notes ☩ map ☩ relationships ☩ haven
C and D investigate the flight path of the heli. there are a few military installations in san diego, seal beach, south of OC, and generally in socal. seems like it wouldn't be impossible for a civvy to get an nh90 without the guns and such.
Kas checks his PO box for mail from utah. nothing yet.
MP asks warren for help finding the heli. tells him catalina island, day before yesterday. we think it's therese or jeanette and she's missing. Warren calls back and says he found one associated with the Temple of Boom. MP says that implicates victor in the kidnapping/torpor of Th or J. MP tells W about the mirror and offers a look into it to him. Tells him the friend is a mage. W says he's laying low right now and will consider it. Asks about Archons. MP tells him about Jessie and Annabelle.
MG gives Kas a missing flyer with her picture on it and asks him to call in a fake tip. Det. Brendan Baines answers and Kas tells him that he saw Mary Evans in Mexico doing card readings on the corner, looking nervous. DBB asked him to come make a statement but he said no and hung up.
MP informs coterie about VT. C contacts him via her mirror: "I hear your people may have flown to catalina to pick up our friend from the asylum." mutters something about having to kill people in Las Vegas. Sends a message to F: "Should I worry about vegas coming here?" MG asks - C says J Puttanesca's family is there and probably wants her dead. "If they get ahold of me, destroy everything I have ever loved." MP asks how. C says kill the K-hand, destroy the necklace, the whistle, and as a last resort, kill Raven, Kayla, and her sister Amanda.
MG says that after thinking, it could have been V and Nelli talking in her vision but they were far away. C calls for Peggy. MG sees a squirrel watching outside and tells MP. They go to the back garden and MG listens in inside. Kas listens outside. Brent tells MP he has a new body. Tells her to follow him. MG sees squirrel head to a black rolls royce with man and driver seat and in the back. MP follows him to the car. the driver gets out and lets her in. Kas argues with her, tries to get in but the driver stops him. 30-ish man, flaming red hair, good looking is in the back seat. Tells Bruno it's alright and the driver lets K in. K uses Compel on him: "piss yourself." Brent says he came to ask about a friend. Says he has influence in Hollywood but Nelli G is getting in the way. MP says she's not a huge fan. Brent asks K how he feels.
C asks MG what's going on and she and MG go outside. Brent and crew come inside instead of having us all get in the car. K-hand goes to make tea and brent sees it. C mentions being "extra dead" and MG says it's just a joke when brent inquires. Brent says his business name is Jeremy Culver. Brent returns to topic of NG. Says he's interested in movies. MG asks if we should wreck her movies; he says maybe. Says it would be especially helpful if she weren't around but it would also be helpful if she just had less influence.
Kas whispers to D that he watched MP kill someone for Brent for power. D writes it in his notebook. MG is shocked.
C asks Brent where he's from. He says Beverly Hills. says "that sounds right; I believe so" and things like that. MG gets the impression that he's lying about identity questions but seems to be telling the truth about his business reasons for disliking NG.
C says we need a new baron of hollywood. D says we're anarchs so he doesn't care for barons. MG says "We're not going to kill her though right?" C says not necessarily. MG says we should give hollywood to Drac. C asks MG if he'd let her be his priestess; MG says that she's already a member of his court so he probably would.
Peggy shows up. C asks if Brent has ever interacted with ghosts and he indicates that he can see her. Brent asks Peggy about C. Says she's different than she used to be.
Brent says maybe he can meet Drac and work together; C says we'll consider it but can't promise it. Asks C if she has a good number of ghost friends. Says he's got another friend who is good with ghosts - Angela, a doctor of sorts. Gives C a card. MP asks for one as well. [Dr Angela D'Addario, MD - Psychiatrist - With phone number and address] Asks Peggy if anyone else can see her before he leaves. She says no.
C invites anyone who wants to see Peggy into her room. We see her shadowy image on the wall. C asks Peggy if she really wanted to answer him and she said no, she felt compelled. Says he seems like a different kind of scary. C said he's not mortal and something is strange. MG says he lied about his bday and MP defends him. MG asks "Kas said you killed someone for him;" MP says Kas was not telling the truth entirely. MG thinks MP is telling the truth. C says she's wary of someone who can seemingly command ghosts without any ritual. MG reminds her about the "extra dead" comment and the fact that he saw Katie.
C asks Peggy to go check out VT's club. Says MG's relative may be sleeping in the basement.
MG texts Shoes: Find out about movies NG is making in Studio City.
C gets a text from VTemple. Says "We're on top of it." C: "Please tell." VT wants to meet at the club.
C and MG go to the club while MP hunts and D and Kas do fleshcrafting.
--- MAHARANI ---
Says they rescued Th. He was the one that asked Gary. Says some don't want to unstake her yet because they fear she's not trustworthy enough. We ask if he's sure it's Th and not J and tell him about the vision. VT says he can show one of us because he's trying to keep it secret. C takes a small sip of MG's blood and MG Shares Senses with her. MP shows up and MG fills her in. VT leads C downstairs, shows her a staked blond woman in a pant suit. C investigates the body. Looks like she got in a fight or beat up before she got staked. VT says they found her like that. C says she thinks it might be a trap; it could be Jeanette dressed to look like Th to infiltrate us. VT says he saw J a few weeks ago, maybe longer. They come back upstairs and C says she needs to leave because of her paranoia. Kas shows up. MG tells VT about the vision in detail. He says to be careful. He remembers that NG wanted him to give us something -- old canister of film. MG says the camera belongs to CBdM and they should give that back too and chastises him. He says we'll have to ask NG.
C rides her vespa out to the skatepark near Katie's old house and chills to re-center herself, then checks out Amanda to make sure she's okay. MG watches through Shared Senses to make sure nothing happens.
--- NEXT NIGHT ---
Shoes: "What kind of movie?" MG: "something dumb and dramatic probably."
C goes to hunt. Feeds off someone who is "rather receptive to the Dark Mother" - Julia
MG gets a call from Max. Someone in the van, might be a raccoon. MG rallies the coterie. Rides with MP. MP texts C, tells her we're going to Drac's. D rides with Kas.
Kas and D arrive. C arrives by vespa. D is caught trying to surreptitiously take a picture of C. C catches him and asks if he wants a selfie. Tries to look intimidating in the pic but failed. MP and MG arrive. K-hand stealthily goes into the van. Person inside seems to be looking at pics on the side of the van. K takes a picture and runs. Person tries to catch her but fails. Person opens the window slightly and looks out. Says he's here to see Bishop, he thinks. MG freaks. He passes a map out, says he woke up with it. MG gets paranoied and thinks the mushrooms sent him. Says Bishop is dead. Person is upset and lets go of the door. Dark hoody, scrawny, short shaved hair, ambiguous gender. Confused and sad looking.
C convinces us to calm down and talk. Person gives us a business card. Says 15. "Pronounced 1-5." Max runs out the bush and hugs him. Tells MG they saved Drac together. We decide to go into Drac's. C asks Igor to remind Drac of the seance. MP says she'd like to talk to Dr when available, Igor says he'll see when he's available.
15 and MG have a weird tandem Premonition where they turn into Th and J in the basement of VT's. A shadow J appears behind J and slowly raises a knife up behind her. It gets blurry, then we are alone and the shadow hand and knife is at our throats. A flash and we're back in the room. 15 screams. MG and 15 explain the vision.
MP thinks that Th and J might be the same person but gets upset when others disagree. Gets Judgement compulsion and manipulates MG into giving her blood under the guise of using Share the Senses. Hunger frenzies. Pulls herself off and others hold her. MG hides behind couch and Obfuscates. MP calms down and apologizes.
MP goes to hunt. C says she can help MG hunt and uses her dating app. MP frenzies while trying to hunt a homeless man. Knifes him and kills him. Some people see. She pretends like she's high on something and scares them. Runs away and calls C. C cleans up the scene and MG uses Cloud Memory on witnesses. They leave as a siren nears.
Kas takes Max, 15, and D to the house to wait to meet us at VT's. D goes out on his own and texts someone. Kas talks to 15. Says he knew Bishop a long time ago.
--- TEMPLE OF BOOM ---
D tries to hide his face. Kas asks why -- D says he doesn't want to be seen, doesn't like the Temple. D notices a familiar Benz in the parking lot. Admits to Kas that Nelli G will kill him if she sees him. Says she "tasted the Dean" during a magical week.
15 Obfuscates and joins Kas, MG, C, and MP to go inside. D and Max stay inside the Tesla. Man at the door says Barons are talking to "the package" right now. MG uses Share the Senses on VT. Smells blood. Sitting with NG. Talking to who looks like Th about what happened. Th tells a similar story to the vision. Talking like Th, dressed like Th. VT goes upstairs to meet the Bite Club. Says two can come in. C and Kas go.
C tells VT that Th/J are the same person. Explains the visions to him. Warns him that whoever he's speaking to might not be who he thinks. VT goes back downstairs. Tells NG and Th/J that some people want to talk to Th. NG and Th/J don't want to but VT convinces them. Th/J says someone is watching and MG gets kicked out. VT says the Malks can come in. MG and 15 come in. MG tells Th/J that she saved her with a vision. 15 and MG have another vision. Looking through Th/J's eyes, we look like Th and J again. MG/Th reaches out to touch 15/J and they can't move away. They step into each other and merge. They snap out of the vision. Th/J looks momentarily panicked but no one sees it except MG. MG notices that Th/J doesn't look like Th; she looks like someone pretending to be Th.
In the parking lot, Kas finds a raccoon and tries to get MG to feed from it. MG doesn't want to and runs away to hunt. Kas is pissy about it.
--- NEXT DAY ---
MP goes to find the address that the woman in the mirror gave her. Gives MG the address and tells her what it is and that it's secret and to find her if she doesn't come back before sunrise. Goes to an address in Watts. Peeping in she sees an older man watching tv. Tells him she was given the address to visit and that she would find what she was looking for. His name is Herschel. She asks him if he's ever experienced something magical; he demures. She drops some mage-y terms and he seems to not notice. She leaves and texts Faust to ask if he knows anyone named H? He says no.
MG goes to the theater squat to feed off of her herd. Next goes to a crappy phone place, breaks in, disables the camera, and steals two new flip phones. Panhandles a bit then uses the money to make some flyers: PSYCHIC READINGS $20
Kas goes to his PO box and gets some letters back. One from Doris, who thinks he has the wrong address but tells him about her mortal life anyway. Another from his uncle asking if he learned his lesson. Kas responds to Doris kindly and to his uncle asking about the family and if he can come visit?
C takes Alejandro to RS Books and tells him about her garden plans.
Faust visits MP. She tells him about the mirror address. Says maybe H has an artifact or a passage in his house that he doesn't know about. Says maybe she should bring Holden.
Igor comes to the haven and brings a box. Brought the headdress for the queen of the damned seance. Leaves it in MG's room. C comes home and talks to him. Igor says we should do the seance without Drac because he gets distracted.
D gives C an ID badge for their FAA agent fake identities. He starts setting up the bathroom for permanent residency -- laptop shelf in bathtub, etc
Kas goes to class. Talks to his Mawla about his Golconda efforts and his family problems.
MP texts Holden and goes to visit him. Tells him about Herschel and he agrees to come along. Later visits Martinez and asks about Lennon.
C summons Aaliyah using the headdress. MG uses Share the Senses so she can finally see a ghost. Offers her lemonade but she's not sure she can drink it. C tells her the deal about Drac looking for a queen and explains who he is. Tells her that he's from the 1930s movies. MG tells her that he's the king of all vampires. C offers to introduce her to CbD's ghost. Asks her to just meet with Drac. Aaliyah asks why C looks different from MG. C says she's a bit like Aaliyah. Aa asks how C got a body. Asks if she can get a body too. MG says she can marry Drac if she does. C explains some of the downsides of being a ghostvamp. MG calls Igor and Igor says that Drac had a young lady over but may be free soon. MG is a little upset that he's "cheating" on Aa already and is short with Igor.
Kas comes home and Drac shows up with Igor. They talk and Aa says she wants to be a queen. C talks about finding her a body. C says that if Drac would appoint her or Elspeth a spiritual counselor and follow the Dark Mother then C's sire would be more likely to help. Drac says he doesn't like Caine because he claims to be father of all vampires. He agrees. Aa agrees too. C contacts her sire with her obsidian mirror. Drac turns into a bat and flies away.
Elspeth calls. Says she would do it if the body was provided and for a major boon. C says she'll take on the payment if Drac won't. C tells the terms to Igor. I says they'll probably be amenable and leaves. Kas and the coterie discuss plans for the council. MG says Drac will be king of the council.
Kas tells the coterie that he contacted his family and wants to go visit. MG asks if they'll put him in a wall again. C asks if his uncle needs to be punished for what he did. Kas seems abhored but also interested.
--- NEXT NIGHT ---
Holden comes over to go to Herschel's.
MG texts Shoes: "Any info?" and sits and reads her psychic books for a while, then goes out to put up flyers.
C goes out to try to convert Thinbloods to the Dark Mother.
Holden is attacked by a Nos at Herschel's. MP intimidates her into letting him go. The Nos says she lives there and that Herschel is "hers." Things get a bit heated and Herschel draws his shotgun. MP explains why she is there, looking for a cure for vampirism. Asks for her blood but it upsets her. Holden takes the gun and after arguing, they leave, throwing the gun out. MP texts Faust. Says she wants to speak with herself and sends a mirror emoji. F says he'll bring it.
F comes over and makes the mirror appear magically. MP locks her room so no one knows. F comments that it's much easier for him to move things magically here. MP says perhaps it has something to do with the shroud being thinner here and says her room and lab are open to him for experiments. MP goes into the mirror again. MP tells Mirrorpuri that she's unclear and concerned that Mirrorpuri isn't actually trying to help her. Mirrorpuri reassures her that she is. MP takes a slide as a memento and leaves. As F leaves, MP notices that the space where the mirror was looks a little strange and fractured.
MG and C come home. The clouds outside are very thick and grey.
MG comes into MP's room to show her the flyer and notices the weird space. Staring into it, she sees that it appears to lead somewhere and is growing every slightly more fractured. A bolt of lightning strikes the house.
The crack in the room grows. MG and MP leave the room. MG yells "MP cracked the house, we have to run". MG notices the roof is on fire. Grabs Bishop's lava lamp and runs but the doorknob won't move. Tries to smash the window; the lamp seems to not actually touch the window. D tries to open it or punch it but can't touch it either. Raindrops are suspended in the air.
C goes into MP's room. Cracks are starting to fade. Large circle with a room on the other side. Stone with furniture. MP tells people we have to go through because stone won't burn. Kas flips.
C grabs her shotgun, MG grabs an AK. MG hides the lava lamp in the basement. MP takes some of her plants. Kas grabs his fireproof coveralls and his umbrella and tries to grab more and MP has to force him through. D takes Pam through.
--- THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS ---
Small stone waiting room. dim light from somewhere. Comfortable furniture. Door is bricked up. MG hears nothing through it with Heightened Senses. C notices nothing with Sense the Unseen but thinks the room looks staged and unused. D has no phone service and the time and date keep changing. The portal to the haven is fading and disappears.
C asks MP what was in her room where the rift opened. MP answers truthfully. Kas is insanely upset.
In the armchair, suddenly we see a person. "I'm afraid you won't be able to go back that way." MP: "Where are we?" Interesting q. C: "When are we?" Even more interesting. Neither here nor there.
C introduces herself as Katie Page. Shakes their hand. Says it's very personal information. Some call them Xev. MG thinks they're not breathing. Asks if they're a vampire - they say no and MG says we're not either. C thinks that maybe Faust broke something. Tells MP she thinks someone has to die to fix this and it's probably her. MP becomes paranoid.
Guide says we must draw a card and then they'll tell us how to get out. MG steps forward because she's a fortune teller. Draws The Moon. Xev says only one must enter. Snaps finger - door opens into room with all sorts of objects. All kinds of stuff. Grandfather clock, piano, gun, sword, etc. MG points to the door and asks if this will happen for every card. Xev says yes so MG says "I think this is for me." C sees a transparent force door after MG walks in. Xev waves his hand and a tv appears for the coterie to watch.
--- THE ROOMS ---
Room is actually at the bottom of a pit. Several people with bows and arrows, blindfolded. Xev appears. "To survive, present what would be broken if named. You have 3 minutes." MG cuts the strings of a guitar with her knife and strums it to present "silence." Xev waves their hand and the room changes to a new one with a new door. MG waves to the others and they walk through.
D draws the top card. The Tower. Xev waves his hand. A hotel, very old style. Xev says only one need enter but all may. We all enter. Smells mildewy. Dusty king sized bed, tiny tube tv. Xev: "All you have to do is walk out the front door of the hotel." MG vision: exact same vision as when Annabelle was shot. Then we hear a bang. Everyone runs out. MG says it's the man who shot AB; C describes him and it seems true. MP makes a map; we're in Room 1313. We go down the stairs. 2 floors down the man jumps out and slashes D. C grapples him. He yells something in a language we don't understand. MG responds "that's not true!" and Dementates. D punches him. He turns to C and commands her "Throw him down the stairs." D resists but the man gets away from C's grapple. We head further down. MG hears the man leave the stairs below us when we're around Floor 9. We get to the lobby and it seems empty, although there is a balcony above us. D runs out and is shot from above. D gets out the door. MG runs out and tells him his gun is stupid and he should run. He shoots her and turns to run away. MG and the rest of the coterie run through the door. Xev is there in the antechamber.
C asks if we're trying to pull a specific card. Xev says "perhaps." C draws the 7 of Stakes. Xev waves their hand -- a field with a dark sky. C feeds from Pam. All of the Kindred go through. Countryside. Trees. Small cabin. Large bundles of sticks. Dismembered man. C investigate - 7 sticks. C and MG know that in tarot the card represents courage, success, and perhaps macabre tenacity. Man is in 7 parts. C begins re-assembling the man with the sticks -- head last. It begins to move. A man with a bloody axe comes out of the cabin. Says "why are you on my land?" and that he'll show us "what we do to witches." C uses her snake eyes to mesmerize the man. He says the dismembered guy was doing spells in the night and then his wife died." Doesn't know what kind of magic -- he's just a lumberjack. He did weird things -- a toad, a pod, and some feathers and the woods -- and then his wife got the plague. Shambling corpse man sys "I just want to go home." We split -- C stays with Kas and the lumberjack. MG, D, and MP go with the shambler. We get to his house. He offers tea. MG asks if he's a witch. Yes. Did he kill the lumberjack's wife? No. Insight makes MG believe him. Says he was doing a spell to protect the town from the plague. He describes bubonic plague. Invites us in insistently. MG uses insight and thinks he's nice. Steps in and disappears. MP follows. D runs back to the cabin. C is telling the lumberjack he should learn from his suffering. He cries. C gives him a Starlit Garden card. D brings K and C to the shambler's house. D describes what happened. C grabs their hands and they go in together. We return to the antechamber.
MP draws. The Hierophant. An outdoor market. All Kindred follow. Night. Most vendors gone. A small number of people. Xev at an empty stall. "None of them matter. Except that one." Everyone walks away except a woman in a hijab. "Taste her blood. That's it." D sprints after her. MP sprints after him. She stops and gasps, mutters in another language. D is able to grapple her but MP feels compelled to take several steps back. Woman starts praying. D feels terrible remorse for his existence. She begins to run and C shoots at her. She falls. MP runs up and takes a drink. We return.
K takes the top card. Death. Xev says only one can go through. MG reads his palm. His lifeline is running out. She tells him, "You have one and that's what's important." MP and Kas both run to the door. C gets a Compulsion that it's MP who has to go through so she shoots Kas. He dodges and they go through at the exact same time. Pam asks MG if she can work for her if Master Kaspar dies. They land in the sand. Full moon. They snip at each other a bit. Xev does not appear. They are at the foot of some pyramids. There are camels. They follow the people with the camels and suddenly everything goes black. Hearing is muffled. A shadow tentacle takes MP and Kas suffers a covetousness Compulsion. A figure appears, asks why they're there and where from. Seems to know Hollywood. MP asks to let Kas go and they say they could take both or let both go -- they'll have to be useful. "Maybe we could come to a deal." In the antechamber, the tv goes out. Figure asks their interests. Covers Kas in shadow so he can't hear MP. She tells them about meeting people in Hollywood, the veil being thin there. "What is your sect?" MP says "Anarch, but I consider myself unaligned." "Perhaps you could use a new master?" MP: "....yes." The shadow tentacle buries her head in the sand. Asks Kas his interests: maintaining/building a safe haven and domain with his possessions. Also an Anarch? K: Yes. "A noble goal; perhaps I could persuade you to help me." Thinking of moving to LA and "fixing things up a bit." Doesn't want a crown, just wants things to be nice and orderly and safe. Kas: similar to what I wish. MP pops out. Figure says that if they prove useful they'll eat the other people instead of them. Doesn't want a boon per se, but will send them with something. Cuts into their wrist. MP asks a name -- "I suppose in your town there's no one old enough to really care." Name is Zamra. "Be careful who you tell it to or I might get annoyed." MP drinks. Very thick but almost tasteless. Z turns to Kas. He asks if this is the way to leave. The figure says MP can leave. Kas tries to persuade them that he's useful without drinking the blood. Figure asks "Who do you love more than anyone else in the world?" MP offers to do more for Kas. Kas says "enough with the martyr complex" and takes the wrist. MP is washed in a dark shadow; it disappears and she's in the stone room with the coterie. MP says "I can't believe him!" The figure traces Kas's face. Says they'll let him go, but asks if they've ever heard of Golconda. Kas says he's been researching. Figure says they'll be by at some point and maybe they can help him out. Moves their veil. It's a pretty woman. She kisses him on the cheek. He is surrounded by shadow and returns to the room.
The door at the opposite side of the room is opened. It's the haven. Doesn't look on fire. Kas: "Did you start this or did you save us?" Xev: "I didn't do either of those things." D goes through: "Fuck you Xev." Kas goes through. C takes MP's hand and whispers in her ear: "We need to talk." MP thanks Xev for opening the door. MG waves bye and says, "I still like you!" and Xev says the same.
--- HAVEN ---
No rain, no fire. MP's room looks normal. MG: "did you die?" MP: "No." "how did you get out?" MP's phone buzzes: text from Faust: "where have you been?" MP checks the date. Still August, but 2021. MP texts: "I think we need to talk."