Vampire: The Requiem - Corporate District

[Loredoctor]

Please post in here for Stories relating to the financial district.

[James Randel]

breaking free of the cemetery, James was relieved to be back in the well lit open streets. His gambit to lose the car in the tight confines of the graveyard had failed.

Gunning his engine he blasted down a long city street as fas as he could.

[Loredoctor]

Chase
25 successes are needed
James (18 successes) (Dexterity + Drive +4 [Handling rating of motorcycle]): 1 success.

Opponent (12 successes) (Wits + Drive +2 [Handling]): 1 success.

James made a sharp turn into one of the main roads feeding the financial district. There was more traffic speeding by, but it was less of a hazard as the road was wider. It also meant that it was less likely for traffic to slow him down.

Unless he obeyed the stop signs, that is.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the pursuing car take a sharp turn out of the Oakhill Cemetery gates. However, he was increasing the separation between them, and so the vehicle was a fair distance away.

[James Randel]

Seeing the distance between them increasing James felt slightly elated. Continuing to speed away as best he could, he now began to try and put as many cars between him as his pursuer as possible, including the occasional swerve into on coming traffic as he turned corners, in the hope of really throwing the car off.

(James Spends one more vitae on Dex)

[Loredoctor]

Chase
25 successes are needed
James (19 successes) (Dexterity + Drive +4 [Handling rating of motorcycle]): 0 successes.

Opponent (13 successes) (Wits + Drive +2 [Handling]): 5 successes.

James pushes the accelerator hard, and the bike races away like a streak of light, dodging between cars with supernatural ability. However, instead of the car following him it continues straight ahead.

[James Randel]

Spitting out swear words, James gave up on out manoeuvring the car and instead relied on pure speed of his bike. head low he pushed his vehicle as fast as he possibly could, cars speeding by as he screamed down the road.

[Loredoctor]

Chase
25 successes are needed
James (19 successes) (Dexterity + Drive +4 [Handling rating of motorcycle]): 3 successes.

Opponent (19 successes) (Wits + Drive +2 [Handling]): 1 success.

James hurtles down the main avenue, racing past Liberty Lake. Looming in the distance to his right he could see the Herald Corporation Tower, a back gothic tower lit up in deep red lights. Then, without warning, the pursuing car comes screeching at him from a side street. It makes a sharp turn, tires smoking, and accelerates hard. The vehicle is much closer, and closing.

[James Randel]

Reflexes flaring James dropped a gear for extra acceleration. Now closer to the car, nearly parallel, he tries to steal a look at who is behind the wheel once again.

Tires screaming, his bike dug into the tarmac and propelled him forward at high speed.

[Loredoctor]

James sees Severine behind the wheel and two other women. She bares lengthy yellow fangs at him and grips the wheel tightly. As he accelerates away, flanked on both sides by corporate towers, he hears the car behind him accelerate too.

Chase
25 successes are needed
James (22 successes) (Dexterity + Drive +4 [Handling rating of motorcycle]): 3 successes.

Opponent (20 successes) (Wits + Drive +2 [Handling]): 3 successes.

The road narrows ahead, but James is able to drive between the narrowing lanes of cars. The pursuing car maintains its close distance, and looking over his shoulder he can see Severine glaring at him with malice. She bares her fangs again. Then a moment later, the road is almost empty of vehicles. He surges ahead, a flash in the night, and accelerates away from her. Before she can catch up, a traffic light turns red and a truck drives in front of her from her right. He hears the screech of wheels and several horns blaring.

James manages to escape.

[James Randel]

Finally free of the chasing vehicle, James sped off into the night, with no intention of stopping any time soon.

(Will continue post in another location)

[Maddoc]

The taxi shoulders it's way across town, elbowing through the traffic with the contempt familiarity breeds. Night in Lordenshaw, waiting for you with a smile that stretches from ear to ear.

"So...Buck's night, right? Or some initiation rite for L.U. I got a daughter goes there, you know?"

Maddoc does not reply. In the darkness of the taxi’s rear seat, he unrolls the scroll Montefiore gave him. Look at him, struggling for focus, his movements unusually restrained and purpose-filled. And the way he's treating that scroll - you'd think it was his fit he's so protective of it.

“I mean, you wanta go to Layton Street; you’re wearing that crazy get up, and I figure: Buck’s night, gotta be. Right?”
The taxi driver tries to catch his passenger’s eye in the rear view mirror, but Maddoc isn’t listening.
"Hey, you hear me back there?” says the driver, somewhat frustrated by Maddoc’s silence. “What you reading there anyway, some kinda book? Looks old..."

Maddoc’s head snaps up with a snarl. He re-wraps the scroll in a heartbeat, secreting it inside his jacket. He lunges forward, grabbing the shoulders of the driver’s seat, putting his lips to the driver’s ear. "Are we there yet?" Maddoc sneers.
He lets go of the front seat, letting himself fall back heavily against the upholstery. He leans back into the faux-leather vinyl, raising his right leg and kicking the back of the seat in front of him.
"Are we there yet?"

"Are?" kick "We?" kick "There?" kick "Yet?"

[Loredoctor]

Intimidation (Presence + Intimidation -1 [unskilled]): 1 success.

"Hey loony," the driver says with an alarmed voice. "Back off, okay? I'll drive as fast as I can, but you're the one who'll be paying me if my car crashes."

The taxi accelerates, screeching past several vehicles and taking a corner.

"One of those nights," he says as he shakes his head.

[Maddoc]

Maddoc smiles like a spoiled child, relaxing in his seat. "Can I have an ice-cream when we get there?" he asks.

The driver doesn't respond, but Maddoc appears not to notice, relaxed now as the taxi lurches forward. He stares out the window at the blur of City lights, resting his forehead against the cool glass. He does not take out the scroll again.

Continued in Layton Street location.

[Tatiana Ivanova]

Sensibly dressed, in a clinging pair of designer jeans, ankle boots, a tank top, and a short jacket, Tatiana heads for her rendezvous.

[Loredoctor]

Liberty Lake was still and serene. A warm breeze lightly ruffled the leaves of the trees in the park and the overgrown reeds at the edge, but the black surface was like a mirror reflecting the thousands of lights from the mighty skyscrapers surrounding the park. People strolled along the pale stone walkways, and the homeless stumbled through the long grass looking for a home or a place to take drugs.

Tatiana could see a cluster of small buildings near a small wooden jetty. Boats were moored to the sides of the structure, their oars locked up. One of the buildings was lit up - a food stand surrounded by late workers and bored teenagers. To the right was a peanut stand, unattended and unlit. Seated on a wooden bench facing the black lake was Callidia. She turned and saw her visitor and nodded politely.

[Tatiana Ivanova]

"Good evening. I understand there is something desired of me?" she asks, in a warm tone.

[Loredoctor]

"Hello, Tatiana," Callidia says as she rises from her seat. She is wearing a simple green dress. "Thank you for coming here at such short notice, and for obeying our Hierophant's order. Please do not mistake her for being authoritarian; she is misunderstood and only does what is best for the Crone and Creation.'

Callidia smiles grimly as she continues. "Although she is forced to act the way she does, which only makes people angry. The Hierophant is honourable indeed for willing to bear the brunt, protecting her sisters . . . and brothers. I digress.

"Tatiana, the Circle is impressed by you and Ivan. But you in particular. You showed courage and circumspection the night of the attack, showing us that you have promise. Although you are only new to the Requiem, in time we think you could be of great value to our sisterhood." Callidia placed emphasis on the last word, and looked at Tatiana with meaning in her dark eyes. "There is an item that has been stolen from us, and now rests in the hands of a renegade Kindred. We would like you to bring him to the Hierophant. In exchange, we will consider you for membership in the Daughters of the Goddess. Further, we will teach you Cruac.

"Are you interested?"

[Tatiana Ivanova]

"I most certainly am. I will need as much information as you can give me about this item, and the thief. The Committee for State Security taught me very well of "need-to-know", I will understand incomplete information. Also, is this something no one else has "need to know"? "

[Loredoctor]

Callidia again smiled grimly. "You old Soviets understand very well the need for secrecy. Although I chose a location where anyone can eavesdrop, the information I will impart will not in any way jeopardize your task. This is for your ears only . . . "

Refer to pm.