Bounce

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

_{[ absolutely obligatory dolores o'riordan reference ]}

The young vampire jumped, a high-pitched yelp escaping him as Elizabeth intercepted a bullet.

His hands pulled on his t-shirt, as the boy shied behind the Tzimisce and shifted anxiously as the situation started to go bad in a rapid and spectacular fashion.

This was bad.

The sight of a flame caused the boy to give a shrill scream even before he'd processed that the fire was being carried toward him. Then, before frenzy had gripped him, there was a blur and the torch-bearer was suddenly just gone.

Blinking, Enzo realized that Ian had moved. The Brujah was now standing next to where the torch-bearer had gone limp, his head smashed through a wall.

The snarl of the ghoul-hound and the sound of a man's violent death brought the Italian boy's stunned gaze over to where Raph and Djobi had jumped into the fray.

This was really bad.

But at least now there were corpses. Enzo didn't much care for ghosts, but dead bodies? He liked dead bodies. They didn't have agendas. They did bicker. And, best of all, they weren't likely to become emotional time-bombs capable of rending the veil between the mortal world and the Shadowlands. Extending out his arms, the boy's fingers spread and began to move as though he was a puppeteer manipulating unseen strings.

The color drained from out of the Giovanni's lifelike countenance, his skin growing gaunt as he took on a more Cappodocian appearance. "Extremum vitae spiritum edere," he uttered in Latin, pulling one arm back as the body near Ian began to shift and move, pulling its head from out of the wall.

With his other arm, he made a lifting motion, prompting the thug whose throat had been ripped out to rise from off the floor.

Were they tossing the Masquerade aside? At the moment, yes. Very much so.

The two zombies shuffled over toward Elizabeth and Ian, taking up positions to shelter the pair from any more bullets. Enzo's necromancy had never delved into using the corpses to attack, but they could be meat shields. And probably cause a mortal to shit themselves -- if Ian's display hadn't already done that.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

I've started and stopped my post soooo many times.

Every time I think I've got a break, someone wants to see the baby. But my goal tonight is to try and rapid post something once the baby goes down for the night (or a couple of hours at least, hopefully).

It probably won't be a literary masterpiece, but I promise it will be a post.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

Sorry, got bogged down by baby and work. I'll have something up soon.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

Ralph was here?

Wait, did that mean..?

The Italian boy took a step back at the sight of the ghoul hound.

Falling silent, Enzo seemed to almost fade away as the others talked. He noticed Elizabeth had moved close to him, though he was concerned for the fact that she seemed the most eager for a fight. Ian was cool and composed, but if things turned ugly that may not be likely to remain true.

Ian was proposing going in. The boy swallowed nervously, still not certain just why he was here. He wasn't a field guy. Hell, he'd never even been a field ghoul. He was Giovanni, not Puttanesca or Millner. He'd spent his entire unlife in an office, with stacks of ledgers and a calculator. When being ghouled had resulted in Enzo developing Potence, he'd only ever used it to move boxes of tax returns that weighed more than he did.

"I'm not sure I'm the guy you want for this," Enzo remarked quietly, when Ralph proposed Enzo go in with Elizabeth. Judging by the grip on that two-by-four, she definitely wanted to go in swinging. Enzo wasn't sure he wanted to be standing next to her when she started.

For that matter, he wasn't sure it was all that safe for Ralph or Ian to be in front of her when she started swinging either.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

Being a tad inventive here. Let me know if you want me to reel it back.

Sequelae is a concept from VtDA, not VtM. Specifically DAV: Guide to the High Clans. The VtM "equivalent" (from the player's guide) in terms of giving Necromancy some flavor is the notion of Authority and Taboo (e.g. that a necromancer either relies on holy symbols or profanity to use necromancy). Sequelae, by contrast, borrows from MtA's concept of Paradox. Basically, the more a necromancer pushes against the Shroud, the more that the Shroud pushes back to the consequence to the necromancer. An example being plants withering or the necromancer taking on aspects of a corpse (also tying into the Cappodocian curse).

I've always found Sequelae to give great flavor to Giovanni necromancy, or just Vampire necromancy in general, and both more flexible to use in any setting or adaptable to story than the idea that the necromancer would have to fit some binary concept of what a necromancer has to act like.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

"Any ghost around here that might be amenable to help us out?"

The small Italian boy craned his head back, delivering a look up to Ian that belied a hesitation fueled by a fear -- a fear of something other than why they were here.

"The restless dead are rarely so easy to strike a bargain with," Enzo supplied, with a sigh as he seemed to resign himself to making an effort nonetheless.

The Brujah had no idea the forces that the Giovanni was flirting with. Whatever had taken Ludwig was scary, yes. But if Enzo awoke a wraith or, perhaps worse, inadvertently created one by botching the bargaining then that would be more than just frightening, it could be truly disastrous.

There was a reason the Giovanni did a number of Embraces each year. Plenty of necromancers blew themselves up talking to ghosts.

Wrapping his arms around his torso, the child seemed to hug himself as if from the cold. Or perhaps comfort. Closing his eyes, he tried to let his perception shift to that which was like the wind. Unseen, yet felt. Heard, but a whisper.

A sharp yelp slipped from his lips, as the boy suddenly doubled forward and clutched his left hand. If Ian or one of the others got a glimpse in that moment, it would have seemed as if, for a moment, the Cappodocian blood were reasserting itself. The back of Enzo's hand seemed as though it were corpse flesh, the fingers seeming to wither for a moment before it began to return to normal again.

"Sequelae," Enzo supplied cryptically, using the back of his right arm to wipe away a blood red tear brought forth by the pain that had come with the spasm. Without explanation, he'd uttered it as though it were a four letter word.

The boy's hand had returned to almost normal, though a patch of dead skin remained as the undead child flexed his fingers and shook out his hand from the sudden affliction. "Scusi. I'll need a moment before I try that again." Enzo offered, glancing back up at Ian. "If I'd known this is what we'd be doing tonight, I'd have... done something that would have given my abilities a boost."

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

I imagine Enzo giving these guys this look.

@Eviledd1984

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

Tried to think of something that might advance the scene one way or another.

Dominate 1 (Enzo's max is Dominate 2), plus the bonus from Enchanting Voice if optionally allowed to affect Dominate use by the ST.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

The Italian boy had been toward the street-side of the alley's entrance, falling behind as Ian moved further into the alley, while the vampire child negotiated using a smart phone app with the disembodied spirit of someone who had died before cellular telephones had been invented. Or, attempting to do so anyway.

The youth looked up from his phone when he'd heard Elizabeth's voice, the almost perpetual look of worry briefly dispelled by a small smile and sense of relief before the boy had looked back down at the device while Ian and Elizabeth exchanged a few words.

Enzo was engrossed in an exchange of his own, through one that was talking across the Veil. Speaking in low tones, the one-sided conversation with the ghost was none the less choreographed by the expressive gestures the Italian used when speaking.

"Good Evening, Gentlemen. Anything we can help you with?"

The change in tone caught Enzo's attention, sending goosebumps up his skin as the hair stood up on his neck. The boy's brown eyes were large as he looked up anxiously to realize that there was a group of men with bottles and chains that were advancing through the alleyway toward them.

Ian had positioned himself to confront them.

...wait, Ian was Brujah. Was he losing his temper?

Did Brujah have any manipulation Disciplines? Should he have paid more attention to Clan studies? Probably, but right now Enzo was imagining the scene unfolding in a violent way, which would put a spotlight on them and only further complicate the search for Ludwig.

So what was he going to do about it?

Wait, was Enzo going to do something about it? What was he going to do? He was just a height-challenged math nerd! "Che cazzo..." the boy uttered softly, as his legs seemed to now be carrying him toward Ian with some perverse will of their own. Internally, the boy could feel his own Beast pulling at him to flee.

"Ehi," the boy called out, the Italian equivalent to hey, hoping to draw eyes on him. Honestly, he didn't care about getting the attention of all of the Kine. Just the one who seemed to be leading the pack.

Brown eyes flashed as the normally mousey boy craned his head back to look the Kine in the eye. "Leave." The boy's normally quiet, subdued voice was atypically firm and astonishingly commanding. A glimpse of the Giovanni that Enzo tried not to be. Manipulative. Controlling.

The normally life-like child had stopped any pretense of breathing, instead frozen in place trying to project an air of confidence while being terrified and waiting in the moments between seconds that felt as though they were hours-long.

Waiting to see if the man would walk away.

Waiting to see if the others would follow suit.

New York By Night (A Vampire The Masquerade RP)

@Eviledd1984 I was thinking it would make more since for Steele to post next. He has more ability to respond than Enzo, but I can get something up tomorrow if you like.