Dark Before Dawn Session Summary: Investigative Burglary

This session was a smaller than usual one because the heat kept several players indoors and the date just didn't worked out for a few of them as well.  That ended up working out great, though, as it meant that those who were there were freed to investigate a number of leads.  It did make the game more of a multi-form than a true LARP, but we used the space enough to keep it interesting.

Firstly we used the main space to represent the Ordo Dracul haven as they mingled.  Some of the information from earlier downtimes including Siobhan O'Baoill's police report on the missing folks from Delphin Island (prop) and Thomas McAllister's investigations into the missing Invictus Prince Alicia Brown was shared around.

Folks decided to chase up on the break-and-entry into one of Duchess Alicia Brown's old  properties, figuring it might be a lead to a missing Ordo Dracul (Julia Dannenburg) and the old human confessor (Samantha Ehrenstein).  They all piled into Professor Jasmine Hadley's fancy large van and headed straight for the location which was an old house used as storage facilities for a Historical Society.

McAllister and Talitha Salvatore busted in by themselves (other players sat around the table to chat in the van) by avoiding the few sensor lights and creeping in through the roof.  Once inside they found a stuffed eagle with a heartbeat (actually a recording that can be automatically heard by vampires even if it's too quiet for humans to notice) and a note written in dried blood.  They also found a safe.  This was accomplished using a tabletop format.

McAllister temporarily disabled the security systems and everyone else came inside.  Acute Senses deduced which four numbers held the code: 1, 2, 7, 9.  Doctor Jonathon Taylor correctly guessed it was 1927, representing the year before his Other Version went insane.  Inside the large and very thick safe sat a magpie feather, small rose quartz, little device and two autopsy reports on a pair of deaths that occurred over the past few months.  I had props for all of these things, using one of those little puzzles where you have to pull a little steel doodad from a plastic casing just the right way.  I didn't have a prop for the safe or the bird, obviously.  They gathered these up and left.



Two werewolves having a quiet conversation.

They relaxed for awhile, reading the props and looking the items over.  Dr. Jonathon Taylor got the doodad out and found that the shorter point always pushed in the direction of the nearest section of gloom, kind of like a weird compass.  The gloom being like a darker overlay on certain sections of the city.  They now had a map to compare it too (also a prop) which Guilherma de Miramont had put together during the downtime period.

 

Conversation then turned toward a known werewolf pack who work out of the Inferno Nightclub (which they own).  They decided to head down there and leave Seamus O'Baoill outside because he's too valuable (and because I needed his player to reprise the role of an old NPC for me).

I quickly re-set the room while they lurked in the corridor and made their plans.  I shoved the round table out of the way and put chairs up against the counter in a make-shift bar.  I also put out a single chair which A.L. covered in a red sheet to represent a kind of creepy throne thing.  I acted out the bouncer as they arrived, forcing Taylor to dump his loose blue shirt which was deemed too unfashionable, and Siobhan O'Baoill flashed her badge with a demand to see the owners.

While Siobhan O'Baoill and Michael Norvichkov went to meet Jeremy Dartmoor (played by A.L. who had quickly changed his outfit and was sitting on the red chair), the other four went to the counter to talk to another werewolf called Andy Curin who was currently tending the bar (played by myself).  Thomas McAllister remained in Obfuscate, whispering questions to Dr. Taylor, Professor Hadley and Talitha Salvatore for them to ask the werewolf.

On the way out they were confronted by Sariah Dartmoor, who demanded they return to the VIP room for further discussions.  There was some kowtowing on behalf of a few vampires, some posturing by a few others, and then the court finally left.

Siobhan lingered to ask Sariah a few more questions, and when she followed the others, a fourth werewolf who was about to enter instead lunged at her, got her in a pin, and demanded to know where Samantha Ehrenstein (their missing human confessor) was.  Siobhan frenzied, there was a standoff, but Talitha's dominate and Seamus' demands caused the werewolf to release Siobhan and chat in their van.

Finally they all got to leave and chat together.  A few PCs remained to talk while the other players headed off in a final meeting, and all in all, it was a good session.