Pentecost Church

[Xaos]

Having successfully navigated the hyper-vigilance of the far west end of town, moving through constant danger of the wrong kind of attention on the east end almost seemed easier by comparison to Mya. Though by the time Ava and Mya were far enough east to start worrying about criminal activity, they would've almost welcomed it to break up the tedium of driving from the westernmost neighborhoods in Oddhaven to the easternmost. And finding their destination had been a challenge all its own in the winding streets of Bright Shore, which were almost universally at several meters lower elevation than the buildings. But, at length, the pair of Russians found themselves parked in front of what they were fairly confident was their destination.

Immediately outside the car was a sign reading, "Reformed Church of the Pentecost," with a painting of two crossed red candles above the words. To the left of this sign was a set of concrete steps which lead upwards from sidewalk level. At the top of these steps loomed a church with a high steeple over its entrance and adorned in badly peeling white paint. Around this church was a yard which was bounded in front by an ankle-height white fence that stood just at the edge of the two meter concrete rise which separated property from sidewalk. The church's thick stained glass windows radiated light dimly and occasional shouts could be faintly heard emanating from the building.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ava rolls Intelligence 5 + Occult 2 to notice the significance of the candles painted on the sign

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Fails due to 1 canceling out the 10

Mya rolls 3 dice for same


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Fails

Ava rolls Perception 3 + Alertness 1 to notice something


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Fails

Mya rolls 3 dice for same
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Botches, but I'm not going to impose a special penalty for the botch because a) it doesn't matter and b) Mya's a Stock NPC, not a person, so who cares? lol

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[Ava Tarasovna]

The place looked almost like a stereotypical vampire hideout. Reality was quite humorous in the way many vampire tropes proved to be quite real. "Mya, I would like you to stay outside the building for this night. Of course you can leave the car and wonder a bit. In fact I almost advise it. If you happen to see a vampire making a hasty escape I'd appreciate a call via phone or blood-chilling scream," she turned and gave a smirk, "depending on urgency of course." The Tzimisce stepped out of the car and made her way up the cracked stone steps to the entrance of the towering church. Her dress rippled in the light breeze as she stood in front of the looming church. With an unnecessary sigh she gave the streets a glance before walking up to the church entrance and giving the door a try.

(OOC: Info you might want Xaos: Mya has a pistol in the glovebox and Ava keeps a knife on her hip)

[Xaos]

The sounds of intermittent shouting grew more clear as Ava ascended the concrete steps to approach the church, and while she didn't make out the exact words, the shouts sounded jubilant rather than disturbed. A brief round of shouting rose a few seconds before she'd reached the door, and as it abated she could hear a deep and more steady voice speaking within. Pressing her palm against a door, Ava found it opened easily. She looked through the now-open door, past the small vestibule underneath the steeple, into the church's main hall where a service was being held. With the door open she could clearly hear the content of the congregations' periodic shouts; pious affirmations of the sermonizer's words. The dark-haired, bearded man at the pulpit was far more stoic in demeanor than the ecstatic congregants, but the intensity of his passion was no less clear in his resonating baritone voice.

"Where is your pride now, you ancient thieves? What good are lies against cold steel? These are the soldiers who know no silence, these are the ones who dance with the beast. And in that time when princes fall, and high priests rise up, then shall ancient crimes be answered," the preacher intoned these words from a text on the pulpit before offering his own commentary, "The time will soon come, children of Seth, when the terrors of judgment will tear apart this world. You must ask yourselves, will you turn to the corrupt and worldly authorities who have abandoned, damaged and profited off you your whole lives, or to your elders among the tribe of Adam?"

[Ava Tarasovna]

A service, at this hour? It seemed a bit late for such a gathering. Ava kept to the shadows nonetheless, glancing around to see if any more of the symbols were visible from the entrance, it was aggravating to not remember the significance of a design she was sure she knew. The young Cain also looked towards the man with the black beard to see if he was also a Cainite, it seemed too odd for him not to be. The metaphor of princes falling and being replaced by priests sound too much like the Sabbat beheading the Camarilla.

[Xaos]

Ava had to move closer in order to get a proper look at the preacher. She easily flitted from shadow to shadow in the vestibule, however, thus keeping herself from being noticed. Her trained eye could easily tell that the man was a Cainite but, intriguingly, the congregation members were mortal. From this distance Ava had a better look at said congregants, and they largely presented a stupefied affect; though she couldn't tell if this was from their pious exertions or some other factor. Her new vantage point gave a commanding view of the main hall which, to her eyes, was bare of any real adornment, symbolic or otherwise, though she did note a door at the opposite end. What Ava did notice was another figure on the side of the room, who had not been visible from the vestibule. The woman wore a bright dress, an even brighter smile and was also clearly undead to Ava's discerning eyes. The Tzimisce took a moment to listen some more when the bearded preacher quoted from the strange text again. For some reason some gut instinct told her she'd read selections from this text once before; that it was a religious text associated with a peculiar branch of Christianity she's once read a news story about: the Mormons.

SPOILER: Click to show

As per the new standard procedure rolling a die + Herd for Ava's starting blood, which would be +0 in this case. Because I'm springing this after the beginning, thus denying you a chance to feed before starting your investigation, I'm going to treat any result lower than 5 as 5.

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And it's a damn good thing I did.

Ava rolls Dex 5 + Stealth 1 to remain unnoticed
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Ava rolls Intelligence 5 + Occult 2 at difficulty 9 to see if she's familiar with the text the preacher was quoting

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Botch, Ava mistakenly thinks its the Book of Mormon

Ava rolls Perception 3 + Medicine 3 to check if the preacher is a vampire

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[Ava Tarasovna]

Knowing she couldn't keep to the shadows to get everyting she needed to get done on this increasingly short night, the vampire made way towards the undead in the bright dress, making her best attempt to not disturb the mortal gathering, keeping to the wall. The humans must have been under some mass dominate spell, Ava guessed. Once in view of the woman on the far end Ava gave a slight nod in a silent greeting. To think I could be ripping some Camarilla open now, damn it all. She shook the thought out, she was may not be the best sweet talker but no time like the present to learn, she thought to herself. "Enjoying the night with some Mormon sermon?" she asked when she was close.

[Xaos]

"Mormon? Young lady, I'm sure I don't know what you mean," the woman replied in a noticeable American Southern accent, first with an exaggerated scowl then with a friendly smile which revealed that her teeth were in fact all wolf fangs. "Have you come seeking sustenance, sister in Caine?"