuff. I've heard of this happening before; people thinking that they can 
   play one off against the other. Remember that a lot of these things are way 
   older than any Garou, and they got a long memory for tricks and shit like 
   that. If you pull something over on one easy, you can bet he's a stalking 
   horse set up for that very fate by his masters. I ain't saying anyone would 
   try to reason with these bastards, but you never know. Far as I know, any 
   kinda truce that used to exist ain't in force no more, but maybe some of 
   you guys that have been here longer would know more about it." He looks at 
   Andrea, and JJ.
Brittany restates her question, carefully. "The burial mounds used to fall 
   under the sway of one Adele Sandrego, the former leader of the vampires in 
   this city. She used them, and some additional information, to leverage the 
   old agreement of non-agression between the Garou of the Wheel and teh 
   vampires of St Claire. Since her ... disappearance ... the ownership of 
   that land has been something open for interpretation, I believe. Before we 
   move against the walking dead, I might suggest we take care of our own."
Seeker nods. "The leeches at the Great Hunt killed another leech who was our 
   prey."
Salem takes another drag on his cigarette, apparently choosing to remain 
   wrapped in silence again.
Collin's being remarkably quiet for a change. He wraps an arm around his knees.
There's a sharp rap on the front door. Sure enough, Kyle is standing outside.
Murphy clears his throat dramatically again. "So who want's to know where we 
   start our little leech hunt?"
"You wanting our wisdom or to lecture us?" J.J. asks Elan with pointed 
   sarcasm. "I, for one, don't want both. As for truce," he shrugs, taking a 
   drag from his cigarette. "I haven't heard of any. But, while this meeting's 
   all fine and dandy, some of you," a slewing glance to the non-City tribes 
   of the room, especially Seeker, "need to remember that this isn't exactly a 
   new situation. The vampires are *always* here, it's just they've popped 
   their heads up now. Don't turn this into a crusade, or all that's gonna 
   happen is people are gonna die needlessly, and the Glass Walkers'll be here 
   pickin' up your drained corpses."
Salem jerks a scowling glance toward Malone. "If they're Sabbat, it's war. The 
   Sabbat are no different than having a pack of fucking Spirals in town."
Jose seems to agree with Salem, bouncing his head. "Them fuckers are what 
   taints the bunch."
Seeker grits his teeth. "There will be no truce."
Elan eyes Salem intently, and nods. "I've only heard that word, a couple 
   times."
Kyle enters without much circumstance, and takes a place against the wall 
   where he settles in to observe the conversation.
Seeker looks at Jose. "They are all tainted."
JJ Malone seems undeterred by Salem's scowl or his words. "Great. Which means 
   they're rabid *and* can breed faster than we can. All the more reason to 
   not rush in blindly. And who the hell said anything about a truce, Seeker. 
   Jesus."
Salem stares right back at Elan, though to his credit the volitile Ronin is 
   doing his damnedest not to lock eyes in a dominanace challenge in the 
   middle of the meeting. "I don't think the Sabbat much like the vampires you 
   talk about," he growls. "The ones I fought against were organized in packs 
   and loyal to each other. Within pack, anyway. I told you. Like fucking 
   Spirals."
Elan nods quietly, and looks around. "What else do people know about their 
   powers? Anything?"
Murphy lapses back into silence apparently willing to let the attention come 
   back to him.
Jose doesn't directly acknowledge Seeker, preferring to watch Salem with 
   amused interest while chewing on his unlit stogie.
Steven makes a low key entrance, glancing around the room. He runs a hand back 
   through his still-damp hair before crossing his arms near the back.
Cutter lifts his head and focuses on Steven as he enters.
Touch Deer enters in a few moments after Steven, ducking inside and trying to 
   move quietly to a vacant spot somewhere while making an apologetic nod 
   towards Elan.
Brittany notes, "You have less to fear from their powers in a direct 
   confrontation than you do their other resources. They are far, far older 
   than us, wise to tricks we've yet found and probably well-protected."
Andrea motions toward herself as she sees Touch Deer. She turns back to 
   Brittany. "I'm not sure what you're saying, Brittany. If we can buy the 
   land, then we should do so. If you want the graves moved, that's not mine 
   to say."
Murphy tries one more time. "So no one is interested in the fact that I know 
   where one of them is hunting?"
Brittany shakes her head. "The graves have been disturbed too much as it 
   stands. I am unsure who owns the land, since Sandrego's passing, tho there 
   might be documents in her home yet. If anyone cares to organize a search 
   party."
Davy turns his head toward Murphy. "You know that?"
JJ Malone jerks his attention over to Murphy. "You sure?"
Elan gives a nod of greetings to Steven and Touch Deer as they enter, then 
   looks back to Murphy. "Where, and how?"
Salem doesn't turn to stare at Murphy. Instead, the Ronin concentrates on the 
   curling tendrils of smoke from his cigarette, grinding his teeth slightly 
   as he pushes his rage back down, down, *down*.
Andrea frowns again, then says, "There may be legal ways, instead. I don't 
   trust a dead leech until I see the ashes." She motions toward JJ. "Speak to 
   the Glass Walkers after the moot, since you seem to know of it?"
Murphy nods slowly. "Not confirmed, but reliable enough to make me interested 
   in it. Where else would a Vamp with a sense of humor hunt than where 
   willing victims throw themselves at her? The Midnight Temple."
Touch Deer takes Andrea's side quickly enough. Anyone who would notice sees 
   that Touch Deer is dressed very differently thank he normally is, having 
   switched from his buckskin outfit to more 'city' oriented dress: a faded 
   pair of bluejeans, sneakers, and an old flannel shirt. He, too, turns to 
   look at Murphy.
Cutter flips his attention from Steven to Murphy.
Collin looks at Murphy, "Midnight Temple? I've heard of that place. What is 
   it?"
Cutter says "A wyrm pit."
Hank regards Murphy intently.
Collin glances at Cutter.
JJ Malone gives a look at Cutter, brows furrowed with edged curiousity.
Brittany quirks a brow at Collin, then kneels by her briefcase, unsnapping it 
   to search through files.
"It's some kind of dance club, I hear," Steven says. "Erm. One of my 
   acquaintances spends time there."
Cutter curls his lip back off his teeth, as if it tasted foul after saying 
   that word. He slides his shades off and looks arond the room, as if daring 
   anyone to contradict him.
Murphy gives Collin a dark glance then scans the gathering again. "It's a 
   former church, turned into a S&M club. Word on the street is that a new 
   'top' has a thing for blood games." He looks at Steven. "If you have kin 
   going there, get them out now and scan them." There is dark insistence 
   burning in his eyes.
Elan nods a bit at hearing this. "Has anyone scouted it? Cutter? Murphy?"
Cutter says "Scouted it. Spotted some Walker kin there. Might be salvageable. 
   Might not."
Brittany blinks, then glances first to Collin, then Murphy. "I have no file on 
   any Wyrm location by that name. It must be new."
Jose seems impressed that the conversation is going somewhere. Saying under 
   his breath, as if he probably shouldn't say it in mixed company, "Wonder if 
   everyone's favorite town bicycle hangs out with them too."
Collin's expression twists into one of distaste, "Blech. *That* kind of club. 
   Okay."
Steven snorts. "There ain't any Fianna going to a place like that." His head 
   shakes in disbelief. "Not like Rina'd listen to me, anyway."
Touch Deer spares a moment to whisper something quietly to Andrea before 
   returning his attention to the man speaking.
JJ Malone looks from Steven to Cutter, then, "And you didn't bother to tell us 
   about it, Cutter?"
Salem lights another cigarette on the ashes of the previous one and continues 
   smoking, grimly.
Seeker broods as he listens to the conversation, nooking around the room.
Cutter looks to JJ. "What'd you wanna hear? There's a club in town an' y'can't 
   keep an eye on y'own kin?" He puts back on his shades. "Personal 
   recommendation is t'wait until the place is full one night, then drop a 
   torch on it."
Murphy shakes his head at Elan. "I've been there, it's just the kind of place 
   for a Vamp. Way too many willing victims. But the Vamp is a new twist I 
   just heard about." At the mention of Rina, his scowl deepens and he fishes 
   out another cigarette, lighting it.
Andrea frowns, then leans to whisper back.
Elan hmms. "OK, then. Well, that's good then. We know about a possible place, 
   now. They gotta be getting their food somewhere, and like as not from among 
   the Gnawer and Walker protecturates. Yea, Murphy, it does sound just like 
   the kinda place they like."
JJ Malone's jaw sets, just before he jerks his chin at the Shadow Lord. 
   "There's a wyrmy club and you noticed one of the Kin going in there. Unless 
   *you* keep a 24 by 7 watch on all your kin and can't be trusted to pass on 
   anything important, you can fuck off." There's real anger fueled by 
   something else in his tone.
Touch Deer frowns as Andrea tells him something quietly, and he then returns 
   the whisper, frowning.
Collin looks at JJ, then at Cutter. He lifts his hand and runs it up over his 
   face.
Jose looks over at Salem, balling a hand into a fist and making a flicking 
   motion with his thumb.
Salem scowls at Jose, then fishes out his lighter and tosses it toward the 
   Gnawer, underhand.
Patrick slips in the front door, most likely enduring quick glances from 
   people looking towards the door as it opens and closes. He gives a couple 
   of vague nods here & there into the crowd, then slips over towards the rest 
   of Ouroboros.
Jose snatches it out of the air, intercepting the trajectory due to many years 
   of practice. He tokes up the stubby cigar and flicks his wrist, sending the 
   lighter back to Salem. A little high.
Touch Deer takes this short pause in the conversation to speak up: "Unless I 
   missed it before arriving, there is the matter of the Leeches we met at the 
   Great Hunt..."
Salem's hand snaps up, a bit too quickly for eye or comfort, and snaps up the 
   lighter.
Arlen's knock is brief.
Kyle seems to have little to contribute to the discussion, but as things quiet 
   down he interjects, "Anyone checked the place for Wyrm sign?"
JJ Malone growls, then digs into his jacket pocket for his cigarettes and 
   lights up in less than 5 seconds, glowing damped rage like a shuttered 
   furnace.
Murphy straigtens up and moves slightly closer to his Elder, but makes no 
   other move for the moment.
Cutter shakes his head. "What need? I ain't got the gift and I can /smell/ the 
   fuckin' place."
Elan says "I got the gift, Cutter. I'll go with you, OK?"
Kyle snorts, "Gaia and the Weaver've got plenty of shitholes that the Wyrm 
   ain't in yet. If you're hunting a leech infestation..." He shrugs, letting 
   the conclusion draw itself.
Cutter rolls his shoulders, as if the matter were already settled in his mind. 
   "Sure. Whenever's good f'you. Tuesday's lesbian night."
Brittany pales somewhat at Cutter, there.
Davy says "Maybe I should go too. Ah, just so there's a pack representative 
   there from Edge."
Kyle runs a hand through his hair. "Hell, then just firebomb the place Tuesday 
   and see if our problem clears itself up." He's not entirely serious, but 
   this may not be immediately clear.
"Great Kyle," J.J. mutters darkly. "Real subtle."
Cutter looks over his shades at Kyle and quirks the corner of his mouth. 
   "Suggested that. Nuke it from orbit. Only way t'be sure."
Elan flashes a smile. "Sure thing, dude." He looks back on the assembled 
   peoples. "OK, we've been over the basics, for those who came in late. What 
   vamps are, what they can do, and some of what people know about them. 
   Anyone want me to stay late and go over it with 'em again, I can."
Murphy taps his cigarette. "Just out of curiosity, who's territory is the 
   Temple in anyway?"
"Pervert." Jose nudges his pro temp Alpha with a toothless grin.
Someone gets the door.
Salem shifts his weight, growing irritably restless at the turn of 
   conversation.
Arlen mutters, "Thanks," and moves inside to lean against a wall, near her 
   packmates.
Collin glances at Arlen and wiggles his fingers towards her with a small smile 
   on his face. He looks back towards the others, then rocks back on his heels 
   again.
Brittany spares a glance towards Arlen, then returns to replacing her files 
   into her briefcase.
Touch Deer nods as Elan recaps, then looks around to see if anyone is going to 
   respond to his earlier statement.
Seeker looks at Touch Deer. "One escaped, the rest are dead."
Arlen gives Brittany a small nod. "Take it I missed the main information 
   spewage?"
Brittany nods to that. "You are not alone, do not worry." Sparing a glance to 
   Murphy, then JJ, she adds, "I hope to fill in some blanks, later. You are 
   quite welcome to join me, if you so desire."
Touch Deer nods at Seeker. "I'm wondering...if it's possible to find that one, 
   the one who Shot Sepdet." He looks away from the Strider to address the 
   entire room. "I can't even hope to know if it's possible, or how to try; 
   this isn't my home. But maybe some of you know something, or know how to 
   try and find something about it...?"
Arlen nods again to Brittany, and says, to Davy, "Would Sense of the Prey work 
   for that?"
Murphy glances to JJ to see how he will react to the Silver Fang's invitation.
Elan nods to Arlen. "Yeah, but I can go over it again for you, later."
Collin frowns a little at the mentioning of Sepdet, glancing towards Arlen and 
   Davy to see how that bit of conversation is going. Yep, he's interested 
   alright.
Davy frowns consideringly. "This is the one you got a good look at? Or someone 
   did, well enough to describe him beyond what you could read in a personal?"
Seeker says "Questing Stone, perhaps."
Casper knocks and eases the door open slowly, poking his head in to peer about.
Arlen says "Don't have his name, Seeker. But between Chaser and I, I think we 
   have a good description."
Elan says "Scott one time wondered if Questing Stone would work, since 
   technically, they are dead. Anyone else know for sure?"
Touch Deer nods, speaking to Davy. "Yes; myself and Sepdet, and Chaser would 
   know what you need to know...and I think Chaser may also have the Gift of 
   tracking."
Davy shrugs. "The gift's worked on less. It can be a fickle one, but it's 
   worth a shot." He turns his head slightly, away from Arlen, then laughs. 
   "Yeah, even her."
Patrick nods at Elan. "I can answer /that/ one. Long as it has a name, 
   Questing Stone'll work. Trust me."
Andrea shakes her head. "I would say that if they have a name associated with 
   them, and life force, no matter how perverted, that the rite would work. It 
   works on spirits, and they don't live in the flesh and blood way."
Arlen looks slightly askance at her packmate, and then blinks at Quiet in 
   surprise. "Thought you had to have a name to begin with, for the Rite."
JJ Malone's attention is on the discussion, not Brittany's small tangents, and 
   misses both hers and Murphy's looks.
Patrick rolls his eyes. "The question was general, Arlen, if Questing Stone 
   would work for leeches in general, since they're dead. The considered 
   opinion is that it would, given a name, as per usual."
Casper slips in the door and slides over to lean on the wall, looking about 
   and trying to catch the direction of the conversation.
Salem remains restless, simmering quietly.
Arlen says "Ah. My pardon."
Touch Deer scratches, irratably, at a scarred hand and takes a deep breath 
   before slowly letting it out. "We'll try the Gift first and the Rite 
   afterwards, if possible...I think that would make the most sense."
Patrick looks around at all the touchy, irritible ahrouns in the room, then 
   takes a peek at his watch before rolling his eyes. Those near him might 
   hear him mumble, "at least the damn insurance is paid up."
Andrea's lips quirk slightly, but she says nothing, having only slightly 
   nodded at Arlen.
Esther has arrived.
>> From afar, to the room, Esther has ICly been here all along, people, 
   honest. :)
Touch Deer nudges Patrick in the ribs with an elbow, waiting to see what 
   people think about the Rite and Gift in question.
Seeker nods to Esther.
Collin leans over and says something to Seeker quietly.
Elan smiles faintly, looking around the room. "Does anyone else have more to 
   add? Arlen? Esther?"
Andrea's face suddenly loses its amusement and she shakes her head, slightly, 
   at Patrick.
Seeker nods to Collin.
Arlen says "Not just now, no."
Collin grins at him a bit, then glances towards the others to see if anyone 
   else has anything to add.
Touch Deer wonders out loud, "Has anyone mentioned that they can...change who 
   they look like?"
Elan nods to Touch Deer. "About physical shapeshifting, yeah. You know 
   something else?"
Murphy says "I was still wondering who's territory the Temple is in."
Elan says "Where is it, Murphy?"
Touch Deer tries to think. "I fought one on my Rite...but I don't think I 
   learned anything that probably hasn't already been mentioned. It tried to 
   feed from me, but ran into the sewers when I had it beaten." He pauses a 
   moment. "The one that escaped us during the Great Hunt could 
   apparently...shape and use shadows as a tool and weapon."
Murphy takes another drag. "Downtown, deep downtown. Makes it trendier to 
   pretend to be dangerous in a bad part of town."
Esther nods agreement with Touch Deer. "Some kind of Shroud that not even 
   sound could get through, I heard."
Elan says "South or north of Regan Street?"
Touch Deer compliments Esther by saying "It could also turn /into/ shadow; 
   that is how it escaped."
Collin scratches his head, then asks Seeker quietly, "Were you around the last 
   time Vamps popped their heads up?" He pauses, then glances over at Touch 
   Deer. "Turn into shadows? Wow. Just like.." He wiggles his fingers, "Poof?"
Touch Deer nods at Collin.
Collin mutters, "Note to self. Bring flashlights." He makes a face.
Seeker looks at Collin. "At the Great Hunt, yes."
Arlen murmurs, "Didn't help."
Brittany frets a bit, mind whirring on something. Soon, she turns her back to 
   teh room and, again, digs into her files.
Patrick looks over at Andrea and gives her a somewhat wry smile.
Elan nods as he listens to Murphy. "That's our turf, Cavall lands. You guys 
   can come and hunt, but let us know, OK? We're a scout pack, so we know the 
   land and people there."
Esther shifts her uncomfortable bulk, and looks about, waiting to make a 
   comment.
Collin nods to Seeker, then stands up. He stretches out a bit.
"There's something Leeches can do," Esther remarks, "That's something like 
   what Warpers do. Magic, if you will."
Steven says "What the fuck?! They pull rabbits out of hats and whatnot?"
Salem snorts, flicking cigarette ash.
Patrick roll his eyes. "Don't be such a dumb shit."
Elan says "Tremere. They're like mages, kinda. They just...can Do Stuff."
Brittany tries to stay away from the angrier sorts, feeling rather safe in her 
   corner.
Collin scratches his head. "Do stuff? Like waht? What's been *done* that's 
   been seen?"
Seeker looks over at Esther, listening intently.
"They *all* can 'do stuff,'" rasps Salem, his patience edging closer to its 
   limit.
Murphy nods in agreement with the Ronin as he drops his cigarette and crushes 
   it out.
Touch Deer folds his arms, looking to his packmates as he does so.
Esther shrugs. "Do stuff, like Garou do Gifts. Change the way things are, just 
   by thinking about it."
Salem takes a drag from his cigarette, scowling. "I think we covered this 
   ground already."
JJ Malone snorts once, cooling his heels and his temper in the flow of night 
   air coming from the cracked window by his shoulder as he settles deeper 
   into the window seat.
Arlen reminds Salem, "Some of us were not here."
Elan nods at Salem. "It's about time for my patrols, so I gotta go. Anyone 
   needs a recap, or wants to go over stuff in private, come see me, OK?"
Murphy huffs assent, "We did."
"Your fault for being late," J.J. cracks instantly in defense of Salem.
Collin looks towards Elan, then wiggles his fingers at him, "Take care, dude."
Arlen cocks her head slightly at J.J. "I was not implying he was incorrect."
Arlen tells Elan, "Walk well."
Salem meets Arlen's eyes for a brief moment, then subsides as J.J. speaks. He 
   takes another drag on his cigarette and, for the moment, says nothing more.
Collin makes an 'ick' face for some reason or another and shrugs. He taks a 
   step back and leans his weight on the wall. "Huh."
Elan waves to some of the others, and walks on out into the night.
Touch Deer nods quickly to Elan, already apparently ready to depart. "I'll see 
   you again soon, hopefully."
"Sure you weren't," J.J. replies, his doubt blatant in his tone. He gives Elan 
   a nod, then leans over to Murphy to mutter to him.
Hank grins quietly. "Got an idea for a leech killer people might wanna look 
   at...."
Elan nods t oTD on the way out. "I gotta come out to the woods, soon. See you 
   there, dude. And thanks for coming all the way into the city."
Kyle's one of the early ones to leave, departing quietly.
Kyle finds his way out of the house.
Hank grins. "Especially the Walkers - you like guns, yeah?"
Elan finds his way