Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo

[Xaos]

In the air of tense silence that hung in the house after the sounds of battle had subsided, even the soft footfalls of the sisters sounded sharp. Ascending into the hallway, they saw that all the doors that had been previously shut were now opened. All that is, except one. The door immediately to their right was shut fast and, just as their steps had rung loudly, the hushed whispers and panicked breathing of multiple humans could be heard by the vampires on the other side.

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

Luz was angry. Luz was angry and hurt that Gabriella had denied Mother. She could not take it out on her though. She could not torture her sister like she wanted to. She could not show her Mother's love, or her own rage, lest she discover that Luz had found home in the dark. If she could not take her anger out on Gabriella, this door, and the horrid abominations of YHWH behind it would have to suffice.

Luz moved forward in silence, Her mind screaming obscenities and Gabriella in anger and in anguish. It was all Luz could do to not cry, for she had to keep up the veneer of the strong. She had to pretend to adhere to the path, displaying her own personal power. She knew in her heart, however, that Mother would guide her. Mother was power, Mother was love, and Mother would give her the strength to follow this pointless trial through.

Luz walked up to the door, and kicked with all her might, planting her heel into the door near the knob. She would give Mother the first offering, the blood of the children of YHWH.

[Xaos]

With a thundering crack, the door and the impromptu barricade behind it erupted in the path of Luz' furious blow. Stepping past the ruined timber, she stood before the cornered family. The father, whom she'd been sent to kill stood with a blade shaking in hand, while the children huddled with their mother in fear on the opposite side of the room from Luz. The father thrust his sword, and Luz adroitly dodged its path, seized it by the forte, and struck him with such an overwhelming punch that he went flying to the floor, losing grip on the sword on the way down. Luz felt a familiar, cold darkness within as the Mother of Shadows whispered affectionately in the vampire's soul.

"Show them my love...be a good daughter...worship your Mother the way she desires..."

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

Luz looked at the father, "Sit" She commanded. He stayed there, unable to move, compelled by the power of Luz's dominance.

She slowly approached the youngest looking boy there, the one who would be most afraid. She relished in his terror as he looked upon her. It was clear he didn't understand what was happening, and that made it all the better. She reached down and grabbed the little boy by the throat, raising him off of the ground. His older sisters cowered in terror, unable to muster the courage to help their youngest brother. The boy was crying as much as he could, given the tight grip she had on his neck. Luz whispered to him, "It's ok. Mother loves you, and what's about to happen is for her. She needs this."

Luz took the blade she was holding and cut the small boy's wrists, and ankles. She held him up, his heart pumping the blood out of his veins. He hung there in midair, crying, and getting woozy from both lack of air and loss of blood. Every time Luz saw him falling unconscious she would poke him with the rapier, keeping him aware, and eliciting the smallest whimpers. As the young child barely managed to look at Luz through the pain and the choking, Luz would mutter to him, "No. Don't fall asleep. You need to feel this, child. Feel it." Stabbing him with the blade, making him bleed out faster.

[Xaos]

"Stop!" Gabriella's voice sounded from behind Luz and was soon followed by her approaching footfalls, "Sister...stop and think about this! What are we doing? Did we escape that horrible nightmare just to accept another? This is wrong...what we've been trying to become, it's wrong. The Sabbat think all this power makes them better than humans, but look what it's doing to us. We are not becoming mighty overlords, we're just murdering people for little or no reason. I have realized that we can be so much more than this, that we do not have to walk this path just because of what Ricardo has told us. We have never questioned anything he told us, and if his teachings lead to...this...then are they truly worthy to follow? Come, sister, let us turn away from all this horror and find our own way. We don't have to sacrifice our souls for other people anymore; that's all anyone expected of us in our previous lives, I do not want to spend eternity doing the same."

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

Luz took the end of the blade and ran it through the young boy's throat before flinging him off the end of the weapon at Gabriella's feet. The boy's eyes were open, dead and lifeless, as blood poured out at Gabriella's feet.

With a cold stare, that could never reflect the sorrow within her heart, she responded to her sister, "Aid me, lest I kill you myself."

[Xaos]

"If you cannot stop youself, sister," Gabriella said mournfully, "Then I'm going to stop you."

SPOILER: Click to show

Luz rolls initiative

oSuwfs1Vp_+ Dex 2 + Wits 3 = 7

Gabriella rolls initiative

p_ + Dex 3 + Wits 3 = 16

Luz declares first, Gabriella resolves first

·

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

"Just try." Luz snarled as shadows covered her once again, licking across her face and through her hair, becoming one, once again, with Mother's dark Visage.

She knew that mother had taken control of her shadows near the stairwell for a reason. She was guiding Luz towards her. Now that Mother had found her, the black metamorphosis would not fail. It was Luz's will. It was Mother's will.

SPOILER: Click to show

Black metamorphosis, with a touch of willpower this time. My understanding is that even if there is one success die, even if there are more 1's than successes, your roll will only fail, rather than botch. Just wanna make sure I understand the rules correctly. Spending Willpower to negate the possibility of a botch is worth it for me.

[Xaos]

Gabriella knew what her sister was doing the instant Luz began the process of initiating the Black Metamorphosis. She had seen Luz perform this otherworldly feat many times, including her first time, and Gabriella intended to act on that experience. Charging forward and lashing out, Gabriella tried to strike Luz in such a manner as to disrupt the latter's concentration. As Luz felt a dark ecstasy rise in her, however, she snapped away suddenly to avoid the blow.

A rush of sensation flooded into Luz and the Black Metamorphis began. It was unlike previous manifestations which had been a tiring, taxing and challenging affair; now Luz no longer need to rely on herself, all she had to was ask and Mother would provide. Exquisite agony rushed through every nerve in Luz's body as the living darkness flowed out of her body to embrace her. She dissolved into its inky, ice cold blackness and at length became one with terrifying form the shadows had shaped.

In the corner of the room, every member of the surviving mortals felt a dread that filled them with an unrestrainable urge to scream and flee, yet their muscles froze stiff in the face of this demonic horror.

SPOILER: Click to show

Gabriella rolls Dex 3 + Brawl 2 to try and disrupt Luz' Black Metamorphosis, +2 difficulty since I'm counting this as a targeted attack

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Fails

Luz rolls Manipulation 4 + Courage 4 at difficulty 7 with one auto success from WP spent
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Total of 4 successes; your current Manipulation spec would apply here but specs that boost Disciplines have to be applied to one specific power in a Discipline set, so you'll need to change "calling forth the shadows" to a specific Obtenebration power. Anyway, the difference between 4 and 6 success would be minimal here so no big deal.

············

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

The time for words had truly passed. Gabriella, Luz's former sister, Luz's former family, would stand against her and the love within the darkness. Had she simply walked away, fearful of Mother's power, Luz would have let her leave. Instead, Gabriella sought to save these humans, clinging to humanity, burdening her true soul, fearful of a darkness that would lovingly embrace her if only she had had the courage to dive in. She had tried to strike Luz, indicating she was willing to back her words. She would be a disappointment, even to Sabbat.

Only action was left to Luz. One of the many wisps of darkness protruding from Luz lunged chaotically through the air, like an asp made of smoke, searching to constrict the merciful vampire. After that, Luz took the blade she was holding and ran at her former sibling looking to pierce her clean through. Should the tendril succeed in its task of holding Gabriella still, the blow would strike true, impaling a weakened and restrained coward on the end of the sword.

SPOILER: Click to show

Black metamorphosis allows me to use two attacking actions. First attack with the tendril looks to grapple Gabriella, The second looks to skewer her with the sword Luz took from the father. Should the first attack fail, Luz will still strike with the blade.

[Xaos]

While Luz's command of the shadows had always been greater, Gabriella had always been the more adroit of the pair. Seeing Luz's monstrous appendages ready themselves to snatch at her, Gabriella fell back outside the room's door way then, fearlessly locking eyes with the other's monstrous visage said, "You want me dead, sister? Come get me."

SPOILER: Click to show

Gabriella takes a move action to escape the Arms' six foot range, then uses Dominate 1 (Manipulation 3 + Intimidation 1) on Luz at difficulty 6 due to Luz's current WP

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Success, Luz must pursue Gabriella

Luz's actions for this round are automatically aborted for no WP cost and she makes a full move to follow out of the room. Luz may declare actions normally for the next round.

···

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

Luz took a step chasing after her sister, enraged, goaded towards the betrayer, that is until she heard her.

"...The sacrifice...Give me...Blood...My Childe..."

Luz remembered her purpose; she remembered her mission. It took all she could to ignore her sister, who had left the room, but Luz would not let mind games interrupt her purpose. She steeled her mind and refused to follow.

SPOILER: Click to show

spend one willpower to resist the command, If I understand correctly, I still have my action since I resisted using willpower. I swap the target of the attacks to the family. Then I'll declare my next action, unless I'm doing this all wrong.

She turned to the cowering family and whispered, "It seems your angel has left you... You only have Darkness now, so don't you dare make a sound." A tendril lashed out at one of the young girls, grabbing her by the neck, and beginning to squeeze. While this happened, Luz shoved her blade into the other daughter's gut then yanked it out, letting the vitae flood from the young human onto the floor. The girls would die slowly, one from asphyxiation, the other from bloodloss. Mother would be happy and relish in their pain.

As she did this she shouted, "Get back here, Gabriella, You coward! I'm coming for you, spineless Dog!" The longer Gabriella thought that Luz was under her control, was the more time for Luz to finish the ritual.

Luz had to be wary not to stare into her sister's eyes. Gabriella could not take her in a fight, but with the stressors of the metamorphosis and the domination of her desires, Luz would only become more susceptible to Gabriella's mental manipulation. It would mean being less accurate and precise in her fighting, but she would not look at Gabriella while fighting her, should she return. Luz had to finish Mother's bidding, that was the most important thing.

Luz Then began to summon a pool of darkness around her, and the family. If Gabriella was waiting in the hall to ambush her, she might have time to obscure her sister's vision and smother the family in darkness at the same time.

SPOILER: Click to show

Declared next action, Casting shroud of night as large as possible around herself and the family. Furthermore, I want to take a combat penalty when fighting Gabriella, specifically, so as to either increase the difficulty of the use of dominate, or do avoid making eye contact all together. If that's possible that probably looks like some heavily reduced dice pools. 

[Xaos]

Seeing darkness begin to gather and hearing the cries of the mortals as Luz approached them, Gabriella desperately cast about for some advantage and found it in a small woodstove in a corner of the hall. Flinging it open, she held back the urge to flee from flame so intrinsic to her kind and Clan. Grabbing a belows to reignite one of the wood sticks smoldering amongst the banked embers, she deftly grabbed it by a cooled portion. Marching boldly back towards the room, she held the flaming brand thrust forward, using it to begin clearing a narrow path through the unnatural darkness as it rose up.

SPOILER: Click to show

Gabriella rolls Courage 3 at difficulty 5

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I'm interpreting the fire clause of Shroud a little liberally here so let me know if you have a problem with how I'm applying it.

··

[Luz Elicia Apaganza Bastilo]

The room was filled with pitch darkness, Inky black from beyond comprehension. Luz took the blade out of the young girl's gut, her screams and whines muffled in the dysphoria of the dark world luz had created. The child hanging from Luz's dark appendage hand long stopped writhing, unable to breath in the pitch black. She struck out with a free arm of darkness and grabbed the father by the neck, and stabbing his wife through the throat with the rapier. She held the two up watching them squirm.

Then she could feel it, coming towards her. The searing warmth of fire began to wade its way through the darkness towards her. Could her sister's will to defy the darkness really be so strong that she overcame the red fear? Luz turned, Her hostages struggling for life, ready to face down her sister coming towards her.

[Xaos]

The sound of Luz' victims drew Gabriella forward and she swung wildly, her aim being to catch one of her sister's abyssal appendages. Sadly, neither her noble intentions nor the aid of an auditory guide gave her much advantage in her attack, and all her flailing accomplished was to trace fading patterns of light in the unearthly darkness. Under other circumstances these might have been beautiful, but in that moment they spoke only her growing failure to save the mortals.

SPOILER: Click to show

Gabriella rolls Dex 3 + Melee 2 at +2 difficulty

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That's an impressive amount of fails to not botch

On a 3 or less the fire goes out due to Gabby swinging it about so
p_
Stays lit for now

·····