The Tremere Chantry

The Tremere gave a thoughtful nod at the mention of Mikael's narrow-minded view, but did not comment.

William's face betrayed confusion and questions as he adjusted his glasses with renewed interest as his, motioning towards the table they were standing at "Corinna Anson was the Tremere woman whom had helped you, a few moments ago, with the tombs and books that you required, Lord Tarcisus."

Pausing a moment to consider what he just witnessed, he continued on, "And yes, I shall try asking assistance of Claudia once more if I happen to chance about her, she seems to be constantly on the move."

When William explains who is Ansons, Tarcisus seems to doubt, he frowns, he thinks about it thoroughly, then makes a vague nod, dropping the subject. He probably didn't make the connection but he's keeping it to himself, brooding. He takes off his own glasses, not needing them anymore.
(Tarcisus) Claudia is a frail young girl, but she has a very strong mind. Be delicate with her and she'll be your perfect tool.

He stands.
(Tarcisus) Shall we go to see the results of Mikael's abilities ?

Not really a question, he excepts William to follow him as he leaves the library to go downstairs. Liz Walker has disappeared from the couch, however. Corinna and Mikael are discussing, with what looks like a greenish, metalish bracelet in her hand. She's observing it in detail. Both stand as they see Tarcisus, and Corinna approaches him to offer him the object. The Lord takes it after a moment of observing the librarian, then observes the bracelet closely, the details of the crafting mostly. The other two seem impatient to have the Lord's reaction, hoping for his approval. Without saying a word, he turns to William and hands it to him.
(Tarcisus) What do you think ?


It doesn't look really new, but it doesn't look like it has been underground for two millenia. However, if it is really magical in nature, then it's normal that it has been kept in good condition, and eventually restored by the Tremere.. or by itself. There is something magical in it, probably by Mikael's hand ; as William analyzes the small marks left by the Tremere, and due to his extensive knowledge of Occult artifacts, William is quick to notice a Ghoul Ward on the item. In truth, Tarcisus was right, Mikael is skilled at rituals, and placing this ritual on such object, and hide the mark in the bracelet so it's discrete enough is truly a feat.

William takes the bracelet, and holds it up to the light or at various angles to study it. Adjusting his glasses several times and and squinted a few times. "Copper or bronze, hard to tell due to the oxidation. It doesn't resemble an object that has been buried for a couple of millennia, but then again, a magic object could easily be retouched by our clan or even protective wards on the object itself or even it could have been kept in a small chest, that could be the story anyhow. Masterfully imbued with magic... it's carefully hidden- yet, active enough to make it a noteworthy effect... is it... a ward against ghouls? Yes... yes yes.. I can see the markings, but only cause I know what to look for and those not of our clan would never spot it. Elegantly hidden into the design as well. And the art resembles the time period quite well."
Handing the bracelet back at Tarcisus, William looked at Mikael, "Truely a master piece, Mikael Solaris."

William gives a quick glance at Anson when Mikael and Tarcisus are looking at the bracelet, he mouths "We need to talk" and gave an urgent look, but it faded after but a mere moment as he looked back at the other two with an impressed look on his face.

Mikael and Corinna seem to relax a little when Tarcisus shows it to the neonate ; it's a sign of approval for them. Mikael lets out a slight scoff at William's reaction, as if he expected nothing less : of course he did an excellent job, what did you expect, childe ? He approaches, a hand open, expecting William to give him back the object.
(Mikael) I used bronze. It still needs a few finishing touches : like this, it may disappoint the court as "an object of power whose price was the loss of Soladis Vranken". I'm no jewelry maker. If I could have had Nolveaux work for me... Yes, a tutella against ghouls. Something Gosuin can test easily, and something useful enough that won't cost the Tremere too much to give. I'll work on it. Lord, would you ? Your knowledge of that era is indispensable...

Tarcisus walks with him to the ritual square of the lower room. William and Corinna can listen to a few words they exchange as they walk.
(Tarcisus) I've seen you do so much better, Mikael, but with so little time it's the best you could do, am I wrong ?
(Mikael) I deeply regret disappointing you my Lord..

Mikael continues in Latin, in a very apologetic way, before Tarcisus cuts him and they start again in French, but they're too far away to be understood. Corinna got the message, and approaches William with a curious look.
(Corinna) Are you all right ?

William let's the comment slide and passes the bracelet back to Mikael instead. Once he and Tarcisus were out of hearing range, he turned to Anson and whisperer.
"I'm not exactly sure, can vampires suffer from short term memory loss without injury to the brain? A moment ago, I was talking to Lord Tarcisus, and when I mentioned your name, he looked at me confused, like he had never met you, which is why he regarded you for a moment once we came into the room." William looked around the room for a moment and looked surprised,  "Where is stake-to-the-chest-girl?"

Corinna sighs, relieved, somehow, then smiles slightly.
(Corinna) Lord Tarcisus is a little.. strange. I think it's a way for him only to recall what's important. But then again, I've heard rumors, that during the Revolution, She probably means the 1789 French Revolution, one of his childer died of a heart attack. It's still a mystery... Ah, miss Walker ? Regent Kersten arranged for her to be moved, first thing in the evening ; he's planning to have her be housed in Toulouse, at least according to the board. She must be in a crate on her way already. I wonder...

She's thinking about it, why would Lyle move Liz like that is everyone's guess.

William nodded at Mickael and entered his room. He walked over to his still unused bed with the still open luggage bag. Taking his laptop bag from the floor, he put it next to the bag and took out a small cloth bag and a regular microdrive and put it on the table. Then he quickly disrobed, used whichever scent products he'd bought in extra quantities on himself and on the bag and drive (just in case, and not enough to get it actually wet) and put on the used clothing. He quickly applied some concealer to his face, giving his face a darker complexion, although very close up you'd probably see that it was makeup. He then put on his gloves, put the bag and microdrive in the front pocket of his sweatshirt and pulled on his cap. He took his pocketknife from the pouch he carried around the day before to go looking for the artefact and and took along his cellphone, but placed the last one in his pants pocket after putting it on mute and disabling vibrate.

Taking a plastic bag and the scissors, he cut out a small hole in the bag, put the sief against it and took the bottle of black spraypaint and applied quick soft bursts to his shoes (after taking another one of the plastic bags and standing on it, not to get the floor dirty) and lower parts of his pants, making the now spotted with black, dark gray shoes smell strongly like paint and his pants as well (although they already were black).

Waiting a moment for most of the paint droplets to dry, he put whichever remained into a bag and stuffed it in the corner.

After that he swiftly made his way towards the exit of the chantry.

Mikael is not in the main "living" room nor in the library, but William does see Corinna, who is approaching the entrance door. She seems surprised to see William come in like that. She didn't come to the door to greet him, it just so happens that he came in at that moment.
(Corinna) Wha.. Is there some "dress like a Nosferatu" party ?

She seems fairly disgusted but she would love to know his reasons.

Please tell me this place has showers XD

William stares at Anson a moment before lightheartedly replying, "Well Ans- Corinna, nobody said fieldwork was supposed to be glamorous. This actually had something to do with why I was unable to answer your texts earlier tonight. Which I'd be bappy to answer in a moment after I get rid of this disgusting mortal costume. Please excuse me Corinna Solaris."

He started making his way towards his chamber, but halted a moment and added: "Ohh by the way, these some Italian Torrie sitting in the foyer, The Brujah whom is helping me with Lyle's little assignment mentioned something about local visits regularly after we saw him enter the hotel. But you probably have a security camera or something, somewhere to see if someone is waiting."

William shrugged.

Each room has showers :-)

Corinna listens with attention, nodding at his words of wanting to change and answering her. She lets him go, and agrees.
(Corinna) There's a light in each room that turns on when someone enters the Foyer room.

She indicates a small led above the TV of the main living room.
(Corinna) I was about to go and attend this person. Mr. Guicciardini, then. Have a nice shower. And please, it's "Regent Kersten", not "Lyle"..

She walks out of the Chantry.

Once Anson exited the room, William entered his chamber, locked the door and muttered to himself while disrobing.
"(Dutch)If the situation keeps up, he won't be that for long."

He took his plastic bag, put all the garments into it, took another one and wrapped that one around the old bag, and kept repeating the process until all his 'market bags' had been used and placed the bundle under the bed, he briefly considered burning it in the trashcan, but he figured there were safer ways to dispose of it that would not include risking a smoke alarm or even burning chantry happening. He took out the battery of his cellphone out, and replaced it with his spare, and connected the old one with a charger, which he both got from his bag. The equipment he brought along, he placed on the bed.

He took a thorough shower, making sure to wash everything and a little extra, dried off and put on a red suit, his round glasses, used some gel to to push back his hair and put on some dark brown costume shoes. Reactivating his phone, he placed it into his inner jacket pocket along with his wallet.

Since this is the first time he's actually had some time off, he took to unpacking. Clothes which he hadn't worn (he didn't bring THAT many, just a few for general occasions) he placed in the closet, along with his cane and hat. His hand hovered over the cane, he took it out, twisted the wolf's head and studied the small wooden stake that was attached to the inside of the head as he slid it out of the cane. William frowned at the botched runes etched on the wood, obviously one of his failed attempts at a ritual out of his reach for now. He screwed the head back on, considering the current situation, he'd like to keep the cane close for now. He placed it on his bed as he unpacked the other equipment he brought along and placed them on the top shelves of the closet, an earthen bowl with pieces of old computers in a clear small plastic bag, his 'archeology' pouch, a pocketknife (which he placed in his pocket instead), his computer kit which he brought along to the sheriffs haven, a small brown fake leather covered notebook and a packet of chalk in several colours.

Last but not least, he took out a very small laptop and placed it on his nightstand, then closed the closet and hid the bag under his bed as well.

He ponders a moment and sighs as he sits down and casts a Ritual: Summon Guardian spirit (which apparently he knows even if he's not Sabbat, naughty sire? XD).

Once he's done, he'll unlock his door, grab his cane and exit his chamber, looking around the main room

By the time he's finished with every task he had to do, Corinna had come back into the Chantry, and she's reading the newspapers on the main couch of the "living" room. She lifts her eyes when she hears the apprentice door opening, and nods, approving, and closes the newspaper.
(Corinna) Much better ! It's sad you didn't have a chance to say your farewells to Lord Tarcisus yesterday. So, what's the current state of the situation ?

She's not demanding or too authoritarian, but she'd like an answer.

William smiles when he sees Anson.
"Yeah, it seems like this city doesn't allow me a single moment of rest. But if I play my cards right, I suppose I have an eternity to meet him once more, he is... an... Interesting person, to say the least."

He walks up to the woman and plops down on the other side of the couch.
"What do you wish to know? Claudia seems disturbed, she play's like she doesn't really care about her sire, but she does seem to portray some worry, or maybe she just fears how the Tremere could change if there needs to be a replacement regent whom might not be so open minded on modern innovations, and their applications to our clan. Not to mention her current precarious position of living outside the chantry playing babysitters to a couple of kine teenagers could be endangered by said change."

The neonate leans forward and leans on his knees as he looks forward to nothing in particular.
"I still have the feel of impending doom, like something is about to go horrible wrong. Every source remotely related or connected to the regent that I could figure out has been exhausted," he looking up to the ceiling, "except the person upstairs that we're not supposed to disturb."

"And well, obviously the only thing I can do right now is work on the artifact, to get at least that heat of the clan, which is why I looked like a thug with a bad complexion earlier. Or as you called it, Nosferatu dress up party." He gave a short snort at the description.

Corinna nods when he mentions resting. She looks away when he states Tarcisus is "interesting" but doesn't comment further. She puts aside the news.
(Corinna) Babysitter? Weren't they part of Claudia's herd? Oh, regardless of how much she dislikes Regent Kersten, he's still her sire and her Regent. As for how this is all going to end up.. Mikael decided to stay, so he will probably lead us until Regent Kersten is found, or until the clan assigns a new Regent. I suppose I'll have to go talk to this Mr Orlov.

She frowns at the idea, almost shivering with disgust.
(Corinna) He's worse than the Regent. I mean, the Regent isn't known to be very well-mannered, but this person is just worse. Either way someone has to stay in the chantry because of the Justitium, so this is something I can do while still being present.

The Librarian thinks things over for a moment, then smiles slightly, almost defeated.
(Corinna) We must convince ourselves we'll be fine. Regent Kersten is an intelligent and resourceful Tremere, I just hope this is another misbehavior of his and not something of further impact. In a few nights, he'll probably come from that door, and give me another of his blasphemous books, before saying that Paraguay was very welcoming for unexpected holidays. At least I hope so. But unlike before, unlike the last sixty years I've spent at his service, I feel this incoming doom you're naming. Which is why I'm thankful that Mikael stayed to help us out until then...

She ponders again the situation. It's a fact that she appreciates Horsman, or at least she has a big respect for him.
(Corinna) Regent Kersten always thought Claudia would be more useful to the clan if she stayed outside of it, due to her relationship with other clans. But she does come and sleep in the Chantry from time to time, so if Mikael asks her to come back, she'll certainly understand and obey. Jean-Pierre Griffin, on the other side... Have you seen him? Does he know the Regent is missing?

The neonate frowns.
"I-... ehh, didn't really even consider the idea of telling him, it slipped my mind, really, I was more focussed on other pressing matters, like looking for Kersten or the artifact. I just figured he'd be notified by either of you two... or would about hear it eventually through his harpy gossip channels..."

William leaned back, he placed his cane to the side of the armrest as he stroked his chin.
"I could always quickly pass by him to deliver the news, he's probably avoiding all phone calls. I still have to go out to check up on what we uncovered, hopefully it'll get us access to nosferatu domain to retrieve the item."

Corinna makes a slight tssk tssk, disappointed.
(Corinna) Oh, William... I suppose I'll give him the call. We'll need his presence too, even if he isn't the most motivated. We'll split tasks, you keep working on getting us that damned artifact.

She nods to herself.
(Corinna) We'll work in a more efficient way and split up tasks, if you don't mind. I'll warn Soladis Griffin about Regent Kersten and ask him to bring over everything his Sire has left concerning this subject. I trust he will understand why we must interrupt his leave, and I'm sure the Regent will pay him back for the situation he's responsible for. Having a second look at those records will not be a waste of time. I hope the situation will turn to our favor.

She half frowns, bothered by something, and crosses her arms.
(Corinna) The question we also need to find out was how the Sabbat found out about the existence of this object, if it's truly the reason why they took action, both last December and now. I can't even consider that Jean-Pierre Griffin would think about sharing his information with anyone, let alone the Sabbat. Frederic Vonzel, our.. "guest" wasn't keen on answering our questions. If the Regent couldn't get anything from him, then I don't suppose we will ever. Maybe you and your new coterie might want to try and interrogate him. We will turn him to the Prince tomorrow evening for a proper execution ordered by the Prince.

"Yes, I'll go right now, and see what the results are, I'll be back later to check the records and... did you say interrogate?"

William raised an eyebrow.
"We could do that, but where is he kept, if I might be so bold?"

Corinna lowers her head a little, thoughtful.
(Corinna) It is my understanding that he's being kept by Rufus in the old Chantry, but Mikael may demand he's taken here for the day so we can deliver him properly to the Prince. Probably in a suitcase. We can't walk around with a Lasombra in mere handcuffs, it would be a Masquerade Breach. I can certainly arrange a quiet neutral room away from kine ears for later tonight if you'd like. Just make sure he doesn't die, as we must deliver him tomorrow.

William smiled briefly, "I'll be very careful."

Taking his cane, the man stared at the door for a moment, then looked at Corinna once more while he got up. "Regent Kersten mentioned that the hotel staff was conditioned to offer their blood, how exactly does that work, are there any secret phrases involved?"

Corinna stands as well.
(Corinna) Indeed they are. Just approach one that looks alone enough and whisper that you need them, making sure you touch their arm. If they move back it means that they aren't suited donors for the night, either because they are too weak or sick. If they don't you can act fairly freely as long as customers of the hotel do not see you. After a while they'll identify you as a Tremere and just a glance will trigger the trance. Regent Kersten is skilled, really.

She admires the system even if she doesn't admit it too openly.
(Corinna) Be careful not to weaken them too much, they must be able to continue their work without any drawbacks.


That means only one bp per member. With half an hour or so William can manage 2bp

"That is indeed impressive. I'll see if we can't get some more information out of the captivée if you get him somewhere neutral. But now I really should get going there if I wish to be on time. Good evening Corinna Solaris."

Corinna nods.
(Corinna) "Soladis". It means colleague... Sure, I will be here. Feed well, and we will talk later. I will arrange something for Vonzel. Later, and good luck.