Part 27: XXVII - The Epic of the Ankaran Sarcophagus
We've found out that the Ankaran Sarcophagus was stolen from the Museum of Natural History, but we did retrieve a fetish statue from the museum. Pisha will want this, so our first stop is to see her in the basement of the abandoned hospital.
Here's the item from the museum.
Yes. This is genuine, and of use to me. There is something resonating from it... a whisper. I will give you this in trade. It is known as the Odious Chalice - it swells with spilled blood and offers its bloat to its owner. Looks like a wet, rotting pig's face. Uh, thanks. I'll be back if I find anything else.
This is the Odious Chalice. I don't really see the pig's face part of it, but here's the description:
quote:
The perverse creation of a Tzimisce fleshcrafter, this abomination is forced to live a tortured eternity in servitude to the Damned. As you kill enemies, the Chalice will fill with blood. Use the Chalice to feed from it and gain its stored vitae.
It's very useful, especially since it saves money we'd otherwise be spending on blood packs.
Our next stop is back to the Last Round. I like to visit with the Anarchs before LaCroix, just in case Jack has some insight to share. We're not going to see Nines around, since he's gone into hiding, but we can try to mend our semi-strained relationship with the anarchs.
There's a call of duty pinball machine in the bar. Beats me why. Maybe Jack will know.
How'd you find out?
Kid, you don't live to be old as me without cultivating a few connections, the least of which should be able to penetrate the iron veil of the local natural history museum. 
I was there to get the sarcophagus. Seems like he has a lot riding' on that sarcophagus, to get such a fierce bug in that powdered wig of his.Powdered wig. That sounds like an insult the anti-federalists would have thrown at the federalists. Jack sure is old.
Regarding the sarcophagus, the question is why does LaCroix want it so much?
Why, though? Why does he want it so bad?
What is that? Well, it's when a vampire drains another more powerful vampire to death. Diablerie is the Sabbat's specialty, [sic] but it's a big taboo in civilized Kindred circles - and damn sure forbidden by the Camarilla. Why is it so taboo? When a younger vampire diablerizes an elder, the younger vampire gains all of their powers. I see. Wow, you don't think -
If this is true, we really shouldn't be helping LaCroix. If it really does contain an antidelivian, I consulted with Vic (who has my eternal thanks for helping with the lore side of the LP) and here's what we know:
- If the Camarilla finds out, there'd be a blood hunt called on LaCroix. Even if they didn't acknowledge the dead vampire as an antediluvian, they'd still condemn LaCroix for committing the Amaranth." We might also be punished. LaCroix probably has enough of pull to implicate Melissa, regardless of what we say. The word of the Anarchs, our only ostensible allies, is probably not worth all that much in the eyes of the Camarilla. Strauss isn't of any help. Mercurio would side with his supplier, which means we can't count on his word.
- It is possible for LaCroix to diablerize it by himself, but that's a LOT of blood points to suck down, even after you max out all the physical stats. There'd be a lot of waste. He also might enlist the help of his sheriff, or even Melissa, but who gets the benefits is dependent upon who gets "the soul", which is the certain "something at the end of the all the blood that takes more effort to draw out, but it is POTENT. That's what gives you knowledge, power and, sometimes, a piece of your victim's mind.
- Diablerie, thus, can actually backfire, with the diablerizer's body being taken over by the diablerized. In theory, the soul can be split equally among the attackers for less power each, but then it's harder for the diablerized to exert any control. Given we're talking about LaCroix, he might try to attack us during the act, gaining our help up until it becomes inconvenient for him, in case the soul is split. He also might try to eliminate us after the act is done, to keep us quiet. But there is another problem.
- Diablerizing leaves a mark on a vampire's "aura", which can be seen using a certain discipline. Only the vampire(s) which receive the soul gain the mark. It's unlikely that LaCroix would be able to hide it without some fancy obfuscation or ritual or something. The Camarilla would likely find him out eventually because of this.
- Diablerie of antidelivians has been attempted in the past, so the story goes, and some attempts have actually succeeded. [Brujah] being diablerized by Troile is an example of this. Whether or not it would work for LaCroix is a different story.
- In Redemption, it was possible for Christof Romuald to diablerize a powerful Setite, gaining new powers and lowering his generation. Who cares, though, because Christof Romuald sucks. You could also tell that Pink was a diablerizer by looking at his aura.
Tehan also has some good points related to this:
Tehan posted:
As for Diablerie, the thing about it is the aura stain wears off. Generation is a huge fucking deal to vampires - it dictates how far they can improve their disciplines, how much stronger they can make themselves using blood, how many blood points they can hold, how powerful their childer and ghouls are, and so on. In addition by diablerizing someone they can gain access to their skills, memories, and above all their disciplines. No matter how much political power Lacroix gains, he'll always just be whatever generation he currently is - considering he's 'only' a couple centuries old if his yarn about working for Napoleon was true, he's probably of high generation, and even if he is of a relatively low generation his relative youth would lead him weaker than those the same generation as him. And vampire life means there's always the chance that in the end it'll come up to you and whatever upstart is after your shit duking it out mano y mano.
So if the prince's ploy pays off and he ends up drinking the soul of some Methuselah or even Antediluvian, all he has to do is lay low until the streaky aura wears off and then make a triumphant return after making up some cock-and-bull story about being beaten into torpor by the Anarchs or Sabbat or whatever. At that point the only thing that could reveal him is a specific difficult ritual the Tremere can do that requires access to Lacroix' blood, and the thing about the Tremere is when they say "you'll just have to trust us on this" absolutely nobody does.
As for ganging up on him, he'll have to try to eat the dude solo, even if he gets help beating the intended victim into submission first. There is a rite that can allow for gang-diablerie, but it's so secret that it's explicitly said there's maybe one copy of it outside of Tremere vaults (and it was absolutely only added to the game to allow for the release of a series of diablerie-focused dungeon crawl splatbooks, with elder vampires instead of treasure at the end).
The fact is that there's way too much downside to this if it really is true.
What should I do? He wants me to bring it to him. You gotta figure a drop of ancient blood would make any Kindred just about invulnerable. Anyone who has the sarcophagus is gonna be thinking the same thing. If LaCroix gets the sarcophagus, at least we know where it is.But, the game showing that it really is a video game, we're forced to continue along its path. In a genuine tabletop game of Vampire, we'd have a choice of what to do. Not here.
Yeah, I guess.
That's assuming that it can't be easily opened, which could only be known by actually trying to open it. Besides, it already looked like it was opened.
I'm outta here.There's nothing left to say. Skelter and Damsel don't have anything to say either, so it's time to hit the Venture Tower.
Oh, Chunk. Your incompetence is adorable.
LaCroix's expecting me.
Uh say, fruit pie... if you're still up and about in a few hours, eh, why don't you stop by at the end of my shift and I'll... treat you to breakfast, uh? Endless stack of flapjacks...? little boysenberry syrup...? your security teddy bear...? I'd love to, but I've got business to attend to, sorry. See you later.That sounds like a wonderful offer, Chunk, but we have bad news to deliver.
Is LaCroix looking out the window, scheming about all the bad things he's going to do once he's diablerized the antideluvian?
By "leadership", he really means making decisions for others. In other words, he's not talking about leadership at all.
Yeah yeah, you're the best, LaCroix.
[Persuade] You're respected by everyone in this city for your leadership.
I've had my fill of sycophants. I need adjutants I can trust.For what, I wonder?
Everyone respects you. Now what's this all about?
At least I can rest easy in knowing that you, my most promising attendant, has relieved me of one encumbrance tonight. Do you need assistance bringing the sarcophagus up to my office?He's really not going to be happy to hear this.
About the sarcophagus... it appears to have been stolen. Stolen?!? I -
Gary? The Nosferatu primogen. The Nosferatu were responsible for finding out where the sarcophagus was taken after the Dane, and for getting keys to the museum. They were the only ones who knew! It's obvious to me now, my mistake. The Nos - I want him found! I want him... found. The sarcophagus could be... exploited... causing who knows what catastrophe to this city. If it were to fall into the wrong hands..."Killed" was on the tip of LaCroix's tongue, there, but he knows that the Nosferatu are too valuable as allies for that.
tlarn posted:
The Nosfertu primogen, representative of all Nosferatu within the area, who are masters of stealth and information-gathering and reviled for how they look, who is now suspected of taking the Ancaran Sarcophagus, is named Gary.
It's a livin'!
Of course, it's going to be our job to find him.
I'll find Gary and the sarcophagus. *sighs* The Nosferatu lurk in the filth below the streets of Hollywood, but not even I know just where they hide. Hollywood is, unfortunately lacking in any Camarilla loyalties.
"More Civil" I'm sure translates into "more like the Camarilla".
Find Gary and get him to talk. That sarcophagus could be used against us. Do not come back until you have it. Now, I must announce the blood hunt - and bear the brunt of all consequences. [To sheriff]Escort her out. ... Do not come back until you have it. Now, I must announce the blood hunt - and bear the brunt of all consequences. Escort her out. ...
Nines better have a damn good hiding place, if he really was set up.
We can try to get back up...
[Persuade] It's of critical importance that I bring this matter to his attention personally. Mr. LaCroix was real specific. Maybe if you come back later he'll have calmed down. He seems to be all tore up about that sarcophagus that got stolen from the museum. Hmm, must be a real history lover....But that does no good.
Alright. See you Chunk.Before we head out to Hollywood to become star struck, we're going to go back to our apartment. And there we find something interesting waiting for us...
You did what?!? Where is he?
Um... in the bathroom. I, uh... I locked - I locked him in. Did I mess up?You sure did, Heather, but we can only try to fix it now.
I'll deal with this. You stay here.We're going to check our email first. We have two new emails, one from a friend:
and one giving us a new quest:
quote:
<Subject> Business in Hollywood
<From> LaCroix
I have a certain financial interest in a restaurant in Hollywood called the Cavoletti Cafe. I have made an offer on the establishment that is more than generous, but it seems that the owners are remiss to accept. It is my understanding that a renowned food critic named Tommy Flayton will be writing an article about the restaurant very soon. Please intercept him there and make sure the review is unfaborable. - SL
LaCroix calmed down enough to send us that email. He's asked for our help multiple times, but this sounds like it could be fun.
Now, on to more pressing matters.
We find red jacket blue jeans in the bathroom, just as Heather said. Two things are wrong here: 1. How would he be locked in the bathroom? 2. Those clothes aren't really fit for a night out on the town.
There are 3 ways in which we can deal with this. I'm going to let the thread decide McFly's fate. McFly is the name given to him in the dialogue files.
1. Persuade him into leaving
2. Dominate him into leaving, also erasing his memory
3. Kill him
The first doesn't guarantee that he won't speak out, and who knows how much Heather has told him. The second costs us blood points. The third costs us humanity. Vote! Vote! Vote!